New Music Report – January 19, 2023
Things are starting to get moving now, we’ve got a couple releases trickling in that are worth listening to. But honestly, the big story is still all the new singles, and the album release dates that come along with it. Bands like Jesus Piece, The Ocean, City & Colour, and more all put out some very promising new singles this week, with announcements for albums coming in the next 2-3 months. Full of Hell and Primitive Man also put out a single together preceding a full-length collaborative album, which is incredibly cool. If nothing else, all this is an indicator that we’re going to have a very strong spring album release season, which is always a great sign of the year to come.
In addition to those, we had some more one-off singles, including two more new bangers from Sleep Token. I have to imagine this is going to be a huge year for them. These singles have all been huge hits, or at least major talking points. Count me interested, I can’t wait to see what else they’ve got going on this year.
As far as albums themselves? We got new albums from Katatonia and New Found Glory. Not really show-stoppers for me, but big names nonetheless. There are some albums I’m looking forward to next week, but if these singles keep rolling out like this, that’ll be what I’m really looking forward to.
New Music Report – January 13, 2023
Honestly, there still isn’t a ton to talk about this early in the year, but there has been some exciting news for coming music, and a few interesting releases that we’ve seen already. Of course, the big news this week is the new Periphery album announcement that came along with two incredible singles. That album should be a real highlight for the year, and with two singles already out, we should get some more tastes of it coming up.
As for album releases, there’s still just kind of a mishmash of nonsense this time of year. We’ve got a .ten56 EP which is really good nu-metalcore and a re-release of a classic Lights & Motion album, which is a fairly unknown post rock producer, and I happened to love this album when it first came out so that’s a nice little nostalgia trip but not much more.
That’s really about it though. Vile Valo put out a solo album, Obituary put out an album, nothing I’m hugely excited about. We’ve got a few more weeks before that happens.
New Music Report – January 6, 2023
I know I fell off from my New Music Posts pretty hard last year, and it was for a mix of reasons, but the put it simply, life happened and this required too much energy to stay on top of. That said, I really did enjoy making these posts and putting the playlist together.
So, I’m going to give it another shot going into the new year. It’s going to take a different form, I’m not going to write out a full review of everything, I think I’m just going to do a brief summary of the week’s releases and keep the Spotify playlist updated. We’ll see how it evolves once I get into it, of course, but I know the playlist is the main point, so I’m going to be keeping that updated.
That said, nothing really happens this early in the year so there isn’t much to report, except for the new Sleep Token songs, which were fantastic. So, in the meantime, be sure to follow the playlist and I’ll keep everyone updated as the year goes on. Enjoy!
New Music Report – June 24, 2022
Pop quiz: Alexisonfire, Coheed & Cambria, and The Mars Volta all put out new music this week, what year is it? I could have sworn it was about 2003, but apparently, it’s 2022 and that’s fucking fantastic. I honestly have nothing more to say, that’s just fantastic.
Alexisonfire – This is the first album from Alexisonfire in over a decade, and I cannot tell you how long I have been waiting for this day to come. That said, if you’re expecting a redux of Watch Out!, you’re going to be disappointed, this is what Alexisonfire should sound like as a band, with multiple side projects and a hiatus, should sound like 18 years after Watch Out! The whole album sounds more mature, and like it draws out influence from all their other projects, from City & Colour to Gallows. And while the sound is different, it’s everything I needed it to be. I love it.
Coheed & Cambria – Coheed, on the other hand, has been going strong with few interruptions. I remember about 18 years ago when I’d spend YEARS running through Second Stage Turbine Blade and In Keeping Secrets. To this day they remain two of my favorite albums of all time, but that feeling has been hard to capture since. They’ve always been at the top of their game making incredible music, but the intangible feeling those albums gave me were pure magic. This album, however, comes closer than most have in some time. This reminds me very strongly of the sort of feel we got from the Good Apollo albums, and that is incredibly high praise. It feels like it’s pushing the sound forward, but it also feels instantly familiar, and I’ve been waiting for that feeling for over a decade now.
Limbs – This album rides a weird line between EP and full album, it’s only 7 songs, but in a world where most full lengths are only 10 songs anyway, then I’m going to count it here. Limbs is a wonderful band, they ride this fine line between metalcore and post-hardcore that creates some of the most captivating takes on either genre. Being able to fit in the middle ground leaves the full arsenal of both styles at their disposal and they utilize it beautifully.
Singles/Albums – Mars Volta (Prog), Lorna Shore (Deathcore), Gulch (Hardcore), Alpha Wolf (Metalcore), Wonder Years (Pop Punk), Becoming the Archetype (Metal), Fit for A King (Metalcore), Spiritbox (Nu-Metalcore), We Came as Romans (Metalcore), Patent Sixty-Seven (Metalcore), Cabal (Sludge)
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New Music Report – June 17, 2022
With all the good music that’s come out this week, I honestly really only feel like there is a single thing that’s absolutely worth calling attention to, and that’s a new single from Russian Circles. There are a few bands that I’m a fan of that absolutely take precedence over just about everything else, and Russian Circles is one of them. And man, it did not disappoint. New album in a few months, and I can’t wait.
D.R.U.G.S. – I’m gonna be honest, I’m not quite sure I’ve forgiven Craig Owens for ruining Chiodos. Illuminaudio was objectively the musical peak of the band, and he came back and brought Thomas Erak from The Fall of Troy with him and still managed to make the worst album of the band’s career. But at the end of the day, he seems much happier focusing on DRUGS as his main project, the style suits him better, and with the help from Jona Weinhofen on guitar – the genius behind some of the best work from Bring Me the Horizon and I Killed the Prom Queen – the album actually turned out to be pretty solid. Maybe I can get over the whole Chiodos thing now.
Mire Lore EP – I generally don’t cover EPs unless they are especially notable, and this happens to be one of those. Dan Watson already put out one of my favorite albums of the year with Enterprise Earth, but he promptly left the band and has now released the first EP with his other project, Mire Lore. This is a bit more blackened deathcore than what we get with Enterprise Earth, but it also has clean vocals, so it’s a bit of an enigma. But holy shit, either way it’s fucking incredible.
Singles/Albums – Russian Circles (Post Metal), End It (Baltimore Hardcore), Norma Jean (Metalcore), Behemoth (Black Metal), Brojob (EP, Deathcore), Dir En Grey (LP, Japanese Metal), Enterprise Earth (Deathcore), Soilwork (Metal), 156/silence (Nu-Metalcore)
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New Music Report – June 10, 2022
I’m going to go ahead and get this out of the way, I know the Motionless in White album is the biggest album coming out this week, but frankly, I have no desire to cover it. I know they’re getting a bit better and a bit heavier and I know Chris Motionless is objectively a great vocalist, I just have no interest in it. If that’s your thing, I’ve heard it’s solid, it’s just not for me. That said, there are tons of great other releases this week that are also worth checking out.
Secrets – This album is remarkably good, like, very good. Unfortunately, it’s almost sure to be overshadowed by the Motionless In White album since they’re a bit more commercially viable, but it really is a shame cause this is a remarkable piece of music. This is actually probably their best album yet, which I know is a huge accolade after all the hype their 2018 self-titled album got, but I really think it is. It’s also definitely their heaviest work yet. There’s really just so many good things to say about this album, but most of all, it deserves to be heard, so I hope it gets the attention it deserves.
Dragged Under – This album is kinda hard to pin down. It’s kinda metalcore, kinda pop punk, kinda hardcore, kinda post hardcore. It’s a bit of everything, which sounds incredibly chaotic, but when it’s done right, it’s a genre-spanning effort that combines all the diversity and best elements of all of the above. And that’s pretty much what they managed to pull off here. The other bonus is that the appeal is nearly endless. Like metalcore? You’re gonna like this. Like pop punk? You’re gonna like it. So chances are, you’re gonna enjoy this album.
Singles/Albums – Motionless in White (LP, Metalcore), The Devil Wears Prada (Metalcore), Motionless in White (LP, Metalcore), The Ghost Inside (Metalcore), Pianos Become the Teeth (Post-Hardcore), Lamb of God (Metal), Taking Back Sunday & Steve Aoki (Post-Hardcore), Emery (Post-Hardcore)
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