New Music Report – June 4, 2022
Not every week is a hit, sometimes bands I’ve always really loved come out with something that just sorta misses the mark, or a band that’s been meh for a while, continues to be meh. And that’s what’s going on this week. Honestly, it’s not even that bad, but they aren’t the hits they should be. That said, we got more music from both Counterparts and Callous Daoboys this week which more than makes up for it.
Memphis May Fire – Memphis May Fire haven’t really done anything for me for over a decade if I’m perfectly honest. Everything from The Hollow and earlier was really incredible, but since then they were just sorta boring and generic. They had a few albums that were completely off the path and really sucked, and the band didn’t handle the response well either. But they’re starting to come back from that and put out decently good music again. It’s still fairly generic, but they’ve improved for sure.
Thornhill – Thornhill absolutely blew me away with their last album. Absolutely remarkable, I can’t say enough good things about it. Incredibly powerful vocals, intricate instrumentation, very well written songs, etc. It made a profound impact on me when it came out, and I still revisit it all the time. This new album, however, I’m not feeling it at all. It’s a little dull, less complex, heading more towards a poppier sound. It’s doing very well for them, and I’m happy for them for that, it’s exactly what they need to do professionally, but it’s just not for me.
Singles/Albums – Counterparts (Metalcore/Hardcore), Callous Daoboys (Mathcore), Mothman (Mathcore), Dream on Dreamer (Metalcore), Muse (Rock), Amon Amarth (Death Metal), We Came as Romans (Metalcore), Darko US (Deathcore), Motionless in White (Metalcore), Halo Effect (Melodic Death Metal)
Read MoreNew Music Report – May 27, 2022
I always love the albums that I come across to review that are outside of my typical wheelhouse. I know I generally cover heavier music, but I do listen to a lot of post rock and I really enjoy being able to share it. On top of that, when it’s even more relaxed, almost ambient stuff like this new Mono album, all the better. So while this is VERY different from what I usually cover, it’s breath-taking and I can’t recommend it any more.
Mono – This album is gorgeous. This isn’t exactly a traditional Mono album, it’s an original soundtrack composed by Mono, so it’s a bit more ambient than post rock, but man, they are just as good at ambient as they are at post rock, it’s just at emotive, calming, and just beautiful. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been pretty stressed out lately, and putting this album on was like a complete reset for me; it was just what I needed. This album is absolutely what I need right now, and I think it might do everyone else some good too.
Scary Kids Scaring Kids – I was a little bit surprised by this album, to be honest. When SKSK announced their reunion tour as their first attempt to reunite after the death of their singer and their previous breakup a few years prior, they announced Cove Reber (ex-Saosin) would be their vocalist, which actually seemed like a good fit. So it seemed weird that this new album would have a series of songs, all with a unique feature vocalist. It’s cool in concept, but usually ends up feeling more like a compilation album than a complete piece, and that’s exactly what happened here. SKSK would never be the same without Tyson, though Cove offered the best chance, so maybe they’ll continue exploring that in the future.
Singles/Albums – Hollow Front (LP, Metalcore), Thornhill (Post-Hardcore), Antagonist AD (Hardcore), Limbs (Metalcore), Miss May I (Metalcore), Neck Deep (Pop Punk), Teeth (Metalcore), Bullet for my Valentine (Metalcore), Long Distance Calling (Post Metal), Glass Crown (Metalcore)
Read More
New Music Report – May 20, 2022
This is admittedly a pretty big week, there are at least two banner releases that I’ve been very excited for (Be Well and Cave In) and both of them, somehow, managed to exceed expectations. Couple that with new music, once again, from The Wonder Years and Alexisonfire in the same week, it’s hard to get much better than that.
Static Dress – This is another one of those really cool new screamo bands out there like SeeYouSpaceCowboy and If I Die First, that somehow manages to perfectly recapture a sound that most of these kids were far too young to experience the first time around, which allows them to add their own perspective in the songwriting, so it’s not just a bunch of old dudes rehashing their glory days. I think it’s a brilliant formula and I’m such a huge fan of all these young bands. These guys, being from the UK, have really strong Funeral for a Friend vibes and I absolutely love it.
Cave In – Cave In really needs no introduction, they’re one of the most legendary names in metalcore, post hardcore, and whatever other sound they happen to be experimenting with at the time. After transitioning from metalcore after quite literally defining the genre with Until Your Heart Stops, to a mostly post-hardcore based sound over 20 years ago, they’ve been sort of all over the place, Jupiter got them a lot of mainstream success as a post-hardcore/space rock type album, but they’ve been hit or miss for me since then. This newest album, Heavy Pendulum, however, is easily their best work in the past 20 years. It sounds less experimental and more just absolutely dialed in like you would expect from a band that’s been together for a quarter century. I do love Cave In, but I was not expecting something quite this remarkably good at this point in their career, this has been on repeat for a long time and will surely end up on my album of the year list.
Be Well EP – I love this band so much, I’ve been tracking these guys since day 1, they’re a Baltimore/DC punk band with members from Darkest Hour, Bane, Battery, etc, and it sounds like a purely authentic, nostalgic DC-area emotional, melodic hardcore band, backed up by some of the all-time greats from that, and adjacent genres. Everything they do sounds like they’ve perfected the sound and are putting on just an absolute masterclass in what emotional hardcore should sound like. And that’s probably because they did perfect the sound individually, years ago. Part of this is a nostalgia trip, taking me back to all the shitty hardcore and punk shows I’d go to back in DC when I was admittedly far too young to be doing so, but if that’s all it is, I’ll listen to these guys until the end of time. Fortunately, it’s so much more than that, so even someone without those equivalent life experiences, playing into a strong sense of nostalgia like I am, can enjoy this album just as much as I do.
Singles/Albums – Wonder Years (Emo/Pop Punk), Alexisonfire (Post-Hardcore), Secrets (Metalcore), The Algorithm (Electronic/Djent), Dragged Under (Punk), Arch Enemy (Metal), Patent Sixty-Seven (Metalcore), Mayday Parade (Pop Punk), Our Last Night (Metalcore), Asking Alexandria (Metalcore), Bleeding Through (Metalcore), Brojob (Deathcore), Anthony Green (Alternative), Flume (LP, EDM)
Read More
New Music Report – May 13, 2022
Sometimes these posts are a bit of a challenge, it’s always easy to write about bands that I follow intently, but when I get bands like State Champs, that I really admire just don’t follow that closely, it always offers a bit of a fun challenge. That said, it’s also a lot of fun to revisit these bands that I haven’t really paid much attention to for a few years, only to find that they’re doing even better.
State Champs – Late spring/early summer is pop punk time. I don’t make the rules, it just is. Which means this album came out at the absolutely perfect time. Honestly, I’m not always in the mood for pop punk these days, but it kinda sounds like the same thing is the case for most of the pop punk bands from the early-‘10s pop punk wave. State Champs included, they have been staples of the pop punk scene for about a decade now, and they’re maturing into a bit more of an adult sounding version of pop punk. They still have their signature jumpy, summer time pop punk energy, but now they’re proving they’re one of the kings of the sound and just simply doing it better than most.
Misery Index – I’m not gonna lie, Misery Index is really cool, but I’ve spent basically my whole life thinking of Misery Index as “no, not Misery Signals”, and that really isn’t fair to them. The Baltimore deathgrind band has just as much of a storied discography and lengthy history in the heavy music scene. In fact, they’re as consistent as ever, and this album is dan near perfect. Honestly, I don’t listen to a ton of music in this specific genre, but Misery Index is usually my go to for this exact reason.
Singles/Albums – Lorna Shore (Deathcore), Mono (Post Rock), Berried Alive (Instrumental Djent), Polyphia (Math Rock), Behemoth (Black Metal), D.R.U.G.S. (Post-Hardcore), Death Cab For Cutie (Indie), Emery (Post-Hardcore), Bayside (Pop Punk), Soilwork (Metal), Left to Suffer (Metalcore)
Read More
New Music Report – May 6, 2022
I love getting surprised when I write these pieces. Sharing music with my friends has always been a big motivator for me when writing these, but in a selfish sense, I do it for myself. To force myself out there to find new and exciting upcoming bands that I wouldn’t have given a chance otherwise or find really strange releases that may have flown under the radar otherwise, and this week happens to have both of those types of albums. And it once again makes me incredibly glad I am proactive about finding new music, there’s simply so much out there to enjoy.
Wind Waker – Every year I get caught up by at least one album that’s really just commercialized metalcore with poppy hooks and clean vocals, and I admit they aren’t the most complex albums, but many are they catchy, and I sure do love them. This is that album this year. I haven’t been able to stop listening to this one. It’s not a revolutionary album at all, it’s just a lot of fun and I can’t get these songs out of my head.
Ibakari – This album is so wild, it’s Mat Heafy from Trivium and Ihsahn from Emperor with a few odd features like Gerard Way doing black metal vocals, and the result is basically just a modern interpretation of 90’s Opeth. And if you have any idea how much I love 90’s/early 00’s Opeth, you’ll know how big of a compliment that actually is. Usually, side projects are a little half baked, but when you’re as good as these two musicians, you don’t really half ass anything, and the result is really remarkable.
Singles/Albums – Upon a Burning Body (LP, Metalcore), Terror (LP, Hardcore), Silverstein (LP, Post-Hardcore), The Algorithm (Electronic/Djent), Cabal (Sludge), Suicide Silence (Deathcore), Thousand Below (Post-Hardcore), Stray from the Path (Metalcore)
Read More
New Music Report – April 29, 2022
I honestly had plans to cover a few more albums more in depth this week, there are actually a lot of solid albums that came out, along with some great singles from bands like Bury Tomorrow and Distant. But sometimes, one album comes along and shines so far above the rest, I really feel like I should focus on that one to bring more attention to that specific piece of music, and that is exactly what happened this week. Before I even get started, go check out the Vagrants album for yourself.
Vagrants – I was not expecting this at all. I had heard some minor buzzing about this band and figured it was the usual self-promoted YouTube and Reddit hype. The singles were solid but didn’t really stick out to me too much but the album, that was an entirely different story. It’s honestly very hard to find good post hardcore these days that isn’t trying to sound like a Dance Gavin Dance rip off, and these guys pull it off brilliantly. It sounds like the progressive post hardcore bands from the late-00s/early-10s, which seeing as I played in one of those bands in that era, that sound will always mean a lot to me. These guys are not a band to miss, they’re signed to Equal Vision Records, but as of July, most songs on this album still only have 4 digit plays on Spotify. Hop on this bandwagon now.
Singles/Albums – And Hell Followed With (LP, Deathcore), Void of Vision (EP, Nu-Metalcore) Watain (LP, Black Metal), Goldilush (LP, ex-Darkest Hour), Bury Tomorrow (Metalcore), Distant (Deathcore), Our Hollow, Our Home (Metalcore), Rammstein (LP, Industrial Metal), Malevolence (Metalcore), Emarosa (Pop), Misery Index (Metal)
Read More