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)