Sh*t That Comes Out Today: February 19, 2021
Pretty slow week for new metal releases, but I guess half the country still needs something to listen to while snowed in.
Coronary
Sinbad (Cruz del Sur)
Based on the nun grabbing a quick smoke on the cover, I can only assume that the title Sinbad is a play on words by these Finnish classic metallers. Not sure whether to cringe or congratulate them. The quality of their music is much less ambiguous — unabashed throwbacks to the days when Dio and Accept ruled the Earth (if those days ever really even existed), Coronary deliver the kind of fun you can usually only find through crate digging.
Gravesend
Methods of Human Disposal (20 Buck Spin)
You ever hate how death metal songs can go on for-goddamned-ever? Well, Gravesend cram absolutely gnarly doomy death/black metal into 2 minute chunks without sacrificing any of the meaty goodness or turning into grind. They’re kinda like the sepulchral Wire — verse, chorus, quick solo/mosh part, move on. Extreme metal songwriting reduced to its minimum necessary components. Just ’cause the songs are disposable-sized chunks doesn’t mean they lack indispensable awesomeness.
Harakiri for the Sky
Maere (AOP)
Harakiri for the Sky are my kinda jam — and while the title of their latest, Maere, refers to a nasty little creature that pops a squat on your chest while you sleep and gives you night terrors, the music itself is the stuff dreams are made of. Post-black metal that wears its emotions on its wolfskin sleeve. Obviously this stuff can feel boring but HFTS infuse it with a combo of heartfelt vocals and epic melodies that keep you pinned to your bed in fascination.
Lake of Tears
Ominous (AFM)
Run, tiny cosmonaut, run! Those raven spectres look hungry! Do raven spectres even eat? You won’t find the answer in Ominous, but you will find plenty of heavy goth goodness. I’d never heard of the band, but apparently they’ve been around since 1994 and gone through some hefty lineup changes in that time — original vocalist/guitarist Daniel Brennare is the only remaining member, period. So this definitely comes from a personal place. It’s a surprisingly enjoyable (if not exactly fun) listen for an album about the toll taken on Brennare’s life by his battle with leukemia.
Mogwai
As the Love Continues (Temporary Residence)
Probably my favorite of the 90s wave of post-rockers, Mogwai’s cutesy song titles belie the emotional impact of their songs. Not really sure what they’re about (and Stuart Braithwaite’s Scottish brogue makes it difficult to tell when he does actually sing), but they tap into rich emotional veins on both their soundtrack work and their studio releases — of which this is the tenth. It’s a compulsive bit of loveliness that you’ll want to revisit again and again.
OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
The Amenta – Revelator (Debemur Morti) Listen
Jakethehawk – Hinterlands (Ripple) Listen
Lizzard – Eroded (Pelagic) Listen
Ricky Warwick – When Life Was Hard And Fast (NB) Listen
Suffering Hour – The Cyclic Reckoning (Profound Lore) Listen
Temperance – Melodies Of Green And Blue EP (Napalm) Listen
Wintereve – October Dark (HPGD) Listen
