Sh*t That Comes Out Today – June 17, 2022
Our fat asses are melting under this summer heat, so here are some tunes for sweating your tattoos off. Drink plenty of water to cut through all of the piñ coladas and High Life tall boys, little headbangers. And remember: it’s not the heat, it’s the humility…
Grey Daze
The Phoenix (Concord)
It’d be easy to think of The Pheonix is simply a memorial for late Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington, and nothing more. But what we actually have here is a love letter to ’90s alternative and hard rock. Chester’s vocals are obviously haunting after his death, but hearing them over these tracks he helped write in the mid-to-late ’90s is a startling throwback to the rock music on the radio at that time. Even if they come to honor Chester, fans of that era will stick around to hear Grey Daze bring it vividly back to life.
Vatican
ULTRA (UNFD)
Well, fuck, man! Savannah’s Vatican have long been one of our favorite bands of the emerging new wave of crushing metalcore (metalcore? Nu-core? Who cares, let’s get tenderized). ULTRA is a reminder of why, throwing a flurry of fists out the gate and never letting up for an instant. Powerful, fanatical, and entertaining through and through, this record is the kind of album we’re always excited to listen to, and which would’ve full-on radicalized us into Vatican’s fanbase as young listeners. Good to know albums this awesome still get made.
Burner
A Vision of the End (Church Road Records)
Well, now, how the hell have I slept on Burner? The London band make exactly the kind of sick, punchy, unhinged hardcore-infused death metal that I live for. And A Vision of the End is a display of their sound at its most hard-hitting and exciting. I think! Because this is my first taste of them. So either they’ve always been this killer, or they got this killer on this record. Either way, put this banger on post-haste.
ONI
Loathing Light (Blood Blast Distribution)
On the one hand, ONI play the kind of straightforward, listenable metalcore that’ll have our sneer-oriented fans bitching about them. But even I, as some judgmental metal hipster, can hear why a lot of people would like this album. It’s got a ton of heart, and obviously believes in what it’s doing, which happens to be very catchy hard-rock-leaning contemporary metal.
So if you’re here for the filth, this might not be for you. If you like some big, anthemic metal tracks, this is your jam.
Other Shit That Comes Out Today
Aptera, You Can’t Bury What Still Burns (Ripple) Listen
Blasphemous Creation, Beyond the Grave (Horror Pain Gore Death) Listen
Chaos Magic, Emerge (Frontiers) Listen
Civil War, Invaders (Napalm) Listen
Denouncement Pyre, Forever Burning (Agonia) Listen
Inexorum, Equinox Vigil (Gilead) Listen
Seven Kingdoms, Zenith (Distortion) Listen
Vypera, Eat Your Heart Out (Frontiers) Listen
White Ward, False Light (Debemur Morti) Listen
Zombi, Zombi & Friends, Volume 1 (Relapse) Listen
