Sh*t That Comes Out Today: May 14, 2021

Good variety of stuff this week — German metalcore, post-folk/black metal, Death Metal (capitalized), synth prog, and… a surprisingly fun doom record from two hair farmers?!

Caliban
Zeitgeister (Century Media)

TIL that Caliban have 12 albums?! These Germans hit on the early side of the metalcore explosion but never quite made as much of a mark with their knuckle-bruising assault as their more adventurous countrymen in Heaven Shall Burn. They’ve apparently been steadily knocking out releases every two-three years since 1999 though, so you gotta give them credit for consistency at least. Both in schedule and sound! There’s some Linkin Park-y nu-metal quasi-rapping and electrochug to break up the breakdowns. Otherwise, if you really need more of this stuff then this’ll give you all the mosh-ready material you crave.

Dordeduh
Har (Prophecy)

Nearly ten years after these refugees from the late, lamented Negura Bunget first sent up a flare, we finally have the follow-up from Dordeduh — and the wait was worth it. This cosmically-inclined black metal feels more like an impression of the style from an extra-dimensional vantage point than anything orthodox. The group’s musical curiousity sweeps up everything in its path, so you never know whether to expect a beautiful folk-inspired passage or a nightmarish descent through the twisting time signatures of glorious prog intensity. Seriously magesterial beauty.

Grave Miasma
Abyss Of Wrathful Deities (Dark Descent)

I’m not gonna lie to you and pretend I know which esoteric death metal bands Grave Miasma pay tribute to, but I do know this: this shit rips. It’s been eight years since their last full-length (five since their last EP) and tons of tomb robbers have vomited out old-school metal of death in the interim. These poisonous vapors still make their moldy oldies feel freshly exhumed. At a full hour, it’s a lot of grave dirt to inhale, but the charnel atmosphere and sinister riffs will keep you haunting this cemetery.

Sunbomb
Evil and Divine (Frontiers)

Frankly, I’d be the last in line to guess that Tracii Guns and Michael Sweet had something like this in them, but here we are: the guitarist from LA Guns and the vocalist from Stryper put out a totally respectable tribute to the path they didn’t take back in the 80s. Much more akin to heavier acts like Trouble and Dio than their glammed-up pasts, these two veterans (along with some other LA Gunners) prove that sometimes old dogs can learn new tricks. It’s tempting to mock this. Really tempting. Give it a shot, though — Sunbomb really is more than the sum of its parts.

Zombi
Liquid Crystal EP (Relapse)

Dunno where those stingrays are jetting off to in attack formation, but you probably don’t wanna be in the way of their divebombing. Liquid Crystal offers five more tracks of the hard-edged synth prog approach they took on 2020. Rather than using the synthesizers to soften the harshness, the Pittsburgh duo uses them to reinforce the concrete walls. Essential as always nonetheless — these liquid crystals shine.

OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT THIS WEEK

Bala – Maleza (Century Media) Listen
Charlie Benante – Silver Linings (Megaforce) Listen
The Ember, The Ash – Fixation (Prosthetic) Listen
Frost* – Day And Age (InsideOut) Listen
Per Wiberg – All Is Well In The Land Of The Living But For The Rest Of Us . . . Lights Out (Despotz) Listen
Scar Of The Sun – Inertia (Napalm) Listen
Seventh Crystal – Delerium (Frontiers) Listen
Subterranean Masquerade – Mountain Fever (Sensory) Listen
Throat – Smile Less (Svart) Listen
Various Artists – Baphomet Soundtrack (Cleopatra) Listen