Sh*t That Comes Out Today – October 14, 2022
It’s Friday morning and God is still asleep, passed out drunk behind an Arby’s dumpster. I guess we should get on with the new releases, then…
Alter Bridge
Pawns & Kings (Napalm)
The dual guitar/vocal approach of Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti has always made Alter Bridge stand out from their heavy rock peers and that’s still the case on Pawns & Kings, the quartet’s seventh album. The songs on Pawns are some of the heaviest Alter Bridge have released to date, which is always a pleasant surprise this far into a band’s career.
Lorna Shore
Pain Remains (Century Media)
Deathcore is alive and well if Lorna Shore have anything to say about it. The New Jersey-based outfit expand on the symphonic and blackened elements of their sound on Pain Remains without giving up any of the heaviness of their earlier music. Lorna Shore aren’t the first to marry black metal and deathcore but they might be the best.
Poppy
Stagger (Republic)
Alternative icon Poppy combines heavy alt rock and pop on new EP Stagger, particularly on first two tracks “FYB” and “Pocket.” The two punk and alt rock songs are followed by a pair of pop bangers that contain little resemblance to the first two songs and are more in line with Poppy’s pre-I Disagree work.
Ripped to Shreds
劇變 (Jubian) (Relapse)
West coast death metal outfit Ripped to Shreds go straight for the throat on their Relapse debut. 劇變 clocks in at eight songs, wasting no time at all in dismembering the listener with entusiastic buzzsaw death metal. Whether it’s the 10-minute epic “In Solitude – Sun Moon Holy Cult Pt 3” or the sub-minute “Scripture Containing the Supreme Internal Energy Arts That Render the Practitioner Invincible Throughout the Martial Realm,” Ripped to Shreds position themselves at the forefront of American death metal with their new album.
Skid Row
The Gang’s All Here (earMUSIC)
Hair metal legends Skid Row refuse to go quietly into the night on The Gang’s All Here, their first album with singer Erik Grönwall. The Gang’s All Here features plenty of big choruses and more heaviness than one could reasonably expect from Skid Row in 2022 and it totally works. Grönwall adds a welcome dose of youthful swagger to the band and guitarist Dave Sabo has plenty of mileage left.
Birds in Row, Gris Klein (Red Creek) Listen
Boundaries, Burying Brightness (3DOT) Listen
Lacuna Coil, Comalies XX (Century Media) Listen
Orianthi, Rock Candy (Frontiers Music Srl) Listen
Rhythm of Fear, Fatal Horizons (MNRK Heavy) Listen
Sleeping With Sirens, Complete Collapse (Sumerian) Listen
We Came as Romans, Darkbloom (SharpTone) Listen
