Diving into a record that’s virtually incomparable to current trends and artists is a refreshing yet tedious task because how will the people know what to expect? Will words be enough to entice when you can’t compare the record to something already readily known? The answer to all those conundrums in the case of Boston’s Motel Black is yes, for sure. Because great music shouldn’t need that kind of crutch, right?
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Of course to get the full appeal of the “Intergalactic Nomads” who make up Sick N’ Beautiful you need a visual accompaniment… but any outfit worth their weight knows that there has to be some substance behind the show. Luckily, Sick N’ Beautiful back up the stunning visuals displayed in their videos and look (And upcoming film!) with killer album after killer album.
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Let’s face the facts: there’s no such thing as a bad album from The Clay People. Our only gripe over the years has been consistency. The songs are there and the musicianship is definitely there but there’s just something in the execution with the album sequence that tends to drop the momentum after the first blast of songs. 2018’s Demon Hero… fixed that glitch in the system and now, with Cult Hypnotica, The Clay People stand on the precipice of some long awaited and much deserved greatness.
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This is the kind of album that makes us question our life choices regarding why we never got into Municipal Waste in the first place. Maybe we should start a column called “Oops! I Did It Again!” with the focus being artists we initially neglected only to find out they kick serious ass. Sounds better than the “How’s that egg on our face look?” or “Boy! Does that crow taste great!”, right?
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Sweet holy jeebus, there’s nothing on the market right now that sounds anything like ITHACA. With their sophomore outing, the London-based quintet take your favorite parts of Metalcore, Doom, and just Heavy music in general, infuse it with an undeniably captivating melodic side, and conjure up one of the most original new Metal records of 2022.
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Tapping into the Alt-Rawk fuzz of the ’90’s, Boston’s dropbear exude an enchanting kind of aura on debut single, “Bystander”, which is similarly endearing to fans of that era of music while also standing tall as an enduring track all its’ own serving as the perfect introduction to the quintet ahead of their first EP arriving in July.
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There have been a lot of hopefuls in recent years but I don’t think anyone’s come as close as Profiler has to capturing the Nu-Metal vibe so perfectly. The Bristol, UK outfit especially excel when it comes to harnessing the power of the oft looked over latter years of that genre when bands like Linkin Park were really dominating (Think Meteora) and many an underground band were getting signed, putting out records, then getting dropped before the ink on the contract was even dry (Lookin’ at you, Darwin’s Waiting Room, The Deadlights, Five Pointe O, et al). Add in some vocals from guitarist/vocalist Mike Evans that perfectly mix Fred Durst’s magical flow on the mic with Jonathan Davis’ raw aggression and fans get one helluva potent combination on a debut EP that’s a cut above the rest.
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Okay kids! First things first, let it be known that the latest from New Jersey’s Vexes is a lot to take in. It’s a double album! And that’s a bold move if you don’t have the material to back it up. We can think of a few veteran acts who’ve done the same recently releasing records that just failed to connect and missed the mark entirely. Not the case with Imagine What We Could Destroy /// If Only Given Time whose only fault seems to be the abundance of compelling consistency within its’ sonic walls so trust us when we say you’re going to wanna set some time aside to soak this all in.
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What a delightfully dense collection of magical music from The Swell Fellas! With their latest release, Novaturia, the transplanted trio originally from Maryland (Who now reside in Nashville) provide a glimpse into their future with an EP that acts as a third eye and connects the dots between their debut full-length (2020’s The Big Grand Entrance) and subsequent follow-up EP with a release that expands on their already impressive palette of erudite musical statements and takes their brand of Desert Psych Rawk to newfangled levels of aural awesomeness.
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If there was just one word to describe the whole of What Normal Was, the latest from A Perfect Circle co-founder Billy Howerdel, it’d have to be “haunting”. Or maybe “evocative” is more fitting as it conjures up less a Gothic setting and more an expansive one. Which is exactly what WNW is. As massive sounding as What Normal Was is, it isn’t meant to sound like the aforementioned moody Alt of A Perfect Circle nor is it the more straightforward Alternative Rawk of Ashes Divide (Howerdel’s 2008 outfit). What you get with this collection of Electronic/New Wave-tinged sonic soliloquies is just Billy Howerdel being the most Billy Howerdel ever on probably the most (And maybe best?) Billy Howerdel sounding record of all.
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