There seems to be a pattern here. Every other week is incredibly slow, which is then followed by a week where I’ve got a ton to show you. This week is the latter, and features some crusty doom from Paradise Lost, an unfairly catchy Mastodon b-side, a heartbreaking new Architects song, a Kauan track to chill you out after all that, and a free download of the new Necrophagist song!
I lied about the Necrophagist song. Life is unfair sometimes.
Architects – “Doomsday”
We’re gonna start this week off on a bit of a somber note. In 2016, 28-year old Architects guitarist Tom Searle, and brother of drummer Dan Searle, passed away from cancer. Only recently has the band begun to roll out new material and talk about a new album, having Sylosis guitarist and vocalist Josh Middleton step in for Tom.
The band has now released the new standalone single “Doomsday,” which was written partially by Tom before he passed away. The song’s lyrics alone are absolute killer, doubly so if you’ve lost a sibling or close family member to illness at a young age, but the video’s representation of Tom going to the universe is just… difficult.
Sure, it’s an amazing song that I’ve been blasting since it came out, but I can’t deny getting a little teary-eyed on quite a few occasions.
Chelsea Wolfe – “The Culling”
Man, Chelsea Wolfe really penetrated the metal scene in recent years, huh? Her music has never been consistently or conventionally heavy, but instead always appealed to the subdued, noisy sort of heaviness that the metal world seems to dig so damn much (myself included).
So allow Chelsea Wolfe to build up a massive wall of static-esque, mechanical noise to its logical climax with “The Culling,” only to break it back down into something that seems coldly heartfelt. Sure, it sounds like standard fair for Chelsea Wolfe, but the song has such a beautiful, almost sinister sort of quality to it.
Hiss Spun features some guest spots from dudes of Sumac, Converge, and Queens Of The Stone Age. You can pre-order the album here before it’s released on September 22!
Mastodon – “Toe To Toes”
On March 31, 2017, Mastodon unleashed its proggy new album Emperor Of Sand to the masses. In late August, very serious rumblings began that Emperor Of Sand wasn’t the only Mastodon release for 2017, and that something called Cold Dark Place was possibly slated for September.
Cold Dark Place was officially announced as a four song EP that consists of three songs written and recorded during 2014’s Once More ‘Round The Sun sessions, and one more that was recorded during the Emperor Of Sand sessions. “Toe To Toes” is the latter, and it’s obvious why the song didn’t make the final cut – it sounds nothing like Emperor Of Sand.
On the flip side, “Toe To Toes” is probably one of my favorite Mastodon songs of all time, and is so damn well-written that even if the rest of Cold Dark Place sucks, there’s still a 100% I’ll be picking it up. It’s slow, it’s catchy, and it covers a ton of stylistic ground. What more could you want?
Pre-order Cold Dark Place before its September 22 release date here.
Kauan – “Kasvot”
Listening to Kauan singles is always difficult because it’s like watching snippets of a fantastic movie you’re dying to see. Coming off the heels of its Sorni Nai album, which chronicled the mysterious death of nine Russian hikers mysteriously dying on February 2, 1959 in the Ural Mountains, Kaiho has a lot to live up to.
Fortunately the single “Kasvot” showcases a slightly faster, less droning version of Kauan, which is exciting considering they’re trying to paint an entirely different picture than Sorni Nai did. Specifically, “songwriter and founding member Anton Belov explores the transition from idyllic childhood to the care-laden weight of adulthood, fondly and tenderly bringing the faded memories of days long gone to life.”
So go ahead and get adult sad below, and then pre-order Kaiho here before September 22.
Paradise Lost – “Until The Grave”
It’s Paradise Lost. You know exactly what you’re getting into at this point – graven, crusty, relatively slow death metal that’ll only further the assertion that Nick Holmes is probably one of the best, most enduring vocalists in metal.
“Until The Grave” is one of those songs that sounds exactly like it’s title suggests it would, though unlike Paradise Lost‘s doom-entrenched contemporaries, it doesn’t go on forever. Paradise Lost gives you the “best of” version of doom metal, and absolutely kills it… which is a pun that also works as the truth. “Until The Grave” seems like a song that would especially appeal to the Bloodbath crowd who were looking for something a little slower.
Medusa is out now, and you can grab that here.
End – “Necessary Death”
End, the band consisting of vocalist Brendan Murphy (Counterparts), guitarists Will Putney (Fit For An Autopsy) and Gregory Thomas (ex-Shai Hulud, etc.), bassist Jay Pepito (Reign Supreme), and drummer Andrew McEnaney (Trade Wind, ex-Structures), just dropped debut EP The Unforgiving Arms Of God, and it’s stupid heavy.
End pretty much came out of nowhere last month and began releasing tracks off The Unforgiving Arms Of God before it was signed to Good Fight. End just has a good grasp of what it is to be heavy in 2017, though without all the frivolous additions to heavier songs that tend to water things down. There’s no long, quiet section in “Necessary Death,” and there’s no meandering progressive bit.
End is here to fuck shit up. Period. Grab The Unforgiving Arms Of God here.
Dyscarnate – “Traitors In The Palace”
I’ve got to hand it to Dyscarnate – after five years of silence, these dudes have written one hell of an album. Dyscarnate‘s music has always been pretty good, but never really stepped over the line into “holy shit” territory. With All Their Might has very clearly located that line, and then sprinted right past it until you’ve lost sight of the band over the horizon.
“Traitors In The Palace” is devastating, and as seems to be the case with the new album, contains varying shades of heavy and not much else. If you’re looking for something to blow out the speakers in your car to, or to lift heavier weights than you’ve ever lifted before, or just a good soundtrack to being pissed off, then “Traitors In The Palace” is for you.
