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Mostly not death metal!
Jul. 20th, 2024 07:54 amIt's been a while since I posted about music, mostly because it's been a while since I had bandwidth to listen to a new album the whole way through. But things are turning around! Here are a few fantastic new releases from this year.
Estrangement by Rope Sect: How do I describe Rope Sect? They're a goth rock (ish) band that have been getting some cross-genre hype in metalhead spaces, which makes intuitive sense to me even though I can't point to any specifically metallic qualities in their music. The Vibe(TM) is just right, I guess. Apparently they're also a concept band, but I haven't really delved into their mythology much yet. (It's something about a separatist cult that's obsessed with hangings, hence all the noose imagery.) They set dark, disturbing lyrics to beautiful melancholic melodies, and the singer's voice is truly gorgeous. Estrangement is their most recent album; I've had their first, The Great Flood, in regular rotation for quite a while now, and I expect this new one will join it.
Never, Neverland by Unto Others: New EP new EP new EP!!!!! Unto Others are a heavy metal band who kind of accidentally reinvented goth rock for themselves, and only realised it after everyone started comparing them to Sisters of Mercy. They're among my favourite bands and it's going to take me a while to digest these new three songs (rest of the album coming in September), but my first impression is that they're leaning more into the soft, wistful side of their sound. It's not the choice I'd have made for them if they came to my house and asked me to pick (heavier, though not always better, is usually where I gravitate) but I'm very much still on board and enjoying the hell out of the new material.
Cutting the Throat of God by Ulcerate: I did say mostly. I went into this album blind, never having listened to Ulcerate before nor seen any reviews - it just came up on a list of new releases, and the cover art looked like roughly what I was in the mood for, so I gave it a try. And holy shit I'm so glad I did. It's been one of those "grabbed by the throat from the opening bars and transported straight to another world" experiences. This is gorgeously dissonant blackened death metal, both melodic and highly technical (though melody is at the forefront imo - the technicality is complementary and never drowns it out). It probably helped that my first listen was outdoors in thin clothes on a freezing cold, grey, windy day - perfect atmosphere for such relentlessly dark, grim music - but I'm finding it no less evocative now, tucked up snugly indoors with my feet in a spa.
Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind by Coheed and Cambria: And now, for something completely different, prog rock! This one was a social listen for me: I had a friend over and they were telling me about an upcoming show by their favourite band and whether or not it's worth going alone when they have no one to drag with them. I was not able to offer to go, as I'm still very much needed at home by tiny people, but we listened to the new album together and I enjoyed it! I actually sort of know the band from my high school days, when they tended to get lumped in with emo based mainly on the high-pitched male vocals. I'm pleased to learn that they're still going and enjoyed the album enough on my first chatty encounter that I'm definitely going to give it another more attentive listen on my own time.
Estrangement by Rope Sect: How do I describe Rope Sect? They're a goth rock (ish) band that have been getting some cross-genre hype in metalhead spaces, which makes intuitive sense to me even though I can't point to any specifically metallic qualities in their music. The Vibe(TM) is just right, I guess. Apparently they're also a concept band, but I haven't really delved into their mythology much yet. (It's something about a separatist cult that's obsessed with hangings, hence all the noose imagery.) They set dark, disturbing lyrics to beautiful melancholic melodies, and the singer's voice is truly gorgeous. Estrangement is their most recent album; I've had their first, The Great Flood, in regular rotation for quite a while now, and I expect this new one will join it.
Never, Neverland by Unto Others: New EP new EP new EP!!!!! Unto Others are a heavy metal band who kind of accidentally reinvented goth rock for themselves, and only realised it after everyone started comparing them to Sisters of Mercy. They're among my favourite bands and it's going to take me a while to digest these new three songs (rest of the album coming in September), but my first impression is that they're leaning more into the soft, wistful side of their sound. It's not the choice I'd have made for them if they came to my house and asked me to pick (heavier, though not always better, is usually where I gravitate) but I'm very much still on board and enjoying the hell out of the new material.
Cutting the Throat of God by Ulcerate: I did say mostly. I went into this album blind, never having listened to Ulcerate before nor seen any reviews - it just came up on a list of new releases, and the cover art looked like roughly what I was in the mood for, so I gave it a try. And holy shit I'm so glad I did. It's been one of those "grabbed by the throat from the opening bars and transported straight to another world" experiences. This is gorgeously dissonant blackened death metal, both melodic and highly technical (though melody is at the forefront imo - the technicality is complementary and never drowns it out). It probably helped that my first listen was outdoors in thin clothes on a freezing cold, grey, windy day - perfect atmosphere for such relentlessly dark, grim music - but I'm finding it no less evocative now, tucked up snugly indoors with my feet in a spa.
Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind by Coheed and Cambria: And now, for something completely different, prog rock! This one was a social listen for me: I had a friend over and they were telling me about an upcoming show by their favourite band and whether or not it's worth going alone when they have no one to drag with them. I was not able to offer to go, as I'm still very much needed at home by tiny people, but we listened to the new album together and I enjoyed it! I actually sort of know the band from my high school days, when they tended to get lumped in with emo based mainly on the high-pitched male vocals. I'm pleased to learn that they're still going and enjoyed the album enough on my first chatty encounter that I'm definitely going to give it another more attentive listen on my own time.
