As usual, a week stacked full of awesome new releases, featuring everything from country to metal! Let’s dive in!
Dylan Scott: Easy Does It
We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read our review of it here.
Stray From the Path: Clockworked
So, I only heard about the release of this album at Slam Dunk last weekend. It turns out that the album is somewhat of a surprise release but, not only that, it is set to be their last, with the band calling it quits after a decade and doing some farewell touring for the rest of the year. So, already that’s put a downer on things, as I fucking love this band. However, I’m sure this will be a bittersweet release, to say the least.
It very much is, as this is a fantastic release. The perfect blend of hardcore and rappy nu-metal, some of the riffs and breakdowns are fantastic. Plus, the band are just as angry as they always have been, the lyrics calling out just about everyone in a way only Andrew can do. It’s absolutely packed full of awesome tracks too, with single ‘Shot Caller’ and the heavy AF ‘Shocker’ being personal highlights. Heck, my only issue with this is that it’s just too damn short. I get that hardcore has a tendency to not overstay it’s welcome (or just stay long in general) but just 30-minutes… goddamn do I need more! It again might be a case of I know this is the last release from them, at least for the foreseeable, though, that I just need double this pumped into my veins.
Still, it’s a fucking fantastic album from start to finish, the bands energy being infectious and makes me wanna break stuff and start a revolution. Everyone works their asses off throughout this whole thing, including guests from LANDMVRKS and Poison the Well, and have crafted something that more than lives up to their previous releases. I’ll be spinning this a lot moving forward, and it gets another very easy 9/10 from us!
Trampled by Turtles & Alan Sparhawk: Self-Titled (kinda)
The legendary Low member joins the indie-folk/alt country band for a really interesting collaboration album! Right off the bat, it’s not for everyone. However, despite its simplicity, I found myself really enjoying it! Alan fits in perfectly with the band, and they’ve all crafted a really interesting epic folk/Americana record. Songs like ‘Too High’ and ‘Princess Road Surgery’ are personal highlights for me. However, at barely over half an hour long, it’s short and sweet, and was great to just lay back and relax and listen to in one sitting. Everyone involved is clearly talented and have crafted something pretty special here. It won’t be something I revisit very often, but it is certainly not a bad album and if you are a fan of either party’s work prior, or the styles I’ve mentioned here, it’s definitely worth checking out! It’s definitely come out the right time of the year, too. It gets a pretty solid 7/10 from us, I enjoyed it more than I expected to!
Rivers of Nihil: Self-Titled
The fifth album from the US tech/prog death metal titans goes just as hard as their previous releases, and is absolutely AMAZING. ‘The Sub-Orbital Blues’ is such a fantastic track in its own right, and sets the tone and pace for the album perfectly! Then you have stuff like… well… all of it. This is 50-minutes of not only a technical masterclass when it comes to metal instrumentation and singing/screaming, but also a masterclass on how to write it. From brutal screams to catchy, clean-sung choruses to crushing breakdowns to the awesome dropped-down bits on songs like ‘Despair Church’, it’s all so good. Heck, they even threw in some sexy, SEXY sax in a couple of tracks, somehow making them even better! It’s not even a case of “if you can handle prog…” this time, as the whole thing goes by in a flash. If you are in any way into metal, or are in any way a musicians, you have to give this a spin at least once, so you can have your mind blown as much as I did. I’m bound to be listening to this a lot moving forward, and it may very well be my favourite album by the band. I can’t give it any less than 10/10, phenomenal stuff!
Ty Segall: Possession
The multi-genred soloist is back, following up his two releases from last year. We somehow haven’t covered any of his stuff here before, and I’m not all that familiar with his work, so I am oddly curious heading into this!
It’s certainly on the quirky side, but in a rather endearing way. While it’s not my usual sort of music, I found myself enjoying it, especially to listen to in full kinda in the background while I worked on other stuff. It had an old-school vibe to it, almost giving slight Beatles vibes to it, but of course more garage and indie. Tracks like ‘Possession’, ‘Shining’ and the epic closer are all big personal highlights. However, there isn’t a bad song on the release, and is worth listening through at least once! He’s clearly a very talented player and songwriter. It’s not something I’d necessarily revisit often, but I certainly enjoyed my time with the album and will most certainly be keeping an eye out for future releases from Ty! It gets a solid 7/10 from us!
LessDMV: |E|
We’ve also checked this one out already! Read the glowing review here!
The Haunted: Songs of Last Resort
The legendary melodeath titans put out their first album in eight years this past Friday. It’s been a long time coming but, to the surprise of I’m sure almost no one, it’s another banger of a release! Right from the offset it’s heavy and technical in all the best ways. ‘Warhead’ is an awesome song and almost the perfect melodeath track! Then you have stuff like ‘Unbound’, the thrashy ‘Hell is Wasted on the Dead’ and ‘Collateral Carnage’ that are all massive personal highlights. However, this is 40-minute of melodic death metal awesomeness; there isn’t a bad song on it! It’s essentially a supergroup at this point, but even then the talent between the five of them is off the charts. I hadn’t listened to this band for a while before now, but goddamn do they have a huge renewed fan in me! If you are at all into metal, be it melodeath or even lighter, I’d still recommend checking this out. It’s a phenomenal album from start to finish, and one that I wouldn’t be surprised to see high on our albums of the year list come December. An easy 9/10 from us!
Anderson East: Worthy
The Southern soul artist’s first release in nearly four years is a great album! I’ve been really getting into this sort of sound again recently, whether it’s from Cardinal Black’s latest album or older stuff like Jamie Joseph, Tom Seals or even Jody Blount, and this is another great addition to that growing list! Songs like ‘Anyway’ and ‘Before it Gets Better’ are personal highlights, but this whole thing is pretty great and certainly worth sticking on if you want something to sit back and chill with! It certainly isn’t going to be everyone reading this’ bag, but I really enjoyed this and have listened to it a couple of times over this weekend already. It’s one I’ll definitely be revisiting pretty often moving forward, and it gets a 8/10 from us!
Shrouded in Darkness: 11:11
Album number three from the Swedish blackened-doom metallers is an awesome-yet-short release. It’s dark and evil and epic all in equal measure, as well as being perfectly heavy. I love the organ behind it all, adding so much depth to the song and really adding to the doom vibe. And instrumentally, as well as the growls, it’s all amazing! Tracks like ‘Cruel Winds’ and ‘The Lurking Devil’ are both personal high points. However, it somehow feels both too short, and kinda repetitive. It’s only six tracks and an intro, but each of said tracks is a similar feel and tempo, leading to it all blending together a little. It’s a great blend, and the album went by in a flash, but it meant that the whole thing was memorable instead of certain tracks. It’s a great sound they have going on, but a little variety, especially after three albums, would have been amazing. The band are talented and have made a great album, one I’d recommend to any doom/black metal fans reading this. But yeah, it did get a little much by the end. 7/10
Dead Daisies: Lookin’ for Trouble
Something a bit different from the supergroup this time around as they’ve pulled a Whitesnake; chasing last year’s big release with a fun, foot-stomping blues album. We’re pretty familiar with the band here, heck I’m a firm believer that Jon Corabi can make gold out of anything, so believe me when I say that this is the most fun I’ve had with the Daisies in a while. Any long-time readers here know that I’m a big blues head at heart, but even still, this is a fantastically made album. Yes, it is technically a covers album, the band recreating everything from ‘Black Betty’ to ‘Crossroads’ to ‘Walking the Dog’. However, the band put their own spin on each and every one of these 10 tracks, and it makes for a damn enjoyable listen! As much as I enjoy the harder, heavier and sleazier stuff the band usually produces, this is a fantastic addition to their discography and a must for any fans of the band or blues music. It is clear that each member of the band is a true fan of the music they are playing, and more than do it justice, while also making it sound pretty damn Daisies in the process. It’s a great stop-gap between their written material, and gets a very solid 8.5/10 from us!