Our This Week in Metal post collects our thoughts on music released in or around this week in the music world. We cover mostly metal, but we consider other genres to allow our writers poseur flexibility. Follow us on Instagram too!
Scuttle Goat's Curmudgeonly Critique
While most of the band seems to just deliver about the bare minimum, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher's minimum is still higher than what most vocalists deliver. Fisher is not the flashiest vocalist and has a certain tone he sticks with, but it is his delivery and phrasing as a kind of master of ceremony that elevates some songs. Enjoyment horrific?
Metalligator's Chomping Commentaries
Polar Veil caught my attention simply by breaking the ice with distorted guitar in its first preview track. Hexvessel has used this before (and its members are no strangers to Metal), but Blackened Doom Metal was really not something I expected to hear from these guys. Not just another Black Metal Monday.
Ashbringer sound like they come from this lineage of music, a Pitchfork-approved style of Post-Black Metal made popular by bands like Deafheaven. But the material on We Came Here to Grieve features a harsher edge than the scrapbooking album cover entails, mainly carried by the vocals. Still not kvlt enough for sunscreen.
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveballs
Like straight out of a time capsule from the late 1990s or early 2000s, Moonlight Sorcery come bursting onto the scene with their debut album Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle. This could be the band that fans of early Children of Bodom or Wintersun have been looking for over the past 20 years. September keeps on giving *eggplant emoji*.
The real highlight on this album is easily Michael Gonçalves (Replicant, Windfaerer). His vocals are absolutely unhinged, giving him a demonic edge that works so well in this style of music. His rabid shrieks, howls, and moans are reasons why it’s easy to come back to the album time and again. A few shrieks to cure the mid-week blues.
The Chilean metal scene is an underrated gem. I’m constantly discovering bands that put a unique spin on genres such as Black Metal, Death Metal, and yes, even Thrash Metal. Solipnosis is one such band, and their take on Blackened Speed/Thrash might be the most out there version I’ve heard yet. The Chilean is out there!
