June has ended which means we’re now officially halfway through 2024. That eroding feeling you just got while reading that opening line? Don’t worry, it’s just a sudden awareness that your bones are slowly but surely grinding into powder. Nevertheless, while time continued its unstoppable march, we still got to listen to some great music, and June delivered a bunch of great records for you to feast your ears on. We’ve got groovy post metal, punchy power prog, cosmic horror black metal, some really weird sludge, and Three Other Things!
But before that, even though we’re perfect and never make mistakes something went wrong (but it definitely wasn’t our fault) and we missed a great release off of last month’s Album of the Month post, so with our apologies, first let’s remind you of one of May’s brightest gems:
Azure – Fym
Recommended for fans of: Rush, Ayreon, (Luca Turilli’s) Rhapsody (of Fire), Haken, Yes, Native Construct
Picked by: Dave
I have something I need to get off my chest: I feel like I did Azure a little dirty with my review of Fym. Not because I was mean or that I didn’t appreciate the album, but because I rushed the review, and didn’t give the album the appropriate time it needed. This caused me to leverage some criticism that was solved by simply spending more time with the album. My biggest complaints were that it was too long and that the pacing needed some work, but now that I have a feel for the story beats, I disagree with both of those critiques, and I think it’s a perfectly paced album with exciting ideas that still give me chills after a ton of listens (more than are probably healthy). Fym is a dense album which reveals missed details and motifs across multiple listens, and that is its best feature for those willing to sink their teeth in and likely its greatest detractor for those who do not make the time to explore it. Fym will reward you immensely if you engage with the story beats and understand how all the pieces interconnect, and for that reason, I couldn’t possibly give it anything lower than a 9/10.
You may also like: Kyros, Others By No One, Poh Hock
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Phew, glad we got that one off our chests! Anyway, on with June’s greatest hits:
Hippotraktor – Stasis
Recommended for fans of: Meshuggah, Dvne, The Ocean, Uneven Structure, later Fit for an Autopsy
Picked by: Zach [seconded by Chris]
There is nothing more pleasing to the ears than a low guitar note, and thankfully, Hippotraktor have a lot of those. Stasis is not quite as heavy as its predecessor, but what it sacrifices in heaviness, it makes up for in melodic sensibilities and sheer weight of the grooves. The band’s Meshuggah-goes-post-metal approach is even more refined here, with songs like “Renegade” and the album’s title track showing just how much they can do with so few notes. All these stanky grooves are coupled with a standout performance from vocalist/percussionist Stefan de Graef, whose screams bring a whole new level to each intense, weight chug.
Recommended tracks: Descent, Echoes, Renegade, The Indifferent Human Eye
You may also like: Psychonaut, Pull Down the Sun
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Sunburst – Manifesto
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Symphony X, Darkwater, Kamelot
Picked by: Doug [seconded by: Sam, Andy]
Sunburst bring the heat! Their sophomore effort Manifesto offers consistent, high quality songwriting with extra orchestral flourishes embellishing their already rich sound, especially on the opening and closing tracks. The songwriting doesn’t offer a great amount of variety in tone or song structure, but Sunburst make up for it with constant intensity and dynamic, evocative performances. Sharing both their singer and guitarist with Black Fate, whose previous album Ithaca sadly got overlooked by most listeners in the general omnishambles that was the year 2020, this is a release that should not go unnoticed.
You may also like: Black Fate, Course of Fate, Sacred Outcry, Psycrence
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa – The Blossoming
Recommended for fans of: White Ward, Enslaved, A Forest of Stars
Picked by: Christopher [seconded by: Sam]
Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa returned with another saxy progressive black metal cosmic horror concept album for your delight. The French sextet both refined and expanded their sound on The Blossoming incorporating more psychedelia and some eerie clean vocal sections to more effectively bolster their mycorrhizal cosmic horror tales. Alien languages, trippy synths, and melodic sax work meld with sections of intense black metal making for a truly progressive combo. Let it infect you.
You may also like: Dreadnought, Ashbreather, Kekal, Naeramarth
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Fellwarden – Legend
Recommended for fans of: Insomnium, Moonsorrow, Atlantean Kodex, Bathory, Panopticon, Shylmagoghnar
Picked by: Andy [seconded by: Sam]
You like epic pagan black metal storying myths and legends? Look no further. Fellwarden play bombastic black metal and play it well with some of the best produced black metal of the year, immensely satisfying and positively mammoth. Legend will take you on an adventure.
You may also like: Finsterforst, Fen, Havukruunu, Sig:Ar:Tyr, Árstíðir Lífsins
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Replacire – The Center That Cannot Hold
Recommended for fans of: Vale of Pnath, Archspire, Revocation, Black Crown Initiate
Picked by: Andy
Technical, rhythmic badassery. These guys were my first technical death metal band, and seven years later they still kick so much ass with an increased precision and improved production. Flittering drums and groovy little noodles from Poh Hock (Native Construct) make this some uber-techy goodness.
You may also like: Aronious, Deviant Process, Cognizance
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Malignancy – Discontinued…
Recommended for fans of: Defeated Sanity, Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Nile, Atheist
Picked by: Andy
ME LIKE HEVY MUSIC. BR00TAL. My thoughts listening to Discontinued… regress about a hundred thousand years of evolution as mankind is returned to basal brutality. While Zach is our resident cave music expert, Malignancy write such a solid onslaught of riffs even I fell in love. Bang your head.
Irradiated Miscreation, Oppositional Defiance
You may also like: Brodequin, Replacire, Anal Stabwound, Brain Drill, Serocs, Hideous Divinity, Wormed
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Sumac – The Healer
Recommended for fans of: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Lathe, Big|Brave, Mizmor, Five the Hierophant, Thou
Picked by: Dave
Sumac surprised me this month with the release of their post-apocalyptic and at times frightening opus, The Healer, exploring themes of catharsis in the most grueling, bleak, and uncomfortable of contexts. With lyrics that teeter between grim and hopeful imagery and music that luxuriates in feedback-heavy droning with the occasional intense sludge moment, The Healer is in no rush to explore ideas, testing the patience of even the most seasoned experimental metal listener to great reward. “Yellow Dawn” is my favorite track, beginning with psychedelic droning and concluding with an extended bassy jam session. The Healer sits way outside of my comfort zone but fascinated me immensely, as it is an excellent showcase of how sludge metal can be pushed to its limits with the use of droning improvisation and a nearly complete deconstruction of traditional song structure.
Yellow Dawn, New Rites, The Stone’s Turn
You may also like: Minsk, NNMM, Bong-Ra, Zos, Sol
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Our non-Subway picks:
At the end of every month, on top of what we have reviewed, we show what music we have been listening to that falls outside of the scope of this blog, either in terms of monthly listener count or being an unrelated genre (or both).
Seven Spires – A Fortress Called Home (symphonic/power/melodic black metal): Killer orchestrations, beautifully catchy melodies, an abundance of tastefully virtuosic instrumental performances, and some of the best singing in symphonic metal right now, only slightly brought down by some just-okay growls. A great album for brooding in a dark castle. [pick by: Ian]
Pijn – From Low Beams of Hope (post-metal, doom metal): A band I’ve known by reputation for some time but not taken the time to explore until now, Pijn deliver crushing, expansive instrumental post-doom metal with unexpected flashes of strings to deepen the melancholy.
[pick by: Doug]
Ulcerate – Cutting the Throat of God (dissonant death metal): Ulcerate is a band that I’ve learned to take for granted with their past few releases because they are always just so damn consistent. Shrines of Paralysis is where I first met what I would come to love as dissodeath, and the masterful Stare Into Death and Be Still only solidified that love. However, with Cutting the Throat of God, the New Zealanders have recodified the sub-genre itself, turning it to rubble and building it back piece by piece. This is the dissodeath album of the modern age, and I’m sure it will be regarded as such for decades to come. [pick by: Cooper]
0 Comments