Diavol Strain : "Eterno Retorno"

 This darkwave project from Chile is bringing the more aggressive goth side of the equation to their new album. Not the best drum machine sound, but the opening track is better than expected. I know metal is big in Chile, so it makes sense that goth would have a marginal foothold in the area, though the energy the country gives off seems to make it more suited for the primal forms of metal than the elegance of goth. But the brand of dark wave they are playing is at times frantic and oppressive sonically, little romancing of the darkness, though for what it is, it's suitably dark. Their native tongue does not flow as well. They are somewhere between a punk delivery and the kinda moan a project like Boy Harsher employs. But the melodrama is not as articulated here.

The reverb-heavy mix carries a woozy density rather than just going for a Bat Cave sound.It does provide them with a bit of charm. By the third song thing begin to drone a bit, but I appreciate they are switching the vocal tones and employing a more dynamic delivery. If you want to hit peak goth in August, play this album as you watch "Taste of Blood Dracula " with the sound off.."La Ultima" has a more atmospheric drone. The bass stands out on "Nix Dada".  This gives it an almost Killing Joke feel. When the guitar comes in, the layers work together nicely, making it the best song so far."Tension" works off a more traditional darkwave vibe. The most dance floor dominant song thus far.

"Solve et Coagula" is a cooler song title than it is a song that actually gives off occult vibes. It works for what it is, but is closer to filler than being a banger."Terminal Silence" has more of an industrial beat, which works here. They close things on a darker note for the last song that follows a more Siouxsie-like take on traditional goth. These gals give it a solid shot and are true to the genre while staying relevant so I'll give this one an 8.5 

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Quicksand : "Bring on the Psychics"

  

If you go back and listen to these guys, you can hear how much they influenced Turnstile. If there was any justice in the world, they would get the kind of TikTok revival bands like Deftones and Type O Negative received. They recapture the kind of explosive magic they ignited with their first two album here. "Agency"  breaks from the formula and finds the chorus going in a more melodic and introspective direction. The tempo ramps up for "Crystalize" with the vocals balancing the guitar's energy.

They pack more of a grooving punch that was their trademark on "Supercollider". The smooth vocal melodies are plaintive but commanding. There is a riff in this one that makes me think of Bad Brains.  "In Full Color" has more swagger and is produced in a manner that gives it more of an older Turnstille sonic feeling. Unlike Turnstille they are not big pop sellouts. Granted, I like pop music, so that is not even a deal breaker for me.. If the mention of Turnstile finds you pondering influences, you can hear a bit of Fugazi in "Days You Run To"reminding you that music is not created in a vacuum.  

"Cool Guy" has more of a the big explosive riff energy. "Moving Forward" reminds you they came from the Bad Relgion side of the punk equation. The last song finds some ofthe energy waning but they kept things strong for the bulk of the album so it blaances out and it is probaly a case of me needing to hear it a few times for it to grow on me. eNERGY WISE i think this is the best album since "Manic Compression", as the other post-90s albums have experimented with the sound that works , and even hear this is produced in a more modern manner so is not as raw , but works better than expected so I will round this one up toi a 10. Staying True to the game it was released on Equal Vision Records.

8.9

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Ostraca : "Thread"

The fourth full-length from this Richmond based based who hails from the same scene as City of Caterpillar and pg 99. They were once called Kilgore Trout, and now they are banging out so dynamically violent tunes that offer a manic depressive mood swing over the course of the first track. I would say they fall closer to hardcore than metal, as they are not too unlike early Converge. Sure, there is a chug here and there, but you can say that about many hardcore bands. They mellow out into a strum going into "Enmiserate"; it flows more like 90s emo. The vocals are screamed with a great deal of anguish. The melody carried by the guitars makes it an interesting song. The sung vocals in the background make for a suitable tribute to 90s emo. Midway into it they lash out with an effective thrashing. 

"Song For November' felt a bit likea breakdown for the previous song so I had to go back and give it another listen. This also means that thesongs are pulling from similar sonic shades; the syncopation is the main thing that sets it apart. The darker melodic shift helps to establish this song's identity. They explode into a furious burst of snarling to bring it t o a boil. "Ganymede " works off a subtle palm-muted tension. It's the instrumental you never guessed this album needed.

They rage back to life for "Freedom From Pain". Even here they wander off into some more speculative moments, which makes the build-up into a more powerful chug effective. "Greater Darkness" is more of a  punk power ballad, with vocals expelled emotions in a few different ways..  I will give this album a 9.5 it'sa geat deaql of fun, not being a slave to the era it pays tribute to as they find their own path here.

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SHRINEBURNER : "Hymns of Despair"

 

The vocals howl as just an angry human layer, leaving the guitar playing as the most interesting thing about what is going on with the first song from this Chicago-based sludge band. The mournful clean guitar sections that are picked off give it more of its own identity, whereas the heavier sections are more conforming to the genre status quo It gets the job done, but over the course of this album, they are going to need to prove they have more sonic color to display to bring a greater range of dynamics. They bring more drive to the charge of "Bodies Dragged to Sunlight".

 The new Neurosis album is a blessing and a cure for the subgenre. It does bring the genre into the spotlight, but it also raises the bar so high that simply chugging a wall of sound along as you bark just does not cut it anymore. People are prone to say that music is not a competition, but it is. There are only so many hours in a day to listen to it, so if you have two hous to spend, which album are you going to choose? The only thing they're doing differently on this track that differs from the first song is less nuanced guitar playing and more aggression; it might as well be the same vocal track.

"Slow Death Chant" has a more memorable riff leading the way as it weaves around the pound of the drums with an angular slither.. The vocals also have more purpose, making this the album's best song thus far. It does not remake the wheel but uses what they have wisely. There are guitar melodies in the fuzzed-out rumble of chugged guitars which add something to the mix.. The 13-minute "An Ocean of Broken Hope" finds the first minute droning as fat as it could have been trimmed before the song really starts. This more melodic nuance is something the previous songs could have used as well.

 If this is your first time reading this blog you might think "Oh he just doesn't like heavy music as he wants all this melody." well you might want to click through and see what a fan of genres like grindcore and crust I am, so heavy is not the problem I expect the same level of songwriting na matter the genre it just needs to happene in the appropriate context. The vocals have more purpose in their roar, though at four minutes into the song I cannot conceive how they are going to occupy the next nine minutes. They jam out on this verse riff for some time and slowly build it. At the right minute mark, it ebbs down a bit to a more post-rock vibe, though not as minimalist. A burly bass line leads them into a more harrowing build. This does get tempered with sonic nuance that adds more hook. 

The title track closes the album. It opens with a strum of a cleaner guitar tone; it carries a bit of a jangle as a calm before the storm as they kick into the chug. Their drummer is more dynamic than most drummers of the genre. It has almost a Tool-like groove jsut without the meticously palm muted picking. The vocals come roaring out of reverb.. It works off a powerful throb, but not the most dynamic moment moment but it is effective.  This album sounds good, but they are pretty basic when it comes to sludge, so I will give this an 8.5, as fans of the genre will dig this album. 

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Phoebe Bridgers : "Lost Weekend"

 

The six-year wait is over; now she is going to deliver after the anticipation has built. Having gone from indie darling to opening for Taylor Swift, things have changed since her last album. It is weird to think she is now playing arenas while making the kind of space-age folk that she opens this album with. It's delicate and surreal in equal measure. "Lost Boys" was the first song I heard from this album. It is a quaint pop song influenced by the crossroads where folk music and country music meet, but the production smooths out all the twang from it . Lyrically, it's pretty brilliant and one of the best mainstream songs to come out this year. 

Not sure of the exact single cycle for this album, but it seems like "Kill Me " was next up as a single. The only reason it's relevant is that the singles are snapshots of the bigger picture of the audience she is seeking to provide a summary of who she is right now for. It is a rather atmospheric ballad. In many ways, the production of this album reminds me of Bon Iver. Another artist who shares a Taylor Swift connection. I think this is as ambent as she should get while still preserving the structural integrity of her songwriting. Anything less tangible is going to float off. Though this song finds a dynamic that hooks it in as it builds by the end. 

If you were going to weigh this against another pop album like Charli XCX, it would be hard to even compare them as this is so atmospheric and abstract in comparison.It works off emotionally fragile melodies rather than beats and hooks. Some of these moments could stand to have more of a pop backbone, but I am trying to appreciate it for what it is. "Bobby" does offer more to sink your ears into and brings a great deal of what she learned in Boygenius to the table. The drums are more present and give a rock layer to things. It is a very lush arrangement.

She is the lighter side of the spectrum, with Ethel Cain on the more experimental other side. Here is wistful hope in the introspection conveyed on a song like the title track. Things do take an odd turn on this song, almsot like "Hounds of Love" era Kate Bush. "Haunted" crosses all the way over into country music. There is a more surreal transition from this on "Panorama," which is a more experimental soundscape interlude than an actual song, until two minutes in, when her vocals come in. 

"Still Standing" has a more delicate vocal. That finds her at just above a whisper and close up on the mic. There is not as much to hook you in as it ebbs and flows, though the vocal melody is strong and honest enough to hold it together. There are 16 songs on this album, so nothing really sprawls out, which plays to her benefit as less is more in that regard with the pop-tinged nature of what she does. Her more indie folk side comes back to life on "Liberty Tree' which has country flirtations. This continues on for "Never Going Back" which, for her, does not feel likes he fully fleshed out the song but was working off an idea. 

The ghost of a vocal melody floats more than it possesses the kind of form or function that would make it a song. Her vocals remain hushed on "I Can't Wait" but still hold the song together. She sings about being California sober. Cameron Winter from Geese lends his voice to the song.ON "As Above' she proves she can make a ballad dynamic and not jsut whispered ambiance. I will give this album a 9.5; it finds her drifting into experimentation, but she writes enough solid songs to balance this out.

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Fog Wall : "Gloomweaver"

There is supposed to be a Tolkien theme to this album by this crushing death metal unit from Nevada. Not hearing it, but some deathcore-like grooves work well. I can also hear a slight Morbid Angel influence in how the vocals are handled, but they also dig into the more guttural low end like Cannibal Corpse. "Lmof Sting Tooth" might dig into the heavy too hard for its own good, as the drums are almost overpowered by the dense pummelling riffs. There is a technical, angular side to what they are doing that is more subtle than the overt hammering of double bass. 

By "The Acursed" thing is being blasted by in a dense glur of sound accented by a commanding growl. Cannibal Corpse do this with It alsmot turns into soothing white noise during the speedy blur set in motion here. o three song before things start sounding the same. There is a more deliberate crunch to "Mazarbul". I do prefer they sound like this rather than Amon Amarth. There is a more Deicide-like vibe to the aggression of "Belching Black Vapours". The production on this album is weird, then they go and add more ambiance on  " StranglingGloom" that eventually evolves into a song. There is a more black metal gallop that develops. 

"Fleshpot Ritual" carries a more feral death thrash to its frantic riffing. It feels a little rushed even with some of the more technical riffs that erupt from it. The riffs are kinda boomy sounding here but find their groove. The more deliberate crunch of guitar as it winds its way into it works well. There is also a touch of metalcore to this song. "Frantic Orb Weaver' also finds more solid footing after a chaotic intro.. The Type O Negative cover is an odd choice, though glad to hear the less obvious songs getting some love as "Profits of Doom" is a solid song. They nail most of the music, but use death metal vocals rather than try to sing. A doomier lumber possesses the last song, which works as they need to give some contrast to what they have been doing so far. They do build this back up into something more punishing. I will give them an 8.5; they are good at what they do and care about the songs, though sometimes heaviness pliays against them, and there are some odd production choices here and there, but most death metla fans who prefer the more modern incarnations of the genre will enjoy this. 

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Slow Pulp : "Melodie"

 This is the indie-rock band's third album, and it opens with a folky strum of guitar supporting the introspective vocals. Singer/guitarist Emily Massey strikes a pretty perfect balance of emotion and indifference in her delivery. Drums come in for the second song, and things begin to take motion. In some ways, it brings Cat Power to mind. The upbeat strum is counterbalanced by the speculative tone of the vocals. It kinda jams off this one theme, not the most dynamic writing style, but works for what it is at present; time will tell if this becomes a formula, if it begins to bore me or not. 

"Better Man" has a more garage rock feel; it's not a Pearl Jam cover but catchy in its own right. Emily sings out in her upper register here. The full band fleshes things out much better here. Their songwriting is super compact, with everything clocking in around three minutes. The title track has a punky riff that keeps the song bouncing along. It almost has a Boygenius feel. There is a slight tinge of post-punk's more new wave side to "Red Car". They bring things back down for "Not For Nothing", as her vocals step up into the spotlight.  The arrangement is sparser, but her vocals carry the weight. The plucked strings border on the country side of folk. 

They step back into a more wandering, introspective vocal pondering for "Entertainer" that benefits from the shifting dynamic of a rock chorus. This recalls 90s artists like Liz Phair. "Like Me" drones more like an Ethel Cain soug but without the emotional weight. "Spill" ambles with its slacker strum. I appreciate the added melancholy of "Up to You," which she balances with jumping into higher notes before it floats off like dream pop.It is one of the album's strongest songs as it is also one of the most unique. "Slip Away" is more reflective like a ballad. Overall, this album works for me and I appreciate the direction they are headed, I will give it a 9.

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