Favorite Albums of August 2022
Weddings take a lot of time to plan
Hi hello, it turns out that planning a wedding takes a lot of time and even when it isn't taking time it takes up almost all of your mental space. All that is to say, I get married on Sunday and that has taken priority over writing - also work got busy. Things happen.
However, I have still kept listening to music! So I relistened to my favorite August albums and remembered what I wanted to say about them. They’re good, give em’ a look.
METAL ALBUMS
Raid - Parallels
For an album that kicks off with a jaunty audio clip saying “Ohhh so this is why people kill themselves.” Parallels quickly proves that it’s anything but a joke. Raid loads Parallels up with so much ambition it pushes the boundaries of credulity. The first three songs burrow into your chest with ferocity. Death metal and metalcore riffs pound into your skull, but the fourth track “8000” pivots sharply toward shoegaze. Now, shoegaze and metal aren’t strange bedfellows, and it’s not a novel combination. For Raid, it’s not a combination, it’s an evolution. The central portion of the record is just pure unfiltered shoegaze. Raid tackles this genre with aplomb, each song feels genuine, rather than a shallow attempt at a new genre. The latter third sees a shift back toward metalcore, this time an even heavier version. Throughout all these twists and turns, Raid keeps a steady hand on the wheel. Parallels is tremendous, engaging and unpredictable, it seems like it will only grow in stature.
Ether Coven - The Relationship Between the Hammer and the Nail
This stellar album by Ether Coven is in the running for being one of the year’s heaviest record. The whole album roars with fury, depth and intensity that is nearly unrivaled. Album opener “Psalm of Cancer” best displays the band’s skillset. It fluctuates through tempo changes, massive tuning shifts and searing vocal passages that stand alongside doom icons like Thou. If riffs are your medicine, then few records will serve your better than this one. Best of all it clocks in at a tidy 47 minutes, so you can trust that this album to respect your time and to keep the hits coming.
Body Void - Burn the Homes of Those Who Seek to Control Our Bodies (EP)
First off, perfect title. A clear favorite for metal album title of the year. Secondly, the proceeds for this EP (at least on its release date) went exactly where you’d think they would based on the title, which is also great. Finally, as good as the politics surrounding the record are, the record itself is better. Last year’s phenomenal Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth hailed Body Void as one of the most exciting bands in the realm of doom metal. If that was a warning shot, then this project stakes a flag on a pile of bodies. While it’s only two tracks long, each track shows impressive growth and evolution from an already great debut album. The songs are heavier, meaner, and more urgent. It comes together fantastically. As a big fan of doom, this will be in my rotation for some time.
Boris - Heavy Rocks (2022)
Is there anything Boris can’t do? This record, the latest installation in their Heavy Rocks series, blends so many genres it would be obnoxious to even try and list them all. If you think this experimentation is a mere cover for half-assed songcraft, Boris will quickly dissuade you of that notion. “She is burning” kicks things off with swinging drums, ferocious, classic metal style guitar licks and, surprisingly, horns. The combination may appear strange, but quickly grows on you. The rest of the tracks on the album go through similar shifts, each introducing their own strange twist on various styles of metal. To me, this is the most exciting thing Boris has done since 2017’s Dear.
Russian Circles - Gnosis
For an album as good as Gnosis, there’s surprisingly little I can think to say about it. If you know what Russian Circles does, then Gnosis continues and refines the same trend. It brings a familiar cinematic quality and tightens it up to feel even more impactful. If you like post rock bands, but wish there was a little more heft to their sound, then this record will serve you well. But if you find the post rock formula tired, this may not quite scratch the itch.
Conan - Evidence of Immortality
Conan is heavy. When I say heavy, I’m not talking some new school doom metal like BIG|BRAVE (whom I adore), who are shifting the definition of heaviness with experimental tuning and production that makes it seem like you have blown speakers. No, this is classic stoner doom. Evidence of Immortality operates on frequencies that would make Sleep and Electric Wizard jealous. They keep it so low and slow that they should star on BBQ Pitmasters. You probably could make great pulled pork on these riffs to be honest. Is this reinventing anything? Not at all. Do I care? Not a bit. This rips and if you think otherwise you need to reconsider your desires regarding stoner doom.
Blackbraid - Blackbraid I
American black metal presents some interesting challenges. On the one hand, it has breathed new life into a genre that has gotten a bit stale, on the other hand, it often veers so far outside of the bounds of black metal that it risks rejection from longtime genre fans. Whatever hang ups you may have about the style, you should have none when it comes to Blackbraid. As an indigenous black metal band, this really is as American as it can possibly get. Even when you pass the novelty of who makes up the band, the music will hold your attention. The riffs are slick, clear and well produced, but still fast and raw enough that they carry some serious punch. The drumming is less blast-beat focused than traditional black metal, and the vocals are more roars than shrieks, all of which makes it sound fresh and exciting while still conceivably bounded within the realm of black metal. If you listen to one American black metal album this year - make it this one.
Honorable Mentions:
NON-METAL ALBUMS
The Chats - Get Fucked
Did you miss obnoxious ratty punk like The Dead Milkmen? Well, wait no longer, The Chats are here. This band is truly so much damn fun. All they sing about is doing drugs, getting shitfaced, driving fast and smoking cigarettes. It’s the type of record that will drastically alter the course of some 18 year old’s life for the worse. But since you’re not 18, you don’t have to worry about making the bad decisions that The Chats encourage. It’s a lot of fun to watch them egg people on though.
Honorable Mentions: