Oh my god this one is actually on time. We’ve got a lighter slate this week but that’s all well and good because I owe you quite a bit of stuff. Notably, this week delivered some excellent black metal with a shockingly not great album cover, and some really good non-metal offerings. It also gave me a chance to catch up on notable releases I missed, which is always fun.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Luminous Veil - Vespers for the Loom and Lain
Less than ideal cover aside - this album rips. Mostly operating in the realm of atmospheric black metal, this rich album summons all forms of emotions and tells a compelling story over it’s relatively reasonable runtime. Despite mostly being made up of longer songs, nothing ever holds still long enough for it to become boring. It may not look it, but this is a serious contender for year end lists.
Great Metal from this Week
Erdve - Savigaila: God I love a band that can make a huge sound. Leaning a bit towards the metalcore realm, Erdve constructs hulking guitar tones and panic-stricken drums that always keep your head spinning. Much like the album cover, it feels not unlike being lit ablaze.
Non-Metal AOTW
Alexis Marshall - House of Lull . House of When
Alexis Marshall, frontman of industrial noise band Daughters, has made an album that sounds a lot like a Daughters album. Shocking, I know. The good news is that Daughters routinely nails it and this album does too. If anything, the album is more abrasive than the work he puts out with his band. This isn’t going to be a daily listening sort of affair, but when it’s stormy and gray outside (or covered in smoke - hi West Coast) boot this up and spiral downward.
Runners-up
Dave - We’re All Alone in this Together: UK grime rapper Dave follows up his excellent Pyschodrama with another record full of emotionally affecting verses and hard-hitting beats.
Darkside - Spiral: Darkside returns with another spectacular project. While it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Psychic it still provides listeners with a unique approach to electronic music.
Samia - Scout (EP): A touching indie-pop record full of nostalgia, wistfulness and melancholy.
Leon Bridges - Gold-Diggers Sound: Leon Bridges once again delivers a soulful project full of catchy grooves. Don’t let the popularity turn you off, it deserves all the acclaim it receives.
Dos Monos - Dos Siki 2nd Season: Dos Monos, a Japanese hip-hop group, adds some new tracks and reworks pieces of their excellent 2019 project Dos Siki. The last two tracks, a rework of “Estrus” featuring black midi and “Ra Cosmicomiche” are particularly infectious and bring a madcap jazzy twist to their unique style.
Things to Look Forward to
I’ve actually gotten to hear one of these records already (King Woman’s Celestial Blues) and y’all are in for quite the treat this week. We’ve also got two big non-metal releases to watch out for with Billie Eilish and Isaiah Rashad both dropping highly anticipated records.
Metal Albums
Underdark - Our Bodies Burned Bright On Re-Entry
King Woman - Celestial Blues
Non-Metal Albums
Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
Isaiah Rashad - The House is Burning
GFOTY - FEMMEDORM
Bleachers - Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
Shrinekeeping
Now that July is over I’ve got more free time to actually deliver on some things I’ve been promising for awhile now. Keep an eye out for the best of June and the best of July in the coming days. One might even be out by the time you get this.
Also coming, albeit slowly, is my best of the year so far. It’s about a month late but let’s just agree to say that I was being very thoughtful in my approach and not just ludicrously busy/unmotivated.
Hopefully August brings us all some exciting metal and other worthwhile releases. Though the reduction in music that required my attention was appreciated during a chaotic month.