These Cabinets Are Starting To Look Awful Empty
We're running out of metal, but gems still pop up in hidden corners
Hello fellow devils. It’s good to see you skyward of the seven hells. Just a few levels to go until we take it all over. Because of Important Life Events that require a lot of attention, this is going to be a bit shorter than normal. But I’m long winded so maybe that’s a good thing.
List season is approaching quickly, so it’s the best time to share this newsletter with friends. There’s only seven or eight days until the first list hits. Give the gift of too many things to listen to.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Yashira - Fail to Be
Children of the aughts got it rough. Not just in a “tough lot in life” sense, but in a pop-culture sense. Kids today have fun artists like Billie Eilish, we got stuck with dummies like Limp Bizkit. We also had to deal with the peak of the metalcore and nu-metal movements. Not the artistic peak either, the commercial peak. But recently exciting things have emerged from these historically garbage genres. Nu-metal still flails, but artists like GHOSTMANE and Poppy are at least trying fun things, and other bands like Melted Bodies have co-opted the stylistic fluidity of the genre to take other genres to new heights. Metalcore has fared even better. Groups like Knocked Loose, Year of the Knife and Code Orange have refocused the genre away from more pop-punk focused elements and towards the bone-crunching breakdowns we all crave. Yashira wouldn’t call themselves metalcore, but the influences of groups like Vein pockmark Fail To Be like birdshot. They take the best bits of doom, metalcore and post-metal then slam it into a relentless grove with unexpected violence. It’s not for newbies, but there’s a lot to enjoy here if you can handle it.
Great Metal from this Week
Metal as a whole was fairly light on release volume this past week, but a few gems still caught my eye. If you’re a fan of the noisier era of Boris, then be sure to check out 2R0I2P0. It features some of Boris’ best material as seen through the eyes of Merzbow. Any drummers or experimental fans should also make sure to check out Himalayan Dream Techno by New Age Doom for a jazzy, free flowing treat.
The best tracks from each of these albums are on our Fresh Kills playlist on Spotify. Click the link below to check it out.
Sure Why Not?
Just look at this tweet. Have we not suffered enough this year? Now we’re expected to watch a Ronald Reagan biopic? And it features one of the most insufferable people this side of Fred Durst? Hard pass.
Non-Metal AOTW
Taylor Swift - evermore
Look, I didn’t want to have to do this, but I have a lot more to say about this album than any other album that came out this week even if it’s not technically the album I enjoyed most this week (don’t be sad Sturgill, you know I love you). However, narrative aside, this album is great. It’s good enough that even if it wasn’t authored and performed by Today’s Hottest Artist™ it would still be getting press and airtime. The list of collaborators (Bon Iver, the National, HAIM) is impressive and have helped to “remove the limiters” from Swift’s songwriting. It feels like she’s right in the sweet spot of the crossover between her natural skillset and the glossy production that pop stars have access to.
Runners-up
Someone Tell the Labels Our Cupboards are Bare
In a shocking twist, I’m not looking forward to any albums outside of the new Hayley Williams project, Petals for Armor: Self-Serenades, and even then that’s mostly just reworkings of previously released tracks. There’s sure to be something worth listening to, but chances are that the “big releases'' are done for the year.
Shrinekeeping
Hopefully you enjoyed the lighter edition of Apotheosis. If you’re looking for something a little more substantial I promise that longer letters will be returning after the lists come out. It also doesn’t help that nothing is coming out at this time of year. But as always, be sure to share this and let your friends into the torture dungeon.
If you’ve been graciously welcomed into the cell by a fellow devil, congratulations! The door doesn’t lock behind you, so you can leave whenever, or you can get real weird and lock it yourself. Do it. Lock the door.
That’s it for this week, Next week’s letter will be a short one but then you’ve got a flurry of lists headed your way. Don’t miss out.