Music

Top 5 Metal Releases: July

by Tyler Munro

Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving market; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, Electronic, and Pop with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Metal Releases: June

Om – Advaitic Songs

Om continue their journey away from what would typically be referred to as metal and in turn towards being a band better for it with Advaitic Songs, a collection of hypnotic tracks paced behind one of the righter rhythm sections around. Then again, consisting solely of drums and bass, Om essentially are a rhythm section. Without a guitar, Advaitic Songs doesn’t strive for traditional heaviness, and if you’re expecting that you’ll be massively let down. Instead, as they’ve been hinting towards with their past few releases, this is an album of spiritual immensity, circling around grooves rather than pummelling them, with “State of Non-Return” being the only song out of the five that retains any explicit metal tendencies with its early Sabbath-ian nods. (Drag City)

Mongrel’s Cross – The Sins of Aquarius

There’s never been any shortage of bands trying to bite Bathory’s late 80s sound, let alone ones from Australia, but Brisbane’s Mongrel’s Cross have shot right to the top of the pecking order with The Sins of Aquarius, which also happens to be their first full length. The album pulls no punches, blending thrashy, second-wave black metal with a pinch of death metal, though it’s not to say it blurs through with a wash of similar sounding songs. The almost jaunty sounding gallop of “Hunters of the Born Again” transitions seamlessly to the blast-driven onslaught of “Indulge the Temple,” which speaks to the little flourishes that distinguish each of these 7, mostly mid-paced tracks. (Hells Headbangers Records)

Enabler – All Hail the Void

While arguably closer to hardcore than metal, this crusty release from Enabler checks all the right boxes, mixing thrash metal’s energy into a thick layer of grooves, breakdowns and neck-snapping gallops. All Hail The Void is also remarkably technical for such an animalistic, relentless sound, with its frenetic guitar leads coming second only to Andy Hurley’s relentless work on the skins. (Southern Lord)

A Forest of Stars – A Shadowplay for Yesterdays

You’d be right to say that summer seems an odd time to release a black metal album as atmospheric as A Shadowplay for Yesterdays, but A Forest of Stars aren’t ones to go by the book. Their sound is unlike much of their contemporaries, almost warm and seasonal. It is textured and expansive, weaving flutes, violins, piano and more into a sound that in spite of its luxuries rarely strays too far from its origins. Because as much as A Shadowplay for Yesterdays invites folk flourishes into its sound, it keeps itself a black metal album with a speedy backbone, sharp, tremolo driven guitar work and vocals that are often as piercing as they are unintelligible. There’s perhaps too much here to properly digest, a fault that’s always followed the British band, but it’s as exciting and worthwhile as ever to try and dig between the murk. (Prophecy Productions)

Periphery – II: This Time It’s Personal

For purists, Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal can be hard to take, if only because they’ve separated themselves from the dumb sounding, super-saturated djent scene by writing actual songs. Spencer Sotelo’s vocals have drawn the ire of some listeners, because he sings cleanly and in a pretty high register. But that’s a good thing. His cleans add a distinctive quality to the album, and while his tone isn’t the most natural, he’s got range, power and control, and the album is still not without the usual barks and yells. Unfortunately Periphery remain weirdly fixated on time consuming bleeps and bloops, but useless electronics aside, they’ve found a unique way of writing songs to compliment the wash of chugs and polyrhythms that define their sound. (Sumerian)

Surprises, disappointments and albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: I haven’t yet decided whether I like Baroness’ Green & Yellow. Ditto that the band in general, and while I realize the irony of what I’m about to say given this month’s list, the biggest shock is the reaction this album’s been getting as a metal release. It’s not to say that it isn’t without the requisite heaviness, but this to me signals the band’s transition from Kyuss to Queens of the Stone Age. It’s of no detriment to them, as they excel in their new dynamics, but by shaving off the layers of fuzz that defined them early on, they’ve signalled a change. In some respects it works, highlighting their penchant for solid hooks, but there’s an extra gear missing when they opt to go all out. Usually I’d argue that a double album can be bettered by halving it and trimming off the excess fat, but for better or worse this double-set is so remarkably consistent that you’re left with what’s there. It’s rarely special, but never bad. (Relapse)

Disappointments: On their first album The Contortionist toyed with atmospherics to break the monotony of modern deathcore, but on Intrinsic, the dynamics have taken precedent over the music. As a result, this feels like an album of interludes; hooks, riffs and actual songs seem secondary to fancy looping riffs and robot vocals. (Season of Mist)

Out in August: Ensiferum’s Unsung Heroes, Krallice’s Years Past Matter, Teitanblood’s Woven Black Arteries and Korpiklaani’s Manala