Cult Leader

“Learn to Love It”

New Cult Leader single “Learn To Love It” is out (yesterday, 29 March 2024). Time for the catharsis to begin again. Seriously, their music has broken open the little bits I didn’t think could. An almost spiritual/meditative experience every time. Cult Leader is brutal and raw cathartic hardcore.

Grimdor

A Long-Expected Party

“Goodbye My Dear Bilbo”

I…A sliver of my childhood lives with me in this music, right now. Grimdor continually puts out heartfelt Tolkien-inspired music. A Long-Expected Party is the newest album and keeps with the dark/deep euphoric synth sound.

A Pregnant Light

You Know Who

“Inverted Pyramid”

Ah, thank you, Bandcamp for this album “send” to my feed. You Know Who (15 March 2024) is a compilation of A Pregnant Light‘s music and it’s the first I’ve heard of his work. This gazecore/crustgaze (whatever fun genre to call this project) is full of emotional and raw tracks that are (a theme of my likes too) some metal equivalent of crusty dark pop that brought my dark mood up the other day and now I’ll keep coming back to it. Please keep making more.

Russian Circles

Guidance

“Afrika”

New [photography] post and music rave/rec all in one, let’s go! I first saw Russian Circles in 2016 and have been listening since 2006. They played in the dark the two times I saw them until this [third] show in November 2022. It is beautiful to see how happy and into the music they are as they’re playing, lights on. Their discography is soft yet dark, harsh yet stunning. I absolutely love going to shows, you can feel the music more, literally reverberating, and with Russian Circles the feeling is the same for me no matter where I listen. Utterly enchanting.

The Sawtooth Grin

Jabberwocky

“A Cloud A Cauldron A Colony”

I didn’t know this was what I needed. “It’s the re-discovery and re-classification of a missing link. One that proved too unwieldy for our younger selves to unearth.“—The Sawtooth Grin excerpt description about their new album, Jabberwocky (15 March 2024). I started listening to The Sawtooth Grin when their first album came out (I was around 11 years old 🐥) and it feels a step beyond nostalgic, they hit the spot in all of their math-grind glory. For me, their lyrics and musical tone line up with what I have been reckoning with as an adult…to face the darkness that was childhood with a new understanding and care for the child that never was/never got to be. Some members of The Sawtooth Grin are/were also in The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Palm Ghosts, Cloacal Kiss, and Black Table.

Weston Super Maim

See You Tomorrow Baby

“See You Tomorrow Baby”

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, nah it’s Weston Super Maim. This one is for my wonky metal lovers—they’re compared to Meshuggah and Car Bomb in reviews but I think you also gotta include cult 80s or 90s movie club scenes to get the full picture. See You Tomorrow Baby features tracks with members of Frontierer, Soreption, and Blindfolded and Led to the Woods.

Birds in Row & Coilguns

You and I in the Gap

“The Blessing”

Thanks to this combo EP You and I in the Gap that came out 02 February 2024, I got introduced to noise rock band Coilguns after having heard about Birds in Row. These three tracks made over 7 days are raw yet glossy, and well done. I’ve been listening to it on repeat.

Recent Listens

Bleak, KOLLAPS\E, Convulsing, Horseboy, Church Chords, Omerod, Sorcerer, Griffon, Grails

Sorcerer

DEVOTION

“Devotion”

This little one [babycat] is judging me for not sharing music for the past little bit. I gave Sorcerer a listen as soon as their new single Devotion came out on 2024 March 08. They are a French hardcore band and they provide some real nice breakdowns that are just nonstop. Check out their small album, Strangers, with Pencey Sloe that mixes Sorcerer’s hardcore sound with Pencey Sloe’s shoegaze that’ll make you want more—reminiscent of Bloodmoon: I, the Converge collaboration with Chelsea Wolfe.

Bleak

My Body Is Not Where I Belong

“Vile Blades”

So, I just heard of this band called Bleak. They came out with an album two days ago called My Body Is Not Where I Belong and they sound like a cross between the Queen of the Damned soundtrack and the band Movements and I love it. It just makes me so happy. Thank you, Bleak for being so relatable that your sad, energetic hardcore music “be stills” my dissociative heart.

Omnerod

The Amensal Rise

“Spore”

Not sure how more people haven’t heard of Omnerod. They’re a prog death metal band with comparisons to Devin Townsend and with hints of bands like Between The Buried and Me, Leprous, and even Incubus circa Fungus Amongus (with Omnerod’s song “Spore” especially). They’re so mood boosting and full of energy. It would be an incredible experience to see them live.

Cult Leader

A Patient Man

“to: Achlys”

I must be feeling some type of way to be listening to this album by Cult Leader, especially before going to a show. Never fails to make me cry (see album cover). Some of the rawest music I’ve heard, and in progressive hardcore parcel that seems to made for me. I would love to go to one of their shows some day and photograph them.

Idles

CRAWLER

“MTT 420 RR”

I ordered IDLES‘s CRAWLER only a few days ago along with their hug shirt and it came in on my birthday🥺. My friend and I message their lyrics back and forth to each other. I love them. Their dancing. Their rawness. A gift for every day. They feel like a beautiful cathartic cry.