Our loud favorites. In this column we cover Metal of all stripes, Punk, Hardcore, Stoner-Rock, Garage-psych ragers, Distortion worshippers, and any other odds-and-ends that might turn it to eleven.
Windhand Eternal Return
Windhand have been killing it since their debut, making unabashedly raucous but melodic doom metal. Slow, pulverizing, psychy, and revved up where it needs to be; imagine a female fronted Electric Wizard with a dash more cosmic sonics and you’re in the ballpark. Eternal Return isn’t a let down. it sounds amazing. Appropriate for the devotee and the dabbler. Fun Seattle tie-in, Jack Endino produced!
Gouge Away Burnt Sugar
This record from South Florida’s Gouge Away brilliantly toes the line between aggro angular noise rock and straight ahead hardcore. Vocalist Christina Michelle brings some necessary and timely feminine rage to the fore, while the rest of the band plays with a wild slash and burn abandon. Fans of the odd corners of 90s DIY-core will definitely find a lot to like in this record.
Sumac Love In Shadow
Made up of members of the much missed Isis and Russian Circles, Sumac, now on their third full-length, is working the same fertile range of ideas at the edges of metal, math-rock, and hardcore. A little more metallic than their predecessor bands respective outputs, Love In Shadow is a ferocious record. This is an onslaught of punishing rhythms, acidic guitar, and guttural vocals. Exhilarating and hypnotic!
Anaal Nathrakh A New Kind Of Horror
The veteran black-metalists are back with A New Kind Of Horror! Their take on the form is technical, speedy, full of bizarre sonic moments, unrelenting, precise, and sometimes darkly symphonic. If you need something rich with detail to accompany your dose of blast beats Anaal Nathrakh is probably for you. This is mastery of the extreme.
Revocation The Outer Ones
Revocation’s The Outer Ones is a raw show of technical death-metal skill. As straight forward as that is, it’s expertly executed, tight and extreme transitions, exquisite guitar solos! All that and a nod to HP Lovecraft in the record title and you know if you need this in your life. From the esteemed Metal Blade label.