Ba'al

Another month, another slab of music and verbiage that we’ve been listening to. Check out the playlist below and read on for our thoughts this month.

Nick – Guitar

Five the Hierophant – Berceuse (For Magnetic Sleep)

Is this the sweetest bass line I’ve ever heard? To answer that question one must first ask how we define the sweetness of any given bass line. I don’t really know the answer to that question unfortunately, but they play the same bass line for the entire track and it’s always disappointing when it ends, so there. Seriously though this is from such a great album and it’s in serious contention for my aoty list, it should be in yours if you like post-metal with lots of jazz in it. beemovieyoulikejazz.gif

Respire – Bound

Urgh, this is the band that I never knew I needed to hear and they’re the main contributing factor to me pushing for more orchestral instrumentation in future Ba’al tracks. As with many people, I heard Black Line last year and lost my shit over how good it was, so colour me ecstatic that they already had more material for me to lose my shit over. If you ever wondered if post-metal would sound better with a trumpet, the answer is a resounding yes.

Allan Holdsworth – Fred

Honestly I’ve never had that much interest in listening to guitar virtuosity. Maybe it’s because I’m quite unmotivated by nature so I’ve never had the urge to try and replicate that kind of fretboard wankery because I just couldn’t be arsed committing to the level of practice required, even though I wish I could, which says a lot more about me than I’d like it to. Anyway, as I’ve got older I’ve learned to appreciate extremely complex music without it being a reminder of my own deficiencies, so here’s 10 minutes of jazz-fusion from the king of obscure guitar scales. Enjoy.

Nothing – Catch a Fade

A lot of people didn’t like this album but I thought it was pretty damn great. Lovely waves of fuzzy shoegaze guitars and flowery vocals make for some extremely chilled vibes. Yeah it’s not particularly groundbreaking, but you know what they say about things that aren’t broken.

Yob – Atma

Last night I was reminded of just how heavy this album is. I’m usually fairly certain of the direction I want Ba’al to take in the future, but sometimes I hear something like this and I just want to grow my hair, consume some narcotics, and play unrelenting sludge in this vein.

Richard – Bass

Steven Wilson – King Ghost

My thoughts on the new SW album are currently mixed, but this is an undeniable banger. Headline: 53-year-old prog rock musician does a convincing impression of Grimes, with a dash of Kid A-era Radiohead weirdness and a phat beat.

I’ve been using my government approved walks recently as a chance to listen to more hip-hop, a genre that I love but struggle to find time to listen to enough of, largely due to the density of lyrics making it off-putting when working or doing anything else that involves my concentration. As such, I listened to Exmilitary for the first time in probably about 5 years recently and remembered that the reason it brought Death Grips notoriety is because it is flipping excellent. (Note – subsequently found out that Exmilitary isn’t on Spotify, which is a crime, so on the playlist I’ve replaced it with another one of my fave DG songs).

I’m very glad to have finally got round to this slice of dark but polished underground UK rap recently. Ed Scissor is a top tier MC in my books, and the pairing of flows here is stellar.

Slow Crush – Drift

Not much to say about this – it’s just lush, dense and heavy shoegaze, and it’s great.

The Streets – Who’s Got the Bag? (21st June)

A deeply stupid song, elevated to legendary status by the virtue of having been released by the absolute British institution that is Mike Skinner. An anthem for our times.

Luke – Drums

Polyphia – Bad

Yes, it grooves. This song has the badass attitude found in rap tracks, but this is entirely guitars, bass and drums. If you manage to not bob your head while listening you probably need to see a doctor or something. (I am not a medical professional)

Dream Theater – Take The Time

A true masterpiece of a Dream Theater song. It starts off building up a polyrhythm layer by layer which leads into a metal riff, then into solos with a good ballad-y section followed by more crazier solos. All this but they still fit in a chorus which you will want to sing a long to. AND they make it all sound musically coherent… WHAT?!?!

Periphery – Lune

Do you feel the love? Yes I feel the love! This is the song they closed with the last time I saw them live and I was singing along at the top of my terrible singing voice. It’s full of energy and emotion, and the way the song evolves and develops just draws you in. Lovely.

Skyharbor – Temptress

This song is clearly the track of this album where they let their rage out. The guitars have a spacious syncopted chugging riff reminiscent of some Meshuggah tracks. Meanwhile the drums are grooving hard with some maniacal vocal gibberish on top. Add some slappy bass in and this track has some DIRTY energy. Give me more!

Between the Buried and Me – Lay Your Ghosts to Rest

These guys are honestly on the next astral plane of musicianship. The way they move through time signatures, polyrhythms and different musical styles all while making beautiful coherent music is phenomenal and this track is a great example of that.

It’s now a year since we were in the studio recording Ellipsism, which is, quite frankly, insane. Here are some of the tracks we’ve been staving off the insanity with this month.

Nick – Guitar

Princess Thailand – Sonar

These are a really great post-punk/noise band from France. Their album And We Shine would have easily made my top 5 of last year, if only I’d heard it last year. If I can recommend any band for darker music lovers, it is these.

Boston Marriage – Know You Were

Damn this is one of the nicest sounding dream pop tracks I’ve ever heard. Gorgeous dual-vocals and soothing, tight production make this such a powerful and bittersweet sounding track. These are a pretty new band as well, so I’m looking forward to them progressing, not that they need to progress to sound amazing.

Show Me A Dinosaur – Sunflower

These are a really great blackgaze/post-black metal/Deafalcesteaven style band from St. Petersburg. Their latest album Plantgazer captures the sound of “gazing at house plants day in day out and trying to figure out answers to the many questions this new world has given rise to”. Having spent close to a year doing almost exactly that, I wish I’d been able to listen to this album sooner.

Arlo Parks – Too Good

Appropriately titled, this track is one of the many feel good vibes from her album, which is similarly chock full of wholesomeness and is indeed too good for my words to do justice to. Debut of the year anybody?

Mogwai – Ritchie Sacramento

Partly due to a slightly intimidating discography of what I thought would be an awful lot of post-rock, I’ve often glossed over Mogwai. I really enjoyed this album though and it may be the impetus to explore them more. This track really stands out as a gooey, grungey, power pop track, though I must say I feel like I’m destined for disappointment if the rest of their catalogue doesn’t sound like this.

Richard – Bass

Fightstar – Palahniuk’s Laughter

As a child of Busted’s heyday, of course I grew up with a strange and mainly morbidly curious interest in Charlie’s ‘serious’ band. That interest didn’t get me very far, and as a teen I remember obsessively listening to precisely four early Fighstar tracks. A few weeks ago, I inexplicably had the urge to go back and rinse that same handful of songs again and remind myself that Mr Simpson deserved so much more success for his genuinely pretty unique voice. Yes, I did follow this nostalgia binge by falling down a hole of Busted videos. Yes, I agree, their reunion tracks are better than you’d expect.

Bardspec – Bone

This is Ivar Bjornson from Enslaved’s electronic project with Steve Austin from Today is the Day. I saw Ivar do it live a few years back at a mega Enslaved/Wardruna weekend in London, but it’s taken me until now to give the album the time it deserves. It’s part dance music, part ambient but with plenty of guitar too and a strangely hypnotic folk feel that is hard to put your finger on.

Urfaust – Trail of the Conscience of the Dead

Sticking with the long tracks, this entrancing, repetitive and doomy mantra, complete with a monastic vocal and some gorgeous strings, is just one example of the greatness of this deeply atmospheric sort-of-black-metal band I’ve been getting into of late.

Olivier Orand – Hours

Previously known as Hol Baumann, Olivier Orand trades in semi-psychedelic downtempo electronic music. It’s equally good to chill or groove to, and is infectious as hell. Good vibes.

Daft Punk – Crescendolls

I had to push another track out of this final position to honour the recent, premature departure of the French robots. Daft Punk were a hugely important act for me during my early 20s, when my music tastes were expanding at a rate I could hardly keep up with. Discovery is an untouchable album of bangers, and if this song doesn’t get you moving then I strongly suspect that you might be deceased.

Luke – Drums

Sleep Token – Levitate

Starting with a nice unsuspecting atmosphere at lovely vocals, this song evolves into a high energy, heavy hitting groove fest!

Bleating Apocalypse – Corporate Buffet

From the bands latest EP, this song is a balance of heavy metal and corporate hold music. Admittedly there are some familiar faces here, but I assure you that the bias towards this band is only minimal.

Periphery – Have a Blast

Easily my favourite song from Periphery 2. I find it to be a great example of orchestral backed djent with melodic riffs supported by chugging guitar patterns and solid drums. It’s just too good.

Project Mishram – Nivaasa

What genre even is this?! Mishram blew me away with their mix of Indian musical styles mixed with djent. This song takes that idea but adds jazz, calypso and god knows what else… But oh boi is it good stuff!

Sungazer – Sequence Start

More commonly heard in Adam Neeley’s YouTube videos, this short song mixes bass shredding with Mario-style synths on top of a fast paced quintuplet drum beat. Yes, it does indeed groove!

We’re back on our usual monthly business, with some tracks we’ve been listening to recently and words to accompany them. Let’s face it, there’s not a lot else to do, is there.

Nick – Guitar

Ashnikko – Slumber Party (feat. Princess Nokia)

I remember hearing about Ashnikko ages ago and since then she’s been hovering around my list of artists to listen to and now it seems she’s kinda massive so it was about time I listened to her. Her new mixtape is exactly the kind of neon-stroke-pastel pop/hip-hop that I dig so I’m gonna have to explore her discography. The production is super sugary, the lyrics are witty and fun (perfectly suitable for your conservative grandparents), and my word isn’t it just catchy AF.

SOPHIE – BIPP

Rest in power one of the most talented and forward thinking producers of our time. One of the most iconic instances of an electronic producer whose music you can recognise immediately whether it was her solo work or her work with artists like Arca, Kim Petras or Charli XCX, her eclectic electric touch will be missed. I’ve gone with a classic in the form of Bipp which was for me, and many others, the first track I ever heard.

Chthonic – Legacy of the Seediq

There is a riff in this song that is a solid 9/10 riff and it would have been a 10/10 riff if they’d put a hecking ‘blegh’ at the beginning, but they didn’t and I’ve become so accustomed to doing it myself that I often forget there wasn’t one in the first place. Brilliant song from a brilliant album.

Rachika Nayar – The Trembling of Glass

Music, it seems, has no limits to how it can vary, Rachika Nayar being yet another artist that composes and manipulates sound in such a way that I’ve never heard before. Comparisons to other artists are truly futile in this case, but it’s the sound of an endless, glistening cave of jewels blanketed by a calming sea, or like drowning in a bathtub full of popping candy and crack, I don’t know.

Vjuga – Rotten: Godforsaken

These are a Russian band that I just discovered on Bandcamp because their album cover looks like something Katatonia would release. Doesn’t sound much like Katatonia really, in fact it doesn’t really sound like any band. There’s a really unique balance of grungy shoegaze elements and blackened doom elements that work wonderfully together. Very good, very cool, very beautiful, I like it.

Richard – Bass

Oneohtrix Point Never – Sleep Dealer

Finally spending some long overdue time checking out OPN, specifically his landmark album Replica. It’s equal parts uncomfortably glitchy and soothingly ambient, which makes for a wonderfully unsettling vibe that really seeps deep into your brain in a way I am more than happy to accommodate.

Harvestman – Levitation

Harvestman is Steve Von Till from Neurosis’ drone/folk/psych project, and it’s a sound that suits him and his fatherly voice down to the ground. This track is built on a thrumming wash of distant heavy guitars that filter through such a dense prism of atmosphere and effects that it all comes together somewhere between Jesu and Nadja.

Periphery – Ragnarok

Since Luke joined the band as a third member who likes Periphery, I feel I can finally be open about how much I enjoy their first two albums in particular – moreso than pretty much any other djent I know. Spencer Sotelo’s vocals get smeared in all corners of the internet, but if you can listen to this song and honestly tell me you don’t think he’s insanely talented then I’m afraid you and I are done professionally. Stellar stuff.

The Knife – Neverland

The Silent Shout album has been on constant rotation in my car on the weekly trips to the shops and it’s made the whole ordeal a much more palatable one. ‘Neverland’ is an unrepentant banger, filled with Karin Dreijer’s (aka Fever Ray) genderfluid playfulness with vocal pitch-shifting and all-round unique stylings.

Substance – Countdown

Substance’s 2019 EP of Berlin techno Rise and Shine is a straight powerhouse of clattering rhythms, minimalist progressions and a dark, industrial audio aesthetic. Can I swap “Working From Home” with “Vibing From Berghain”, please?

Luke – Drums

Strapping Young Lad – All Hail the New Flesh

When I got into SYL I clearly missed out on getting the City album. This has recently been remedied and holy moly is it another powerhouse of a Devvy album! This song in particular demonstrates incredible talent and musicianship with Gene Hoglan absolutely killing on the drums as per…. This is an absolute belter of a song and the chorus is just so fun to sing along to.

Vola – Straight Lines

This song was released on YouTube an hour before I’m writing this, but I love this band and this song continues to fuel that even though I haven’t completely taken it all in yet. The gaps between the verse vocal lines create such tension while the underlying groove keeps persisting and it just draws me in wanting more. And then the chorus is beautiful with lovely harmonies. It pleases my heart

Humanity’s Last Breath – Dehumanize

It slaps, need I say more? This is their last teaser before the album release in a week and boy oh boy do they have my interest. This isn’t beautiful like VOLA, it is just filth. Lovely groovy filth. I need to headbang to this in a field of sweaty men. What’s the tempo? Oh it slowed again? SIIIIIIIICK

Devin Townsend – Borderlands

I have a good life, and this is a great song. I’ve recently been listening to this a lot more in a lot more detail and really appreciating the nuanced layers of orchestration that make this so incredible. Devin has an amazing ability to create soundscapes which capture the mind and this is a wonderful demonstration of that.

Liquid Tension Experiment – The Passage Of Time

They’re back! And they have not changed. This song sounds just like the prog rock/metal shreddy goodness that we’ve come to know and love. To me the song does sound a lot like the stuff they’ve done in the past, but I suppose when you’ve not released anything in a long time you have to reassure the existing audience that you’re still exactly who they remember you to be, and this absolutely does that. There’s the classic Rudess keyboards, Portnoy Drums, Petrucci guitars and Levin Bass that interweave with solos and rich chord progressions in such a musical way.

Before this strange year comes to a close, we thought we’d put together one more playlist showing what some of us have been listening to recently. Check out our picks on the Spotify playlist and our words below.

Nick – Guitar

Sleep Token – The Night Does Not Belong To God

This is a case of immediately falling in love with a newfound band. Vessel’s voice is one of the best in modern metal and focussing everything around that is a masterstroke. The only problem is that I won’t be truly satisfied until I know their identities.

Vola – Head Mounted Sideways

Urgh, this is such a tank of a song and it’s got everything that I already love about VOLA. The production pushes this track beyond anything they’ve already done, the chorus is huge but we really need to talk about the frankly scandalous breakdown at the end. That kind of filth should not be allowed without adult supervision.

Loyle Carner – Yesterday

Loyle is the wholesome vibe that 2020 so desperately needs. The production on this is wonderful and classy, and Loyle is on top of his flow game, I just want more. The prospect of more music in the future is getting me through this shitting pandemic.

Clown Core – Flat Earth

I don’t think there’s anything that I can really say about this that is even slightly representative of the intangible nature of Clown Core. They make funny noises and I like it.

Chiasmata – Foreboding

These sound like a fully formed prog-metal band on a relatively big label, and the fact they haven’t yet attained that level of success is somewhat baffling to me. They have all the qualities of big names in this style so I won’t be the least bit surprised if they do receive the recognition they deserve. It doth djent.

Richard – Bass

Bring Me The Horizon – Teardrops

Having hated BMTH on principle as a teen, I came full circle last year and absolutely loved Amo, the first album of theirs I invested any time into. Now they’ve pushed things even further, and alongside the pop and electronic elements, they now have no shame in fully embracing the Linkin Park sound of old. Rather than a cheap rip off, it feels like true reverence for a sound very close to my heart and I can’t get enough.

Black Wreath – The Black Holes of Your Mind

Funereal doom metal from the guy behind neofolk act Of The Wand and the Moon. Black Wreath’s one and only album is a heady mix of crushingly emotive riffs and strangely catchy sadboi hooks and synths.

Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou – Monolith

I was looking forward to this collaborative release for a long time, as I love ERR and find that Thou are at their best when working with other leftfield artists. It’s like the two acts not only combined their disparate styles, but also decided to pretend to be a 90s grunge band from Seattle, and it’s everything I hoped it would be.

Remember – ストリップの明るいライト Bright Lights of the Strip

Now many years into exploring the ambient end of vaporwave music, this album by Remember is the closest in spirit to the untouchable urban isolation encapsulated by genre kings 2814. Top tier atmosphere.

Strapping Young Lad – All Hail the New Flesh

After listening to Devin Townsend break down his albums one by one in massive detail on his podcast over this year, I’ve been on a massive SYL binge, reminding myself that at their best, this band were so fucking good that it is frightening.

Luke – Drums

Turisas – Stand Up and Fight

Nice bit of battle metal this month! Definitely listened to Turisas a fair bit this month and this track is a solid sing-a-long classic with some nice drums to jam along with.

Judas Priest – Painkiller

Oldie, goldie, bloody hell it’s fun to jam to-ie. Been listening to a fair bit of the old Priest this month too, with this track being most memorable. It shouldn’t need much introduction, but this song is a powerhouse of shredding guitars, catchy riffs, dazzling drums, and amazing vocals.

Dirty Loops – World on Fire

This incredible funky 3-piece has been releasing a bunch of new singles and this stands out as a completely jaw dropping display of technical and musical ability. The intro drum fill is completely nuts. The bass riffs are amazingly mad, but nothing compared to the bass solo. And the vocalist/keyboard player provides beautiful harmonies and melodies. And from the music video – is the bassist really using all of those mics?

Jack Gardiner – 1993

Here’s a lovely instrumental track by a super talented guitar player. The guitar groove, pulsing atmosphere and funky backbeat are such an enticing combination. Ooooh yeah baby.

Snoop Dog – The Just Eat song

Okay hear me out…. I keep getting played this advert on YouTube and honestly this track has been stuck in my head more than anything else this month. That said, the last Chinese I got from Just Eat could be convicted for crimes against food…

We’ve finally got some very exciting things to reveal very soon, so this might be the last of these for a little while – enjoy whilst you can…

Joe – Vocals

Sojourner – The Apocalyptic Theater

The Premonitions album is a slow burner of subtle anthems of with this may be the most anthemy. The harsh and clean vocals combining at the end is mesmerising.

Clouds – Nothing But A Name

One of the most morose and atmospheric doom tracks I’ve ever heard. It is so utterly drenched in sadness it’s almost unbearable. I love it.

Rolo Tomassi – Ex Luna Scientia

I’ve recently taken a lot more time and patience with RT’s earlier material and this is likely my second favourite song of theirs after ‘A Flood Of Light’. Eva’s harsh vocals have grown on me a lot too.

Skating Polly – Cosmetic Skull

This band just make me smile. Abrasive pop and super impressive considering the girl who sings this was only 15 when it was written and recorded. Delightfully odd.

CHVRCHES – The Mother We Share

Quite honestly one of the best pop songs I’ve ever heard. It’s stuck in my head and I’m singing it to myself all the time.

Nick – Guitar

Power Trip – Soul Sacrifice

A sad week for metal. This band have almost single-handedly kept Thrash relevant for the last decade and Riley was a significant factor in that.

Dead Can Dance – The Writing On My Father’s Hand

A stunning example of Lisa Gerrard’s delicate vocal layering. The simple harpsichord backing does enough to create an enchanting platform for the vocals to take centre stage. It’s quite a restrained track, especially compared to the grandeur of ‘The Host Of Seraphim’ (the one from The Mist that film composers have been unabashedly mimicking for the past few decades) but there is a wonderful elegance in it’s simplicity.

ANOHNI – 4 DEGREES

Her operatic vocals give a sense of grandeur you don’t often find, even in the exalted halls of art pop. Great production that tastefully mixes orchestral instrumentation with industrial drums and noise. All in all a massive track.

Supruga – Царствие

Vicious hardcore flavoured black metal from Russia. Makes me want to throw milkshakes at tories, which is always a good thing.

Susumu Yokota – SAKU

This album in particular sits close to the apex of ambient music for me. Sad that he died long before his time.

Richard – Bass

Mireplaner – Parched Throats

I wish I’d discovered this band last year, as this album would almost certainly have challenged by top 5 albums of the year. Chaotic, nasty post metal at it’s finest, with a hardcore edge and some truly worrying riffs.

Stars of the Lid – A Lovesong (For Cubs)+, Part 1

Stars of the Lid have entered my world in a big way recently and made me wonder what I’ve been doing with my life up to this point without them. I’m going to go ahead and challenge Nick’s assertion about the apex of ambient music right here.

Little Simz – Wounds

Another new discovery for me is Little Simz, a Mercury-nominated and incredibly talented female rapper who has flow for days. She’s also two years younger than me, so this is me wondering what I’ve been doing with my life in an entirely different sense.

Death – Sacred Serenity

My relationship with death metal has always been sporadic, but this year I’ve found myself indulging a bit more often, and in particular I’ve been enjoying revisiting the landmark Symbolic album. Aggressive, progressive and surprisingly melodic(essive), it’s that good shit.

Casualties of Cool – Flight

As Devin Townsend continues down his never ending singular rabbit hole of unparalleled and extravagant prog metal weirdness, it seems a good time to remember this moment of chill on his self-titled collaborative album with Ché Aimee Dorval. Soft, ambient blues rock to help you forget the apocalypse.

Luke – Drums

Trepalium – Damballa’s Voodoo Doll

Groovy swing metal! I do like me some jazz/swing and this is a lovely infusion of swing and metal.

David Maxim Micic – Satellite

This track makes me think of woodland creatures making djent -and that is a good thing!

Diablo Swing Orchestra – Knucklehugs (Arm Yourself With Love)

What a fantastic song name. Another great infusion of hard rock and jazz/swing.

Sleep Token – Sugar

Beautiful song that I’ve been listening to a lot lately.

Fleshgod Apocalypse – Sugar

Got me a sweet tooth! Another lovely orchestral metal offering. I just cannot get enough of this.

You know the deal. Five tracks each and some words about why we like them, every month forever and ever. Enjoy. Or don’t.

Joe – Vocals

Regarde Les Hommes Tomber – A New Order

Most recent album is an absolute monster from start to finish. Riffs galore.

Argesk – Lord of the Boundless Void

Manchester black metal with a terrific symphonic vibe. There is a melancholic feel to this track that resonates with me.

The Angels of Light – The Man We Left Behind

The lyrics to this song click with me a lot personally. Laid back, beautiful and heartfelt.

Janet Devlin – Away With The Fairies

I discovered this Northern Irish pop singer through her YouTube video about her alcoholism. Checked out her stuff and find this to be a charmingly pleasant pop song.

Pepper Rabbit – Older Brother

Probably one of the saddest but most uplifting songs I’ve heard about a friends suicide.

Nick – Guitar

Cabal – Tongues

This is what the unending hordes of hellspawn play when they are doing the laundry after their daily pillage of earth. Probably.

Fawn Limbs – Ore Lung

A feral coming together of disgusting riffs and long division. All aboard the bendy-bus of rage, this service terminates suddenly and violently.

Textures – Shaping a Single Grain of Sand

Hemiola.

Glass Ocean – Light of the Moon

A glass ocean is actually what they sound like, but his voice is a massive ship made of treacle and there are no fish, only sex toys, made of crystals or something.

Jimothy Lacoste – Future Bae

Life is, indeed, getting quite exciting.

Richard – Bass

Wren – Murmur

I’ve been long overdue diving into the Wren catalogue, and the new record from our pals at Gizeh Records is suitably crushing. This track has a real Cult of Luna vibe. Hopefully one day we can play with these guys again as we did at our last gig before the world ended.

Hum – Step Into You

These guys are totally new to me with their 2020 album Inlet, but apparently they’re actually a band from the 90s making a comeback. Ever wondered what it would sound like if Sheffield’s Awooga starting playing mid-career Devin Townsend riffs with a 90s alt-rock singer? Now you don’t need to.

Kelly Lee Owens – On

Completing an uncharacteristic trio of songs that actually came out this year, here’s one of several artists I was planning to see recently before doing things became illegal. Not many artists mix dreamy pop with fully pumping techno, and although this track leans more towards the former territory, you get a real sense of Kelly‘s immense talent.

Alice in Chains – Rooster

Every so often I feel it’s necessary to dive back into the AIC classics and remind myself what a powerful force they were – impressive that they’re still so good now, too. Riffs galore, certainly, but those Staley/Cantrell vocal harmonies are what make this band.

Twilight – Red Fields

Massive black metal featuring Aaron Turner plus members of Leviathan, Nachmystium and Xasthur (a later album also included Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth???). Blistering yet atmospheric, and chock full of post metal textures and some electronic overtones. Hench.

Luke – Drums

Benny Grebb – Tricky

Wanna make djent? Only got drums and a mouth? Well this guy can do it!

Fleshgod Apocalypse – The Violation

This beautiful band took the virtual stage last weekend with a wonderful performance. The energy was as “live” as I could’ve hoped and hence their opening song is on the list!

Gojira – Another World

They made a new track and video and it is, well, Gojira! Their distinct groovy metal sound persistently pleases my ears

Work – The Endless Sounds of the Abyss

Not a band or a track… Just the endless sounds of work which this week has a guest vocalist of some guy giving online training. I do need more music.

Benny Grebb – Mixed Greens

…yeah I acquired this album this month so it gets 2 tracks! Again just drums and acapella but boy oh boy it grooves!

You guessed it – it’s a new playlist, with us waffling on about the five songs we’ve each picked this month. One of the few excitements we have in this strange new world. All the extra time to listen to things makes it even harder than ever to narrow it down to just 5 tracks, so we hope you appreciate the effort we go to for this hugely important art…

Joe – Vocals

Anathema – Everything

One of the most gorgeous songs ever written, pure positivity with a touch of melancholy.

Altar of Plagues – As A Womb

There are few things more invigorating than listening to this track while walking through the countryside in the rain.

Foetal Juice – Take Your Face For A Shit

The new album from the Foetal boys is a stomper. Like getting punched in the dick by a toilet goblin.

Mushroomhead – The Heresy

I can’t get this track out of my head. They’ll never be as good as they were on XX, but this is fun pop metal guff.

Wilson Phillips – Hold On

I was trying to remember the name of this group for ages. Cringe from 1990, I’m on a childhood pop bringe 😂

 

Nick – Guitar

Decapitated – The Knife

Uncompromising stuff. I wish my whole body was as ripped as their forearms must be.

Loathe – Aggressive Evolution

Aggressive indeed. A haemorrhage of gnarly bottom end alongside sultry Deftones-esque atmosphere. Still my pick for album of the year so far, though there is some stiff competition in the form of…

Run The Jewels – Walking in the Snow

Sobering commentary on the current political climate. Without doubt one of the most relevant albums of our time.

The Chameleons – Don’t Fall

Found this band through an interview with Neige of Alcest in which he waxed lyrical about this Manchester band I’d never heard of. One of the lesser known post-punk bands of the 80s and it’s fair to say they deserved a great deal more success than they actually achieved.

Bad Lip Reading – Bushes of Love

A quality pop song. Was overjoyed to discover this was available on Spotify. ‘Seagulls! (Stop It Now)’ is another classic. Watch the videos on YouTube to understand why the lyrics are absolute nonsense.

 

Richard – Bass

Asva – A Bomb in That Suitcase

I’ve had a pretty ambient and drone-focused month, particularly whilst enjoying working from my attic during rainstorms. One highlight was rediscovering Asva, one of many Toby Driver-associated projects. This track is a journey from pure ambience into a majestic, mid-paced droney bassline.

Shining (NOR) – Blackjazz Deathtrance

As if to completely counteract what I just said, I also saw the best of many livestreamed gigs I’ve seen during lockdown recently, namely from these Norwegian industrial/jazz/prog/metal mentalists. This track tipifies their ludicrous chops in their Blackjazz period, and is just a mindfuck of epic proportions. Shame they went shit, really.

Björk – Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)

Björk had a little lockdown vinyl sale a few weeks ago and I picked up a few of my favourite records of hers, including the bizarre and almost entirely vocal album Medúlla. This track marries her unique melodies with some throat singing and amazing beatboxing from Rahzel, and it rules.

Entheos – White Noise (II)

Stumbled across these guys during another lockdown livestream – this time the ‘Slay at Home’ metal festival. Polished and manic technical/progressive death metal with members and ex-members of The Faceless and Animals as Leaders. A punch straight to the brain.

Sunn O))) – My Wall

Play your gloom axe Stephen O’Malley
Sub bass clinging to the sides of the valley
Sub bass ringing in each last ditch and combe
Greg Anderson purvey a sonic doom

 

Tom – Guitar

Mogwai – Auto Rock

It’s mogwai, and another album opener built around a light piano melody. This one, like ‘I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead’ off the follow-up The Hawk is Howling, is a perfect building swirl to drift away to.

The Atlas Moth – Coffin Varnish

This is one of those re-discovered gems I forgot was in my record collection. The squall of the guitars and overall sound have a cold feel that draws you in.

A.A. Williams – Be Quiet and Drive

Beautifully arranged and stripped down cover of the Deftones classic and a beautiful voice to boot.

Converge – Thousands of Miles Between Us

A more sedate but haunting cut from a band famed for being way more frantic, that slithers and winds its way through rises and falls to it’s conclusion.

Thou – Dive

An album made of Nirvana covers that is just utter filth, but works amazingly.

 

Luke – Drums

Nick Johnston – Impossible Things

A nice bit of calm, instrumental groove. Lovely.

Dream Theater – Untethered Angel

A nice bit of heavy metal prog.

Fleshgod Apocalypse – The Day We’ll be Gone

Considering the way things are at the moment, the day could be soon! But this is a beautiful smphonic, orchestral metal song. Noice.

Deep Purple – Black Night

It always annoyed me how people know Smoke on the bloody Water, but I have no idea about their other, better tracks! A nice bit of bluesy rock though.

Scar Symmetry – Artificial Sun Projection

Fucking bang your head and whip the air guitar out. Grand!

The world continues to spiral out of control, but we continue to pummel our ears with many and varied tuneage. See below for this month’s picks from the five of us.

 

Joe – Vocals

Pig Destroyer – Mapplethorpe Grey

J.R Hayes is without a doubt one of the best lyricists in metal with his abstract poetry. Huge influence.

A Forest Of Stars – Decomposing Deity Dance Hall

Some of the best of UKBM, very unique and some of the nicest people you could hope to meet too.

Mgla – Exercises in Futility V

Without a doubt one of the most subtly brilliant black metal tracks of all time.

The Vision Bleak – The Outsider

Dramatic horror metal with tongue firmly in cheek. Grandiose and extremely good fun.

Annie Lennox – Love Song For A Vampire

One of the darkest sounding pop songs ever, a classic from my childhood.

Nick – Guitar

Vildhjarta – All These Feelings

Is there anything better in life than the sound of an extended range guitar and a finely tuned kick drum slapping together in perfect unison like 20 bungee cords panging on the side of an Eddie Stobart? Personally I don’t think anything else comes close.

Mora Prokaza – Blacker Than Black

Truly erratic vocal performance with a wonderfully abrasive production style. Won’t help with insomnia.

Hail Spirit Noir – The First Ape On New Earth

Eclectic mix of metal styles that leans on the proggy side, all filtered through a synthetic cosmos. If Carl Sagan was in Opeth via Kraftwerk maybe?

Kampfar – Skamløs!

Perfect accompaniment for throwing spanners at pesky draugr. Back in your tomb silly man.

Krallice – IIIIIIIIII (Track 4 from Years Past Matter)

I frown in the direction of the logistically problematic song titles on this album but they’re forgiven for having them sound as horribly foreboding as they do.

Luke – Drums

Sleep Token – Offering 

Only just got this album after being blown away by their TechFest headline show a few years ago. Lovely combination of groove, heavy, and loveliness.

Trivium – Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr

I swear shuffle has been repeating this song a lot recently. But the original track is forever tainted by the hilarious misheard lyrics, which just makes it quite amusing!

Periphery – Reptile

I feel like I may have put this exact song before, but it just keeps coming up as an epic 15-minute djent track with very proggy and symphonic aspects. I love it.

Tesseract – Smile

After Tesseract’s ‘live in lockdown’ show earlier this month, it’d really just be rude not put this here! And I feel we could all use some more reasons to smile at the moment.

Meshuggah – Futile Bread Machine

A lovely summery campfire take on their ‘Future Breed Machine’ track. Personally I really prefer the ‘Futile Bread Machine’ version – it’s just delightfully silly

Richard – Bass

Ocean Wisdom – Revvin’ (ft Dizzee Rascal)

I had something of a resurgence in hip-hop listening at the start of this month, including annoying the hell out of my partner by playing this track incessantly. I’ve picked a track of this album for a previous month, but honestly I can’t get enough of Wisdom’s flows, and Dizzee is on fire here too.

Car Bomb – Secrets Within

Nick finally ground me down and got me to like Car Bomb after months of banging on about them… Fair play, they are pretty great. It’s like Meshuggah playing on the back of a van going over speedbumps, and this track has some truly bizarre guitar sounds that I love.

Oranssi Pazuzu – Tyhjyyden Sakramentti

Try pronouncing that one. Bless you. The masters of psychedelic, Lovecraftian, swirly black metal have returned to school us all. No one else sounds close to this.

Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes

Eurovision was one of the absolute saddest things to delete from my calendar during Covid, and whilst the replacement TV broadcast was kind of fun, it was also very dystopian and depressing. Therefore, we should all listen to this absolute babe who won in 2015. Flawless pop.

Octo Octa – Until the Moon Sets

Some wonderful house/IDM from an exceptionally talented trans producer/DJ my partner introduced me to a few years ago, and who we caught live as part of a Tramlines fringe event. Joyous, polished, marvellous.

Tom – Guitar

 

As lockdown continues, music also (thankfully) continues to exist. Cutting down to five tracks each was a struggle this month, given the excess time available to blast out tunes… Anyway, here they are:

Nick – Guitar

Dawn Ray’d – The Ceaseless Arbitrary Choice

Among my favourite UKBM bands and a standout album of the late 2010s. Folk and black metal (indeed any metal sub-genre) can be a precarious pairing but on this album in particular, I think they get the ratio bang on. Simon’s somber violin work compliments the savage impact of their vehement lyrical themes and explosive riffs.

Recondite – Mirror Games

Foreboding track from an album that is sinister and serene in equal measure. A fitting sonic accompaniment for these despondent times.

Karnivool – Life Like

Potentially the starkest evidence of their early nu-metal influence. Karnivool have since distanced themselves from this style whilst retaining the progressive groove and psychedelia that make them so interesting. Certainly an under-appreciated band.

Christian Löffler – Haul (Max Cooper Mix)

A stirring, resonant track, beautifully reimagined by Max Cooper, of whom I owe my discovery to Richard. A slow-burning, ambient euphoria and champion of harmony.

Låpsley – Operator (Koze Disco Edit)

A chart topper that never was. This track has all the hallmarks of a hit but sadly never quite reached the heights it deserved. Koze’s work on the track is fairly subtle, embellishing the already present disco elements, but it’s Låpsley’s vocals that are the true focal point.

Richard – Bass

Grouper – She Loves Me That Way

If the idea of sad indie folk songs drenched in reverb within an inch of their life appeals to you, then look no further than Grouper. Liz Harris’ atmospheres are so deep and unique, and I’ve been getting totally lost in them this past few months.

Diablo – The Preacher

Following a Ba’al group chat a few weeks back about our many and varied opinions about melodic death metal, I revisited this unsung band who are one of only a very small handful of melodeath bands I still listen to. This is the first song I heard of theirs and it is a great intro to their Meshuggah-infused take on the genre.

Craven Faults – Slack Sley & Temple

BandCamp keep proving themselves to be one of the best music-related companies going at the moment, but one thing they’ve always been great at is recommendations based on your taste. Thanks to one of their electronic/ambient roundups, I picked up one of my early 2020 album highlights here, and this track is like wandering through a deserted factory made entirely of lovely sci-fi synth sounds.

Bismuth – Weltschmertz

The ‘B-side’ (if you can really call it that) to 2018’s drone masterclass ‘The Slow Dying of the Great Barrier Reef’ sees Bismuth shift their formidable torrent of tone into groove mode and churn out some unstoppable, flattening riffage.

Heavy Heart – The Way Home

Lockdown has seen me catching up virtually with some old Sussex pals from my school days, and Heavy Heart are a dream pop/shoegaze/indie band from London containing some of said friends. They released one song per month in 2016 and compiled them into an album in 2017, and the uplifting guitar that drives this track is just bliss to me. Self-plug: I actually play viola on the previous track…

Luke – Drums

Vola – Stray the Skies

GROOOOVE. Awesome groovy song with a great sing a long chorus. This song makes me feel like I’m floating in groove.

Polyphia – Amour

This song has come up a few times in my listenings, especially while I’ve been getting my government approved drum exercise! A really nice song to jam to.

Tesseract – Luminary

If I listen to this enough I might eventually pick up the drums so Nick and I can spend all our practices playing this and annoying everyone else!

Igorrr – Nervous Waltz

Yes I am putting Igorrr again. No, I don’t get out enough, but that’s just life at the moment and this is a great album 😀

Devin Townsend Project – Divine

Mainly because of seeing him play this for his virtual live shows raising money for for the keyworkers such as the NHS. Brilliant song, still epic when virtually live for such a good cause.

Tom – Guitar

Telepathy – Pariah

Absolute monster set of riffage from one of the best UK bands around.

Trap Them – Savage Climbers

Almost pedestrian in tempo compared to most of Trap Them’s output, but no less snarling and savage.

Cursed – Head of the Baptist

Never saw Cursed live sadly before they broke up, but an absolutely perfect back catalogue left in their wake.

Mamiffier – So That the Heart May Be Known

Beautifully layered slow burning piece with an almost folk edge in places.

Neurosis – The Last You’ll Know

The opening riff is just a sledgehammer of savagery.

Joe – Vocals

Her Name Is Calla – Pour More Oil

Probably one of the most emotive pieces of music I’ve ever heard, takes me back to an extremely sad time in my life but that’s partly why it resonates with me so much.

Deafheaven – Violet

A earlier track that is often overlooked, but a great sign of incredible things to come.

Allegaeon – Dyson Sphere

I’ve always been very particular about tech death, especially the squeaky clean style, but Allegaeon have some exceptionally well composed tracks, this being a favourite.

Anorexia Nervosa – Mother Anorexia

Criminally underrated symphonic black metal, tragically no longer active.

The Axis of Perdition – Entangled In Mannequin Limbs

Absolutely terrifying Silent Hill-style noise. The churning atmosphere, nightmarish landscape and the screams just conjur images of hell.

 

We went into the studio for a week and when we came out, the world went into lockdown. What a weird time to be alive. We hope you’re all keeping safe – here are some picks from us if you need more music to keep you sane.

Nick – Guitar

Dua Lipa – Cool

I wasn’t blown away by the first two singles at first, but both have since grown on me massively and the rest of the album as a whole is a radiant blend of modern pop, synthwave and disco. ‘Cool’ is a particular highlight for me, partly because it sounds like it came straight off of Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen. Anyone who knows me well will know how much of a compliment that is.

Myrkur – House Carpenter

I, for one, applaud this album for focussing on the folk side of Myrkur. In my opinion, Braun’s vocals and use of traditional instrumentation have always been the standout elements in her repertoire, so I’m very happy to have a full album dedicated to that. This is one of my favourite tracks from it.

Code Orange – Who I Am

Another one that I was somewhat apprehensive of on first listening but I was already convinced by the halfway mark. It’s clear to see why people are talking about CO like they’re the future of metal. Perhaps that evaluation oversteps the mark a little, but there’s no denying their importance and influence on the underground.

Intronaut – Speaking of Orbs

A splendid new album from Intronaut. These are a band that, for me, get unfairly overlooked and actually flew under my radar for quite a long time. This album is a mosaic of metal fusion that lands somewhere between Boss Keloid and Animals As Leaders, via Mastodon of course.

Demersal – Thoughtless

One of my favourites to come out this year by a band that are fairly unknown (over here at least). Raw and emotional post-hardcore with a similar aesthetic and delivery to our dudes in Still, who I also really like funny enough.

Tom – Guitar

The Red Chord – Upper Deck

I loved the Clients record many years ago (and still do) and this is a monster off it.

Sick Of It All – Step Down

Time off from work has given me chance to go back through stuff I’ve not listened to for a while including this absolute classic from NYC.

Joe Strummer – Redemption Song

Stripped back cover of the Bob Marley classic that became a fitting bookend to a career.

Old Man Gloom – In Your Name

New Gloom. Enough said.

65daysofstatic – Dance Parties (Distant)

Taken from the Dance Parties EP, made mainly of remixes of the track ‘Distant Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties’ off the Destruction of Small Ideas album. That track was my favourite off that album and this was a really good reimagining off the EP.

Luke – Drums

Igorrr – Camel Dancefloor

Off Igorrr’s latest output of electronic metal prog thing… This a fantastic combination of the aforementioned genres, with catchy licks and heavy electronic bass!

Lamb of God – Broken Hands

Been listening to a fair bit of Lamb of God again lately. This track has always been a favourite of mine.

Gojira – Born in Winter

It’s been my alarm for most of the month so I’ve heard the first 30 seconds or so quite a lot now! But amazing band, and this track is actually great for an alarm!

Wintersun – Sons of Winter and Stars

Amazing symphonic prog metal masterpiece. Incredible musicianship and writing all the way through. Jari is a God.

Igorrr – Very Noise

The main single off his latest release. Quite frankly this whole list could just be new Igorrr tracks… CHECK IT OUT.

Joe – Vocals

While Heaven Wept – The Drowning Years

Particularly sentimental track that got me through some tough times, hadn’t heard it in ages and it’s still as awesome as ever.

Imperium Dekadenz – When We Are Forgotten

Title track from their last album and a subtle masterclass in euphoric atmosphere.

Enslaved – Veilburner

It’s rare that I focus on drums, but the drumming in this absolute anthem is top draw. A real toe tapper.

Primordial – Bloodied Yet Unbowed

I’ve always found this track really boosts my spirit and makes me feel defiant. Exactly what’s needed right now.

Gwar – Meat Sandwich

Because we all need a laugh….

Richard – Bass

Esoteric – Caucus of Mind

It’s taken a while (and not just because their albums and songs are SO long), but I’m finally clicking with Esoteric, thans in large part to this album, The Maniacal Vale. There’s a lot more movement and changes than you might expect from funeral doom, not to mention buckets of sadness.

Kairon; IRSE! – Sinister Waters II

The psych rock offshoot of Oranssi Pazuzu have always been intriguing to me, and on their third album they dropped a lot of the shoegaze elements and went flagrantly prog rock – and I am here for it.

Gong – Fohat Digs Holes in Space

Continuing the psych thread, I stuck on Gong’s 1971 album ‘Camembert Electrique’ on a whim the other week and immediately loved it. As you’d expect, its pretty eccentric, but there’s a lot of soft groove in there too.

Public Service Broadcasting – Night Mail

Still a pretty unique voice in UK indie music, PSB bring some lush and almost Britpop guitar work to this track in homage of the postal service – seems fitting now more than ever. Have they ever written a song about the NHS?!

Led Zeppelin – The Crunge

I might sound like I’m trying to be cool by avoiding the classics here, but Houses of the Holy has been my favourite LZ record for a long time, just because of the amount of genre hopping they (successfully) attempted on it. Red Hot Chilli Peppers wish they could write grooves like this.