monthlyplaylist – Page 5

March 5, 2020

Monthly Playlist: March 2020

More tunes from us, this time with some sexy new photos and the identity of our drummer revealed. In case you hadn’t heard, he’s called Luke, and he is excellent. You might recognise him from Bleating Apocalypse, where you might also recognise Richard. Or you might not. Anyway, check out the tracks below and read our ramblings…

Nick – Guitar

Loathe – Is It Really You?

I think it’s almost guaranteed that these are going to end up massive in the same way Code Orange have blown up. I liked the first album but this new one has so much more personality. They’re still in that noisy hardcore vein but with a melodic textural side similar to peak Deftones.

Azealia Banks – Anna Wintour

One of the catchiest tracks she’s released, really strong vocals with great beats.

Leeched – Earth and Ash

Disgusting track from a disgusting album. The really gnarly production is great and adds a lot to an already great hardcore record.

Malevolence – Keep Your Distance

Another great track from Malev. Just when you think you’ve heard all the riffs you remember they exist and will consistently slap you with some more.

The Elijah – I Loved

An amazing band that is still sorely missed. Definitely a highlight of the late 00s melodic hardcore boom and one of the most emotionally intense bands I’ve ever heard.

Richard – Bass

Grimes – So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth

Miss Anthropocene is the first 2020 album I’ve heard this year and it does not disappoint. I’m very pleased that Grimes has gone back to making properly outsider music, and this track is a winning combo of spacey and melodic.

Sear Bliss – Forbidden Doors

Who knew that the trombone worked so well in black metal? Brilliantly produced heaviness that has vital cathiness in its blasting, alongside some atmospheric passages that are uniquely textured thanks to the brass.

Bring Me The Horizon – Nihilist Blues

IT’S DOUBLE GRIMES TIME. Amo is the first BMTH album I’ve actually given any time, and this year I’ve been absolutely smashing this track in my car. The production is brilliant, the marriage of pop and riffs infectious, and Grimes slots in weirdly perfectly.

Laster – Tot De Tocht Ons Verlicht

Holland’s Laster have an intriguing take on the lo-fi atmospheric black metal school of sounds, with some real instrumental experimentation. This track hits all the emotional spots whilst remaining progressive, incisive, and managing to include a choral/church organ break.

Lana Del Rey – Born to Die

Continuing the black metal/pop alternation, I’ve had this song stuck in my head on and off for a full calendar month. It’s classic LDR: sumptuous melodies, top-tier pop production and dark lyrics. Hail the queen.

Joe – Vocals

Alcest – Voix Sereines

Beautiful track off the bands least popular album that really plied the Slowdrive influence. Always makes me smile.

Green Carnation – Pile of Doubt

Sumptuous rock song, brilliant vocals and a real toe tapper.

The Gathering – Kevin’s Telescope

One of the most criminally overlooked bands from the Netherlands that were doing what Within Temptation and Delain have done a decade earlier and better.

Drudkh – Wind of the Night Forest

Quite simply one of my favourite black metal tracks of all time.

Ruins of Beverast – Mount Sinai Moloch

Got to have a bit of darkness this month too. Nasty, dense and grim, just like your mum.

Luke – Drums

Humanity’s Last Breath – Like Flies

Starting off with what I’d consider one of the heaviest bands I listen to on a regular basis. This song has a grim grooves with sickeningly heavy guitars and hard-hitting drums. A lovely song for a horible day.

Dream Theater – Dance of Eternity

After finally seeing it live this month with the monster that is Mike Mangini behind the drums, I just have to put this on this month’s list. A classic instrumental prog track which has given me many hours of enjoyment trying to learn the drum parts.

Dirty Loops – Sexy Girls

When this jazz fusion group were announced as the headliners for 2020’s Radar Fest I had to check them out. I mainly just enjoy playing this song when giving lifts to work mates who are expecting me to belt out some incomprehensible metal!

Tesseract – Of Matter – Resist

I’ve mainly been listening to this lots because its been my alarm for the past few months. Great atmospheric intro (perfect for a light and breezy wake up) but builds into a classic Tesseract groove which you should all love. LOVE IT.

Strapping Young Lad – You Suck

I feel like I remember this just coming up on shuffle a lot lately, and it is just an incredible yet hectic song which hits super hard and super fast. Also just great fun to sing along to if you’re feeling miffed with people!

Tom – Guitar

Torche – Admission

I’ve always had a big love for this band. Floaty shoegaze guitar pop meets huge sludge riffs.

Smashing Pumpkins – Behold the Nightmare

The Adore album was a quiet, low-key oddity in the midst of the Pumpkins’ catalogue, and yet my favourite Pumpkins record.

Touché Amoré – Is Survived By

Heartfelt post-hardcore doesn’t get much better than this and it’s a great book end to the album that got me into this band.

Deafheaven – From the Kettle Onto the Coil

Dark and savage single post- the Sunbather album that set the tone for the New Bermuda album that followed.

The Mirimar Disaster – If Lockheeds Could Speak

Old tune from some good friends stacked with some monster riffs.
February 4, 2020

Monthly Playlist: February 2020

New year, same monthly playlist post… New drummer. As usual, we’ve all picked 5 tracks – including our new drummer, whose identity is yet to be revealed. Guesses on a postcard please.

Nick – Guitar

Under – Traitor’s Gate

You can file this one under ‘simple riffs that slap so hard that you really wish you’d written’. There is also plenty of the sort of off kilter affair you’d expect from Under. Looking forward to whatever weird-as-shit metal they release next.

Max Cooper – Perpetual Motion

I have Richard to thank for this one. Only started listening to Max on his recommendation but I’m glad I did. Minimalist techno that is nonetheless vividly illustrative and euphoric. To draw his music would be to draw a massively intricate landscape.

Michelle Branch – Everywhere

Classic early 2000s pop-rock anthem. Unfortunately Michelle is no longer a household name it seems but The Spirit Room nonetheless is still an absolutely stellar album. They don’t write pop songs like this anymore.

Frigoris – Aurora Stirbt

A potential early contender for album of the year. Beautiful German post-black metal with an anti-NSBM stance. What is there not to love?

Allie X – Science

I’m picking the stripped back ‘analog’ version she released last year purely for the ridiculous pitch her voice reaches towards the end. Regardless listen to the original too. The phattest sounding dark synth pop with astounding production.

Tom – Guitar

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Sleep

And we used to sleep on the beach here, sleep overnight.
They don’t do that anymore.
Things changed…
You see
They don’t sleep anymore on the beach

Jesu – Christmas

Waves of electronics and guitars crash over eachother in ways that are instantly recognisable as Broaderick’s work. A twisted combination of industrial and shoegaze.

65daysofstatic – Safe Passage

The synth swells and blooms are glorious. Emotive and uplifting that always makes the hairs standup on my arms.

Nails – You Will Never Be One of Us

Just absolute savagery commited to tape. A gloriously nihilistic way to open an album and a statement of intent.

Neurosis – Stones From the Sky

Bleak, hypnotic, no frills simplicity. Neurosis at their absolute crushing best.

Joe – Vocals

Les Discrets – Le Mouvement Perpetuel

Pleasant yet haunting post black metal from Alcest’s bezzie mates. Actually quite soothing.

Fen – The Gibbet Elms

One if the UK’s finest atmospheric black metal bands. Oozes malevolence.

Drakonis – Let Us Pray

Northern Irish black metallers who have a full length album on the way. Traditional and catchy.

Monstrosity – Remnants of Divination

Best known for being the training ground for musicians to join bigger death metal bands. But this track is a tech-death banger.

Slipknot – Eyeless

Classic track that was a highlight when I recently saw them live for the fourth time. YOU CAN’T SEE CALIFORNIA WITHOUT MARLON BRANDOS EYES!!!

Richard – Bass

Ashbringer – Solace

This album, Yūgen, made a bit of an underground splash when it came out a few years ago. Brilliant atmospheric black metal, with some powerful harmonies and masterful acoustic passages. It’s a bit like Wolves in the Throne Room meets Mike Oldfield.

Jesu – Silver

As is often the case, I’m very slowly filling gaps in my knowledge with artists I definitely should be more familiar with… After just one listen, the title track on this EP has shot up to amongst my very favourite Jesu tracks. Heartwrenching, reverberating, heavy and so distinctive.

Steve Hauschildt – The World is Too Much with Us

I recently came across this Berlin-School-influenced electronic artist via a BandCamp reccomendation email, and then found out he’s playing in Sheffield next month – double winner. His work is like a blend of simplistic synth-based soundscapes with Jon Hopkins-like hooks and sound, and this one is just great and textured ambience.

E-L-R – Above the Mountains There is Light

Though they didn’t make it into my albums of 2019 list, seeing them live in December with Hundred Year Old Man (twice, including playing with them once) has kept E-L-R in my mind. This track – featuring Colin from Amenra – is the pinnacle of the album for me, reaching some brilliant, chordy heights.

Thy Catafalque – Vashegyek

This is a band I’m really only just properly investing time into, having had them on my radar for a long time. There’s some truly nasty, deathly sludge riffs on display here, alongside influence from Hungarian folk and electronica, and you could also argue there’s some of the SOAD brand of melody in there too. Can’t wait to get stuck into more of their albums.

??? – Drums

Twilight Force – Hydra

Soooo, I like cheesy power metal and have a big ole soft spot for orchestral elements in metal. This is an absolute belter off Twilight Force’s latest album, which is sure to lighten up any day!

Fleshgod Apocalypse – Monnalisa

Following on the orchestral theme, Fleshgod Apocalypse’s Monnalisa comes in from the heavier end still with a fantastic combination of musicality, epicness, and looming ominous tones.

Arch Echo – MukDuk

This instrumental prog/mathsy band bring the grooooooovvvveeeeeee to extreme proportions. Great fun talented band with amazing energy.

Devin Townsend – Borderlands

It’s Devin… Need I say more? I see this as a brilliant example of all the stuff that makes Devin Devin. It’s got heavy, silliness, proggy stuff, a crying child… IT’S GOOD.

VOLA – Whaler

VOLA were my most recent love at first sight band, and this song off their latest album is a beautiful comination of heavy and with the beautiful loveliness which makes VOLA one of my favourite bands.
December 5, 2019

Monthly Playlist: December 2019

One more monthly playlist before the year is out, showing you what all five of us have been listening to. Then we’ve got something else to come on here before the year is out – it might not surprise you…

Nick – Guitar

TLC – No Scrubs

This one gets rotated a lot at work so naturally it’s perpetually one of the most listened to songs in my day to day. Interestingly the synth line during the chorus is remarkably similar to a piece of incidental music from the 2002 video game, Nightfire, which holds a great deal of nostalgic value. ‘No Scrubs’ is a great song anyway but perhaps the repeated reminder of an enjoyable period in my life enhances my appreciation of it.

Cranial – Faint Voice

I’ve made a point about having an unexplainable knack for discovering German sludge bands that have already split up before. Thankfully these haven’t split up so I should be able to enjoy more releases by this great band in the future, barring a heart-breaking sting in the tail.

A.A. Williams – Control

I wrote A.A. Williams off a while ago having only heard one song which I didn’t like. Now however, I can’t get enough of her and feel liberated for it. Shame it’s technically an EP and not an album so it can’t make it onto my albums of the year list on a fucking technicality. Life is shit.

Slow Crush – Ease

Another EP that unfortunately cannot be included on my album of the year list. Had it been an album and not an EP, it would surely be on there. Sadly, life is a crock of oppressive shite.

Full of Hell – Armory of Obsidian Glass

Really sucky what happened to Full of Hell, seems like they’ve received more than enough donations to get up and running again and a nice gesture to donate the rest to charity. Also their new album absolutely SLAPS.

Tom – Guitar

Slowdive – Sugar for the Pill

Just a simple beautiful song, and the guitar sounds are really nice.

My Bloody Valentine – Only Shallow

The opening track of Loveless is a classic blend of chaotic noise and pop sentiments.

The Clash – I Fought the Law

Always loved The Clash and this keeps coming on the radio and gets played a lot at home as well.

Pink Floyd – High Hopes

Best track off The Division Bell and the slide guitar at the end is beautiful.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Galleon Ship

One of the standouts from the new record. Minimal and mournful yet achingly beautiful.

Joe – Vocals

Winterfylleth – The Ruin

A band that clearly love Drudkh as much as I do. Brilliant melancholy riffs, true atmosphere.

Deadwood Lake – Into The Unknown

A band formed as a tribute to frontman Bruce Powell’s late brother. The lyrics to this track leave a lump in my throat.

Germ – Under Crimson Skies

Entrancing atmospheric black metal from Australia; a fine tapestry of dreamlike dissonance and wails.

Azaghal – In Deathlike Silence

Criminally underrated black metal, true darkness.

Dying Fetus – Vengeance Unleashed

Sometimes you just want something pummeling. This is good pummeling….. pummeling.

Richard – Bass

White Ward – Stillborn Knowledge

An absolute gem of a band I’ve discovered recently who marry gorgeous post-black metal with electronic and jazz elements, including some saucy sax playing. It all works perfectly; this first album has been called ‘black metal Perdition City‘, and I can’t argue with that. Can’t wait to air their new one.

Zhrine – Empire

Another great recent black metal find for me. Zhrine take the overwhelming avant-garde sonic assault of bands like Deathspell Omega and make it more palatable by slightly dialling down the insanity and increasing the overall heaviness. Wallop.

Blanck Mass – Dead Format

I’ve been mad into both Blanck Mass and Fuck Buttons this year, and went to see him recently – bangers aplenty. It may be an obvious choice, but this track really stood out on the night. My thoughts on his new album are changing on a daily basis, so we’ll ignore that one for now…

Kontinuum – Breathe

Solstafir meets The Cure meets prog. What is about Iceland that makes artists sound so unique? This album, Kyrr, is so unassuming but so well done that I can’t stop listening to it.

Dizraeli – Oi Oi

There’s very little chance the new Dizraeli won’t be in my top albums of 2019. There’s no one else in UK hip-hop (if you can really even call him that anyway) like him, and his last few releases, this included, have shown him to be a continually unique, inventive and vital voice.

James – Drums

Gojira – Low Lands

Gojira is a typical band for me to listen to. Lately though it’s been this track that has me gripped. Not as heavy as some of my favourite tracks of theirs, but loving the haunting melodies and polyrhythms. Their drummer has been a favourite of mine for a while now.

Devin Townsend – Singularity

Dev’s latest album Empath has caused quite a split among my friends. Personally I love it, and this has to be the biggest journey on the album I reckon; crossing more avenues of music than any track I’ve ever heard. Brutal in parts and delightfully silly in others.

Deftones – Digital Bath

One of my favourite tracks of theirs. Between the juxtaposition of Chinos soulful voice and the almost playful drumming, it sets a contrast I often still look for in bands.

Amon Tobin – Freeformed

I’ve been following Amon Tobin for the last few decades. When I’m not listening to metal, this is often the first track I’ll put on to wind down. Like most of his work it’s both interesting and weird…

Gunship – Tech Noir

These are just a nostalgia trip for me to my childhood in the 80s. The last month has seen this track played the most. It reminds me a lot of film scores from many 80’s classic neon-baked sci-fi’s and distant future type films that were common when I was growing up.
November 1, 2019

Monthly Playlist: November 2019

We’re back on our playlist business again, as a break from the incessant guitar chatter. Listen and read on to hear what four fifths of us have been listening to in the past month.

Nick – Guitar

The Cure – Plainsong

Saw some footage of their headline slot at Glastonbury and they opened with this track. To be honest that live version is probably even better than the studio version but it’s still great on record.

Alcest – Le Miroir

Really strong album (laughs exuberantly at the suggestion that they could release a bad album). Only had 2 listens through so far but this track is a highlight for me.

Sibiir – Guillotines

Mastodon riffs and hardcore tinged black metal all bundled up in a ball of thorns and emotion. Lovely.

MUNA – I Know A Place

Really great glossy synth pop track with big hooks. Not much else to say other than IT FUCKING SLAPS.

Kero Kero Bonito – Trampoline

Wish the key to happiness was as simple as the lyrical content of this song. Sadly it’s not, and even if it was, I don’t have a fucking trampoline anyway.

Tom – Guitar

Iggy Pop – Loves Missing

You can’t go wrong with Iggy, and the band he’s assembled for the free album are fantastic.

Russian Circles – Arluck

Love the simple yet pounding drum intro.

Johnny Cash – Ain’t No Grave

Can never go wrong with Johnny Cash.

Nine Inch Nails – We’re in This Together

Always liked the fuzzy filtered guitar sound in the middle of this.

A-Sun Amissa – Seagraves

Epic.

Richard – Bass

Sumac – The Deal

For an avowed post metal worshipper, I realised recently that my Aaron Turner knowledge is woefully lacking outside of a couple of Isis albums, and checking this out was like a sledgehammer to the face. It’s like all Isis’ heaviest tones with a drummer on speed.

Ocean Wisdom – Don

Ocean Wisdom is just an insanely talented and reliably entertaining rapper and I’ve been really into his second album Wizville recently. Mad flows that’ll have you grinning.

Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Eiswanderer

One of a few brilliant black metal discoveries I’ve made recently. These guys have the sheen of modern post-black metal bands like Downfall of Gaia, but do not shy away from crushingly dense guitar layers.

Coil – The Last Amethyst Deceiver

After years, the Ape of Naples record has just recently properly clicked with me, for some reason, and the eerie avant-garde weirdness of this track really pulls you in (despite the vocals sometimes sounding like Bill Bailey…).

Fennesz – Rivers of Sand

If you like your ambient music to be constantly glitching, but also cut together with some humanizing real instruments, look no further than Fennesz. Somehow both sterile and deeply emotional, he’s a real master.

Joe – Vocals

Cult of Fire – Zavet Svetku

Absolutely sublime black metal in the vein of Mgla and Batushka, with some real earworm riffs and atmospheres.

Cairiss – Disgraced

Perhaps the best kep secret in UKBM. Stunning composition, eerily beautiful.

Forest Stream – Snowfall

The album Tears of Mortal Solitude is criminally underrated; awe inspiring synth driven blackened doom.

Oathbreaker – Being Able To Feel Nothing

Lyrically heartwrenching and one of the most emotive vocal performances in extreme metal.

Hecate Enthroned – Within The Ruins of Eden

Shouldn’t really be mentioning a band I’m in, but on our recent tour this track has been especially epic.
October 3, 2019

Monthly Playlist: October 2019

We’ve been doing monthly Spotify playlists for a while now, picking five tracks each that we’ve been listening to of late. Now we have this blog, we thought it’d be nice to share some thoughts about the tracks to go along with them, in the hopes that you all find some nice new sounds for your ears, perhaps even spot some threads into our own songs. Listen and read on below.

Nick – Guitar

Junius – Black Sarcophagus

Pretty bleak track this one. They have the miserable vibes of My Dying Bride and Katatonia with some really nice layers of guitars and synths. They’ve got some hard hitting moments as well

Herod – Fork Tongue

This band slaps and this album is in my top 10 for this year and it’ll take some beating. As opening tracks go, this one is like that bit from that film when the ship hits an iceberg, but in a good way.

Charli XCX – Blame It On Your Love

Hard to pick a track off this album but this is a contender. Really strong album and I can see many artists following in Charli’s footsteps in the coming years. Without doubt one of the most forward thinking and interesting pop acts around at the moment. Fucking catchy too.

Plini – Electric Sunrise

This one has grown on me actually, I’d heard a lot of hype around Plini for a while. At first I wasn’t particularly sold on him and I’m yet to determine where he shall sit on my list of favourite prog metal instrumentalists (we all have those right?). But this track is a banger and I’m looking forward to exploring more of his stuff.

Omega Massif – Im Karst

I have a weird habit of discovering german sludge bands that are no longer around, quite sad but at least I am discovering them. One of my less useful talents for sure but hey, it’s something right?

Tom – Guitar

Oathbreaker – Ease Me

The vocal loop at the start and that reappears through the song is what grabbed me. That, and that it’s not heavy at all.

Cult of Luna – The Silent Man

The new album is fantastic and ‘The Silent Man’ is a great collection of big riffs and interplay between guitars, synths and percussion, without sounding cluttered.

Deafheaven – Luna

Its just a good savage riff and my favourite track off the album.

Cave In – Stained Silver

I’ve always loved Cave In, but tend to forget the Antenna record – but the opening track is massive.

Portishead – Roads

My favourite Portishead track. It’s one of those songs that I can happily play any time or mood.

Richard – Bass

Torpor – Mourning the Real

I’ve been waiting for the new Torpor record since I first fell in love with them after seeing them in Sheffield in 2017. They’re are a top-3 underground UK band for me, and this does not disappoint in the longform-crushing department.

Daft Punk – Da Funk

I went to see the movie The Shock of the Future recently, and although they didn’t feature, the general concept of cool French dance music made me return to Daft Punk’s house roots and get my boogie on.

The Body – Nothing Stirs

I’ve been borderline obsessed with The Body this year after ignoring them before for no good reason, and this track is a double whammy because it also features a stunning performance from the inimitable Lingua Ignota. Raw, honest and savage.

Sikth – Sanguine Seas of Bigotry

Djent years before djent was even a word. I’ve always admired their scattershot and schizophrenic songwriting, but for some reason recently this song and album has properly hooked me more than ever before.

Fieldhead – 812 Keefer

Top tier glitchy ambient from our pals at Gizeh Records. I can’t believe it took me until recently to check out Fieldhead, because the a correction record is incredible if you like a mix of warm ambience and some Carbon-Based-Lifeforms-esque minimal grooves.

Joe – Vocals

Formicarius – May The Rats Eat Your Eyes

Played several shows with this brilliant black metal band who have just released an album. Interlacing keyboards and lead guitars, extremely old school vocals and an ability to keep things interesting in a genre that all too often treads water.

Violet Cold – She Spoke of Her Devastation

Exceptional black metal, awash with layers of noise and atmosphere that gradually builds to a fantastic crescendo. Essential listening for anyone who likes their black metal raw but beautiful.

Her Name Is Calla – Pour More Oil

I saw this band opening for Solstafir one time and they absolutely blew me away. This track in particular just oozes emotion from start to finish.

Rolo Tomassi – A Flood of Light

It’s coming up on the year anniversary of Ba’al opening for RT so I’ve been thinking about this track a fair bit. By far the best on the latest album with a second half that is laced with pure atmosphere.

Cairiss – Disgraced

The best black metal band in the UK by a country mile. Since finding out they are playing Winter Warhorns I’ve been spinning their EP Fall on repeat. Incredible musicianship and fantastic ranging vocals from delicate cleans to harsh black metal rasps. Absolute masterpiece.