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Sweat

Gotta Give It Up
Pirates Press (2022)

I’ve had a range of thoughts about this record as I’ve played it on repeat in recent weeks. At first it didn’t really hit me -- it felt too repetitive and didn’t really jump out from the pack. But that changed as I kept coming back. While circle pit hardcore is well established at this point, Sweat’s Gotta Give It … Read more

Alluvial

Sarcoma
Nuclear Blast (2021)

Last year was definitely a great year for metal. Probably the best year for metal in the past like ten or fifteen years. So great in fact, that I’m still trying to catch up with albums I didn’t get to either listen to or review. I actually had to make a spreadsheet for tracking purposes, imagine that, hahaha! Anyway, I … Read more

Various Artists

...And Out Come The Lawsuits
Lavasocks Records, Sell The Heart Records (2021)

Rancid’s 1990s catalog is a unique beast. It’s Clash-influenced street punk. On paper it sounds highly derivative, but its heart always shined through making it stand out in a hard to quantify way. Tim Armstrong’s songwriting is the foundation, but it’s his one-of-a-kind drawl paired with Lars Frederiksen’s vocal tradeoffs that makes it shine. It’s also why I was leery … Read more

Bulletproof

Dynamite
Ossuary Records (2021)

Bulletproof started out as a band in 2017, playing the underground bar scene in their native Argentina. After a while of playing bar shows Bulletproof started playing with a youth organisation called Speed Metal Army who organise metal shows for the masses over a whole range of metal styles across the country. Polish based Ossuary Records picked up the band … Read more

Antinode

The Canary That Named The Stars
Independent (2021)

I’m always up and ready for some good prog, especially when we’re looking at a concept piece. I’m tempted to say something along the lines of ‘they don’t make’em like they used to’, but we’re talking about music, not audiophile grade consumer electronics so that doesn’t ring true. It’s just that these days you have to dig further and deeper … Read more

//LESS

Useless EP
Independent (2022)

Returning readers might have noticed I like to be able to hear the bass guitar. It is an instrument that is too often a victim of a less than stellar production. French band //LESS are here to my aid. Their trick is simple and effective: instead of the more regular trio of drums, bass and guitar they opt to leave … Read more

Book Review

Jennifer Otter-Bickerdike

You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone
Allen & Unwin Publishing (2021)

1966 saw the first incarnation of Velvet Underground serenaded by the deep alto wails of Nico and resulting in more of a performative shock value prank than a musical act. From the get go it was clear that what Nico brought to the table fundamentally altered the DNA of Velvet Underground and added an idiosyncratic melange of melancholy, gloomy glamour … Read more

Persefone

metanoia
Napalm (2022)

I remember discovering Persefone, and their, then, newest album, Spiritual Migration. It was an insanely hot summer day in the shitty college dorms I was staying in. I was digging for progressive metal around on Metal Archives and YouTube. Out of nowhere this video for Spiritual Migration pops in the recommendations. It all seemed alluring so I went for it. … Read more

Forever Unclean

Best
Hidden Home Records (2022)

It’s a tough to summarize Forever Unclean in a neat little genre-name. It’s punk rock, but with elements of ‘90s alt rock, screamo and more. It’s short and concise, energetic and uplifting, yet unpredictable and far more complex than your average 3-chord beentheredonethat. The music is driving but varied: guitar-driven with sing-shouted vocals and lots of surprising-but-not-jarring shifts along the … Read more

Burial

Antidawn EP
Hyperdub (2022)

There is no question that Burial is one of the pivotal artists of the current era. The electronic musician from London has taken on a transformative journey through the landscape of post-dance music. Techno beats, garage sensibilities, early dubstep notions and far out ambient leanings are melted together through a unique kaleidoscopic vision. It is an evolution that has occurred … Read more

Mace

Beef
Richter Scale (2021)

I doubted about reviewing this, but decided to do so anyway. I doubted about it as this is a re-release and I don’t want to make a habit out of reviewing those. This leads to an interesting time-line: this album is recorded in 2017, released on vinyl in 2019 and re-released on tape in 2021. And in 2022 I finally … Read more

Kataan

Self-Titled
Prosthetic (2021)

I only paid any attention to the news that there’s a new band called Kataan, coming with a self-titled debut EP only because of their connection to Astronoid. Kataan is a duo comprised of Brett Boland (Astronoid vocalist and rhythm guitarist) and Nicholas Thornbury (former vocalist and guitarist for Vattnet). Having a lot of love for Astronoid I decided to … Read more

Theo Young

Tales From The Inland Sea
Independent (2022)

I don’t get to say this every day, but one of my favorite indie artists dropped new material after basically seven years of radio silence. My entire body lit up with excitement when I saw in my inbox that Theo Young is releasing a new album. Shadowplay, his debut EP, was something I had on heavy rotation a few years … Read more

BÖRN

Drottningar Dauðans
Iron Lung (2022)

It seems like genre definitions change based on the era. I swear people were calling Sonic Youth post-punk for a while, but nowadays the tag seems to apply to a dystopian style with distant-emotionless vocals. Of course, genre is a tricky beast. It’s often useful for description and concept, but some artists fall into the trap a little too deep. … Read more

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