Every Friday is new music release day. I dig through new release lists from sources like All Music, Metal Injection, Pitchfork, and Bandcamp to put together a queue of releases from bands and labels that might interest me. As I listen through the list, I add the stand out albums to a playlist for revisiting. This list is what I refer to as the First Pass. Some of the albums make it to my best of the month playlists. Others get tossed upon further review. Below is a list of albums from this week that made the first pass.
Warp
Traffic Control
Hardcore Punk
Aggressive and awesome. This one has been on Bandcamp for a few weeks, and I have listened quite a few times.
Origami Angel
Somewhere City
Emo
Up to this point, I had only heard some fast paced EPs by this group. The full length is more nuanced, and I can see it continuing to grow on me.
Abigail Williams
Walk Beyond the Dark
Black Metal
Do not let the name of this band fool you, these guys will tear your eardrums apart.
Half-Handed Cloud
Gathered Out Of Thin Air
Indie Pop
This is a collection of material from the last decade filled with short, but excellently crafted songs. If you are a fan of artists like Sufjan Stevens, Danielson, or The Polyphonic Spree, this is for you.
Despised Icon
Purgatory
Deathcore
A nice mix of brutal vocals and cool breakdowns.
Blue Ray
Live Love Laugh
Lo-Fi, Punk
A live album that highlights this band’s cool, lo-fi aesthetic.
Left Behind
No One Goes to Heaven
Hardcore, Sludge
Grimy and heavy. There was a band with this name when I was in high school. This seems to be a different group, but I like what I hear.
A Paramount, a Love Supreme
Crisis Meditations
Post-Hardcore, Screamo
This is a shorter album, but it has everything you want from the genre.
Raw Hex
Always High, Always Low
Blackened Hardcore
A successful merging of genres.
Vatican
Sole Impulse
Metalcore
A lot of metalcore turns me off when it goes to the cleaner parts of songs, this album does not have that problem.
Kublai Khan TX
Absolute
Hardcore
The lyrics on this album may eventually turn me away from it, but the breakdowns are lots of fun. It reminds me of hardcore in my high school days.