Release Day Roundup: 10/27/23

Top Picks

I'll spare you the treatise on the new old Taylor Swift album this time, for a few reasons: 1) Even I am feeling over-exposed to her at this point, 2) it's not like 1989 (2014) is some kind of overlooked classic like Speak Now (2010) was/is, and 3) It's more or less identical to the original. Instead I have two less-hyped picks from completely opposite ends of the metal spectrum for you to sink your teeth into.

A Flourishing Scourge – Sickened Seed (posty blackened prog metal)

At the extremely proggy end, we have Seattle's A Flourishing Scourge, with their sophomore effort Sickened Seed. I missed these guys first-time around, but having gone back to their self-titled, 2017 debut, I'd say there's been an extreme leap in quality between outings. Not that A Flourishing Scourge was anything to sniff at, but Sickened Seed easily outdoes it in terms of both quality and sheer progressive scope as well. Whereas the band's debut effort stuck more closely to its traditional array of progressive death metal elements, Sickened Seed is a much more blackened affair, often coming across as a continuation of Enslaved's most indulgently progressive albums and there's also a post-metal aspect to this album that often has it leaning more into "progressive post black metal" territory. The albums also regularly touches on brighter progressive mainstays like Steven Wilson, along with more conventional touchstones, such as Opeth and modern disciples like Hath and Wilderun, with the band continuing assert their progressive death metal (and quality control) credentials by enlisting Hannes Grossmann on the drums (who replaces Decrepit Birth's Samus Paulicelli). My reference points might sound all over the place on this one, but this album truly runs the gamut of progressive (and often extravagant) extreme metal, even ending on an Ahab-esque funeral doom note "Stillborn Atrocity". Whether or not Sickened Seed is one of the best albums of 2023, it's easily one of the most impressive, and I'd wager it's the former as well.

Mouth For War – Bleed Yourself (beatdown metalcore)

At the other end, representing white-hot, knuckle-headed hardcore that'll make you want to spin kick your enemies into oblivion, are Colorado crew Mouth For War and their antagonistically titled new album, Bleed Yourself. 2023 has been a year where current hardcore trends have had me feeling feeling of "falling out of love" with the genre, with otherwise well-received records from Jesus Piece, Harms Way and this week's END offering leaving me feeling oppressed and exhausted, rather than exhilarated and uplifted, which is what I go to this genre looking for. Mouth for War buck that trend through two main differences. First, while equally abrasive, their sound also hearkens back to early 2000s metalcore, bringing to mind the likes of hyper-aggressive acts like Hatebreed, First Blood and (especially) unsung favourites Her Nightmare, which is a style that very much speaks to me. Second: DYNAMICS, BABY! While it's true that every song on Bleed Yourself is essentially interchangeable, what matters is that each of those songs contains distinguishable parts and movements. Each is also deployed in a way that uplifts and accentuates the ones that follow, so that both the songs themselves, and the album as a whole, add up to a propulsive and elating experience, that I personally find far more enjoyable.