Editor’s Note: Longtime reader Remi VL is a regular guest contributor to our Release Day Roundup posts! He submitted several of the albums listed below. Join his Facebook group for more recommendations.
Each month, we always seem to come to the same conclusion when it comes to our Editors’ Picks column: Friday release days open the floodgates and unleash a seemingly endless stream of quality new music. But while some of our Editors and Contributors sit down gleefully each week to dive into this newly stocked treasure trove, others find themselves drawing a blank at the end of the month due to the breakneck pace needed to keep up to date with what’s been released. Which brings us to this Heavy Blog PSA: a weekly roundup of new albums which pares down the week’s releases to only our highest recommendations. Here you’ll find full album/single streams, pre-order links and, most importantly, a collection of albums that could very well earn a spot on your year-end list. Enjoy!
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Top Picks
Deluge – Ægo Templo (blackened hardcore)
Ferocious mix of post-black metal and dark post-hardcore from France. Cleverly crafted with some progressive elements tied in, it should appeal to fans of both sides of the genres it fuses. Up there with Svalbard for some of the year’s best emotionally charged atmospheric metal.
–Trent Bos
Hey Colossus – Dances / Curses (heavy psych, noise rock)
After stumbling on Four Bibles (2019), I was surprised that I hadn’t heard about Hey Colossus sooner. A prolific rock band with consistently great cover art? Sounds right up my alley! Dances / Curses takes what I enjoyed about Four Bibles and kicks it up a notch, essentially channeling the more direct, post-punk elements from the Swans playbook and channeling them through a heavy psych lens. The band are loud and fuzzy when they need to be but always maintain a swirling, hazy atmosphere that’s effortless to vibe with throughout the album.
–Scott
Kylie Minogue – Disco (electro-pop)
Despite being Australian and having a severe penchant for gay-friendly pop divas, Kylie Minogue’s music never been my particular cup of tea. However, in a relatively slow week for more extreme releases, Disco really hits the spot. The album does exactly what it says on the tin blending classic ’70s disco vibes with modern pop sensibilities, in the vein of Carly Rae Jepsen and Dua Lipa’s recent releases. More than three decades since first doing “The Loco-Motion,” “our Kylie” has delivered the feel-good soundtrack of (southern hemisphere) Summer 2020.
–Josh Bulleid
Mountain Caller – Chronicle I: The Truthseeker (post-metal, prog rock)
London’s instrumental rockers Mountain Caller are dropping their debut album. If you’ve heard the couple of singles they’ve released thus far, this might blow your mind, cause they play the confidence of a band who’ve been doing this for years. On the surface, an instrumental heavy psych/stoner band who might find fans from those who love Elder, Weedpecker, Somali Yatch Club, etc. But Mountain Caller dabble into a bit of everything, with elements of post-metal, progressive rock, and even some black metal style blasts. This is based on two songs. I’m looking forward to this as much as anything else left to come this year! Also, check out that cover art!!
–Remi
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