Greetings duelists and welcome back to Flash of the Blade! It’s 2021! Everything is different and yet, the absolute fucking same. A monster looms and that monster is called capitalism and if we don’t get out our fucking swords, it will swallow us whole. Don’t remember what this column is about? Luckily, it’s easy to remind you: this column is about short releases that go hard. Also, swearing. Which genres are included? Fuck genres. If it goes hard and if it goes fast and if it doesn’t waste any time doing either of that, it can end up here. OK? OK. Let’s fucking get to it.
Sword
Teeth – Finite (21:12 of cosmic cruelty). There really wasn’t any other choice than this EP for the sword of the month. If you’ve never heard Teeth before, first of all what the fuck is wrong with you? Go listen to The Curse of Entropy immediately. Then come back for Finite which continues the band’s penchant for massively chaotic riffs which plunge the depths of technical death metal, groovy deathcore, dabble in thrash, and tie everything off with the caustic trappings of death-doom. Finite, for all of its compact run-time, is another heap of pissed off, crushing, and just plain heavy music from the bottomless pit of despair that is Teeth.
Daggers
Demon King – The Final Tyranny (17:42 of OSDM madness). You like technical riffs, right? But you want to have more of a bite than the hygienic sound that’s all the rage these days. Then Demon King is for you. These guys are all muscle, no fat and the limited run-time of The Final Tyranny makes sure of that. Killer riffs, extravagant solos, scorching vocals, and perhaps most pleasingly, a pronounced and incredibly well executed bass guitar to underpin everything with the heft that it requires. What more could you possibly ask for?
Denise Chaila – It’s a Mixtape (19:09 of rap fury). Remember how the opening paragraph says “fuck genres”? Yeah, that’s because of releases like this one. I dare you to listen to Denise Chaila‘s latest drop and tell me it doesn’t belong on this post. Chaila has never been apologetic but on It’s a Mixtape she is even less so, spitting masterful lyrics about self-fulfillment, political struggle, making music, and history. It’s a wickedly direct EP and another showcase of why the Irish located artist is one of the most potent voices in rap today.