Editor’s Note: Do you think we “missed” an album this week? Click here.
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!
Top Picks
Astronoid – Radiant Bloom (prog-gaze)
I was intrigued more than I was properly impressed by Astronoid’s first two albums, but the “dream thrashers” have fully won me over with this third release. By largely doing away with the “thrash” aspects of their sound and honing in on the dreamy prog-gaze that set them apart in the first place. Astronoid have concocted a more conventional record in Radiant Bloom, but also a more memorable and focused effort that brings to mind early Devin Townsend far more regularly (and readily) than Deafheaven, and both album and band are only the stronger for it.
See Also: Kreator – Hate Über Alles (thrash metal); Those who are missing the thrash elements of Astronoid’s sound need not fret. Hate Über Alles is purpose-built to get necks snapping and heads banging, once again cementing Kreator’s place as the most consistent (and arguably best) thrash metal band of the twenty-first century.
Last Week’s Biggest Surprise: The Chasm – The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow (death metal, black metal); Oh hey, there’s a new Chasm album you guys! The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow is a bit more straight forward than the Chicago duo’s last couple of outings, but no less worthy of their hefty underground legacy.
–Josh Bulleid
Best of the Rest
The Algorithm – Data Renaissance (electro metal)
Antagonist A.D. – Through Fire All Things Are Renewed (metallic hardcore, metalcore)
Artificial Brain – Artificial Brain (tech death, dissonant death metal)
Battlelore – The Return Of The Shadow (heavy metal, symphonic metal)
Andrew Bird – Inside Problems (chamber pop, indie folk)
Bleed from Within – Shrine (metalcore, thrash)
Blood Command – Praise Armageddon (hardcore, pop-punk)
Buried Realm – Buried Realm (melodeath)
Collapsed Skull – Eternity Maze (powerviolence, deathgrind)
Crowning & Naedr – Rayau Split (screamo, emoviolence)
Deathfiend – Beyond Life (death metal, neo-crust)
Disembodied – The Invisible Dimension (brutal tech death)
Fantastic Negrito – White Jesus Black Problems (psychedelic soul, contemporary r&b)
GWAR – The New Dark Ages (heavy metal, punk)
Hornwood Fell – Sgr A (avant-garde black metal)
Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance (slacker rock, noise pop)
I Built the Sky – The Quiet Place Away (acoustic prog)
Kara’s Walk Home – Look! A Rainbow! (emo, punk)
Killswitch Engage – Live At The Palladium (melodic metalcore, thrash)
Kreator – Hate Über Alles (thrash metal)
Lettuce – Unify (jazz-funk, deep funk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlYQ4luRVAw