Rounding up new Releases from Bruce Dickinson, Ministry, Suicidal Angels, Firewind, Fathomless Ritual, Convulsing, Dan Terminus, Hammok, Lilla Veneda, Devastator, Crippling Alcoholism, Fall of Leviathan and more.
Hammok – Look How Long Lasting Everything Is Moving Forward For Once (noise rock, mathcore)
I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and into the world of noise and math rock with this week's top pick, which is probably both reflected and facilitated by the fact that I seem to have gone for a more sanded-down, and hipster-approved take on the genre—if the coverage Hammok have received from other outlets is anything to go by. Still, there's something to be said for taking more abrasive and obtuse genres and distilling their core appeal and streamlining them for greater accessibility, and to that end the Oslo trio have certainly succeeded.
If last year's Akersborg album represented what The Armed might have sounded like if they'd remained unhinged, then Look How Long Lasting Everything Is Moving Forward For Once feels like a halfway house between Ultrapop (2021) and the complete indie-rock departure of Perfect Saviors (2023). "Long Lasting" bursts out of the traps in a mathcore blitz, reminiscent of recent Converge openers, before settling into the more subdued yet no less menacing "Seance", which (literally) sounds like The Chariot's Josh Scogin shredding his throat over the top of Mogwai's "Mexican Grand Prix". "Nothing's Never Better" blends janggly, shoegaze-tinged post hardcore with equal parts Converge and the drumbeat from "This Could Be Anywhere In The World" by Alexisonfire, while "H.F.D" is a full-blown exercise aping the heavier parts of One of Us is the Killer-era Dillinger Escape Plan. It's the bombast that initially grips and excites, but it's the smoother, more melodic aspects, such as the posty and rather pointedly titled "Wannabe (Billboard No.1)" and the hypnotic Kylessa-meets–Wade-Macneil-era-Gallows-by-way-of-Refused shenanigans of "Opportunity" that have perhaps the longest legs.
And the best part? They do all of that in under forty-minutes! Which means that, even if the record's softer second half isn't quite as memorable or exciting as its first, it still holds your attention and leaves you wanting more. And if it doesn't, you can always go ahead and put on that Crippling Alcoholism album instead and fuck up your whole life.
Release Roundup
A Somber Funeral – Summertime Sorrow (blackened doom)
Absit Omen – Era of Uncertainty (black thrash)
Alienist – Love/Hate (metalcore)
Altered Perception – The Orbit Between Space And Death (black/death metal)