Editors’ Picks: June 2017

Heavy Blog
Editors' Picks
I've been meditating on why we even started Editors' Picks; the concept itself seems odd. It's a remnant of old journalistic structure, where the editor in a publication was this authoritative and prestigious figure, cloaked in years of experience and insight. That's hardly the case anymore, in Heavy Blog and outside of it, as Internet structures break down the gates between individuals and editorial privileges.  And that's why it's a good thing we have this column; it enables the unique voices which have broken through to the editorial body of the blog to speak outside of consensus.

Unmetal Monday – 6/26/2017

Jonathan Adams
Unmetal Monthly
There's a lot happening in the music world, and we here at Heavy Blog try our very best to keep up with it! Like the vast majority of heavy music fans, our tastes are incredibly vast, with our 3X3s in each Playlist Update typically covering numerous genres and sometimes a different style in each square. While we have occasionally covered non-metal topics in past blog posts, we decided that a dedicated column was once again warranted in order to more completely recommend all of the music that we have been listening to. Unmetal Monday is a weekly column which covers noteworthy news, tracks and albums from outside the metal universe, and we encourage you all to share your favorite non-metal picks from the week in the comments. This week, we'll be highlighting several albums that struck our fancy over the past few weeks. Head past the jump to dial down the distortion:

What Heavy Blog Is Really Listening To – 6/23/17

Scott Murphy
What We're Really Listening To
For those who missed our last installment, We post biweekly updates covering what the staff at Heavy Blog have been spinning. Given the amount of time we spend on the site telling you about music that does not fall neatly into the confines of conventional “metal,” it should come as no surprise that many of us on staff have pretty eclectic tastes that range far outside of metal and heavy things. We can’t post about all of them at length here, but we can at least let you know what we’re actually listening to. For those that would like to participate as well (and please do) can drop a 3X3 in the comments, which can be made with tapmusic.net through your last.fm account, or create it manually with topsters.net. Also, consider these posts open threads to talk about pretty much anything music-related. We love hearing all of your thoughts on this stuff and love being able to nerd out along with all of you.

Release Day Roundup – 6/16/17

Heavy Blog
Release Day Roundup
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 the day'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!