Best Albums Releasing This Week (09/29/2023)
Non-metal releases
Gunship - Unicorn
bc / a.l
This popular synthwave act returns with a new album. I really enjoyed the singles. Tons of special guests. Continue to be a great vocal synthwave project with fantastic songwriting.
Lowswimmer - Lack Thereof
bc
A bit of a surprise release for me. I've followed Ed Tullett since his earliest days and he's involved in a number of projects now (Novo Amor, Lissom, and others- Lissom maybe my favorite of them). Somehow his newer solo material under a different project name missed my radar and I'm glad I found it again. Intimate, acoustic, and with a very recognizable style that permeates all of Tullett's writing.
Fearing - Destroyer
bc / a.l
A recent find. Gothy post-punk from Calinfornia. Very classic darkwave kind of sound.
Metal and metal-adjacent releases
This category is overflowing this week. Very common for September to be packed full of releases. There are so many here and these are only the best of the week. There are so many that didn't make the cut.
Moonlight Sorcery - Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
bc / a.l
Probably my favorite of the week and an AOTY contender. Absolutely loved their previous releases and this is no exception. Icy, snowy, frigid melodic black metal that brings to mind castle-y power metal but in a black metal world. Have heard it described as "black metal Wintersun" and that is not wrong.
Disguised Malignance - Entering the Gateways
bc / a.l
Finnish old-school death metal. Solid low growls and classic death metal riff after riff. Mid-high tempos to blast-beats. We've all heard this sound before but this is well-executed.
Ruin Lust - Dissimulant
bc / a.l
Bestial war-metal inspired black/death. It's on 20 Buck Spin so you know it's quality. Absolutely crushing.
Woe - Legacies of Frailty
bc / a.l
Well-known USBM with a vibe that matches their band name. A concept album about humankind repeating mistakes of history and leaving nothing to inherit for future generations. Despairing, dark black metal but with some breathing room for melody.
Broken Vow - Anthropocene
bc / a.l
New England hardcore with environmental lyrics lamenting our destruction of the Earth. Great frustrated screams and occasional spoken word that actually fits the music perfectly.
Harm's Way - Common Suffering
bc / a.l
Metallic-hardcore with gritty vocals, dissonant riffs, and just a general sense of heaviness. Will make you want to stomp around.
Karras - We Poison Their Young
bc / a.l
From grindy, punky, crusty moments to slow stompy death metal riffs, plenty of anger to go around from this French outfit.
Rorcal - Silence
bc / a.l
Dissonant droning doomy black metal? This one's hard to nail down but it sounds great. Swirling walls of guitar and pain. Does this make three albums just this week about humanity destroying itself? Seems to be a common theme, understandably.
Oreamnos - The Granite Wall
bc
Slow doomy HM-2 death metal. A huge slab of low growly death. Meaty!
Svartkonst - May the Night Fall
bc / a.l
One-man black/death project from Sweden and all the instruments, including vocals are great, no weakpoints. Great mix of the genres with echoes of a number of black metal and death metal acts.
Thlurm - Botched Sacrifice
bc / a.l
Wailing panicky punk-metal from Indiana. Tons of feedback and energy in this one. No bullshit here.
Marthyrium - Through the Spheres of Darkness
bc / a.l
Occult, sinister-vibe black metal with some occasional well-placed chanting. Wonderful guitar tone and some riffs and picking with moments that bring Schammasch, Svartulven, and other occult bm bands to mind.