Best Albums Releasing This Week (10/06/2023)
NOTE: Today is Bandcamp Friday- 0% commission so all the funds go to the bands. I'd recommend still supporting artists via BC for now- buy what you can today. However with BC's sale to Songtradr, things are getting messy with them not being upfront about meeting the Bandcamp United union's requirements, so we may need to re-think BC in the future. For now it should be okay- the acquisition is still ongoing.
Non-metal releases
Hania Rani - Ghosts
bc / a.l
Minimal but layered piano/synth pop - absolutely gorgeous vocals- some tracks vocally give me echoes of Aurora but this is much more laid back and subtle. Very cinematic for as minimal as it is.
Hannah Diamond - Perfect Picture
bc / a.l
Electro/hyper-pop from the UK. Plenty of effects and layers and a few glitches and hits here and there that definitely give off the typical "hyper" vibe- but it's pretty restrained. The artist does their own photography and the full aesthetic just works well. I almost can't describe what it is- but this was an instant hit for me- even as someone that doesn't always like glossy pop. It's just got some depth and feel to it that really makes it ear candy for me.
Metal and metal-adjacent releases
Talk Show - Hyperstition
bc / a.l
Some throwback industrial metal here, perfectly executed. Out of all of today's Transylvanian releases this is the one that made the list. A gritty twisted echo of 90s industrial.
Uranium - Pure Nuclear Death
bc / a.l
I'm going to give this an informal 'least accessible of the week' award. This is super dark, haunting, and unsettling industrial noise / power electronics. If you can't understand how this is music- I totally understand your point of view- but for some of us it just clicks and hits a certain way.
Auriferous Flame - Ardor For Black Mastery
bc
Ayloss (of Mystras, Spectral Lore, and plenty of other projects) continues his prolific career with what I would consider his most aggressive sounding release. This one is just straightforward black metal. Laser focused, great songwriting as expected.