Apple Music
Spotify
YouTube

Melbourne metalcore outfit Alpha Wolf dropped their second LP today, their first with vocalist Lochie Keogh. A thorough evolution of their sound, A Quiet Place to Die picks up where their previous release, the EP Fault, left off and goes bigger, harder and more bone shattering. With this release, Alpha Wolf arguably moves to the forefront of the nu-metalcore movement, combining elements of hardcore with nu-metal. The result is very down-tuned guitars chugging like crazy that occasionally make way for crushing breakdowns and on the fly harmonics. Keogh's vocals are raw and unflinching, as he barks out some dark themes and has come great pit calls. While there is mostly just non-stop chunky riffs, the band shows they can write ballads, in their own way, with tracks Bleed 4 You and Don't Ask.

For fans of Architects, Fit For a King, Stray From the Path and anyone that thought even the heaviest nu-metal bands weren't heavy enough.

Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/album/snowblood/1525855907?i=1525855910
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/393HU6oEXQybzous3p0NC5
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruGgo1MkUj8

New track from one of the pioneers of progressive metalcore, Erra. The band is known for its crunching hardcore riffs combined with singer/songwriter Jesse Cash's technically impressive lead guitar work that feels more like traditional metal. The band has been often praised for great live performances and song writing, but many feel they haven't had the best engineering and mixing in their recordings.

Snowblood is their first album with new label UNFD and it seems to have unlocked the last piece of the puzzle, in my opinion. This track feels grand and open in a way Erra hasn't yet in studio. Drums feel like they are failing from the sky, JT Carvey's snarling unclean vox punch through the insanely busy guitar and bass lines. Cash's vocals still feel a little thin, in my opinion, but they seem free of over digitization, which is an OK trade off.

Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/album/spit/1515933495?i=1515933506
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/4N8vRR39A9ttCbAVW5Gztx
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aigeil9HSWo

Newest single from relative newcomers Wargasm. The London duo have nothing to do with the old Boston, MA thrash outfit of the same name. These two (Sam Matlock and Milkie Way) instead employ a lot of late 90s industrial and nu-metal guitar riffs with some poppy hooks in the instruments. Mix in the dueling vocals of Matlock's raw, unclean shouts and Way's silky smooth, sometimes bubblegum pop level, harmonies and you get a sort of blender of genres that kind of defies typical categorization.

The two cut their teeth shoving some pop songs through the jaws of their style (like N.E.R.D.'s Lapdance). They've started putting out originals lately. Spit is probably their hardest song so far, eschewing some of the more poppy elements of their first releases.

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/stray-bullets-feat-weerd-science-ep/1512822699
Spotify
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6befoKm69aHNkcB54S0Ufq
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTMr59Wc5Nw&list=OLAK5uy_lx1jN8DGlwOR83MvufGx5k21P_D7lJpAI

Coheed and Cambria's Claudio Sanchez is finally revisiting his acoustic and electronica side project The Prize Fighter Inferno after being away for almost a decade. No doubt fueled by the pandemic shutting down live performances and what not, the return of Prize Fighter Inferno is mostly a return of the same sound the project has been know for up to this point. Spacey, electronic beats and SFX pepper around Claudio's high tenor voice and occasional uses of an acoustic guitar will add more melody to any given track. The exception is the very first track, which features Coheed and Cambria drummer Josh Eppard rapping under his own side project name, Weerd Science.

Like past Prize Fighter Inferno tracks, it's assumed the lyrics are part of the concept that spreads across most Coheed and Cambria tracks as well. But with Coheed and Cambria entering a new continuity with their most recent album, it's possible Prize Fighter Inferno may have done the same with this release.

For fans of down beat electronica like (some) Purity Ring, Grimes and The Knife.

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/transitional-forms/1502187566
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6pHXuiWvMSPTyBb0hHe8Yv?si=gPRk-8hoRD2qoFZI91LSfg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYQhPJrQIlgNxrODF9mS-wAC5BS6jET0c

Baltimore hardcore outfit Sharptooth is back with their sophomore effort and it's no slump. The riffs are crunchy as hell and the vocals are more brutal than ever. Remaining is Sharptooth's political edge, which is as sharp as ever. Stand out lyrics include "You're not a feminist just because you fucked one" and the album opener "This is a song about nothing/Oh no, not a single thing/'Cause in the absence of content/I hope that you'll forget/That all this shit never meant a thing."

Lauren Kashan's vocals are vastly improved. Her unclean vox are much more guttural while her cleans include more harmonies and layered work. Fellow song writer of the group Lance Donati employs a lot of inverted power chords to keep the sound aggressive and explosive.

For fans of political hardcore punk like Stray From the Path, seeyouspacecowboy, Knocked Loose and Every Time I Die.

• On Youtube.
• Official multilink (Spotify, Bandcamp, ...).