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Fresh Album Fridays: Mitski, Nas, Explosions in the Sky and more
Good morning ~ This is a thread to discuss new album releases that have arrived on our doorstep this week. Feel free to share albums and EPs that have caught your eye and interest!
Discussion Points
What are you looking forward to listen to?
Have you listened to any of these releases?
What are your thoughts?
What have you enjoyed from these artists in the past?
Why Friday?
Most (but not all) new LPs release on a Friday, as labels want to give the release a full week of sales before entering the charts.
~~ Feedback on the format welcome!
Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
Single
Genre(s): Indie
Country: United States
Bandcamp
Spotify
RYM
Explosions in the Sky - End
Single
Genre(s): Post-Rock
Country: United States
Bandcamp
RYM
I enjoyed it, but definitely enjoyed the latter half of the album more than the first track or two. The standout tracks for me were Peace Or Quiet and The Fight - these reminded me of an older era of Explosions in the Sky. My favorite album by them has always been How Strange, Innocence so anything that calls back to that era feels good to me. This album has a lot more electronic instrumentation than older EITS but that's not a bad thing - it mixed well with the guitar / drum sound they've always had going on.
One thing I do want to note - it feels to me like EITS has been in soundtrack mode for so long that sometimes their more modern albums still feel soundtracky to me and less like cohesive albums. It's like there's meant to be a gap between the songs, so that they all fit thematically over the course of a movie or whatever, but maybe sound a little disjointed to me when played back to back like you would when listening to an album. This isn't to say the tone or the music is bad because it's really pretty good, but just different in the way I think it's meant to be listened to.
I agree with the soundtrack feeling. Some of the old EITS albums feel pretty selfcontained, while some of their new work feels more like a companion piece.
That said I love Moving On from the new album.
I think I've listened to it about 4-5 times now since release and it's my favourite thing released this year.
Everything here is just so good.
Baroness - STONE
Genre(s): Stoner/Sludge/Heavy metal
Country: US
https://album.link/t/295872159
Nas - Magic 3
Single
Genre(s): Hip Hop
Country: United States
Spotify
RYM
Favorites of the week
Bruxa - Colder-Darker
bc
Dreary minimal ambient synth. Cold and icy, from a dungeon synth artist I enjoy. Nails the atmosphere.
Cognizant - Inexorable Nature of Adversity
bc
Angular deathy grind that just caught my attention today. Enjoying the pinch harmonics.
Blood Oath - Lost In An Eternal Silence
bc / a.l
Death metal with some technical chops- but I wouldn't really call it "tech-death". It very much leans into being straightforward death metal but you get some swirling tornadoes of guitar leads mixed in well without coming off as overly tech, check out the track Sanctuary of Souls for a preview of what I mean.
Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit
bc / a.l
Surprise new release! Death metal with progressive elements from one of my favorites. They've gone a bit more experimental this time around but they keep it consistently moldy, so don't worry that they've compromised their sound. It's great.
Thorn - Evergloom
bc / a.l
Atmospheric death/doom that stands out in Transcending Obsecurity's catalog for sure. Slow and meaty.
Torpor - Abscission
bc
I sometimes struggle with the long drawn-out writing of sludge and post-metal. Torpor does it well and I find myself enjoying it even when its trudging slowly forward. The tone and atmosphere have enough ear candy to keep some interest.
Great Falls - Objects Without Pain
bc / a.l
Noisy post-hardcore with some sludge feel. A modern take on what feels like a very 90s/00s sound.
DROELOE - The Art of Change
Single
Genre: Electronic
Country: Netherlands
Bandcamp
What about Deathalbum IV by Desthklok?
From what I can tell Dethalbum IV was released August 22nd, so it wouldn't file under this week's new releases, unless there's an expanded or deluxe edition that released today? You can always leave comments for new albums you'd like to bring attention to in these threads - there's a lot of releases I'm going to miss.
As ever I don't want these threads to be the end-all of album discussion, so feel free to post the album in ~music if you'd like to share!
Night Verses - Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night: Part 1
Genre(s): Post/Prog Metal
Country: US
https://album.link/t/303382060