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What have you been listening to this week?
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)
Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/
Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 1, power/speed from Germany.
Hemina - Venus, progressive from Australia.
Hemotoxin - Biological Enslavement, thrash from US.
How Like a Winter - Beyond My Grey Wake, gothic/doom from Italy. It's tragic that this was the only full-length release the band ever put out, because IMO this is top-tier gothic/doom.
Inferi - Vile Genesis, tech death from US. Fuck it, inject this straight into my veins! Over the top technical wankery with symphonic elements but in this, their most recent release, polished and refined.
Inquinok - Immortal Dawn, black metal from US. This is the kind of black metal that sparks joy. It doesn't sound like it was recorded on a potato in the middle of a cave, the keyboards are mixed just behind the other instruments and are used to provide atmosphere, guitar solos exist and are good, and the vocals aren't too far towards the screechy side of the black metal spectrum. The only complaint I have about this album, though, is that the drummer overplays way too much, and not just with his fills but even the base beats are too busy. Check out the final track Divine Tragedy.
I received in the mail finally the CD pressing of Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West, undoubtedly the best deathcore album I've ever heard. Unfortunately I preordered this before the accusations came out against the lead vocalist for gross indecency and assaults against a minor. I know some say to separate the art from the artist but I find it difficult to do; that's why I got rid of the one Lost Prophets CD I had, and try to do my due diligence to see if I'm inadvertently listening to NSBM. So we'll see if I hold onto this once the ruling is delivered.
I can do that with artists who are dead. But for ones still alive, and still profiting off their work, I can't ignore the fact that by buying and consuming their work I am directly supporting a shitty human being. Once they die, then I might check out their stuff... unless the next rights holders are also shitty people. :/
Oh yeah, once you start keeping an eye out for sketchy bands (and reassess your existing collection)... sketch stuff starts popping up everywhere. Have had to let a lot of bands go, sadly. I know not everyone cares or does this, but if you do / once you do, it's a mess... it's a given basically that some bands you love will turn out to be awful / disappointing.
Poison Ruïn
Sulfuric Hatred
Continuing from the previous week - all sorts of hardcore/powerviolence/etc
Juice WRLD, Eminem, and Betty Blanco - Lace It
Please Bibby just give us TPNE already we are tired of waiting.
Certainly not a "hidden gem" like most people share here, but I like most of the track on AJR's "new" (Nov 2023) album, The Maybe Man (Spotify Link). Some of my favorites were already released as singles, but the album very much feels like the band wearing their hearts on their sleeve, but still with a slightly experimental yet not far away from mainstream sound. I connect a lot with Touchy Feely Fool (Youtube Link), specifically the lyrics
"Someday won't this be funny? Well I want it funny now... Someday won't this be long ago? I wanna feel that now"
Outside of that, not much that's newly released, but I've been enjoying going through the discography of Fountains Of Wayne (Spotify Link).
Two songs I've been listening to on repeat recently are OTONABLUE by ATARASHII GAKKO! and Get a Guitar by RIIZE.
[1] OTONABLUE by ATARASHII GAKKO!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l446hUqQ7GY
[2] Get a Guitar by RIIZE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUw3LPM7OBU
The first one came through my YouTube Music SuperMix and I loved the catchy tune. Only after watching the music video did I realize what the song is even about haha. Overall, love the song and will be listening to more songs from this group. They seem to be breaking the usual "music idol" image and get to be the weirdos that they really are.
The second one I first heard when I was in Seoul a few weeks ago. Heard it in a restaurant as I was eating lunch and again the catchy tune caught my attention. Haven't heard much about this group though I have listened to other groups from SM Entertainment so I will definitely keep a close eye on this group too.
Things got a bit psychedelic for me.
Primus and the chocolate factory.
Hibushibire
Earthless-night parade of one hundred demons
Cockley rebel-the psychomodo
Delving-hirschbrunnen
Butthole surfers. I'm doing a discography run.