🌶️ To The Teeth: Bossk really thought it through
Plus: Unleash the Archers, Necrophagia, Primitive Warfare, Simone Simons & much more!
Welcome to the To The Teeth newsletter! Your weekly update of new heavy music. You can listen to (most) everything in the playlist on Spotify. If you like what you read, go to Patreon (receive a patch!) & Bandcamp (buy a patch!). Peppers are hot 🌶️!
New Albums
🌶️ Bossk
Atmospheric post/sludge/doom, United Kingdom (Deathwish Inc)
FFO: Cult of Luna, Red Sparowes, Pelican
Fun fact: the Star Wars bounty hunter this band named thereselves after is actually named Bossk'wassak'Cradossk. Did I copy-paste it? Or am I really a huge nerd? You’ll never know (you know). Anyway, Bossk (the band) has been around since 2005 but never released a debut album until 2016. You can hear why: they really thought it through. Most of these songs on this fourth part of non-albums in their discography are reworkings or remixes, which offers fresh takes on their expansive music without a pinch of laziness: it’s hard to find bands who rework their stuff and get so creative with it. And most of it is beautiful - the song with Sheenagh Murray, ‘Truth II’, is absolutely gorgeous.
🌶️ Unleash The Archers
Power, Canada (Napalm Records
FFO: Frozen Crown, Judicator, Helion Prime
I’ve never seen this band live, but I did see vocalist Brittney Hayes (she calls herself ‘Slayes’ which is 1: lame, sure, but also 2: pretty awesome) with Ayreon a while back and man, those pipes are as impressive live as on record. Big plus. The band injects freshness into power metal via said pipes ánd great songs, another big plus. Phantoma has the impossible job to come close to previous records Apex & Abyss and things that are impossible usually fail. Can’t have it all. It’s still a fun album.
There’s more: Necrophagia (death, USA), Funeral Storm (black, Greece), Rotten Tomb (death, Chile), Svneatr (black, Canada), Dødsferd (black, Greece), Spaceslug (psych/doom, Poland), Luna Pythonissam (dsbm, Mexico - a Victoria Carmilla Hazemaze project), Warlord (heavy/power, USA), Primitive Warfare (black/death, USA), Flamekeeper (epic heavy/power/black, Sweden - w/ member of Demonomancy), Riot V (heavy/power/speed, USA) and Hagetisse (black, The Netherlands - a Maurice ‘Gnaw Their Tongues’ de Jong project). The rest is in the playlist!
Seven new songs
🌶️ Simone Simons (symphonic, The Netherlands - with Arjen ‘Ayreon’ Lucassen)
🌶️ Thou (sludge/doom, USA)
🌶️ Forgotten Tomb (dsbm/gothic, Italy)
🌶️ Portrait (heavy, Sweden)
🌶️ Scarcity (experimental black, USA)
🌶️ Kvaen (black/pagan, Sweden)
🌶️ Vanhelgd (death, Sweden)
The rest is in the playlist!
Not-so-heavy & next week
Not-so-heavy album of the week: nothing in particular stood out
I’m looking forward to next week because of: Gatecreeper, Pallbearer, Botanist, Göden, Hemotoxin, Tzompantli & Ufomammut.
What is your favourite? What did I miss? Let me know!
I know you don't generally include too much metalcore but I'm surprised not to see Knocked Loose, by far my most anticipated one this week. Bossk sounds like it'll be great though!