🌶️ To The Teeth: Immolation, Star One, Annihilator, Matt Pike, Amon Amarth, Sadist & more
New albums
🌶️ Immolation - Acts of God (death from the USA
There's a good chance that you, reader, are more familiar with this classic death metal band than I am. Why? I just never really got into them - even though I love a lot of bands that were influenced by Immolation. Who knows why some classic albums or bands roll by your life without good reason? Just can't listen to everything I guess. Anyway, I'm totally on board with them on this one, record number eleven. Just in time! It's dark and brooding and it feels like they can lash out at you at any moment. Good stuff.
Let's be honest: this Star One album is more Ayreon than the last Ayreon was. I liked the theatrical Transitus, don't get me wrong, but Mr. Lucassen was originally going to make that into something else. When that failed he made it into Ayreon (I've interviewed the absolutely lovely Arjen about it, read here in Dutch) to still get something out of the project. Fine fine. But here we are with a new Star One, and what do you know: this is the grandeur, the impressiveness, the artwork, the synthecheesers, the big guest names, goddamnit, this is Ayreon! It goes to show it doesn't really matter what Lucassen names it, it'll rock.
There is more: Annihilator (thrash from Canada), Pike Vs the Automaton (sludge/stoner/doom from the USA - Sleep's Matt Pike project), Crimson Throne (black/ambient from the UK), a split from Sadness & Unreqvited (🌶️ post/atmospheric black metal/blackgaze from the USA & Canada) Arð (d0om from the UK - solo project from a Winterfylleth member), Pure Wrath (atmoblack from Indonesia), Buñuel (avantgarde/post-punk/noise? from Italy/USA - with, among others, the singer from Oxbow), An Isolated Mind (avantgarde black/death from the USA), Urushiol (experimental death from the USA - solo project from Alexander DeMaria, from Yellow Eyes, Anicon), a collaboration from Déhà & Marla van Horn (death/doom from Belgium), Sickbay (death from the USA) and The Devils of Loudun (🌶️ symphonic/melodic death from the USA).
New singles
There are new songs from: Dream Widow (🌶️ thrash from the USA - yes, this is Foo Fighters playing metal and they do it: well), Undeath (🌶️ death from the USA), Hath (🌶️ progressive blackened death from the USA), Amon Amarth (melodeath from Sweden), Sadist (🌶️ prog death from Italy), Agathodaimon (gothic/black from Germany), Animals as Leaders (prog/djent from the USA), Sakis Tolis (gothic/doom from Greece - Rotting Christ's frontman solo project), Somali Yacht Club (psych/stoner/shoegaze from Ukraine), Mosaic (black from Germany), Health & Lamb of God (noise & groove from the USA), Sunrot (post/sludge from the USA), Messa (doom/drone from Italy), Kuolemanlaakso (🌶️ death/doom from Finland), Masakre (death/crust from Indonesia), Sepulchral (death from Spain), The Last of Lucy (tech/prog death from the USA), Erebe (prog/post from I think Sweden), Gonemage (experimental post-black/chiptune from the USA), Nite (black/heavy from the USA), Release the River (melodic black/death from The Netherlands), Domkraft (🌶️ psych/sludge from Sweden), Cavernlight (sludge/drone/post from the USA) and Gggoldd (doom/rock from the Netherlands).
Next week
Non-metal album of the week: Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - Texas Moon
I’m looking forward to next week because of: Shape of Despair, Corpsegrinder, Hammerfall, Abraham, Eight Bells, Ceremonial Castings & Meslamtaea.
Have a great weekend people, stay safe! - Peter