🌶️ To The Teeth: It's Opeth day (actually, might be Opeth year)

Plus: Defeated Sanity, Múr, Kruelty, Ante-Inferno, Panzerfaust, Golgothan Remains & much more (Opeth)!

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 🌶️!

I am the Eros Ramazzotti of Sweden.

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New Albums

🌶️ Opeth

Progressive death, Sweden (Reighing Phoenix)

FFO: Ihsahn, Katatonia, Edge of Sanity, Hey!, Oldpeth, Newpeth, Allpeth

Alright alright alright. Opeth is my desert island band. I’m biased as hell. At least two of their records would land in my top 10 of all time, probably three and maybe four. And while yes, I absolutely adore the ole’ run from My Arms, Your Hearse up to and including Ghost Reveries, I also really really love the Newpeth albums.

BUT! I’m not only happy Mike is growling again (tbh I’m ecstatic), I think this new record couldn’t have captured their fresh and interesting progressive leanings in a very fucking heavy way any better. The story, the riffs, the solo’s, the guests, the motherfucking drumming… It’s dynamic, engaging, compelling and theatrical (and heavy!) on a new level. Even for this band. I’ve had the promo since august so I’ve had a lot of time to think about this and yes, this is absolutely my album of the year.

Also, Opeth obviously is still the fucking Martin Mendez band.

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🌶️ Defeated Sanity

Technical brutal death, Germany (Season of Mist)

FFO: Suffocation, Wormed, Cryptopsy

But this isn’t bad either. Defeated Sanity have been around almost as long as Opeth, but they haven’t steered that far away from their mission. Although within their enormous, slammy sound they’ve built their own mountain. This is a far more extreme extension of death metal than their Swedish peers above, but there must be a subgroup of nerds that likes both (me!).

🌶️ Múr (post, Iceland)

Prog/post, Iceland (Century Media)

FFO: Sólstafir, Celeste, The Ocean

Something different then. Icelanders (Icelandians?) know what to do with melancholic music, and Múr is another pearl in that collection. Great songs, good vocals, great new band.

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There’s more: Kruelty (🌶️ death/doom/hardcore, Japan), Ante-Inferno (black, UK), Golgothan Remains (death, Australia), Panzerfaust (black, Canada), Tyrannic (black/doom, Australia), Xandria (symphonic, Germany), Gutless (death, Australia), Repuked (death, Sweden) and a split from Body Void & Sunrot (both sludge/drone/doom from the USA). The rest is in the playlist!

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Six new songs

🌶️ Obscura (prog/tech death, Germany)

🌶️ Yovel (black, Greece)

🌶️ Brutus (post-hardcore, Belgium)

🌶️ Saor (atmoblack/folk, UK)

🌶️ Blackbriar (symphonic, The Netherlands)

🌶️ Grima (atmoblack, Russia)

The rest is in the playlist!

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Not-so-heavy & next week

Not-so-heavy album of the week: Kendrick Lamar (hiphop, USA)

I’m looking forward to next week because of: Mefitis, Bedsore, Pestilent Hex & The Gates of Slumber.

What is your favourite? What did I miss? Let me know!