Week of 9th March: There’s lots of good tracks to get us through this week, including new works from Blues Pills, Calligram and Beggar.
Rock ensemble Blues Pills offer up empowering new track
Surging with a bombastic energy, the latest track from Swedish rockers Blues Pills sees the band on top form (as per). This powerful single, released last week in celebration of International Women’s Day, has us beyond excited for the group’s upcoming full-length Holy Moly! – too bad we have to wait until June.
Hardcore trailblazers Calligram drop exciting new single ‘Vivido Perire’
The second track to be lifted from the band’s forthcoming album The Eye Is The First Circle, ‘Vivido Perire’ is a vicious assault of blackened hardcore menace. Furious drumming bolsters spiralling riffs and truly evil screams from frontman Matteo. You’ve been warned.
The UK doom scene continues to excel with Atavist’s ‘Self-Realisation’
This new single from UK doomers Atavist rages with influence from early Grief while churning forth a blistered sonic landscape that falls into line with their past output — dark, brooding and tumultuous. If this track is any indication of what to expect from their upcoming record, the group have truly returned to form to wreak havoc in the world of sludge/doom.
Take to the goth-folk ‘Highway’ once more with Chelsea Wolfe
Birth Of Violence was one of the best albums of last year, and the new video for ‘Highway’ has reminded of its acoustic-led beauty. With haunting vocals layered over poignant guitar and eerie effects, Chelsea Wolfe demonstrates again why no-one does gothic americana quite like her.
New Zealand innovators Ulcerate tell us to ‘Stare Into Death And Be Still’
With new LP Stare Into Death And Be Still due for a April release, visionary Kiwi’s Ulcerate look to have made yet another evolutionary jump in form. Although still sounding like a headlong plunge into the abyss, the band’s excruciating, Cthulhu-wrangling violence now erupts from beneath a glittering cloak of hazy blackgaze melody, the dissonant and surreal colliding with a sort of wistful beauty.
Enjoy this ‘Tubba Lard’ from hardcore maestros Eye Flys
With a UK tour supporting Primitive Man and Full Of Hell this April, hardcore quartet Eye Flys gave us a bruising taste of what to expect on their upcoming debut album with this single, released earlier this year. ‘Tubba Lard’ combines taut riffs with lyrics that tackle the body shaming vocalist Jake Smith received growing up to incredibly powerful effect. Ones to watch.
Bay Area veterans Testament continue to be ‘Children Of The Next Level’
The second cut to be unveiled from their forthcoming Titans Of Creation LP, ‘Children Of The Next Level’ is a jolting, adrenalised dose of trademark Testament, further upholding the notion that these Bay Area legends are more than the equal of their so called “top four” brethren. Mercilessly hooky with some uniformly stunning leads from Alex Skolnick, this is the band at their rampaging best.
Survive the sludgy horror of Beggar’s colossal ‘Blood Moon’
The world of sludge is always a chaotic romp through a murky, overdriven, blues saturated fen, and APF Record’s Beggar have belted out a crushingly brutal offering with their latest single ‘Blood Moon’. The UK ain’t messing around with their sludge. It roars.
Endure more gore from Aborted with ‘Gloom And The Art Of Tribulation’
There are few bands that deliver the unvarnished, blood ‘n’ guts horror show delights of modern death metal quite like Aborted. ‘ Gloom And The Art Of Tribulation‘, the first taste of their upcoming EP La Grande Mascarade, introduces brief glimpses of dissonance and high-grade complexity which may represent a fearsome next step for the Belgian five piece, yet all in all there are few surprises here.
Word by: Adam Pegg, Tony Bliss, Garrett A. Tanner, George Parr
