Death metal gets stereotyped as a one-trick pony, but plenty of bands in the genre are thoughtfully breaking the mold. In the midwest, they include Michigan death-doom outfit Temple of Void. Formed in 2013 by veterans of Detroit’s metal and hardcore scenes, the five-piece have earned accolades for their gritty, genre-bending albums—in 2020, The World […]
Tag: Relapse Records
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Cave In rise from the ashes with their most direct and focused release to date
The title and story behind Cave In’s 2019 LP, Final Transmission, led many to believe that the eclectic rock band’s two-and-a-half-decade run had come to an end. Following the tragic passing of bassist and vocalist Caleb Scofield in 2018, the group fleshed out the last demos they’d made with him and turned them into a […]
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Sludge-metal all-stars Absent in Body live up to their lineup on their debut LP
Like it or not, supergroups are an inevitable part of the music landscape. There’s always a new one in the works, in no small part because they reliably attract media attention even before they’ve done anything. More often than not, though, supergroups turn out to be letdowns compared to the amount of hype they generate. […]
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King Woman retell personal and Biblical horrors with Celestial Blues
When you can’t outrun your past, one option is to face it with your own poetics. That’s the approach King Woman front woman Kris Esfandiari takes when confronting the Biblical archetypes branded on her psyche while coming of age in a Charismatic Christian family that practiced speaking in tongues and at-home exorcisms. On Celestial Blues, […]
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Yautja perfect their maximalist metal on The Lurch
Nashville metal trio Yautja are a great example of how the old adage “less is more” doesn’t always apply. For ten years now, these three dudes—whose band name is also the species name of the fictional extraterrestrial hunters in the Predator franchise—have been throwing everything into their maximalist music, and getting better and better results. […]
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Genghis Tron reunite and shift gears on Dream Weapon
In a 2020 filled with unwanted surprises, one bright spot was the unexpected reunion of experimental metal group Genghis Tron after a self-described “indefinite” hiatus. Dream Weapon, the New York-based band’s first album in 13 years, departs from the sound of their earlier records in a way that may startle the group’s patient fans, but […]
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Nothing channel 90s shoegaze with winning results on The Great Dismal
Domenic Palermo started writing and recording dark shoegaze songs under the name Nothing ten years ago. Since then, Nothing have spearheaded a shoegaze revival by releasing a constant deluge of incredible material, and their recent fourth full-length, The Great Dismal, is no exception. Nothing’s lineup has been retooled since their previous album: Aaron Heard, vocalist […]
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Crusty metal six-piece Ilsa call out cruelty and corruption through the story of an 80s murderer
Even if you buy into the idea that musicians should stay out of politics, how do you overlook the politics baked into everything around you? Take the COVID-19 pandemic: What’s more destructive, the virus or the leaders who don’t even try to get it under control? Preyer, the new album from D.C. six-piece Ilsa, was […]
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Grindcore legends Pig Destroyer expand their horizons on a new EP
Pig Destroyer have been at the forefront of grindcore for more than 20 years, and over that time they’ve found a way to push the notoriously rigid style into far-reaching spaces. Helmed by guitarist Scott Hull (also the mastermind behind psychotic “cybergrind” outfit Agoraphobic Nosebleed), the Virginia band started out playing fairly standard grindcore in […]
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Metal trio Primitive Man connect the dark side of humanity with individual struggle on Immersion
In one of Chicago’s most tumultuous 24-hour periods in recent memory, the city withstood a night of momentous civil unrest followed by a day of unsettlingly violent storms. By coincidence, I spent much of the duration listening to an oddly suitable soundtrack: Immersion, the latest full-length by Denver metal trio Primitive Man. Plenty of bands […]
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Pitchfork loves TV, so Pitchfork loves Survive
Survive’s retro horror-synth score for Stranger Things means they benefit from Pitchfork’s courtship of the prestige-television audience.
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Metalcore firebrands Code Orange talk about their new album and new live show
Pittsburgh four-piece Code Orange released Forever last week, and on Wednesday they play at Subterranean.
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Weekend Nachos leave behind a legacy of brutality
Chicago powerviolence jokers Weekend Nachos have ripped it up around the world for 13 years, and this weekend they say farewell with two hometown shows.
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Powerviolence monsters Weekend Nachos release the first song from their final record
“Writhe” is a frenzied explosion, classic Weekend Nachos style—they’re going out on a high note.
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A poppy new single from shoegaze revivalists Nothing
The new tune from Nothing dives into sunny, straight-ahead pop rather than the band’s usual spacey gloom.