@@@ Russian Circles: Conduit (Sargent House, 2022) I guess these guys are vets and this is a pre-release track of an upcoming full length. It opens up with that relentles metal flavor before shifting down into some minimal dour melodies. I like the churn, I like the guitar tones, I like the drumming and how they’re all locked together. It looks like this is gonna be an instrumental banger and in that light I guess I could use a bit more lead melody to keep my interest. There are a fair number of sections where they take the sound down and build it back up oh my they just brought back up and it’s pumped up pretty bigly. This is tight tight tight and I lean more towards the chaotic metal, it’s all personal preference. They have a lot of great shit going on here but I’d like a bit more, does that make me a bitch? I would listen to more.
@@@ End It: New Wage Slavery (Flat Spot, 2022) Some black hardcore out of Baltimore that I got to via 24 metal and punk songs on Brooklyn Vegan. The mix tilts towards metal, but the singer is classic ramped up hardcore. The energy here is most definitely ‘hey let’s go burn whitey’s house down’ and that seems very relevant and appropriate. I really love black hardcore as rhythmically it’s a bit more to my liking than your amped up white boy stomping his ass off. To say it’s funkier may be a mistake but it’s more flexible. Great track, would listen to more.
Deep In the Music 