Hailing from the spiritual home of metal and initially starting as an anonymous one-man black metal project, Birmingham based frontman known only as No One has been cultivating a signature sound for a number of years now. Debuting in 2019 with the aptly named DEMO 1, The Sun’s Journey Through The Night quickly gained an audience for their (self-described) “raw, chaotic and cathartic” black metal, thematically exploring personal traumas through narratives that take inspiration from “creation, death, the universe and life beyond humanity”.
With the aspiration of evolving from just a studio project after releasing three full length studio albums between 2020-2021, No One recruited a full live band to showcase the material. Finding the chemistry between all parties so strong in a live environment, this led Lune, Deimos and Corvus joining the band full time to contribute to new album Worldless, arguably the band’s most accomplished work to date.
Opening track ‘Abolishing Consciousness’ sets the stage perfectly. Beginning with multi-layered guitars saturated in reverb, chiming in the distant expanse before walls of oppressive distortion make themselves known like a gut punch. Churning back to the remote post-rock ambience briefly before finally unleashing into raw black metal fury with one hell of a main hook. The turbulent textural shifts continue, not only throughout ‘Abolishing Consciousness’, but across Worldless as a whole.
First forming in 2012 as a two-piece band of two longtime friends of the early metalcore scene, guitarist/vocalist Stephen Brodsky (Cave In) and drummer Ben Koller (Converge) quickly found bassist Nick Cageao and released their debut EP Helium Head. With a relentless work ethic in tow, Mutoid Man quickly gained traction and released two studio albums in the form of 2015’s debut Bleeders and 2017’s excellent follow up War Moans, landing them opening slots with bands like Mastodon and Danzig. After six long years and choosing to replace Cageao with the almighty Jeff Matz (High On Fire) on bass guitar, Mutoid Man are out for blood with Mutants.
The album pulls no punches right out of the gate with opening track (and lead single) ‘Call Of The Void’. Sitting somewhere between the upfront speed of Motorhead, the progressive sensibilities of Mastodon and the sing-a-long punk chorus’ of The Misfits, the four minute track flies by and leaves an immediate lasting impression. As the rest of the album follows, a similar feeling is left on the other side of every single track, to say Mutants is a catchy album is an understatement.
Mutoid Man have always been known for their ability to meld lizard-brain, primal riffing with a progressive side in their technicality, but Jeff Matz on bass has really pushed that progressive edge further than ever before. Even just on the track ‘Broken Glass Ceiling’, each member of the trio are playing the most ludicrous parts on their respective instruments and still Brodsky manages to squeeze another ear-worm for the chorus’ vocal hook.
Mile End from the Flower City of Brampton, Ontario, Canada have been making waves since their inception in 2018. That is even more a fact coming out of 2021. Over the last couple years these Candian young-ins have been busting their behinds while putting all their blood, sweat, and tears into some of the best hardcore the nation has seen in some time. Today you’ll see the band has since signed with independent label, New Morality Zine Records, to put out a spectacular 4 track demo promo titled respectively 2023 Promo. Complete with an intro interlude that fades into a brand new track and two recently released singles, along with a small North American tour with Do-FlameB, it’s safe to say Mile End are making massive strides this year.
Opening the promo is the new track ‘Stay Still’. Full of wicked guitar and pounding percussion, it sets the tone for this release perfectly. Vocalist, Jake Thompson, does not shy away one bit either with a powerful vocal display that is easily recognizable if you are aware of or a fan of the band. Taking hold of everything that makes Ontario Hardcore great and cranking it up a notch by adding metalcore and even beatdown influence to the mix, the young Canadian metalers seem to set the bar to unimaginable heights with this one.
Rebirth. Relive. Repeat. is the follow-up to Maebe’s self-titled 2020 debut and the leap forward is astonishing. With self-produced instrumental guitar music being flooded into the world at a sickening rate, it takes something special to stand out, and this album certainly qualifies. These songs are so much more than a showcase of Michael Astley-Brown’s formidable guitar shops – they’re living, breathing compositions that conjure vivid images and emotions without a single word.
The record hits a few familiar beats, calling to mind the euphoric math-rock of ASIWYFA and the restrained beauty of MONO but there’s an intoxicating freshness to the vibes, and a liquid fluidity to the way the songs evolve that makes this an intensely satisfying listen.
Rebirth. Relive. Repeat opens with a melancholic beauty, all swirling guitars and dreamy atmospheres. It’s half mournful, half euphoric, and the songs grow in intensity as we move through the first few songs. The title track shows a masterful command of dynamics and groove, with the gorgeous guitar layers pulled back and forth between frantic riffs and languid moments of calm.
It’s apparent that Maebe is now a fully fledged band – despite this album again coming solely from the mind of Michael the way the instruments mesh together feels much more authentic and “live” in a way that the self titled album never quite managed. There are moments where we get some finger-twisting guitar pyrotechnics, but this time they’re backed up by a rhythm section that matches and propels the track along with the widdly-widdlys, and the calmer moments are even more downright beautiful when they hit off the back of the fretboard fireworks. ’50 Words for Bro’ is a prime example, opening with intricate mathy riffs that give way to soaring melodies and by the end of the track both are happening at once and there’s a tear in our eye.
Returning to the scene post-release of their spring of 2021 mini-album – Vampire, their stand alone vitriolic saboteur single ‘Uppercut!’, as well as the crushing loss of not only Saint Agnes longtime bassist Ben Chernett, but also the devastating untimely passing of Kitty Austen’s beloved mother. Saint Agnes sought the purgation of emotional burden as they manoeuvre through the agonising stages of grief, endeavouring to stand in solidarity with a community of bushed and beaten souls readying their arsenals against those who’d seek to eradicate nonconformists.
Sampling Saint Agnes’ overload of individualistic pride, it’s fierceness struck this listener as an inherently intense listening experience especially when comparing it to their previous releases, having also had the pleasure of attending their live shows during both the early-Bloodsuckers and Vampire era’s.
Highlights of Bloodsuckers’ obviously includes that of the albums dominating namesake track, their celebratory heretical gothic rock anthem ‘Outsider’, but also three more audible explorations that have truly captivated our attention.
Punk duo Snõõper, originally formed as a duo with Nashville scene mainstay Connor Cummins and animator/visual artist/vocalist Blair Tramel before expanding to a five piece, is as much a band as it is an art exhibition, with videos and live shows using the band’s frenzied garage punk as a soundtrack for garish paper Mache models and charmingly lo-fi animations. Their sound fits in elegantly with contemporaries like Bodega and Panic Shack but with a drive for speed which compliments their tireless art-punk spirit.
Listening to Super Snõõper is like having a conversation with a hyperactive toddler, ideas fly past, barely giving the listener time to process what’s happening, before you can even try and interpret one idea they’re onto the next. Even the intro track ‘Stretching’, despite only lasting a minute, requires multiple listens thanks to its chaotic structure with snippets of music being interrupted by sound effects before fading out to garbled Morse code. The first proper track ‘Bedbugs’ is only slightly more intelligible, darting through with a ludicrously high tempo and 30 second runtime, praise has to be given to drummer Cam Sarrett for their tight playing amid all the chaos.
Singles ‘Pod’ and ‘Fitness’ manage to stand out as upbeat, catchy and cohesive tracks that contrast with many of the more hectic songs on the album. Keeping the Snõõper DNA intact with unrelenting pace, jagged guitar riffs and shouted vocals Pod is a statement piece that explains the band’s massive hype, it’s a tight, compellingly weird yet accessible minute and a half that evokes the best of Talking Heads while staying true to the band’s punk roots. ‘Fitness’ continues this trend with a rushed, angular take on garage rock fuelled by whistles and samples that speeds past like an Olympic sprinter with a berserk, moshable groove that screeches to a halt at the end with a sample of a sports interview. As the two most accessible tracks on Super Snõõper these both show off the band’s unique aspects and expose the album’s biggest weakness, despite their impressive speed both tracks really feel like they could use some room to breathe. Snõõper clearly aren’t struggling to keep up with their own pace but some listeners may find this constant barrage of ideas exhausting.
