In just a few short years the Derry pop punk rock trio have found themselves as one of the most burgeoning names within the Irish scene, having won pundits all the way from Frank Turner, Fangclub and even And So I Watch You From Afar in just a few short years. Certainly not bad going whatsoever for a band that at the time only had a handful of tracks to their namesake. However, the group’s new extended play and mission statement – Hey Tori – truly shows that Cherym are fully in-deserving of all the praise and acclaim they are being showered with.
Quintessentially, Hey Tori is the full encapsulation of what this genre should sound like. Telling classic tales of both loss and success in the game of love, it’s zingy, confrontational and haplessly, irrefutably infectious. ‘Listening To My Head’ instantly establishes this and the preppy energy that animates the record and binds it as a whole. With a touch of classic pop-punk lilt reminiscent of the halcyon juggernauts of the genre, the track is a full shockwave of authentic and giddy enthusiasm that’s simply levitating. The follow up ‘Kisses On My Cards’, a track comprised of a barrage of hooks and pulls, continues this in a way that’s somewhat snowballing. It’s the kind of pop punk that’s simply and inarguably enjoyable; the kind that totally distanced from the stale shovelware of the genre, puts a prep in your step and pulls you – willingly or not – into a golden mood.
We’ve seen bigger breakdowns than we thought imaginable, more bands come and go than really makes sense – but then just as you think you’ve seen it all, the lads in Blood Youth break down the door with this absolute screamer.
When Kaya Tarsus announced his departure from the band just prior to their earthshaking performance at this years Slam Dunk – all mention of their pre-recorded album may have slipped to the minds of a devastated fanbase. That being said, any form of melancholic doubt will be ruthlessly trampled when any Blood Youth addict gets their hands on the beast that is about to obliterate their headphones. Released via Rude Records on October 1st, Visions of Another Hell is no doubt the best kept secret of the year, and dominates the band’s previous material on a whole new level. Welcome to 11 tracks of complete catharsis.
The initial seconds of the record’s opener ‘a-LTX’ bring the mood down to one of complete hopelessness with the guitar tones setting an air that’s almost haunted, however it’s the second track that comes in the form of ‘Iron Lung’ that really sets the pace. It’s as if every single ounce of emotion the band has ever felt has been bottled up and weaponised, and the entirety of the four minutes of playthrough slams harder than physically possible. Blood Youth have an undeniable proclivity for the filthiest tones on the market, and that much is demonstrated across the entirety of the new record in line with some of their best lyrical work to date. ‘Something To Numb The Pain’ comes in with an elevated chorus that could be described as transcendent, before the rest of the album drags you back down into gloom.
Spearheaded by Type O Negative‘s founding member, Sal Abruscato, and fast becoming the poster boys for gothic doom metal, A Pale Horse Named Death know how to capture the dark and brooding essence of doom. The band’s fourth album descends into the more eerie aspects of the band’s sound, creating sinister and spellbinding atmospheres that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Combining elements of post-grunge with gothic metal and doom, A Pale Horse Named Death has a gritty musical edge, creating ethereal darkness through the heavy bass fuzz.
‘Infernum’ opens the album with a two minute soundscape packed full of spooky eeriness, as dark spirits summoned by conjuring witches meets the haunting chants of a ghostly church choir. It is a scene that feels like it has been directly taken from a haunted, dark and mystical England in the middle ages. These brief soundscapes are A Pale Horse’s staples, and from the point in which they finish you are then thrown into the hypnotic trance of Type O Negative style fuzz and melody, capturing the attention of the restless melancholy that stirs within your soul. There is definitely an ornate gothic grandeur to this album, whilst still maintaining the same vibes from previous albums it feels like fresh and comes from a new perspective. Utilising personal themes and interests, mainly the dark arts, A Pale Horse have created a recorded that thrives on balance. The album uses the eternal battle between light and dark to achieve this balance, but ultimately the album reflects the darkness of the world at its current time. It is dark and eerily soothing music for dark and restless souls.
South Africa’s greatest death metal export Vulvodynia have been trolling the deathcore and death metal world relentlessly recently by unleashing Praenuntius Infiniti’s cover star Bob The Butcher. Bob has run amok across album covers everywhere with his portal gun, creating a highly entertaining social media storm where no comments section is safe. He even had a brief fling with Resident Evil’s Lady Dimitrescu and teaming up with Wayland, the cult leader adorning Aborted’s ManiaCult album. Grotesque characters aside, Vulvodynia have created a pus bustlingly brutal album, so keep all your exterior abscesses safe, otherwise you’ll have some serious cleaning up to do.
Bringing in some signature Vulvodynia elements and mixing it up with some new genres, such as melodeath and technical death metal, the band’s sound has been pushed into new realms of the extreme. This continued maturation of the more technical elements of their sound set to the back drop of their already established slamming death metal pedigree, Praenuntius Infiniti ushers in a new age for the band. The album concept continues where 2015’s Finis Omnium Ignorantiam left off, where the world has been swallowed by the great god creature that is ‘Praenuntius’. Now the multiverse battles for survival inside this great god monster, as ‘Praenuntius’ consume all in the ‘Eternal Wasteland Of Galaxies’. Opening up with a contextual intro that sounds like it is being read by Morgoth from the Lord Of The Rings, you have two minutes to brace yourself for the ensuing chaos as the slow build up creates an indescribable tension. Launching into ‘The Shadowy Descent Of Gaia’ it is clear for all to see that Vulvodynia are not here to mess around.
Such a relation is to be expected of course. It’s in these challenging times – ages rampant with strife, anxiety and misery – that we get a true picture of the condition of the human race. The collection of unique complexities and nuances that compose us collectively become strikingly apparent, and for all intents and purposes, the guise that we as a species wear to help repress the fact that we are merely terrified pack animals banding together begins to slip. It’s this realisation that serves as the crux of the new EP from Blodet.
A band deep-rooted in subtle physiology and obvious esotericism, the Sweden sextet have already developed a musical palette for themselves, one composed of doom, post-rock and a touch of folk that carries a pagan flair. Vision, the group’s latest body of work and their first with Hilda Heller fronting the troupe, showcases this musical entanglement wonderfully, and whilst genre tags such as doom and post-rock may conjure thoughts of a release sonically punishing, such heft manifests thematically on this release. Opener and previously released single ‘The River’ instantly establishes such an aura. Summoning an enshrouding atmosphere of both ominous and threatening – one headily comparable to the manifestation courtesy of A.A Williams, Chelsea Wolfe and Marriages – the track creeps in broodingly prior to shifting across it’s run time with a subdued sense of doom and foreboding.
Formed in Berlin in 2008 by Marcel Neumann and Tobias Schultka, the duo started as just a bit of a joke, nothing more than two friends having fun. It gradually transformed into something more serious as their music began to get attention on the local scene and they expanded to include more members. Although, of course, that doesn’t mean they take themselves über seriously, as the name of the band and the title of their fifth album will contest to. Their latest offering is simply called Das Album (‘The Album’) and sees the return of original member Tobias, who took a break from the band in 2010 to become an Apple developer. The reuniting of the two original members in 2019 and the departure of the others sees the band come full circle. Now a duo again, We Butter The Bread With Butter can get back to doing what they do best – making obscure electronical deathcore that offends everyone’s ears.
