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| Horns up. |
New Horizons
Voivod - Synchro Anarchy
The fifteenth album from the French-Canadian legends is another smash hit, which is highly impressive considering 2018’s ‘The Wake’ was a genuine milestone. Their blend of prog, space rock and thrash is a sound many have tried but few have been able to pull off without it sounding cut and pasted. Tracks like ‘The World Today’ and ‘Mind Clock’ are the standout tracks.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Wild Rocket – Formless Abyss
Based in Dublin, and made up of members of Wolfbait and Drainland, Wild Rocket play music that operates between the driving rhythms of Neu and the dark psychedelia of Earth and Slomatics. This album sees them push the latter side even further into the mix, with ‘The Future Echoes’ seemingly referencing the legendary Nomadic Rituals in places. Which, of course, is a good thing.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Kevin – Aftermath
Having formed five years ago in Japan, this debut album is a masterclass in blending post punk, krautrock and psych rock in a way that is accessible, but still relatively weird. Take opener ‘Malawi’ as an example: the beats drive, but sound like hiccups as opposed to standard four on the floor beats. ‘Yellow Desert’ makes me think of The Fall jamming on Hawkwind.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Poundland – Can’t Be Arsed
Great name and great title. So it’s nice to report that the music matches, with a sludgy, psychedelic take on industrial punk where even the vocals sound like they were recorded after downing 50 tabs of Oxycontin. Because of this, songs like ‘Twatted’ and ‘Tapeworm’ make for uncomfortable, but compelling listening. Arguably, the sound that defines 2022 in a nutshell.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
K Of Arc - Show Them Your Throat
Described as an attempt at crossing the urban paranoia of Philip K Dick and the folk horror of The Wicker Man, this debut album takes elements from latter day Coil and creates a kind of hauntology that is less nostalgia for an imagined past and more an ecstasy trip gone bad. ‘Contact’ should have soundtracked the Alan Clarke film of the same name. Album of the month.
The album can be streamed and purchased here.
Golden Oldies
Having operated under the Lustmord name for nearly 35 years, Brian Williams has been a member of industrial legends SPK, recorded with the Melvins, remixed Tool and played his first gig in years at the 40th anniversary of the Church of Satan among other things. To fully appreciate this album, you must turn off your phone, lock yourself in a room with a turntable, headphones and a copy of this record. In these circumstances, you will feel an eeriness and beauty. It will take you to another world, and one that will take a while for you to come back from.
Bad Religion – True North
You know what to expect when you pick up a Bad Religion LP: Adolescents meets Buzzcocks guitars from three of the most famous guitarists to emerge from hardcore (Greg Hetson, Brian Baker and Brett Gurewitz), emotive singing and insightful lyrics from Graffin and plenty of “oozin’ aaahs” in the backing vocal department. The life affirming title track that begins proceedings. ‘Robin Hood in Reverse’ baits Sham 69 and religion/corporations in the lyrics. ‘Hello Cruel World’ is the sound of depressed suburban intellectuals covering the Stooges.
Nightfell – The Living Ever Mourn
Nightfell is Todd Burdette (Tragedy, His Hero Is Gone) and Tim Call (Aldebaran, Shadow of the Torturer). And it shows, due to plenty of moments that reference their other bands. But songs like ‘Empty Prayers’ should be singled out for praise due to its similarity to certain strands of dark folk (thanks to vocals that are along the lines of Gregorian chants) as well as gothic overtones (Paradise Lost would kill to have a song like this). The middle section wouldn’t be out of place on a Sol Invictus LP. Brilliant.
October File - The Application of Loneliness, Ignorance, Misery, Love and Despair – An Introspective of the Human Condition
Terrible title but tracks like ‘The Water’, with its doomy riff giving way to something much more staccato mark this album out as underrated. The repetition of the riff and the mechanised playing from the rhythm section (as well as the lyrics about how “from rags to riches/the water consumes us) makes the song hypnotic and keeps the listener interested throughout its 11-minute span. And ‘Heroes Are Welcome’, with a Geordie Walker/Amebix indebted riff is no bad thing. At all.
Terrible title but tracks like ‘The Water’, with its doomy riff giving way to something much more staccato mark this album out as underrated. The repetition of the riff and the mechanised playing from the rhythm section (as well as the lyrics about how “from rags to riches/the water consumes us) makes the song hypnotic and keeps the listener interested throughout its 11-minute span. And ‘Heroes Are Welcome’, with a Geordie Walker/Amebix indebted riff is no bad thing. At all.
⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.
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