If you've been on board with us since mid-2014, you'll remember I used to do a segment called Bandcamp Buried Treasure. I'd hunt down records for "Buy It Now/Free Download" price on Bandcamp and post up a brief article about one of my finds every Friday. It was a lot of fun, but ultimately the rules of the feature became too constricting for me to consistently talk about music I only had the utmost faith in.
Now I've got a way around that. Here's how the new segment works!
- Now monthly, I'm going to post up a bunch of albums that came out during this year you might have missed or forgot to get around to.
- The albums are not all "Buy It Now/Free Download," nor are they specifically hosted on Bandcamp. Get ready to throw your money at your screen!
- Each entry will include either a full album stream or a great song off an artist's new record.
- If you don't see an album you enjoyed from this year on the list, leave a comment letting me know I should listen to it! If it didn't come out by today, then I purposefully did not include it this time. These are only albums that came out between Jan. 1 and Apr. 3o this year. The next feature will deal with albums that came out between Jan. 1 and whatever the next quarter start date is, etc.
Ready?
Elder – Lore
Elder is basically what would have happened if 1970's rock and roll bands had time machines and heard what dudes like Dream Theater and Mastodon are doing now. Granted Lore is in a league completely by itself, but the comparison can definitely be drawn. The other thing that really gets me about this record is that the songs are so damn long, yet before you know it you're at the end of the record and you sang along basically the entire time. 1970's rock hooks indeed!
Galar – De Gjenlevende
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ooi0UxwuBzTmsUZ7eNpOw-PXvNrPoko[/youtube]
De Gjenlevende is a beast all its own. Galar has clearly taken notes from the books of Enslaved and Borknagar, but added a homey folk quality to it in much in the way Panopticon has added that Americana folk flavor to his music. The orchestral instrumental bits flow seamlessly into the standard black metal affairs and even mash up perfectly. Throw in some early Ulver choirs and blam! Galar magic.
Oceans of Slumber – Blue
Oceans of Slumber recently got an amazing new vocalist and decided to try out some interesting cover songs. The group does a variation of "Solitude" by Candlemass, a super elongated drone-laden version of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," Emperor's "The Wanderer" in a way you've never heard it before, a progressively heavier "On the Turning Away" by Pink Floyd, a different version of the group's own "Memoriam" and a jazz version of a new song called "Winter." Holy shit.
Monolord – Vænir
Oh look, it's the best doom record to have been released so far in 2015! Monolord's Vænir is just a disgusting granite-dragging nut crusher when it comes right down to it. Right from the get go of "Cursing the One," you're sucked in under a suffocating storm of guitars, fuzzy bass lines and drums that seem to wrap everything up with a bow that suspiciously smells like weed. Blast this one as loud as humanly possible, but don't blow your speakers out, because…
The Atomic Bitchwax – Gravitron
You're going to be blasting The Atomic Bitchwax too! Hell of a name, right? The group actually consists of bassist and vocalist Chris Kosnik, as well as drummer Bob Pantella, of Monster Magnet. Then with former Core guitarist and vocalist Finn Ryan and you've got yourself a rock and roll-type band that does retro right. Gravitron reminds me of a super aggressive Clutch record with the obvious Monster Magnet tinges in there as well, which is a combination that can't be denied.
Crypt Sermon – Out of the Garden
Can we prove that Crypt Sermon didn't just find some old Candlemass record that never got released, re-dubbed the vocals and slapped some new artwork on it? If it came out that were actually true, I wouldn't be surprised. Crypt Sermon absolutely nail the old Cathedral-esque doom sound perfectly on Out of The Garden without sounding like a straight up ripoff.
Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Stellar
Der Weg Einer Freiheit can sing in Klingon backward and I'd still be just as interested as when the group is singing in German. The music strikes a really nice balance between beautiful and heavy, but in a way that makes sense. Der Weg Einer Freiheit doesn't try to contrast the two sounds for the sake of contrast. Instead, the transitions feel natural and even expected at times. If you're a fan of what Deafheaven is doing, you'll dig this.
Want more? Check out previous posts!
Until next time!
