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 a "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!
- This feature is published at the end of every month and aims to turn you on to albums that came out this year you might have missed or didn't know about (hence the title).
- The albums are not specifically "Buy It Now/Free Download" as they were in the previous feature. 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, depending on what's available.
- If you don't see an album you enjoy from this year on the list, let me know I should listen to it! If it's not out by today, then I purposefully didn't include it this time around. These are only albums that came out between January 1, 2015, and today's date.
Ready?
Akhlys – The Dreaming I
Atmospheric black metal is a genre that's been done a million times by a million bands and has managed to genuinely scare the hell out of me approximately zero times. Then I heard The Dreaming I by Akhlys and wondered how a band took the imagery of artist Zdzisław Beksiński and put it into music form. This is the soundtrack to nightmares, or the soundtrack that creates them.
Lunar Mantra – Genesis
To put it simply, Lunar Mantra makes absolutely bludgeoning music. Genesis is constantly teetering on the border of being unlistenably distorted and heavy, yet it never quite gets to that point. It sits right on the fence and presents itself as an unapologetically disgusting record that just feels white hot and crushing the entire time.
Deathwhite – Solitary Martyr
Bummer jams! If you'd have told me Deathwhite was about to go on your with Katatonia and Opeth before returning to their hometown in Sweden, I'd believe you without a single question. Except Deathwhite isn't and the band hails from somewhere in the United States… but man, Solitary Martyr nails that melancholy Swedish doom/goth rock sound, doesn't it?
Dreadnought – Bridging Realms
Dreadnought is legitimately like nothing I have ever heard before in my life. This is what I imagine would have happened if someone like Enya approached the guys from Emperor and decided to start a band right on the spot without budging on either's classic sound. Bridging Realms is a really interesting listen that requires your full attention, but I guarantee you're going to be blown away.
Gnaw Their Tongues – Abyss Of Longing Throats
Gnaw Their Tongues, like Akhlys, is fucking terrifying. I imagine the genesis of this album was someone daring mastermind Maurice de Jong to make an album more unsettlingly strange than Black One by Sunn O))) with the caveat that he'd have to use a lot of instrumentation. Then Jong laughed, banished that person to the abyss, combed his hair with their ribcage and called Satan to do a guest spot.
Dødsfall – Kaosmakt
Dødsfall reminds me of earlier Behemoth when the band concentrated on black metal a little more than its current sound. Kaosmakt is a solid, riff-filled record that concentrates more on being memorable and having standout riffs than it does simply trying to be all grim and evil, which is awesome.
Imperious – From Ilion To Hades
Imperious is a very theatrical brand of heaviness, but the band clearly doesn't let that be the laurels upon which its rests. From Ilion to Hades is a big, heavy record that isn't afraid to delve into some soundtrack-type soundscapes just as much as it isn't afraid to beat the shit out of you with straight up death metal.
Ashes Of Nowhere – Emptiness
Ashes Of Nowhere reminds me of early Emperor and that's fucking awesome. I also love that while the Emptiness clearly evokes that early black metal sound, the production is clear enough to where I can hear everything that's going on in the music. It's everything any fan of the "trve kvlt" jams would want, yet accessible enough to anyone who hates that production style.
Want more? Check out previous posts!
- 6 Albums You Probably Missed So Far In 2015: July Edition
- 7 Albums You Probably Missed So Far In 2015: June Edition
- 6 Albums You Probably Missed So Far In 2015: May Edition
- 7 Albums You Probably Missed So Far In 2015: April Edition
- 11 Albums You Probably Missed So Far In 2015: The First Edition
Until next time!
