Weekly Digest November 15-21
Extended Converge line-up, new Exodus, post-black metal masterpiece, doom and gloom, tеch death, hardcore and more in our Weekly Digest.
Converge — Bloodmoon: I
Collaborative music albums have become pretty common over the last five years, but that didn’t make them any less interesting. What to say about collaborations with one of the most respected and artistic projects, the cult band Converge, which has just celebrated 20 years anniversary of its opus magnum album "Jane Doe" this year. On the album "Bloodmoon: I", the band Converge expanded from quartet to septet – the band was joined by gothic Chelsea Wolfe and her composer / bandmate Ben Chisholm, along with a longtime friend of Converge – Stephen Brodsky (Cave In). The album came out pretty doomy and gloomy with a very unusual dinamic for Converge, although, to be honest, when did Converge ever do something "usual"?
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Der Weg einer Freiheit — Noktvrn
The black metal band Der Weg einer Freiheit has released its best album to date, the fifth full-length "Noktvrn". The title is based on classical composer Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturnes (night pieces) and embraces all aspects of the night: darkness, dreams, the obscure state of mind between being awake and asleep, and not least, the dawning of a new day. A very atmospheric album!
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Earth Crisis/Snapcase/Strife — The Return Of The California Takeover
Back in 1996, hardcore bands Earth Crisis, Snapcase, and Strife went on the California Takeover tour and immortalized it with the now-classic live album "The California Takeover... Live". They did it again in February of 2020, and now that tour is getting a live album too – "The Return Of The California Takeover". Get ready to get shit up of this LP.
Exodus — Persona Non Grata
After Slayer called it quits, Harry Holt finally had time for Exodus. The band's 11th studio album turned out to be as heavy as promised. Opening the album with an almost eight-minute track (yeah! In thrash metal!), Exodus immediately makes it clear that in 7 years that the band has accumulated a lot of material. The album "Persona Non Grata" is more than an hour long and, truly, I would rather listen to 2 EPs from Exodus than to such a long album. The material is cool, but in the end of it the album leaves you without stamina.
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Eye Flys — Exigent Circumstances EP
Great noise rock from the Full Of Hell guitarist Spencer Hezard. I appreciate that the band doesn't waste time and the follower of the last year album has already been released.
Khemmis — Deceiver
Doomed heavy metal by the trio from Colorado. The band whose album of 2018 I adore and whose EP with Dio covers also hit the spot, this time, unfortunately, leaves me somehow disappointed. The album catches up with melancholy, but not quite right – it still lacks the taste of epic heavy that made "Desolation" so good.
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Me And That Man — New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 2
Nergal and friends. The name of the album does tell the whole story. This time "That Men" are Gary Holt (Slayer, Exodus), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God), Myrkur, Devin Townsend, David Vincent, Doug Blair (WASP), Hank von Hell (ex-Turbonegro) and Abbath (Immortal, Abbath).
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Obscura — A Valediction
Obscura is one of the biggest names on the tech death metal scene. You can't confuse their sound with anyone thanks to the constant leader of the band Steffen Kummerer. "A Valediction" opens a new page in the history of the band, in 2020 all but the frontman left the band, but bass guitarist Jeroen Paul Thesseling, who played in Obscura from 2007 to 2011, and guitarist Christian Münzner (2008-2014) returned to the band. Also there is David Diepold (ex-Benighted (live), ex-Hate (live)) sat behind the drum set. Together they produced a technical death metal album of a highest quality.
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Scowl — How Flowers Grow
The ten songs on "How Flowers Grow" could be a masterclass of how to write authentic heartfelt punk and hardcore without losing the sense of youthful enthusiasm and fun that makes the genre compelling to begin with. The lyrics delivered with a biting sense of anger and cynicism, dealing with everything from personal betrayals to socio-economic strife. You’ll hear sonic inspiration from groups like Black Flag, Justice League, Negative Approach, The Rival Mob, and even New York Dolls, all delivered with a fury and intensity!
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Swallow The Sun — Moonflowers
Guitarist Juha Raivio comments: "I know well that I should not say this, but I deeply hate this album. I hate where it takes me, how it makes me feel and what it stands for me personally. I wish it wouldn't. But for all its honesty, I got no option than also love it. That is all that matters to me with the music anyway and it doesn't matter how it makes me feel, as long as it does. For me this album is like a mirror of a deep self-disappointment. Even I still want to believe that there is and could be more than this in me. But I don't need or want to talk more about it. After all music means so different things to each one of us by how we have walked our own paths, and that is a beautiful thing about music. There is no right or wrong."
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