Did you have a nice day yesterday, playing with your Star Wars action figures and pretending like the world can’t hurt you again? Let’s keep that momentum up and talk about thrash metal.
Drain
Living Proof (Epitaph)
Thrash hasn’t been this fun in a long time. Crossover wrecking crew Drain meet in the perfect middle point between wild thrash metal and explosive hardcore. Things are kept to a lean 10 songs/25 minutes, one of which is a Descendants cover, which helps keep things moving. Another win from the hardcore-adjacent scene in 2023.
Unearth
The Wretched; The Ruinous (Century Media)
At this point in Unearth’s career, you know what you’re getting and that’s a good thing. The Wretched, The Ruinous is another good entry from the metalcore/New Wave of American Heavy Metal institution, bringing in all of the standard fare and executing it well. Unsure if this is for you? Try out “Cremation of the Living.”
Jeromes Dream
The Gray in Between (Iodine)
Retirement isn’t real for an entertainer and, like Ozzy, Jeromes Dream are just more proof of that. Their third album since reuniting in 2018, The Gray In Between, is maybe the heaviest album in the screamo legends’ discography. The first album without original guitarist Nick Antonopulous, The Gray in Between is the most exciting album Jeromes Dream have made since getting back together.
“The entirety of The Gray In Between is a portrait of an absolutely unrelenting fear and anxiety that never seems to let up,” said bassisst/vocalist Jeff Smith. “It is a journey inward. It is a reflection on ailment. It is therapeutic. It is a reminder to get out of bed every day even when it feels like there is no point. It is a reminder of the power that art and music hold. It is an inspiration. It is the embodiment of every emotion that runs through me every day.”
Nightmarer
Deformity Adrift (Total Dissonance Worship/Vendetta)
The label name says it all—the new album from the international dissonant death metal dealers is another skillfully-executed entry in Nightmarer’s discography. Instead of taking the route that many other bands in the style go and repeating their influences, Nightmarer try new things on Deformity Adrift, introducing elements of doom and industrial into the mix. While that’s a welcome addition, there are also plenty of straight-up death metal bangers, so you don’t ever have to choose. Nightmarer have been the best in their niche since their 2018 debut LP Cacophony of Terror and Deformity Adrift doesn’t challenge that status.
Krallice
Porous Resonance Abyss (P2)
Speaking of bands that refuse to rest on their laurels or settle into a sound, there’s new Krallice out today! The lineup of Mick Barr, Colin Marston, Nicholas McMaster and Lev Weinstein continues to make some of the most challenging black metal today—from the United States or anywhere—on Porus Resonance Abyss. The quartet expand on their experiments with synthesizers, but there’s plenty of riff-heavy, dizzying black metal to be found within as well. Like everything Krallice, it’s a dense but rewarding listen.
Other Shit That Comes Out Today:
Burning Witches, The Dark Tower (Napalm) Listen
Cathari, In God’s Infinite Silence (Independent) Listen
Dave Lombardo, Rites of Percussion (Ipecac) Listen
Enforcer, Nostalgia (Nuclear Blast) Listen
Galactic Empire, Special Edition (Pure Noise) Listen
Haunt, Golden Arm (Iron Grip/Church) Listen
Intercourse, Halo Castration Institute (Learning Curve) Listen
TEETH, A Biblical Worship of Violence (New Damage) Listen
The Smashing Pumpkins, ATUM (Martha’s Music) Listen
Ugly, Autograph (Satanik Royalty) Listen
Winger, Seven (Frontiers) Listen