Magus' Music of the Month - September 2018

Music released last month that I listened to and liked.
Title links are to Spotify, embeds are from Bandcamp (preferred) or YouTube.

Fit for a King - Dark Skies

I've always thought of Fit for a King as a middle-of-the-road metalcore band. However, they have stepped up their game for "Dark Skies," incorporating more diversity into their songwriting and sound than any of their previous albums. Clean vocals - often a hit or miss for FFAK due to lineup changes - have stabilized and are generally good and tastefully used across the album. Solid!

Wolfheart - Constellation of the Black Light

Wolfheart have been churning out "winter metal" (blackened melodic death metal, I say) at an impressive rate for years now. Quality has suffered somewhat for the sake of quantity, and Wolfheart hasn't really tweaked their formula since their inception, but "Constellations..." held my attention and left me feeling satisfied (but not blown away) by its darkly adventuresome atmosphere.

Petroglyphs - Ascension
Making a comeback with a largely fresh lineup, "Ascension" is Petroglyphs' most engaging and technical release yet. The new vocalist has delivered a heavy metalcore sound that suits the music well, and guitar leads are an excellent halfway-house between blazing and spacey.

This Will Destroy You - New Others Part One

Continuing in the vein of 2014's "Another Language," "New Others Part One" is fuzzy, experimental post-rock busting out ambient and post-metal as accents. I will personally always look backwards to This Will Destroy You's self-titled 2007 album, but "New Others..." has given me a helping of odd but soulful sounds to digest. I have excellent memories from seeing them live last year, and look forward to what "New Others Part Two" (?) might mean.

I Found Flame

This is a mix/playlist called "I Found Flame," and you can find it on Spotify, Mixcloud, and 8tracks.
Mostly melodic death metal. Art by Marat Ziyaev.

Mirror Reaper

So, this is pretty unusual music, as far as music goes, on the whole. Yes, the album is only one track, and the track is over 80 minutes long. Trust me, it all goes together, it all flows, it's all one experience.

The genre is "funeral doom." This means, at a minimum, you can expect "very low" and "very slow." In the case of Mirror Reaper, this means lots of very deep guitar chords or drones, hollow chthonic growls, and lurching, resonant percussion.

That's not all, though. The lighter solo interludes are melancholy and beautiful, echoing clean vocals (almost Gregorianic) form solemn choirs, and guest vocalist Erik Moggridge transforms the second half of the album into something heartbreakingly special.

I'm not even really into "funeral doom," but I love this.

Mirror Reaper is for listening to when exploring cyclopean ancient ruins, dreaming of depths and shadow, or contemplating the inevitability of the erasure of all that you hold dear.

Give it a listen. It's not distracting from whatever you happen to be doing for a quiet hour.


(Yeah, probably gonna write up a "mirror reaper" and/or "bell witch" for my tabletop game at some point, haha. Not today, though; I'm tired, and packing for a move.)

Magus' Music of the Month - August 2018

Music released last month that I listened to and liked.
Title links are to Spotify, embeds are from Bandcamp (preferred) or YouTube.

Tides of Man - Every Nothing

 A great follow-up to Young and Corageous. Alternately pensive, hopeful, and adventurous, as excellent post-rock tends to be.

Dance with the Dead - Loved to Death

DWTD is not content to be just retro-style synthwave. They've been incorporating driving guitar riffs and soaring leads into their electronic music for several albums, but Loved to Death pushes the envelope with such tracks as the thrashy opener "Go!" and frankly crushing closer "Become Wrath." It's likely my favorite album they've put out, and probably my top pick from the dark synthwave genre as a whole. (You will have to excuse the poor artwork though, haha; DWTD love their campy old horror films!) They put on a great live show, too, and I'm planning on catching them again next month!

Waiting Room - Pray for Sound

Pray for Sound decided to switch it up a bit with this one. Normally chunky post-rock with the emphasis on rock, Waiting Room is a slow, ambient affair built around reverbant clean guitar and quiet piano touches. It's touching, and calming.

Erra - Neon

Impressive progressive post-hardcore. I've been a fan of Erra since early in their career; yes, their sound has changed, as this is now their fifth release, and bands change over that amount of time. I'm not totally on-board with it, but there is still plenty here for me to enjoy. I'll be seeing them live next month for the... fourth? fifth? time, and fully expect them to deliver as they always have.


Has anything listen-worthy dropped into your lap lately?

Burning Horizon

Well, I'm trying something new.
I made a mix/playlist. It's called "Burning Horizon," and you can find it on Mixcloud, Spotify, and 8tracks. It's like 40 minutes long, which I find to be a pretty optimal listening length for one slab of something.
It's death metal, but I'm probably going to make at least one or two more, and they won't all be metal.
Art by Chris Cold, who was kind enough to give me permission to use his piece.
Cheers.

Magus' Music of the Month - November 2017

Music released in November '17 that I listened to and liked.
(Title links are to Spotify, embeds are from Bandcamp (preferred) or YouTube.)

Phinehas - Dark Flag

Phinehas consistently deliver everything I could want from metalcore. they're alternately fast, technical, melodic, and brutal. Dark Flag continues this characterization proudly.

Seas of Years - Three Horizons Away

I haven't been on ships very often, but Seas of Years' drifting post-rock makes me wish I was.

Slow Meadow - Costero

Slow Meadow is a new artist for me. It is music I need in my life. Ambient and neoclassical combine in ways that make one wish they could sit and feel forever.

Your Memorial - Self-Titled

Solid, soulful metalcore. Influences from hardcore and djent peek in here and there. Alas, this is their farewell EP.

Polaris - The Mortal Coil

Not quite my favorite vocal style, but the instrumental work is full of energy and technical in such a good way.

King - Self-Titled

Hardcore infused with deathcore sensibilities. Not my favorite vocal style, but punishing instrumentals make it worth a listen. I got into King through their previous album (The Gathering), which is a much more long-form exploration of downtempo deathcore.

Dan Terminus - Automated Refrains [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Synthwave, but crafted - made with more the mentality of a classical composer than a rockstar. Dan Terminus was my introduction to the genre, and his previous album (The Wrath of Code) still holds a special place in my heart.

Constructs - Shapes

Instrudjental. Technical, but with fine passages incorporating strong post-rock or ambient mentality.

Norilsk - Le Passage Des Glaciers

Freezing-cold, desolate death-doom.

The Cavern

Can we talk about how this sounds exactly like how a megadungeon crawl should feel?

Vile Sacrament

Coagula, from Boston, have recently emerged with a wonderful breed of good ol' fashioned crusty death metal. The production is just gritty enough for the genre without being unbalanced or unpleasant, and the riffage is a pounding groove rich with d-beats. I'm a sucker for d-beats. (I swear that phrase isn't as dirty as it sounds.)



Anyway, Coagula is highly recommended for: trench warfare, sitting in a dimly-lit room reading blogs, and fleeing a ravening swarm of undead.

Spellcaster: Fantasy Retro Heavy Metal

Spellcaster, out of Oregon, isn't normally the kind of music I'm into; but, listening through their latest album (Night Hides the World), something about their effortless fusion of the classic heavy metal aesthetic with modern production value and variety really grabbed me.



Would recommend for: a journey through dark woods far from home, quiet moments spent reading of long-forgotten heroes, or a noble quest to defeat a malevolent sorcerer.

Best of 2015 in "My" Music

Yes, you read that right. 2015. (It takes over a year to digest a good album. And 2016 isn't even over yet!)

Top 10 Albums (2015)

10. Dark Before Dawn - Breaking Benjamin
Not the most "metal" release to kick off this list, for sure. But Breaking Benjamin and I have a long history - they were actually the first music I ever got into; the long road of my ever-expanding music tastes begins with them. "Dark Before Dawn" was released after a long hiatus, during which the band effectively broke up and reformed with a new lineup, and forms a worthy comeback. They haven't strayed much from their old formula, save that the album seems a bit more thoughtful and positive than much of their previous work (like "Phobia," still my favorite Breaking Benjamin release).
So, no, nothing world-shattering or genre-defining here; just dang good hard rock that deserves a place on this list.



9. Exercises in Futility - Mgła
Ah, here's some danker stuff. Mgła (a Polish word, meaning "mist") bill themselves as "nihilistic black metal," and are actually some of the only black metal I listen to. They're great at what they do, though: varied drum work, harsh but melodic guitars, and audible bass (rare in black metal!) combine to make a dark but dramatic slab of seven songs. That grim and frostbitten atmosphere, combined with its incredibly relevant title, make it my favorite soundtrack for midwinter snow shoveling.



8. Node - Northlane
Northlane have had to prove themselves since their old vocalist Adrian left, and, armed with their new guy Marcus, have not disappointed. Node is full of groove and atmosphere, the best kind of djenty metalcore. "Leech" (below) is a good track to typify the album, but honestly my favorite is "Weightless." Check out these Aussies from the Land Down Under.



7. The Departure - Atmospheres
Blissful djent-meets-post-rock, and I think the only musical group from Belgium that I listen to regularly. FFO radio static, sunlight, space.



6. Wake - For Today
My relationship with For Today has been a complicated one, and now that they've announced that Wake will be their last album, I have very mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, they've never been much more than a particularly hardworking, earnest metalcore band; on the other hand, it's clear that their members DO have real ambition and talent. Wake is a good place for them to end; their previous album was perhaps their catchiest but also their most generic, while Wake presents itself as more introspective and genuine (for the genre, at least). Having seen them on their farewell tour this fall (and gotten the mic literally five times throughout the show!), I can truthfully say that I'll miss them a lot. Here's to you, For Today.



5. Till the End - Phinehas
Oh man, the shreds! The SHREDS! And such beautiful breakdowns. Phinehas take all of the best elements from melodic death metal and metalcore to make a wonderfully energetic album. "Seven," below, is one of the more pensive (and dramatic) tracks on the album, and is by far my favorite. (Check out, also, their acoustic EP they released this month, featuring several reinterpretations from this album!)



4. Anecdotes of Science & Soul - Ghost Iris
These Danish djentlemen have done very well for themselves, considering that this is their first album! They've got a great mix of Periphery and Monuments going, but it doesn't feel stale or unoriginal. Their exposition of "Euphoric State," below, is exactly what a music video should be.



3. The Unconquerable Dark - Black Tongue
This... is some of the heaviest music I listen to, and certainly the heaviest stuff on the list. Black Tongue have a way of combining the best elements of deathcore, doom metal, and even black and progressive metal to create an absolutely evil sound full of atmosphere and brutality. Even the album artwork is top-notch! (Below, the dankest breakup song I'VE ever heard.)



2. Deliverance - Heart of a Coward
Will these guys ever stop getting better? I sure hope not, and they sure haven't yet. Deliverance dials back some of the insane heavy groove of Severance, but replaces it with a much stronger sense of pathos and atmosphere. The UK sure has been putting out some good metal in the past decade, and Heart of a Coward has been at the forefront. Below, I offer TWO tracks for your listening pleasure, not to be greedy, but because they actually go together and should be listened to back-to-back. It's a slow burner, but man, is it good. (Personally, I've edited them together into one track for my iTunes library, haha.)





1. Of Beauty and Rage - Red
I surprised myself by giving Red the top spot from 2015. Of Beauty and Rage was a wonderful comeback after the failure of their previous album; it's full of atmosphere and pathos, and is easily the best fusion of hard rock and metal I've ever heard. Give it a shot, eh?
(For those on this blog for the gaming rather than the music, but who have somehow gotten this far in the list, these guys on the album cover constituted the primary antagonists in one of my 2015 campaigns!)

Bonus Feature: Top 3 EPs (2015)

3. World Architects - Assemble the Chariots
I'm honestly slightly ashamed to call this section a "bonus" feature, since these EPs are SO DANG GOOD. Like, seriously, the compete with the top 5 albums above.
Anyway, Assemble the Chariots are "blackened djent," I suppose. (From Finland, of course.) Listen and love!



2. The Ocean Atlas - Modern Day Babylon
Hailing from the Czech Republic, Modern Day Babylon is one of my favorite instrumental groups out there. They just play such PRETTY djent, while still maintaining a definite metal edge.



1. Home - All I Lost
Finally some melodic death metal on here (my favorite genre!), and finally something from Sweden. I feel like I've listened to at least one song by these guys every day for the past month (they're a recent discovery), and I look forward to the next work they create!




Bonus Bonus Feature: Top Albums from a Decade Ago (2006)

3. Phobia - Breaking Benjamin
It feels unfair to feature Breaking Benjamin twice, but of all the music I listen to, they've been with me the longest. Phobia is a real nostalgia trip for me, and still their best album (that all-pervading ATMOSPHERE, man). Enjoy.



2. Above the Weeping World - Insomnium

Ah, their breakout album! Insomnium has been my favorite band for years, and this album was their first one to get "big." Deservedly so; it's still in my music rotation to this day. Happy 10th!



1. With Oden On Our Side - Amon Amarth

Vikings, Norse gods, melodic death metal? 'Nuff said!
(Seriously, though, Amon Amarth is such a staple for me, and they SLAY live. Enjoy, below, one of their more narrative, historical tracks!)




It feels good to look back on this stuff. Here's to many more.
(Comment your favorite release from 2015! Or 2016, for that matter.)