It’s Friday, which means two things: giving the week the finger and new music! Tune in every Friday for The Pit’s round-up of new releases, from singalong hard rock to pus-drenched underground death metal. Keep those ears bleeding!
portrayal of guilt, We Are Always Alone (Closed Casket Activities)
For fans of: Full of Hell, Great American Ghost, Bloodbather
Standout track: “Masochistic Oath”
Man, portrayal of guilt have easily become one of the most exciting extreme bands out there, and We Are Always Alone is exactly why. Besides the seasick riffs, howling lyrics, and unpredictable rhythms, there’s just a feeling on this record that these guys believe it, that they’re really down in this emotional mire which they project. Fans of metal, hardcore, emo, and noise are all going to find something here they can go apeshit over. Easily one of the best albums of 2021.
Tribulation, Where The Gloom Becomes Sound (Metal Blade)
For fans of: Ghost, Watain, Dark Tranquility
Standout track: “Daughter of the Djinn”
Where The Gloom Becomes Sound is an interesting record for Tribulation. On the one hand, the Swedish gothic death metallers are definitely maintaining their love of all things shadowy and sweeping on this one, going hard on the baroque devilry. On the other, the album also sees the band exercising their metallic chops, adding doses of thrash and speed metal throughout. For those of us who dream that our favorite rock stars are secretly vampires, this album is a solid spin.
Accept, Too Mean to Die (Nuclear Blast)
For fans of: Judas Priest, Sabaton, Saxon
Standout track: “Wolves”
It’s Accept! Accept are still here! The band behind classic metal anthem “Balls to the Wall” have returned with their sixteenth (!) full-length record, and if you came here for just old-school metal chugs, well, good because there are a lot of them. Though their production has updated and their riffs have a bit more groove to ‘em, everyone’s favorite German metal pioneers are still writing songs about being a metal warrior and not doing this for the fame and the money. If you threw out your leather pants, sucks to be you.
Werewolves, What A Time to Be Alive (Prosthetic Records)
For fans of: Carnation, Jungle Rot, The Hell
Standout track: “Crushgasm”
Man, between this album’s cover and the fact that the band are named Werewolves, one might think you’re in for some full-on European folklore worship here. Instead, this Australian crew make absolutely punishing death metal with snotty lyrics about how hard you can go fuck yourself. It’s refreshing to know that in these subgenre-packed times, there’s still a band out there writing bone-snapping death metal that’s totally in your fat, ugly, stupid fucking face. And of course they’re Australian.
Wampyric Rites, The Eternal Melancholy of the Wampyre (Inferna Profundus Records)
For fans of: Horna, early Emperor
Standout track: “Tyrant’s Blood”
In the overly war-obsessed world of underground black metal, it’s cool to see a band dedicate themselves to vampire horror (sorry, wampyre horror). Ecuador’s Wampyric Rites go bigger and better than most, though, providing killer riffs, dungeon-synth atmosphere, and a production sound that’s still murky and necro while simultaneously listenable and clear in the ways that count. Though undeniably one for the monochromatic crowd, this album’s a worthwhile addition to any horror devotee’s record collection. The blood is the life.
Other crushers:
- Grey Daze, Amends…Stripped (Loma Vista)
- The Body, I’ve Seen All I Need To See (Thrill Jockey)
- Soen, Imperial (Silver Lining Music)
- Pounder, Breaking The World (Shadow Kingdom)
- Demoniac, So It goes (Edged Circle Productions)
- Astral Tomb, Degradation of Human Consciousness EP (Blood Harvest)
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Words by Chris Krovatin
