Survey of January Releases (Part Two)

A second part was inevitable. We're drinking from a fire hose, folks.

In no particular order, here are some more of my top picks from the January releases I’ve heard so far. You can peruse part one of the January 2024 survey here.

Gray State – Under the Wheels of Progress

It’s unusual for me to gravitate toward any band that likes to describe themselves as metalcore. I’m into hardcore. I’m really into metallic hardcore. But metalcore is usually out of bounds when it comes to my musical tastes. That’s not so with Finland’s Gray State. Upon first listen I was hooked; and this album has the hooks. “The Death of True Love” instantly made me realize that I was listening to a true AOTY contender. The rest of the album doesn’t disappoint either. Don’t sleep on it.

Narbeleth – A Pale Crown

The phrase “black metal in true Scandinavian style from the island nation of Cuba” is not one I ever thought I’d type, but here we are. I just discovered these guys, yet, apparently, they’ve been doing their thing since 2008, which means I have homework to do on their back catalog. Melodic riffs, driving percussion, and visceral vocals are highlighted by not-so-lo-fi production. This is standard black metal, and I mean that as a compliment. It just doesn’t sound like you’re listening to it through a tin connected to a string connected to another tin can pressed loosely against the tiny speaker of a cheap flip phone manufactured in 2007.

Elegý – Graveflowers

Let’s stick with black metal. For this one we travel to the darker, colder climes of western Russia. Some of the sounds that came from this album absolutely jolted me, so much so that I was compelled to check my surroundings to make sure I wasn’t about to have my soul siphoned from my body by some ravenous apparition. To my relief, it was just the disturbingly cacophonous whispers of vocalist Nikita Tararuev. Upon gaining my composure, I realized that the haunting melodies and adroit drumming of Sergey Skorodoomov (emphasis on the “doom”) are quite soothing. I found myself irresistibly drawn in by the persistent interest created by emotion-evoking chord progressions and mood shifts within the songs. Is this what it feels like to blackgaze? Can that even be a verb? I now think so. Sparingly, Alexander Palashev intervenes at appropriate times with exquisite guitar leads. Synth duties are shared by Tararuev and Palashev and they sprinkle in just the right amount of celestial intensity. Ilya Lakhov’s bass work is elegant, bewitching, and subtly compliments the full-bodied compositions throughout the album’s 51 minutes and 52 seconds. I will boldly predict, in January, that this album to be in the top tier of my AOTY list this year. It is brilliant in every conceivable way. In fact, the next time someone tells you they don’t like black metal, you should tell them to listen to this album.

Matt Cameron – Gory Scorch Cretins

This is just fun. For one, it’s Matt Cameron. For two, he is honoring Melvins’ Gluey Porch Treatments by deploying actual Melvins on this EP (Metal Injection has the details of the endeavor here). For three, the music is really good, with lots of layers. So it’s fun with layers, you know… like an onion. Therefore, it’s a musical Funyun. IYKYK.

Slower – Slower

While we’re on the fun train, let’s take a look at one of the weirdest yet coolest cover albums you’ll encounter this year. It’s Slayer but slower. This all-star lineup features Bob Balch (Fu Manchu) on guitar, Scott Reeder (Kyuss, Fireball Ministry, et al.) and Peder Bergstrand (Lowrider) on bass, Esben Willems (Monolord, Stone Nomads) on drums, fronted by vocalists Amy Barrysmith (Year of the Cobra) and the great Laura Pleasants (Kylesa). We can only hope that they don’t stop with these five tracks.

Slift – Ilion

…and speaking of layers! I can try to describe all the sounds I’m experiencing as I listen to this album by French rockers, Slift, but I know all attempts will fail. It’s cosmic, psychedelic, and doomy. It’s also frantic and harrowing in that it’s a long trek (one hour and 19 minutes), but you’re traveling too fast to be able to take in all the scenery along the way. It’s like the feeling you get during a déjà vu experience. It’s simultaneously foreign and familiar. On Ilion, these guys have made a creative shift from sounding a lot like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (not a bad thing), to something more akin to a personal favorite band of mine, King Buffalo. Either way, they’re stuff is kingly. This is a captivating album.

Xaphon – Heights of the Far North

This one-man Christian death metal act from Clarksville, Tennessee has crafted something so brutally elegant and complex that it’s hard to call it death metal. It is that, but, at the same time, it’s technical, melodic, and blackened. Parts of some tracks are slowed down to doom metal tempos. This is just good, heavy metal (that sentence works without the comma, too). The vocals are diverse, yet they all come from the mouth of one dude. The music is masterfully executed and the production value is exceptional for an independent release. This is impressive. All killer. No filler.