This quarter: alt-rock, emo, ambient, and more!
These keep getting later and later, huh? Well, life has settled down, and I'm ready to talk your ear off (eyes off?) with some more ramblings about music, and all for the low, low price of "pay what you want". So let's just forget the fact that I skipped Q4 of 2024 and get on with the tunes, yeah?
Hailing from America's biggest little city, Bug Bath plays catchy alt-rock that really nails that late 90's/early 00's slacker vibe with its irresistible vocal harmonies, satisfyingly crunchy riffs, and even some tasteful lap steel and saxophone. Their 2022 debut album manages to be angsty without becoming snotty--it's relatable but doesn't pander. All in all, Bug Bath is just a solid jam from top to bottom, and I know that I'm definitely going to be blasting this in my car with the windows down once the weather gets (and stays) warmer.
Bug Bath's equally tasty followup EP can be found (also as a name-your-price download) from your friends at Transylvanian Recordings.
Plastiboo has become one of my favorite visual artists of the last few years. His
Vermis series combines scratchy, 70's tabletop RPG visuals with the obtuse storytelling of
Dark Souls for a truly immersive journey into dark, fantastical realms. His latest partnership is with dungeon synth musician Radagast, not to be confused with the
raw black metal project (and the half dozen other artists on Bandcamp) of the same name.
Melodies of the Unknown is lush and psychedelic, featuring reverb-laden synth arpeggios and gentle breezes of white noise that combine to create the perfect accompaniment for Plastiboo's iconic visual style.
Damián Antón Ojeda has become one of the internet metal community's most divisive figures. Between the seemingly endless torrent of raw, melodic black metal that he releases as
Trhä, the early 00's-style skramz project
Life, and the shoegazey emo and occasionally black metal that we will be discussing today, the guy just doesn't know to stop. This past summer, there was a tumultuous period in which three Sadness albums were released within a week, all seemingly dedicated to a special lady in his life. Then something happened, causing him to take to social media and proclaim that he was finished with music. What transpired is anyone's guess, but let's just appreciate that that trio of albums feature some of the most exuberant, anthemic music that Ojeda has produced in the last 10 years. His trademark twinkly keyboards and hazy guitars are all over this four-track album, as are his love-them-or-hate-them pop punk vocals, drenched in reverb. And although Ojeda's borderline manic musical output may raise eyebrows, he still remains one of the most consistent forces in heavy music today.
Better known as the founder, vocalist, and main riff-slinger of Californian death metal band
Vastum, Leila Abdul Rauf has also been steadily releasing experimental ambient music under her own name since 2013.
Calls from a Seething Edge is Rauf's latest solo album and perhaps her most traditional yet, but this does not mean that it is any less adventurous. Her voice and trumpet are at the forefront of most tracks, weaving ethereal melodies atop droning synths, pianos, and strings. Not every Vastum fan will dig these abstract tone pieces, but the album's emotional heaviness makes up for the lack of growls and distorted guitars.
Here's another curveball from a lineup of distinguished metalheads. Justin Detore of Magic Circle and Innumerable forms joins fellow Dream Unending member Derrick Vella, who joins fellow Tomb Mold member Kevin Sia as well as former Sumerlands vocalist Phil Swanson for seven tracks of...dreamy, old-fashioned rock n' roll? Heart's Desire sounds like something that should be playing on the jukebox in the Double-R Diner. Vella is constantly firing off tasteful guitar leads atop Detore's workmanlike drumming and Sia's playful basslines, and while Swanson's world-weary vocal delivery took some time to grow on me, I have come to appreciate how it completes the album's unique sound.
