Cheap Thrills - Q2-Q3 2025
This edition: brutal prog, dungeon synth, IDM, and more!
Late again? It's more likely than you'd think. I can't say that it's been a particularly busy summer around these parts, but due to some editorial changes that have been happening over at Invisible Oranges, I had an excuse to delay this column until the latest metal edition of Cheap Thrills went up over there. Oh, it's up now? Well, let's dive in then!
Radiation Blackbody - Dead Seed Planted in Dead Earth
Drum n' bass meats prog meets noise rock with Radiation Blackbody's 2023 album Dead Seed Planted in Dead Earth. There are tempo and time signature changes galore, but the songs always feels grounded (no pun intended, considering the title) thanks to Scott and Stallings' compositional chemistry. This is a truly gnarly release that is made even more impressive by the fact that only two people are making all this racket.
Garry Brents - Action Figure Triggers Earthquake
Garry Brents is one of the most underrated musicians on Bandcamp. This is the man behind Cara Neir (crust/hardcore), Gonemage (black metal & synth), Memorrhage (nu-metal), and a half dozen all projects that fall somewhere in the middle. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this delightful little album of old school IDM, delightfully quirky and whimsical in a way that just tickles my brain. Flocks of warbly synths dance between glitchy breakbeats to create a rich sonic landscape that serves as yet another reminder that Brents is a bona fide musical chameleon.
Rachael McElhiney & Oh Lonesome Ana - So I Let Go
On this brief but potent, EP, singer-songwriter Rachael McElhiney joins forces with alt-country collective Oh Lonesome Ana, her commanding, husky vocals backed by chunky rock n' roll instrumentation. “Dear Sister” is a grungy downtuned slow-burn with deliciously fuzzed out guitars and bass, while "Picture on Your Guitar" is draped with folksy fiddle and lap steel that give the track a sense of fleeting optimism to offset its elegiac lyrics. I was initially surprised to see this released on Transylvanian Recordings, which typically specializes in death metal, but there have always been a fair number of curveballs--and high quality ones, at that--scattered throughout their roster. This is one of those pleasant surprises, and I can only hope that this collaboration yields a full length album in the near future.
Orcus - Return to Necropolis
Can one man have enough dungeon synth projects? The highly prolific musician behind Orcus, Landsraad, Silent Protagonist, Witch Elm, and Villein [sic] (which also has a new album out) certainly doesn't think so, and while I won't try to argue that every single one of these noms de guerre is entirely distinct from one another in my mind, they're all great. What I do know is that Return to Necropolis is a suitably epic soundtrack for your next tabletop RPG session or your next adventure into the treacherous hellscape that is our own reality in 2025. I found myself enthralled and uplifted by these misty keyboard chords, ghostly strings, and twinkling bells, Suit up, arm yourself, and set forth.