Sunday: Izah - Sistere

     I've written about Dutch post-metal band Izah before, a couple of months ago, but in the interim I've had a chance to pick up a copy of their debut LP Sistere and spend some quality time steeping in all its dense glory. I hereby recommend that you do the same.

     To that end I'm pointing you in the direction of title track "Sistere", an epic slab and one of only four tracks on the whole record. As with the rest of the album, "Sistere" is predominantly about the build, the slow burn that culminates in the cathartic release of energy and aggression. This track in particular has a lengthy middle section in which the song is sort of reassembled, building back up from nothing with some well-employed samples.

     The result is chills -- chills I tell you! So clear some space in your calendar, because this one's well worth your time.

Saturday: Sevendust - Not Today

     Think back a couple of days, to when I mentioned that good things come in threes. Today I prove that they really do (honest!) as long as you're not in a hurry or anything.

     I think you'll find this one worth the wait, because I certainly did. You should all know what a big Sevendust fan I am, and you should all also know by now (hopefully, or I'm not doing my job...) that Lajon and Company have a new record coming out in October. We got first single "Thank You" maybe a month or so ago, and now we've got sample number two.

     "Not Today" is the kind of track that's going to appeal to all the old school Sevendust fans out there: it's 100% groove and syncopation, but still catchy. If the rest of Kill the Flaw sounds like this, it could be a rock-solid Sevendust record for the ages.

Baroness - Chlorine and Wine

     It seems that it never rains but when it pours, as the saying goes. Or, if you prefer something a little less archaic, good things come in threes. Tune in tomorrow for number three, but read on below for number two, courtesy of none other than Baroness.

     Things have been somewhat quiet, music-wise, in camp Baroness since their horrific bus accident a couple of years back, during the touring for then-fresh Yellow & Green. Fans of the band will be glad to learn that the new record, due out in December, will continue the colourful trend in nomenclature with Purple.

     Based on lead single "Chlorine and Wine", it sounds like Baroness might be continuing the sonic trend started on Yellow & Green as well, rather than returning to the slightly heavier sound from their earlier albums and EPs. How you feel about that is up to you, so why not have a listen or two and craft an informed opinion?

Skyharbor - Out of Time

     No throwback this Thursday, because the beneficent gods of new music have dropped something particularly exciting into all of ours laps today, and I'd be remiss if I let it slide even until tomorrow.

     That something is a new Skyharbor single, the first to feature the complete new lineup, including vocalist Eric Emery (in for departed Dan Tompkins) and drummer Aditya Ashok (replacing skinsman Anup Sastry). We heard Eric's take on "Evolution" back when he was announced as Dan's replacement, but this "Out of Time" is our first taste of all-new material.

     Does it live up to Skyharbors past? Not right off the bat, but I for one would like to sit with it for a bit, and hear the rest of the record-in-progress, before I pick any favourites. The word so far on this one is just "2016", so let's hope that means more Q1 than Q4.

Frontierer - Bunsen

     Today's post is for those of you who might be of the opinion that the last couple of posts around here haven't been heavy enough. It might not be straight forward metal, but I'll be fucked if it isn't a heavy two minutes.

     "Bunsen", the latest single from international project Frontierer and the first from their forthcoming Orange Mathematics, is bombastic, abrasive math metal shot through with an electronic undercurrent. At just over two minutes in length, it delivers the crushing pummeling of something potentially much longer in the package of a three chord punk song -- in and out like a pipe bomb full of ninjas. Check it.

Tuesday: Monuments - I, the Destroyer

     Speaking of djent, as I was last time out, there are still lots of bands doing decent enough djent to warrant attention. Sure, it's a sound that's become oversaturated in the marketplace (to put it in high falutin' talk) but, as I've said before and will say again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with djent done well.

     And as I've also said before,  Monuments know how to do this kind of thing properly. Their 2014 disc The Amaneunsis is chock full of studies in the kind of big riffs and grooves that I consider prime djenty goodness, and I've featured several tracks from it in the past. But if you need further convincing that this particular subgenre shouldn't be exclusively maligned, check out "I, the Destroyer", and prepare to get, well, destroyed.

Northlane - Windbreaker

     There's a mini-theme connecting your Monday post to the Sunday metalcore track I posted earlier, namely the theme of me championing a genre I dig in the face of all you tr00, kvlt metalheads out there. But where earlier it was metalcore, this time around it's everybody's favourite, djent.

     And if we're talking djent, one of my fun, go-to, djent-for-djent's-sake bands is Australia's Northlane. They don't melt my face off or anything, but they've got the goods when I'm looking for something catchy and chock full of big grooves. So for your Monday Funday song I'm going with "Windbreaker" from Northlane's 2013 LP Singularity. Your instructions? Car engine: on; windows: down; volume: up. Enjoy. (Bonus points if you get the joke with this one...)