Friday the 12th: Fallujah - The Void Alone

     As with your Wednesday post a couple of days ago, lucky me doesn't have to stretch to hard to get all alliterative on you for your Friday post today. Somebody or something somewhere must be smiling down on and/or up at me, because we've all recently been treated to some brand new Fallujah.

     In case you need it spelled out: this is cause for excitement, since Fallujah's last record, 2014's The Flesh Prevails, graced many an end of year "best of" list (mine included). Those are, then, some big shoes in need of filling, but the strength of new single "The Void Alone" strongly hints that the upcoming Dreamless will be up to the challenge. Fallujah's dense and technical breed of post-death metal (is that a thing? that's a thing.) is augmented here with some ethereal female vocals and a spacey melodic sensibility that could well make Dreamless as a whole a very interesting and engrossing listen indeed. I'm going to do my best Kreskin impression here and say that this one already sounds like a "best of 2016" candidate. Get on board or get left alone in the void.

Thursday the 11th: The Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats

     If, like me, you need a bit of a 'pick-me-up' on this Sunday afternoon in late February, then why not pretend it's a Thursday in mid-February so that we can rock the block together with your Throwback Thursday post for today.

     Now, before you die-hard metalheads get your leathers in a twist about my choice of decidedly un-metal song today, I refer you again to my mandate to hit you with good music of any and every stripe -- metal or otherwise. And I defy any of you, especially those of a similar vintage to myself, to jam The Chemical Brothers' "Block Rockin' Beats" at volume and come away with anything other than the sense that yes, those beats could incite rocking in the entire block. Whether you're a fan of electronic music or not, this one's just a fun classic that I'm willing to be will elicit some smiles and knowing nods from at least some in your group of hardened old heshers. Feel free to come back let me know if it doesn't.

Wednesday the 10th: Walls of Jericho - Relentless

     It's not always the easiest thing to find something suitably alliterative for a Wednesday post (assuming of course I don't want to just take my usual easy way out and call it Weird). But a blast from my musical past is back with some new jams to save me from my usual ruts. It's Walls of Jericho Wednesday, kids!

     It's apparently been nearly a decade since Walls of Jericho put out new material, and it's been even longer than that since I was really into 2004's All Hail the Dead, but Candace and the guys have a new record coming out towards the end of March and a new single out right now. "Relentless" sounds just like the Walls of Jericho I remember -- tight, chunky, vaguely thrashy hardcore/metalcore riffing with Candace's acerbic growl spread liberally over top, and some shouted gang vocals for good hardcore measure. I'm not exactly losing sleep with excitement over this one, but it's definitely good to see this band back in action.

Tuesday the 9th: Wormed - Pseudo-Horizon

     It's time again for a Tech Tuesday post, so I hope you're ready for a short, sharp burst of blasty fury courtesy of Spanish space metallers Wormed.

     Wormed's latest record Krighsu is due out in a couple of weeks, and they've been gracious (read: badass) enough to provide us with a number of appetite-whetting tracks so far. The meatiest of these has got to be "Pseudo-Horizon" a punishing three-minute combination of grinding and grooving that should leave any tech death fan ready to hit repeat. Based on this track, and the couple others that have been released off of Krighsu so far, Wormed are set to assault our collective senses when this one drops in mid-March. Prepare yourself.

Monday the 8th: Spires of the Lunar Sphere - Pangaea Ultima

     Today's horribly out-of-date Metal Monday post for February the 8th should almost be titled a "Metal" Monday post; while your slice of madness from Daytona's Spires of the Lunar Sphere has got plenty of heavy, it's also got plenty of a whole slew of other shit too.

     Experimental metal, or something similarly broad, might be the best way to try and encapsulate Spires of the Lunar Sphere and their debut EP, last September's Pangaea Ultima. Synths, horns, and other instrumentation odds and ends combine with the usual guitars, bass, and drums to shred out a frenetic brand of metal that's noisey, techy, proggy, groovy... usually all in the same song. I could probably go on for a while trying to sketch you a picture of Spires' sound, but it would probably be quicker for you to just take in final track "Pangaea Ultima" for a cross section of what Spires of the Lunar Sphere is all about.

Sunday the 7th: Killswitch Engage - Cut Me Loose

     Last month we got our first taste of the upcoming new record from metalcore veterans Killswitch Engage. Now we've got sample number two of Incarnate, and it's a bit of a shift of gears for the guys. Will it be your cup of tea? Read on to find out.

     First Incarnate single "Hate By Design" was more in line with your standard Killswitch single -- riffy, energetic, and ready for radio, assuming your local radio station plays anything approaching metal -- but second single "Cut Me Loose" is a bit slower, equally catchy in the choruses but a bit more of a grindy crusher in the verses. Killswitch are the reigning metalcore kings, though, so there's a couple of breakdowns/change-it-up-for-a-second sections in there too. It's still most definitely patented Killswitch Engage, just think "The Return" or "The Arms of Sorrow" rather than "In Due Time or "Never Again" and you'll be plenty prepared to see how you like the latest from Killswitch Engage.

Saturday the 6th: Cyborg Octopus - Data_M1nefield

     Cast your minds into the before time: remember way back when I posted a tasty little number called "Pukefeast Inc." by proggy California deathcore outfit Cyborg Octopus? Well the boys are finally ready to drop an LP on us, and now we've got our first shot at the sweet new material.

     "Data_M1nefield" is a seven-minute epic of genre sampling: progressive deathcore is still the general name of the game, but a variety of influences are once again on offer, from synthy keyboards to flashes of tech death to the rad melo-shred solo that provides the track's climax (and kills the video's bad guys to boot). I liked the older Cyborg Octopus stuff when I heard it, and if the step forward in songwriting and musicianship that's on display in "Data_M1nefield" is any indication of the level of quality of the rest of Learning to Breathe, I'm going to be one happy camper. Give this one a spin or two and discover these guys before the rest of the kids on your block do.