Night Idea – Riverless
This Virginia math rock quartet has released a pretty contagious album, with Riverless. The songs often sound like what we could call math pop, so don’t expect it to rub you the wrong way; it won’t. This is all soft and love. Enjoy.

Kartikeya – Samudra
The Middle-East-oriented progressive technical death metal band Kartikeya has released their third album. If you already liked the band, it’s more of the same good stuff, although better in every respect; if you didn’t know it, well, it’s a greatly put together and massive album that’s technical, progressive, and that leans a lot on eastern-sounding scales, melodies, and oriental instruments.

The Limestone County Chain Gang – Throw Them into the Blazing Furnace, Where There Will Be Weeping and Gnashing Teeth
This drone-doom band from the underside of the world has just released this thirteen-minute single track that combines to the metal genre binaural beats and a sort of narrative of theatrical excerpts. As you can imagine, the whole thing is slow, heavy, and drawn out, but it’s a mysterious sounding and really entrancing experience. I bet Art as Catharsis has their eye on them.

Esmerine – Mechanics of Dominion
I couldn’t wait any longer for more of Esmerine’s delectable chamber compositions. If you didn’t listen to their previous release, Lost Voices, then that’s just too bad for you, but you just can’t go on without listening to Mechanics of Dominion; it’s a charming and thoroughly contemporary musical endeavour that ought to be listened to.

Patent – Crimes
Grindcore is as often great as it is awful. Thankfully, Montréal’s Patent are of the former group, and Crimes is a follow-up to their 2016 untitled album, better in every regard. What’s more, there’s a contemporary classical chamber music piece near the end of the album that sounds really lost in the midst of the caustic distortion and blast beats, but it’s an outstanding piece that introduces perfectly the title track of the album, that’s clearly more atmospheric and modern than the rest. It sure bodes well for the future of the band!

Anacondas – Gracer
Did you hear the new Mastodon? I have, and it’s pretty good, but I also heard UK’s Anacondas, and it somehow sounds like both old and new Mastodon, mixed with other sounds, such as post-metal and sludge. Gracer is apparently the first of a two-part album, the other being the to-be-announced Disgracer. Stay tuned for this, because I thought that this was some pretty neat stoner metal!

Watchdog – Can of Worms
France’s Pince-oreilles Label never ceases to amaze, and neither does Anne Quillier, keyboardist and singer in this new experimental jazz duo. Alongside Pierre Horckmans’ clarinets, the Moog and Rhodes sounds play complex rhythms and themes that become the backbone of the album. It’s an odd but totally enjoyable album that should stay close in your playlist.

God Mother – Vilseledd
The pinnacle of Swedish hardcore has once again brought devastation and desolation to our world, this time under the name Vilseledd (Misled). Clocking in at thirty minutes, it’s a pretty big pill to swallow, and it’s definitely not making the task easy. Blast beats and gargantuan riffs are proof that God Mother have become very proficient over the years on the techniques of musical catharsis.

Friendship – Hatred
Another hardcore magnum opus, this time from Japan! Friendship play a bleak, blackened hardcore close to grindcore and powerviolence that shows no mercy and no pity. At almost thirty minutes long, it’s a relentless assault that’s perfectly soldered together to get the most out of it. The album comes out on 3 November.