The Callous Daoboys – Animal Tetris
Ugly mathcore. Yeah, this is some A-grade unpolished, dirty-sounding, noisy, aggressive, and mathematical hardcore music. What makes The Callous Daoboys stand out, among other things, is their use of a full-time violinist within their ranks. This adds a new flavour that’s often missing from the usual mathcore band. So, check out their EP Animal Tetris!

Destroy Uranus – In the Scale of Galaxy
In the Scale of Galaxy is the debut release from this Estonian doom metal project. From “1:1000000000” to “7:1000000000”, the sludgy quartet invokes earth-shattering riffs and chilling atmospheres. I’ve got to say that the Souls-like appearance of their album cover grabbed my attention first, but the music kept me listening.

Dialgo – Stranger Things
Israel is becoming a major actor on today’s music scene. I keep seeing more and more bands from the country, the latest of which is Dialgo. With their modern look on jazz and psychedelic rock, they craft beautiful and interesting compositions, all featured on their debut album Stranger Things. This album is really cool and well worth your time.

Dialectical Imagination – The Angel and the Brute Sing Songs of Wrath
This avant-garde jazz duo comes back with their second album of 2017 on Christmas day. A real successor to Songs of Rapture, the angel and the brute, on piano and drums, play eclectic and cathartic passages that are midway between chaotic and organized. You can have a taste of what wrath is coming on 25 December with the song “Hatch(ling)”, available on bandcamp.

Gardenjia – In Dreams
Italian progressive death metal band Gardenjia just released a surprise album: In Dreams. While they’re now pretty far removed from their Fallujah influences, more apparent on their debut, their new style is quite interesting. Riffs lifted straight off of djent and vocals getting lost in vocoder and reverb, In Dreams is a heavy release with fast-paced syncopated rhythmic patterns that will scratch that itch.

In Lights – This Is How We Exist
The Californian post-rock quintet released their debut album in early November. Although it took some time for it to grow on me, I’ve come to appreciate This Is How We Exist quite a lot. The band includes a violinist, which is pretty much a perfect fit for post-rock, let’s admit it. With this additional musical vocabulary, In Lights create haunting and powerful pieces. This album is a must for fans of the genre.

Entheogen – Without Veil, nor Self
Oh yes, I do love some psychedelic black metal, and Entheogen just delivered a strong dose of hallucinogenics with their debut album. You have to say that having three quarters of your band coming from Chaos Moon, one of which also in Martröð and Skáphe, really helps. Without Veil, nor Self is a great album, obscure and echoing like the bowels of a cathedral.

Astrophe – Deconstruct
Philippe’s instrumental progressive metal solo project sees a new iteration in Deconstruct, a thirty-minute album that borrows from the djent sound without fully giving in to it, and displays a vast atmospheric sound atop its heavy chugs and otherwise technical riffs. The solo experiment continues its merry way, but one of the biggest improvements to be made would be either live drums or using better samples. Other than this, there’s not a lot of flaws to point out!

Fixions – ヘッドハンター (Heddohantā)
Synthwave is a pretty divisive genre, for me, but I’ve always had a liking for the works of France’s Fixions. Their blend of retro aesthetics with dark and moody atmospheres make for a generally appealing result. ヘッドハンター (Heddohantā) is the latest in their regular output and its soundscape conjures images of a dystopian, retro-futuristic world where consciences are uploaded and sold at a high price. Make your own scenario by listening to the album, available for free on bandcamp!