Here’s the monthly recommendations post you’ve awaited for so long! Ah, who am I kidding? I’m the only one reading this blog! Anyways, what are the unmissable releases of July 2015, according to the three-legged raven?

First off is Ethan McKenna‘s sophomore, In Transition. It’s what I’d call an acoustic prog album. Ethan makes use of advanced techniques on his acoustic, like percussive playing, loads of harmonics, and some slap and tapping too, for good measure. Even though its main focus is on the acoustic guitar, it’s well-accompanied by the usual bass and drums, and sometimes even by electric guitar, which gives rise to a surprising cvlt section in the otherwise melodic and beautiful album. But don’t think it’s a negative point, this is a very cool surprise to come across! So, throw your first week’s pay at Ethan!

Then, there’s Auric‘s Empty Seas, a disgusting beast stuck in tar that will, in a few million years, give archaeologists a well-preserved fossil. That’s how it feels listening to the album: it’s heavy and powerful, and it weighs on your shoulder the moment you hit the play button. It’s mostly sludge doom metal, but with black metal influences and some post-metal passages as well, which makes for a sound that’s not too varied, but just enough to keep you interested. It’s a great album if you want to feel sick.

Travis Orbin is a musical mastermind. If his departure from Periphery didn’t convince you, his debut album “Projects” ought to have. Moving on to a more melody-driven sound, Silly String is to electro-tech (I’m inventing this genre because it needs to exist) what Projects was to math-metal: its utmost extension. Imagine a tech-death band with silly instrumentation, and you either get this album, or this one. Just… buy it and thank me later.

Lastly, Sirens‘s Surge. The band came to my attention in November of 2012, upon releasing their EP “Spore” (of which 3 songs are on Surge). It’s a djent band à la Red Seas Fire, but with a more important attention to electronics and ambient passages. Their debut full-length retains those elements, but only betters them. The guys really have improved over time, and this album is everything: heavy as balls, melodic at parts, ambient when it needs to, and just really good from one end to the other. Gittit!

Now you know where to spend your money this month!