The aurochs, an extinct ancestor of modern cattle, is a clear-cut example of humanity’s negative impact on nature. The strikingly imposing beast was a part of our natural environment and featured prominently in human cultures as a sign of virility, only to fade out of existence due to hunting and habitat loss. It could be lumped in with the massive pile of other things we’ve ruined, I suppose, but the noble aurochs’ loss has always felt like a relatively unknown tragedy. It does live on in some ways, though — one of them being an inspiration for very heavy music. The New Zealand post-metal ban ..read more

Gather around for aural cleansing: the rumbling introductory notes on AR are likely to dislodge some earwax, and maybe a few jammed-up neurons too. Hailing from Denmark, Kollapse bring a tumultuous blend of sludge, post-metal, and noise rock that’s painstakingly minimalist even as it levels listeners’ entire foundations. Despite my previous remark, the album is less about shaking up physical defenses as it is digging into the soft emotional earth below. Most of the record is — in the band’s own words — ‘angular,’ sharp-edged granite structures full of rigorous, punchy riffs, but there are nota ..read more

Why just be sad when one could be sad and loud? Drawing from the idea of old memories that may be painful but are best not forgotten, Utrecht bands Throwing Bricks and Ontaard‘s upcoming split titled Oud Zeer is a study in processing emotion through soul-cleansing volume. Listeners are in for a wide spectrum of trend-averse heaviness as well as agonizing frailty: Throwing Bricks delivers an erratic mixture of post-hardcore and post-metal that’s both brooding and furious, while Ontaard finds a balance between ominous softness and a landslide of blackened riffing. Today we’re premiering “Abandon ..read more

Post-metal often majorly features the idea of dynamic contrasts: loud against soft, triumphant against despondent, fast against slow. Leonov doesn’t fully discard the idea of contrasts, as their new record Procession combines elements of each spectrum, but they also aren’t in the business of playing favorites or simply progressing along those axes. As their new single “Mesos” shows, Procession is tied together with a unity and consistency that makes the album feel more like the listener is walking around their sound and finding new sides, rather than starting in one place and ending up somewhe ..read more

For some bands, consistency isn’t about sounding the same sonically as much as is it creating the same mental imagery and evoking the same feelings. That’s where the UK’s Gozer lies, stoically committed to driving listeners to the edge of tears with their massive, lush post-metal. On their new EP The Path Always Leads to the End, the band experiments with more synthesizers and drone/noise textures, granting even more depth to their wide-open sound, but the dark tonality and walls of crushing heaviness that defined their last album An Endless Static are still very much in play. Gozer’s skill at ..read more

Like a sharp mountain range blasted by erosion, Adzes sound less jagged, more expansive, greener on new full-length Inver. The record is more Appalachian than Himalayan—or, perhaps more accurately, more Kā Tiritiri o te Moana than Rocky Mountains. It’s not coincidental that Adzes’ sonic evolution followed sole permanent member Forest Bohrer’s move to New Zealand. Inver sounds like a hemispheric shift, not least because the songs dwell mostly in slower tempos. Paring back some of the punk sounds of earlier records like 2020’s No One Wants to Speak About It makes space for both rage and contempl ..read more

Varmint is an EP about moving forward, in multiple senses. Thematically, this is in terms of life, but sonically, it’s about not wasting listeners’ time and getting right into the good stuff. Norwegian post-metal crew Arv have put together three songs that blast forward without hesitation, packing sharp and deeply nuanced post-metal into tight song structures that don’t even consider pausing. The band often dips into hardcore for cues on songwriting and delivery, but they balance that upfront brutish delivery with a surprisingly poignant sense of melody and drama. On Varmint, there’s a curiou ..read more

Finnish post-metal group Besra are bleeding hearts in a genre of crushing tones. Their focus lies in their lyrics and vocals, pushing the expected distortion to the background and taking their time with delicate build-ups. It’s a reversal of the usual post-metal style that emphasizes the emotive effects of large soundscapes, and Besra’s newest track “Prison Without Locks” brandishes the approach. As the latest single of their upcoming second album Transitions, it represents their pursuit of a rich palette. That palette comes from Magnus Lindberg from Cult of Luna, who mixed and mastered the al ..read more

Though “New Wave of Dutch Heavy Jazz” duo Dead Neanderthals has been known for being, well, heavy jazz, multi-instrumentalists Otto Kokke and Rene Aquarius have proven there is more to Dead Neanderthals than simply “being jazz.” Having released music that ranges from death/doom metal to scathing, harsh ambient music, Kokke and Aquarius’ approach to music is multifaceted and fueled by raw creativity rather than limited in scope by “genrefication.” Joined once again by Skeletonwitch guitarist and songwriter Scott Hedrick, Specters–this trio’s second collaborative album–manifests as two lengthy ..read more

There’s nothing like a DDENT music video to make you question what’s real and what’s not. The video for “La Nuit Transforme,” taken from the French post-metal band’s just-released Ex Auditu (Part 2) EP, is a vivid portrayal of life, yet it feels incredibly dreamlike. Similarly, DDENT’s music combines ethereal, lush textures with moments of harsh clarity, finding an uncanny connection back to the waking world. This particular track also includes violinist Jun-Gui Kwon, who adds a striking nostalgic lead to the song–it feels almost haunting, actually, and the video makes good on that suspensefu ..read more