Weekly Update #10 – March 24, 2024
FEATURED ALBUM
Cogitations // Relinquished
Released: March 1, 2024
This is an incredible debut album by Cogitations. Definitely a standout deathcore album of the year so far.
My favorite thing about this album is that each song has its own unique identity. So many recent deathcore albums are filled with indistinguishable songs that blend together into a forgettable haze.
Cogitations sets themselves apart by blending different styles into their modern deathcore approach. “Relinquished” has some great progressive moments, “Downshift” mixes in some beatdown, and “Descending Horizons” switches between metalcore and deathcore sections. Each song has something special going on, and that’s especially true of the songs with features.
There’s a lot of vocal variety, but it’s not flashy or distracting. Similarly, the instruments frequently stir up chaos, but they also settle back down into some basic grooves. The second half of “Deprivator” is cool because the instruments start winding down, but the tension continues building as the vocals get more intense.
Playlist of New Songs
Quick playlist highlights:
– Kublai Khan TX has been kind of hit or miss for me in the past, but I’ve been liking their last couple of songs a lot.
– I didn’t realize Downswing got a new vocalist, but their new EP is pretty fun. Kind of sounds like a heavier Beartooth.
– Dal Av is the project of guitarist Logan Young. I follow him on Instagram because he played guitar in Reflections for a while, but I didn’t realize he almost has 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify! He’s a riff powerhouse and is constantly working on new music.
– The Ghost Inside kind of lost me with their last album. They had a chance to have the most epic comeback of all time and it just…kind of sucked. Their recent singles have been pretty weak, but this one is stronger.
– Greyhaven‘s new single is excellent. I actually got an email a few weeks ago asking if I like Greyhaven and I forgot to respond, but this one’s for you Taylor. Great ebb and flow between chaos and melody – this is peak Greyhaven.
– Wage War just released their first song in years and…it’s so boring. What were they thinking? Does this get anybody hyped? This is supposed to be the Octanecore b-side that barely makes it onto the album, not the debut single of a new album cycle.
– I normally wouldn’t include a song like this, but it’s notable because it’s from Darko. Their 2021 album has a song called “Donna,” which is one of my favorite Darko songs of all time – it is about Josh Miller’s grandma dying (Miller does everything except the vocals in Darko). This one is about his grandpa dying. The music videos are pretty powerful. You might cry.
– While She Sleeps. I had to look it up and these guys are almost 40 years old. Embarrassingly whiny music from a band that has fallen so far from their peak in 2010-2013. I remember seeing them at Warped Tour back then and they had one of the best shows of the day. I went back and listened to their old music and maybe I was already feeling vulnerable from that Darko song, but I was depressed seeing how far While She Sleeps has devolved.
From The Archives
Check out this wild clip of Suicide Silence from back in the day. I miss when bands used to have fun samples in their live shows.
DRAMA – A Day To Remember and Four Year Strong
Drama between A Day To Remember and Four Year Strong was recently revived because ADTR announced a headline tour with Four Year Strong as a supporting band. The drama apparently started in 2008 when both bands went on tour with New Found Glory. It’s hard to confirm all the details (because it was 16 years ago), but it sounds like there was conflict between ADTR and Four Year Strong because ADTR was meant to be the opening band, but got moved above Four Year Strong because they were drawing bigger crowds.
Four Year Strong wrote “Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride” about ADTR, and in return, ADTR wrote “2nd Sucks” about Four Year Strong. Four Year Strong’s song hardly comes across as a diss track so I just want to focus on ADTR’s response.
If you watch the music video for 2nd Sucks below, you’ll see a fun take on Mortal Kombat where ADTR’s members fight various villains. But if you look closely, you’ll see the final boss (who looks suspiciously like Dan O’Connor from Four Year Strong) uses moves titled “Bada Belly” and “Beardo Beatdown” (at 4:43 and 4:49, respectively). This is clearly a reference to two Four Year Strong songs – “Bada Bing! Wit’ A Pipe!” and “Beatdown in the Key of Happy.”
I’m guessing both bands have smoothed things over since ADTR is bringing them on tour, but that’s still gotta sting for Four Year Strong to be one of the bottom opening bands while ADTR headlines.