Playlist for April 29 – May 5, 2024

Quick playlist highlights:

– Rivers of Nihil parted ways with their longtime vocalist and now have their bassist filling the gap. Their 2018 album is still an absolute favorite of mine, but I was less impressed with their 2021 release. The bassist is doing a pretty good job, and I want to stay open to their future work, but I’m starting to accept that they might not ever hit that peak for me again.

– Gravemind is becoming a mix of Make Them Suffer and Alpha Wolf. I liked their deathcore sound, but I can definitely get behind this. The Polaris feature is solid.

– All That Remains released their first song in six years. It’s better than I expected. The chorus is kind of lackluster, but the heavy parts more than justify the effort.

– Gaerea ranked #14 on my 2022 album of the year list. This new song is much more accessible. They still have parts of their black metal identity, but this will appeal to a much wider audience. I suppose a slight change was to be expected after the vocalist switch – I think this might really work out for them.

– The new single from Our Hollow, Our Home is great. I’m not sure what it will take to really put them over the edge, but they’ve been making solid metalcore for years.

– Great American Ghost is one of my newest faves in recent years. Their 2022 EP was really good and it looks like they’re picking up where they left off.

– Speed is touring with Knocked Loose so I expect them to start gaining even more attention. I don’t normally care for this brand of hardcore but it’s fun every once in a while.

– I don’t get what Brojob is trying to do. I thought they were trying to be a serious band, but they’ve clearly gone back to their gimmick. Their new vocalist is also weaker than their last one.

– Here’s the obligatory Dal Av post. This project has gained another 110,000 monthly listeners since I posted about them two weeks ago (now sitting at 840,000). Absolutely wild growth.