Weekly Update #17 – May 12, 2024

FEATURED ALBUM
Greyhaven // Stereo Grief
Released: April 12, 2024

Greyhaven is so cool. They have such a unique sound and they’ve distilled it perfectly on this EP. In a sense, this is probably their best release because it’s so purposeful – no fluff or filler, every moment is engaging. The choruses are fun and the screaming sections have so much energy. I love how seamless the vocals are. Some bands have distinct screaming and singing sections that kind of clash with each other, but Greyhaven uses some harsher cleans to assist with the transitions. This is the perfect example of unique and innovative heavy music that sits high above the ocean of mediocrity that is modern metalcore.

Synestia and Disembodied Tyrant // The Poetic Edda
Released: May 3, 2024

This is an insane split EP. The pairing of these bands is a match made in heaven and their efforts have created an absolute gem. It literally sounds like Shadow of Intent from 2017. One of the songs even features Shadow of Intent’s vocalist! Huge breakdowns, wild screams, sweeping symphonies – everything about this is excellent. 

Renesans // Born From The End
Released: March 29, 2024

Here’s another new band that impressed me. They’re fronted by David Benites, a vocal coach, and it’s immediately apparent that he knows what he’s doing. He has great range and the rest of the band provides better than average instrumentation. The funny thing is that David sounds extremely similar to Chris Motionless from Motionless In White. I mean it’s so similar that I have to actively remind myself that this isn’t just Chris in a side project. If you like the heavier side of MIW, you’re going to love this. Overall, this is a dynamic EP that primarily stays within metalcore but occasionally dabbles in deathcore, especially with some of the heavier vocal styles.

Ancst // Culture of Brutality
Released: May 4, 2024

I hadn’t heard of this band before, but they remind me a lot of early Heaven Shall Burn. This style of metalcore is almost unrecognizable compared to how the genre has evolved over the last 25 years. This will probably be a tough listen for anybody whose library doesn’t go back to at least 2004. There are hints of melody and plenty of fun riffs, but you have to embrace everything else going on at the same time.

Playlist of New Songs

Quick playlist highlights:

– Kicking the playlist off with this insane track from Synestia and Disembodied Tyrant‘s split EP. The breakdown at the end of this song is ridiculous.

– Falling In Reverse has a new single that features Alex Terrible (from Slaughter To Prevail) and TechN9ne. Everybody loves to hate Ronnie Radke, and rightfully so, but his singles are super catchy. They’re a guilty pleasure for sure. I mean there are definitely some tryhard moments that don’t land perfectly, but I will absolutely take this over the super safe, generic metalcore being pushed these days. I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I’ll save them for my first ever Falling In Reverse review – the new album is scheduled to release on July 26.

– Dance Gavin Dance already has two new singles with Andrew Wells as the clean vocalist which seems to cement their intention to have him fully replace Tilian. The songs are solid – Andrew is a great vocalist. That being said, I want him to embrace his own style and move DGD into a new era. The band won’t be successful if they try to mimic Tilian’s vocals because they’ll never be able to recreate that magic.

– As expected, the new album from Knocked Loose is killer. There’s been a lot of discussion about “Slaughterhouse 2” because it’s a follow up to a Motionless In White song. There’s a lot of hyperbole in conversations about it as people claim it’s either the best or worst song on the album. I’ll get into more detail in my upcoming review, but I think the difference in opinion comes from one key fact – Slaughterhouse was a sick song because it came from Motionless In White and featured Bryan. It helped MIW return to their glory days in terms of heaviness. But Slaughterhouse 2 isn’t as impressive when it’s the most basic, straightforward song on the album and sandwiched between other incredible Knocked Loose tracks.

– Like Moths To Flames‘ new album is also very good. Chris’ screams have become so evil. LMTF has always been a “darker” metalcore band, but they really leaned into it on this album.

– Secrets announced the departure of their longtime singer (and only remaining original member), Richard Rogers. He’s been replaced by David Baqi, the vocalist of a very small band called Takers Leavers. Interestingly, this new song doesn’t have any singing at all, which is a weird move after announcing a new singer. I have to admit that I stopped caring about Secrets after they replaced Aaron Melzer with Wade in 2015, but Wade has gotten better at screaming and this might be the best song Secrets has released in the last nine years.

– I’m looking forward to reviewing the new Dealer album. Long story short, I like this way more than Alpha Wolf’s last record.

– Mortal Reminder is going to make waves when they release their debut album on May 17.

– Pincer+ has a new song that is very angry with someone…and isn’t that artwork kind of similar to Dealer’s? I wonder if the fact that Pincer+ was created by a former member of Dealer might be relevant. Obviously. See the drama section for more beef.

– Vulvodynia debuted their first song with their new screamer. They had to kick out Duncan Bentley, their longtime frontman, due to “recurring uncontrollable violence” and allegedly attempting to kill their drummer. I remember seeing the hospital pics and it was pretty gnarly.

DRAMA – Dealer vs Pincer+

You’re probably familiar with the Alpha Wolf vs. Dealer situation because I’ve been talking about it for a while. Dealer has other enemies too – namely Pincer+ and Heavensgate. Both bands were started by former members of Dealer that were apparently done wrong by Aiden Holmes (Dealer’s vocalist).

So here’s what happened. Dealer released their new album on May 10 and Pincer+ released a new song the same day. Take a look at the artwork of both releases. Obviously they’re both red, but the main thing to notice is that Pincer+’s artwork has crosshairs in it. Crosshairs are Dealer’s thing – they are core to Dealer’s identity – basically their calling sign.

Here’s Dealer’s artwork.

Here’s Pincer+’s artwork.

Pincer+’s song is undoubtedly about Aiden. It has lines like, “I told you bitch you don’t fuck with me, I found the body you left on the ground, You could have buried me, I should have buried you.”

In response, Aiden posted text messages sent to him by Josh Ang, the member of Pincer+ that used to be in Dealer. The texts seem to show that Josh is actually cool with Aiden, but things must have changed in the last year and a half or so (since that’s when Pincer+ signed to Grayscale).

DRAMA – Insane Merch Prices

Bad Omens is unhinged. They’re selling a 12 inch single for their recent song “V.A.N.” for $40. FORTY DOLLARS! For a single song. Turns out their fans are even more insane because it’s already sold out.

Just for fun, I went through the check out process to see the total price and it actually came out to $51.50 due to shipping. Unreal.