Weekly Update #27 – September 29, 2024

FEATURED ALBUM
156/Silence // People Watching
Released: September 13, 2024

This is a dark horse contender for album of the year. It’s not my personal number one, but I expect it to sneak into a lot of top 10 lists. 

I only discovered these guys in 2022 after they released ‘Narrative.’ It was a striking introduction to Jack Murray’s lyrical flow and vicious delivery. He has an incredibly unique, absolutely relentless vocal style. He’s ever-present in the songs, supported by a band that matches his energy and pessimism. 

My main concern for this album was that 156/Silence wouldn’t be able to differentiate it from their previous work. Many of the songs on ‘Narrative’ start to blur together after a while because the barking vocals and general soundscapes are so similar. I don’t typically want a band to “evolve” just for the sake of change, but it was already hard to distinguish between the songs on ‘Narrative’ – this new album needed to have its own identity.

In that regard, ‘People Watching’ couldn’t have been a bigger success. It integrates new angles while respecting the band’s core style. It’s a nudge in a new and exciting direction.  A new chapter, not a new book.

The subtle changes to the instruments really bring this album to life. ‘Narrative’ occasionally bordered on dark poetry. The instruments were often secondary; a backdrop for Murray’s artistic lyricism. This time around, the music isn’t tuned as low. Never before had I thought that the instruments on ‘Narrative’ were washed out, but I like the clearer composition on ‘People Watching.’ It’s more engaging.

“Character Development” is immediately reminiscent of everything 156/Silence has accomplished up to this point. The verses that build on top of each other, the spoken word moments, and the instruments opening up for the crushing impact at the end – that’s what this band is all about. “Target Acquired” follows a similar pattern and gives Murray a stripped down instrumental section to showcase his signature style.

“Better Written Villain” offers a taste of 156/Silence’s experimentation with clean singing. It’s deceptive in approach because the singing isn’t too impressive until the last minute. The band obviously did that on purpose because the singing in “Product Placement” immediately picks up where “Better Written Villain” left off. I had to check that they didn’t have a guest vocalist doing the singing. I never expected to hear cleans like this from 156/Silence. It immediately reminded me of hearing Boundaries do the same thing on “Easily Erased” earlier this year.

“Funeral Arrangements” and “Unreasonable Doubt,” a song that would be very much at home on ‘Narrative,’ also have varying degrees of singing and melody, showing that 156/Silence have already figured out how to incorporate softer moments without losing themselves. The album closer, “Healing Process,” also makes a powerful statement as the band weaves in and out of singing passages, often overlapping with dark screams. 

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear 156/Silence continue to explore this sound in the future. They dipped their toes in the water and the fan reception couldn’t have been better. They added a great new element to their arsenal without having it impact the things that they’ve always done well. This is the novel sound that they needed to come up with and they did it. The perfect new dimension to keep things exciting.

Playlist of New Songs

Quick playlist highlights: After a month away, I can’t share my thoughts on 50+ songs. I ordered the playlist so a lot of my favorites are at the front, and I’ll talk about those here. It seems that a lot of my favorites from the last month are on the heavier side, which is surprising because up until this point, I haven’t been extremely impressed with deathcore this year.

– I don’t follow Silverstein too closely, but I always seem to enjoy their singles. Super catchy choruses and rough screams that are easy to understand.

– Shadow of Intent has a new single. It seems kind of like a throwback to their first two albums, which is great. I’ve enjoyed their recent ventures into death metal, but ‘Reclaimer’ and the Halo-inspired content will always have a special place in my heart.

– Speaking of bands revisiting their original style, Whitechapel just released their heaviest song in 16 years. I’m not sure if it’s a one-off or part of a bigger release, but it’s so good to hear this side of Whitechapel again. ‘The Valley’ and ‘Kin’ were fine, especially after Whitechapel’s somewhat aimless releases in the mid 2010s, and it was cool to see Phil Bozeman experiment with singing, but Whitechapel is meant to be crushingly heavy. Phil is too good of a screamer to not be making songs like this.

– As I Lay Dying has a song featuring Alex Terrible and Tom Barber. I’m not going to lie, I like when Tim leans into the darker side of AILD. The line up change actually seems to have done wonders for the band – he isn’t strapped down by as much baggage anymore.

– Hollow Front continues to impress with their brand of emotional metalcore.

– I really enjoyed Oceano‘s new album. One of my favorite deathcore releases of the year. I like how this track is heavy but also subdued. Kind of poetic.

– Signs of the Swarm is so sick. Instruments are chunky and choppy. Vocals are one of a kind.

– I will rep Reflections until I die. Continues the trend of drawn out, ominous instruments that resemble Humanity’s Last Breath.

– One month until Gaerea‘s new album. I’ve talked about each of the singles so it shouldn’t be surprising how invested I am in this release. Very excited to see how it all comes together. Definitely a dark horse that could take a top 10 spot this year.

– I sang Fit For An Autopsy‘s praises for the longest time, and there are still a lot of things I like about them, but their recent albums feel watered down and diluted. I hate to say it, but the singing is just not a valuable addition. At no point am I ever excited to hear them sing. It’s just not their strong suit, and it’s like they’re trying to replicate Cattle Decapitation’s singing on this one.

– It’s pretty rare for August Burns Red to put out a standalone single, but I think that’s what this is. They’ve been trending in a “progressive metal” direction for a while, but this one is pretty straight forward. Maybe this was a b-side from ‘Death below’ that didn’t fit. Not sure how much replay value it will have, but the breakdown at the end is solid enough.

– Confession is back!? These guys are an iconic Australian metalcore band fronted by the legendary Michael Crafter. This might actually be the most exciting song in the entire playlist. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

– Disentomb and Worm Shepherd each had great songs, but I have to highlight Peelingflesh‘s new slam album. “Shoot 2 Kill” has one of the hardest samples I’ve ever heard – it’s George W. Bush saying “We must stop the terror. I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you. Now watch this drive” as he hits a golf ball.

– And for a little bit of hate, Underoath and All Time Low sound lost and confused on their new songs. But worst of all was Beartooth‘s new single from the deluxe edition of their last album. Look dude, I’m happy that Caleb Shomo has figured out how to be happy, but he needs to figure out how to make good music again. Unbelievable cringe – literally begging for your attention over and over so he can tell you that he’s happy. It’s a candidate for worst song of the year.

DRAMA – Bad Omens Hentai Merch

One of the more annoying metal “influencer” accounts on Twitter posted that “Bad Omens have been criticized by some fans for releasing hentai inspired merch designs.”

This was the merch design.

Bad Omens has been pretty fed up with their fanbase for a while now. Upon seeing this hot take, Bad Omens’ creative Director, David Rider, tweeted this.

DRAMA – Linkin Park

Linkin Park recently announced that they are replacing Chester Bennington with Emily Armstrong as their new vocalist. Armstrong co-founded a band called Dead Sara, but you’ve probably never heard of them.

This might be a hot take, but in addition to her personal controversies, I’m just not sure she’s a great fit for the band. Chester was such an iconic figure, but Linkin Park clearly decided to go in a completely different direction instead of trying to find a good replacement. Which, I can kind of understand. Very few people could fill Chester’s shoes, and any male replacement would have had to deal with comparisons to Chester for the rest of their life. So I get it – Linkin Park took the safe route and picked a female replacement because, by definition, she can’t replicate or replace Chester. Fans have to accept that going in, so she doesn’t really have to fight that battle.

The problem is that Linkin Park is essentially a legacy band operating purely off the goodwill of ‘Hybrid Theory’ and ‘Meteora.’ Their last album (from 2017) saw many critics accuse Linkin Park of selling out which prompted Chester Bennington to suggest that those people should “stab [themselves] in the face” and “move the fuck on” from the band’s past sound.

The only issue is that the band’s past sound is the only good music they have made. Does anybody go to a Linkin Park concert to hear them play new songs? Now, with Armstrong at the helm, I have serious doubts that they will be able to replicate their past sound, which is a shame because I would only go to a Linkin Park concert to hear “Numb,” “Crawling,” “Faint,” “Papercut,” and all the other bangers from the first two albums.

Emily Armstrong is not going to be able to do those songs justice. And who knows how this next Linkin Park album is going to sound. They’ve been going off the rails for at least the last 10 years, and now they have a singer with a drastically different style at the helm. I don’t think they should have hung it up, but this next album is going to make or break their future. If it doesn’t go well, I genuinely believe that the band’s overall legacy will take a very severe hit.

In terms of Emily Armstrong’s controversies, Wikipedia has a surprisingly good summary:
“The band’s decision to add Armstrong was met with criticism due to her connections with the Church of Scientology and perceived support of convicted rapist Danny Masterson. The Mars Volta frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who had first directed the aforementioned accusations towards Armstrong back in 2023, stated that Linkin Park was “not doing their due diligence before hiring her”; one of Bennington’s sons said that Linkin Park “betrayed the trust” of the fanbase with the change. Armstrong responded to the criticism via an Instagram story, stating that she had not been in contact with Masterson since attending his 2020 court appearance and that she condemned his crimes; however, she did not clarify her status with Scientology.”

DRAMA – Veil of Maya Hiatus

In an absolutely devastating turn of events, Veil of Maya announced they are going on hiatus.

The band hasn’t expanded further, but there are a lot of rumors circulating. Here are some of the ones I’ve seen:
– Marc Okubo (guitarist) constantly touring with other bands (including Falling In Reverse).
– Lukas Magyar (vocalist) starting his own media company.
– Overall lack of touring combined with the possibility that their last album, ‘(m)other,’ may not have done too well.
– Remaining tension behind the scenes that was never resolved during the “singles” phase where they scrapped their original project in order to create ‘(m)other’ (which resulted in a 6-year gap in album releases that hurt the momentum they had after ‘False Idol’ in 2017).
– People blaming Sumerian as a record label (which doesn’t seem to have evidence, it’s just funny seeing people hate on Sumerian).
– Lucas losing his voice (but I saw them earlier this year and I thought he sounded pretty good).
– Apparently the crowds for Summer Slaughter were dismal and Veil of Maya was a headliner, but a large portion of the crowd would be gone by the time they took the stage each night (not sure what this would be indicative of…maybe Veil of Maya isn’t quite big enough for headliners right now? But I saw them headline earlier this year with Reflections and Angelmaker as support though and I thought it was a great show).