Playlist for February 24 – March 2, 2025
Quick playlist highlights: I’m going to start doing the playlists a little differently in the near future. Instead of making a new one each week, I’m going to have one single playlist that is continuously updated. I’ll keep the 100 most recently added songs on the playlist (so if I add 15 one week, that means the oldest 15 will be removed). This means that you won’t be able to go back and listen to a playlist from last year, which is a bummer, but I can’t have 50+ playlists crowding my Spotify anymore. Having random songs in all these playlists is also making it tough to tell which ones need to be on my “greatest heavy songs of all time” playlist that I’m still working on for you guys.
– Architects – “Elegy.”
The new Architects album just came out, and I have a lot of thoughts, but I don’t want to do a knee-jerk, reactionary review. I’m going to take my time and balance some of my hot takes out with deeper analysis. There are highs and lows, which is disappointing in and of itself because Architects had a perfect three album run (or four depending on your thoughts of ‘Daybreaker’), but it’s obviously better than their last two albums. Yay, a nuanced review, I’m sure that will go over well.
– Vanna – “A Quiet Place.”
Vanna is back!? Wow, this is a welcome return. I loved their last two albums, especially ‘All Hell’ in 2016. They went back to their vocalist from the first two albums, and even though I preferred the more recent one, this song is incredibly good. What’s crazy is that I was a huge fan of Vanna, but even I didn’t know that after they broke up, the original five members created a new band called Inspirit. Now they have reclaimed the Vanna moniker and are going to use it moving forward. And yeah, that makes sense, they should have just called themselves Vanna the whole time. Sometimes bands change so much that they are just a shadow of their former selves and the only thing keeping them alive is the legacy of the band’s name (Attack Attack! is the best example of this), but in this case, Vanna is reclaiming its name with the original line up. What could be better than that.
– Mugshot – “Vale of Tears.”
After a couple EPs, it’s time for these guys to release a full album! I’m not sure if this single is the start of that process or just something they want to play on their tour with Cane Hill. The vocals are sounding deeper and rougher than before. It’s a change but I think I like it.
– Body Prison – “Circle The Drain.”
If Architects didn’t release an album, I would be reviewing this one next week. I’m enthralled with it. Lots of heaviness within a melodic setting.
– Get The Shot – “Pit of Misery.”
Perfect timing! I just name dropped them in the Warspawn review and they give us a new song the same week. If you dig this sound, go back to their 2022 album – it’s insanely fun.
– Deafheaven – “Heathen.”
Dude, this Deafheaven album is looking super promising. They kind of went off the rails with the softness on ‘Infinite Granite,’ but I’m glad they haven’t totally abandoned that vision. Mixing it with the sound from ‘New Bermuda’ has given us the best of both worlds. If you’re looking for an intro to blackgaze, this is it.
– Ends In Tragedy – “For The Heart.”
This band has less than 3,000 listeners on Spotify, and I have no idea how I started following them because they only have three songs so far, but I love this brand of revival metalcore. Certain parts remind me of early Parkway Drive and I Killed The Prom Queen.
– Bleed From Within – “God Complex.”
Speaking of Parkway Drive, is it just me or does Bleed From Within’s vocalist sound exactly like Winston McCall? I know I’ve said that before, but I legitimately don’t think I would be able to tell them apart in this song. The only difference is that everything else Bleed From Within is doing in their recent singles is infinitely better than anything Parkway Drive has done since 2012.