A band who have always been lumped in the post-hardcore crowd but have actually always been a bit more forward thinking than many of their peers, with their recent records they have displayed their more progressive footing as well a dialling up their hardcore/punk beginnings, much of this due to their gritty/husky vocals that are often at odds to their compatriots.
Their new record Horizons/West is the direct companion to 2021's Horizons/East and it keeps the experimentation at it's heart with plenty of post-rock layering, swelling atmospherics on Albatross and Dusk but also weirdly raw and vicious riffs on tracks such as Gnasch as Holding On brings back that straight ahead post hardcore drive and The Dark Glow comes in waves of heaviness.
Much like Rise Against or Deftones, Thrice are a band who are always willing to take risks creatively but with Horizons/East coming at a time of celebration for past records, these influences seeped in to the recording of that record but we're used to create a sound that is Thrice in the 2020's, the continuation of this sonic odyssey arriving with Horizons/West. 8/10
Volumes - Mirror Touch (Fearless Records)
Having seen Volumes perform in the past I was excited to see what these 15 year, LA based veterans had cooking on their fifth album Mirror Touch. Well it seems they've been consolidating all this experience into this record, creating a record that's their most versatile yet with pop-laden moments on Bad Habit or the chest beating Bottom Dollar, there's atmospheres on Stitch while Adrenaline is a pop ballad that will feature heavily on radio.
They show off the two sides of their musical landscape, with a dual vocal approach (Michael Barr and Myke Terry) running through the music, they've continued from the more experimental sound of their last album, using poly-rhythms against pulsing electronics and EDM breakbeats for some distinctive modern metal that draws from Djent and industrial. These two colliding the best on S.O.A.P
With California they aim at radio play, the drumming of Nick Ursich bringing a bounce to the track, though bassist Raad Soudani drives a lot of the groove through his bass and also the guitars, co producing the record with Daniel Braunstein, who also adds guitar along with engineering, mixing and mastering. Coming once more through Fearless Records, the physical album is out in Feb but you can go and experience Mirror Touch digitally now and jump feet first into another top level piece of modern metal from Volumes. 8/10
Perturbator - Age Of Aquarius (Nuclear Blast Records)
Perturbator aka James Kent has been bringing thumping electronic beats to metal shows for a few years now, fitting in beside the most disgusting metal bands on the festival circuit, the gothic cyberpunk aesthetic and pentagrams all contribute to his continuing popularity as this is EDM that born from a heavy metal influence.
Age Of Aquarius is his sixth record and his first on Nuclear Blast as he continues to blur the lines between synth wave/EDM and heavy metal. Inspired by conflict, existentialism and how there are arguments on both sides that seem to get more and more extreme.
Age Of Aquarius moves Perturbator further from the moody goth sounds into chest beating propulsion, as if signing to Nuclear Blast has opened up the heavy metal side. With blast beats on The Glass Staircase, the metallic heaviness at odds with the pulsating The Art Of War, the atmospheric 12th House and the oscillating thud of Mors Ultima Ratio.
All the songs show the talent of Kent as a musician and a producer, Perturbator is a constantly evolving entity, collaborating with Ulver's Kristoffer Rygg, Alcest's Stephane Paut as well as Author & Punisher and Greta Link joins on Lady Moon. Age Of Aquarius pushes Perturbator further down the metal route he's been flirting with for a few years. 8/10
Soulkeeper - Join Us In Creating Excellence (Pure Noise Records)
A four track blast of heaviness from Soulkeeper deliver Join Us In Creating Excellence which is here to tide you over until their new full length record while also taking them in a new direction that they toyed with on their debut Holy Design. It was reissued on their new label Pure Noise Records and has been quickly followed by over 10 minutes of new music which has the band exploding out of the speakers and never lifting their foot off the gas for the whole time.
Chaotic time signatures, explosive riffs and a sound that's drenched in weirdness and reverb, this EP, named after the 2000 Darren Aronofsky film Requiem For A Dream, has all the avantgarde, feverish energy of that film, though not explicitly inspired by it, there's definitely that outsider energy to this EP. Leaving just as quickly as it arrives Join Us In Creating Excellence is a short blast of intensity from Soulkeeper that will whet the appetite for a new album coming soon. 7/10
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