Top 9 EPs From Underground Bands You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Well, babes, it’s that time of year again when the internet becomes oversaturated with lists of peoples’ favorite albums released in the past twelve months. It’s also high time Municipal Stace joined that party.
A lot of things have occurred in Municipal Staceland in the past year, and I’ve gotten balls-deep (ovary deep? Do people say that? Should I care? Ugh, anatomy) into the local scene—yay! I’ve gone to a million local shows and I’ve blown several hundred American dollar on merch and music from these bands.
‘What the hell does this have to do with your half-dead review blog, Stace?” you may catch yourself thinking. Simmer down there.
Straight to the point- I haven’t listened to most of the major releases of this year because I’ve been too infatuated with this newly discovered abundance of heavy metal within driving distance of MSHQ. So I’ve decided that my first Top X Albums Of The Year post will focus on local bands and their releases (two of them weren’t released this year, but were included because they’re still worthy of recognition. Good music is timeless) for two reasons: one, I’ve listened to more locals than the bands you’ll find in Decibel this year and two, all of these artists are seriously amazing and deserve recognition outside of the tristate.
Because I obsess over all of these and simply can’t choose which of these are better than others, the order does not in any way indicate my preferences—hence the bullets instead of a numbered list.
Without further pointless rambling, I present the first ever Municipal Stace Top 9 Underground EPs of the Year list!
· Sicada- Requisition Glorious death-thrash from my hometown (Staten Island, NY). If the thought of an orgy between Revocation, Death, and Exodus that results in a bastard child whose godfather is Pantera brings tears of joy to your eyes, you are going to love Sicada. In a world of generic thrash, Sicada is a breath of fresh air (that will promptly get knocked out of you by a 6’2 dude because it is physically impossible to listen to Sicada and not start/join a mosh pit).
Notable feature: an intro that isn’t annoying and unnecessary
· Shattered Skin- The Dungeon Sessions Holy shit. I don’t know how to genre this because there’s four songs on this EP, none of which really sound alike, and a complete list of bands I was reminded of while blasting it for the seven thousand four hundred thirty sixth time this month is as follows: Iron Maiden, Tool, Carpathian Forest, Pantera, Metallica (sorry, Ryan), Mastodon, Marilyn Manson, and Stone Sour. Into the fiery pits of hell with genres though, this is beautiful and too damn short.
Truth be told, if I was numbering this list, Dungeon Sessions would probably make #1.
Notable feature: Revolution Flawed. Mainly the vocals on the chorus, but the entire song is pure gold.
· Demopolis- Realm of Darkness Demopolis is the kind of band that makes you forget Jon Nödtveidt is dead without sounding like a Dissection rip off. I don’t think I need to say anything else (although few bands have merged beauty and brutality quite as well as these guys have).
Notable feature: Honestly? The lyric “blood is everyone’s dessert” performed in an evil growl.
· Midnite Hellion- Enter the Unknown Okay, exception to the rule. Enter the Unknown came out in 2012, but I couldn’t not mention it briefly here because I’ve had it on heavy rotation all of this year. It’s just too damn good.
Notable feature: dude, they sound like Powermad.
· Paralysis- No Turning Back Much to the dismay of the mystery reader who occasionally tries to convince me otherwise through my ask box, I think Paralysis are fucking solid. I’ve always liked the title track, even as a demo (shout-out to those who remember my first post on this blog), but the EP as a whole grew on me a lot between when I first bought it and now. Highly recommended for fans of Toxic Holocaust and neo thrash in general.
Notable feature: these guys are around my age, and their first EP is better than some of the well-known thrash that’s been around for decades.
· Desolate Isolation- A Reach Into the Dark One-man ambient black metal done right. No hipster bullshit, just raw emotion and highly enjoyable yet soul-crushing music. Trve kvlt as fvck.
Notable feature: the screams in The Scars That Marred My Throne. Heart eyes emoji.
· Never- Demo 2015 Never isn’t local (they’re from Australia; one of my buddies from there sent me a CD. Cheers, Shane), but they’re underground and hella good. You can never go wrong with sludgy stoner rock n’ roll.
Notable feature: I’ve had Serpent Woman stuck in my head for weeks so I’m going with that. Fun song to skate to, if you’re into that.
· Beyond Dishonor- Generations Seriously my favorite deathcore band. Not only is the music excellent, they have a fucking song about Breaking Bad, for the love of God. What more do you want?
Notable feature: completely unrelated to the EP, but they’ve “covered” Katy Perry’s ET and the video for it is absolutely hilarious. So hilarious that I’m mentioning it here.
· Proletariat- Liberty and Tyranny This one isn’t from 2015 either, but late 2014 is basically 2015, right? Somewhere between progressive metal and hard/deathcore, Liberty and Tyranny kicks major ass and I can never listen to it just once. Side note, Proletariat fucking BRING IT live (no wonder they won a spot at Knotfest earlier this year. These guys work their asses off and give 200% to their music, and it really shows).
Notable feature: my personal favorites are Wither With Me and Cycles
…aaaaand that’s a wrap. Do yourself a favor and check these bands out, because they’re all incredibly talented. Better yet, go beyond the nine albums that struck my fancy this year—I’m just some girl with a laptop. Check out your locals. Check out bands from the other side of the country. Go to gigs. Buy music. Spread the word to keep the scene alive.
