#esfwk

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Essential Sounds for Weird Kids- Power Trip- Manifest Decimation

The metal community has been lesser for losing Riley Gale. Two years gone, and his material sounds as good as ever.

I still come back to both of their LPs and embrace their incredible sound often, which is as perfect of a mix between thrash, death metal and hardcore as can be done. It’s sad that we’ll never get to see what he had in store for LP 3, but at least his legacy will never die.

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Essential Sounds for Weird Kids- Lingua Ignota- Caligula

I didn’t make a top albums list for 2018, since I had too many personal favorites to choose from, and picking a #1 would be especially difficult. While 2019 was just as good of a year for me, I had no difficulty determining the top spot.

I discovered Kristin Hayter’s music last year and devoured both of her albums immediately and frequently. But as much as I dig All Bitches Die, Caligula is the whole package. It’s one of the most unique sounding releases I’ve found, mixing classical and extreme music as seamlessly as anything I’ve ever heard. 

It’s not an easy listen in any way- this details some intense abuse, and she makes every line delivery cut right through your bones. It features guest performances from some of my favorite modern musicians, who help to make this sound bigger and bolder than her previous music. It even samples the score from A Clockwork Orange, and knocks it out of the park.

Well worth the spin.

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Essential Sounds for Weird Kids- Primitive Man- Caustic

A damn-near perfect collection of sludgy aggression, these guys are a recentish discovery for me, but I can’t get enough of their sound, especially this LP. Their sound is delightfully raw and wholly intense. It’s well worth digging into if you want something a little further off the beaten path from NOLA sludge.

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Essential Sounds for Weird Kids- Sleep’s Dopesmoker

This one hopefully needs no introduction. Over an hour of distortion, incomparable riffage and rhythm chemistry, and generally good, heavy times. Especially the Southern Lord issue.

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Essential Sounds for Weird Kids- Power Trip- Nightmare Logic

I gotta admit, I did not buy the hype at first. I thought the metal scene was going too gaga over another so-so extreme band. This was not further helped by the Pantera comparisons, as I just don’t have much use for them nowadays.

But around this point last year, I gave their breakthrough sophomore album another spin (with partial credit to Decibel’s excellent cover story at the time), and everything clicked. This is as perfect of a blend of metal and hardcore as you can get, all power and no violence. Seeing them open for High on Fire a couple of months ago only increased my appreciation. They’re the real fucking deal. If you’re interested in keeping up with the future of heavy music, you owe it to yourself to give Power Trip your attention.

SWING OF THE AXE

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Essential Sounds for Weird Kids- Cold Cave- Cherish the Light Years

A new series I’ve been wanting to do, where I highlight some random favorite LPs of mine. Expect a lot of metal, but here’s a great synth act, almost like a modern mix between Joy Division and Depeche Mode. They only have two albums, but their most recent is my preferred choice, being slightly darker but still having a bounce. Definitely worth checking out if you enjoy the post-punk scene.