Fulci - Duck Face Killings

 

Is Fulci the best death metal band to ever emerge from Italy? Quite possibly yes. And their latest album, Duck Face Killings only adds to this legacy of brutality. Inspired by The New York Ripper one of Lucio Fulci's most depraved films, Duck Face Killings is an absolute tour de force. It sees Fulci leaning into all the things that make them special, from guttural vocals, devastating slamming riffs and tightly controlled rhythms to the eerie horror inspired synth interludes that help to give the album so much of its flavor and vision. 

In many ways Duck Face Killings is the platonic ideal of a horror inspired death metal record. It perfectly captures the grinding, punishing magic of horror films and intricately weaves together punishing vibes with devilish songwriting in order to draw listeners deep in across its 14 tracks. It's been 3 long years since the last proper full length from Fulci and it's clear that Duck Face Killings is in many ways the pinnacle of their oeuvre. It sees the band elegantly building on past successes and pointing towards an ambitious, twisted future.

Pre-order the album! 

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/duck-face-killings

Uprising - III

 

This is a wonderfully twisted one. Uprising are a German black metal band on AOP Records who have been crafting thoughtful and intense music for a few years now. Wonderfully melancholic and emotional but rooted in many classic black metal tropes, III is a compelling offering and a record that I think fans of the underground are going to continually find themselves getting lost in. There is a wonderful bitterness and bleak vision that is painted on this record that is hard to distance yourself from.

III represents a net level performance and one that is brilliantly intense and personal. There is a very clear and heartbroken beauty that helps to shape so many of the songs on this record. Tracks like Raise A Glass reflect this sense of melancholy and shroud it in a storm of tremolo picks and blast beats. Monochromatic and powerful, Uprising find a way to make their clear cut black metal resonate with the hearts of their listeners. It's hard to separate yourself from these war cries, they ring tragic. 

Pre-order a copy of the album! 

https://shop.aoprecords.de/gb/aop-releases/7740-uprising-iii-lp-lim99-0766734859771.html?search_query=uprising&results=7

Absorb - Smog

 

This is a crusher. Absorb are a Canadian sludge doom band whose new EP, Smog is the sound of colossal riffs crashing down around your ears and choking out listeners as they gaze into the void. This is doom metal done right, with a sense of overarching terror and domineering vision that can't help but to keep listeners in awe of the devastation and havoc that they wreak. Absorb are here to break your skull and it's hard not to be enamored with the darkness they conjure on Smog. Let yourself get lost in the misery when this drops on July 26th. After 10 years the band has taken their Primitive Man and Thou inspired sound to a whole new level and you need this in your life! 

Pre-order the album:

https://hypaethralrecords.bandcamp.com/album/smog

Show Me A Dinosaur - Plantgazer

 

Show Me A Dinosaur have long been one of Russia's premier blackgaze exports. Their music is poetic, beautiful and strangely transcendent. There is a deep sense of beauty throughout their compositions that makes for some of the most engaging, potent and inspiring work done in the genre in the last decade or so. Their latest album, Plantgazer is transcendent, powerful and benefiting from a gorgeous, fascinating vision. This is a truly magical album and one that seems to lure listeners into a vast and delicate soundworld you can't help but to fall in love with. 

Plantgazer shines because of its ability to balance dark and light, evil and sorrow with joy and peace. This is a record that surprises, delights and reflects the human condition, for better and for worse. Doing this with an instrumental record is a challenge, but Show Me A Dinosaur have found a way. This is a sort of reflection of a world that is rapidly changing, especially for a Russian band. One gets a sense of the sorrow and extinction the band is immersed in, but also a sense of the sublime, as you let waves of sound wash over you into something greater.

Pre-order the album!

https://showmeadinosaur.bandcamp.com/album/plantgazer

Bangladeafy - Vulture

 

Bangladeafy are one of the weirdest, most creatively daring and interesting bands in the Brooklyn heavy music scene. With their new album Vulture they seem to evolve more fully from their prog punk roots and into something far noisier, weirder and more powerful. With a much more synth oriented sound than ever before, the group remains a sparkling, unique and fascinating project. This is is a release like few others that you will hear this year, with its flashes of virtuosity, surprising arrangements and the unique vision that seems to drive this thing forward. 

Vulture is a weird album, if you're not ready for unorthodox prog frills to meet noise rock by way of DIY visions, then you're probably not going to get what Vulture is about. But for those of us who grew up obsessed with artists like Lightning Bolt and Flipper, Vulture is going to seem like the most logical set of experiences that you can indulge yourself in. It's a truly transcendent, weird and poetic offering that few other acts could ever emulate. This is the sort of unflappable, otherworldly and bizarre magic longtime ans have come to expect from Bangladeafy and it rules. 

I first saw Bangladeafy almost ten years ago at a DIY space in West Philly. I remember being completely blown away at how weird, technical and inspiring their music was. Now, all these years later I remain fascinated with this project and the unique vision that they consistently bring to the table on Vulture. This is a record like few others I have experienced before and Bangladeafy's marked artistic evolution with every passing year is a delight to really experience. 

Get a taste right here: 

https://www.nefariousindustries.com/nef114