TOANWTS – Feral Blood (2019); ANTOAS – Dirges (2021)

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Hello there and Happy Friday to you all!

These albums, one nearly three years old and the other reaching its first birthday later this month, have practically nothing in common with each other besides the fact that both bands’ names are lengthy phrases about owls. But sometimes little things like that can randomly grab your attention, and then you accidentally discover that there’s some great music inside, too. I think you just might find this to be the case with either or both of these releases…

 

The Owls Are Not What They Seem – Feral Blood (Eleventh Key, 19 March 2019)

 

And Now the Owls Are Smiling – Dirges (Clobber Records, 29 January 2021)

 

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Boss Keloid – Family the Smiling Thrush (2021)

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Counting down some more of 2021’s best releases that we never quite got around to discussing earlier. Here’s one you absolutely must insert into your ears ASAP, if you haven’t already done so!

 

Boss Keloid – Family the Smiling Thrush (Ripple Music, 04 June 2021)

 

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Oryx – Lamenting a Dead World; Melancholia – Static Church (2021)

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More 2021 goodness for you to bludgeon your ears with!

Herein, please find the fourth LP by Oryx (Denver CO) and the fourth EP by Melancholia (Bellingham WA).

 

Oryx – Lamenting a Dead World (Translation Loss Records, 30 April 2021)

 

Melancholia – Static Church (Brutal Panda, 04 June 2021)

 

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Kite – Currents; So Hideous – None But a Pure Heart Can Sing (2021)

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Good afternoon, friends; Happy Monday and Happy New Year to you all!

Now that my Top 21 of 2021 list is complete (it was published right as the clock struck midnight on New Years Eve, so, I’m proud to say, this has been the first time in quite a long time — maybe like nine years? — that the year-end list was ready AT the actual end of the year!), I’m setting my sights on checking out all the new 2022 releases that have been pouring in, so I can start sharing them with all you lovely people.

But as always, there’s still a bunch of cleanup to do, plenty of releases from last year (as well as from years past) that we’ve missed discussing, and I’d like to start today by offering two of those for your listening pleasure.

 

Kite – Currents (Majestic Mountain Records, 08 October 2021)

 

So Hideous – None But a Pure Heart Can Sing (Silent Pendulum Records, 03 December 2021)

 

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Blind Monarch – What is Imposed Must Be Endured (2019-21); Utbyrd – Varskrik (2017-21)

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Good morning! I’d like to share with you a couple of records that were re-released in 2021.

In case you missed these the first time around, I’d hate for you to miss them again…

 

Blind Monarch – What is Imposed Must Be Endured (CD+cassette Black Bow Records, 09 April 2019; 2xLP Dry Cough Records and Heavenly Vault Records, 01 March 2021)

 

Utbyrd – Varskrik (self-released 01 February 2017; CD+cassette+vinyl Petrichor, 12 March 2021)

 

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Devoid of Thought – Outer World Graves; Ad Infinitum – Hypnagogic Conveyance (2021)

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Hello out there, readers! Today our mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly grab our headphones and listen to some cosmic death metal and cosmic black metal!

 

Devoid of Thought – Outer World Graves (Everlasting Spew Records, 27 August 2021)

 

Ad Infinitum – Hypnagogic Conveyance (self-released, 13 December 2021)

 

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Hellish Form – Remains (2021)

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Happy Tuesday! As we muddle our way through this final week of 2021, I’ll continue to try getting as much stuff written as possible to wrap up the year, culminating with the revealing of my highly-anticipated Top 21 of 2021 list.

While the exact details of that list are currently secreted away in a locked vault in an undisclosed location, but one thing I can absolutely guarantee is that it will include THIS record, which answers the question, “What if Body Void but slower, and perhaps — just maybe — a bit more emotionally devastating?”

 

Hellish Form – Remains (Translation Lost Records, 25 June 2021)

 

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Superlynx – New Moon (2019), Electric Temple + Solstice (2021)

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Hello there! Just in time for Christmas — well, the eve of Christmas Eve — I’d like to gift your ears with some carols performed by a MacBethan trio of weyward musicians…

 

Superlynx – New Moon (Dark Essence Records, 15 March 2019)

 

Superlynx – Electric Temple (Dark Essence Records, 16 April 2021)

 

Superlynx – Solstice (Dark Essence Records, 08 December 2021)

 

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Prehistoric Pigs – Everything is Good (2015), The Fourth Moon (2021)

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All right, y’all — today I’ll be treating you to two heaping helpings of fuzzed-out instrumental goodness, courtesy of la famiglia italiana who constitute the trio Prehistoric Pigs.

 

Prehistoric Pigs – Everything is Good (The Smoking Goat Records, 26 April 2015)

 

Prehistoric Pigs – The Fourth Moon (Go Down Records, 26 November 2021)

 

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Glassing – Spotted Horse (2019), Twin Dream (2021)

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Good afternoon. Now comes the part where I would like to draw your attention to Texan ‘postgazecore’ (or something like that) band, Glassing — specifically the last album they released in 2019 and the one that just came out last month.

Enjoy!

 

Glassing – Spotted Horse (Brutal Panda Records, 17 May 2019)

 

Glassing – Twin Dream (Brutal Panda Records, 05 November 2021)

 

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