Tag Archives: Miami

Cave of Swimmers – Aurora (2021)

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Cave of Swimmers – Aurora (BroomTune Records, 23 February 2021)

 

Good afternoon!

As we find ourselves nearing the end of the fourth month of 2021, I’m continuing to tirelessly put in the effort to get myself caught up on current and recent new releases… in case anyone was curious, today I’ve just dipped below 100 unread messages in my inbox for the first time all year (down from somewhere around 2000 just a few weeks ago)!

Anyway, one thing that jumped out at me as a very pleasant surprise: I’ve learned that one of my absolute favorite new discoveries of the past decade, Venezuelan-Floridian duo Cave of Swimmers, has put out a new album! Like two months ago!

I have to say, I’m very thankful to have received notification of this release in my mailbox — because otherwise I might never have heard about it. I mentioned it years ago when I wrote about the band’s first two releases (each a 4-song EP), and it’s still true today: these guys are criminally under-recognized, given that every single piece of music they’ve ever released has been — to use a technical term from the industry — a banger.

Both of those earlier releases ended up on my list of their respective years’ top albums, and I don’t care what else comes out in 2021, I can tell you right now that Aurora will be hitting the list again when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

 

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Shroud Eater – Dead Ends (2013), Dead Hand Split (2016), Strike the Sun (2017)

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Shroud Eater – Dead Ends (The Path Less Traveled Records, 09 July 2013)

 

Shroud Eater / Dead Hand – Split (Southern Druid Records, 25 November 2016)

 

Shroud Eater – Strike the Sun (STB Records, 07 July 2017)

 

Here’s some exciting news for you this afternoon: Miamian sludge-doom trio Shroud Eater are releasing their first full-length album in more than six years, tomorrow! I just heard it for the first time over the holiday break (so… Tuesday), and wanted to make sure you folks all got the chance to check it out as well. And that reminded me that there were two other items from this band gathering dust on my to-do list, so it seemed like an ideal time to share those with you too!

 

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Hollow Leg – Murder, He Whose Ox is Gored – Paralyzer, Cave of Swimmers – The Sun (2017)

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Hollow Leg – Murder EP (digital: Argonauta Records, 03 March 2017; cassette: Southern Druid Records, 16 June 2017; Crown, Murder Edition CD: Argonauta Records, 30 June 2017)

 

He Whose Ox is Gored – Paralyzer 7″ (Chain Letter Collective/Void Assault Records, 16 June 2017)

 

Cave of Swimmers – The Sun 7″ (Southern Druid Records, 03 July 2017)

 

Today I’ve got three different releases to share with you. Don’t worry, I won’t take up too much of your time — each of these has just two or three songs. But more importantly, all three come from bands who have had some pretty incredible previous releases we’ve already talked about: Hollow Leg, He Whose Ox is Gored, and Cave of Swimmers. So you can already be guaranteed these will all be great, too!

Oh yeah, and if you scroll on down to the comments section, you can take a peek at the dates for Hollow Leg‘s current tour which centers around an appearance at The Maryland Doom Fest on Saturday (24 June)!

 
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Cave of Swimmers – Cave of Swimmers (2014) and Reflection (2015)

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cave-of-swimmers

 

Cave of Swimmers – Cave of Swimmers (The Path Less Traveled Records, 15 April 2014)

 

reflection

 

Cave of Swimmers – Reflection (self-released, 4 May 2015)

 

Dear Friends, I am thoroughly confused about something. It’s been about two months since Cave of Swimmers, the Venezuelan-American guitar/moog/vocals/drums duo who live in Miami, released their second album Reflection. This is a collection of four songs that are sheer excellence — every bit as fantastic as the four songs on their self-titled debut which had been released about a year prior — unquestionably one of the most incredible things I heard in 2014, and quite a pleasant out-of-nowhere surprise. So what I can’t understand is, at this point, why is this band not just exploding, and being lauded with overwhelming international renown??

To a small extent, I accept and acknowledge my share of the blame: on both occasions I’ve let trivial things like “being too busy at work to get much writing done” keep me from publicly sharing my thoughts on the release of these two brilliant albums (with one minor exception). Well that all ends today. Get ready to fill your ears with this…

 

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Out Today: Wykked Wytch – The Ultimate Deception

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Wykked Wytch – The Ultimate Deception (14 February 2012, Goomba Music)

Happy Valentine’s Day, readers! Hugs and kisses and hearts and flowers, and all that. I don’t know if they have anything like this wherever you live, but here, February 14th is supposed to be some sort of commemoration for the martyred Roman-Catholic Saint Valentinus (although various accounts differ as to which particular saint named Valentinus or Valentine the day is named for, or even whether he was actually a real person in the first place), but of course in typical fashion, any links to a religious observence that originally existed have long since gone out the window (just like Easter turned into a day for little kids to get fat eating bunnies made out of chocolate), and nowadays it’s mostly just a time where people are expected to spend a bunch of money on cards and candy or fancy dinners for their significant others. At least, if they want to keep that person as a significant other.

So, in keeping with this tradition, I’ve got a lovely Valentines Day gift for you, Dear Reader. It’s a heart-shaped box filled with dulcet melodies and harmonious sonnets; love songs with lyrics so beautiful you might just be moved to tears.

Yeah, fuck all that. Actually what I’ve got for you is a review of a record being released today on Goomba Music, called The Ultimate Deception, which is the fifth album by Floridian extreme metal band Wykked Wytch — whose core is as black as the crispy, charred remains of a martyr who’d been burnt at the stake.

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