Sick/Tired - Whip Hand Paranoia (2024)

Powerviolence/grind band Sick/Tired took their time to come back, but that was definitely worth the wait! Whip Hand Paranoia is a ferocious album filled with short super condensed blast of PV/grind fury. And to make things more interesting and add a bit of diversity they also bring some somewhat noise/indus guitar work, at times reminding a bit of Napalm Death experiments. Appropriately, it's released by Nerve Altar, currently the best grind label. Strong contender for best grind album of the year ! 

The BC page.

 

Hyperdontia - Harvest of Malevolence (2024)

Harvest of Malevolence, the third album from Hyperdontia will easily find its way among the best old school death metal release of the year. I discovered them with the excellent EP they released last year, and this album is totally up to my expectations. Perfect old school feel and atmosphere (taking from both the US and Swedish schools) with especially good guitar work (and the bass & drums are doing a good job as well). Recommended!

The BC page.

 

Dub Killer - Jungle Escape (2024)

Some reviews could almost write itself: Dub. Killer. Jungle. Escape. Got the picture? Well, almost, because, a bit unfortunately I would say, there actually ain't a lot of Jungle here, don't expect many old school drum & bass jungle loops and  breaks. This is a lot closer to modern dubstep. Jungle Escape is nevertheless a good dub techno album, I enjoy listening to it and i'll check Dub Killer other releases.

 

The BC page. 

 

Nile - The Underworld Awaits Us All (2024)

See that whirlwind of unfathomable brutality on the cover ? This depict perfectly what Nile music is, and if you forgot how powefull their technical and brutal deah metal can be, The Underworld Awaits Us All will be a merciless reminder. After some good (the average Nile album is still above 99% of the other bands releases...) but a bit disapointing albums, this is a spectacular return to form and maybe their best album after their early classics. You know what you have to do... listening is mandatry, and if you don't, expect to be "Hung Upside Down on A Stake in the Underworld and Made to Eat Feces by the Four Apes". You've been warned!

The Bandcamp page.

 

Brother Dege - Aurora (2024)

The news of the death of Dege Legg known as a musician as Brother Dege really came as a shock to me. Not only because I liked his music (and I loved his music! Still do). I spent a large part of last year translating from English to French his book, Cablog (released in French as Cabdriver) and Dege music was something like the soundtrack of my life at that time. I admired him as a man and as an author as much as I admired him as a musician. I was looking forward to at last meet him at last during his European tour scheduled after the release of Aurora, his new album. He will really be missed. Now, is Aurora living up to the expectancy? Yes, definitely, his garage/blues/psych/southern rock got more personal and emotional, and it's as good and maybe even more memorable than the previous excellent albums. At least Dege left on a very high note. Thank you for that and for all the rest, brother...

The Bandcamp page.

 

The website. 

 

Botanist - Paleobotany (2024)

Paleobotany is the twelfth album from Botanist, in which the post-black metal one-man band playing hammered dulcimer instead of guitars and singing about plants move further away from black metal, with a totally convincing result. On Paleobotany the focus was on creating memorable songs, and it sounds like there have been a lot of work dedicated to the clean singing parts, which is now the most important part of the singing. And the work paid off, those clean vocals are great. The extreme metal vocals are still present, rare but more impacting thanks to the contrast. The blast beats are also still there, and the drumming as good as usual. Maybe my favourite Botanist album so far, I really recommend it!

The Bandcamp page.

 

Squid Pisser - Vaporize A Tadpole (2024)

Vaporize A Tadpole is the first of the two albums Squid Pisser released this year (I have to catch up witht he one thy released in June...), after a first one last year.  The Californian duo (Tommy Meehan & Seth Carolina) play what could be described as "alien chaotic hardcore" with some noise and samples added for more weirdness. Over the top intensity through and through. To complete the picture I can also say it's been released on the label of The Locust frontman and theere's a featuring by Malt banana singer. Rarely chaos is so pleasing.

The BC page.