Mammoth Volume - Raised Up By Witches (2024)

Raised Up By Witches is the second Mammoth Volume album since their return and it's another epic piece of finely crafted progressive heavy rock. Once again they deliver a unique mix somewhere between doom metal and stoner rock, with a strong progressive component. They can remind Mastodon as much as QOTSA (or for those stuck in the previous century we could say they sit between Black Sabbath and Yes). Very nice!

The Bandcamp page.

 

My Morning Jacket - My Morning Jacket (2021)

I've been liking My Morning Jacket for close to a quarter of a century, and their latest, self-titled, one is probably my favourite. So I think we can say they really earned their review on Blasting Days... In the meantime their music evolved from indie rock/americana to indie/soul/progressive/psych rock (now evoking band like Pink Floyd or Yes at times, and the quality remained and even improved. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

 

Warfuck - Fail. repeat (EP 2024)

This five track EP called Fail. Repeat is a short but intense reminder of how good Warfuck is now. We could say they repeatedly fail to fail and keep on producing top quality modern / post-Nasum grindcore. Recommended! 

The BC page.

 

Slave To Society - Thrown To The Wolves (EP 2023)

Slave To Society is Andrew Bowen and the music is finely crafted drum & bass / breakcore with creepy synthscape in the background. On threes tracks plus a hardcore techno remix of one of those done by Rebekah, the remix isn't my favorite but at least comparing the original and the remix shows well the difference between drum & bass and techno, in case you're not familiar with it. In any case, Thrown To The Wolves is a very good EP for people into the darker & Harder side of drum & bass.

The BC page.

Hideous Divinity - Unextinct (2024)

Unexctinct is the Fifth album from Hideous Divinity and they sure make clear that as long they will be releasing albums like these, brutal & technical death metal will stand tall. Once again, they provide a good example of how intense death metal can be. Took me a bit longer to really get into this one than with Simulacrum and Adveniens, but that's probably because it doesn't benefit from the initial shock anymore. In any case it's another excellent album.

The BC page.

 

Dark Brown - American Instrument (2024)

Well, there's really a lot to say about this album American Instrument. The instrument there is the drum set, the drum set having been invented in America and the album is a kind of tribute to drumming by drummer Bryan Lee Brown, playing here as Dark Brown. But don't be mistaken, it's a treat for drummers, but shouldn't be reduced to an album for drummers. It's an excellent psychedelic rock album, with a minimalistic feel, bordering drone or krautrock repetitive patterns at times. Recorded over 13 years in 9 studios it features some famous other drummers (John Stanier, Jon Theodore, Brad Wilk, Dave Catching), but there's also Eric MacFadden on guitar, and
you sure will also notice the legendary surf guitar pioneer Dick Dale. Highly recommended!

The BC page.

 

 

FLUIDS - Reduced Capabilities (2024)

Fourth album from these modern morticians (yes, I do mean their music sounds like a modernized version of Mortician), Reduced Capabilities, unlike the previous album, doesn't experiment, with one exception, but one you'll notice : it's a Moby cover. No joke. I think Not Dark Yet was more memorable overall, but Reduced Capabilities is still an enjoyable listen, heavy, groovy, and fun in FLUIDS twisted way.

The BC page.

 

SECT - Plagues Upon Plagues (2024)

SECT is a band with vocalist Chris Colohan (Cursed, Burning Love, Left for Dead), Scott Crouse from Earth Crisis, and three other experienced musicians from the hardcore scene. Plagues Upon Plagues, their third album, is a nice slice of slow and sludgy metallic hardcore that would feel at home on your shelf close to Vision of Disorder, Crowbar or Brutality Will Prevail. Good stuff.

The BC page.

The Ragged Jubilee - Mulholland Overdrive (2023)

Remember very well reviewing The Ragged Jubilee first album in 2012, not only because that was only the tenth post on Blasting Days (this one is the 1452!), but also because I really liked it. In the meantime, four albums and more than ten years later their music sounds heavier, still reminding The Doors at times, still with elements of garage rock that became more prevalent since their second album (that I also reviewed back in 2012), but no more americana/folk elements and Mulholland Overdrive is more like The Doors meets Black Sabbath, joined by the Black Keys. And that's totally fine, since the quality is still there. Good stuff!

Their Bandcamp page (unfortunately Mulholland Overdrive is not yet on it...).

Today is the Day - No Good to Anyone (2020)

No Good to Anyone? This latest album from Today is the Day is probably good for you, and for sure I do enjoy listening to it. It's a finely crafted mix of all TITD have done in its career, from the Am Rep twisted noise rock to the more recent extreme metal elements, and there's also a large dose of doom metal as well, showing it can fit very well Today is the Day. Interesting songs, interesting album. And a good way to enter the world of Today is the Day if you don't know it yet. Recommended!

The BC page.