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In a continuing attempt to cover more music that would all-too-oft slip through the very large cracks, we slumbering scribes are making an effort to publish short reviews at a greater frequency, thereby shining our very small spotlight on more cool music. Without further ado: a cool single.
Written by: The Administrator
And now for something completely different! On occasion, a project hits the ol' promo inbox that sits well outside the typical listening habits of we slumbering scribes. But! Over the years, we've made a deliberate attempt to whittle down expectations of gene convention here at the Sleeping Village. A good song is a good song, after all, and we're in the business of good songs. "Beating Heart," the latest dreamy psychedelic-pop single from singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Casey Wells, is a certified good song. Having listened to it no fewer than perhaps 10 times in a row, I feel somewhat qualified to talk it up. Promo materials mentions Channels-era Tame Impala as a point of comparison, which is a reference point that feels oft-cited but not always accurate. Here, though, I see the vision, both sonically and emotionally. "Beating Heart" is similarly airy and pseudo-carefree, with a subtle underpinning melancholy. It puts on airs of nonchalance, but at the root of the matter, it is in fact quite, uh, chalant. Heartfelt. Emotionally charged. In the words of the artist, it is a track about "having to pull yourself away from seeking closure. It’s the timeless battle between the head and the heart, except it’s to the point where the head is having an intervention with the heart." Not exactly a topic that one might consider "light." Emotional heft swallowed by gentle cloud-floating instrumentation frequently makes for interesting juxtaposition, and here, Casey Wells presents a delicate and ethereal balance. The synths are rich and crisp and delightfully textured. The vocals are breezy, and when they drop out briefly in the track's midsection, some barely discernible muttering in the background adds a layer of intrigue. "Beating Heart" is a short listen, concise and fluff-free. It is polished and clean--arguably pristine, even. It's a vibe-y song, and while I do wish it was long enough to facilitate a lengthier vibe session, it leaves a tantalizing impression. Casey Wells - “Beating Heart" was released Jan. 15th, 2026 via Vaguely Vivid Records. Listen to it here!
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Written by: The Administrator
This one admittedly came down to the wire, but we still got this one in before 2026 begins so all is well. If you've missed out on my long-winded justifications for why my Favorites lists habitually run a year late, you can find an explanation here. Long story short, this year-behind approach allows releases to outlast a narrow moment in time. I enjoy the process of reflection, and I like to think a shoutout 18 months later or whatever is nice for the bands involved. So! These are 24 albums from 2024 that are, in significant hindsight, still very much my favorite albums of 2024. In terms of format, this list follows my established convention, i.e. alphabetical and unranked. Genres are primarily metal and hip hop adjacent--someday I may split the list into different genre categories for the sake of covering more releases, but today is not that day. If you are at all interested, you can check out my Favorite EPs of 2024 here, and my Favorite Album Artwork of 2024 here. The trilogy is complete. Regardless of whether or not you check out anything appearing in these lists, I hope you're inspired to revisit a favorite or two from yesteryear. To the readers: thank you for reading! It means a lot and I am very grateful that you've chosen to spend time checking out what some random internet guy thinks is cool. To the artists: thank you for making music that is cool. I have very much enjoyed listening and writing. Let's dive in, shall we? 
Written by: The Administrator
Whelp. Here I am once more, basking uncomfortably in the midst of list season, justifying why my year end lists are published a year behind schedule. If you've been around for a while, please feel free to skip ahead to the good stuff. If you're wondering why I do it this way, here's a brief explanation: I firmly believe that staying power is an important aspect of music appreciation. The ability of a project to outlast the narrow moment in time immediately surround release day is a testament to its quality. In deliberate spite of the inevitable industry churn, I enjoy the process of looking backwards to revisit old favorites at this time of year. But mostly, I started doing this because I got wildly off-schedule and found great value in committing to the bit. This is the way it is, now and forever. If you are at all interested, you can check out my Favorite Album Artwork of 2024 here, and my Favorite Albums of 2024 list will follow at, y'know, some random and inopportune point in the future. So: here are 20 EPs from 2024 that, given significant hindsight, are still my favorite EPs of 2024. They made an impact and stuck around in my rotation, and that's worth celebrating. As per established precedent, the following list draws from the assorted genres and subgenres that interest me, mostly within the sphere of metal and rap. I took some liberties with the "EP" label; some may technically be mini-albums, so apologies in advance. The list is alphabetical and unranked. Everything comes highly recommended. I'd also like to issue a massive umbrella "thank you!" to every artist who contributed to the releases contained within this list. And to you: thank you for your readership of this little music blog! You're very cool and I appreciate you very much. 
Written by: Blackie Skulless
This past Halloween, a Philadelphia act that’s been dropping short releases for a few years now came forth with a full-length. Bastard Cröss are an act that take the relatively safe route of blackened thrash, one tough to screw up but also tough to stand out. If the band name didn’t make its style obvious, certainly knowing that the album title is Crossripper will, however, despite seeming rather on the nose, I think there’s a little more to what’s before us. In other words, don’t shy away from what seems like just more of the same on the surface. Despite the general aesthetic of aggressive artillery baked with speed metal ingredients and harsher vocal shrieks, you also find a healthy amount of defining characteristics with Bastard Cröss. The vocals miraculously stand out well, not only for the addition of death growls and a scratchier sense, but simply with how coarse and grating they sound against the cleaner background. Musically, there isn’t a lot in terms of blasting, tremolos, or atmosphere, opting instead for a cleaner veneer of more straightforward thrash riffs that combine rhythmic strength and a comprehensive finish. Such contrasts in the music and vocals makes for a hell of a combo; this isn’t to say the riffs themselves aren’t mean, but that they’re digestible compared to the frontman’s horrendous outcries. 
Written by: The Administrator
I'll be honest. The reveal that nature-themed black metal band Eveale is comprised of Alex Loach and Steven Wiener (in the roles of The Moth/The Monarch of the Hillside and The Newt/The North East Wizard Tyrant, respectively) wasn't a shock. Y'know, per se. Prior to said reveal, I was quite familiar with their work together, and their excellent debut two-track Lament of the Dryads / The Enemy did sound suspiciously like Alex Loach screeching vehemently over Steven Wiener's lush instrumentation. Needless to say, when the duo asked if we slumbering scribes would be interested in premiering their third track, there could only be one answer. After all, one does not refuse the churning gears of the Steve Weiner Industrial Complex. And otherwise, the promise of a (presumably) aggressive take on a classic somber Ozzy track was simply too tantalizing. And so here we are, pleased to present Eveale's cover of Ozzy Osbourne's Dreamer, which you can exclusively enjoy here at ye olde Sleeping Village for several days before official release on Dec. 5th. Purely coincidentally, today would have been Ozzy's 77th birthday, so this entire affair feels like a very apropos albeit entirely unplanned homage. Give Dreamer a listen (or two!) below, and, as always, we'll meet you on the other side! 
Written by: Blackie Skulless
It’s not often at all that I come across the “melodic black metal” tag, as the more melody oriented variants often fall into their own sub-categories around the likes of folk, thrash, etc. However, much like with its death metal counterpart, black metal utilizing this might have more to do with production, tone, and vibe more than anything. New Zealand’s Miasmata basically have been running with those characteristics since 2020. Just this year, they’d release their second record titled Subterrania, the one that was brought to my attention. As you might expect, Miasmata make their stand by mixing in a subtle blend of high and bright leads and the occasional cleaner singing into an otherwise monstrous formula. Noisy execution of blast beats and tremolos maintain a darkened window to work this into, topped with comprehensive yet hoarse shrieks that aren’t afraid to also tap into that melody. Avoiding overproduction while still casting a cleaner cloud that lets even bassy rumbles pop through enhances the experience, preventing things from getting generic. Finally, machine precision lets the harsher delivery fall into the more accessible bits without coming off awkward.
Note: this was originally published as a guest review over at Peregrinator Reviews. Check it out here!
Written by: The Administrator
When you see enough people saying that a death metal album may very well be the death metal album of the year, it is honestly pretty easy to take them at their word. Indeed, perhaps moreso than any other genre, I fundamentally believe that death metal's sheer number of high quality albums is a statistical anomaly. There are, of course, some stinkers, but surely there must exist more low and middling quality albums to balance things out. But alas. A great many death metal albums are of a remarkably high quality. And so: I find myself once more bestowing the mantle of high quality death metal album upon a high quality death metal album. Malignity by Vile Apparition is undeniably a high quality death metal album. If you enjoy high quality death metal albums, this particular example may very well sit high on your list of high quality death metal albums released this year. 
Written by: The Administrator
Greetings, dear readers, and welcome back to yet another premiere! We're stepping it up today with a full album, courtesy of Baltimore's Born of Plagues. The mighty Dead Endings is their sophomore release, and if you're on the hunt for something as crushingly gloomy as it is crushingly heavy, I suspect you'll find this one quite worth your while. Born of Plagues play an intriguing brand of death-doom that feels as funereal and moody as it is brawny and sludgy. I'm immediately drawn to anything that seeks to combine the tenets of death and doom; like many of the great duos of history, the genre conglomerate succeeds because it is greater than the sum of its component parts. I'm obviously a massive fan of both on their own, but when the sheer aggression of death metal meets the morose melancholy of doom, something borderline magical is liable to occur. By virtue of comparison, the doomy elements seem doomier, and the deathy moments seem, y'know. Deathier? On Dead Endings, the doom elements do feel more overtly prominent across the breadth, but the death-adjacent inclusions serve well to elevate the project. There's a notable sense of dynamics at play, and the juxtaposition of a stygian gloom with well-placed bloody-knuckled pugilism helps maintain interest and intrigue. A good death-doom project will often demonstrate a strong sense of push and pull, ebb and flow, give and take. Dead Endings fulfills this quality quite handily. Prior to its official release tomorrow, November 21st, we're pleased to present Dead Endings in its entirety. Check it out below! Do it quickly, lest I bore you with more pontification on the many merits of death and doom's unholy union. As always, we'll meet again on the far side!  Written by: The Administrator We slumbering scribes were out of the premiere game for a minute there. But alas! Good Boy PR has revived us from our beauty sleep with a series of slumber-shattering projects that deserve the ol' premiere treatment. The genre-stew cacophony of Old Deer was the jumpstart we needed, evidently; this week will see not one but two premieres, the first of which comes from Slôdder, Sweden's own self-reported "rabid and misanthropic" slingers of sludge. Today's track/music video in question, "Brat Salad," serves as the third single for Slôdder's forthcoming album Narcissist, which drops November 26th. It's the followup to 2023's “A Mind Designed To Destroy Beautiful Things,” and I can comfortably say that it is inordinately heavy. Indeed, a brief scan of the FFO's indicates that Slôdder represents music that is profoundly hefty, loud, and uncompromising. EyeHateGod, Iron Monkey, Fistula, Weedeater, Brainoil, Anti Cimex, and Discharge are all referenced. I hardly need to tell you that this lineup--and I mean this in the most complimentary sense--makes for a migraine-inducing roster. Slôdder likewise exudes heaviness. At this point in their career, they are no strangers to music that crushes and bludgeons with a grim and dissatisfied determination. Getting to the point: "Brat Salad" makes a strong argument for their commitment to the craft. We are honored to premiere the track and video here today. Give it a listen (and a watch!) below. As always, we'll meet you on the other side! "Brat Salad" is perhaps best enjoyed with the volume set somewhere between "dull roar" and "skull-splitting." There's a true physicality baked into the music, with Slôdder's low end indulging in a beastly tone that feels like it could cause genuine and long-lasting bodily harm if encountered in a live setting. This is ribcage-splintering, lung-crushing, artery-bursting stuff. For all its implicit groove, the bass is weaponized and impactful. And, in leaning into the most aggressive side of sludge pedigree, "Brat Salad" is laced with considerable hardcore vitriol. The anguished vocals could strip paint. There's a whole lot of caustic and incendiary energy here. The urgency of the vocals pairs nicely with the more traditionally plodding presence of the doomy instrumentation. If you enjoy this track, I recommend checking out the prior two singles--"opener "Buzzmonkey" is brief and fairly blistering, and "peacock syndrome" takes a similarly powerful drive while extending it into a longer form composition. And lest it be forgot: the music video! The fragmented greysclae imagery suits the sonics quite well, and the generally morose footage of driving down a featureless road that encompasses the first half is uncomfortably medetative. The back half introduces some remarkable lo-def imagery: the band performing, faces, unfurling hands, guns, violence, riot police. It is stark and monochromatic and effective. It now occurs to me that I've overcomplicated this writeup significantly. I could have simply said that "Brat Salad" is heavy as fuck at left it at that. So: "Brat Salad" is heavy as fuck. Check it out, and keep an eye (and ear) out for Narcissist on November 26th. Slôdder - Narcissist will be released November 26, 2025 via Shit County Records. Find it here. 
Written by: The Administrator
While I was listening to fair amount of stoner and psychedelic rock back in 1999, it was largely incidental--I was a child, and the adults in my life with excellent taste in music weren't exactly passing the aux to 5 year old me. Said adults did evidently miss out on the original release of Datura's Visions For The Celestial, and so I am hearing it now for the first time, despite a slew of reissues. In any case, this latest rebirth serves as the 8th chapter of Ripple Music's "Beneath The Desert Floor" series, which "unearths treasures from the golden days of stoner and desert rock." The continual presence of this album suggests to a Datura newcomer such as myself that the songs are probably somewhat timeless. And yeah, that assumption feels correct. Visions For The Celestial represents the epitome of classic psychedelia-infused stoner rock. The reality of listening in 2025 may temper Datura's impact due to the innumerable psychedelia-infused stoner rock bands that have sprung forth in the past quarter century, but as an exemplar of the heavy psych style, it makes for a supreme listen. The leads are prone to meandering, the vocals are thin yet just gruff enough to impart a little grit without going full sleaze. The drums are rock-solid and while not flashy, they act as a tangible foil to the guitar when things get more overtly psychedelic. And all the while, the bass is surprisingly punchy and often imparts a swagger that, while unexpected in a cosmically minded stoner scenario, is exceedingly welcome. A tasty groove-laden momentum--take highlight track "Voyage" as a prime example--keeps the album moving along quite nicely, which is a frankly bit of a rarity in the world of psychedelic music. |
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