FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: May 22nd, 2020

Every Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s gates, stuffed to the brim with our sustenance for the following week. Today is the day we must offload all this new music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some of our choice picks from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be listening to today here at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so!  Note: there was a veritable horde of excellent music released today. As such, we tried to focus on some lesser-known artists for this edition. More reviews to follow in days to come!

On the docket for today, May 22nd, 2020:
Pile of Priests, Molder, Without Light, and Capra

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Pile of Priests - Pile of Priests​ 
(Extreme Metal Music)

That band name, right? That album artwork, right?! This looks like an absolute riot, and, thankfully, it sounds like one too. Pile of Priests play a gloriously theatrical brand of (alternately) thrashy and proggy death metal, with ample room for narrative. To their credit, these elements never conflict of clash--indeed, the narrative elements and progressive leanings, which might feel campy in lesser hands, lend the entire affair an oddly addicting charm. It takes guts to inject grunty riff-driven death metal with a soaring epic flair, but this self-titled beast handles the challenges...well, handily.

​Pile of Priests is, in sum, a fun and competent conglomerate of independent elements that make death metal enjoyable. This particular scribe shall certainly be listening in weeks (and months) to come.

​Find it on bandcamp here!

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Molder - Vanished Cadavers
(Rotted Life Records*)

Speakin' of death metal, it's time for one of the underground's hottest acts in OSDM entertain-ment. If you've been following us for a while, you'll know that we Villagers are big fans of Molder's cadaver-licking style of death metal barbarity. As such,  the release of the stellar Vanished Cadavers is a cause for much joy and celebration. This is everything I had hoped--big riffs, meaty production, vicious vocal onslaught, and a generally. This album, notably, employs a slightly thrashier edge than what we've seen before, as well as a clearer approach to rapid-fire composition. Fans of Autopsy rejoice. While it ain't fresh, Molder represents the concentrated form of everything we underground and old school death metal fans love about the genre trappings. They are, undoubtedly, going places. (*Also seeing release on Goatthrone  and Headsplit.)

Find it on bandcamp here!

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Without Light - All The Kings Must Burn
(Self-Released) 

There are few things more gratifying than a band that starts off on the right foot and, somehow, continues to improve on their subsequent effort. Such is the case with All The Kings Must Burn, the latest from Chicago's (arguably) sludgiest doomsters Without Light. We've got a full-length review forthcoming, so I'll keep this brief: listening to heralds of the great cosmic doom is akin to having your eyes thumbed out by a gorilla prior to being thrown into a squamish lovecraftian trash compactor. It's dark, it's damp, and it crushes with single-minded momentum. Impossibly thick riffage lumbers with pythonian grace through an astral backdrop of diaphragm-splitting howls and monolithic groove. That said, there's a tasteful psychedelic balance on display here, dispelling impending migraines.

​More later, but for now: highly recommended!

Find it on bandcamp here!

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Capra - Capra
(Self-Released)

Sometimes, on very rare occasion, a track sneaks into our drafty scriptorium and...simply refuses to leave. Such was the case with "Torture Ships," Side A of the self-titled 2-track from Capra, Lafayette's most infectious metallic hardcore unit. I listened to this damn thing on repeat at least seven times before even moving on to the next track, "Paper Tongues,"--which, bear with me here--delivers even more replay value. The high-octane vocals are a particularly strong suit on both tracks, as Crow Lotus barks and shouts with unrestrained abandon, lending the affair a distinctly punky conviction and 'tude. Capra feel relentlessly youthful, but, at the same time, carry themselves with the confidence of an act that knows the ropes. This EP is an energetic kick in the ass, and I doubt it will stop spinning 'round these parts for quite some time.

​Find it on bandcamp here!

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