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AFTERMYFALL - The Sound of Static (Review)

6/15/2021

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Written by: The Administrator

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The metal community has used metalcore (and its affiliates) as the butt of a joke for so long that many of us have forgotten or neglected its true strength: namely, a vehicle for the explosive expression of emotion. The stigma certainly has a basis in, y'know, a veritable bevy of lackluster exemplars of the style, but the general notion that "metalcore = intrinsically bad" is an obviously unfair burden to place upon the diamonds in the rough. While many of us are understandably cynical, there's a lot of very good metalcore out there that remains hidden behind prejudicial assumptions about the style, and that's a damn shame.

In any case, today's two-track demonstrates quite well the aforementioned strength of the style: an ability to convey feelings like anger and angst in a notably volatile and cathartic fashion. These dual singles from L.A's own AFTERMYFALL illustrate the success one can find when deliberately borrowing from other genres, injecting a little heartfelt authenticity, and avoiding the performative pitfalls that plague the dregs of 'core.


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OSIAH - Loss (Review)

5/9/2021

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Written by: The Administrator

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Speaking exclusively from an admittedly shallow well of experience, there are few genres as situational as deathcore. Am I actively engaged in an a high-intensity workout? If so, deathcore is an appropriate soundtrack. Am I doing anything other than slangin' iron and sweating bullets? Deathcore is more than likely buried underneath a veritable mountain of  genres I would rather spend my time with. Given this implicit bias, I have spent a lot of time listening to Osiah's latest while strutting around in the cobwebb'd cellar confines of my home gym. To their credit, however, this album has slowly started to escape the typical listening environments. The ability to hold interest outside of the usual arena is a pretty notable quality.


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FRESH MEAT FRIDAY - March 26th, 2021, Feat.  Breaths, Celestial Sanctuary, Dope Skum, and Seven Serpents

3/26/2021

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On (most!) Fridays, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s rusted palisade, stuffed to the brim with musical sustenance. Today is the day we must offload this week's new and noteworthy 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 at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so! 

It isn't bandcamp Friday, but...
...that doesn't mean it isn't a great day to support musicians!


​On the docket for today, March 26th, 2021:
Breaths, Celestial Sanctuary, Dope Skum, and Seven Serpents

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Breaths - Lined In Silver
(Trepanation Recordings)

Having premiered 

not one but two tracks from this fantastic debut album, you can rest assured that it carries the (very official) Sleeping Village Seal of Approval. I won't delve too far into reiteration--I recommend reading said premieres for a more in-depth analysis--but in sum, Lined In Silver succeeds enormously at melding seemingly disparate genres in a  fashion that feels both innovative and sincere. Combining traits of post-metal/rock, doom, hardcore, prog, and blackgaze, this album is all over the map, but manages to find a common aesthetic that perfectly serves the storytelling.  Whether engaging in dreamy ambiance, immersive doomgaze, emotive abrasivity, angular aggression, or a general post-rock melancholy, Breaths maintains a wonderfully rare and pure sense of self. There's a tangible emotional weight on display here--the whole affair feels deeply personal. Lined In Silver is an album that rewards (and demands) multiple listens. Don't miss it.

​Find it on bandcamp here!

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Celestial Sanctuary - Soul Diminished
(Redefining Darkness & Church Road)

​A confession: I personally have a really hard time writing about death metal. For whatever reason, my vocabulary simply won't warp to the sights and sounds that the genre typically offers. As such, my thoughts often feel stupidly rudimentary: "the riffs are riff-y, the death growls are death-y, and, by sheer benefit of engaging with this album, my head did much banging." Granted, in the case of an album such as Celestial Sanctuary's latest, that level of description/praise feels like it is enough. If you like death metal, you will absolutely enjoy Soul Diminished. It really is that simple.

That's not to say, however, that Celestial Sanctuary don't provide their own perspective. Among the OSDM are glimmers of more experimental fare--a flash of melody, a glimpse of lumbering doom. Notably, they possess the ability to hit hard while keeping light on their feet, and that alone is a quality worth watching. This crew is going places.

​Find it on bandcamp here!


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PORTRAYAL OF GUILT - We Are Always Alone (Review)

2/18/2021

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Written by: Izzy

Let me open this up by saying this was one of my most anticipated releases of early 2021, and that undoubtedly affects how you perceive a piece of media, for better or for worse.

Portrayal of Guilt caught my eye back in 2018 with their debut Let Pain Be Your Guide, which was a brutal, blistering piece of raw metallic screamo, and one of my favourite records of that year. With their latest LP We Are Always Alone they take a pretty logical trajectory sound-wise, doubling down on the black metal and sludge influences and creating a much more sinister and hateful sounding album, all while still keeping that distinctly ferocious metalcore and grindcore spirit underpinning. Everything sounds perfectly in order and it should be amazing, right?


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HUMANITY'S LAST BREATH - Välde (Review)

2/17/2021

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Written by: Izzy

Deathcore as a genre is very prone to stagnation. While I’m entirely in support of moshable bro-core that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but still delivers something fun and full of energy, the genre had been going through a period of staleness. After the golden MySpace years had died out things started going downhill, and suddenly there was a gap to be filled by adventurous deathcore that is willing to experiment and do something new. Many of those deathcore albums that broke out of the mold and made bold new statements are ones I still remember extremely fondly today.

Humanity’s Last Breath are fairly new blood, and while I had briefly enjoyed their music before in the occasions I had listened to them, I could tell Välde was gonna be something special after hearing the singles "Earthless" and "Vittring." Their strange and progressive approach to deathcore songwriting filled with unique guitar effects and off kilter winding passages entranced me and left me excitedly anticipating if the final product would deliver, and it did. Välde is one of the most refreshing pieces of deathcore in recent memory.



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ALEMENT - Onward / The Hunter (Review)

1/5/2021

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Written by: Blackie Skulless

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Not far from my hometown comes a compilation that dropped late last year consisting of two releases from the Philadelphia-based band Alement. One side consists of the EP Onward, which dropped in 2019. The other bears The Hunter from two years prior, thus the two smashed together as Onward / The Hunter. Caligari Records was swell enough to drop both onto one compact tape, as they fit a lot into a quick six-track listen.

Across the board, you get a sense of punky riffs and attitude that pass through thrashy territory, creating lots of sweaty angst and hard rhythms. Painted atop due to harsh soundscapes and production comes a crust-drenched tint. This works well with the use of build-up and suspense, thanks to noisy gradients. Moreover, bass takes a very high precedence here, teaming up well with the raspy and grunt-like vocals.


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PEASANTRY'S PICKS: Grindcore (Feat. Bandit, Kaya, Kuroi Jikai, & Gendo Ikari)

11/13/2020

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Written by: Izzy

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So, for a little bit now I've been doing weekly retrospective reviews on older albums I enjoy a lot, with the main intent being for you as the reader to find new albums you may enjoy, and for me as the writer to get to talk about albums I may never have gotten to otherwise
But of course, as I am human and not a machine, sometimes I find it difficult deciding on what to review, twiddling my thumbs and trying out various rough draft ideas until eventually that fateful Friday creeps up on me and I’m left still unsure what to do. This was my response to my (admittedly self-created) new problem.

Peasantry’s Picks! This will be an occasional retrospective format I use for talking about a small, themed selection of EPs or short albums that would be nigh-impossible to review in the format of a full-length dissection, but when paired together offer a lovely little charcuterie of releases to sample and taste. And in the last minute spirit of this, I decided I wanted to talk about a handful of almost absurdly short grindcore EPs that, despite their unimposing runtime, I can’t resist coming back to.  Like musical junk food, these EPs and albums are addicting, almost impossible to play just once. 
Each project presented is 10 minutes or less in length, and some as short as 5 minutes! So if you enjoy grindcore, I see absolutely no reason not to do yourself a favour and check them out.


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FUCKED UP - The Chemistry of Common Life (Retrospective)

11/6/2020

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Village stalwart Izzy is delivering a fresh retrospective review every Friday! Make sure to check in weekly for a dose of nostalgia. - Ed.

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Written by: Izzy

In spite of my adoration for many of punk’s subgenres, from metalcore to screamo to post-hardcore and more, I tend to struggle with enjoying the older and purer forms of punk. I could talk about the three aforementioned  styles for hours and hours, but ask me about my favourite hardcore punk bands and my mind goes blank. Like, there’s uh…I like a couple Black Flag albums I guess? Crass and Spazz are okay too, and there’s a handful of Japanese hardcore bands like Gauze or Crow that I enjoy a lot, oh there’s Rudimentary Peni! Those guys are amazing. What about Midori, do they count? Eh they’re probably too artsy to be hardcore punk, much closer to jazz punk. I could maybe come up with one or two more, but you get the point.

Amongst that tiny list of bands,
Fucked Up would probably seem like an odd choice, as most people know them for their later punk rock opera albums, but rather early into their career yet quite late in the grand scheme of hardcore punk sits an oddity dear to my heart: their 2008 sophomore LP The Chemistry of Common Life.


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VENOM PRISON - Primeval (Review)

10/22/2020

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Written by: Izzy

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I’m noticing a bit of a trend in the world of metal music recently. Maybe I’m just oblivious and this has been happening for a while, but in the last two years especially, I’ve noticed what I’d dare say is an old-school deathcore revival.

In 2019 we had Knocked Loose, Fuming Mouth, Vatican, Serration, and Venom Prison (the lattermost being one of my favourite albums of that year), then just out of 2020 so far we've got Gulch, Xibalba, Year of The Knife, Umbra Vitae, and…Venom Prison again? Maybe 2020 isn’t so bad after all. At the very least, this will be a great opportunity to talk about one of my favourite and most underlooked styles in metal!



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GLASS CASKET - We Are Gathered Here Today… (Retrospective)

10/16/2020

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Village stalwart Izzy is stepping up the retrospective game, and will henceforth deliver a fresh one every Friday! Make sure to check in weekly for a dose of nostalgia. - Ed.

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Written by: Izzy

Glass Casket are a bit of a personal gem. While they’re far from being the first deathcore band, their 2004 album We Are Gathered Here Today… is, in my mind, one of the most iconic and seminal deathcore releases out there. It is one of the earliest examples of a modern-ish sounding deathcore release, and, without a doubt, one of my all-time favourites. 

But as with many amazing bands, they are sadly overlooked, because their work was sandwiched in a period of time just before deathcore blew up. Glass Casket, alongside many others, ended up getting forgotten in favour of their contemporaries who would go on to bring the genre both its popularity and infamy.


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