WAGE WAR - STIGMA (Fearless Records)
On 2021's Manic, Metalcore stalwarts Wage War found success while coloring outside the margins of the genre. Implementing electronics and different shades of metallic heft, the Florida band found creative freedom as songwriters and came out a better band for it. If Manic was where the band turned the corner, Stigma is where they found their stride. Playing to their strengths, the album still packs the big choruses and the polished production of conventional metalcore, while sourcing style points from various subcategories ranging from metal to industrial to pop. Five albums in, Wage War have truly come into their own and this album is proof.
ALCEST - LES CHANTS DE L’AURORE (Nuclear Blast Records)
French post metal/blackgaze unit Alcest continue their streak of critically lauded releases with the arrival of their seventh full length, their first since 2019's Spiritual Instinct. On Les Chants De L'Aurore, Niege and Winterhalter craft sanguine compositions that translate as otherworldly with each of the seven tracks showcasing an undeniable command of emotion. Asserting expert-level musicianship, combined with poignant artistry, Alcest craft high art that appeals to a broad range of fans both within metal and beyond.
KITTIE - FIRE (Sumerian Records)
Unleashing their first full length studio effort in more than 13 years and marking the 25th anniversary of their game-changing debut Spit, Kittie have proven to be one of the year's most intriguing comeback stories. Working with accomplished producer Nick Raskulinecz, Fire is a testament to the band's resilience and underscores the ferocity of the band that has reemerged with a new vigor, a new focus and the same volatility that first propelled them to stardom a generation ago. On Fire, the band's signature heft and insightful lyrical breadth is on full display, emphasizing that not only is Kittie back, but they were operating at arguably their very best yet.
GASKET - BABYLON (Blue Grape Music)
Emerging from Baltimore's steeped hardcore roots, Gasket has followed the release of their well-received 2023 EP, Dull the Needle, with a six-track effort that is putting the greater world of hardcore, punk and metal all on notice. A fiery concoction of d-beat and old school hardcore, Gasket has accomplished what every band tries and many fail to accomplish - capture real explosiveness on the track. These songs aren't technical, nor are they intended to be. Babylon is all of 11-minutes of explosiveness that is as real as it is raw.
FOREIGN HANDS - WHAT'S LEFT UNSAID (SharpTone Records)
Delaware/PA-bred collective Foreign Hands have delivered an impressive full length debut on an album that offers an homage to the salad days of 2000's metalcore. On What's Left Unsaid, the band wrangles a frenetic energy that propels each track into a tail whip, all the while never compromising the precision that makes this such a well pieced presentation. These songs are as focused and well assembled as they are chaotic and cathartic, indicative of a band that understands songs are made in the studio but experienced on stage.
CAVALERA - SCHIZOPHRENIA (Nuclear Blast Records)
Having already re-recorded and released two seminal Sepultura masterworks, the brothers Cavalera have completed the trilogy started Bestial Devastation in 1985, continued with Morbid Visions in 1986 and punctuated with Schizophrenia in '87. Enlisting revered producer and frequent collaborator, Arthur Rizk, Max and Iggor along with Travis Stone and Iggor Amadeus Calavera have retrofitted a death thrash classic, revisiting the seminal 1987 masterwork with a bolstered re-recording. Given these songs are nearly four decades old and still hit, it's plain to see why the Cavalera name is held in such high regard. With a new, unreleased song in "Nightmares of Delirium" to boot, this is a must.
