ARCHITECTS - THE SKY, THE EARTH & ALL BETWEEN (Epitaph Records)
Metalcore heavyweights Architects have launched the highly-anticipated follow up to their 2022 LP, the classic symptoms of a broken spirit, via Epitaph Records. The Sky, The Earth & All Between marks the band's lauded return and the band's continued success with frequent collaborator and in producer Jordan Fish. Propelled by the success of effective previews in “Blackhole,” “Whiplash,” “Curse,” “Seeing Red” and the emotive "Everything Ends" as well as the recent drop with House of Protection in "Brain Dead", Architects have cemented their legacy as metalcore gamechangers on an 11th studio effort that still dares to challenge the genre's status quo.
OVERSIZE - VITAL SIGNS (SharpTone Records)
UK alt shoegaze standouts Oversize have made their eagerly anticipated full length debut, Vital Signs. Working in close collaboration with producer Lewis Johns, the band's nod to 90's rock in the vein of staples like Failure, Deftones and Slowdive amount to an ethereal, atmospheric ride as driving as it is delicate. Assertive song dynamics, poignant melodies and a thoroughly convincing performance from frontman Sam McCauley comprises the kind of full length introduction that more than substantiates the hype.
CLOAKROOM - LAST LEG OF THE HUMAN TABLE (Closed Casket Activities)
Last year, Indiana avant-alt specialists Cloakroom announced their signing to heavy music authority Closed Casket Activities. Delivered the follow-up to the band's acclaimed 2022 full length, Dissolution Wave, Last Leg of the Human Table is a multi-faceted fever dream of pop, shoegaze, doom, post-punk, folk. What is even more impressive than the variety packed into the band's shortest effort, is the kind of cohesiveness that works on this record. With no two songs the same stylistically, Cloakroom manages to show their range while proving they are no one trick pony.
DARK CHAPEL - SPIRIT IN THE GLASS (MNRK Heavy)
Helmed by Dario Lorina, guitarist and producer for Black Label Society, the passion project in Dark Chapel makes an impressive debut with Spirit In the Glass via MNRK Heavy. The amalgam of sludgy groove with blues-heavy styling makes for a collection of well-executed tracks that resonate soulful and sleek. With Lorina's composure and song-writing steady hand in the spotlight, the combination of guitar chops and well-crafted croon make for a comprehensive rock record that effortlessly exudes good taste and even better form.
YOU, INFINITE - YOU, INFINITE (Pelagic Records)
As the first showing from Jeremy Galindo and Raymond Brown, founders of acclaimed instrumental collective This Will Destroy You, you, infinite is the very definition of passion project. A lush, layered presentation of cinematic post-rock, the songwriting tandem, rounded out by the touring line-up of TWDY in Johnnie McBryde, Ethan Billips and Nicholas Huft, craft epic soundscapes that transform songs into something truly transcendent. Celebrated for their breadth of work as post-rock pioneers, Galindo and Brown have again asserted their prowess as the kind of songwriters that can tell a story with no words.
