NEW FLESH: Releases From Mantar Church Tongue Love Is Noise and More

NEW FLESH: Releases From Mantar, Church Tongue, Love Is Noise and More

- By Ramon Gonzales -->

This week's outstanding shortlist of entries spans doom punk, alt-heavy shoegaze, hardcore, metalcore and beyond. 

MANTAR - POST APOCALYPTIC DEPRESSION (Metal Blade Records)

NEW FLESH: Releases From Mantar Church Tongue Love Is Noise and More

For the German doom punk duo of Mantar, the acclaim of their 2022 LP, Pain Is Forever And This Is The End was plentiful and more than deserved, but it did not come without a heavy toll. The meticulous studio process would strain the relationship between members Hanno Klänhardt and Erinc Sakarya, causing the tandem to nearly call it quits in response to the stress. For the follow up, the pair skipped the mapping and just went for it, crafting a loud, raucous and palpably raw record that speaks to the insane talent of the tandem. Three years ago, Mantar earned praise for their hugely constructed wall of sound. In the span of 12 unrelenting tracks of Post Apocalyptic Depression, Mantar gloriously tear down what the built march over the rumble. 

CHURCH TONGUE - YOU'LL KNOW IT WAS ME (Pure Noise Records)

NEW FLESH: Releases From Mantar Church Tongue Love Is Noise and More
The Midwest prospects make their Pure Noise Records debut with unflinching six-track EP that showcases a controlled sonic chaos that plays out with an arsenal of riffs, bombastic percussion and guttural vocals that  hit the mark with heft. In addition to the band's onslaught, Church Tongue has enlisted the help of a few special guests to add to the firepower of the new EP. Colin Young of Twitching Tongues and God's Hate is featured on the record along with George Clarke of Deafheaven and Crystal Pak of Initiate also contribute to the project. 

LOVE IS NOISE - TO LIVE IN A DIFFERENT WAY (Century Media Records)

NEW FLESH: Releases From Mantar Church Tongue Love Is Noise and More

There is so much to unpack on the sophomore full length from the UK project, Love Is Noise. Graduating from the eruptive, unexpected bursts that characterized their well-received first outing, Euphoria, Where Are You?, the steady-hand songwriting style of Cameron Humphrey is on full display for album two. Crafting a tight-knit weave that threads shoegaze, post-hardcore and even sources a hint of Brit-pop for dose of added flair - the end result is fine showing of competent songwriting and artistic maturity from one album to the next. Effortlessly heavy, mindfully melodic and articulate throughout, To live in a different way is everything we know heavy music can be.  

HANGMAN'S CHAIR - SADDICTION (Nuclear Blast Records)

NEW FLESH: Releases From Mantar Church Tongue Love Is Noise and More
For the French doom veterans of Hangman's Chair, the band has built a sterling reputation for being able to extract the beauty from the bleak and album seven is resounding  evidence of just that. Earning stylistic comparisons to that of Kenny Hickey's work in Type O Negative, the creative kinship seems rooted in the band's ability to almost romanticize darkness- delivering an entry that combines Sadness and Addiction on Valentine's Day for added emphasis. For a record that treads the emotional cost of desolation and the spiral of isolation, every track has a breakthrough moment of musical majesty that feels glorious, even in its gloom. Hangman's Chair has given the world one of the first truly great records of 2025.

BLEEDING THROUGH - NINE (SharpTone Records)

NEW FLESH: Releases From Mantar Church Tongue Love Is Noise and More

Following a steady succession of singles that began last spring with the release of the explosive "Our Brand Is Chaos" followed by the emphatic, "Dead But So Alive", metalcore vets Bleeding Through have unleashed their first full length effort in more than six years with, Nine. The album serves as an important milestone as their ninth studio project and levels up the hostility issued on the band's 2018 release, Love Will Kill All. A product of SoCal hardcore, Bleeding Through's meld of thrash, cinematic black metal and metalcore make for a musical molotov that quickly infernos. Few bands with their tenure can achieve this kind of hunger and hostility on record while making it believable. Bleeding Through prove a rare breed. 

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