New Spins: 21st September 2020

It's a late one this week, but some fantastically diverse metal on this weeks New Spins, including the latest singles from my 7th greatest doom band ever...


Golgi Apparatus - Breach

This was sent to me in a group comment without much info, and in seeking out more about the group it turns out there isn't really much to be found. On their bandcamp page it claims they are a duo from Vienna, but even that sees to be a bit cryptic. In all honestly it isn't surprising, because the music itself is pretty hard to pin down too. Crossing different styles and and tones in every song, this is music far more focused on atmosphere and emotion than on any genre boundaries. It's post-metal, but not as we know it, with plenty of weird electronic sounds clashing over doom riffs, vocals that go from harsh yells to soft croons, and a very subversive song-craft which has little regard for traditional structures. Lyrically it's also particularly poetic and abstract, reminding me of the kind of stream of consciousness prose of one of my favourite bands, post-everything-core masters Circle Takes The Square. It's undoubtedly an interesting listen, in fact I've been listening to it numerous times this week, on each occasion finding something new more enthralling in the songs. It's a record that continues to surprise and this is definitely one that will remain on my playlist for a while.

https://golgimusic.bandcamp.com/album/breach 


Desert Colossus - Eyes and Tongues


As you may be able to fathom from their name, Desert Colossus, who hail from The Netherlands, play music somewhere in between desert rock and stoner doom, two genres not that far removed from each other, but still with enough of a gap between them for a band to slide into. Eyes and Tongues has definitely got an early Queens Of The Stone Age sound to it, but the band make their riffs just that little bit heavier and thicker in tone. The band have clearly honed their skills further from their 2017 album Omnibeul, as the obvious Monster Magnet, Kyuss and Fu Manchu influences have developed into something a bit more individual and distinct. The record is full of massive hooks and a nice balance between the melancholic down-to-earth sounds and the more psychedelic atmospheric ones. I've heard a few newer bands recently who are fully committing to the desert doom sound, and Desert Colossus certainly sit up there as among the best.

https://desertcolossus.bandcamp.com/album/eyes-and-tongues 


Pallbearer - The Quicksand Of Existing / Rite Of Passage / Forgotten Days


There's a lot of people, me included, who are very excited about the new Pallbearer album, and for very good reason. The record is due out in just over a month's time, but the band have already released the title track along with Rites Of Passage, both of which have sounded brilliant; and now they have released the third single The Quicksand Of Existing, which to my ears is the best of the bunch. It's unmistakably Pallbearer, their astute blend of classic doom tropes and modern doom's heaviness is rarely matched by any band, but they sound better and more fearlessly creative than ever on these three tracks. They're clearly not afraid to let their darker side out too, particularly on the title track which has in it's opening passages the most evil sounding riff Pallbearer have ever put to record. The three songs together have been on heavy rotation for me recently, and this album is definitely one of my most highly anticipated of the year so far.

https://pallbearer.bandcamp.com

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