Drew Zalucky's Picks (So Far)
Gridlink- Longena
21 sweet minutes of brain-scrambling madness mixed with earnest, melodic energy. I’d heard melodic guitar playing blended into nearly every form of metal, but I hadn’t quite imagined how it would sound when fed to the lions of grindcore. I’m only sad that I’m so late to the party, as this album will apparently be Gridlink’s last.
The Oath- The Oath
Oh sure, go ahead and make neo-classical metal finally sound good and then suddenly break up immediately after you release your first album. Seriously, with all the excellent riffs and catchy melodies drifting across such a dark and spooky atmosphere, I was really hoping there was more where this came from. Regardless, The Oath is one of the best albums of the year, making whatever the members decide to do definitely worth watching out for. At least we still have Subrosa and The Wounded Kings.
Skinfather- None Will Mourn
At this point, we really do need a webster’s dictionary of metal genre definitions, particularly when it comes to all the permutations of death metal. So it’s nice when a band like Skinfather goes and makes a no nonsense death metal record (along the lines of today’s modern Entombed-core sound) to just clear the air for all of us. That and I can’t help but laugh in excitement at the singer’s unrelenting delivery (“uuuuuueeeeeegghhh!!!!”).
Agalloch- The Serpent and the Sphere
A safe choice you might say. But hey, Agalloch is one of my favorite bands of all time, and this album is a great addition to their catalog. I still can’t get over the amazing riff on “The Astral Dialogue” and the brilliant composition of songs like “Dark Matter Gods” and “Celestial Effigy.” It almost makes me excited for when winter comes back – just to set it to this album.
Enabler- La Fin Absolue Du Monde
Since our editorial requirements for this piece limited us to five albums, I of course agonized over what band to pick last. At the moment, I’m getting really into Enabler’s new album, much for the same reason I’m into Young and in the Way’s new album. Along with the obvious thrash influence, it brings a genuine hardcore punk feel lost on a lot of other music today. It’s almost comforting to me that these bands exist.
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When he's not infuriating people with his album reviews, Drew Zalucky is busy writing for his political website, For the Sake of Argument.
