Connor’s June Jams Round-Up!
June was a jam-packed month–so it’s definitely understandable that one or two top-notch releases might have slipped your ears. Never fear, Connor is here! These are some of this month’s hottest, heaviest hitters that you should definitely make yourself familiar with.
First, there is a two-way tie for number five.
5 A) God of Nothing – Tormentor [EP]
Blending raw, throat-rending aggression with cunning instrumental brilliance, God of Nothing break the mold of brutalizing deathcore with their debut EP, Tormentor. Every moment of this release is more violent than the last, shedding blood and shredding flesh with every intense riff and prolapse-inducing breakdown. If there is one take-away message from this release, it is that God of Nothing are not afraid to take the heaviest of the heavy and smash it against the most masterful of the technically proficient, all within a frame of perfect, dynamic songwriting that makes the EP flow like melted butter.
Check out the review HERE
5 B) Get JIGGY With It – Skull Smasher
Get JIGGY With It is a band worth checking out on their name alone–never mind the pure punishment that makes Skull Smasher the demented offspring of Preschool Tea Party Massacre and Infant Annihilator. Combining bouncy, catchy electronics with cervix-crushing slams and skull-splitting breakdowns, Get JIGGY With It are a chug-friendly, brutaller-than-brutal riot that will have the listener up and on the dance floor in no time–leaving it covered in blood once they’re through.
Check out the review HERE
4) Drifted – No Front Teeth [EP]
It seems that June is the month of break-out talent–this time coming from the UK. If you’re like me, hearing “heavy” and “British” in the same sentence means you absolutely have to check it out, and Drifted are no exception. No Front Teeth is one part pure, lacerating deathcore (a la Bound By Exile) and one part entrancing, hypermelodic atmosphere (reminiscent of Martyr Defiled). With gut-wrenching heaviness and skin-tingling songwriting prowess, Drifted are a band that have wasted no time in positioning themselves to take the throne of the UK deathcore kingdom from the ranks of the unknown peasantry.
Check Out the Review HERE
3) Vanna – VOID
Lets get right to the point–when you think Vanna, you probably think post-hardcore legends. And if you didn’t think that before Void released, you sure as shit will afterwards. Vanna are at the absolute top of their game–their perfect form, as it were–on Void. They are both at their heaviest and their catchiest, using brilliant and dynamic songwriting tactics to make each song hit harder than the last, ingraining its way into the listener’s skull and making it an out-of-nowhere album of the year contender.
Check out the Review HERE
2) Apex – MMXIV [EP]
No matter what definition of Apex you choose to adhere to these Cincinnati Crushers, you’re dead on. If you happen to be referring to Apex as in Apex Predator, then the shoe fits–as MMXIV is a corrosive, insatiable carnivore that devours every other release its peers have put forth. If you’re talking about a peak or pinnacle, then you also couldn’t be closer to the truth, as Apex are just that–the climactic (and climax-inducing) form of technical, chaotic deathcore. To put it simply, Apex’s debut EP MMXIV is what happens when The Acacia Strain van-flips into The Dillenger Escape Plan’s bus, wiping out Whitechapel in the process; sinister, skin-shredding technicality, bone-busting breakdowns and relentless energy all in one brief package.
Check out the Review HERE
1) Hail to the King – Nomicon [EP]
Finally, Hail to the King. Taking a slight detour from the sound that got the listener groovin’ away during Dynasties, Nomicon is an EP that is nothing but pure horror. Every aspect of this release drips evil. Whether it’s the shrill screams or ghastly bellows of Kody Hale or the unstoppable brute force of the band’s musicianship, the moons shining over these Ohio-based overlords of heavy are in perfect alignment to truly crown these boys as the bastard kings of heavy music.
Check Out the Review HERE
