The most interesting releases of the week!
I wasn’t a big fan of Dawnwalker‘s last two albums. They were enjoyable enough, but ultimately offered little to keep me returning for years. The band’s style changed some, and life has moved on since the band’s last release, so their new independently-released record The Unknowing hits me with more poignancy and with more replayability than their previous releases. I wanted to like Dawnwalker‘s previous releases more than I actually did. The Unknowing gets them across the line.
The Unknowing‘s sound is more stripped-down and more rock-focused than their last efforts. Ages was a big album that kept a very post-metal sound, with distorted guitars at the center of the songwriting. The record had its moments, but ultimately dragged under the weight of everything that it was trying to do. This album features tighter and more standard songwriting, an increased focus on vocals, and less busy songs. The tightening up allows Dawnwalker to make greater use of their interesting vocal harmonies and makes the instrumental explorations that the band does make much more interesting and impactful. Only time will tell, but I think this is the Dawnwalker album that stay with me for a long time.
The Inevitable Fork sounds like System of a Down mixed with Devin Townsend, Tranzat, and 100 Gecs, whirled into a blender and vomited out at a hardcore show. Melted Bodies last released a full-length album in 2020, with the excellent Enjoy Yourself, but have been busy since then, with The Inevitable Fork comprised of three separate EPs stapled together. The result somewhat works. The Inevitable Fork is messy, it’s too long, and it’s a lot to take in. It isn’t for listening to all the time, and it certainly isn’t music that functions well as background music for doing dishes or going to the gym. What it is, is damn interesting. Very few albums leave as vivid an impression as The Inevitable Fork.
“The Hot Dog Contract” serves as a microcosm of The Inevitable Fork as a whole. It opens with a chaotic guitar riff that stumbles over itself with plenty of distortion, but in typical four type. This gives way to screaming vocals briefly before backing into a more bass-led spoken word section that gradually builds back up to where the song started complete with the riff focus and screams. Then you hit the one-minute mark. A brief divergence into a fuzzy ballad occurs before the bottom drops out yet again into a more sparse spoken word section. There is a structure here that resembles a typical verse/chorus structure, and the band isn’t doing anything wonky with their time signatures, instruments, or riffs. They just combine them in such a weird way that the whole thing feels uncomfortable, in the best ways. Melted Bodies jam sounds like this down your ears for over 70 minutes.
However, this isn’t just music to listen to because it’s weird and freaky. Underneath the experimental hardcore lies some excellent and personal performances and some genuinely great writing choices. When you get over the abrasive exterior, what you’re left with is some memorable and catchy tracks that simply approach you from a different part of the universe.
The Periapt Of Absence, released on Profound Lore Records, is Mother of Graves‘ second full-length album. If you enjoyed Where The Shadows Adorn, you should have no problems here. The band plays death/doom, with plenty of eerie ethereal space. Their riffs are mostly slow and steady, letting their excellent guitar tone linger in your ears and their beautiful melodies fully shine. Mother of Graves‘ vocals contain more emotion than most death metal vocalists manage. Their bass and rhythm guitars often clash to provide most of that eerie feeling. The drums switch up styles to provide everything from ferocious blast beats to surprising restraint, all with a feeling of control.
Melodically, Mother of Graves do enough to keep you guessing. See the weird lilt at the end of “Gallows.” Or the breakdown in “the middle of “Shatter the Visage,” which just barely sounds like it belongs in a different song from the opening verses. The album is packed with little moments like this that augment the typical death/doom feeling with enough spice to keep me invested while refusing to sacrifice any of the band’s metal muscle. The Periapt Of Absence is a complete success.
