Territory's Edge: Best New Metal of October 2021

October is generally a good month for metal releases, given the Halloween season and all.  There's plenty of quality material this time around, so let's jump right into it.

Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

 

While progressive/stoner/sludge metal Atlanta band Mastodon has crafted 13-minute individual songs earlier on in their career with "Hearts Alive" and "The Last Baron", their latest album Hushed and Grim marks a new endeavor of epic proportions.  It is Mastodon's first double album and their longest release to date, clocking in at 86 minutes across 15 tracks.  While the band's last three albums were their most accessible and straightforward, this one returns to their conceptual nature in a way that sounds like a natural progression.  While very melodic and atmospheric throughout, the album contains plenty of dynamics - the doomy, ominous "Dagger" is followed by "Had It All", a subdued rock ballad with a Kim Thayil guitar solo.   Hushed and Grim is a concept record dealing with grief, and is dedicated to the band's longtime friend and manager Nick John who passed in 2018 from pancreatic cancer.   Throughout there's an acceptance of the inevitability of death, best summed up on the third track with the lyric "Death comes and brings with him sickle and peace".  The album doesn't grab your attention immediately, but further, closer listens will reveal just how fantastic it really is.

Mastodon are no strangers to grappling with loss and death in their music.  Albums like Crack the Skye and The Hunter were tributes to drummer Brann Dailor's sister and guitarist Brent Hinds' brother respectively.  From the beginning, as aggressive and feral as their early material could be, something more was present beneath the surface than just mere rage.  Dailor credited Mastodon's first album Remission with helping him heal and process the pain of his sister's death, and explained that the title represents forgiveness and healing.  Remission was lyrically abstract and chaotic in nature against a backdrop of intense technical drumming, but it contained more subdued instrumental sections as well, perhaps representing stability found in the midst of turmoil.  A similar sense of acceptance and healing in the midst of tragedy is present here, but is more multifaceted and contemplative in tone.   Hushed and Grim is a masterful, multi-faceted record, but we shouldn't expect anything less than quality music (not to mention consistently fantastic artwork) from Mastodon.  Expect this, and one other October album, to be very high on my year-end list.

Frontierer - Oxidized

Scottish noise/hardcore outfit Frontierer have made one of the heaviest and most abrasive albums of the year.   Pedram Valiani's breakneck, technical riffs combined with harsh, distorted electronics result in a chaotic sound comparable to Godflesh, Fawn Limbs and Will Haven.  Fans of Code Orange (particularly their more intense material) should find something here to enjoy as well.  The result is a difficult album to get into for sure, but also a very well crafted one.  "Daydark" is the cut I'll highlight further and treat as a single, as delving into the entire 16 tracks of this sonic cacophony headfirst is a daunting prospect for listeners, even those who are well acquainted with this style.  Reminiscent of Loathe, this aggressive mathcore track unexpectedly gives way to ambience and atmospheric clean vocals, before delving back into the chaos.  I particularly like the way Frontierer incorporates this contrasting melody surrounded by the tumult on both sides.   The band made Oxidized available on Bandcamp as a free/pay what you want download.

The Breathing Process - Labyrinthian

 

My first encounter with this band was their 2010 album Odyssey Undead, which combined a European symphonic black metal flavor within the context of an American death metal band.  Between that time and the present, the sound of The Breathing Process has streamlined to symphonic deathcore and more closely resembles the likes of Shadow of Intent and Brand of Sacrifice.  Their latest album Labyrinthian comes shortly after they were signed to tech-death/deathcore label Unique Leader Records.  Guitarists Jordan Milner and Sara Lorelein also incorporate some riffs reminiscent of black metal such as on "Wilt".  Subtle dissonant melodies and prominent orchestration throughout provide a sense of grandeur.  While the drum production is somewhat muffled, Labyrinthian is a cohesive record and the band's technical skill comes through clear.

Arch Enemy - "Deceiver, Deceiver"

Arch Enemy have roared back with a new track, "Deceiver, Deceiver".  This is a standalone single and for now, nothing further has been announced.  Barring a January 2019 covers compilation, the song marks the first new material for the Swedish melodic death metal crew since their 2017 full-length Will to Power.  Vocalist Alissa White-Gluz sounds as fierce as ever.  Her aggressive delivery combined with the chaotic atmosphere and blast beast drumming make her chastisement of a duplicitous antagonist especially convincing.  A tradeoff of lead guitar riffs between Jeff Loomis and Michael Amott provides a suitably dark backdrop.  Amott stated that the track is "not the happiest of tunes, but believe me - we're ecstatic to be back!"  That feeling seems to be mutual among metal fans, as "Deceiver, Deceiver" has already received over 600 thousand Spotify streams within 10 days of its October 21 release; an impressive feat for material this heavy.  

Veil of Maya - "Outrun" 

 

Like Arch Enemy, Veil of Maya's last released album also dates back to 2017.  However, the Chicago progressive metalcore band has remained on the radar and released four standalone singles in the last three years.  Veil of Maya's latest song "Outrun" is as catchy as it is unpredictable.  Starting off with an aggressive djent sound and harsh vocals, the music switches to a synth pop instrumental as vocalist Lukas Magyr sings a Weeknd-style R&B melody in the chorus, and then transitions right back.  Guitarist Marc Okubo also has a moment of homage to Iron Maiden.  His guitar harmonies in the bridge are an intentional nod to 1983 hit "The Trooper".  "Outrun" could become a future staple at live shows, as indicated by the music video, which features live footage from the band's tour with Dance Gavin Dance.  

Trivium - In the Court of the Dragon

 

This stellar and surprisingly ambitious record was the only release that could rival Mastodon's double album this month in terms of quality.  Trivium's new album In the Court of the Dragon has drawn some well-deserved comparisons to perhaps their most acclaimed work, Shogun.  In fact, the closer "The Phalanx" was originally written during that era but remained unused until now.  The title track is a relentless, take no prisoners beginning much like Shogun opener "Kirisute Gomen".  Trivium's 2020 effort What the Dead Men Say indicated that Matt Kiichi Heafy and company were comfortable in their lane and had settled on their sound.   What the Dead Men Say was not a bad album by any means, but it went through the motions and was not nearly as impressive as its predecessor The Sin and the Sentence.  Some tracks sounded like B-sides from that album.  That's not the case on here.   The sound is unmistakably Trivium, but the songwriting is stronger and more adventurous.  Subtle symphonic flourishes also give this a more epic tone.  The strings are most effective on the three 7 minute songs "Shadow of the Abattoir", "Fall Into Your Hands" and "The Phalanx", which are strategically placed as tracks 6, 8, and 10.  There's also some throwbacks to their early Ascendancy era, especially "A Crisis of Revelation", and more subtly, Matt Heafy's singing style on "Shadow of the Abattoir", which is reminiscent of the dark penultimate Ascendancy song "Departure".  This is easily among Trivium's best - I'd give it the edge over Shogun and What the Dead Men Say on a good day.

On a side note, 2021 isn't the first time Trivium have used dragon imagery.  Dragons appeared in the artwork for the Shogun cover and The Crusade singles "Becoming the Dragon" and "The Rising", as well as some tour merchandise during that era designed by Paul Romano, so Trivium hearkens back in more ways than one.

Death Angel - Humanicide (2019)

Nuclear Blast, May 30, 2019

Tracklist

1. Humanicide

2. Divine Defector

3. Aggressor

4. I Came For Blood

5. Immortal Behated

6. Alive and Screaming
7. The Pack

8. Ghost of Me

9. Revelation Song

10. Of Rats and Men

11. The Day I Walked Away

Death Angel can be considered as one of the all-time best Bay Area thrash metal bands. While considered one of the "Big Eight" of thrash metal, they have been more of an underground act compared to many of their peers, and also broke up for ten years before reuniting in 2001. Death Angel has experienced some lineup changes, with guitarist/vocalist Rob Cavestany and vocalist Mark Osegueda being the only consistent members on every album, but their sound has changed little from their initial material. In May 2019, we get the band's ninth studio album, and their sixth since that reunion. The album artwork features a different incarnation of the rampaging wolves that appeared on the cover for Death Angel's 2013 release The Dream Calls for Blood. This time, the wolves are running through what looks like an abandoned town in a potential scene from a post-apocalyptic film. The title refers to the lack of compassion and self-destructive behavior we display towards others, ourselves, and our environment.

Delving further into the inspiration for the album, guitarist Rob Cavestany has said, "Our band has experienced this [hostility] since we first started in the '80s, being that for one thing, we were all young and these Filipino cousins that didn't fit the normal look of the heavy metal band. We experienced harsh people all over the place for no apparent reason but because they weren't able to accept other people, or something other than what they think is how it's supposed to be, and that seems to be the problem persisting today. People are just thinking that whatever the way they do things or the way their particular scene is, that's how it's supposed to be everywhere else. They're not accepting of others, and it's getting really blown up in a bad way these days." Contrasting with this outlook is the '80s thrash throwback style track "The Pack", which celebrates the unity and cooperation of a wolf pack. Besides the clear reference to the album cover, it's a possible tie-in to the the overall concept, showing how the union of the wolf wins out, and urging listeners to be more accepting and less selfish before we destroy ourselves. 

Musically, Humanicide doesn't deviate too far from the confines of thrash metal, but it's evident that band wasn't looking to make a by-the-numbers album either. While "Divine Defector", "I Came For Blood", "The Pack", "Alive and Screaming" and "Aggressor" are all fairly fast-paced thrash metal, most of these tracks have an identity of their own. Other songs vary the pacing and keep the album from getting one-sided and repetitive. "Revelation Song" is a mid-tempo track in the style of classic heavy metal bands with memorable guitar leads. "Immortal Behated" is the strongest example of variation on the album. The song begins with a melodic guitar section that reappears throughout, building to some heavier moments but always in a controlled state. On the outro this guitar motif fades into a 95-second piano-dominated section. This song is a great example of how to properly use quiet melodic sections in thrash metal that enhance the song rather sounding like it was tacked on. "The Day I Walked Away", a bonus track on some versions of the album, uses a spoken word delivery from Mark Osegueda in the verses and has a similarly patient, ominous atmosphere. It's another well-done foreboding track, although not as strong as "Immortal Behated".

In summary, Death's Angel's latest will be enjoyed most by the band's fans and the thrash metal fanbase, rather than those outside the genre. The sound is a clear homage to classic metal music, but the band maintains their own sound and identity. Overall, it's a very solid effort and one of Death Angel's stronger albums in recent years. I give this album a rating of 8/10.