THE DEVIL'S MONTH: September 2024
Rounding up some of the finest releases of the previous month - now including Andy's picks too!
Would you believe that I already handed in best of 2024 list to one of the publications I work with? Before you get all huff and puffy, please realise that we nerds who work in the music press get stuff early, so yeah, we’ve heard pretty much everything 2024 has to offer by now (there’s even albums from 2025 in our inboxes already), and if we haven’t, well, blame your PR, or that brilliant idea you had of dropping an album by surprise in late November or whatever. Anyway, the point is, it’s getting harder and harder to pick just a few records for The Devil’s Month. This is turning out to be a particularly rich year, and the density of releases is just going to pile up from now - right now, I have about fifteen great albums ready for the October edition that I have no idea how I will turn into just five. There’s way too many bands, for sure, which means that there’s way too many crap bands, that’s also for sure, but hey, at last it also seems like the number of great bands is rising a little bit. Not proportionally to the others, but the world isn’t fair and we all know that by now.
Hey, be sure to drop by Mondo Negro and get a few of the things we’re recommending, yeah? Or anything else, really, ‘cause everything they have is pretty awesome. A well-curated store if you ever saw one. Also, show up at one of Therapy?’s shows celebrating the 30th anniversary of the landmark ‘Troublegum’ album, will you? And if you talk to our lovely Andy, do tell him that you’re really into his recommendations here on TDM. We love having him around and every bit of encouragement helps.
Now, onwards to TDM’s and Andy’s picks for September. Enjoy!
Concrete Winds
Concrete Winds
(Sepulchral Voice Records)
So Andy thought he’d liven up this joint by including one fucking savage, unholy death metal anomaly in his list, with a creepy bloodred cover and all, to scare the indie kids reading this? Fine, Andy, two can play that game - I see your Sanguinary Consummation, and I raise you a Concrete Winds. As they wonderfully put it on their Bandcamp bio blurb, “Concrete Winds are back to push spikes, needles, and barbed wire into your flesh and ears,” and that’s just about what having a go at these 25 hellish minutes feels like. Think of the most extreme album you know, imagine it playing on two separate sets of speakers at once, blast that new Sanguinary Consummation on a third set just for the hell of it, and you got Concrete Winds in a nutshell. Then sit back and enjoy the blood pouring out of your ears. UGH!
Curta’n Wall
YR GWYDDBWYLL
(Grime Stone Records)
If you haven’t come across this curious phenomenon that’s been happening for a few years now, of bands exploring a weird territory that lies somewhere between dungeon synth, raw black metal, medieval music and whatever else they can throw into the music to make it sillier, or more unlikely, or simply more awesome (sometimes), then I suggest you set aside a couple of days, turn off the seriousness filter in your musical brain, and go explore fertile breeding grounds for this sort of thing like Grime Stone Records, WereGnome Records, Nocturnal Hustle or Pseudocorp, just to give you a few examples. Typically very DIY, lo-fi, one-man-band, bedroom project kind of releases, with a definite the-weirder-the-better mentality, you’ll find a lot of unnecessary filler in your explorations, but every once in a while something brilliant will eventually pop up, like, say, Këkht Aräkh, or Old Nick, Fugitive Wizard, Sanguinária, the wonderful Drýsildjöfull that we previously covered here on TDM, and yes, the delightfully silly Curta’n Wall. The brainchild of Mr. Abysmal Specter up there in the pic, who’s also behind Old Nick (as vocalist, they’re a trio) and Bloody Keep among others, it sort of gathers all the best things that can be drawn from the cool bands of this scene. It’s obviously tongue-in-cheek, but the D&D/Tolkien/Medieval fantasy atmosphere is nevertheless thick and very immersive, and unlike a lot of the bands we’ve mentioned (and even previous Curta’n Wall material) the production value is actually wonderful, with a ton of folk instruments being used to achieve maximum folk metal bombast. Though it still retains some of the black metal vibes of before, the focus is more on the folk and medieval elements this time, so beware if you’re in this for that good old lo-fi raw black metal, but even so, I’m sure you’ll find it still strangely powerful and affecting. And beneath the entire over the top carnival of it all, there’s real songwriting talent - the song ‘Hill Fort’, for instance, is one of the best you’ll hear all year, in any genre. Turns out this is actually a great introduction point into a wide, fascinating but potentially disorienting world, so dive in without fear, just be prepared to have fun.
High Parasite
Forever We Burn
(Candlelight Records)
We didn’t imagine we’d get to 2024 to witness Aaron Stainthorpe’s first serious foray (occasional guest appearances notwithstanding) outside of his carefully erected My Dying Bride edifice, let alone for a band that’s being stylistically described as “death-pop”, but yet here we are, and you know what, we like it here. Though it’s not “his” band, as such, as bassist Danny “Tombs” Lambert is the main songwriter and co-vocalist - as Aaron has explained before, including on our recent podcast episode, he kind of joined the band “by accident” -, the great man’s charisma does end up becoming the star of the proceedings, and it’s great to realise that he does have range and depth outside of his typical My Dying Bride approach, which in itself is already a combination of several hard to pull off vocal styles. Sure, MDB-Aaron does pop up every now and then - the first part of ‘My Syndrome’ could easily have been an MDB track, vocally speaking (well, and musically too, pretty much), for instance -, but overall the songs are more uptempo, catchier, groovier and much simpler than anything Aaron has tried before, and as mentioned before, well-aided by Tombs’ also excellent vocal performance (plus a few great appearances from Heather Mackintosh, remember her from the underrated Tapping The Vein?), he pulls it off with apparent ease. It helps that the songs are really good, in a sort of heavier ‘One Second’-era Paradise Lost kind of way. Once you get past the novelty factor of hearing such a familiar voice in a different context, the quality of the songs is ultimately what makes ‘Forever We Burn’ live or die, and fortunately there’s enough solidity, enjoyment and replay value here to ensure it strides on very much alive, and eager to consolidate itself on stage over the next few months.
Pyrrhon
Exhaust
(Willowtip Records)
Vaguely thrown into the death metal category (always with an “experimental” prefix attached, mind you) more out of confusion and/or need to call it something, Pyrrhon have always been unpredictable and, despite the crazy complexity of their sound, strangely accessible, at least more so than your usual rocket science-like “experimental” extreme bands that take said experimentation often too far. In short, these guys never sacrificed a good song for extra brainy points, and ‘Exhaust’ seems to be the absolute epitome of that rule. Riffier, groovier and yes, perhaps more clearly death metal than before - time will tell if this is really their best album yet, but the fact that we feel like saying it is just confirms that it is certainly their most enjoyable, and that is saying something. The highlights are more or less the same as before, with guitarist Dylan DiLella’s agile ability to squeal, churn, zap and rage through all kinds of moods and paces at the very heart of the personality of the band, but also vocalist Doug Moore, one of the best in any extreme genre, able to sound unhinged and barely in control while still maintaining a remarkable notion of diction and clarity, not to mention in the actual content of the lyrics which is brilliant as usual. ‘Exhaust’ sounds like Pyrrhon, but also like something totally new - I believe that’s how you nail that thing called “evolution”.
Xiu Xiu
13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto With Bison Horn Grips
(Polyvinyl)
How about you give it a listen and let me know what you think, for a change? It’s not like it’s the first time that Xiu Xiu has made me feel like this, but yeah, this album is one of those that you’ll listen to time and time again, because despite its alien strangeness there is something in it that keeps pulling you in relentlessly (i.e., it’s wildly experimental and deep but it’s instant-gratification pop at the same time, if you can figure that one out in your head), but I’m damned if I know what to say when it comes the time to write something about it. I could descend into internet-reviewer track-by-track lameness, or I could wax lyrical about something transcendental that it made me feel (and it did make me feel a few things like that), but both feel equally wrong. I’d rather just be quiet and bask in the idea that there’s a band that’s been going on for over twenty years, with the only stable thing about them being their unpredictability, and that they’re still able to excite you like you’re discovering a new band that sounds like no one else, after all this time. The way the bass pulsates and reverberates in almost every song, the way Jamie goes from sensitive heartstring-puller to creepy savage animal often in the same song, the way it’ll make you dance more out of fear of what your body will do to you if you don’t than anything else… Let’s put it like this, they start the “description” of this album with two Blixa Bargeld quotes on their Bandcamp page. If that doesn’t really tell you all you need to know, I don’t know what will.
Hubert Selby Jr Infants - The Damnation Game/The Mess That We Have Made
(Bandcamp only)
Two gorgeous and heartbreaking tunes, buzzing with hypnotic shimmering furious melancholy from Ireland’s Hubert Selby Jr Infants. Written and recorded DIY style in the summer of 2024 with the aim of raising money to aid the people currently enduring genocide in Palestine. All proceeds will be donated to Gaza Go Bragh or similiar groups.
Life Abuse - Systematization (Armageddon)
Raucous ten song set of crusty metallic hardcore rushing past in an immersive wave. The sonic definition on all the instruments is integral in achieving maximum impact across the astringent riffs, chest rattling bass, gut punch drums and hectoring vocals and keeps the whole set compelling throughout. ‘Reconciliation’ and ‘Failure By Design’ are hardcore delights.
Midwife - No Depression In Heaven (The Flenser)
A palimpsest of sounds, tones, echoes and words all suggesting beautiful melancholy , ennui and desire. ‘Autoluminescent’ glows and warms as if walking from snow into a heated room. ‘Killdozer’ could be a Weezer tune but its shivering pace and glacial setting add a gravitas that compels with repeated listens. The closing ‘No Depression In Heaven’ is wondrous and puts me in mind of similar celestial vibes on Boduf Songs 2013 album ‘Burnt Up On Re-Entry’. Madeline Johnston’s vocals are treated throughout with affecting audio colouring that enhance the whole experience and live up to the artist’s self-proclaimed “heaven metal” tag.
Sanguinary Consummation - Hymns Of Dismal Agony (Rumf Productions & Vile Tapes Records)
This is absolutely sensational but I’ve no way of describing it that will do it justice. The full throttle savagery is nailed down throughout by one of the most insane snare sounds I’ve ever heard. There’s brutal death metal grunts (I think), guitars like agricultural machinery and a sound aesthetic that is definitely in the camp of the avant-garde. ‘Sacrosanct Necrotic Rites’ has touches of Nomeansno before surrendering to the scalding riffage and ‘Ceremonious Scourging’ ends the set with a relentless barrage of mindfuckery. Once heard never forgotten.
The Wood Burning Savages - Grind Your Teeth (www.woodburningsavages.com)
One of Derry’s best bands returns with a new album, ‘Hand To Mouth’, on 7th February 2025. Until then we have this absolute banger to keep us enthralled. The delivery and arrangement come on like a 21st Century take on one of the more scabrous cuts on the Manic Street Preachers 1994 ‘Holy Bible’ album. As always with TWBS this fantastic band are politically correct and musically bang on.
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