Best New Releases, May 16: Pelican, Full of Hell, and more
It’s another new release Friday full of bangers! Among this week’s must-hear new releases are the return of a group of rising mathcore superstars, a veteran post-metal band delivering some raw riffs, plus psychedelic soul, industrial, and more. Queue up this week’s best new releases.
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums included are chosen by our editors and contributors.
Pelican – Flickering Resonance
Six years after the release of Nighttime Stories, Pelican returns with a set of music inspired by their early years of sharing stages with punk and emo bands—which makes it even more fitting that their latest arrives via indie outpost Run for Cover. The new album is unmistakably heavy, as Pelican albums invariably are, but alongside the riffs are glorious melodies and a nuanced post-hardcore sensibility in standout tracks such as “Evergreen” or “Indelible,” which are rooted in a stunning sense of abrasion and a jagged kind of harmony. These new songs rock in a direct and visceral way, but Pelican explore some mesmerizing nuances in the process. We’ll have more on this one soon. – Jeff Terich
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Full of Hell – Broken Sword, Rotten Shield
Full of Hell’s last three full releases diverged from grindcore, so why would you expect them to break that streak on Broken Sword, Rotten Shield? Their latest EP builds upon their developments over the past two years, predominantly referring to their increased melodic sensibilities. Only the title track boasts Full of Hell’s engine-on-fire grindcore. The rest of Broken Sword, Rotten Shield expands into hellish industrial (“Corpselight”), a cursed take on ambient music (“Mirrorhelm”), and sludge metal (“To Ruin and the World’s Ending”). As they’ve aged, Full of Hell have become dark music chameleons, exploring all perverse roads that lay outside of their grindcore roots. Broken Sword, Rotten Shield simply furthers that expedition. – Colin Dempsey
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Grails – Miracle Music
Last year, Grails appeared on our list of the best post-rock albums of all time, with their 2011 album Deep Politics, which captured a sense of emotionalism and mystique via film-score-like instrumentals. Similar can be said of their latest, Miracle Music, though while the group always retain that rich, evocative sensibility, they rarely release a new album that covers an aesthetically similar palette as its predecessor. Which is also true of Miracle Music; from the buzzing synths of “Silver Bells,” the group take off on a new excursion into dark, unseen worlds, detouring through moments of gentle ambience, richly layered grandeur, eerie percussive pulses and dreamy overtures. One thing it does share with their other albums, however, is that it’s uniformly stunning. – Jeff Terich
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
The Callous Daoboys – I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
It’s practically inconceivable that the little mathcore band that could, hailing from Atlanta, are now exponentially more popular—heard everywhere from record store to shopping mall shy of a decade since they debut. Two years ago, personnel at a rock venue in Missouri harassed Ghost concertgoers by intimidating them to remove corpse paint, and yet while Ghost continue to get under people’s skin with new, flamboyant looks for each of their studio albums, The Callous Daoboys are taking the almost exactly opposite tack: Sure, they still don’t need to strap on costumes that signify they harbor superpowers comparable to comic book heroes themselves. But here’s the rub: The seven-member band never relents in incrementally upping their game as very talented musicians. I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven is The Callous Daoboys’ latest push into their postulation that Heaven will be deafening and yet widely accessible. More on this soon. – Kurt Orzeck
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Mourning [A] BLKstar – Flowers for the Living
The funk here is nasty, as it always should be. There is a grit and sleaze to this record, the raggedyness of a good blues group applying themselves to the psychedelic funk and soul of someone like Isaac Hayes. Late ’60s crate-digger psych collides with quiet storm. It’s less avant-garde in terms of being unapproachable as it is following the mood and vibe of a piece without regard for pop sensibilities. The result is something commanding, raw and sincere, carrying that necessary roughness and, again, nastiness that music like this requires. What I wouldn’t give to see this group backing OutKast in a timewarp. – Langdon Hickman
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Youth Code – Yours, With Malice
The new release from this industrial duo finds them introducing newly refined sounds that are topped off with vengeful hooks. Vocalist Sara Taylor’s angry snarl is chanted like an apocalyptic cheerleader. On previous releases, this project might have felt more like a militant version of Skinny Puppy. Here, the mood is more neon lit and not as dark as, say, A Place to Stand. Their songwriting employs greater dynamic range, while still fuelling the burning flames of chaos; this explosion of cyber synths throws it in your face with a familiar confrontational stare. Rivet heads who are still stuck on their Front 242 vinyl would be remiss to not check this project out now. We’ll have more to say about this one soon. – Wil Lewellyn
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Rough Trade (vinyl)
