Best new releases: September 2016

[Bear 1817]

As usual, the rules are pretty simple: you can list what releases you thought were the best, and explain why in a few sentences. You can even pick just 1 album if that's all you've got, and keep it to a maximum of 5 items. Feel free to add or remove any albums later if you feel like your taste has changed, etc. Oh, and try to include a sample or two so that others could peep those sweet tunes more easily!

 

LINK to songs you think tells us a bit about the band/album, don't embed them. We don't need a million youtube videos.

 

Anyway, the more people the merrier. So please join us!

 

 

 

I have more than 5 great releases this month so I'll come back with my choices later. It's a hard pick.

[Shaolan974 6185]

I was waiting for this thread because this is a really good month to me. Several albums out this month are on my top album of the year. Here we go !

 

1) Epica - The Holographic Principle

 

Epica is my favorite female-fronted symphonic metal band. I'm following them for a decade now and I really enhoyed their music. I had some expectations concerning this new album. My favorite album is Design Your Universe (2009) and I did not like Requiem for the Indifferent (2012). The Quantum of Enigma (2014) was better...quite good but, well... you know. So... this Holographic Principle is a very good surprise. After few listennings, I think this is one of their best album and one of my top album of the year. The band came back to the sound of Design your Universe with powerful rheavy riffs,  skilled compositions and symphonic samples absolutely epic. Simone is absolutely amazing as usual. Well... the band is still epic and one of the best in the category.

 

 

2) EX AEQUO : Alcest - Kodama / Les Discrets - Virée Nocturne EP

 

 

 

Alcest is a french projet. I discovered them this year and I think this is one of my greatest discovering of all time ! Their music is a sort of dreamy poetrical & atmospheric shoegaze/post-rock which is complety amazing. The album ins inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's universe. Well... I think you should try. This is absolutely amazing.

 

Les Discrets is another french band on the same label (prophecy). I discovered them at the same time. This is a gentle dark'n'moody shoegaze with atmospheric vocals. Their texts are really melancholic and, sometimes, they are inspired by some well-known french poets like Paul Verlaine or Charles Baudelaire. Give it a try, it's a really good experience.

 

 

 

3) lynch. - AVANTGARDE

 

 

Not as "avantgarde-ish" as expected but...well, it's lynch., so I really like it. There are many killer tunes here. lynch. is one of my favorite VK band of all time. I'm glad they are still active nowadays. The album came really fast after DARK and I was a bit afraid but it's well done.

 

 

4) TesseracT - Errai

 

 

Progressive metal / ambient / experimental rock... Errai is the bonus CD released this month with the Deluxe edition of their album "Polaris" released at 2015. This is a discovery for me and this is really amazing. I love this king of exeperimental and ambient rock.

 

 

5) EX AEQUO : A Day to Remember - Bad Vibrations / Of Mice & Men - Cold World

 

 

 

Not as good as I expected. Not their better stuff but this is well done. I"m not a big fan of the entire album but there are a lof of killer tunes. Exposed for A Day to Remember of The Lie/Relentless for Of Mice & Men for example.

 

 

 

For the rest, I really like "Popestar EP" from Ghost,  "Sorceress" from Opeth and "アトム 未来派 No.9" from BUCK-TICK.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Shaolan974

[indigo 389]

I'm sure someone will mention Downy, The Novembers, Buck-Tick etc. so I won't talk about them.

 

1. Oathbreaker - Rheia

 

Oathbreaker is a blackened hardcore band from Belgium and this is their third album. I've been a fan since the beginning so obviously I had high hopes for this album.

One of the most noticeable differences compared to earlier albums is the increased amount of clean vocals which is a welcome addition. There is nothing wrong with

the screaming, but vocalist Caro, who is female by the way, has a nice voice so I'm glad to hear it more. The clean vocal melodies on Rheia can be a bit dull at some times, though.

 

Preview song

 

2. Isaiah Rashad - The Sun's Tirade

I've been waiting for this album for a quite long time. The Sun's Tirade is an album with chill production and Isaiah's great flow.

 

Preview song

 

3. Every Time I Die - Low Teens

I've also been a Every Time I Die fan for a loooong time and I can't believe it's already been 2 years since their last album. 2014's From Parts Unknown was probably ETID's most chaotic album but this time around they have made a rock-oriented album and I'm sure that will piss some people off but I'm more than happy. The thing I love the most about Every Time I Die is their grooviness. Expect southern rock riffage, profound lyrics and great vocals.

 

Preview song

Edited October 2, 2016 by indigo

[Jigsaw9 6783]

What a month! Started out kinda slow for me musically, but over the last week or two I've been like "damn, how am I gonna listen to all this new stuff?"  Anyway, real good haul. I don't have that much time or energy to format my post so nicely, so here's just a quick rundown:

 

 

Favorites

 

BUCK-TICK - アトム 未来派 No.9 / Can't believe how great this is. Chock-full of awesomeness, little details and catchy tunes. Some of their best material to date!

Death in Rome - Hitparade / Pop hits reworked in a morose militaristic neofolk style? It's as hilarious as it is brilliant. Truly touching in a weird way.

Mykki Blanco - Mykki / Weirdo rapper Mykki's done it again. Easily his catchiest, smoothest and most polished work so far. One big earworm all throughout.

Padkarosda - Tétova Lelkek / A dark and gritty cavalcade of old-school punk and post-punk, with a hint of goth. No wonder they're one of my top fave local bands.

 

 

Honorable mentions

 

clipping. - Splendor & Misery / Totally out-there minimalistic experimental noisy hip-hop sci-fi concept album. Unique as hell, that's for sure.

GosT - Non Paradisi / This might become a favorite, just needs more listens. Awesome atmosphere and bangin' tracks. All hail synthwave hell!

KEEL - Raison d'être et de sang / Typical KEEL as always, pretty good for a few spins. Solid stuff.

lynch. - AVANT GARDE / Typical lynch. as always, etc. copy+paste from above.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Jigsaw9

[saishuu 3220]

Chanty - 不完全な音楽

Incredibly pleased as to how this came together. I'm relatively new to Chanty, but this mini sealed the deal for me. Heavy bass lines everywhere, great vocals, catchy tunes and lots to like. These guys are good.

 

宇多田ヒカル - Fantôme

Really enjoyed the new Hikki. It's super chill and mature, which is exactly what I was looking forward from her. Plus it's gay as hell, so yeah, no way I wouldn't like it. I could mention half the songs as highlights for me.

 

BUCK-TICK - アトム 未来派 No.9

Second everything @Jigsaw9said. I'm a very casual B-T fan, but this kind of album just keeps grabbing my attention every once in a while. It still boggles my mind that they're still able to pull of stuff like this after I don't know how many decades on the road. Awesome stuff.

 

Clazziquai Project - Travellers

Love love love Clazziquai and this new album did not disappoint. It's not that different from their other stuff, but still an incredibly pleasant listen as always. I've been listening to this for weeks now and it only gets better. Also, Alex remains as one of my favorite vocalists of all time.

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

TK from 凛として時雨 - white noise

Sure, it's not as good as flowering or even Fantastic Magic, but it's alright for me. There aren't any mindblowing songs like phase to phrase or Abnormal trick, but... it's okay for what it is? I don't know.

 

Ghost - POPESTAR EP

I freaking love when these guys drop their "darker" sound and go more pop or straightforward rock in these EPs. 2013's If You Have Ghost delivered one of my favorite songs from them (the title-track), and now POPESTAR did the same, this time with Square Hammer. Even the music video was a delight to watch.

 

Still need to hear: TAMTAM, THE NOVEMBERS, Aimer, KEEL, Alcest, Bon Iver, Flyying Colours, etc.

[fitear1590 2414]

4 hours ago, saishuu said:

Chanty - 不完全な音楽

Incredibly pleased as to how this came together. I'm relatively new to Chanty, but this mini sealed the deal for me. Heavy bass lines everywhere, great vocals, catchy tunes and lots to like. These guys are good.

I've loved Chanty since their first single and they especially came into their own as a band last year, but I'm gonna have to spend some more time with this mini. Maybe I was distracted the first time I listened to it, but I don't remember much. Glad to see they're gaining more and more fans though!

EDIT: re-listening and I am already way more onboard with this release this time around 
False alarm!

Edited October 3, 2016 by fitear1590

[Bear 1817]

Alcest - Kodama

After Shelter, an album stripped of everything metal, and sounding more like a Sigor Ros light (just hella lot better!) than what we've come to love Alcest for,  Neige decides to take Alcest a couple of steps back and perfect the style started on Écailles de lune. Kodama is a much more metallic, darker and atmospheric album than Shelter, and it's a lot better. I love Shelter, I adore Les Voyages de l'âme and worship Écailles de lune, but this is hands down better than all three. Not quite as good as Le Secret, but after 50 listens or so I've realized that it does in fact match Souvenirs d'un autre monde. Brilliant albums! The screams are back and Winterhalter is better than ever, often stealing all my attention with his fantastic drumming. It's not flashy, it's not technical, but in all its simplicity it still adds an incredible amount of power to the track.

 

Eclosion

 

Joel Grind - Equinox

Joel Grind surprised everyone by releasing a surf rock split alongside legend Davie Allan, then he released a single with synth music. Little did we know that the single, Fatal Planet, was only a teaser of what to come. Joel Grind joined the synthwave tend and he did it well. It got that classic 80's horror movie feeling to it, and it's clearly inspired by John Carpenter and his likes. I cannot get enough of this kind of music, and this is no exception. Excellent record and the best album he's been involved in since 2007's War Ripper - Hell Storm EP.

 

Open Wounds

 

Cult of FIre - Life, Sex & Death

Cult of FIre continue to walk down the path of epic, majestic black metal. It's in most ways just more of the same, but that's not a problem when you're able to keep up the same, excellent quality as before. Superb EP!

 

Death

 

 

Druadan Forest - The Loremasters Time

Epic black metal heavily inspired by Summoning, Caladan Brood, Kinstrife & Blood, and even Elffor. Druadan Forest offers nothing that hasn't been done a million times all ready, but Druadan Forest does it well and that's all that matters. Majestic and epic! Great soundtrack to a fine fantasy film like The Lord of the Rings or something.

 

Seven Witches

[Original Saku 1593]

@Bearsomeday I'll check out all the great western metal releases you post in these topics every month, but that day is not today XD it sucks not having any time, It's really hard just keeping up with Jmusic right now...

 

someday.