Featuring career-best work from Kataklysm and Alpha Wolf, not to mention Four Stroke Baron’s cover of Post Malone, this New Music Friday is filled with records you need to hear.
Life will probably never be the same as it was before the COVID pandemic took the world by storm. Mourning the loss of the world we knew is normal, but it’s important to recognize all the good that continues to exist. Each new week brings us music that has the potential to change countless lives, and this week’s batch of new releases is no exception. There are too many good records for us to mention, but here are four we believe everyone should experience.
Alpha Wolf – A Quiet Place To Die (Sharptone Records)
A Quiet Place To Die will live rent-free in the heads and hearts of metal fans for years to come.
Alpha Wolf is part of a new breed of artists in hard rock and metal pushing forward by revisiting the heaviest parts of the past. A Quiet Place To Die combines the unabashed honesty of Slipknot’s Iowa with a sonic landscape that is only possible with modern technology. That isn’t to say the members themselves are not incredibly talented. On the contrary, their use of synth and other electronic instrumentation only helps to deepen the listening experience they present through this relentless, devastatingly brutal record. It’s perfectly orchestrated chaos that feels off the cuff, as though the band birthed each note in a singular moment of unbridled rage, and the members are now giving it to us undeserving peasants as means to keep us company as the revolution begins.
Four Stroke Baron – Monoqueen (Prosthetic Records)
2020 has given the world a bounty of rarities and covers from bands whose career was otherwise sidelined by COVID-19. Many of those releases were ultimately letdowns, offering more misses than hits, but Four Stroke Baron’s Monoqueen is an exception that every rock fan should experience. The progressive metal act uses this release to revisit critical songs from their ferocious debut, each uniquely updated for the modern era. The real highlights, however, lie in the half-dozen songs they’ve chosen to cover, from CHVRCHES hypnotic “Lungs” to Post Malone’s unruly “Broken Whiskey Glass,” Four Stroke Baron display a range with this release that everyone can appreciate. The band makes these songs their own without making them all the same. It’s a testament to their talent and boundless potential, which hopefully, we will see more of in the new year.
Kataklysm – Unconquered (Nuclear Blast)
Nearly three decades into their career, the men of Kataklysm leave it all on the record with Unconquered. The band may never reach the heights of genre adoration that some of their peers have experienced, but this release proves the group remains more creative and inventive that most artists in their field. We imagine no one can hear the thunderous sounds of “Underneath The Scars” or the pummeling intensity of “The Killshot” without feeling moved to create something special themselves. Unconquered is an album about never giving in or giving up, taking chances, and betting on yourself, even when others write you off. It is the album Kataklysm was made to create.
Nasty – Menace (Century Media)
No one understands the music Nasty as well as the members themselves. The Belgium band’s biography claims the group makes “fucked up music for a fucked up world,” that’s precisely what Menace delivers. Thirteen of the album’s fourteen tracks come in well under three minutes in length, yet each one provides a fury of fists and spit that will incite pits around the world. Forget the fact live music doesn’t currently exist because Menace will have people spin-kicking their furniture and two-stepping in public. It’s the battle cry hardcore fans need right now, combining vicious lyricism with pummeling drums and chugging guitars, and it’s delivered with pristine production from Andy Posdziech (Any Given Day).
Discover even more new music from Haulix clients by streaming our essential fall playlist on Spotify.
