From Born of Osiris to Postcards From New Zealand, there are several can’t miss new music releases this week.
The world is changing. After a year of forced isolation, artists and fans are finally starting to reconnect. Dozens of great albums are hitting shelves every week, and we know that nobody has time for everything. We want to help you find the can’t miss albums and keep you up-to-date on the records everyone will be talking about next week. We realize that documenting every new release would be virtually impossible, but here you will find several new albums from Haulix clients that we feel deserve your time and support. This is the new music you need to hear:
Born Of Osiris – Angel Or Alien (Sumerian Records)
There is a moment near the end of “Poster Child,” the opening track on Born of Osiris’ latest album, where the track is stripped down to reveal its jazz-friendly foundation. In those few fleeting seconds, Angel Or Alien shows its true colors. For as heavy and digitally engineered as the production may be, BOO continues following the footsteps of music legends from previous generations. Their sound may be more chaotic than their influences, but the technical skill of the group is never up for debate. There is a craftsman-level quality to every aspect of this record. Finding that kind of precision in metal today is increasingly rare, but BOO makes it look easy.
Postcards From New Zealand – We Watched Them Devour, Vol . 3: City Islands (Self-release)
It’s hard to explain Postcards From New Zealand to the uninitiated. In the simplest terms, the group crafts atmospheric rock records that distort your sense of time and reality to illustrate epic tales of people grappling with an impossible reality. The band comments: “City Islands is the third chapter of a saga that we started in 2017 with We Watched Them Devour. The music follows a group of survivors who experienced that “something” came down from heaven and wiped out all life and all of society.”
If you’re looking for a sonic journey unlike any other, look no further than this record.
There are very few successful parody metal bands in the world. We can debate the reasons for this all day long, but suffice to say, writing genuinely good heavy metal that is also humorous can be difficult. Nanowar of Steel more than rise to the challenge with Italian Folk Metal. The ambitious thirteen-track collection blends the band’s signature powerhouse sound with elements of Italian folk music to create an engrossing journey through some of the country’s incredible folk tales. We admittedly don’t speak Italian, but we know good music and storytelling when we hear it. Manowar Of Steel is making history fun again. Don’t miss out.
New Music Friday recommendations feature a collection of new releases from Haulix clients chosen by the company staff. Join Haulix today and gain immediate access to the industry’s leading digital promotional distribution platform: http://haulix.com/signup.
Six albums into an unpredictable career, Asking Alexandria redefine themselves once again with Like A House On Fire.
Everyone loves an underdog story, and it is easy to understand why. Overcoming the odds and proving every hater wrong is the quintessential path to success we all aspire to follow in life. We want to make our dreams a reality, and from there, discover new goals that change that consistently challenge us while we continue to evolve. Living life on terms we set is the only way to exist, and Asking Alexandria have built their career by subverting expectations at every turn.
But we are taught something different. Music industry classes and conferences will tell you to stick with what works. If your fans love ballads, for example, then keep writing them. In other words, “give the people what they want,” but Asking Alexandria disagrees. No two records in the band’s catalog sound the same, but they each play an essential role in the shaping of the band and their devout followers. The group understands that taking a hard left turn sonically may scare fans away, so rather than jump the shark altogether from record to record, Asking Alexandria does so in steps. Not unlike a well-written story, their career has a clear and riveting narrative that makes sense to all who experience their art.
Like A House On Fire is a testament to Asking Alexandria’s insistence on constant progression. The young lads that screamed about heartache over 808-enhanced breakdowns on Stand Up And Scream in 2009 have matured into men concerned with problems more significant than themselves. The album delivers raw rock cuts that take stock of the world around us and the role we play in it. There is no shortage of heart or rage, nor does the energy let up for even a moment. For the better part of an hour, Asking Alexandria bleed themselves dry to deliver honest music that not only makes you feel something but also encourages positive change.
But make no mistake, Asking Alexandria knows their latest creation may upset people. “The Violence,” which began the long album rollout in 2019, tackles the idea of thinking for yourself by addressing the way pop culture and mainstream media manipulate the masses. It’s not hard to understand how the music business forces similarly unfavorable ideas on creatives. “They Don’t Want What We Want (And They Don’t Care)” explores a similar theme, albeit in a more direct manner. The powers that be don’t want you to satisfy your creative urges; they want to profit. To them, Asking Alexandria and their fans are merely cogs in a machine fueled by people willing to exchange passion for financial gain, and the band is sick of it.
“Down To Hell” is the song most likely to become the next inescapable rock anthem. It’s a thesis statement, not just for the album, but for Asking Alexandria’s entire career. Packed with gang vocals and a relentless spirit that is highlighted by an incredibly catchy riff, the song reinforces the idea of forging your own path in life. It’s a giant middle finger to the people who mock you because they’re too afraid or too stupid to be themselves, and it’s got a replay value higher than the vast majority of music in rotation at radio today.
The most exciting element of Like A House On Fire is how it sets up what Asking Alexandria will do next. The band’s willingness to try new ideas to keeps their sound feeling fresh even when it seems to borrow from other, arguably more established artists. Those moments of imitation are rare, but they serve to make the band more accessible without sacrificing the soul of the group. Like A Burning House is the kind of album that can only be made by people who are comfortable in their skin, and it points to an even brighter future in the years ahead.
Haulix Recommends is a recurring feature where the Haulix staff chooses one or more recent releases from their clients. Click here to discover more great music being promoted through Haulix.
How do you recover from a PR stumble when your brand is built on living a life where you do not give a damn what others think? This questions has been pondered by many notable artists over the last century, and there have been dozens of paths taken in response. Some worked better than others, but only one tried and true method has worked for everyone who has dared to attempt it: Continue not giving a damn.
Upon A Burning Body is a party-friendly metalcore group from deep in the heart of Texas who have built a career on living life however they choose with complete disregard for authority and anyone who tries to tell you that you need to be anyone other than yourself. It’s the kind of message that hooks young people before they’re even old enough to consume alcohol and carries into adulthood, especially if those young people end up working jobs where they feel suppressed or otherwise unable to be themselves because of those above them. Upon A Burning Body create music that is, for lack of a better word, rebellious. It follows a very particular path that has been traveled by countless musicians before them, but they travel it well with hooks that won’t quit and a bone-crushingly heavy take on metal. If you are unfamiliar with the sound I am describing, give this a spin:
A year ago, Upon A Burning Body were preparing to release an album called The World Is My Enemy Now. Ahead of the lead single the group posted a message online claiming their vocalist had gone missing in the greater San Antonio area. Blogs and legitimate news outlets alike ran the story as fact, urging fans to try and help the group find their missing member, but an investigation from Alternative Press soon proved the story to be a false alarm. The band’s label claimed to have no knowledge of the event, and future promotion for the record was kept at an absolutely minimum. It’s a shame, too, because the album was actually pretty great.
When faced with such a devastating blow to one’s promotional plans, not to mention upsetting countless fans, many artists would rush to apologize and/or promise to be smarter with all future promotions. Some may even choose to grovel. Upon A Burning Body however, chose to remain silent. They stuck to what had always worked, the music, and they shied away from the spotlight while the remaining outrage dissipated into the forgotten archives of internet forums and Twitter feeds. It was a bold play, but one that ultimately allowed the band to continue living life by their own set of rules, which only further fueled their creativity.
This week, Upon A Burning Body return with Straight From The Barrio, their fourth studio album in six years. The release leans heavily on what has worked for the group in the past (songs about fighting the man, partying as hard as you can, and generally doing whatever you feel compelled to do while thanking God for the great state of Texas) to help introduce several new ideas that find them exploring hard rock outside the world of metalcore. There is even some material that might as well be considered a ballad for a band such as them, but it’s all channeled through the same ‘we do what we want when we want’ lens, and that is what makes it work.
I think most of us spend our days living life in a way that leaves us feeling slightly restrained. Most don’t do what they wish they did for work, and even those who do often end the business day feeling as they have fallen short of their goals. Others may be in relationships where they feel they must be a specific way in order to keep their partner happy, or maybe that is the case between you and your friends. Whatever it may be that causes you to be anything other than yourself is keeping you becoming the best possible version of the person you were meant to become.
What separates people like you and me from the members of Upon A Burning Body is that we lack the gull to force the world to recognize us for the people we choose to be. We try and figure out who the world feels we should be and fit that mold, but the members of Upon A Burning Body walked away from that trap years ago and never looked back. They may trip and fall from time to time, but at the end of the day they can say they did things their way and that is something we all seek in our lives.
James Shotwell is the Digital Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the Film Editor for Substream Magazine and a 10-year music writing veteran. You should follow him on Twitter.
On this episode of INSIDE MUSIC, host James Shotwell calls Noah Sebastian of Sumerian Records group Bad Omens to discuss his band’s upcoming debut album. Bad Omens signed with the hard rock label in late 2015, but they didn’t begin sharing music with the world until early 2016. The response was immediate, earning hundreds of thousands of plays in a matter of weeks. James asks Noah about his response to being embraced by the world, his thoughts on critics, and much more during their discussion. Be sure to pick up Bad Omens’ self-titled record when it arrives in stores on August 19.
The song you hear in this episode is “The Worst In Me,” which can be found on Bad Omens’ upcoming album.
You may already know this, but Inside Music is available on iTunes. Click here to subscribe so you never miss an episode!
We’re only halfway through 2016, but already this year is proving to be one of the best for new music in a long time. From rock and pop, to hip-hop, country, and even spoken word, 2016 has been chock full incredible surprises and expected delights. Our jobs give us to hundreds of records every month, so trying to decide just 10 or 15 that won our hearts proved to be fairly difficult. Instead of betraying our loves (and potentially starting an interoffice war that would no doubt resemble something out of Braveheart in execution) we decided to select a few of our absolute favorites that we’ve listed below in hopes you will take it upon yourself to discover everything they have to offer. It’s not a complete list by any means, and it’s being shared with no attention paid to the order in which albums appear, but if you ever find yourselves in our offices in Minneapolis in the near future you can rest assured on of the records will be playing through our stereo.
Hotel Books – Run Wild, Stay Alive (InVogue Records)
Spoken word artists like Cam Smith never receive the credit they deserve, but one listen to the newest record from Smith’s band Hotel Books proves that poetry can be just as exciting as the best punk records. Run Wild, Stay Alive has been on shelves for less than a month when this post goes live, but already we’ve logged over a dozen plays. This is an album that will break your heart and piece it back together again.
The Summer Set – Stories For Monday (Fearless Records)
Trying to deny our love for The Summer Set is like trying to deny our constant craving for hot pizza and cold (unsweetened) ice tea. We had a feeling Stories For Monday would be a perfect soundtrack for adventures when we first heard “Figure Me Out” in February, but when the record finally arrived in April that belief was proved completely true. Every track on this record is constructed in such a way as to make any moment experienced while they play a bit more memorable. There is fun, heart, and soul to spare on this release, and the band deserves heaps of respect for finding a way to create such an immediately infectious record.
Slingshot Dakota – Break (Topshelf Records)
Sometimes a band with a rich history in the alternative scene delivers a new record that makes everything they’ve done in the past look like child’s play despite the fact those previous records are beloved by throngs of people worldwide. Such is the case with Slingshot Dakota, perhaps the most perfectly paired married couple in music, and their latest record released through Topshelf Records back in March. Break captures the sensations of growing up and making commitments to bettering yourself through catchy indie-rock tunes that make you want to dance almost as much as they make you want to share the record with anyone experiencing hard times around you. We’ve put Break on to lift our spirits, celebrate good times, and keep us company when times got hard. If the music of Slingshot Dakota were a religion we’d be the first in line at the chapel doors every Sunday, and after hearing Break we imagine you too will want to convert.
Empty Houses – Daydream (Sargent House)
There is no other band in alternative music today that has found a better way to combine the sensibilities of Motown songwriting with modern indie-pop aesthetics than Empty Houses. Their debut album, Daydream, is just what the title proclaims it to be, an escape from the world around you that is so pleasant to experience that you never want it to end. If you don’t already own this album, finish this article, share it with all your friends, and then rush out and buy a copy as soon as possible. We recommend the vinyl version, but even a download will suffice.
ROAM – Backbone (Hopeless Records)
Perhaps the first great album to be released in 2016, Backbone remains a staple of the Haulix staff playlist to this day. There is always room in our hearts for a young band who has found a way to convey boundless energy and positivity through original music, and that is exactly what you get when you listen to ROAM’s debut release on Hopeless Records. If you can make it through “Deadweight” (featured above) without feeling the urge to conquer whatever obstacles stand between you and your goals you may want to visit a doctor and double check that your heart is still beating. Yes, this band is so good that only the undead could possibly be hear their music and feel nothing. The best part of all? All signs point to ROAM only getting better with age, and that means they have several more anthemic records left to create.
I See Stars – Treehouse (Sumerian Records)
Michigan’s Electronic Hardcore ringleaders I See Stars have spent the better part of the last decade refining a sound entirely their own, and along the way they inadvertently spawned an entire underground movement. Treehouse seems to be the culmination of these efforts, as the record finds the band simultaneously delivering their most cohesive and most experimental record to date. There is a vicious heaviness to certain songs, but also a lighter side to proceedings that offer the pop-laden hooks that helped establish the band early on. There’s even some hip-hop influence, which is perhaps most evident on the show-stopping track “All In,” adding to the creative output of the group. To say this is one of the year’s best party records would be an understatement, and we expect many more genre-defying releases from the band in the future.
Whitechapel – Mark Of The Blade (Metal Blade Records)
Not many bands are able to say they’ve stayed together for a decade, and far less make it a point to celebrate this fact by releasing an album intended to reflect on all that has transpired while also looking towards the future. Whitechapel have never been your average band however, so the fact a record like Mark Of The Blade exists will likely come as no surprise to diehard fans of the long-running metal juggernauts. Everything about this record slays, and the creativity shown from the band tells us they have another decade of ideas and themes waiting to be explored.
Tiny Moving Parts – Celebrate (Triple Crown Records)
Minnesota natives Tiny Moving Parts have been carving their own path in the world of alternative music since formation, but the group seems poised for a crossover into the mainstream of music with the release of Celebrate. Both elaborately designed and undeniably infectious, the record speaks to pains of growing up and the double-edged sword that is chasing your dreams. Though still young in age, the members of TMP seems to recognize that every positive action often has a negative consequence and vice versa, which gives them a lyrical sense of wisdom well beyond their years. More importantly, they have found a way to convey a wealth of emotion through their music without jeopardizing the inherent sense of fun that has always existed within their songs. We don’t mean to cast judgment on anyone, but those who have yet to hear Celebrate in full should not be allowed to claim they lived their 2016 to the fullest because they’re missing out on a truly exciting, not to mention wholly original, release.
Avion Roe – In Separation (Epitaph Records)
It is very possible that Avion Roe will be the biggest rock band in alternative music by 2017, and if so In Separation will be seen as proof it is a title they fully deserve. This Texas rock band has been grinding away in the underground music scene for several years now, but their decision to join Epitaph Records last year thrust them into the spotlight like never before. Their label debut, which just hit stores on June 17, is chock full of anthems that feel made for arenas, and we have no doubt they will be able to play them in rooms that size in a few years time. The band is currently on Van’s Warped Tour, and those attending should consider this summer their last opportunity to hop on the group’s hype bandwagon before its overflowing with fans.
Modern Baseball – Holy Ghost (Run For Cover Records)
What could we possibly write about Modern Baseball that hasn’t already been said on blogs or in the pages of The New York Times (yes, the band was in the NYT earlier this year)? Holy Ghost is an album ripe with soul-searching sincerity that is as catchy as it is absolutely heartbreaking. We don’t recommend your first experience with this record to take place in a crowded room unless you’re absolutely okay with your friends seeing you cry because we wept as if our relatives had just passed during our initial spin(s). If you get the chance to see the band live, do it.
If you’re anything like me, you probably started the day by recognizing that the start of a new work week had indeed arrived and then immediately began shaking your fists at the sky in anger. Monday is rarely anyone’s favorite day, and from what I have seen firsthand it feels safe to say it’s the one day of the week some people outright hate. I guess to them the arrival of the work week symbolizes the end of their quote/unquote freedom, and as a result they head into the office/factory/restaurant/store with a negative outlook already on their mind. This leads to bad attitudes, which only makes the experience of being at work worse, and for some reason it also seems to make time slow to a crawl. We’re not about that life, and we hope this post can do the same you that the song contained within it did for us.
I’ve been thinking a lot about expectations over the last week. The media will tell you to define your life on your own terms, but that really isn’t the world we live in anymore. Everyone is connected to one another, and we all live vicariously through one another with each high and low our connections experience. If someone sets out to launch their own business, everyone they know is made aware of those plans before the business in question is more than a URL and some notes scribbled down on paper. If we want to start a family, our connections can quietly watch as we stumble our way through the dating world, experience our weddings through digital photo albums, and, hopefully, learn to be a parent. Unless you’re living a life completely disconnected from the digital world you know there are expectations for your life that you have no real say in, and even if you do manage to live untethered to the internet their are still expectations from family and close friends that linger in the back of your mind with every step you take. You may know what you want to be, and if so that’s great, but you also know what your family wants for you, what your friends expect from you, and what society says is acceptable.
Now that I’ve settled into the brief period between the ages of 25 and 30 I’ve begun to think of expectations in a manner far different than I did in my teen years and early 20s. Back then, my biggest concern in life was reaching the goals I had set for myself, regardless of how arbitrary or over-the-top they may have been. I think most of you reading this now would agree you found yourself in a similar position. Our childhoods were filled with pretty telling us to reach for the stars, be all we can be, and to always be looking on the horizon for our next big move, but anyone who has passionately chased their dream for a year or more will tell you there is nothing on that horizon except more work. There will always be another hill to climb, another plateau to reach, and countless number of peers who seem to remain miles ahead of you despite your best efforts to be number one. The idea of being the absolute best at anything related to careers or hobbies is a myth we tell ourselves is achievable because otherwise we might not even try in the first place.
In my life I have been fortunate enough to realize what I wanted to do at an early age and receive the support I needed from family to chase after that goal. I wanted to work in music, so I set out to do just that from the age of fifteen and poured everything I could into the pursuit of that dream. This meant going to college for a degree in music business, spending money I didn’t have on travels to events where no one new my name, and, perhaps most importantly, moving far away from the tiny farming community I called home. My parents were sad to see me go, but they knew I had to try and make my dreams a reality because they could sense the fire in my soul. They knew I loved them and music to such a great degree that demanding I choose one or the other would only result in stress and tensions that could be avoided, even if they wished they could somehow change my mind. It took me years to understand how this decision probably meant letting go of expectations they had set on me, as well as our relationship, but now that I’m a little older and have an understanding that can only be gained through experience I feel for the sacrifices they made. In order to let me be the person I felt I was meant to be my parents had to let go of some things they probably wanted for me since the day I was born, all in the hope I would one day return.
Anyone who chases a dream fervently for years will eventually find themselves in a place where they have to face the fact that seeking a sense of wholeness or contentment through hobbies or a career is an impossible task, but not everyone will be able to pinpoint when that moment happens. It’s the kind of realization that happens gradually over a long period of time, and for many it may be years or even decades before they find themselves in a place where their passion has become their career and they still feel a void in their soul that yearns to be filled. For me, that realization followed the death of my best friend, Justin, when I was 26. Justin had expectations for his time on this Earth, and his parents had their expectations for him as well, but despite his best efforts to live a long and successful his time was cut short due to an incredibly rare blood disease based on genetics that has no cure. Justin didn’t even know he had the potential to have this disease until it had already begun to attack his body, and that was nearly four years before he would ultimately pass. During that time I watched his aspirations for the future fade into distant memories and his desire for an understanding of who he was, as well as a closeness to friends and family grow. Tomorrow didn’t matter to Justin because he understood what it meant to say that the next day was never promised, so he only lived in the moment, and when he made that choice the expectation he had set for himself beyond loving and caring for those around him did not matter.
Watching Justin adjust to his changing circumstances and face each new twist with a heart endlessly full of hope gave me cause to pause and review my own expectations. I may have told myself I wanted to work in music, but that decision was based on an expectation from teachers, mentors, and the outside world that I would pursue something other than an understanding of self and the connection I shared with those around me. When he passed, I realized how all I really wanted in life was to find myself in a position to spend as much time as possible with those I loved while still doing whatever needed to be done to keep a roof over my head and food in my stomach. I wanted that task to be as fun and/or easy as possible, which is why I pursued entertainment as a career, but ultimately that path was only a means to an end that, hopefully, would allow me a greater understanding of who I am, why I exist, and what it is I am supposed to do with my time on this Earth.
I cannot speak to the experiences of others, but I do know what I can infer from the art they create. I See Stars are a rock band that has experienced the highs and lows of the entertainment industry while maintaining a bond of brotherhood that has only strengthened in time. I don’t know what expectations they set on themselves when they were forming, but I saw our culture place many expectations on them in the light of their debut album, 3D, hitting stores in 2009. At the time, the band was creating a hybrid of pop-rock with elements of post-hardcore and EDM that made for a decidedly intoxicating combination that critics either praise for its catchiness or slammed for its sugary sweetness. Some wrote the band off as being the last death wails of a dying neon-clad movement in alternative music, while others saw them as a sign of where music was headed. I was working in music and covering the band at the time, so I’m sure I added to this pile of ideas as well, but my thoughts should not have mattered to the band (even though I’m sure they did, as all creative people have an inmate desire to seek acceptance from the world around them).
As time carried on, I See Stars struggled to break free of the expectations thrust upon them by fans and critics. Most artists believe their earliest fans want to see them succeed by creating the same type of music they were writing when they were just starting out, which is fine for a time, but ultimately such efforts become problematic because – like everyone else – artists need to constantly progress in order to stay engaged in their own creation. The confines placed on I See Stars by the outside world caused a bit of stagnation in their music, which was painfully evident on 2011’s End Of The World Party and still lingering on 2012’s Digital Renegade. Listeners paying close attention could hear the band’s struggles to find their own path, but something about their output told you they still felt beholden to longtime subscribers and critics who believed their first work was their best work. It was almost as if the band was trying to recreate the lightning in a bottle moment that launched their career, and it took them several years (not to mention multiple releases) to understand such efforts will always be made in vein. That time was in the past, and trying to live in that moment continuously is never truly possible.
I See Stars found some footing with 2013’s New Demons, which would later prove to be the most popular release in their career. The band had shaken off the majority of their early work and focused on finding a new way to share their evolved world perspectives without completely abandoning the sounds and ideas that made them popular in the first place. The entire released carried an edge of “we don’t care what you think” that fans embraced with open arms. It was not a destination as much as it was a step in the right direction, and it gave the members the confidence needed to create what would be, at least in my opinion, the best work of their career.
This week, music fans around the world will be able to hear I See Stars’ fifth studio album, Treehouse, in full. The record blends together everything the band has done in the past with a very focused look towards the future that could very well be the genre-defining sound people suspected them of crafting over half a decade ago. It’s lush, yet refined, and bursting with a sense of honestly not found in many of the band’s genre peers. For the first time in their entire career I See Stars appear to have shaken off all expectations, including their own, and focused on what they felt was most important. They laid themselves bare on digital tape and found the results of those efforts were more pure than anything they had created in the past. They were also more diverse, as is apparent on the hip-hop influenced “All In” or the soft synth of “Walking On Gravestones.”
If you listen closely to I See Stars’ new record you can hear a band that understands their greatest strength resides in the connection they share as people. Their most powerful weapon is the love and respect they share for one another, as well as their fans, and tapping into those emotions have provided a wealth of new ideas that challenge expectations across the board. You might not like what they produce, but you have to respect the willingness to do what feels right instead of what is most commercially viable.
I cannot covert you to being an I See Stars fans, but I do believe you can find the strength to live life free of the constraints of expectations by experiencing their art. Do not miss Treehouse.
James Shotwell is the Digital Marketing Manager for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
On this episode of INSIDE MUSIC, host James Shotwell calls Veil Of Maya guitarist Marc Obuko to discuss his band’s new album ‘Matriarch,’ as well as the realities of working in metal music today. Marc tells James about the lessons learned during this decade-plus career with VOM, as well as the crazy tale of how the group found their latest vocalist and what he brings to the band that may catch some fans off guard. We also listen to a bit of the new record because, to be honest, it slays.
The music you hear in the intro to ‘Inside Music’ this week is “Leeloo” from Veil Of Maya. You can learn more about that song, as well as the album it hails from, on the band’s official website.
You may already know this, but ‘Inside Music’ is now available on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
Inside Music is also on Twitter. Follow us for show updates and clues to who will be our next guest!
If you’re anything like me, you probably started the day by recognizing the start of a new work week had indeed arrived and then immediately began shaking your fists at the sky in anger. Monday is rarely anyone’s favorite day, and from what I have seen firsthand it feels safe to say it’s the one day of the week some people outright hate. I guess to them the arrival of the work week symbolizes the end of their quote/unquote freedom, and as a result they head into the office/factory/restaurant/store with a negative outlook already on their mind. This leads to bad attitudes, which only makes the experience of being at work worse, and for some reason it also seems to make time slow to a crawl. We’re not about that life, and we hope this post can do the same you that the song contained within it did for us.
When I finally got out of bed, just after 6AM EST, the first thought on my mind was music. I need a good soundtrack in order to have a good day, and I’ve tried very hard to force myself to check out new music as a way easing into the unpredictability of the week ahead. Today, the one new record I kept coming back to again and again was Matriach, the latest record from Sumerian Records’ metal band Veil Of Maya. It’s the fifth album in the band’s critically-acclaimed catalog, and it arrives in stores nationwide tomorrow morning, May 12. You can stream the lead single, “Teleute,” above.
There is something about chaotic metal like that performed by Veil Of Maya that aides me in gathering my thoughts and focusing on the tasks that must be accomplished in my immediate future. I think that occurrence is the direct result of hearing how well the band manages to channel its numerous ideas and influences into a coherent piece of art, but it could just be the fact I feel so energized when this record plays that I feel like chasing King Kong through Peter Jackson’s dinosaur-filled version of Skull Island. Either way, it moves me, and that impact is a positive one.
If you want to learn more about Veil Of Maya, or if you want to be a good music fan and purchase Matriarch, you can do so on the band’s official Facebook page. Comment below and let us know what soundtrack is helping you start the new work week.
