NEW music of 2015 thread (No videos plz)

Been listening to the new Symphony X album over the last couple days. It basically sounds like more Symphony X, which is fine I guess, if a bit disappointing. Run with the Devil is a jam, though.

@krataur: I'm sure you've heard by now but there is a new Silversun Pickups album coming out, September 25th actually. You can pre-order it now as well.

Gotta say, I enjoy CZARFACE much more than I should. Never liked 7L and Eso's stuff much. Eso was also always the worst part of any AOTP and Demigodz track he was on. I've basically been skipping his shit since '97. Every hero needs a villain is good though.

Some stuff I got in the past week:

• I'm about as satisfied with the new Ratatat album, Magnifique, as I expected to be. The classical inspired tracks are a fun theme. There should have been more of them. Aside from that, it's same ol head-bobbing computer beat mixed with shnazzy guitair solos. Good as they've always been.
• Are the telephones breaking up? or maybe this album is marking a transition for the band? Bye Bye Hello is uncharacteristically wistful. Usually the telephones are like... Giant Bomb: The Band. Loud, ridiculous, and stupid in all the best ways; but most of the songs on here are sappy nostalgic ballads.
• Good lord, does the latest single by The Birthday rock. I was blasting "Mother" loud while running errands yesterday. I am very excited for the album in September.
• Elbow caught me surprise with a new EP last week. Lost Worker Bee is pretty good. Usually Elbow albums are too long and boring for me to ever really get into them. This only being 4 songs has me coming back to it more than I do their LPs. They have a very full and rich sound that you have let grow on you to enjoy.
• Been digging the new Foals songs. I've always found their "evolution" over the last two albums to be shallow. They're finally going in a new direction for this new album, due out in about a month. It's more stripped down and hard-hitting; or at least thats what the leaked tracks like "Mountain At My Gates" have led me to believe.

I spent a lot of time recently listening to Bully's debut albumFeels Like. Definitely worth a listen.

@amafi: Yeah I'm pretty much in the same boat. Never listened to either of their individual stuff but CZARFACE is something I can really get behind.

Dude, I love this. It like a throwback to early 90's indie-punk.

Two more cool albums

• L'Orange & Kool Keith - Time? Astonishing! :: Kool Keith hasn't been relevant for a while, but I've always had a soft spot for him. He's back, and as weird as ever with a time traveling themed album; made all the better with L'Orange's retro sci-fi and lounge production. This is probably the best gimmicked hip-hop album since Deltron 3030.
• Sherbets - きれいな血 :: I shared the rock & roll single, "LADY NEDY" a couple months ago. It turns out "ひょっとして" is a more applicable song to represent this album. If you're really into rock music with a baroque approach and a bit more soul, this should be right up your alley.

Ashley Munroes new album "The Blade" came out this week.

Ive been really enjoying it. the quality country albums coming out the last couple weeks has been great with her Kasey Chambers and Kacey Musgraves

@roomrunner: Shout out for the appreciation of the new Foals material. I'm stoked for the new album and to see if they can tighten up their game and deliver a solid album. Personally I loved most of their work, but from a critical stand point there have been duds on the previous records.

In terms of contribution to the topic: Really digging Tame Impala - Currents at the moment. The previous 2 albums were jammed with psych rock loveliness, but the new album goes in a new but natural direction. Parker's meticulousness continues to astonish me.

Kurt Vile - Pretty Pimpin is a solid outing. Lyrically Vile is back on the theme of being adrift, with sweet guitar picking, and a solid drive throughout this track.

I have to just gleam for a moment, my three favourite modern artists (Foals, Kurt Vile, Tame Impala) are realsing/ have released records this year, so I am pretty stoked. Hope everyone else is getting as much musical goodness this year.

I liked it but its not what I was hoping for. My go to for Symphony X is "V" and all I really want is for them to go back to that sound.

New-ish British rock group called Wolf Alice. They've put out a handful of EPs over the last few years, but finally released their first LP a couple months ago. Really, really spectacular live act.

I've been busy the past couple weeks and had missed that, actually. They had hinted at a September release a couple months back, but glad to see it officially announced. Thank you for the great news!

I like the older stuff too (The Divine Wings of Tragedy is an all-time classic), but generally speaking I am more of a modern Symphony X fan. With that being said I still don't know how to feel about Underworld. I am curious what a throw back to that older sound would sound like today, though.

i want the new deafheaven album to be good and i want them to come here again and i want to see them and cry a lot

Krallice (technical, prog-ish, black-ish, metal) released their new album on bandcamp today, somewhat out of nowhere. Check it out if you like more experimental, non-traditional heavy music. They've been around for a long time and are exceptionally talented.

@nickhead: i love their Diotima album, I'm gonna wait to try that one because earlier today i already stumbled upon...

reclusive blasphemy by One Master. i keep waiting for black metal to not be the thing anymore but every year my favorite album ends up being a black metal album. this is way out in front for right now, and check out the cover...

@hh: oooo I'll check this out, that's a name I don't recognize. I LOVE the wood-cut artwork. Watain's Lawless Darkness had some really good art in this style as well.

Back to Krallice, is Diotima the only one you've heard? Honestly that's my least favorite (still good) in their disco. Dimensional Bleedthrough is probably my favorite album.

@nickhead: i tried their self-titled and it didn't grab me in the same way, that doesn't mean much, could be just a case of inconvenient timing, but likewise, listening to that new one, i'm not looking for that much dischord / chaos right now.

@hh: Yeah I feel you, that's definitely a specific style for a specific mood. I think it took me well over a year from the time I first heard the self titled, to actually liking it.

"The 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Sessions" (5 track orchestral instrumental) EP by Rob Dougan.

I'm so glad he's taking a break from making wine (apparently its some of the best wine you can get but I'm not really a wine person). I think the new album is gonna be at the end or autumn this year. I'm gonna put that on repeat for the whole of my next academic year when that's released.

[After getting up to date on what's been posted]

@winsord: Wow, Algiers sound crazy. I like Game & Blood.

@cirdain: Yeah, Algiers are pretty cool. I really like "But She Was Not Flying". Surprised you pulled that from that big list of albums.

Astonished By Design has a début EP with soundtrack style tracks, two named after someone called Ryckert and the actress Juno Temple. Also a Giant Bombcast theme cover and another Giant Bomb inspired track titled The Bomb Squad. Not exactly the style or professional quality of the stuff on this thread but it is technically new 2015 music with Giant Bomb connections.

"Leave a Trace" by CHVRCHES is my jam right now. So friggin' good.

Both the new Lamb of God and Fear Factory albums are stellar. I've loved Fear Factory since I was a child, but Lamb of God I've only recently gotten into (and I seriously don't know what the hell took so long), so I've been going through their back catalog and loving all of it.

This year has been incredible for metal and rock, and it's only going to get better from here.

Heard a song that seems out of place on an alternative rock station, but I can't say I didn't like the song. S.O.B by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. The chorus makes the song.

I've been listening to this quite a lot, it's a side project of James Kent (aka Perturbator)

https://enfantdelaforet.bandcamp.com/album/abraxas

The new Chelsea Wolfe album "Abyss" is fangoddamntastic. So brow-beatingly distorted and large, yet lush and atmospheric at the same time. I think she's really nailed a sound she's been playing around with for a while and this album is tops front to back.

The new Dre album is fantastic as well. I had my doubts going in but jeez it really is a pretty outside the box project for him and it's a great note for his solo career to go out on.

Waiting for new mixtapes from Mick Jenkins and Sean Price (RIP) later this month.

I've finally spent enough time with Titus Andronicus' 90 minute "epic" - The Most Lamentable Tragedy.

It... really isn't the kind of album you can listen to all in one chunk. I wouldn't even really recommend dumping the whole thing on your iPod either, because of all the interlude tracks. There are quite a few tracks on this album that are literal silence, or one or two notes extended out for minutes. The album is broken up into five acts, and these tracks serve as intros/cool-downs to them.

The best way I've found to listen to it is to just pop on one act (they range from 10 to 20 minutes each) and put it away for a while before listening to another. Maybe this album should have just been 5 EPs spaced out over a year instead. If you do cut out all the tone setting tracks, there is still about an hour of wild and crazy punk to enjoy. It's not a bad album, but definitely could have been composed in a more succinct and satisfactory manner.

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I also got HEALTH's new LP, DEATH MAGIC

Odd that both of these albums remind me of The Knife. The Titus release has way too much filler, with some great tracks in between (just like The Knife's Shaking The Habitual). DEATH MAGIC def has that abrasive dance style that makes me miss The Knife.

This is noise-rock mixed weird artsy dance music. The Knife def did it better, because their pop influences have more of a world music vibe. DEATH MAGIC is more like modern American big arena pop. I love how brutal and loud it sounds, and that it incorporates a genre that's so different. They don't do enough to spice up the pop music though. It still comes off as disposable, despite all the knobs turned up (just like Sleigh Bells at their worst). The vocals are stale, and the lyrics are pretty boring too. I'd much prefer this was an instrumental album.

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Oh yeah, and a handful of new reviews.

I get in depth about Hot Chip, Drenge, Refused, Towa Tei, and The Sonics here.

New Fear Factory album is great, as always. Was disappointed in the faith no more album but want to listen to it one or two more times. Compton was good all around, but no one song was like damn this is amazing.

Looking forward too new Iron Maiden and The Sword in the coming weeks. Honestly this August is crazy in music for me. Every week there is 2 albums I am getting which hasn't happened....ever?

The new FNM seems to be incredibly divisive. It's either hugely disappointing or the best album of the year; I've seen very little in the middle ground. I guess I'm one of the few who likes it but isn't totally in love. It's got some killer tunes, especially Separation Anxiety, Sunny Side Up, and Cone of Shame. I'm hardly a lifelong fan of the band, so I guess I really didn't have expectations for it, but it's solid work.

Genexus is such a killer album, too. It sure is some Fear Factory-ass Fear Factory, but they're one of the few bands that I'm very okay with always sounding the same from record to record.

@onekillwonder_ said:

It wasn't bad, disappointed was the wrong word. Has some good songs, but was hoping for....more I guess. Also didn't help to listen to all their albums BEFORE I listened to the new material, created bias most likely.

Once again the first listen too of Genexus was meh. Then listened to it again last night and was like fuck yeah this is great. Fear Factory knows what it likes and I love what they do, everything they have done since Demanufacture is fucking great in my book.

I didn't know this thread existed. I'll run down a few things:

Dr. Dre - Compton: It's not great. It's good, and after you've listened to it about 30 times or so, you see what Dre was doing with the album. It's not about Dre making an album. It's about Dre introducing new artists. I would put this more akin to Dre Presents The Aftermath than The Chronic or 2001. He is introducing the mainstream to Anderson.Paak, Justus, King Mez, Jon Connor, and some lesser knowns. The album is safe as hell without being too safe. I enjoy listening to it, but it's definitely Dre's third best album.

Fear Factory - Genexus: This was far better than Industrialist, but I also don't care for drum machines. However, this is a bit too akin to Digimortal for my liking. It's not bad at all, and I can headbang like a muthafucker. Dino's riffs are solid up and down, and I think their new drummer is definitely the closest they are going to find to Raymond Herrera. Nonetheless, it feels soulless by comparison of Obsolete or even Archetype.

Hate Eternal - Infernus: Fucking excellent. It's raw as hell, and their new drummer Chason fits perfectly into the mold. These guys are thirsty, and this album proves it. Hard-hitting, fast, aggressive as hell, solid blast beats, just...fantastic work. Buuuuut...

Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction: Fuck me running sideways, when did Cattle Decap become this good? Subject matter aside, their musicality has gone through the roof. The vocal mixups and the addition of some melody really brings out far more brutality in their songs, but it's how tight the band sounds together that makes this album a thorough pleasure. They've begun maturing their music, and it makes it far more enjoyable. This could easily be one of my favorite records of the year. Solid job, and I'll be watching out for their future releases now.

Sylosis - Dormant Heart: If it weren't for this album coming out, Cattle Decap would've been my favorite metal record of the year. However, Sylosis slayed everyone with this true masterpiece. I'll say it now: this is their Master of Puppets moment. This is when they have written their best songs. There is a memorable sense to every single song. The riffs are big and crunchy, but their dedication to thrash without being married to it is what separates them from someone like Revocation.

Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free: Anyone who hasn't been listening to Isbell might be a fool, but regardless, Something More Than Free is Isbell's shining moment to break Americana/red dirt into the mainstream into a huge way. He's an incredible singer/songwriter that people always want to throw into the country category, and this one definitely pushes him further into a place where categorization doesn't exist. He's just...music. Honest goddamn music. Great record, and definitely one of my favorites overall for the year.

Faith No More - Sol Invictus: Fuck the haters. Excellent album. Love it. Musically explorative in an interesting way, expertly played, and wonderfully thoughtful.

Girl Band - Paul: Irish punk(?)band just dropped a new single from their upcoming album Holding Hands With Jamie. Sounds just as unhinged and savage as always. Video

Scattle - Timelapse:First album from Hotline Miami contributor Scattle.

PS: I totally stole your layout jakob187, because it really works.

Megadrive - Refactor: Easily some of the best stuff to come from this project. Craziest mix of psytrance, industrial, synth wave, and chiptune you'll likely ever hear.

Nightcrawler - Strange Shadows EP: Some great, moody-ass synthwave. This sounds like a proper horror movie.

Force Publique - Bloom Force Publique has finally blossomed into one of the best representations of 90's shoegaze and the post-punk that inspired the genre/era all into one modern package. It's freaking great.

Seeming - World Burner's Unite EP Seeming is one weird and beautiful project, always being the most direct representation of what has influenced industrial from the 80's and into the modern sound. This goes a step further, taking in more influences and mixing up how they all poke through with all of the different mixes on this EP (there's 15 different remixes on this EP!).

Warning Banjos Incoming!

Just want to throw out some recommendations if anyone is into folky-bluegrassy type stuff around here.

The Lowest Pair - The Sacred Heart Sessions: Some haunting vocal harmonies, great roots sound out of usually two banjos or a banjo and guitar. I will be following them for whatever they do next too. Live Performance of Rosie

Punch Brothers - The Phosphorescent Blues: Personally I can't get enough of Chris Thile's millions of projects, but Punch Brothers are easily my favorite. Their ability to throw down a classic bluegrass stomp and then follow it with a weird ambient experimental type song is such a wonder. Tiny Desk Concert of songs from this album.

Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Middle Western: This is sort of a , "Hey check out this local band" from Wisconsin. So do that. Check them out if you like bluegrass. Live Session of songs from this album.

@nightriff: I felt the same way about the new FNM. I was worried from the start that it would sound like a Mike Patton project rather than a FNM album and thats pretty much what happened. Not to say that I dont like Mike Pattons other bands(I was so into Mr. Bungle that my friends wanted to murder me) but its just not the same as what I come to a FNM album for.

Ghost - Meliora

So I am going crazy with anticipation for the new Ghost album. I dont normally get hyped for things but for some reason Ghost has me frothing at the mouth. Maybe they got me with some subliminal messages, I dont know. Anyone else waiting for this album to hit? They put out the first video in June (here it is) and a couple tracks on youtube if anyone is interested. Album is out the 21st.

@pollysmps said:

I was really excited to listen to Abyss, especially after Pain is Beauty which I think is her best album, but for some reason the album hasn't clicked with me yet. It sounds like it is supposed to be heavy, but the album is recorded in such a way that the heavy parts are smoothed out and I think it's missing the impact that it is going for. Normally I don't care about Chelsea's vocals being drowned out on her songs but on this album there are a lot of moments where everything gets quiet and I still have no idea what she is saying. Outside of Carrion Flowers, Iron Moon and Maw I'm not really getting into the other songs, but I'll give it a couple more listens to see if it will grow on me.

Where would you put ygg huur if you had to rank their discog? I feel like Krallice has gotten better with every album (Years Past Matter is my favorite from them) but this album seems like a step back to me.

I have to disagree, although I am biased since I'm a big HEALTH fan; I think all of their official albums (self-titled, Get Color and now this) are fantastic. Some of the remix stuff on the Disco albums is kinda weak I suppose but other than that these guys have been consistently releasing quality stuff (the Max Payne 3 soundtrack is great and their contributions to GTA V are also fantastic). I'd say Death Magic is much more pop-oriented than their previous output and it did throw me off initially but I stuck with it and I'm really enjoying the album now. I wouldn't say the vocals are stale, they just have a disconnected feel which is intentional. And I have to disagree about the lyrics being boring as well, at least for me I love the fact that the entire album is basically someone pouring out all of their thoughts about their inevitable death. At times they are dismissive (Flesh World UK), confused (Life) and frustrated (L.A. Looks); and all the while there is a catchy electro-pop backdrop which I find interesting. L.A. Looks would probably be a pop song on the radio but the lyrical content is too dark to be marketable and I enjoy the dissonance.

Also I'm late to the party on these albums but The Good Fight by Oddisee, The Night Took Us In Like Family by L'Orange & Jeremiah Jae and Every Hero Needs A Villain by Czarface are all great hip hop albums, definitely in the top 5 hip hop albums of the year for me.

On the hard rock/metal tip, I bought Bleeder by Mutoid Man recently and that album is really easy to get into and have fun with.

I was also browsing through Amazon the other day and I saw some upcoming releases that I'm excited about:

Sean Price - Songs in the Key of Price (August 21) - R.I.P. Sean Price ... I was shocked when I heard the news a week ago.

AFX - orphaned deejay selek 2006-2008 (August 21)

Scarface - Deeply Rooted (September 4)

Battles - La Di Da Di (September 18)

Blackalicious - Imani Vol. 1 (September 18)

Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect (October 9)

@technician: The first couple listens of the new one didn't blow me away, so overall it may be my 2nd to last favorite (Diotima being my least favorite). However, they are a band that requires a ton of listens (personally) before I can make a fully formed opinion. I like that this one has shorter songs and I like that they changed up their sound a bit.

@71ranchero: Well now the whole album is up! Spoilers: it is pretty rad.

The new song from Joanna Newsom is out, with a video directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and it is pretty great.

Had it on repeat all day, I cant be any more pleased. The only song that didn't instantly grab me was Mummy Dust. Hard to believe that I hated these guys up until I heard them being played between bands at a Behemoth concert.

I've already listened to this album in its entirety 24 times since the stream went up. I will surely listen to it for the rest of the year, if not longer.

ALBUM. OF. THE. FUCKING. YEAR. Nothing can come out to top this for me. Nothing. Even the new Tesseract can't be this good. It's so simple, but it harkens back to a time when music was truly fucking excellent. It sits somewhere in that '60s/'70s/'90s vibe that just gets into your bones. It's infectious, bold, and creatively full. I'm in love with this album.

Nope. Still can't get on with that voice. Still sounds like she's in the middle of a seance trying to channel a dead relative.

EDIT: Not only did I miss Godspeed You Black Emperor's new album but they're apparently doing a gig in Gateshead in October.

@jakob187: Glad I checked if anyone posted this one yet. I'll admit I was nervous after the singles. On their own I was beginning to think maybe I was over the whole Ghost thing, but man is this a really complete and excellent record. Good chance it will be in my top 10...

The Sword's new album came out yesterday. I've listened to about half. Much slower and chill than previous releases. Not sure how I feel about it yet. The whole album is already on Spotify for those interested.

The Sword, at least for me, has always been the kind of band that I can randomly turn on and listen to just fine, but I could never bring myself to actually just obsess over or anything. Solid musicians, respect what they do, but it isn't my cup of tea for the regular day-to-day. I'll check the new one out, though.

My favorite albums from this year:

• Lustmore - Lapalux
• Giants - Andreya Triana
• From Kinshasha - Mbongwana Star
• Projections - Romare
• In Colour - Jamie xx
• White Men Are Black Men Too - Young Fathers
• Live in Athens - emancipator
• Universes - Seven Davis Jr.
• The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam - Thundercat
• The Epic - Kamasi Washington
• DJ-Kicks - DJ Koze
• everyfuckinday - Lolawolf

Also, yes to whoever posted Glass Animals. Seeing them in Raleigh in October.

I picked both the new Disturbed and Soulfly records yesterday.

I gotta say, as a big Disturbed fan since the beginning, this new album is fucking disappointing. Especially after they just got back from a 5 year hiatus. I felt like they had real musical growth and maturation with the their first four records, with Indestructible being the best. Asylum was also disappointing because it mostly just sounded like b-sides from Indestructible. Immortalized shows not only no growth in the band, but it has a distinct lack of any memorable riff, melody, or any kind of hook and almost all of the tracks. Very little in the way of aggressiveness or heaviness. Just a lot of mid-tempo coasting with a few fleeting moments of excellence. The title track, Save Our Last Goodbye, and their cover of The Sound of Silence are some of the only noteworthy tracks. It's frustrating to have waited this long for this album only for it to be probably their weakest yet.

The new Soulfly record, on the other hand, is pretty fucking killer. Soufly, and really anything Max Cavalera-related these days can be so hit or miss just because he spreads himself so thin. Soulfly especially seem to have an alternating pattern of releasing good and mediocre records. Just from their last few, Omen was their weakest yet, Enslaved is one of their best, Savages was okay but forgettable, and now Archangel. I don't want to say it's "great" just yet, but it seems very focused and makes an effort to try new things here and there. The riffs are solid with more groove than there's been in awhile. Zion Cavalera's drumming still leaves a bit to be desired but is much improved from Savages. Marc Rizzo's scalding guitar continues to impress and prove why he's one of the best in the business. Much of the album has a real punk/hardcore attitude with a bunch of short-but-sweet songs ( the track Ishtar Rising...holy shit!) that really recall the good old days of death and thrash. It's still not as good as Dark Ages, but it's a solid effort.

The Sword's new album High Country is bizarre but I still like it quite a bit. It has one of the strangest groupings of songs that I have heard on a album from a single band but it seems to all work well together. It still totally feels like a The Sword album but it feels like the band has developed their lyrical style more and the instruments have adapted to that. It doesn't sound like every song is trying to be epic but they still hold that same kind of mysticism fueled lyrics and solid riffs in them. There are also multiple tracks that show the band is experimenting with some different sounds and while I don't think they are anything amazing I am interested in seeing what they learn from them.

There hasn't been much more new stuff that I have been into that has come out recently but the next few months are packed with new music I am stoked for. New albums coming from Graveyard, Scale the Summit, and Baroness seems to be teasing Purple. For bands that are more local/less well known there are new albums coming from Indian Handcrafts(Hard Rock kind of), We Hunt Buffalo(stoner rock), War Baby(pop punk/grunge), and Atomis(prog/post metal).

@jakob187: Same here. The only album of theirs that I think is a complete, excellent record that I can listen the whole way through, is Warp Riders.