February was another great month for music, and a month for comebacks! A lot of long missing bands came back with a new release for the first time in years and they pretty much all did well!
Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She
Chelsea Wolfe investing completely in her Industrial side is not what I had anticipated but I am glad it happened because this winds up being a pretty great album. The soundscapes are menacing and suffocating and her voice sounds excellent on top. The album is slow yet manages to be consistently engaging and compelling, with huge escalations and constant bombardment of new ideas. I hope she continues to play in this space because Industrial clearly suits her very well, and I have a feeling her next could be a real masterwork. This is great and I hope is a sign of things to come.
Friko - Where we've been, Where we go from here
I had a slight worry that this album would lean too much into lushness and lose some of the songwriting I found exciting on their EP but they have not. Each song is packed with intense builds and incredible choruses. It is amazing how much more fully formed they sound on this, they have such a distinct aesthetic here and it works wonders. For a debut project, this is remarkably impressive, they have set forward a clear and distinct sound that shows off their influences while bringing in so much of their own flavour and building from what they have done before, if this is what they can do this early on, this is a band who must be paid attention to. From intimate piano ballads with great driving grooves to intense fiery guitar riffs that fling themselves upon the listener, Friko have a lot going for them, and "Get Numb To It!" is one of the best Indie Rock songs of the decade so far.
Grandaddy - Blu Wav
It has been 7 years since the last mainline Grandaddy album and after a long time away Jason and company are back and have not lost a thing. This album is packed with beautiful, emotive, and tight songwriting. The band's skill at balancing gorgeous and lush textures with an exceptional skill for memorable melodies is as strong as ever, and the vocals are as good as ever, his voice hasn't aged a day. The elements of Psychedelia and Country are pulled off with the skill the band are known for, and while the album feels tonally consistent, there are a lot of unique ideas going on in each song which keeps the project exciting. I've been nervous about getting to the band's later work because I hold their core 3 as some of the best music ever but if it reaches this point then maybe I'll have to get to their last two albums before this. This is another massive win from them.
meth. - SHAME
As suggested by the name of both the band and album this thing is pretty vicious. The atmosphere is suffocatingly evil throughout, with all of the instruments coming together into this noisy soundscape which manages to feel overwhelming while not feeling cluttered. The vocals are also great, adding an extra dissonant layer to this. Something I expected to be an issue is the song lengths, they are long, which the band pulls off, and the songs both manage to go in plenty of unique directions while not feeling aimless. While not every song is amazing, this is a great record with plenty of imagination and rage pumped in.
Planet B - Fiction Prediction
The most underappreciated The Locust side project Planet B is back after years of absence with a new album. As is expected from these musical lab rats this follow-up project is as bizarre as you could ask for and Sass Rap is a genre that works better than you'd expect. The production roams around without a care in the world trying out every idea it can as long as it is strange. I'm glad that these people even after years of making music have no interest in reaching a comfortable mediocrity and still want to experiment and all of their experiments here work. This is a manic, synthy, sassy journey that excites constantly and is very much worth a listen.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Of the Last Human Being
I am always wary of reunion albums, even with bands I adore a lot can be lost after some time away, whether it is losing edge or losing direction for the project. So I went into this new Sleepytime Gorilla Museum record with an air of uncertainty, but found myself pleasantly surprised! The band's signature sound is still extremely apparent but they have definitely learned a thing or two in their years away, especially in the additions of more Brutal Prog touches, which supplement their sound well. The most extreme example of experimentation is the manic Zolo-esque nightmare of "Save It!" which they pull off very well. Our vocalists still sound great, the sinister theatricality of their voices is still here and has barely aged at all. One of my biggest points of praise here is that the album flow is exceptional, at times it feels like one large ongoing piece that is constantly shifting. All in all this thing is outstanding. The band hasn't lost a thing in their absence.
Spectral Voice - Sparagmos
Sparagmos is an album of slow and intense Death Doom, and it works, it really works. The band have a murky and discomforting sound that weighs heavy on the listener over its duration. Dissonant riffs and suffocatingly overwhelming drums come together amazingly. I was shocked by how relatively new this band is because they explore this sound with what feels like many more years of experience. This is another great Metal record to come from this year and I recommend it if you want something that seems to hate the listener.
STOMACH BOOK - Sophomore Slump Callithump
Of this new wave of maximalist bedroom Emo STOMACH BOOK is the one I was most excited to hear more from, the debut was great and the singles for this second album were shaping up to be even better and now the album is here that is absolutely the case. The album is ridiculously texturally diverse, with every song running free to try out as many ideas as possible and these ideas pretty much always work out. The sass-fueled mania of "METANOIA" moves at a million miles an hour and packs in thousands of ideas in that time. The vocals whether screeched or sung add to the overwhelming nature of the music, having a theatricality and off-kilter style that complements the instrumentals excellently. The one complaint I have is that sometimes the mix is a bit compressed, but it isn't too intrusive overall. They have outdone themself here, after proving their potential on their debut this sophomore album is anything but a sophomore slump, we have an album that has improved all of the best qualities of the debut album and if this is proof of what is to come, then STOMACH BOOK is in for a fruitful career.
Tha God Fahim & Cookin' Soul - Supreme Dump Legend: Soul Cook Saga
Cookin' Soul are primarily known for a series of Instrumental Hip Hop and Mashup works and this is the first project I have seen from them working with another rapper and oh my god it works. These excellent and varied Boom Bap beats with some extremely satisfying sample work make for a perfect springboard for Tha God Fahim to just shine. On Tha God Fahim of course he is good, his flow is perfect on these beats, and throwing in some classic references make this a compelling listen, but honestly I would be surprised if he didn't kill it. The few features we have here are also great, especially Raz Fresco, who kills it with a more muted flow that contrasts Tha God Fahim well. This is just an ideal fusion, these classic-sounding and captivating beats combined with some great verses make this a tight and excellent listen. If Cookin' Soul can do this well on their most high-profile collaboration yet then I am very excited for what may come next.
Toadliquour - Back in the Hole
Probably one of the biggest surprises of this year so far, cult band Toadliquor have put out their sophomore record... 30 years after their debut. You'd expect this to be a messy comeback album but god it is not! The band are on top form here, while not as utterly crushing as the debut, this is an album of incredible Sludge Metal. The performances are killer on here, every member of the band kills it. For a band who have spent the past 30 years not existing I am frankly stunned they have come back this strong, I just hope we won't have to wait another 30 for the next one.