Lav's Music Corner

5.  Sodom & Gomorrah  - Dorian Electra Dorian is one of the artists I flip back and forth on the most and following the recent "Sodomy" merch drop I was particularly skeptical that this might be just as phoned in. Turns out this track is actually kind of a banger which sees Dorian cleverly conjuring and satirizing the religious imagery over a ripping beat. As is so often the case I think Dorian has been inconsistent as of late, but this is a highlight.  Listen 4.  Skeleton Is Walking  - Blake Mills After producing so much good music for other artists in the past few years Blake Mills is back with a new solo project led off by a wonderful lead single which blends together the sounds of classic folk with a biting electric guitar solo. It's nearly six minutes of song that absolutely breezes by with both thematic and textural detail in nearly every moment along the way.  Listen 3.  Popular  - The Weeknd, Madonna & Playboi Carti Is The Idol ...

Lockstep Bloodwar  - Sightless Pit Sightless Pit is a musical project I first caught onto a few years ago as a meeting of the minds between frequent collaborators from experimental metal bands The Body and Full Of Hell alongside one of the most interesting artists in all of music in the past 5 years, Lingua Ignota. Now they've released a second album and even though Lingua Ignota is no longer involved, the record isn't lacking in interesting collaborations as a few artists I was already familiar with like Midwife, Gangsta Boo, and claire rousay appear in the tracklist. When this record is living in its comfort zone of crushing distorted textures, harrowing screamed vocals and the genuine sonic intensity of extreme metal things go pretty well. Opening track Resin On A Knife  is an early highlight and the pairing with Midwife makes perfect sense and the title track around the midpoint satisfies my desire for horrifying shrill sounds on any album associated with The Body. The rec...

While yes I do try to often deliver some semblance of continuity in these rapid fire reviews to make them make sense. But at its core the series is just meant for me to cover records that I'm too late or don't have the time to talk about in full. So with that being said this is a mish-mash of different genres of hardcore and industrial that I'm stretching because it includes records I want to talk about. 40 oz. To Fresno  - Joyce Manor After releasing some of the most essential emo and pop punk albums of the 2010's with their self-titled debut and 2014's Never Hungover Again  it hasn't exactly been a parade of critical or even fan acclaim since then. While I certainly don't think the bands releases have been terrible or anything they certainly haven't matched the energy of their earlier work. On this new album which runs out at a tight 16 minutes and change I was hoping that the band could find a way to translate their new feelings into music that was as...

Before we even get into this, I know. Most metalheads definition of experimental metal is some of the most crushing, brutal and flat out disturbing hardcore and extreme musical genres humans have ever conceived. Keep in mind that I'm an indie dweeb more obsessed with ambient tones than layers of throttling satanic harrowing shrills. I love genres like extreme death metal and technical hardcore as much as any good critic but what I mean here is more of a sense of metal crossing over with non-metal experimental music. Ambient, electronica and even indie and psychedelia are included between the shredding riffs and screamed vocals on this list. At some point in the future I will surely cover the new Corpsegrinder solo album don't you worry, but for now here are some alternative and experimental metal albums that have grabbed my attention recently.  Enemy Of Love  - The Body & OAA Ever since The Body released I've Seen All I Need To See  last year and it absolutely blew me...

The Body & Big|Brave are quite the unexpected collaboration. The former is a two piece extreme metal project from the American north east who released one of the most brooding noise albums of 2021 back in February. The latter is a Canadian minimalist folk project who have toured with Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion, and have slowly increased the use of heavier metal instrumentation into their music over the last few years.  Review By Lav: Alright I've done a lot of contemporary, fun and accessible music recently. Let's get fucking experimental. Earlier this year The Body absolutely melted my skull with one of my favorite experimental records of the year so far I've Seen All That I Need To See  and while I've always been sort of aware of Big|Brave, it's long overdue that I paid the act some more attention. When this collaboration was first announced I really wasn't sure what to expect given how little similarity or crossover their was bet...

The best new tracks to drop this weekend: 5.  Pressure  - Ari Lennox We will get the obvious one out of the way real quick. The biggest reason anyone is talking about this song is that literally everything about it sounds almost identical to Beyonce. While being influenced by Queen B is certainly nothing to fault an artist for, an entire album full of this much worship could come out intolerable. Thankfully as a single the track manages to be enjoyable and never quite step into complete complete sonic thievery.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E604eZ81_YQ 4.  Blackest Crow  - The Body & BIGBRAVE One of the stranger collaborations of the year has already proven interesting on prior singles and has even more intrigue on Blackest Crow . The expanded composition sees both metal bands continuing to reel it in and cover more folk influenced territory with a great degree of success. The track is surprisingly agreeable given the names involved but everything about i...

The Body are a Rhode Island based experimental metal duo who have been active for over 20 years now. They initially worked in the realms of doom and sludge metal but over the years have expanded their sound into the worlds of noise and harsh electronic music. They are just as known for their multiple collaborations with artists like Full Of Hell, Thou and Uniform as much of their core studio discography.  Review By Lav: I wasn't listening to The Body in their early days because I was just too young, but by the time I got a bit older the band had expanded their ambition and sound palette into something that really impressed me. In particular their 2018 album I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer  impressed me quite a bit with its instrumental ambition. On top of all this last year Lee Buford took part in an experimental super group that intrigued me with Sightless Pit. So it's safe to say that I was excited for this record but I wasn't quite prepared for what ...

Sightless Pit is a new experimental rock super group made up of Kristin Hayter the mind behind Lingua Ignota, Lee Buford percussionist for experimental metal band The Body, and Dylan Walker frontman of grindcore band Full Of Hell. The three musicians came together to record this industrial noise and post-hardcore record that takes a really unique approach by not including any guitars on the record. Review By Lavender: After last years expansive, unique and encapsulating Caligula  I was willing to listen to just about anything Lingua Ignota's name was attached to. Despite having never been a fan of just about anything Full Of Hell did and having an on and off relationship with The Body I was still excited for this record given the unique concept and the sheer creativity Kristin Hayter put together just last year. The lead single to this record really got me excited and it's the first song on the record here. Kimgscorpse  starts the record off interesting from its very ...