Boris - New Album / Heavy Rocks / Attention Please

Boris - New Album / Heavy Rocks / Attention Please

Sargent House (US) / Daymare (JPN) / 2011 / Experimental metal

One album a year is enough, Boris.

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Sargent House (US)  /  2017 / Experimental metal

Chelsea Wolfe famously skirts the edges of a lot of loosely-related genres, including gothic rock, industrial music, electronica, folk rock, and doom metal, but 2017's Hiss Spun commits decisively toward metal. I've been on the fence about Wolfe's previous albums, which have a ton of atmosphere and tension but only rarely push that into some type of release. It's an approach I associate with gothic styles of music, which are content to inhabit mood without going on a journey. Hiss Spun throws that ethos out the window.

Sinistro - Sangue Cássia

Sinistro - Sangue Cássia

Season of Mist (FRA)  /  2018 / Doom metal

In a genre full of belters, shouters, growlers, crooners, and screamers, it feels odd to hear someone who can legitimately sing. Patricia Andrade's voice makes Portugal's Sinistro sound instantly unique. If you like her idiosyncratic brand of ethereal, haunting vocals, you'll probably love Sangue Cássia. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Boris - Dear

Boris - Dear

Sargent House (US) / Daymare (JPN) /  2017 / Experimental metal

After the trash fire that was the 2015 same-day release of Asia, Warpath, and Urban Dance, Boris kind of needed a win. You have to assume that was a motivating factor in last year's reissue and full album tour of their most critically acclaimed album, Pink, as well as the 25th-anniversary lovefest that's been featured on their social media accounts. Aaron Turner, Jim Jarmusch, and Iggy Pop have all weighed in on Boris' greatness, with more plaudits sure to come. Though these quotes have been a little light on the specifics about their current newest album, critics haven't failed to praise Dear, the newest offering from the high-volume trio.

Elder - Reflections of a Floating World

Elder - Reflections of a Floating World

Armageddon Shop (US) / Stickman (GER) /  2017 / Stoner metal

Elder received quite a lot of well-deserved press for 2015's Lore, my first introduction to the band. I love Lore, so I was interested to see in what direction the Massachusetts band went with their fourth full-length. Reflections of a Floating World starts off in a similar place as Lore with heavy-rock riffs and a massive, deep sound. I hear echoes of Brent Hinds in the first solo on "Sanctuary," which is where that track becomes more spaced-out than anything I've heard from Elder before. It's these cosmic, ethereal sounds that feel new to Reflections, which lends further dimensions to the sound established in Lore.