As it does every year, October always delivers on the release front, offering up many contenders for the year’s top releases, while allowing us to indulge in the genres we’ve become so fond of. The likes of Pest Control with Year of the Year, Fit for An Autopsy on The Nothing That Is and Better Lovers‘ Highly Irresponsible have reminded us all how good these bands are, while allowing them to showcase the sheer talent within those bands. If you’ve manage to take a breath, we now dive into some of the other excellent releases from October. Given the schedule, you may not have just had time to get around to.
Civil Service – ///LIGHT (Ripcord Records)
Among words often minced when “post rock” is defined, “minimalism” is particularly useful, hinting at the essential less-is-more hypnotism that sets in on extended instrumentals. On /// LIGHT, Civil Service lock into just a few different riffs and ideas for five big tracks. The results are splendid – they thoroughly explore these grooves while plentiful samples set the theme and deepen the record’s character.
FFO: Tarentel, The Evpatoria Report & Daturah
silverglass – CELL COLLAPSE (Independent)
A band that takes equal influence from Polyphia, Iglooghost, and And So I Watch You From Afar? Sign us up. Silverglass impressed us with “Anhedonia” a few months ago and the full CELL COLLAPSE EP delivers on that promise. Their luscious tappy guitar licks fall like raindrops around elasticated trap beats and gorgeously glassy samplework. Despite their electronic leanings, the Bristol band is very much a live unit, and it’s an exciting time for all of that with more and more shows coming.
FFO: Adebisi Shank, Covet & Aphex Twin
Diaries of Destruction – DoD II (Independent)
The second record from two experimenters (Elif Yalvaç and Jordan Muscatello) is a fascinating display of meditated improvisation. DoD II drifts uncertainly as the duo use their range of sound sources, primarily baritone and bass guitars, to sculpt accidental soundscapes. Nothing was left to chance when it came to the production, as every sound is pristine and meditated. It’s decidedly dark ambience, coming out of the gate fiercely with “Mari Lwyd” and later “Isli lsli” and “Zone Melting“. Yet it’s not all pure terror: “JC VD“, “Mind Bleach“, “Ilvate” and “Of Butterflies” are like soundtracks to some sort of pistols-at-dawn scene, with greater interest in the beauty of that ‘dawn’ than the threat of those ‘pistols’. It’s marvellous to see how these tracks unfold and resolve in their own special ways.
FFO: Barn Owl, Nadja, Ensemble Pearl
Harvestman – Triptych: Part Three (Neurot Recordings)
Steve Von Till, best known as the frontman of Neurosis, has had a very busy 2024. He’s released three solo records under his moniker Harvestman, a unique project that brings the sounds of from psychedelic and dub into amp-henge territory. Several of the trilogy’s strongest moments are found on Part Three: “Clouds as Relatives” weaves guitar layers like The Mars Volta interludes, and “Snow Spirits” invests in urgently pulsing synths unheard in the project to date. Each release in the Triptych trilogy has a common feature: a clever dub rework from The Bug that opens side two, which gives each release its own cohesion and the trilogy its own common thread. The rapture of “Herne’s Oak” and the pipes on closer “Cumha Usidean (Lament for Hugh)” ends the trilogy on a high.
FFO: Lankum, Master Musicians of Bukkake & Natural Snow Buildings
Delta Hate – Mess We Made (Independent)
Delta Hate delivered the fight music anthem of October, full of stomping double kicks and gnarly riffs, and commanded by vocals from Shay that are biting and vicious in every aspect. Tracks “One Question” and “Three Lies” go dummy-hard, seemingly written with the intention of unleashing a room of spin kicks and windmilling arms. In short, Mess We Made is absolutely fucking nails.
FFO: Terminal Sleep, Slow Pulse & Domain
Gloam – Well Dwelling (Independent)
Well Dwelling is a record to get absolutely lost in, whether it’s the intricate riffs that ruminate themselves around each track, the swirling vocals from Hardy, or the rumbling drum grooves. Infusing their version of shoegaze with post-hardcore and emo elements, they give their sound an extra edge that captures the ear. Each track is given room to explore itself, such as the wandering riffs on the second half of “Che Rose” adding a breadth to the record. All this space gives Gloam‘s sound room to exist and ruminate, making for something absolutely magical.
FFO: Deafhaven, Doused & Nothing
Godbody – Fall Promo (Independent)
Those looking for a more instant injection of energy and adrenaline on the other hand will be more than sufficed by Godbody returning with their Fall Promo. The dual tracks of “The Pain” and “Failure Bleeds” offer up slicing and chunky guitar work, with the latter really putting the strings to the test. Everything packed in here has a tension and anger that makes each shotgun moment across the track ever more satisfying. Top stuff from the Detroit unit.
FFO: Sunami, Going Off & Splitknuckle
A Year Ago Today – A Year Ago Today (Willmore Records)
The metalcore revival scene is permanently in good company at the moment. 2024 has seen the likes of Durendal, Long Goodbye, xallofgodschildrenx and concealer. show how grand a scene returning to its root can be. With their debut self-titled, A Year Ago Today add themselves to this growing list, taking head on the rougher and more screamo side of the genre, and has made for a gem within October’s releases.
FFO: Since My Beloved, Cauldron & Balmora
Voices In Vain – The Only Love I Know (Independent)
We end our October recommendations with Voices In Vain‘s debut, Vermont’s rising stars of metalcore. This is a carefully paced album that emphasising modern metalcore’s best qualities and a wider respect for extreme metal. Opener “Turned to Ash” will fling you round with its Dillinger twists, and precious cleans appear on “Control/Erase” and “The Airless Quiet“. Excellent pacing makes The Only Love I Know a real journey, peaking with the closing run: interlude “Satori” bridges “Sanctity“‘s tender energy into the grim and noisy “Cyclical Hell“, and the final beatdown of “Unheard No Longer” demonstrates their measured approach to melodic hardcore moments.
FFO: Misery Signals, Poison The Well, Dying Wish