Tosca – Osam

Last time I actively followed Tosca was at the time of No Hassle in 2009, feels like another life. (Indeed, it was another life.) In 2021, when Kruder & Dorfmeister released 1995 and dZihan & Kamien ‎put out IV I noted that it feels like there’s a bit of nu jazz downtempo lounge comeback in the air. This record came with that same bunch but flew under the radar for me then. In hindsight, I don’t feel that comeback in a trending way after all, but these new records take me back and it’s a nice kind of reminiscing. Smooth as silk.

Lorna Shore – Pain Remains

I’ve never used deathcore as a genre definition before, but it just makes so much sense after listening to Lorna Shore. Also, seeing “blackened death metal” as a genre on Wikipedia is part funny, part makes a whole lot of sense as well.

As for the music itself, this is an amazing blend of stuff that I like (which are noted in the above definitions). It’s also great focus music to me, as a backdrop when I’m not writing copy just doing design work.

Adam Tristar – Suicide Neighborhood

I saw Adam Tristar on a goth club night headlining after like ten other concerts. It was a duo performing live and they stood out so much from the others, like it would be a professional act after a list of DIY bedroom bands. Well, that’s probably a pretty good approximation of what happened.

The music is all along the goth aesthetics with electronic coldwave synths. Hits close to my heart.

Slipknot – The End, So Far

I admire that this album starts with a song that’s not typical for Slipknot, it almost sounds like Queens of the Stone Age for the vocals or Nine Inch Nails with the piano. Mature, thoughtful, with lots of fine details. Still I can see how this is a Slipknot song: I can feel how it reflects the journey and experiences that these individuals have gone through. Just looking at the side projects and solo career of Corey Taylor, it is so well reflected in Adderall how he brings back his own development to the band.

Besides this aspect, the record at length has everything Slipknot owns, even pushing their signature nu metal further to heavy metal. Amazing album as always, scratches all my Slipknot itches, it just delivers.

JK Flesh – Sewer Bait

This is not necessarily an outstanding album, but it’s been a very long time that I listened to rhythmic noise. So cheers to that! Side note: interesting that this is self-labelled as industrial techno, haven’t thought of rhythmic noise as such, but it makes sense.