Punk is alive in the UK, and GOOD COP are part of the group of bands keeping it alive. It’s impossible for this album to overstay its welcome, and it rips pretty hard while its there. Well worth your 7 minutes so go and check it out. It also came out back in October so you’re already late on it.

It’s just a really beautifully written album, that feels more poetic than I might associate with the genre. That’s not a criticism of the genre at large, it just one of those things that stands out to me while I’m reading the lyrics to Entangled Excavations. Particularly for a band coming from Croatia, a negligible distance from Ukraine, an ability to see a kind of horrible beauty in such a dire world situation is kind of amazing.

What happens when you put together folks with backgrounds in hardcore, grind, psych rock, death metal, punk, and even a little folk punk, together to put some music out? You get five bangers – that literally had me express how disappointed I was that the album was over, out loud and alone in my car.

Stay Positive is an incredible album that you will want to listen to over and over. It manages to pair intensity and ferocity with a certain optimistic feeling that sticks around well after the album is over. Anchoress’ strongest work to date, of a discography of absolutely top-notch work.

Metal can, at times, be hilariously self serious and eye rollingly un-self aware. That’s why when a band comes around like Iran’s Confess, who found themselves facing 14 years and 70 lashes for anti-government and anti-religious views, it’s a nice reminder that there are folks for whom metal genuinely puts them at risk and who put something on the line to create the art that means something to them. This album fucking rules.

Saturnine December is a truly stunning album and from the sounds of it one that is getting some much deserved praise around the community. If you’re a fan of black metal and don’t want to worry about whether or not the band is a secret nazi, you should already have this in your collection.

https://noobheavy.com/album-review-antecantamentum-saturnine-december-black-metal/

Jawnnobyl rules. 18 Slashes rules. We really are off to a great start in 2023. If you are looking for some catchy and chaotic electronic music to pop in between brutal blast beats and grindcore, it’s hard to imagine doing much better than this.

https://noobheavy.com/album-review-18-slashes-jawnnobyl/

We Live as Ghosts is maybe the gnarliest piece of leftist agitprop that I have ever fucking heard

The Drakketh Saga is easily the most fun I’ve had this year and I fucking can not wait for these guys to bring out a full length. I can only imagine what might be in store and I am sincerely excited. The thing rules end to end, and I never knew how badly I needed this confluence of genres to exist. Get the fuck on board and go support these dudes so I get more albums like this.

https://noobheavy.com/ep-review-dragoncorpse-the-drakketh-saga/

It’s big, dumb, and full of what I can only assume is bright green alien herpes, and I am here for it.

2022 has been long, dark, dour, and hard to get through. We need to find some light in that, in particular as we stare down the impending nightmare that 2023 is likely to be. So if you can end the year with some fun and maybe forget what’s happening around us for a bit, then maybe you’ll get out of Legendarium what I did. Maybe not, but I think it’s worth a shot—plus the band themselves are based as hell, so that should count for something ... read more

There is also not a second of rest right from the beginning of this thing. “Worm Food” opens with such an exceptional wall of sound that sweeps you up into it and doesn’t let you go until the album is over. Even the closing song, “Return to the Sky”, offers no rest, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It almost knocks you off balance when “Death’s Dance” ends with a short orchestral piece; it’s like you’re pulling yourself up ... read more

HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING is one of the best pieces of music released this year. Regardless of genre or preference or opinion, this is an objectively terrific album. There is no excuse not to go and listen to this album 1000 times. It’s raw, angry, and just so absolutely fucking terrific from end to end. Go listen to this, go buy the whole goddamn trilogy, and keep your eye on every single damn thing that Backxwash releases. Just do it. I will take no ... read more

Thotcrime‘s D1G1TAL_DR1FT absolutely slays, and is one of my favourite albums among a year of brand new favourite albums. I’ve said it before, but I sure can’t fucking believe how strong 2022 has been for music, and we should count ourselves lucky. We’ve got all kinds of truly excellent music to get us up to the impending nuclear apocalypse and then after, until all of our phones die and we can’t charge them because electricity doesn’t exist. Sorry, I seem to ... read more

2022 has been an unbelievably good year for those of us who love the louder and heavier music, and Threshold is such a shining example of that. It goes fucking hard, and while it’s a grind album through and through, it manages to experiment with other genres and really make the most of the time it gives you. If you’re not already on the Cloud Rat train, you need to fucking get on board right now. You won’t be sorry, unless you hate things that are ... read more

VoidOath is releasing hands down one of the gnarliest doom albums that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing this year and you need to hear it, too. Don’t let it pass you by, you’ll be sorry. It’s a frozen wasteland of an album – and I mean that in the absolutely best way.

Dimensional Bleed is a masterpiece. What else is there to say?

https://noobheavy.com/album-review-holy-fawn-dimensional-bleed/

There are so many truly fucking exceptional metal bands around the world that just don’t make the kind of headway into the North American zeitgeist, and they really fucking should. If your musical diet consists of lyrics in your own language, then its time to start dipping your toes elsewhere because there is some wild shit out there. Why not start with this beauty?

https://noobheavy.com/album-review-osserp-els-nous-cants-de-la-sibilla-death-grind/

Listen to Gnosis, and seek out more instrumental music. Don’t be like me. Be better than me.

Look, the album is a beaver-themed grind album and I had an actual blast listening to it. Given the genre it feels weird to call this “light” but honestly. The world is such a fucking shit-show right now, and existential crisis are a frequent as we all stare down the end of the earth. So, a goofy, heavy album about beavers eating bones is kind of the exact balm that I needed. Your mileage may vary, but it’s going to be in my end of the year list almost ... read more