Bird Death - Hominid Cryptid

Consisting of a demo and an unreleased album, the 13 tracks on Hominid Cryptid appear to be the entire discography of Bird Death. The band plays a jangly, discordant style of techgrind that some losers dismissively label as “mathcore” or “false grind.” Whatever dorks, this is good stuff.

Sakura - Demo from Hell

Sakura let loose with three short tunes of raw metallic punk on this demo. Not a lot to say here, if you like this type of music, you’ll want to check out Demo from Hell.

Silence of the Nemeta - Where Our Coils Collide

A masterful blend of atmospheric black metal and folk metal, I’ve been enjoying Where Our Coils Collide. I don’t get too much into this style of metal, but Silence of the Nemeta really does an impressive job here. Recommended.

Void Column - Descend Towards the Abyss

Four tracks of fetid, pummeling death doom, Descend Towards the Abyss is devastating. Void Column has crushed it with every single demo and E.P. that they have released over the past three years, now I’m just waiting for a full length album.

Compulsed - Demo 2024

A solid, two track demo of brutal death metal from New Jersey. Compulsed is devastatingly heavy, but doesn’t get bogged down in being repugnant and brutish. Even if this isn’t your preferred style of death metal, Demo 2024 is worth checking out.

Flameskull - Demo MMXXIV

Existing in the realms of raw and atmospheric black metal, Flameskull blends the best of both subgenres on this release. The music gravitates more toward the atmospheric side, including some full-on ambient soundscapes with flutes, but that actually makes the raw segments seem more pronounced. Recommended.

Fumist - Coaltar

Consisting of members from several prominent French grind, sludge, and crust bands, Fumist plays a mélange of grindcore, d-beat, death metal, and powerviolence. It’s a pretty good album, but nothing momentous or earth-shaking. If you’re into grind or pv, you’ll probably want to snag a copy of Coaltar.

Olde Bard - Jewels of the Spidercrown

Four tracks of black metal with classic heavy metal elements, Jewels of the Spidercrown is a killer release. If you’re looking for some aggressive, catchy black metal that draws influence from the first wave, give Olde Bard a listen.

Sarin Reaper - Inhaling Death

Sarin Reaper plays crusty death metal that's good for what it is. I liked this well enough, but if you’re not a fan of the style, Inhaling Death will most likely be of little interest.

To The Edge - NGPOSC

Two tracks of metallic hardcore from Japan, I ended up enjoying NGPOSC more than expected. I hope to hear more from To The Edge soon.

Pithy - demo

Two tracks of brutal death metal with some tech and grind influences, this is a solid little demo from Pithy. A full length is scheduled for next year and I can’t wait to hear it.

Thulean Mysteries - Riddermark

Just a few months after releasing the extraordinary Realm Of The Misty Mountains, Thulean Mysteries has graced us with a new album. The music on Riddermark has more of a dungeon synth sound than the previous recording, but that’s not a bad thing. Recommended.

Universe Raises Nothingness - Horridus Cometa

The debut release of this mid-tempo black metal band from Germany, Universe Raises Nothingness are quite proficient at what they do. The three tracks here are well crafted, played with precision, and received decent production in a studio. If you’re into black metal, give Horridus Cometa a listen, although it won’t do much for fans of the raw and bestial varieties of the genre.

In the hierarchy of pizza franchises, Jet's has the dubious distinction of being worse than Papa Johns, but slightly better than Little Caesars. Not a great introduction for me to Detroit-style pizza. Actually, maybe it is, being such a low bar and all. What really got me was their boast on the box about the flavorful cheese, talk about a bold-faced lie. I've never tasted more generic, processed mozzarella cheez before. Hopefully, there's a mom-n-pops pizzeria here that does the real thing.