August 2024 Release Overview

August wasn’t as strong as July in terms of metal releases, at least in terms of quantity. Quiet months are welcome though, as they provide time to enjoy what we do receive. Anyway, here are the notable releases from the past month.

–Colin Dempsey

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JPEGMAFIA – I give my life for you | AWAL (August 1)

Yes, there is a hip-hop record on an Invisible Oranges feature, but rest assured. JPEGMAFIA’s latest release, I give my life for you, is worth considering. Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, aka JPEGMAFIA, aka Peggy, aka The Rockwood Escape Plan, has been terrorizing the alt-rap landscape for over a decade with a seemingly endless stream of all-caps bravado, buoyed by a production style that’s less “plunderphonics” and more aural armed robbery. His past albums have proven that any sample, whether it’s a clip of Ol’ Dirty Bastard yodeling or a jingle from a Japanese knife infomercial, can be turned into an improvised weapon. I give my life for you is no exception. Raw yet meticulously organized, messy yet maximalist, the album pursues sonic extremes in a way that should feel familiar to fans of heavy music.

On his fifth solo album, JPEGMAFIA further bolsters its arsenal with the addition of electric guitar from musician and producer Alex Goldblatt. The result is a noticeably darker album, both increasing its crossover appeal and leading to even more bizarre instrumentals. Lead single “SIN MIEDO” quotes 2 Live Crew’s 1995 thesis of “big-booty hoes” and expands on the subject with speaker-rattling bass hits and righteous shred. The ethereal synths and snappy beat that characterize the first half of “JIHAD JOE” are abruptly swept aside by a massive doom metal riff, which forces its way to the forefront as Peggy screams punchlines like “sue me for libel, I’m able to say it again!”

As usual, the album’s weakest link is its lyrics. There are some entertaining bars, sure, but also plenty of standard hip-hop showmanship and drama. The attempts at self-reflection in the last few songs (i.e., the realization that he’s got “family and fences to mend”) are often undermined by sarcastic non-sequiturs in the same verse (i.e., he can’t be racist because he makes it rain on white strippers, too). JPEGMAFIA isn’t going to win a Pulitzer anytime soon, but it might just land one if the Olympic Committee finally adds some shit-talking in 2028. Either way, if you can look past the inconsistent lyrics, I give my life for you is a seductive and unpredictable collage that you should not miss.

–Alex Chan

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Loser – Slave of the Scythe | Metal leaf (August 23)

Apparently, Slave of the Scythe is just another super fun blackened thrash record, closer to pure thrash than their 2021 debut, Through the eternal gateand with catchier riffs and slightly more ambitious songwriting and deft arrangement choices. You’ll have a good time with this album if that’s all you’re looking for. The key to Demiser’s appeal, though, is the gleefully blasphemous lyrics like “Impregnating nuns, demon bastard sons / Release vile seed, cocked loaded guns” and “Falling to submission, bloodletting the flock / While the pious gag on God’s holy cock.” Lest you think they’re playing this satanic worship straight-up, they’re clearly in on the joke: singer Brad Deerhake—who goes by Demiser the Demiser (See?)—is just as likely to snarl at ironic absurdities like “Venom pumping poison plums / Bukkake, alas thy will be done.” The South Carolina quintet’s Bandcamp page is succinctly described as “BLACK/THRASH OUTFIT TERRORIZING THE BIBLE BELT,” because that’s all you need to know.

–Steve Lampiris

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Uniform – American standard | Sacred Bones (August 23)

I don’t know what other people get out of it American standard. I only hear my reality reflected back at me. My eating disorder is the title track – sticky, overbearing and exhausting. While repeating one chord for 10+ minutes may be unappealing to some, in my case it was appropriate. My condition is not delicate, but persistent and gross, and Uniform embodies those qualities on American standard.

Much of this stems from singer Michael Berden’s long history with bulimia nervosa. To capture his experience as purely as possible, he collaborated with BR Yeager and Maggie Siebert, both of whom have made the rounds in the indie horror book scene. As Berden told The Quietus, he’s been living with bulimia for decades. American standard is not a document of his recovery, but a Rorschach stain on his condition.

Although Berden and I suffer from different eating disorders, his struggles with it and body dysmorphia show a similar impact as mine. American standard. I’m constantly in a state of disgust or recovery from an episode. Uniformly mirrors this indefatigable pull on the title track. It’s divided into two sections; the first is an upward crawl that rides on the back of a single chord, while the second has a bit more polish. It pantomimes that thought that comes after every episode; this will be my last time. It’s been the last time many times.

My focus on American standard The title track is not to detract from the other songs. They are phenomenal, but my connection to them flows through “American Standard.” There is no barrier between it and me because it is uncomfortably close to my life. My complex web of sensations should not translate into music, but through Berden’s experiences, they did. Miraculously, Uniform has captured the snake that crawls through my brain on tape.

—Colin Dempsey

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Concrete Winds – Concrete winds

Though it lacks subtlety altogether, Concrete Winds’ self-titled third album quickly sets itself apart from the masses of loud, inextricable death metal offerings out there by riffing from start to finish. There’s never a moment of dalliance or deliberation — it gets straight to the action, with nine songs crammed into 25 minutes of meticulously controlled chaos. Intense drumming acts as a crucible for the band’s molten intensity, shaping screeching, stormy riffs into monstrous headbangers. The technique is wielded with furious intensity, every knob turned as far as they’ll go and snapped off when they resist. Concrete windsas they say in the dark, metal-fixated Discords: ‘fukks’.

–Ted Nubel