Tracks of Note: 4/4/2025

Stress Positions, Jim Ghedi, quickie Q1 recap

Artwork by Dr.Winter / www.teratogen.at

Super short one this week since I put most of my energy toward this Plague Rages list of interesting albums from the first quarter of this year:

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Fifteen Interesting Metal Albums From Q1

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Man, I really worked hard on that title. I deserve a treat. I’ll stick a quick non-metal version down below. Onward.

Body Minus Head - "Less Than What You Once Held"

A skramz-y ripper for anyone grabbed by the Blind Girls from last year. “It’s not easy to disappear without a trace/ Maybe this was never meant to work out.” Well, damn.

Jim Ghedi - "Wasteland"

Ugh. How bad of a fan am I? I was super into I Am A Youth That's Inclined To Ramble, Ghedi's collaboration with Cinder Well. Amelia Baker is back on this one, too, lending harmonies on the excellent "The Seasons." But the rest of Wasteland is far more varied than expected, including everything from recast traditionals to the doomy folk of Lankum to the title track, which has just a touch of Jeff Buckley to it. This is an album to sink into.

Pillars Of Cacophony - "Retina"

From context clues, you know that this is some delightfully nerdy stuff. First, sole proprietor Dominik shouts out, “my fellow scientists at the IMB for the lyrical inspiration” in the liner notes. Second, you bet the band’s logo is in Gallifreyan. Who is your favorite doctor, Dominik? Anyway, fun set of tunes, too, kind of like Augury meeting Decrepit Birth before the latter got bad. There’s just a touch of Sutrah’s emotional impact, as well. Neat.

h/t Dissonant Void

Stress Positions - "Blood Money"

Stress Positions is back. Also, stress positions are back. I feel like this was a quick turnaround, but not really: Harsh Reality dropped in 2023. Anyway, lead stream “Blood Money” is a banger, complete with a massive production from Matt Russell. But, man, this furious blast of pent-up frustration would sound good no matter the sound design. Some songs can transcend the mix. This be one.

FINAL - "giving up, one day at a time"

You and me both, JK. “[A]n ode to depression, loneliness and decay,” “giving up, one day at a time” is a gauzy, melancholic journey through sound similar to Kevin Drumm’s all-timer, Imperial Horizon. The rest of the album is all over the place sonically, dealing with noise and spare dark ambient, to tag a few. Of all the albums in this edition, I might end up spending the most time with this one.

Mangled State - "Learn to Suffer"

Youth Attack, back on Bandcamp out of nowhere. Two records stand out. The first is from Mangled State, a brutish powerviolence batterer that loves itself some feedback. The nastiest track of the bunch is the requisite crawling closer, which has a bass tone to die for. Absolute filth.

Culture Shock - "Abusive Isolation"

Hardcore is on the board. Here’s the other Youth Attack release of note: new stuff from Culture Shock, a band I remember from back in the mysterious guy hardcore days. The thrashing, slashing, lashing guitars on this one feel so good. That said, that tone is working in service of some raging hardcore that has legs. You’ll be thinking about some of these riffs long after the 7” stops spinning, a relative rarity in today’s scene.

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Interesting Non-Metal Albums from Q1

ADAPAR - 3: Öpik Transmission (Iluso Records)

A project unlike any other cuts an album unlike any other. Jagged, harsh, and yet somehow inviting. It’s like getting hugged by broken glass and then feeling all of your pain wash away. Cathartic.

bvdub - 13 (Past Inside the Present)

Some of the best Tangerine Dream outside of the original article. Beatless, but bvdub is able to hold your attention with these lush synth reveries.

Mainliner - A Soul That Eats Flesh and Melts : Live in Kobe 2025 (self-released)

Lol. LOUD.

Motorbike - Kick It Over (Feel It Records)

Motorbike's debut was a ripper, a rock n roll killing machine to paraphrase a certain band if you're in a Remember Some Metalcore mood. To be clear, Motorbike is a rocker, though. Anyway, Kick It Over pushes the band in a bunch of different directions without losing that energy. The successor to The Men's Open Your Heart, finally.

Tantric Bile - Babalon/Vampire Boudoir (Putrefactive Recordings)

Startling inventive modern classical from the person behind Effluence.

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek - Yarın Yoksa (Big Crown Records)

One of my favorite records this year, and an early frontrunner for my go-to summer album. You can read a good interview with the band here.

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This week has absolutely sucked. If you want to dance yourself to a better place mentally, you can do a lot worse than this Black Loops set. Take care of yourselves.

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IF YOU MISSED IT

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Check out Wolf's other garbage: https://linktr.ee/wrambatz