April 20, 2019 https://burialetiquette.bandcamp.com/releases I'm honest unfamiliar with the screamo acts coming out of Canada these days, but they never seem to disappoint when I come across them. Thunder Bay, Ontario's Burial Etiquette comes at us with 5 tracks of classic, late 90's early 2000's screamo. Lucky for them, I've been a screamo scholar for over a decade, so right away I knew what they were going for after listening the E.p. They have quite a few different styles of screamo all mixed into this release. Let me explain, every screamo band from the late 90's/early 2000's had something unique to offer. It was almost like those band's sound became a sub-genre of it's own underneath the screamo umbrella. For example, Saetia had a clean/jazzy sound, then would bust into distortion. Jeromes Dream was heavy and abrasive. City of Caterpillar's music was filled with post-rock influence. This release captures Saetia...

April 17, 2019 Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor https://ritualhowls.bandcamp.com/album/ritual-howls-rendered-armor Ritual Howls hails from Detroit playing that goth-y and industrial noise we've all come to know and love. Being a person that lurks on the outskirts of local music scenes here in the mitten, goth is becoming a popular commodity, feeding the masses the darkness the city of Detroit yearns for. Beyond the cliches of goth music, Ritual Howls personify the blight and abandonment of the nation's most notorious legacy city, Detroit. Detroit, once being a main hub for various industries, most the automotive industry, is nothing but a ghost of what it used to be. Brownfield sites, boarded up houses, and relics of Detroit's industrial past occupy the city and metro areas. After painting that picture, it's no surprise that dark music is coming out of the Detroit and it's metro areas. Anyways, back the new album. Ritual Howls brings to us their 4t...

Man The Manipulator - S/T CS https://uselessplastictoys.bandcamp.com/album/s-t I still have a few copies of this tape left if anyone is interested. Not only does the music bang, but this tape is a benefit release for a local St. Louis, MO women shelter! I love this release. These days everyone describes themselves as this sound or that band or attempts to sound like whatever band their into. Which is fine, I’m not knocking that, been there more than enough times. Play what you want to play and please do it live to get me out of the house! When I first heard this release, I couldn’t pin down what they were going for or who they sounded similar to. It was refreshing. To me, it seems like these days there’s a formula on how to “music,” whether it’s the sound a band/artist is going for, recording processes, and physical releases. MTM definitely fucks up the program in all categories with their approach. I can't wait to hear more and hopefully they'll work with...