Free Flush Vol 8
Here we go, a fresh year so I can actually keep up with the free albums as they come up… in theory. I’m not feeling so longwinded this time around, so just imagine a paragraph here of self-deprecating humour/attention seeking. Download these free albums and get in the comments!
Vol 1 – Vol 2 – Vol 2.5 – Vol 3 – Vol 4 – Vol 5 – Vol 6 – Vol 7
February 2, 2020
Voidgaze from Netherlands
Let’s kick this off with two albums from last year before you move along all too quickly. This beast of a post album made it on my end of year list and I’ve had it in constant rotation since release. If you ever wondered “What the hell is Voidgaze?” well this is your answer! It’s shoegaze and doom with a post black influence—a profoundly emotional combination when wielded competently. If you adore Julie Christmas and her various collaborations as much as I do, then I think you’ll appreciate this; it’s a more goth rock/post punk approach. Lyrically it’s impactful in both writing and delivery: “Until now I never knew what emptiness was/I am a human vacuum, never gratified/Both empty and full still draining out all life.” The instrumentation feels very mature for a debut release, incorporating many genres, even jazz. More subtle than the jazz elements I usually hear in other bands, it’s not obnoxious at all. Overall it’s so solid, capturing a mood and an aesthetic perfectly. Jesus, this is like the third or fourth time I’ve written about this album, just go listen!
Fumarole – Valley Of Ten Thousand Smokes
October 17, 2020
Stoner Rock from Australia
These cunts are from my town of Brisbane and I believe they were the last live show I saw in 2019 when they played with Druid. They’re exactly the trio you want an Australia stoner band to be, they each have their iconic look. You need at least one epic moustache per stoner band. Musically it’s a good time with some well-controlled fuzz and plenty of upbeat hooks. This isn’t your too long and gloomies, it’s the just right and boomies. I’m not sure what that means but the kids will be saying it in 7 years. Monsters, deserts, aliens and rich people being pricks, it’s all here. The Orange Goblin influence is easy to hear, it’s got that good speed with the smooth tones. Looking forward to seeing them live again sometime soon, they’ve definitely shown themselves to have potential well beyond being a perpetual local band with this latest release.
January 8, 2021
Metallica Hardcore from America
Let’s start the 2021 discoveries with some hectic throwdown shit. Is it metal? Is it hardcore? It’s metallic hardcore, where the best of both worlds combine in such a way that’s palatable to both scenes. Hardcore beatdowns and death shrieks, it’s a kicky fucker. One thing that unites us all is that the church can go get fucked and capitalism has been SHITTY, so what are you going to do about it? GROUP UP IN A SMALL ROOM AND HIT EACH OTHER TO MUSIC FOR CARTHARSIS.
Greed – The Purge Of The Earth
January 7, 2021
Metallic hardcore, UK
KEEP. BEATING. DOWN. THROW. THOSE. ARMS. WITH. COMPLETE. DISREGARD. FOR. YOUR. THIRTY. YEAR. OLD. JOINTS.
Fuck this goes ham, better slap some bread on either side of this bad boy with some mustard too. This is leaning pretty far into the death metal world, utilizing only the stinkfaciest of hardcore elements. Keep an eye on this band… they’re going to harm someone one of these days.
Cybergrind/nintendocore compilation
January 1, 2021
Wildcard alert: fuck the haters and praise the baiters because I’m loving life after discovering this compilation. If you want to hear a bunch of experimental grind and electronic hardcore projects do an awesome tribute to Super Smash Bros Melee then this is literally the only place you’re going to find it—and somehow it’s criminally underrated. The amount of effort and creativity here should not be overlooked! Each track is a tribute to a different character from the games lineup and they have another compilation they did previously for Smash 64.
January 7, 2021
Black metal from Australia
A small but punchy release from a new solo project out of NSW, some place with a bunch of crows, locals probably know where that is. I’m digging the crowgoat on the cover of this album a lot, and I like the sound too! The guitars have a nice swing to them and the vocals are decent. This album doesn’t have any supporters on Bandcamp as of writing this and maybe you can go support them? It’s impressive for a debut, so I’ll be following their journey of inevitable improvements towards an LP. I won’t bother making comparisons to other black metal bands or waves or whatever, we all get what black metal sounds like by now, it sounds like this.
January 3, 2021
DSBM from Costa Rica
It’s raw and rough around the edges but gosh darn it, this one charmed me. There’s something about it, perhaps some of the lyrics, or perhaps the album cover and title, but I swear, to me it’s like extreme black metal got put in the washing machine with midwestern emo. I’m sure that’s offensive as fuck to the band but that’s the connection my mind makes. It doesn’t sound as much like that as it accidentally shares some of the aesthetic. “Last Sound Of Bells” does have a multi-instrument vibe on the intro that reminds me of American Football. I also don’t know anything about DSBM, or black metal or metal but this is another album with no supporters. We’re on the ground floor of the underground today, hitting bedrock even. IT’S DEPRESSING (GOOD).
