Sargent House Us Vinyl & CDs

Review: Constantly cryptic, aesthetically absurd, and musically unhinged to the point of smothering compression, harshcore dissonance and synthetic whimsy, semi-anonymous collective The Armed have garnered legions of equally endeared yet bewildered followers, thanks to their unique brand of methodical, chaotic, hyper-punk experimentation, which was formulated across 2015's Untitled and the electro-fury of 2018's Only Love, before peaking/imploding on the majorly complex Ultrapop; ranked as one of Juno's top albums of 2021. Enlisting help from a myriad of collaborators including Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe), Converge's Jacob Bannon, Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, Deafheaven), and Boygenius member Julien Baker, to name a small handful, Perfect Saviors promises to see The Armed reach for full-scale stadium rock grandiosity, whilst retaining their endlessly elaborate and intimidating level of caustic sonic craft and abandon.

Review: Mathcore pioneers, Botch, signed to acclaimed label Sargent House (home to Deafheaven and The Armed), earlier this year with the driven home fact that it was solely with the intention of reissuing their short yet seminal discography. It turned out to be utter lies as the band have since performed a recent secret reunion show, and unveiled the blistering return single, 'One Twenty Two'. The reissue of their magnum opus,' We Are The Romans', has been a criminally overdue process, with the frenetic project heralded as a genre cornerstone as well as a primary influence on names such as Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Complex, aggressive, and caustic in oppressive measures, this is an essential for any fans of hardcore, metal or the most abrasive forms of the ugly nexus where the two intersect and clash.

Review: The psych-rock metalcore hybrid supergroup trio of Cave In vocalist/guitarist Stephen Brodsky, Converge drummer Ben Koller and High On Fire bassist Jeff Matz, make their long awaited return on the excellent third full-length Mutants. Their follow up to 2017's War Moans, the album marks the first since the departure of founding bassist Nick Cageao, yet marches undeterred into their usual maelstrom melting pot of heavy music, which appears to be the only requirement for sonic inclusion on a Mutoid Man record. Drawing on elements of prog, psych, thrash, groove, hardcore and hard rock, this is a passion project in the most evident sense, and the creative chops of all three seasoned veterans are on full display as they smash through genre parameters and play up the camp, cheese and heft in simultaneous abandon.