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Lord Mantis – “Body Choke”

Chicago metal outfit Lord Mantis is about to drop their third full-length on April 29th via Profound Lore, and this new track of theirs sets quite a tone.

I first heard of this band a year or so ago when they dropped Pervertor, which was a pretty intense set of blackened sludge songs. Intense, yes, but not all that memorable. However, I’m finding “Body Choke” to be much more gripping, abrasive, and heavy. Man, this track weighs a ton. It’s like slowly being crushed, and might give that new Indian album a run for it’s filthy, disgusting money.

To add to the insanity, this thing is almost nine minutes long, and pummels throughout. Enjoy!

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White Suns – “Priest in the Laboratory”

Our friends/tormenters at White Suns (Kevin Barry, Rick Visser, and Dana Matthiessen) are coming out with a new LP of earsplitting tunes later in March. The album is titled Totem and judging from this new single, “Priest in the Laboratory,” it looks as though the trio’s lost none of their primal force since their 2012 sophomore effort Sinews.

The song sees White Suns again saying “fuck it” to a concept of structure, careening forward in a heap of caustic vocals, screeching guitar, piercing electronics, and frantic drumming. But the group does go through a number of interesting phases. At one point, everything pulls back to highlight Matthiessen’s deft percussion work, and later, Barry’s guitar and Visser’s electronics work together in bursts to form a coda. White Suns’ music continues to be something of an all-out shred-fest, but that’s not necessarily a problem, as their interplay continues to be a compelling combination of all-over-the-place and very, very tight.

Totems drops March 25 via The Flenser. Hopefully it’s as powerful as its predecessor, review below:

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The Body – “Hail To Thee, Everlasting Pain”

While I wouldn’t call myself a fan of the experimental metal duo The Body, I have to admit I admire their will to wildly experiment with each new release they put out. With previous releases incorporating choral groups and massive riffs, it would seem electronics are now a logical direction to move in, and the band has brought on music producer Bobby Krlic to make this happen. Assuming the darker side of underground music is your forte, you might already be familiar with Bob’s work under the name The Haxan Cloak. In my opinion, he dropped one of the more terrifying dark ambient records of last year, and he’s bringing a lot of those industrially tinged aesthetics to this new body song as well, “Hail To Thee, Everlasting Pain.” Stream it via the widget above, and look out for this new Body album on April 1st via RVNG Intl. The Title: I Shall Die Herer, of course!

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Sevendeaths – “All Night Graves”

A gorgeous drone from Scottish music producer Steven Shade a.k.a. Sevendeaths, which comes from his latest LP, Concreté Misery. In a perfect world, this track is how the collaboration between Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin collaboration that dropped in 2012 would have sounded. Sporadic synth sequences lay against monolithic drones of distortion that cycle through a somber chord progression. While the music seems simple in theory, it’s powerful in practice. Enjoy!

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Indian – “Directional”

As I said, the new Indian album is shaping up to be slow, sludgy, noisy, and bleak. Just give a listen to the latest track to drop from their next LP, From All Purity, which is dropping on Jan 17th via Relapse. While the track doesn’t feature much in the way of musical variation, there is something hypnotic and tension-building about the slow, methodical approach the song takes. The vocals are pretty wretched as well. Enjoy!

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Indian – “Rhetoric of No”

Gruesome and abrasive, this new track from sludge metal hellions Indian is not for the faint of heart. “Rhetoric of No” is a dismal display of heaviness and aggression, offering no relief in terms of melody or even a catchy vocal. It’s an auditory beating that grows more intense as it continues. Uh, enjoy!

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Orphan Donor – Empty

Recording for Allentown grindcore quartet Orphan Donor’s new EP Empty apparently took place over the course of three years – starting in January 2011, in a barn, and ending in November 2013, in a basement. Clocking in at a seemingly meager 15 minutes, Empty might just be the most rawly affecting extreme music listen you’ll have all year. Check it!

If you dig this, be sure to check out the band’s live (and incredibly murky) self-titled EP here. You can also look forward to the band’s first full-length, which is in the works.

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Årabrot – “The Story of Lot”

“The Story of Lot,” the last single from Norwegian noise rock collective Årabrot, is a left-field turn from an already left-field band.  The 15-minute piece is comprised of Kjetil Nernes recounting the Bible’s tale of the drunken, incestuous title character over a propulsive, lurching bassline that amasses harsh electronic noise and feedback as it progresses. With this track, the band has effectively veered into industrial territory, and it’s glorious to hear the genre performed with some teeth again.

“The Story of Lot” will take up much of Årabrot’s new EP, Murder As Art, out today via Red Eye.

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Death Grips – Government Plates

While Death Grips’ Government Plates might be one of the most aggressive releases to come from the experimental hip hop trio, it’s also one of their most forgettable, repetitious, short-winded, and half-baked.

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Tim Hecker – Virgins

Canadian music producer Tim Hecker returns with a stunning collection of tracks that make for some of the most beautiful music I’ve heard this year.