July was a huge month for the heavy music scene. From July alone I featured 97 albums and EPs, and that’s not including all of the ones that I sifted through to find the true gems. Again, I’ll reiterate that all of these releases have my stamp of approval. I’ve listened, at least in part, to each and every one of them and thought that they were good enough to show off.
With that said I also chose my personal top three albums from the whole month. It took me days to narrow it down, but I feel confident in my choices. For me, I found these three to be the most enjoyable out of everything else. I’m a sucker for instrumental music and metalcore so perhaps I should’ve known that these would win.
Top 3 of July:
Chaosbay – ‘2222’ [progressive metalcore]
Fight the Fade – ‘APOPHYSITIS’ [modern hard rock/metalcore]
Jason Richardson & Luke Holland – ‘II’ [instrumental progressive metal]
Chaosbay was a surprise for me. I’d never heard of them before, but ‘2222’ is just insane. Front to back it’s filled with bangers, crisp production, and evocative storytelling. Some of the tones on this album are just monstrous as well. Definitely worth a listen if you’re a fan of progressive metal or metalcore.
I’ve been aware of Fight the Fade for awhile but I never really dove into their music until this release and, I gotta say, it rips. They pull out some great electronic elements to mix in with their modern rock sound and even feature some hefty breakdowns. They’ve got loads of catchy choruses and I think their vocalist has a great voice.
I’ve been a fan of Luke Holland for probably about a decade now and his collaborations with Jason Richardson are just phenomenal. Top of the top as far as production and instrumental songwriting goes. These guys are incredible musicians and I love hearing them play.
Week of July 1st
Top 5:
Afterdusk – ‘Self Worship’ EP [metalcore]
Satyr – ‘Totem’ [progressive rock/metal]
Shinedown – ‘Planet Zero’ [hard rock]
Speaking With Ghosts – ‘At Its End’ [metalcore]
Waiting 4 April – ‘Photo Memory’ EP [emo/punk/alt rock]
Honorable Mentions:
Bleeding Through – ‘Rage’ EP [metalcore]
Blood Command – ‘Praise Armageddonism’ [deathpop/punk]
Chaos Engine Research – ‘Faces’ [death metal]
Crowmouth – ‘Stagnant Years: The Unraveling’ EP [nu metal/deathcore]
A Fitting Revenge – ‘Omnipresence’ [melodic death metal]
Horizon Ignited – ‘Towards The Dying Lands’ [melodic death metal]
Kingdom Collapse – ‘Unbreakable’ EP [hard rock]
Krestfäll – ‘A Broken Place’ [hard rock]
Overthrone – ‘The Path of Destruction’ [metalcore]
Saint Asonia – ‘Introvert’ EP [hard rock]
Sikasa – ‘Matter Earth’ [progressive post metal/rock]
Spiralist – ‘Eternal Recurrence’ [progressive rock/post-metal]
Superheist – ‘MMXX’ [alt metal]
Your Highness – ‘The RagBag Vol. 1’ EP [punk/hardcore]
Week of July 8th
Top 5:
Amongst Liars – ‘Amongst Liars’ [alt rock]
The Faim – ‘Talk Talk’ [alt rock]
Kanine – ‘Karnage’ [deathcore]
Prompts – ‘Fracture’ [metalcore]
Stoneside. – ‘The Desert’ [progressive post-metal]
Honorable Mentions:
Antilles – ‘Entheos’ EP [death metal]
Ardours – ‘Anatomy Of A Moment’ [hard rock/symphonic metal]
Bleidd – ‘Darklights’ EP [metalcore]
Coldrain – ‘Nonnegative’ [hard rock]
Diver City – ‘A Path Divided’ [hard rock]
Endless Season UK – ‘Prism’ EP [alt rock/post-hardcore]
Farewell To Fear – ‘Polarity’ [nu metal]
Fear Not – ‘Fields Of Sorrow’ [hard rock/heavy metal]
Greylotus – ‘Dawnfall’ [death metal]
Left To Suffer – ‘And Dying Forever’ EP [metal/deathcore]
The Motion Below – ‘Breakthrough’ EP [post-hardcore]
Nvision – ‘Nvision’ EP [hard rock]
Opponent – ‘Sentinel’ [thrash metalcore]
Seeing Things – ‘Paranoia’ EP [nu metalcore]
Set The Sun – ‘In Absentia’ EP [progressive rock/metalcore]
A Sight in Veracity – ‘Eternity Past’ EP [progressive metalcore]
Telekinetic Yeti – ‘Primordial’ [psychedelic rock/metal]
The Wind Covenant – ‘Conjuration’ [metalcore/deathcore]
Week of July 15th
Top 5:
Anova Skyway – ‘Reset’ EP [progressive rock]
Careful Gaze – ‘Wrath Like Flowers Upon My Brow’ [alt rock/posthardcore]
Jason Richardson & Luke Holland – ‘II’ [instrumental progressive metal]
Rain City Drive – ‘Rain City Drive’ [pop punk/alt rock]
Senses Fail – ‘Hell is in Your Head’ [punk/posthardcore]
Honorable Mentions:
ATLVS – ‘The Wound, The Blade’ EP [hardcore/metalcore]
Beastwood – ‘No Way Home’ EP [southern sludge metal]
The Ever Living – ‘Artificial Devices’ [post doom metal]
DeadSwitch – ‘Targeted’ EP [deathcore]
Deaf Havana – ‘The Present Is a Foreign Land’ [pop/alt rock]
Deathbringer – ‘It’ [death metal/deathcore]
Die Another Day – ‘Fiction’ EP [metalcore/pop punk]
Ditto’s Blood – ‘Diamond Version’ [electronicore]
Forked Tongue – ‘Forked Tongue’ EP [hardcore]
Gleemer – ‘Here at All’ EP [shoegaze/alt rock]
Illusionary – ‘BAKU’ EP [metalcore]
Jeremy Fox – ‘The Space Between’ [metalcore]
The Last Element – ‘Chapter 1: Chaos’ EP [modern hard rock]
Outright – ‘Keep You Warm’ [hardcore]
Outsider – ‘Heart Entertainment’ EP [pop punk/alt rock]
Roseneath – ‘Shine’ [grunge/shoegaze/posthardcore]
Sick n’ Beautiful – ‘Starstruck’ [industrial hard rock]
True North – ‘Out Loud’ [alt rock/pop punk]
Yours Truly – ‘is this what i look like?’ EP [pop punk]
Week of July 22nd
Top 5:
Fame On Fire – ‘Welcome To The Chaos’ [modern hard rock]
Fight the Fade – ‘APOPHYSITIS’ [modern hard rock]
Glass Tides – ‘Wake Me Up’ [modern hard rock/punk/post hardcore]
Moonshade – ‘As We Set The Skies Ablaze’ [symphonic death metal]
Patient Sixty-Seven – ‘Wishful Thinking’ [metalcore]
Honorable Mentions:
Anthony Green & The High and Driving Band – ‘Boom. Done.’ [alt rock]
Faraday – ‘How to Be Human’ [modern hard rock/alt rock]
Grayscale – ‘Antumbra’ EP [pop punk acoustic remix]
Head With Wings – ‘Comfort in Illusion Expanded Edition’ [progressive post rock]
Kutless – ‘Twenty’ EP [post grunge/hard rock]
Onyria – ‘Feed The Monster’ [hard rock]
Palisades – ‘Reaching Hypercritical’ [modern hard rock]
Source Of Rage – ‘Witness The Mess’ [thrash/groove metal]
The Villa – ‘Savior Self’ EP [modern hard rock]
Villain Of The Story – ‘Divided’ [modern hard rock/metalcore]
Vukovi – ‘I EXIST’ EP [alt rock]
Wake – ‘Thought Form Descent’ [blackened death metal/grindcore]
Waves in Autumn – ‘Totem’ EP [metalcore]
Week of July 29th
Top 5:
Anberlin – ‘Silverline’ EP [alt rock/post hardcore]
Banks Arcade – ‘Future Lovers’ [pop/alt rock/djent?]
Blacktoothed – ‘JULI’ [alt rock/modern hard rock]
Chaosbay – ‘2222’ [progressive metalcore]
Dance Gavin Dance – ‘Jackpot Juicer’ [progressive post hardcore]
Honorable Mentions:
Bad Wolves – ‘Sacred Kiss’ EP [hard rock/metalcore]
Bastions – ‘Majestic Desolation’ [post hardcore]
Hornbill – ‘Half Life’ [math rock/post hardcore]
Ithaca – ‘They Fear Us’ [melodic hardcore]
Oceans – ‘Hell Is Where The Heart Is – Part II: Longing’ EP [nu metalcore]
Phantom Hourglass – ‘Lifeless’ EP [metalcore]
Prosper Or Perish – ‘Shroud Of Serpents’ [death metal]
Saltwound – ‘Vol. 2 DESPAIR’ [deathcore]
Stick To Your Guns – ‘Spectre’ [hard rock/hardcore]
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