Only to haunt me

I had been wanting to write newsletter for most of the summer but a multitude of things got in the way. While I wish I could be the type to send a newsletter every week, or even every month, the current state of things keeps me from hitting qny regular cadence. That said, I'm glad you all have chosen to stick around despite the inconsistency. Following up this lengthy Good Luck interview, I wanted to tell you what else I've been listening to this year that I think you might enjoy. So let's skip the preamble and get to the tunes.

Algernon Cadwallader, Trying Not to Have a Thought

I don't want to say I'm some kind of emo soothsayer but, once Algernon kept touring after that initial reunion run, this started to feel like an inevitability to me. And, frankly, why shouldn't it be? For as much as people bloviate about reunion albums (they're a disappointment! they hurt the band's legacy! they're just okay!) I don't begrudge anyone for deciding to release one. It may not work but, hey, even if you stayed together it might not have. If you feel like gambling, then roll the dice.

Though I've had zero interest in any modern emo music for at least a decade now, this album works because it sounds like an early Joan Of Arc album with a far more coherent political message placed on top. If Algernon wants to come back and drop all the lines about hugging like a cactus or whatever and, instead, sing about the M.O.V.E. bombing in Philly then, hell yeah, sign me up. This record is far better than it had any right to be, and if they come through on tour again, I'd love for these songs to get played instead of the old standards. That's how you know it's good.

Ancient Death, Ego Dissolution

When this was first announced, I was expecting a pretty bland bit of Blood Incantation worship. How wrong I was! I forgot I'd heard, and liked, the band's previous EP—terrible artwork and all—but Ego Dissolution might just be my favorite death metal release this year. It's progressive but not proggy, taking elements of classic bands like Death, The Chasm, and Atheist (an obvious reference point given that one of their guitarists has been playing with them since 2023) and makes it feel appropriately modern. There's still Blood Incantation to be heard in here, but this is a fantastic representation of doing old school death metal the right way. Sure, it nails the tones and aesthetics but it brings memorable, catchy songs to the table, and I can't say that about a lot this year.

Caustic Wound, Grinding Mechanism of Torment

When Caustic Wound released Death Posture in 2020, I was really taken with it. Featuring three-fourths of the death-doom act Mortiferum, along with Clyle Lindstrom of Corpus Offal on vocals, Caustic Wound served as the blasting counterpart to Mortiferum's low and slow approach. Given that Caustic Wound was mostly silent following Death Posture, I figured the band was a one-off project and that would be that. Sometimes it's great to be wrong. Grinding Mechanism of Torment boasts not only my favorite album cover of the year, it's been the death-grind record I've reached for the most lately. It's a more confident and realized batch of songs, ones that bring a thick, grooviness to table that really brings more life to those brutal blast beasts.

Contrast Attitude, Discharge Your Noise

Though I was not lucky enough to see Contrast Attitude their rare U.S. tour earlier this year, I have been spinning the hell out of Discharge Your Noise, the band's long-awaited second album, since I got it. From the title alone you can probably guess what this record sounds like, but even if D-beat is not normally your thing, I implore you to check this one out. Yes, that classic beat is there, driving things forward in ways you'd expect, but Contrast Attitude mixes things up often enough that it doesn't feel at all one-note. There are some genuine hooks on this thing too, so if you've got an ear for noisy punk but want something that's more than just a direct copy of a band from 40 years ago, this is more than worth checking out.

Deadguy, Near-Death Travel Services

Hey, didn't I already talk about a reunion record that shouldn't have worked but very much did? No, this isn't me going full Groundhog Day before your eyes, this is a very real thing again this year. Honestly, I'm not sure what's harder to pull off, bringing back your emo band 15 years later or bringing your unhinged, loner-dude metalcore band back nearly 30 years later. Yet, somehow, both things have been pulled off in 2025.

After watching the Deadguy documentary and seeing how no-bullshit they all are (I highly recommend this if you're a fan of watching unstable people show you how unstable they are) I did feel that, if they were to do this, they'd hold themselves to an appropriately high standard. I'm glad my faith in total strangers paid off. Tim Singer has always had a voice preordained for hardcore, and he doesn't sound like some elder-statesman coming back to relive his salad days. Oh no, he's fully there, sounding as outright pissed as ever. But that says nothing of the band, who provide the riffs, and the turn-on-a-dime compositions, befitting of their legacy. This is by no means going to catch the ears of younger hardcore kids who only know vintage t-shirts and spinkicks, but that's fine, it wasn't for them anyway.

Good Luck, Big Dreams, Mister

Jesus Fucking Christ, another reunion record? I'm sorry, I don't make the rules here. If I did, this album would have come out in 2014 and the entire narrative of the emo revival would have been different. Alas! As I linked up above, and will do again now, I spoke to the three members of Good Luck about the band's history, as well as this new album, and it was a genuine thrill. That thing got lengthy rather quickly, so I didn't actually get into the music all that much but, let me assure you, it's great. I'm not someone compelled by nostalgia very often, but much like Algernon and Deadguy (first time those two have ever been in the same sentence?) this is a third LP worthy of Good Lucky's legacy. Good Luck retains their mathy, indie-punk instincts and they bring the requisite amount of exuberance and heart to make this feel just as good as anything from their original run. For real, I mean it.

Hell, Submersus

After the Good Luck's feel-great record of the fall, let's get into the feel-terrible album of the summer, Hell's Submersus. Having followed Hell for many years now, I've wondered at what point they'd fall off. Not because I doubt them, but after 16 years, you kid of just expect a misstep here and there. But I really should give M.S.W. more credit, as he's guided this blackened doom project from one great release to another. What's always appealed to me about Hell is that the desolation captured in the recordings doesn't sound like an affectation. The songs are often sparse, incredibly dreary, and completely bleak, but it never becomes melodramatic or overwrought. There are still memorable riffs and occasional uptempo moments to keep the whole thing from sinking into a morass of unforgiving self-reflection. If you're looking for an album to listen to as the sun sets earlier, and the chill enters the night air, this is the one for you.

Pelican, Flickering Resonance

I was lucky enough to be asked to write the bio for this record but that doesn't inform its place on this list. I've been a Pelican fan for a long time, and their re-emergence with the original lineup was something that certainly piqued my interest. After a two-song tape that showed my interest was well-earned, Pelican snapped back with Flickering Resonance, perhaps the most joyous album in the band's lengthy career. As I wrote in that bio, these songs have a lot of Quicksand and Texas Is The Reason in them, and those drop-tuned, post-hardcore reference points bring a lighter feel to this album. The songs are as gargantuan as ever, but there's a lot more lightness informing them, making for the the breeziest seven-minute songs you'll find anywhere this year.

Pile, Sunshine and Balance Beams

If you know me at all, you know I love Pile. While there's not a Pile album I dislike, there are some that get played less than the rest. At first, I thought Sunshine and Balance Beams might be one of those Pile albums.

On my very first listen, the thing that struck me the most was how good this record sounded. I've long believed that the thing that stunted their growth was the subpar recording quality for albums like Dripping and You're Better Than This. While those records are great to my ears, I understand that certain sonic limitations may have kept people from seeing the greatness in songs like "Baby Boy" or "Mr. Fish." They should have just listened harder, but who am I to dictate such things.

After that first listen, I was worried that maybe something was missing from Sunshine and Balance Beams. Was the sandpaper too fine a grit and now all the imperfections have been fully smoothed over? I waited a few weeks and, when I eventually returned to the album, I was amazed by how different of an experience I had. Yes, this is still the best sounding Pile record but, my god, some of their best songs are on this thing, too. "Born At Night" is a certified classic, and "Meanwhile Outside" is another grand statement that shows this band can go long and not lose the plot. This may not be my favorite Pile record, but its certainly making my ability to have a clear answer to that question even more difficult.

Retirement, Attention Economy

Now this, my friends, is hardcore. At least it's what I think of when I hear the word. It's gross, ugly, and uncomfortable; a mess of noise that doesn't want to give the listener what they want in any capacity. At times its fast, at times its annoyingly mid-tempo, and it all works no matter what velocity its moving at. When I first played it, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I found myself increasingly pulled into its uncompromising orbit. I hate to compare them to No Trend, as they are quite peerless, but I see that same energy in Retirement. Attention Economy isn't trying to be throwback weirdo punk as much as allowing themselves to be guided by impulses that will certainly be off-putting to the audience. I love it for that.

Sijjin, Helljjin Combat

The debut album from Sijjin, 2021's Sumerian Promises, delved in a style that I can't get enough of: Altars Of Madness worship. It was unrelenting in its pursuit of capturing that specific moment of thrash metal turning into death metal and it worked perfectly. I had no notes. Well, other than I wanted more of it. With Helljjin Combat, I did not get more of it. In fact, I got a 1986 thrash metal record released in 2025. Truth be told, if you said that to me before I heard this, I'm not sure I would have been on board. But my first exposure was putting the record on and immediately getting pulled into its world. Helljjin Combat has been plenty polarizing, and I get why, but it works for me. Maybe it will for you, too?

Stress Positions, Human Zoo

Is this the best Stress Positions material yet? It just might be. Since C.H.E.W. first began all those years ago, I've been stumping for this group of people, and I feel like Stress Positions just might be them perfecting their form. Aside from the great new material offered up here, the remixes on the B-side of this thing also work in a way that I wasn't expecting. I so rarely care about remixes of any kind, but the two Planet B tracks, as well as the Made By Human Hands one, are so good, I find myself hitting the B-side of this EP just as much as the A-side. Which is to say, I've been playing this thing a lot, and absolutely marveling at the power contained within every track.

Subversive Rite, Apocalypse Zone

Subversive Rite may be dead but at least we got Apocalypse Zone. This long-shelved album was one I expected to never get released, because underground punk labels don't usually want to throw money at a band that's not going to tour on a release even a little bit. Blessings to Acute Noise Manufacture for the willingness to take that risk, because this is such a fantastic record, it would be a real disservice for this to just be languishing on a hard drive somewhere. There was always a bit of crossover, trashiness to Subversive Rite, but they step more fully into that space, bringing in a more tight-picked riff style that fits nicely with their Sacrilege-inspired approach. And, who knows, maybe in 10 years I'll be writing about their reunion record. Stranger things have certainly happened.

Ritual Cross is playing a show in Highland, Indiana on September 26 with Wraith and Carrion Feeder. It'll be our last show for a little bit (truly, just a little bit). If you want to get one of the last copies of our tape, this is your chance.