That's Not Metal

Album Club has a brand new home, giving you a month's worth of classic records in one swoop as our first episode positions Enter Shikari's A Flash Flood of Colour as the springboard for their next ten years, unearths Porcupine Tree's information age prog dystopia Fear of a Blank Planet, considers the untapped potential of Black Peaks' All That Divides, and tries to do justice to the profound heartbreaker that is Woods of Ypres' Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light.

This episode was originally published January 2022 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

Incredibly dense and rich albums populate reviews with a returning Porcupine Tree, Conjurer, Greg Puciato, Ithaca, Imperial Triumphant, Blood Command, Wormrot, and Oceans of Slumber, but news that Pantera are "reuniting" seems maddest of all.

Porcupine Tree 38:16
Conjurer 56:05
Greg Puciato 1:18:49
Ithaca 1:32:35
Imperial Triumphant 1:46:25
Blood Command 2:07:12
Wormrot 2:26:20
Oceans of Slumber 2:44:10

Having made Kate Bush the most popular artist on planet Earth, we talk about the Stranger Things train lifting Metallica's Master of Puppets to similar heights, as well as the best metalhead character in popular media in years.

Releases:
Wormrot - Hiss
Vomit Forth - Seething Malevolence
Altars - Ascetic Reflection
Blind Channel - Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous
The Machinist - All is Not Well
Telekinetic Yeti - Primordial

This week's Hyperblasts also sees a full review of last weekend's Outbreak Festival, where an arena-sized crowd signed mosh waivers to leap off stages for the likes of Turnstile, Knocked Loose, Deafheaven, & Vein.fm in what turned out to be a landmark year.

Releases:
Conjurer - Páthos
Greg Puciato - Mirrorcell
Blood Command - Praise Armageddonism
Municipal Waste - Electrified Brain
Shinedown - Planet Zero
Frayle - Skin & Sorrow
Thirteen Goats - Servants of the Outer Dark
Black Cilice - Esoteric Atavism
Hulder - The Eternal Fanfare
Massacre - Mythos
Fresh - Raise Hell
Camp Trash - The Long Way, The Slow Way
Chief State - Waiting For Your Colours

Reports from the first Nine Inch Nails UK shows in 4 years as well as SeeYouSpaceCowboy..., the first new music in a decade from The Mars Volta, new Megadeth, and a surprise Spiritbox banger heading up a wealth of new music, and one of the most overwhelming release weeks of the year.

Releases:
Alexisonfire - Otherness
Coheed & Cambria - Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind
Final Light - Final Light
Nervus - The Evil One
Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation
Candy - Heaven is Here
Dune Rats - Real Rare Whale
Petrol Girls - Baby
Graywave - Rebirth
Saor - Origins
Khold - Svartsyn
Entrails - An Eternal Time of Decay
Darkane - Inhuman Spirits
Werewolves - From the Cave to the Grave
Calderum - Mystical Fortress of Iberian Lands
Vicious Blade - Siege of Cruelty

Perran and Mark consider the news of a four day Download next year, the loss of The Pit/Lock Up stage at Reading & Leeds, the pros and cons of growling kids on talent shows, and a bunch of new tracks including a return to form In Flames and Steve Aoki putting his fingers in some rock music pies again.

Releases:
D.R.U.G.S. - Destroy Rebuild
Lit - Tastes Like Gold
Nova Twins - Supernova
Civil War - Invaders
Esoctrilihum - Consecration of the Spiritus Flesh
White Ward - False Light
Weezer - SZNS: Summer

Returning from Slam Dunk weekend, Alexisonfire's comeback album and another stormer from Kreator head up reviews with Bleed From Within, Coheed and Cambria, Joyce Manor, Final Light, Astronoid, & Nervus.

Alexisonfire 22:31
Kreator 41:38
Bleed From Within 56:31
Coheed and Cambria 1:09:07
Joyce Manor 1:19:48
Final Light 1:30:01
Astronoid 1:41:17
Nervus 1:52:15

Perran's joined by guest Mark Sandison to talk about the feral action going down at Maryland Deathfest, Bring Me the Horizon's throwback Malta set, new tunes from Amon Amarth and Panic! At the Disco, but mainly the feral action going down at Maryland Deathfest. Good grief.

Releases:
The Chasm - The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow
Kreator - Hate Uber Alles
Bleed From Within - Shrine
Astronoid - Radiant Bloom
Gwar - The New Dark Ages
The Algorithm - Data Renaissance
Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain
Origin - Chaosmos
Crobot - Feel This
Memphis May Fire - Remade In Misery
No Pressure - No Pressure
Temple of Void - Summoning the Slayer
Killswitch Engage - Live at the Palladium

Milton Keynes' transport network is sent into meltdown by a bunch of emos as My Chemical Romance, Mayhem, and Elton John (not on the same bill) saw a crazy Saturday night. With this episode though we salute Alec Chillingworth, who takes his leave from TNM. Cheers for your love everybody, one and all.

Releases:
Decapitated - Cancer Culture
Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos
Tremonti - Tremonti Sings Sinatra
Liam Gallagher - C’mon You Know
bigLOVE - Crusaders of Joy
Besvärjelsen - Atlas
Lord Belial - Rapture
Sacrifizer - Le diamant de Lucifer
Black Void - Antithesis
Spiter - Bathe the Babe in Bat’s Blood
Mournful Congregation - The Exuviae of Gods Part I
Baest - Justitia

As My Chemical Romance surprise us with their first new song, there's more talk of deathcore bands sneaking in Euro-metal with Lorna Shore's new track, charlatans selling the wrong rock artists at the Eurovision Song Contest, attempts to dodge flying setlist spoilers, and a general weird gig trip to Oranssi Pazuzu.

Releases:
Pkew Pkew Pkew - Open Bar
State Champs - Kings of the New Age
Moon Tooth - Phototroph
Visions of Atlantis - Pirates
Misery Index - Complete Control
Jungle Rot - A Call to Arms
Primitive Man - Insurmountable
Famyne - II: The Ground Below
Malevolence - Malicious Intent
Static Dress - Rouge Carpet Disaster
Cave In - Heavy Pendulum
Septicflesh - Modern Primitive
Casket Feeder - Servants of Violence
Anvil - Impact is Imminent
James LaBrie - Beautiful Shade of Grey
Evergrey - A Heartless Portrait: The Orphean Testament
Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses
Predatory Light - Death and the Twilight Hours
Luminous Vault - Animate the Emptiness
Come to Grief - When the World Dies
Unbowed - Colour the Soul
Be Well - Hello Sun