We face some of our toughest Album Club challenges yet: Matchbox 20's Ken anthems Yourself or Someone Like You, ponder how Attila's About That Life achieved some kind of longevity, cheer originality in hardcore on Twitching Tongues' In Love There is No Law, and the troubling eternal mystique of Acid Bath's When the Kite String Pops.

This episode was originally published July 2023 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

We convene for conversations on 2024's most monolithic potential landmark records, reviewing Blood Incantation, Undeath, Balance and Composure, High Vis, Touché Amoré, Oranssi Pazuzu, and Chat Pile, as well as scratching our heads at festival clues and Acid Bath(?!), and a toast to the late Paul Di'Anno.

Blood Incantation 45:58
Undeath 1:22:56
Balance and Composure 1:45:20
High Vis 2:00:55
Touché Amoré 2:19:41
Oranssi Pazuzu 2:42:46
Chat Pile 3:09:54

On this Album Club episode we return to the scene of the crime to again preview some of the must-see sets at this year's Damnation Festival: Cradle of Filth's old school origins with The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, Ne Obliviscaris' Citadel, Discharge's Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, and Dragged Into Sunlight's terrifying Hatred for Mankind.

We've got a big catch-up chat talking about Sam's trip to a Tokyo hardcore show, tours from Orange Goblin, Cannibal Corpse, and Frank Carter fronting the Sex Pistols, leading into a discussion of the surprising news around The Rattlesnakes calling a hiatus and their potential future, and questions around nostalgia festival booking double standards and which band we'd want to see "do a Wintersun".

Releases:
High Parasite - Forever We Burn
Weather Systems - Ocean Without a Shore
Origami Angel - Feeling Not Found
Adorior - Bleed On My Teeth
Spite - The Third Temple
Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere
Undeath - More Insane
Fever 333 - Darker White
Trash Boat - Heaven Can Wait
Balance and Composure - With You In Spirit
Drug Church - Prude
Chubby and the Gang - And Then There Was…
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead
1349 - The Wolf and the King
Lowen - Do Not Go to War With the Demons of Mazandaran
Cosmic Putrefaction - Emerald Fires Atop the Farewell Mountains
Maul - In the Jaws of Bereavement
Motley Crue - Cancelled
Sylosis - The Path
The Offspring - Supercharged
Myles Kennedy - The Art of Letting Go
Real Friends - Blue Hour
Touche Amoré - Spiral in a Straight Line
Envy - Eunoia
The Linda Lindas - No Obligation
Chat Pile - Cool World
Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja
Doedsmaghird - Omniverse Consciousness
The Crown - Crown of Thorns
Vomit Forth - Terrified of God
De Mannen Broeders - Sober Maal

Autumn releases arrive with the album for the season, a huge return, and several much hyped debuts to assess, from Unto Others, The Black Dahlia Murder, Nightwish, Zetra, Heriot, Vended, Vicious Blade, & The Jesus Lizard.

Unto Others 21:45
The Black Dahlia Murder 57:55
Nightwish 1:19:30
Zetra 1:37:58
Heriot 1:52:42
Vended 2:08:41
Vicious Blade 2:27:34
The Jesus Lizard 2:38:44

Album Club is back with Slayer's sunset on their imperial era Seasons in the Abyss, My Bloody Valentine's shoegaze starting gun Loveless, a comprehensive look back on the divisive effect of Cancer Bats' Searching for Zero, and Blood Incantation's Starspawn blasting death metal through the stargate.

This episode was originally published July 2023 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

Another UK live event hits with Cosmic Void Festival and Cirith Ungol's UK date on their final tour, Iron Maiden announce their huge 50th anniversary tour, The Cure start to finally tease new music, and there's the unfortunate Jane's Addiction punch-up implosion to deal with.

Releases:
Nightwish - Yesterwynde
Unto Others - Never, Neverland
Vended - Vended
Crimson Veil - Hex
Charlotte Wessels - The Obsession
Kublai Khan TX - Exhibition of Prowess
Regional Justice Center - Freedom Sweet Freedom
Giant Walker - Silhouettes
Alunah - Fever Dream
Demon Head - Through Holes Shine the Stars
Dungeon Crawl - Maze Controller
Glacial Tomb - Lightless Expanse
Coffin Rot - Dreams of the Disturbed
Kanonenfieber - Die Urkatastrophe
Mork - Syv
Dreamless Veil - Every Limb of the Flood
Esoctrilihum - Döth-Derniàlh
Deathless Void - The Voluptuous Fire of Sin

We take a trip to No Play Festival to see SeeYouSpaceCowboy and a day of UK hardcore bands, and follow up on last week's Linkin Park announcement with, well... all of that. Not the conversation we imagined having last time.

Releases:
Pyrrhon - Exhaust
Man’s Gin - The Reprobate
The Jesus Lizard - Rack
Cursive - Devourer
Nada Surf - Moon Mirror
Chastity - Chastity
Zetra - Zetra
Oceans of Slumber - Where Gods Fear to Speak
Satan - Songs In Crimson
Wolfbrigade - Life Knife Death
Slomosa - Tundra Rock
Torus - Torus
Dale Crover - Glossolalia
Winterfylleth - The Imperious Horizon
Trelldom - …by the Shadows…
Taur-im-Duinath - Verso casa
NightWraith - Divergence

The fruits of Linkin Park's rollout emerge with all of the details of their reunion and return, Slam Dunk leads with its first announcements for 2025, there's trouble in the W.A.S.P. camp, and there's a live report from NWOBHM cult legends Satan.

Releases:
Rat Lord - Blazed in the Northern Sky
Enumclaw - Home In Another Life
Boston Manor - Sundiver
40 Watt Sun - Little Weight
Molchat Doma - Belaya Polosa
Aluk Todolo - LUX
Blitzkrieg - Blitzkrieg
Helvetets Port - Warlords
God is an Astronaut - Embers
God Dethroned - The Judas Paradox
PeelingFlesh - The G Code
Bodysnatcher - Vile Conduct
Laura Jane Grace & The Mississippi Medicals - Give An Inch

Album Clubs kick off with an EP that set it all alight with Nine Inch Nails' Broken, Baroness make modern rock's great double album Yellow & Green, The Hotelier hit an emo revival high Home, Like Noplace Is There, and Satyricon take black'n'roll to the mainstream with Now, Diabolical.

This episode was originally published May 2023 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.