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Lately, I've been listening to a bunch of new-this-year music. As such, I'm going to give four recommendations from stuff I've been enjoying from albums that came out recently, and then I'll close out with a few other things from different genres, so if you aren't interested in metal, skip to the end!
Am Fear Liath Mor -- Cnoc An Tursa
This is a Scottish band from Falkirk -- their name, Cnoc An Tursa, translates to Hill of the Standing Stone. The album this song is from, A Cry for the Slain, features a heavy emphasis on Scottish mythology and folk figures. There's a lot of fascinating research rabbit holes to fall down. For example, Am Fear Liath Mor, the creature of this song -- which translates to the Big Grey Man -- is the Scottish member of a family of creatures whose legends are found throughout the British Isles. Despite having ancestry in Scotland, Ireland and Wales -- and a more than passing interest in the folklore and legends thereof -- I'd never heard of this, which made it particularly cool for me!
Anyway, about the music. Galloping and upbeat, the song constructions honestly remind me of Amorphis. Despite the vocals being hoarsely screamed, I can actually understand the singer easily, which is always a bonus.
But, perhaps unusually for me, I wanted to call special attention to the guitar work on this album. I tend to focus more on vocals and drums as the things that catch me, but here, the guitar, played by Rene McDonald Hill, really steals the show.
Cold Heavens -- Draconian
My original entry point into metal was through symphonic and gothic elements -- Nightwish, Tristania, Sirenia, Within Temptation and the like. While my tastes eventually expanded, I always come home to that space whenever I can. In 2008, Draconian released Turning Seasons Within, which was an album I quite liked. This was followed by 2011's A Rose for the Apocalypse, which blew me away. This was an album that I listened to heavily and have returned to many times throughout the years.
Draconian released two more albums in the years to come, but for whatever reason, they didn't really hit the same spot for me and I more or less resigned myself to this being another band that was moving in a direction that I didn't enjoy as much (looking at you, Within Temptation).
Last Friday, they released their new album In Somnolent Ruin, and let me tell you, it's a return to form -- at least to my tastes and my ears. It's classic Draconian: slow, atmospheric burns ramping up into guitar-driven choruses with iconic beauty and the beast vocals as soprano wails and blistering growls twine together. Perhaps critically to my ear, this album features the return of female vocalist Lisa Johansson, who left shortly after A Rose for the Apocalypse following the birth of her son.
While I've been listening heavily to this album as a whole in the days since its release, I absolutely can't wait to listen to it even more this fall. This is going to be fantastic autumn music and I am thrilled to have it.
Sweet Magick -- Genus Ordinis Dei feat. Roy Khan
Ahh...Roy Khan, the best male vocalist, in my opinion. I'm beyond thrilled, as a fan, that his mental health has recovered enough to where he's willing to share more of his talent with the world. Don't get me wrong: if you want to really hear Roy Khan let loose, you'll want to go back to the Karma or Black Halo eras of Kamelot. But, for my money, I'd rather listen to a mature and happy Khan than the far more powerful but burning out Khan of his youth.
Roy Khan is a crucial part of this song -- but he is far from the only one. Genus Ordinis Dei is an Italian symphonic death metal band with quite a deep discography stretching back to 2013. Their singer has a very unique vocal style and it pairs incredibly well with Khan's. Like many Italian and Greek metal bands, one of the strongest suites for Genus Ordinis Dei is their composition. They are masters of the ear worm, with power-filled grooves that will absolutely get stuck in your head and demand repeat listens. At the same time, they keep up a lot of energy and tempo throughout -- they're great if you need more workout music.
Walk Amongst -- IATT
One of the things that I love the most about metal as a genre is the willingness that bands within the space have for experimentation. Don't get me wrong, it's entirely possible that other genres have this, too -- but it feels like metal bands are more interested in just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks.
So it is with Philadelphia-based IATT, which, to make a reference that I expect few people to understand, sounds like a lovechild of Ne Obliviscaris and White Ward. In normal-people-speak, this translates to a black metal band with a heavy progressive leaning in their composition but also a saxophone.
One of my favorite things about this band is their skill at using negative space and silence in their music. While Walk Amongst represents what the band brings to the table the best, I actually would also recommend To Lie Beneath as a better example of their compositional skill.
Fushun -- Kunihiko Ryo
A classic spring-and-fall transitional song for me, this song is from the soundtrack to "The Twelve Kingdoms," my absolute favorite anime which I've also written a Throwback Thursday column about, back in 2024 (www.lockhaven.com/news/arts-culture-scene/2024/08/the-twelve-kingdoms-an-obscure-gem/). The whole soundtrack is absolutely incredible and worth listening to, but this track is always my go-to. There's just something about the mix of the plucking strings backed by the sweeping flute that sets my heart right.
My only complaint is how short it is: at a brisk 2:17, it's over practically before it starts...which ultimately just adds to the sense of wistfulness that suffuses the song. If you're looking for more, I would of course recommend the entire album -- but start with Juni Genmu kyoku (full version). It's the opening track for the show, and just absolutely perfectly sets the mood.
If you have trouble finding the album, Kunihiko Ryo is also known as Yang Bang-ean. On Tidal, the streaming service I use, the album is listed under his Japanese name, not his Korean one, but different places list him differently.
Orokke -- The Moon and the Nightspirit
A Hungarian duo, The Moon and the Nightspirit play a lot of neofolk and use a lot of traditional instruments that you have probably never heard of before. This song -- off the album Rego Rejtem, from 2007 -- is sung entirely in Hungarian. That said, the translated lyrics are easily available if you want to follow along and try to learn a word or two.
A little more than halfway through the song, the sound of falling rain filters through the music, which is a really cool touch and makes this song very relaxing to listen to. It pairs really well with the stringed instrument which I think is a Mongolian morin khuur.
If you'd like to listen to more of their music, I'd highly recommend their 2020 album, Aether, which I think was a major level-up for the duo's sound. That said, their older discography is full of gems like Orokke which are well worth digging for.
Arianna McKee is the Design and Editorial Page editor at The Express.