A Collection of some of the best rock and metal music released recently:
Honestly, what a time to be a music fan if you enjoy face-melting, roof-burning rock and metal! From long-time music veterans like The Warning and Plush, to fantastic girl punk rockers like Turning Jane and Emi Grace, to New England’s own One Time Weekend and Under the Horizon, there’s something for everybody. Let’s get into it!
Please tell us which of these albums resonated with you the most! Are you ready? Let’s go!
The Warning: Everything’s Falling
The Villarreal sisters from Mexico are back with their fifth album — a tight, dark journey into some of the heaviest themes they’ve explored yet. Under the brutal low tuning and explosive riffs, Everything’s Falling is loaded with dark messages about anxiety, dealing with haters, outrunning antiquated expectations, and, on “Ritual,” straight-up existential dread. This is heavy rock that’s made to be listened to closely and played over and over. Just listen to it on 11.
Uma’s favorite rock band explodes out of the gate with their new album, a near metal masterclass on what a band can accomplish when they have one of the best vocalists in the world at the mic. At 16, Moriah Formica became one of the youngest competitors on “The Voice” to turn all four judges’ chairs, and she’s been turning heads ever since. Plush recently became a trio, and the new album is written and composed specifically to play to the musicians’ strengths. On “Severance,” a song written and sung by bassist Ashley Suppa, the bottom growls over the top of a catchy chorus, and in “Animalistic,” drummer Faith Powell shows her powerful chops, happily destroying her kit over a series of fills and breakdowns that left us breathless when we saw them live over the summer.
One Time Weekend: As Above, So Below
With their new album, Connecticut-based One Time Weekend is looking to cement their reputation as one of the dominant shred-funk bands in New England. The independently released album, dropped at the end of May, ought to boost their reputation far and wide. My favorite song on the album is “Moonflower.” The band takes its time here, layering riff after riff atop a poetic meditation that fans of early Yes would recognize instantly, building into a guitar-jam outro that will leave you breathless. Expect this band to be playing huge festivals soon!
Other albums of note:
Canopy: Wheels Up – Heavy prog rock with a jazz foundation. Top-tier musicianship and mesmerizing stage performances. Canopy’s live show will leave you breathless!
Emi Grace: “The Bliss of Ignorance” (EP) – High-energy, jangly guitar pop-punk. Dance or headbang!
Major Moment: “In Love & War” – Boston-based nu-metal powerhouses with a new album coming next year. BUT, go see them live and get a copy at the show as we did!
Turning Jane: Queen of Hearts – The Los Angeles hot girl rock quartet produces some of the catchiest power punk in the business. Their new album drops in November.
OK, Goodnight: stop/go – More delicious Boston-based prog/metal with a jazz-trained quartet and over the top wispy vocals by the incredible Casey Lee Williams. Can music be complex and accessible at the same time? Yes, yes it can!
Dan Szczesny is a long-time journalist, author, and librarian living in New Hampshire. He’s written several books of travel memoir, poetry, non-fiction, and hiking guides. Along with his daughter, Dan writes a daily Substack newsletter called Day By Day, and he edits his daughter’s music interview Substack called Interviews By Uma. https://danszczesny.substack.com/
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