A harrowing document of life, death and transcendence, Do You Still Love Me? is the fifth album from Planes Mistaken for Stars (PMFS), the band’s second outing for Deathwish Records and first new music since 2016. It is also the first PMFS release since the death of frontman Gared O’Donnell, whose cancer diagnosis loomed heavily over the recording and whose ghost guided the mix. Chemo and radiation would not stop him from making this masterpiece, in which the band finds itself reeling from the gut-wrenching horrors of their leader’s unimaginable absence.
Written in Peoria amidst the forced isolation of a global pandemic and recorded by Sanford Parker in Chicago, these thirteen songs burn the ears to listen. Album opener “Matthew is Dead” wastes no time with niceties as Planes mourns the 2017 death of founding guitarist Matt Bellinger — Gared’s throat-shredded rasp seethes as if taunting himself: You’re dead, you’re dead, you’re dead— guttural human screams unbottled and broken glass shattered as transcendental meditation and musical catharsis, for band and listener alike. These acute and raw moments are found throughout the record, audible wounds you can hear, see, taste and almost touch. We’ve only got the night, as Gared knew and preached and lived. Just one last drink, shall we begin? Do You Still Love Me? carries forward Planes’ natural evolution beyond post-hardcore and metal-tinged rock n’ roll, unveiling new layers with each listen. Intertwined vocals and infectious melodies simmer beneath the surface and occasionally boil over, shards of guitar strike like lightning as the rhythm section pounds its marching orders. Whether pummeling mercilessly or tenderly relenting, Do You Still Love Me? shows a band unafraid to lose itself in the musical maelstrom. I don’t have the shakes, the shakes have me — it’s not an easy listen, yet offers immense rewards with time, alchemizing a unique beauty from the pain and tragedy of its creation. It’s an emotional bloodletting for Planes and their extended family around the world, a collective primal scream of coping with life and last breaths, and eternal proof that death is truly not the end. Source: Bandcamp

“As we played together and revisited songs from our back catalog that meant so much to us, we were inspired to write a new song that channeled those feelings and that energy. We had an incredible time making our C.L.S.M. side project/offshoot album that was released last year, but ‘You Might Be Dead’ connects directly to the sound and trajectory we forged when we solidified our identity as a band throughout ‘House With A Curse’, ‘Sister Faith’ and ‘Anxiety’s Kiss’.” Bandcamp

On The Healer, the new full length from Northwest-based trio SUMAC, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner, bassist Brian Cook and drummer Nick Yacyshyn, the group deepens its multi-faceted exploration into the parallel experiences of creation and destruction. Over the course of 4 tracks in 76 minutes, SUMAC presents a sequence of shifting movements which undergo a constant process of expansion, contraction, corruption and regrowth.
This musical methodology reflects the thematic nature of the record - narratives of experiential wounding as gateways to empowerment and evolution, both individual and collective. The group's interpolation of melody, drone, improvisation, and complex riffing becomes a transmogrifying act embodying the depth of human experience. In its highest aspiration it mirrors our ability to endure mortal and spiritual challenges, through which we may emerge with an increased capacity for understanding, empathy, love of self and others. Dismal though the subterranean pits of “The Healer” may at first appear, from them can be felt the unwavering determination to embrace life, acknowledge interdependence, and honor the gift of existence. Source: Bandcamp

'Adrift / Tending the Embers' marks Pelican's first new music since 2019 and the first songs written with the band’s original lineup since 2012. The EP marks both a reunion and a departure, eschewing the caustic bombast of 2019’s 'Nighttime Stories' for more delicate and nuanced territory that imbibes their pastoral Midwest post-rock tendencies with triumphant riffs that feel indebted to the classic Dischord pantheon. Source: Bandcamp

Acclaimed instrumental post-rock band IF THESE TREES COULD TALK is back with a new single, “Trail Of Whispering Giants,” the group’s first new music in eight years, out today and streaming via Metal Blade Records. “Trail Of Whispering Giants” marks the anticipated return of the Akron, Ohio-based lineup spearheaded by drummer Zack Kelly and his guitarist-brother Cody Kelly. IF THESE TREES COULD TALK has been praised by Metal Hammer for, “uplifting post-rock that layers cascading guitars over tight drums with a deep emotional resonance,” while the lineup’s third LP and Metal Blade debut, 2016’s The Bones Of A Dying World, was called, “a fluid-flowing masterpiece that builds upon complex, progressive dreamscapes.” . Source: Earsplitcompound.com