Akuma no Uta cover

Akuma no Uta

Released

One of the most bracing intersections of noise, punk, and metal in one of the more unassuming packages — the original cover’s hastily doodled critter or the reissue’s winking Nick Drake homage, take your pick. The Melvins-indebted Tokyo merchants of unsafe-at-any-speed sludge crank up their dirtbag-rock appeal here, succeeding in part because it’s a culmination of all their best early-career modes from wafting feedback drones to yowling drum-smashing thrash, and in part because it proves concision and traditional songcraft doesn’t diminish their roar at all.

Nate Patrin

Recommended by

Suggestions
Silver Apples cover

Silver Apples

Silver Apples
Dark Sunrise cover

Dark Sunrise

Rikki Ililonga, Musi-O-Tunya
Gong Splat cover

Gong Splat

Andres Renteria, Ryan Sawyer, Wilder Zoby, Greg Coates, John Dwyer
Tide Turns Eternal cover

Tide Turns Eternal

Dream Unending
Eve cover

Eve

UFOmammut
Blue Cathedral cover

Blue Cathedral

Comets on Fire