Happy April. My last couple New Music Friday posts have been a little on the sparse side. This week's entry definitely is not. That's because I found a few things I missed from week's past, and today's new release list is pretty stacked. There are a couple big albums I planned to listen to that I couldn't even get to today. To the picks!

This album dropped at the end of March and came to my attention earlier this week via Bluesky (follow me!). Paling hails from Germany, and this album, Galore, appears to be their debut album. A lot of influences are on display here: doom, shoegaze, alternative rock, to name a few. I found this album pretty surprising - during my first listen I checked my phone several times to make sure it hadn't ended and started auto-playing a different artist. That's not to say that this album isn't cohesive - it is - but every time I thought I had a handle on this band's sound, the album threw a curveball. It starts out as more of a heavy shoegaze sound, but definitely gets more metal as it progresses. I dug this a lot. Highly, highly recommended. 

While I enjoyed this quite a bit, Nagalite by Lili Refrain probably won't be for everyone. The Rome-based Refrain is a solo musician who uses guitar, vocals, percussion, synths, and loops mixed in real-time, without any pre-recorded tracks or computer assistance. The resulting sound is psychedelic, tribal, and haunting. While this one is heavy, it certainly doesn't fall neatly into any particular genre. 

I missed this one when it dropped last week. Great Falls have compiled a bunch of tracks from EPs and splits into a new compilation, Conscription. You get eight songs in a 20-minute burst of fury and feedback. Fun fact: I saw the lead organizer of Minneapolis' annual noise rock celebration Caterwaul at a show a year or so back, pointed to the Great Falls shirt I was wearing, and suggested they'd be a perfect fit for the festival. Lo and behold, they're booked for this year's event. I take full credit. 

Look, if you're the type of person who finds it valuable to read some random loser's music blog (and fitness blog, too! We'll get back to that at some point, I swear!), then you're probably already aware of Angine De Poitrine. This anonymous math rock duo has absolutely blown up in the last few months, which might be obnoxious if not for the fact that their music is really fucking cool. Vol. II is a concise collection of mostly instrumental, heavy-ish wonkery, a prog rock version of The Residents, if you will. If that sentence means nothing to you, then this is not the band for you. 

Nature Morte is post-black metal from France. Still Life is both moody and blistering. I'm amazed by the amount of solid blackgaze being produced these days from all around the world. 

I have no idea what the name No Terror In The Bang means. Regardless, this is an interesting EP from another French band, this one calling themselves "cinematic metal." I get that, but there's also a lot of nu metal and groove metal at play here. Some of the vocals don't quite work for me - the lead singer's clean singing is a little too Evanescence-esque for me at times. The screams and growls are pretty great, though, and the overall mix is interesting enough to recommend. 

Shifting gears to the punk side of things is the new album from Poison Ruin. Hymns From The Hills is far more melodic that I was expecting, but still packs quite a punch. Great stuff, and I'm pleased to see that these guys are coming to my town soon. 

I never know what to expect from a Jarboe album. She's earned her place in the heavy music canon with her work in Swans and collaborative album with Neurosis. Her new one, Sightings, (apparently not on Bandcamp, what's up with that?) is incredibly gentle, largely ambient, and bubbling with the sounds of nature. Quite a peaceful way to end today's roundup. Have a great weekend, all.