I don't know if I've ever expressed the fact that I genuinely love putting this column together every week. Giving myself a little musical scavenger hunt every makes every Friday feel a little like Christmas morning. And there's nothing better than hearing someone say that they discovered something new through my picks - it genuinely makes me happy. So thank you for reading, and if you find anything that strikes your fancy, let me know in the comments section or drop me a line at bothkindsofheavy@gmail.com

This week is a mix of singles and albums, and, as always, it's an eclectic bunch. Read on!

The first single from the upcoming Mastodon album didn't do a heck of a lot for me. For the first couple minutes, I was afraid that this week's new single, "In the Ruins," would be another miss in my book. Mastodon's limited output of ballads hasn't really worked for me, and the opening of this track seems like it will fall into that bucket. But then the riff kicks in, and I am fully onboard. "This guitar part sounds like a machine gun laying down covering fire" is about the highest compliment I can give to a metal song. 

Chat Pile are back with the third and final single off their upcoming album, Who Loves the Sun. "Same Rules" is a much moodier and more gothic track than the previous two singles, and based on what we've heard so far, Who Loves the Sun seems like the band is pushing in several new directions. The video above suggests that "Same Rules" will feature on the soundtrack of the new movie Digger - or that the band is completely unafraid of being sued by Tom Cruise. 

From Chat Pile, let's go to a band that clearly influenced their sound. Next month will see the release of what is being called the penultimate Godflesh album. The songs on the upcoming Decay were recorded in the same sessions that produced the previous album, Purge. In the meantime, Justin Broadrick has been medically ordered by his healthcare team to discontinue the harsh shouts that resulted in him requiring major abdominal surgery.  This first single, "Living/Ending," is classic Godflesh, harsh and assaulting, with stabbing percussion and commandingly barked vocals. As we approach the end of this legendary band, I'm excited to hear more from this album and the as-yet-unannounced final album to follow. 

And speaking of Justin Broadrick, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that he also appears on the new Phoebe Bridgers album out today!

Prosthetic Memories is the new album by Chicago-based instrumental band Coyote Man. This is my first introduction to the band, and looking back at some of their earlier releases, it seems like they've created a fair amount of music that explores the more ethereal, spacy side of instrumental metal. This, however, is generally urgent, heavy, and concise. "War Hatchet" would make a great addition to your next workout playlist. 

I didn't want Godflesh to be the only entry in the "bands that are somewhat awkward to say out loud" category this week. Genital Shame is the solo project of Erin Dawson, who blends her background in music education with black metal and experimental music. She's also a trans person, and brings that lived experience to her music. On this first track, "I Want to Die Before You," she combines classical guitar with black metal vocals and instrumentation in a truly exciting way. 

Maȟpíya Lúta is Americana-tinged indigenous black metal from South Dakota. I tend to gravitate more towards the slicker, more produced modern black metal, but this is old-school swampy "recorded at the bottom of a canyon" black metal. That's not a complaint! This is a very exciting release that should appeal to fans of Blackbraid and the older part of Wayfarer's catalog. 

It's been a while since we've done any punk here, so let's do some punk. Terraform the Afterlife is the debut album by Evil Island. This album sounds like a frustrated sneer. I'll admit that it gets a little too close to pop punk for me at times, but any album that includes a guest spot from Guy Picciotto of Fugazi gets included on principle. 

Sorry, Evil Island, you're not the least metal album of the week. That honor goes to Kind of Grunge by Ulyssess Owens, Jr. and Generation Y. This album is jazz covers of classic grunge songs like "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Spoonman," and "Interstate Love Song." Time will tell if this one stick in my regular rotation, but I'm absolutely gonna check out any album with a pitch that's this far out there. 

I'll close this week with an album that's not a new release. It's downright ancient by the norms of this column - it came out all the way back in June. But it's new to me this week and I find it really interesting, so that's good enough for me. A New Age of Decay is the second album by Corretta, and I'm a sucker for a band with ambition. An exploration of the horror of being left alone with your own thoughts, the album is designed to be listened to as a cohesive experience, although individual tracks often go off in unexpected directions, like stray thoughts that arise during meditation. It's heavy and noisy, but also unpredictable and experimental. As someone who has been building a meditation habit recently, an exploration of intrusive thoughts really speaks to me right now. Also, it just rocks.

Have a good weekend, all.