Today, I was excited to see a review copy of the new Chat Pile album Who Loves the Sun land in my inbox. I'll be posting a review of it next week after the embargo lifts, but to prepare for that review, I decided to revisit all of Chat Pile's releases so far. And hey, while I'm at it, why not write about it?

So far, all of the entries in my (newly retitled) The Catalog feature have focused on bands that I wanted to learn more about. This entry is a little different, as Chat Pile is a band that I know quite well. All three of their studio albums so far (including their collaborative release with Hayden Pedigo) landed at the top of my personal best of the year lists. They also have various odds and ends in their discography which I've spent less time with, so it seemed like a good opportunity to review their work in total, prepare for the new album, and try a slightly different spin on this column's format. 

One final note: After my Who Loves the Sun review runs, I'll update this post to incorporate some thoughts on that album. Onwards!

With my Listening to the Catalog column, I hope to fix some gaps in my musical knowledge. It took me until this week there was a pretty big gap I needed to address, especially considering that my favorite band is Neurosis. That gap is Isis, the beloved post-metal band fronted by Neurosis' newest member, Aaron Turner. 

It's hard to believe that I'll be flying out to Fire in the Mountains in a little more than a week. Of course, I'm spending a lot of time with bands on the bill. I had a lot of fun delving into Enslaved's catalog, and while I don't have the time to highlight another band with such an extensive library, I figured I could knock out a shorter discography or two. Which brings me to another one of the festival's big draws: the reunited ​SubRosa. 

As the highest-billed band on the Fire in the Mountains lineup that I'm not super familiar with, I've decided to do a deep dive on Enslaved as the festival draws nearer. I listened to the band's entire studio album discography in order and wrote a few quick thoughts on each album as I listened to them. I skipped the live albums, collections, and other releases that fell outside the boundaries of their proper studio releases. My goal with this project it to prepare for their set at the festival, and perhaps establish a new feature for this site - I may do similar deep dives on other bands in the future. 

Read my thoughts on each album below.