Long standing progressive metal act Gojira return with another display of meticulously crafted virtuosity that serves as the band's most accessible release yet. The band's call to action to fight for a better tomorrow stands on a bedrock of vigorous rhythm patterns and funky grooves that rouse and impress from beginning to end.

The guys are back at it with another guillotine round of album reviews. Let's face it, everyone only has so much time which makes keeping up with new releases impossible. In this retrospect of last month's releases, get up to speed on possible releases you may have missed, which ones to avoid, and others that are worthy of checking out.

After a two year break from an intense stretch of prolific output, mainstream darlings BROCKHAMPTON return in a deeply personal way. They walk the tightrope between rap and pop, seldomly overseasoning the medley with one style over the other, delivering the bangers and catchy production flourishes they have built their reputation on, but also weave a confessional narrative into the lyricism that hits as heavy as any beat.

Habitually standing on the edge, whether of a musical frontier or a nervous breakdown, synth oriented art rock project Xiu Xiu blend the cacophonous with the harmonious on this collection of duets. These collaborations are a labor of love. They emerged from musicians helping a fellow artist through a moment of crisis, injecting a softness and playfulness into the tone of some tracks which become easier entry points to the band's otherwise notoriously challenging music.

This week Co-hosts Zach and Brandon discuss rising Australian musician Genesis Uwusu and his debut LP "Smiling With No Teeth". This debut effort is a tour through Uwusu's influences and is drenched with personality, eagerness to impress, and a refreshing commentary on depression and racism. Brandon also takes an aside to comment on Lil Mariko's debut self titled release, and he is sort of embarrassed about it.

The creative brainchild of lead guitarist and vocalist Katie Davies, Pupil Slicer are a three piece metal outfit who combine some of heavy music's most intense subgenres on their debut release, Mirrors. At only 24 years old, Davies and crew capture a sound that plays like a futuristic shot out of hell.

Long time collaborators Nick Cave and Warren Ellis of The Bad Seeds fame surprisingly issue a new release without the band's moniker. They take the opportunity to meditate and eviscerate the trending tumult of the last year, assembling elements of sound from different eras of their career, yet unable to resist the temptation of returning to the familiarity of their most recent sound on later tracks.

Returning to their origins on their seventh full length release, indie rockers Cloud Nothings churn out a hardcore emo record, consisting of tracks so similar in tone from a lack of new ideas that they are better to digest in a vaccum rather than altogether.