Hello everyone and welcome back to Genrefvckery, the music column where the genre doesn’t matter, the numbers are made up, and the qualifications are fake. In January proper, I published the largest music column I’ve ever created, a list of 100 bands/musicians that created and released new music in 2025. I’m trying to keep up the good streak, and we’re back to our usual programming — ten new releases from January. I’m doubling down on my commitment to sticking to Bandcamp, however. That means, buy people’s music! If you want some inspiration, I’ve committed to buying at least one album or song per month, which often comes out to pennies on the dollar for what people are charging. That means I’m steadily building up an actual library again, with the goal of eventually unsubscribing from Spotify completely.
Before I get into things, a reminder that I have a SubscribeStar over here. I’m trying to get it up and going, and it’s a way to consistently support me financially during tough times. I’ve also got a Linktree here listing all my various stores — Redbubble, Artpal, Storenvy, Payhip, and others. (One day I’ll have a single storefront for everything, but turns out that’s hard.) But enough about me. On to the music!
Deliciously heavy doom metal that pulls on Black Sabbath more than Metallica, these folks hail from Quebec and were originally working under the name Crestfallen while looking for the right vocalist. Considering how incredible these vocals are, I’d say it was worth the wait, and I commend them for their patience. Instead of the growled or guttural vocals that the darker metal genres are most known for, Exxûl has opted instead to lean more towards power-metal vocals — which for many bands has been a mistake, mostly because most vocalists can’t actually reach the notes or volume they strain for. Credited only as Stargazer, their singer has an operatic tinge to his delivery that makes me wonder if he’s gotten professional training.
The rest of the band, however, has clearly been working at their craft for a long time — and as a unit, too. So don’t let my effusive praise of the vocals distract you from the whole package. Amazing vocals can only lift uninspired lyrics or dull guitar work so far, and they even credit the solos to their respective players which is something I don’t think I’ve actually seen before — I love it.
2. Colossal Rains – Feral Sorrow
I love the constant evolution of post-hardcore, and this artist is just another entry into how the genre has shifted from what I grew to associate with the label in high school (five…ten…fif– we’re just not going there.) Colossal Rains brings their first full-length to life with a mix of guttural and raspy vocals, and on one hand, it’s very firmly post-hardcore; on the other hand, there’s something deeply compelling about their mix of tuned-down riffs and mournful lyrics. There are places where it feels like too much is happening at once — parts of Entombed City are beautiful but almost crowded — but when it works, like on first track Deadlights, it works splendidly.
I also want to particularly shout out the instrumentation on Silent Trigger. Nothing beats a good, solid, evocative guitar opening, and there’s some significant doom influence here; plus, the guitar feels like almost more of the vocalist on this song than the vocalist does, in what’s very much a deliberate choice. (Stuck on this or Deadlights as my favourite track.)
One of the most interesting things about music to me is how the gaps aren’t always evident until someone really, truly does something you’ve never heard before. Sometimes they feel like they should have been obvious — like this album, for example. It’s only in listening to this masterpiece that I realize I’ve only heard Arabic-language music as a Westerner in dance, pop or devotional contexts. There have probably been others in passing — but for all that there’s a rich and complex world of Arabic music out there, it’s only certain genres that filter through to the Anglosphere. (The same is true of other languages, too — J-pop, K-pop and Spanish pop/dance music make it through, if barely, but what about other genres?) This is my first time hearing industrial/goth-influenced music in Arabic, and particularly the darkwave/techno-influenced stuff I love the most. As you can imagine, I’m over the moon.
It doesn’t hurt that Geitani is a master. The layers of sound, the minor-note and mode differences, the slight dissonances — every second of every song in this feels like an exercise in balance, evoking a breathlessness that’s hard to place. Whether Geitani’s voice is wailing, droning or crooning, I’m entranced every moment, and at over an hour, that’s a lot of moments. I have ADHD, too, so you know this is HIGH praise. I haven’t even translated the lyrics — I’m a little scared to with how emotional I already am.
I fucking love synthpop. It’s the genre where my cognitive dissonance between my politically-motivated anti-pop feelings and my genuine enjoyment of indie pop is the clearest — but especially with musicians like Jabba GFX, there’s a space age sincerity to it that I can’t resist. This album is a short one (more of an EP than an album) but it’s got a consistent mood all throughout, only small breaks between songs disturbing what is in reality a singular piece cut into tracks. (I would love a release that put them all into a single track, btw. Hint hint. You should do that. It’d be awesome.) There’s hip-hop influences in here too, especially in the hi-hat and production choices, and the one place where I’m taking points off is where I take points off for everybody. You already know what it is. LYRICS, PEOPLE. POST YOUR LYRICS. Especially when you’re filtering your vocals!
5, Kattybratt — Pink Fluffy Collar
Oh my god look at that album cover. Look at it. I’m in love. — Right, I’m reviewing music. I didn’t forget that. but LOOK AT THE COVER GUYS–
The album description being about seeing “your” collar on someone else also killed me a little bit (a lot). Whether you can identify with the specific scenario or not, it’s a pretty relatable feeling. And what a way to bring us into a breakcore album full of samples and stressful noises coming together into a tapestry of confused and restless feelings! You do have to already like breakcore to really get into this, I think, but there’s nothing wrong with that. This is the kind of music meant to express an emotional landscape, and it does a damn good job. Standout track for me: ‘traumaticretreading’ for being incredibly evocative of PTSD.
Also, one more time: Look at that coverrrrr. I’m normal I swear.
I love some good old-fashioned angry punk, and Ex’s have a lot to say. Based in Batam, Indonesia, they’re focused on the issues in their country and writing with pens and guitar picks aflame. “a scary night become a witness/Soldier footsteps, guns shots, and bombs/Little child screams in fear/Civilians running towards safety” (More Guns, More War – track 6). The best punk music is rooted in righteous anger, and Ex’s have plenty of it, down to the cross on their album cover. Along with their anger is a genuinely powerful songwriting talent that kept me hooked from track one all the way to the end. Fantastic work, and I’m excited to see what they do next.
The only thing more deadpan-funny than showing up after 20 years with a new album is doing it with, it seems, absolutely no acknowledgement that 20 years have passed. I ran across this album by pure chance, and only after listening to it did I realize that this is an established band with two albums… from 2000 and 2006. What? Sorry? You didn’t want to say anything about that anywhere on your Bandcamp? Come on, man. There’s a story here! But also it’s kind of iconic.
Anyway, whatever Prescription’s been doing for the last 20 years, it hasn’t been getting rusty. Their music is a blend of thrash metal and hardcore punk, which is a very special little section of hardcore music I like to call “what if Metallica had souls?” It’s hard to get really good at this kind of music, especially when you’re doing quick vocals on top of it. Unfortunately I gotta ding them once again for the no-lyrics thing especially since I’m so tantalized by the stuff I can make out, but the album art almost makes up for it. I’m lying, it totally does. I love it. I want it on a poster.
8. Hunter as a Horse – Lighthouse
There’s a type of synth-heavy indie music where I have no idea if it has a microlabel name or not; everybody who makes the music seems to call it something different. M83 get called everything from dream-pop to shoegaze, and those labels certainly appeal to me; Ladytron, on the other hand, mostly get electro-rock and electro-pop. Synthwave and darkwave lead me in very different directions depending on the day — and CHVRCHES seems to gather a very different crowd to the point of me wondering if I’m identifying anything genre-categorizable at all.
All of this is to say, Hunter as a Horse is solidly in this category and I am SO into it. I first ran into their music through the chilling haunted-house song Passengers, and on a whim decided to see if they had any new releases — and they do! The somewhat-creepy love song ‘Lighthouse’ is a single that dropped this January, placing it firmly in my collection period. How’s that for some luck?
‘Lighthouse’ is great on a few levels. One, of course, is the music itself. It’s got a pounding rhythm like a heartbeat underpinning layers of wave-sounds and shoegaze-synth, and a tune that wavers between a promising, hopeful lover and a siren in the waves. HAAH has very kindly provided lyrics (thank you) which means I can properly appreciate the complexity of the song — because, of course, “I will be your lighthouse” is one of those statements that sounds romantic at first blush until you realize you’re supposed to stay away from lighthouses. It’s a beautifully crafted song, and one I’m very lucky to have stumbled over when I did.
9. Shoregraves/Moonveil – Moonshore
And here we have a fantastic collaboration from Minneapolis band Shoregraves and Polish artist Moonveil! I wanted to make sure I featured at least one Minneapolis artist this month, and so I’m gonna take this opportunity to remind you to donate to Minnesota and particularly Twin Cities mutual aid funds, and keep your eyes open for other ways to help. The siege hasn’t ended, and so I want to particularly commend any artist continuing to record and produce work in this environment. I’m particularly reminded of our time with the convoy occupying our city here in Ottawa, although this is a million times worse.
This release is blackgaze — black metal meets shoegaze for those who aren’t familiar with the term — and it’s a genre I’ve been increasingly falling in love with as someone who loves both genres. The result of their marriage is an intense wall of sound and noise that takes the emotional weight of both genres and multiplies it through searing guitars and screaming vocals, and this is true three times over especially for opening track ‘wandered’ (a Shoregrave track). I’m also very thankful that they’ve provided their lyrics, especially since the poetry of them is lost in the evocative, but indecipherable, vocals. (That’s not a complaint. I love black metal.)
Moonveil’s contributing half of the record is no less impressive — perhaps even more for apparently being an entirely solo artist. There’s a different feel to their work, but the two bands click extremely well — well enough that I’d be interested in seeing a genuine collaboration on a track, although distance makes these things difficult. Moonveil uses more sparse, imagist lyrics than Shoregrave, resulting in a fascinating contrast to go along with the synchronicity of their instrumental styles.
Okay, first of all, points for that name. That’s amazing. This is my second band from Minneapolis, and while they’re another band from the hardcore end of things, the similarities end there. This is a hardcore punk band in riot grrl tradition, although I don’t know if they use the term for themselves; every name on the credits is certainly feminine (so short of ‘A Boy Named Sue’ shenanigans there’s no cis men involved here) and all the mixing, recording and mastering is also done by the band members. And oh boy is it some damn good mixing. There’s tricky stuff to mixing hardcore music that I can’t even fathom as someone who wears hearing aids, so I’m always that little extra impressed when indies pull it off so well. All of that would mean absolutely nothing if the music sucked, though. Instead, it’s blistering, fast-paced, and fucking balls to the wall blow-your-ears-off punk. It’s so good.
As a cherry on top, Slut Intent shows exactly who they are by promising that all proceeds of their album will be donated to Minneapolis families in need. Consequently, it’s lovely to look over and see that people have been buying the album; there’s nothing worse than charity initiatives that founder in the mud. Still, there’s a lot of families that need help, so if you need some new music and want to help some people out as well, this is a great place to throw a few dollars.
And that’s all, folks! Tune in at the beginning of March for my February list, and if you have a February release, feel free to send it my way, either through my Contact form on the website or my email elliott.dunstan@gmail.com.
Also, check out my SubscribeStar over here — you’ll get all my columns early, and be helping an indie writer support himself during — I’m so tired of saying interesting times. Fascism. It’s fascism.
Elliott Dunstan 
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