The first thing you need to know about the much-anticipated new LP from BOREGARD. is that it’s every bit as much about Ethan Lamb’s protean production as it is about the rapper’s wide array of bars. I mean, peep the title, right? Silence of the Lamb is the best sort of collaboration, the kind where both parties push each other to unexpected heights. While certified bangers like “Beyoncé Knows” and “Breakfast” proved the duo had a genuine chemistry, the totality of the project establishes a potentially deeper connection. Over 13 effusive cuts, Lamb shows himself to be the sharp, shapeshifting yin to BOREGARD.’s wily, screwball yang, and the results are eminently satisfying. – Avery Shepherd

I don’t know how DKA does it. Year after year, the Atlanta label seems to capture all that is new and exciting and captivating within electronic music, and makes it readily accessible to its eager throng of fans around the world. Nowhere is this more true than with its Tape Programme series, which brings together artists near and far in an ecstatic celebration of muscular bass, skeletal beats, and foggy darkness. Vol. III is perhaps the most expansive edition yet, taking listeners on a visceral journey through the murky world of underground electronica. Everything from hypnotic minimal synth to harsh industrial and noise has a place here, so throw on your blackest outfit, find a space on the dance floor, and make yourself at home. – Guillermo Castro

It’s funny. For a genre that’s supposedly built on darkness and despair, doom metal can be some thrilling, invigorating shit. That’s not to say that excitement and gloom are mutually exclusive; after all, don’t fear and distress breed their own kind of adrenaline? Listening to the new album from Canopy, to its deluge of bludgeoning guitars and grim textures, its harrowing tones and pitch-black atmosphere, the reigning consensus says I should surrender to the darkness and abandon all hope. But damn if Humanity Loss doesn’t get me amped. While marathon tracks like “Exigent Weight” and “No Cure” aim for caustic oblivion, they do so with an intensity that sets you on edge and gets the blood churning. Canopy are looking to make some big moves in 2020; this is just the beginning. – GC

Ben Trickey’s new split with Ithaca, NY based singer-songwriter Brandon Schmitt dropped late last month with little fanfare. But don’t let that keep you from digging in to these stark and moody tracks. “Jo Anne” in particular continues Trickey’s penchant for narratives made incendiary by his idiosyncratic voice. Here his characteristic warble shifts expressive trills into a mourning keen. This vocal vibrato creates a sense of desperation in the song that is complimented by its barebones structure. Even when the band steps in, it’s extremely paired back, emphasizing the emotional turmoil of lines like “you could treat me bad / yeah you could treat me like that.” As the track progresses, Trickey weaves a complex narrative that churns, stammers, and bristles with lo-fi warmth. Not bad for a simple folk song, and even more masterful for a song that clocks in under the 2:40 mark. – Ethan Fogus

The first full length from the Titos is sharp and detailed with a radio-ready sheen. Musically, the songwriting is expansive enough to fit under indie rock’s wide umbrella, but the bluesy swing that drives each track, along with Alex Lotito’s rich lyricism, help infuse the record with a classic rock aura. Sonically, it’s more Sheryl Crow than Sharon Van Etten; that is, the album feels warm, comfortable, familiar. But even within these straightforward environs there is room for surprise. Whether it’s the dreamy sway of “Palace” or the anti-gentrification fervor of “Whoever You Are,” the Titos prove contemporary pop-rock doesn’t have to be dull and bloodless. – GC

FIRST TIME IS THE CHARM

Clone Suspect

Clone Suspect

---

When Peter Roglin (Charolastra) and Howie Huntington (Harvey Waters) first announced an impending collaboration, there were questions about what direction their music would take. We figured the duo would partner to craft exploratory electronica of the first order, but beyond that it was a mystery. Would Clone Suspect more fully embrace Roglin’s off-kilter beats and layered production, or would it more closely resemble Huntington’s effusive take on house and techno? The answer, as one might expect, is a bit of both, albeit with a healthy dose of noisy experimentation mixed in. On their self-titled debut, the pair carve out their own nervy niche within Atlanta’s electronic scene, turning out a record that is both heady and wildly kinetic. – GC

Pine Overcoat

On the Fingernails and Bones We’ve Picked

---

We all know that the youth keep the DIY torch a-burnin’—especially in this town, where the college kids mingle with the bored suburnanites. As a result, these nascent bands often raise their voices on the trials and tribulations of adolescence: falling in love, falling out of love, and getting older. Beloved emo trio Michael Cera Palin spoke to local kids who related more to the growing pains—and, understandably, the collective DIY public cried out in unison when the emo trio unwound in 2018. But former MCP frontperson (and Atlanta’s busiest music nerd) Elliott Brabant is in for the marathon, not the sprint; their new soft power trio Pine Overcoat turns a new page on the ongoing saga of how to mature responsibly without dropping the torch. On their first EP, high-octane volume and clever titles like “(Hold Me Closer) Tiny Danzig” hide eloquent musings on how to move on and reduce harm. Young bands come and go, but we’ve got a hunch that Pine Overcoat will hang around. – LA

FEAST YOUR EYES

IRIST

“Burning Sage”

---

The last couple of years have been a long, difficult climb for IRIST, but the metal titans finally look ready to hit their stride. “Burning Sage,” the lead single from their forthcoming debut on Nuclear Blast, is exactly the sort of convulsive, take-no-prisoners assault we hoped for when the group announced their signing back in 2018. Combining punishing riffs with their own kind of adrenaline-spiked intensity, the band seems most at ease when they’re circling like hungry wolves and obliterating everything in sight. The group’s new video—directed, animated, and edited by Mount Emult—feeds directly into that savage fervor, offering viewers a rentless parade of grim illustrations and blown-out imagery to bang their head to. – AS

DavidTheTragic

“Forgetful”

---

Coming off of one one of 2019’s best local releases, enigmatic rapper DavidTheTragic seems primed to have a big year in 2020. We’ve already written at length about his malleability as a performer and willingess to embrace the more eccentric side of hip-hop, and “Forgetful” finds him leaning into his creative cadences. At just 1:30, the song wouldn’t appear to have a lot of room to maneuver, but the way DavidTheTragic slides into each throbbing bass hit and stagger-steps around the glitchy synths is impressive. Directed by Rooftop of Advisry Film, the video is fairly low-key, but the manic burst of energy at the end is enough to make you jump out of your seat. – AS