Most metalheads are probably aware that Bandcamp has been waiving their share of the cut on all sales on select Fridays. However, the numbers may not be as well publicized. According to a post that went live on their site yesterday, the first Friday (March 20th) resulted in $4.3 million in sales (fifteen times the amount of a normal Friday!). The following two Fridays, May 1 and June 5, resulted totaled $7.1 million and $4.8 million, respectively.
We don’t have any math majors on staff, nor any insiders on Bandcamp to tell us how much of that went to metal bands/labels, but those numbers sound pretty alright. So, if you’re looking for a few suggestions to help support, here’s some picks from regular deci-scribes:
Chepang – Live @ Rock & Roll Gas Station
Chepang is a (mostly) Nepalese grind now from New York, 2 goddamn drummers! —Blake Harrison
Triac
Triac is blast beat fury from the DC/Baltimore area, punk, noise destruction! —Blake Harrison
Blame God – Blame God
Blame God is a New York grind outfit, check out the gnarly breakdowns too. —Blake Harrison
https://blamegodusa.bandcamp.com/album/blame-god (no embed available)
Corn on Macabre – Live @ Rock & Roll Gas Station
Gotta go with my favorite horror-centric DC grind outfit, Corn On Macabre releasing a newly remastered WFMU set from 18 years ago…
“This Friday, our digital-only imprint Pax Aeternum will be issuing CORN ON MACABRE “Live on WFMU 05.02.02” as part of Bandcamp Friday. All proceeds will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Previously engineered by Charles Maggio of Rorschach and only available on WFMU’s archive, the set has been remastered for modern downloads and streaming services by Andrew Hernandez of Arroyo Audio.”—Aaron Salsbury
Mass Extinction – Never-Ending Holocaust
A new project from Organ Dealer guitarist Tom Maher and his brother Mike, Mass Extinction‘s debut is a ripping indictment of animal abuse and slaughter. With buzzsaw blasts and sludgy stomps, Mass Extinction’s death-grind was written to serve as a sonic animal rights manifesto. Come for the riveting riffage and diseased vocals, and leave with a smile: all proceeds from the album’s digital sales are being donated to the Skylands Animal Sanctuary & Rescue in Wantage, NJ. —Sean Frasier
Magick Touch – Heads Have Got to Rock’n’Roll
Magick Touch are the Norwegian wraithchildren of Saxon and Judas Priest and play rollicking anthems for good times and bad decisions. Whether it’s the singalong sorcery of “Watchman’s Requiem” or the black-leather boogie of “Ready for the Quake,” Magick Touch are the perfect soundtrack for those seeking trad metal escapism. —Sean Frasier
Kong – Phlegmatism
These Dutch instrumental weirdos have been one of my favourite bands for a solid thirty years, since the release of their (still) groundbreaking 1990 debut, Mute Poet Vocalizer. Kong existed as outliers back then and have remained so in every which way to this day. COVID lockdown boredom prompted the present-day lineup – bassist Mark Drillich is the lone original member – to dip back into the past and re-record four tracks from their 1992 masterpiece, Phlegm and present it as Phlegmatism. If any of their angular, proggy, dance-y, psychedelic metal piques your interest, they also have a discography consisting of eight albums and all sorts of EPs to explore. —Kevin Stewart-Panko
Kraapides Nahka – Manifestation
Hailing from the uncharted middle point between Tartu, Estonia and Ancaster, Ontario, Kraapides Nahka is reported to be a basement-to-bedroom blackened punk project led by a mysterious someone claiming his or her passport reads “Õnneleid Väljas.” As minimalist and sparse as it is discordant and raw, Manifestation’s four tracks sonically manifest Ildjarn choking on bloody sawdust and the cartilage in Dutch Pearce’s knees eroding as he hurriedly chases his tape collection through a central PA windstorm. Physical copies are sold out, but the digital version is available. —Kevin Stewart-Panko
Persekutor – “Permanent Winter”
If you slept on the legendary and impossible-to-find Angels of Meth LP, here’s your chance to check out a track from upcoming Permanent Winter full-length. Mid-paced, catchy black metal from Romania with love… and a frozen world never-ending.
Ifernach – VII. Waqan
Ifernach‘s brand of Gespegewagi black metal pays tribute to lone musician Finian Patraic’s Mi’kmaq and Irish ancestry. His latest release as Ifernach, VII. Waqan, is a journey into stompy, lo-fi black metal and Gespegewagi legends; those who seek their black metal raw and adventurous will find much to love about the two-song EP.—Vince Bellino
C Trip A – Ozzy Nights
This is a weird one. Ozzy Nights is the debut release from hip-hop duo C Trip A, comprised of rapper Anthony Adams and producer Christian McKenna (End Christian, Translation Loss Records). Krallice mastermind Colin Marston makes a guest appearance on noisy second track “Draco” and worked beside McKenna to engineer and produce Ozzy Nights; ex-dälek producer Alap Momin (Oktupus) handles 808s on Hypnotic, far-out beats guide Adams’ intense, often evil, flow. There are shades of MF Doom, Death Grips and Earl Sweatshirt, among others, on Ozzy Nights but C Trip A stand out with their unique approach. Don’t miss this one because it’s “not metal enough.”.—Vince Bellino
Various Artists – Overgrow to Overthrow compilation
Overgrow to Overthrow is a digital-only compilation, with all sales going directly to Black Lives Matter and Life After Hate. A powerhouse lineup of artists contributed new, remixed, re-recorded or live tracks, including crust gods Doom, Woe, Panopticon, Agathocles, Thou, Krallice, Krieg, Falls of Rauros, Obsequiae, Ripped to Shreds and over a dozen others. Purchase it on Bindrune’s Bandcamp and learn more about Black Lives Matter and Life After Hate on their websites.—Vince Bellino
