Happy Birthday to Majbritt Levinsen from Sweden, with a wishlist just over 300 items including Tombs, Thrawsunblat, Monolord, Russian Circles, and so many more!
Saturday Six with Ivan Belcic
Welcome to another Saturday Six, this time with Invisible Oranges contributor Ivan Belcic. In addition to some fine purchases from Bandcamp which you’ll see below, Ivan is involved in two music projects; Kosmogyr and Barren Branches, so check them out if you need some more music!
Wayfarer – Reckless Spring
Reckless Spring is the third full-length album of driving and melodic emo-tinged punk from the Ontario-based Wayfarer. I’ve been a fan of these guys since their 2016 EP Three Winters, at which point I immediately bought everything in their back catalogue. Reckless Spring is their most recent offering and showcases their blend of propulsive, hook-driven songwriting and earnest, introspective lyrics at full potency.
Déhà – IDONTWANNABESURROUNDED
I’m used to hearing Déhà in the context of his monolithic doom band Slow — so when he dropped this impeccable post-punk record, I was floored. It’s melodic and light, yet it’s got blast beats and screams, and it feels classic yet somehow also contemporary. I love Slow, but I also hope Déhà’s got more where this came from.
Black Christmas – By Way of Decay
Back when I was in college, I was given a collection of four MP3s called B.C.E.P. by Lawrence, Kansas band Black Christmas. Since then, it’s been a mainstay in my rotation, and just recently, I learned that the group had dropped another release in 2014 — By Way of Decay — and I’ve fallen back in love with them. It features re-recorded versions of three older tracks plus a bunch of new songs as well, all in their vein of sinister and haunting instrumental post-rock.
Lo! – Koala Fundraiser T-shirt
All profits from this shirt by Sydney post-hardcore sludgemasters Lo! are going to WIRES Emergency Fund for Wildlife to help out with the recent wildfires in Australia. The shirt features beautiful artwork by vocalist Sam Dillon and also comes with a digital download of their fantastic record Vestigial — my 2017 album of the year. Cop sick threads, help cute koalas, enjoy amazing tunes.
Moron Police – A Boat on the Sea
I’m tempted to say nothing at all about the brilliance that is A Boat on the Sea, if only to avoid spoiling your first impression of this enthralling record from Moron Police. It’s endearing, it’s cheerful and upbeat, it’s impeccably written and performed, and it’s a delightfully sardonic yet meaningfully sincere skewering of our contemporary political institutions and the international relationships between them. Don’t read any reviews, just go in blind and experience it for yourself.
Waldgeflüster – Mondscheinsonaten
Weather the bleakest of winters with the soaring post-black metal of Waldgeflüster as your steadfast companion. Reaching nearly an hour in length, the band’s fifth full-length record is urgent in its channeling of the unceasing melancholy that accompanies the mercilessly dark Central European winters. For those who find seasonal depression to be a genuine struggle, let Mondscheinsonaten be your lifeline.
If you’d like to talk about some of the albums you recently purchased, shoot me an email (seth@metalbandcampgift.club) and let’s talk!
Happy Birthday Bekki!
It’s Bekki’s birthday today, so do a dance! Her wishlist has almost 50 albums on it, ranging from Ex-Gold from Louisville, KY to Pissed Jeans from Allentown, PA (hey, that’s my neck of the woods)! Do you best today and fill her inbox with a ton of digital goodies, and if you can’t afford it (we all totally understand), check out some of the music from her wishlist – maybe you’ll find something you like!
Happy Birthday to Jayson and Chuck!
Today we’ve got two birthdays, so it’s twice as nice! Pick one, or both, and give an album from their wishlist on their special day – what’s more fun that that?
Jayson S’s wishlist has almost 400 releases, including Barren Branches, Crone, SUNN 0))) and plenty more.
Chuck OGB’s wishlist has just about 170 items, including The Ruins Of Beverast, Elder, Car Bomb and more.
We’re Still Swirling
“The dinner table isn’t that big, and everyone’s trying to get a place to sit. But in this super-niche Bandcamp wishlist group, to see these albums selling is amazing. The bands see it, the labels see it, the person who designed the album cover might see it—it just keeps swirling.”
From our interview with Bandcamp back in 2016, talking about how Metal Bandcamp Gift Club got its start.
That was posted on January 14th, 2016 – just over four years ago!
We just want to see bands continue to exist, to release music, to tour. There’s a lot of ugliness in the world today, but that’s even more reason to embrace and support this music, and all the people involved. It’s culture, it’s art, and we can’t lose that.
Happy Birthday to John Higham
Go check out John Higham’s Bandcamp Wishlist, with just over 666 releases jammed in there. Music from KITE, Void Ritual, Candy, and more, even if you can’t gift an album today, you can at least find something new to jam!
Have you told a friend of loved about Metal Bandcamp Gift Club? Send them this link (http://eepurl.com/gP1P4P) so that they can receive these wonderful emails, too!
More emails, more albums sold, more good energy goes around.
Saturday Six with Peter K
Welcome to another installment of Saturday Six, where friends of Metal Bandcamp Gift Club share a bit about a recent six albums they purchased on Bandcamp.
Kind of like the “What’s in My Bag?” feature that Amoeba Music does, but without having to leave the house and find parking.
This week we feature Peter K, who recently celebrated a birthday here at Metal Bandcamp Gift Club! Peter writes about metal over at The Metal Wanderlust, and is also a part of the Horns Up Podcast – he knows a thing or two about metal tunes.
Discord, “Blood, Sweat and Grind” – When was the last time you heard a grindcore band from Nepal? Don’t think twice, add this album to your cart.
Transcending Obscurity, “Label Sampler 2020” – 52 tracks, mostly unreleased material from bands signed to Indian label, Transcending Obscurity. Something for fans of all sub-genres of metal.
Priests of Prometheus, “Lodestar” – Promising debut from American old school death metal duo.
Nox Irea, “Here the dead live” – Ferocious death metal from the French act featuring members of Catacomb and Affliction Gate.
Bednja, “Doline Su Ostale Iza Nas” – Black metal and hardcore make strange bedfellows but somehow these Croatians have put together a seamless sound with a haunting atmosphere.
Modern Rituals, “This is the History” – A break from extreme metal. Catchy alternative rock. If the singles are any indicator this album is another winner from Holy Roar.
If you’d like to talk about some of the albums you recently purchased, shoot me an email (seth@metalbandcampgift.club) and let’s talk!
Happy Birthday to Bruce!
Just our second birthday of the new year, Bruce has almost 600 items on his Bandcamp wishlist, including gems like Axeslasher, Generation of Vipers, Cough and so many more. Do you best to heap some wonderful music into Bruce’s inbox today!
The Move to Email
The original premise for #MetalBandcampgiftclub was born on Twitter. This was back in 2016, when social media was a bit different than it is today.
Whenever there was a birthday, a Tweet would go out, with a link to a Bandcamp wishlist.
Well, Twitter is a bit different today. Some of those folks from back then aren’t doing so much social media these days. I’m sure you know a few people who’ve left Facebook, or only use Instagram.
That’s why I moved a lot of the action to an email list. And if you don’t check your email for a week, that’s okay. Eventually you’ll find our birthday emails. No rush! Try doing that when stepping away from Twitter for just a few hours.
So first, make sure you get on our Birthday Club email list by clicking here (if you have problems with that site, send your name, birthday in MONTH / DAY format, your Bandcamp wishlist URL, and a link to an album or song you discovered on Bandcamp that you looooove, to me: seth@metalbandcampgift.club).
After all that, sit back and when an email comes in, open it up and think about buying an album for someone you don’t know. It’s a small act of kindness, a kind gesture, some positive energy in the world that makes a handful of people smile. Pretty metal, right?
Stream It a Lot? Buy It.
Helpful advice from Inlander:
IF YOU STREAM SOMETHING FIVE TIMES, BUY IT
Nowhere else in life do we consume without giving something back. You pay the local baker for bread. You pay the local brewery for beer. You even pay Fred Meyer for socks. Why shouldn’t you pay a fair price for that 10-song album that’s already given you hours of enjoyment and promises more to come? It’s a small price to pay to not only support the artist, but to show appreciation for their craft. (But not as small as what Spotify pays per stream.)
For me, Ithaca’s ‘The Language Of Injury,’ ‘Under the World‘ from VOWWS, and ‘
Victor Jara – Duerme, Duerme Negrito (Billy Caso Edit)‘ by Billy Caso are purchases I’ve made because I streamed them well over five times.
To many #MetalBandcampgiftclub fans, a lot of the advice from ‘In 2020, be sure to support the people and places that soundtrack our lives‘ is pretty obvious, but it’s always good to read an article like this, just to reinforce our support of the music we love!
