black metal / death metal / grindcore

Revisiting your own work can be painful if you notice that what you produced is not the best possible result. Nevertheless, it can also indicate a new, a fresh, a more relevant start. Finally, such a revision can also finalize a process that one was not aware of when starting out initially, because in the meantime one has gathered so much information and experience that the original product is not what one wants to keep. The latter was the case for Swiss blackened death-grind outfit Icare. 

The band was founded in 2016 and their album “Khaos” is the third incarnation of music they wrote more than two years ago but which they kept rewriting – once for the stage and once after witnessing the performance of fellow Swiss-metallers Euclidean. What was pure grind-chaos before is now not less powerful and brutal but it is “only” one part of the ride. The band now has added parts that turn the songs more into the post-metal or also blackgaze direction. When looking at the tracklist, it is pretty remarkable that the tracks are listed according to the length of the songs, starting with the 35-seconds-whip “Khaos” and ending with the twenty-minute-noisecore-epic “Le Dernier Souverain Du Royaume Déchu”, even more remarkable is the fact that the record still makes sense as a whole. 

If Briqueville wrote grindcore-songs, “Cauchemar” or “Emmuré” would be something they might use for their rituals. If Ulcerate strove for post-metal epics, “Nuit de Glace Au-Dessus du Sepulchre Noir” or the aforementioned final track could be theirs. This is for fans of atmospheric black metal as well as for tech-death aficionados. You will be blown away by the ultrasonic speed of the songs and then you will be reeled back in by those little dots and sparkling guitar motifs. And then you arrive at the final three songs and their combined running time of 32 minutes, 47 seconds (of totally 59 minutes). Those final songs make this record stand out. Especially “Le Dernier Souverain Du Royaume Déchu” is one of those tracks which are easy to fall in love with but hard to understand how the five Swiss fellows construct such a dense mood because a lot of it happens with us only hearing it subconsciously. Of course, there is the wonderfully melancholic guitar picking to start the track but the swings are achieved by just a small increase in the number of hits on the cymbals which together with a slightly deeper tuning makes the hair stand on end. With the full drum-kit setting in it becomes obvious that the next change will come along – and it does so after roughly 2:40 minutes. For a short moment the whirlwind is working more on the subconscious level just before the well-trained drummer notches up a few steps before finally releasing his inner animal and pounding out blastbeats and chugga-chuggas without sweating a bead. 
This track is definitely closer to “All We Love We Leave Behind” than to “You Fail Me” and it is in little things like the crunchy bass lines after roughly six minutes that the fascination is born in. A monster of a track – never surrendering itself to calm and peace. The calm parts are held together by an awesome group of musicians. 

Another proof why we are living during a phase of songwriting skills and capacities unmatched before? Take Icare and their “Khaos” which is much more than that – it’s more of a rebirth. For a scene, a moment, and many more. If you notice anything strange, feel free to contact the blind and the paranoid; or just keep the little things to you so that you and no one else knows about this mesmerizing new band which embraces chaos more than anything else. I care about Icare, fellows. And maybe you should do so, too. 


Thorsten

black metal / folk

Very often people not familiar with the more fringe variants of metal (be it black or death metal, grindcore or drone metal) always associate music like Eoront’s as nothing more than pure “mashed up sound washed away by the tide” - at least that’s what my wife always says. And indeed for the uninitiated the music of the Siberian black metal band could be nothing but a whirlwind, an amalgam of chaos and noise or just painful pulp. 

Nevertheless, these lines are for those who know something about black metal. Maybe not about Eoront, but that will probably change when listening to their new album “Gods have no Home” which was released digitally at the beginning of November and which will see physical releases in December 2020 (CD/tape) and March 2021 (vinyl). The first association that comes to mind is The Ruins of Beverast, Fén or Saor because the Russian band has a knack for incorporating some folk elements into their sound just like the giants from Scotland or Germany. If you notice a similarity to fellow Russian project Gloosh then you have proven an excellent taste and ear because: Gloosh is another project by Eoront member ‘Foltath Eternum’. 

One should note the beautiful artwork which was done by Vladimir Prokofiev and which shows a winter scenery at night with a human figure huddled close to the fire which is the only source of light in the middle of an old, dead forest with a few anthropomorphic trees behind the freezing human. This figure plays a major role for the record, he personifies a nameless god in rags who wanders around the world. The band says “He spends the night under the open sky, making a fire in the gorges and sheltering from the wind under a low bush.” While traversing the cold world he passes villages, people but also forlorn huts recaptured by nature and its arms. This last metaphor is another parallel to Gloosh but also to Fén with the human seemingly intruding upon nature or where we witness nature being able to drive away the remains of a human occupancy. In the parallel universe created by Eoront, mankind is seen as a source of evil brought into the natural world.

However, coming back to the wanderer, the nameless god. In Flotath’s universe, Gods, unlike in Greek mythology, have no home but are constantly searching for one. They are always looking for a home. Here, we can see the parallel to human life, most of us are perpetually searching for a place that doesn’t exist, a home. This might seem absurd but if we are honest, how deep can our roots be, when we are living in a world where nearly every second marriage ends in divorce with children suffering from split families? Not every house is a home. Interestingly, Foltath only wrote the lyrics to one of the songs, all the other lyrics are texts from Russian poet Max Voloshin. This must be noted: Eoront is able to find lyrics within the oeuvre of a long-dead Russian poet and incorporate them into a story of their own. Voloshin, a Symbolist, is known for being a supporter of humanist ideas who also opposed the idea of communism because he wanted his contemporaries to first of all the others as humans and not primarily as citizens / revolutionaries or friends / enemies. He recreated the semi-mythical world of the Cimmerii which was based on the place Voloshin lived in at the time, Crimea. 

When listening to Eoront, one must also note the musical versatility – this is not just a pap of sounds but a very well-defined black metal record. One will find nice speed changes with a lot of variable tempi – from stormy blastbeats to slow doomy passages. The mood is dark but not hopeless (no search is hopeless) with the highlights of the instrumentation being the flutes by Elena Korenevskaya and the violin passages by Evgenia Antsiferova. These two really turn the folksy parts into the must-remember moments on “Gods have no Home”. 

If you like your black metal charged with a philosophical background and some very earthy tones, blackened in thought and sound – then Eoront is a very good choice for you. 


Thorsten

post metal / black metal

Soul Grip are dead. Not to keep beating around the bush any more than necessary, the band is dead. The quintet from Ghent in Belgium have just released their latest EP and at the same time called it quits. They made it very clear in their final statement, that these songs were written during the Covid19-lockdown when it became obvious that their plans for recording a new full-length would not be happening. Thus they decided to record these two ‘quarantine songs’ in their rehearsal space and to have these songs reflect upon the times we are living in and (indirectly) how we deal with these things. The songs are Soul Grip at their songwriting peak, all the elements one loved about their music are still there and so much more. There are strong emotional, melancholic, deeply sorrowful moments on the record accompanied by some heavy outbursts that made them famous. “Sleep” is more based on doom elements and midtempo-structures. “Release me” on the other side is “classic” Soul Grip with all the hardcore-influences the band has been hailed for which even can be more relatable when you listen to those minute changes in pace and guitar work where only small little tidbits change the song’s atmosphere noticeably. It is always difficult to write and record your final songs, but maybe this is the best way imaginable because Soul Grip show up all the despair, all the sadness, the rage and the wrath that mankind is going through in this year of the pandemic. We can deny all our fears and anger as much as we want to, but when we go to bed and put our head to sleep we wish to be released from all of it in order to flee from reality when dreaming. Soul Grip do not deny the world around them, the show up all its darkness and bleakness and give word and sound to a year and time that will remain with us even after its gone. Just like Soul Grip will remain with us now that they’re gone. Good music always does that. Awesome music makes us aware of these changes inside of us. 

post rock / math rock

India and general Asia is turning out as one of the best places to look for awesome post-rock right now. Yet another example for this is Celestial Teapot from Pune, who has just released a three-song EP that is clearly post-rock in its layout and its roots but that is simultaneously incorporating so many other bits and snippets that it transcends the usual crescendo-core or quiet-loud-structure change ideas. You will find near-AOR guitar licks, some really wonderfully incorporated synth-passages and even some close-to-hardcore drumming parts – on the first track alone! The quintet is able to follow up to its full-length predecessor “One Big Sky” with a short EP (three tracks in 18 minutes) that will probably hit a mark within the post-rock community. The reason is simple that the band is able to (seemingly) effortlessly incorporate so many other genres that one can only categorize it under “Mathy Post-Rock” because they show the same ability to switch paces, moods, styles within a matter of seconds. The conceptual layout of the record is also very interesting as it deals with hearing problems and what it means to one’s life having to face these problems; how hearing things differently (up to the point where it causes physical pain to hear a something that “is” wrong) or how people who cannot hear (or lose their hearing abilities) have a very different quality of life resulting in a real fear of being able to hear. These ideas are shared in songs like “Misophonia” or “Defgain” - and most of the time they are shared instrumentally, as only one track features spoken word samples. Celestial Teapot deliver a short but thoughtful, cleverly arranged and mighty ingenious work of post-rock that you should really give a listen!

gothic / trip hop

TripHop is a genre that often plays with the future – Gaia Guarda uses it as a basis for her Gothic inspired music whose base features three very old instruments: The cello, the violin and the harp. Montreal-based Gaia plays the harp while Michelle and Jessica (who play with Gaia in the metal band Uriel) contribute the other two. Together with drummer Rocky Gray she wrote a record that is as much looking into the future, as it based in the past and reflecting the present. The combination of a classical string basis with triphop beats is not really new, strings have been used in the Bristol-sound for decades already. However, on Gaia’s debut album it is different, as the strings are not ornaments to an otherwise very beat-oriented music but as the centerpiece of it. Nevertheless, do not envision the music to be like Joanna Newsom only because of the harp – it is different and much closer to some synthpop acts like Wolfsheim or VNV Nation. Her music is at the same time classical and new – thus a good example of neo-classical music. The lyrics are often very introspective and reveal a person not rested but haunted. “I ran across the world / You won’t find me, I must survive / I can’t explain the force pushing me to never give up on you” – she is running away but at the same time doesn’t want to forget a certain person. At times, this sound like a masochistic perspective on one’s own pain and its roots. Gaia Guarda is surely a very well-trained artist to watch as she breaks down some boundaries and steps onto unknown territory, connecting the past, present and future of songwriting into a new approach to music. If she then gains a perspective (in her lyrics) outside of her own, not only “relying” on her own experience – then she can become the next big indie voice. 

psychedelic / sludge

Interstellar Smoke Records

This split by Ghost:Hello and Night Goat, both from Ohio, is like a trip back in time. The cover is a bit like those old 50s and 60s pulp fiction “books”. The sound is also like a voyage in the Delorian, back to two places – once the late 60s, early 70s when psychedelic was at its peak and once to the late 80s when noise rock was in its bloom. Interestingly, the two bands involved here each have a hold on one of these two epochs – where Ghost:Hello are a bit like the whirlwind from the Nixon-ear with a very nice fuzzy tone to their psychedelia. This trio from Akron (the town of the Black Keys) is definitely a good choice for all those whose understanding of music revolves around bands like 13th Floor Elevators, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown or Iron Butterfly but probably also on bands like Primal Scream or My Bloody Valentine. The latter two are probably like the most common denominator with fellow Ohioans Night Goat (from Canton) whose noise likely takes inspiration from those Brits too, but also of course from Jesus Lizard and Unsane. Their three songs on the flipside are much sludgier and much more aggressive but never running away without control. They attack you with their noisy riffs and thundering rhythm section, but they don’t go for the quick win, no they rather enjoy beating your ears to pieces by punching them song by song with their highly efficient noise rock. This split is one for the lovers of the sounds off the popular paths and into the underground where there is a lot of sweat from repairing the Delorian just to go back in time.

post hardcore / emo

Okay, Adam Sakauye has listened to some The Smiths and probably also some Placebo as he really sounds like a mix of Morrissey and Brian Molko (which is not the worst combination when it comes to vocals – and only vocals!) and that becomes quite obvious when listening to Ottawa’s T-Rex Marathon and their new record “Days without Incident” out since Mid-October. The band channels their post-hardcore motifs and song-structures into 10 very nicely done and well-balanced songs. Especially songs like “A Prison just for Us” are really nicely done because they show how non-aggressively gang shouts can be integrated into modern hardcore. It is a band whose musical references are bands like Alexisonfire or Silverstein and the band does not imitate those Canadian idols but rather channels their ideals and abilities when it comes to writing good midtempo hardcore songs with a message. “Faux News” for example is a good pun on Fox News and tries to show how we are manipulated by mass media whose purpose is not to deliver information but to deliver narratives. The band says the song is “punchy, energetic, focused, and provocative, the song is meant to be shouted out loud” - right they are, if you cannot shout along to this one, then you are already dead. And if there is one thing that T-Rex Marathon is not – then it’s dead. This band is very much alive and kicking. 


​Thorsten

doom / gothic metal

SubRosa and Minsk – two heavyweights in the world of Post-Metal with two very different approaches to the sound of said genre. While SubRosa was more on the elegant side, Minsk was wondering more on the earthy, gritty side of the spectre. Now we have Asphodel Wine a musical collaboration between the real-time couple of Zachary Livingston (Minsk) and Sarah Pendleton (SubRosa). Sarah is contributing with her vocals skills and her violin, while Zach is playing the drums, the guitars and the bass while also singing. 

A few years ago we had an unforgivable “rock-duet” of Ville Valo and Natalia Avelon covering the old classic “Summer Wine” (by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood), and my, my, my how bad that turned out. Now we have a romantic, dark duet that is much closer to Nancy and Lee or Nick Cave and PJ Harvey – Zach and Sarah really hit so many right buttons and take the (positively) necessary turns every and their “wine” is much more seductive than the Ville’s and Natalia’s. 

Much of that attraction derives from Sarah’s and Zach’s skills on each of their instruments. Especially Sarah’s violin is rich in sound and her skills turn the remarkable tunes into sparkling diamonds in a sea of sound. That sea is laid out and based on Zachary’s guitars and rhythm instruments. Especially the drums which he lays out are woven into such a wonderful blanket that even when he goes a little against the rhythm with certain fills or kicks that it is a welcoming embrace. If we add the violin parts when Sarah accompanies the drums with a deep-tuned passage. Those passages then work like a second guitar which is highly welcome, as Zach mostly plays and acoustic on “Slowdance Macabre”. The acoustic guitar is also part of this welcome, homely feeling that their first record together emanates. 

Interestingly, the full-length also has a very nice build-up when thinking of the arrangement of the songs on the record because the first few songs are a bit more laid-back in the sense that they feature a more gothic pop oriented sound while some of the songs of the second half tend to be more post-metallic especially “The Worst Way” which could also be a SubRosa-track. 

Noteworthy is also the use of the echo effect on some of the instruments and on Zachary’s vocals which makes them sound even larger than life. That is one of the things that make this quite the standout-record: the vocals. Both have already shown how amazing their voices can sound but here in this combination it is like witnessing a happily married couple going strong onto its 20th wedding anniversary and singing their own stories together. In some songs the timing and intonation is so perfect that it is nearly non-intelligible that they are not a thing for more than a few years. Especially in the title track and its near 9.30 minutes it becomes obvious that there a two master musicians at work here with lots of experience and a perfect feeling for how to write songs, how to build moods and how to reach their audience. 

This is definitely a perfect blend of the two original bands with a vocal duo that is amongst the best when it comes to creating a candlelit doomy mood without sounding like Paradise Lost or Type o Negative as Asphodel Wine’s focus is on the sparkling of the lights and not the darkness of the shadows. 


Thorsten

black metal

Belgium again. Soul Dissolution plays the kind of metal music that fits perfectly to that very niche that might not be occupied yet by any of the other awesome Belgian acts. It is black metal but neither in the noisy way of Wiegedood or Amenra nor in the hardcore-infused kind of Soul Grip or Oathbreaker. Soul Dissolution plays atmospheric black metal, and they are really good at it!

The trio, consisting of Jabawock on the guitars and bass, Acharan delivering the lead vocals and Threnos behind the drums, started back in 2012 following their idols like Agalloch or Alcest; since then they released two full-lengths and a couple of EPs with “Winter Contemplation” (out since Mid-November) being their latest. Two tracks and 24 minutes of pure atmospheric black metal magic later, the author of these lines is convinced that Soul Dissolution might become the next big thing (if they become a bit more productive). 

On the two tracks you will find all the elements necessary for good black metal with a strong emphasis on atmosphere and moods. A lot of that is due to Jabawock’s fine guitar work which is dragging behind on doomy feet when necessary and then again can spirals out instantaneously. And it’s exactly these moments, when the lead guitar takes off and drives off into psychedelic or post-rocky moments that Soul Dissolution are at their best. Which shall not imply that the work by Threnos or Acharan are in any way less important. But for atmospheric black metal the guitar work is the most important and also the tuning and sound of the guitar. For example, Jabawock uses his guitar like a synth in some parts of the first song “La Dernière Tempete” (‘The Last Storm’) and then transfers to last part of the track with some nice guitar pickings that have just that tiny bit of reverb in order to imitate the echo of a nice middle-sized Gothic cathedral – open in motif, but enclosed in area.

Interestingly, after the initial two spins I would have thought that the second track “Where the Clouds stand Still...” (yes, this track has an English title!) was my favorite but after listening to the whole EP again and again I must admit that both tracks stand out among a lot of post-black, blackgaze or atmospheric black metal tracks heard over the years. Of course, the influence of folk-oriented bands like Agalloch is obvious on that second track with is semi-acoustic guitar pickings and cello intros. One has the feeling of watching the sun rise over the top of some snow-capped mountains somewhere in the far distance. 

Soul Dissolution might not be the innovators of a genre with long trodden paths but there are near-impeccable emulators of everything that makes this genre enjoyable. “Winter Contemplations” are the perfect soundtrack for the darkening days where we feel less and less warmth. Interestingly, the music is less dark and sinister as some people might say, but it is able to radiate a lot of warmth. 

The only thing the band should work on are the lyrics as they display quite a lot of the stereotypes that are too often found in black metal. Of course, happy lyrics are not wished for but some of the phrases used here have been heard just too often – the storms, the torrents, the snow. If they work on that – then I predict this band to become bigger than most of their Belgian neighbors. 


Thorsten

doom

Doom has always been more about the ritual than about the music which serves more or less the purpose of supporting the events unfolding before our own eyes. Therefore the following question must arise as a kind of consequence: If we do not see the ritual – to what extent can the music itself become an enchanting and dreamlike event? 

When listening to the next possibly big thing from Belgium, Pothamus from Mechelen, you might begin to feel the same trance that will overcome one when listening to Brazil’s finest, Labirinto. Pothamus will now release their first full-length through Consouling Sound, the epicenter of Belgian underground music. Stemming from a scene with so many different, awesome bands it can be difficult to find one’s own niche, but Pothamus has done so easily as it seems. The trio has developed a sound that is rooted in post-rock but from there they evolved with full force. Their journey started all the way back in 2014 and has since released several single tracks and an EP (“I” from 2016); now “Raya” will be next. And it will come at you like a sneaky snake from behind, but it can take over your mind by giving you an exciting concoction of sounds and genres. 

Their post-rock has now turned into that kind of doom which is not looking for the deep-tuned smalls riffs but that is developing a pull on you by means of Michael Lombarts’ bass which is giving us one tribal dance quality line after the other. His first-class skills never show off, but you will notice the way he uses his four-string especially in songs like “Heravis I” where the bass is the main instrument placing the drums into the shadow. Moreover, there are further features on “Raya” that will keep your head spinning and your soul adjusting. The often use some fantastic synth spaces underneath it all and some of the guitar lines are windy like Chicago so that we always have a feeling of standing on a windswept beach where the master of ceremony is starting to light the candles. 

This master is Sam Coussens whose guitar work is just awesome and who adds vocals that – although containing words and thoughts – speak directly to your heart as they are often so hushed so near-Gregorian and enchanting that you get the feeling of witnessing a decade-long-tested master performing his craft. The record (like most of their work) was produced and mixed by their friend Chiaran Verheyden who was really able to give all the lines their right purpose – it’s mostly the rhythm section that sets the tone for the six songs (in 49 minutes) with Michael’s little bends on the bass strings and the near-Neurosis quality of Mattias van Hulle’s drumming. If you like your drums performing on native tribe-level (often bordering on post-punk) you will love this as much as Neurosis or A Storm of Light. The 16-minute monster title track “Raya” might be the best Neurosis-song you have heard from a band other than Neurosis in a long while. 

When the first spin of the record is over, you might wake again or come to full consciousness but your mood might be so altered that you just want to go back and therefore spin the record a second time. To come back to the original question above, one has to say “Yes, doom music can have the same effect without the ritual!” If and only if, it is done as cleverly (on a compository and a productional level) as “Raya” by the Mechelen guys.  This record is one of the biggest evolutionary steps you might witness from any band in 2020. Pothamus have found their sound and hopefully they do not turn back from it. 


Thorsten

shoegaze / drone pop

Sens Dep (short for ‘Sensory Deprivation’) was founded as a side project of Australian band Laura already more than ten years ago but never released a debut album up to now. They will change that at the end of November with the release of “Lush Desolation”, an eleven track record bathing in both ugly and beautiful sounds.
This stark contrast is what makes the band really interesting and their sound often reminds us of a noisy and droney version of triphop; or a beautifully meandering version of drone and thus like a crossover between Slowdive, Jesu and Archive. What they share with each of these? Well, let’s see.

With Justin K. Broadrick’s famous post-Godflesh – band the band from Melbourne share the love for drones that build and edge out noisily but that never seek harshness as a primary motif. They rather incorporate their drones and synth spaces onto each other in order to construct some beautiful soundscapes, their “Lushness” is not in pain but in beauty. They construct sheer mountains with their drones. Take the final track “Luckless Hunter” as an example – here the band places layer upon layer and the whole construction is like a beautiful (yet also scary) sunrise above the Alps.

They also feature some really enchanting vocals in their songs, not on all but on some of them. And the thing about these vocals is their chanting pop-appeal, thus the connection to Slowdive and their very mesmerizing use of vocals in order to enhance the overall impression of a very plush and very admirable new way of creating shoegaze with a twist. This one is not based on indie rock but on drone music and this combination which is also a bit like Wreckmeister Harmonies or Jarboe is very nice and easy to follow because of the vocals. 

The triphop bits can be heard when listening to “New Dawn”, the first track of the record – those dragging beats (though pretty quick-paced), which only kick in after two minutes, could also be straight out of a long-forgotten Archive track at the time of their first, still noisier albums. Or straight from Tricky’s earlier record, where he also uses some industrial beats and distorts them even further. 

The band has obviously taken its time – in between they created lots of sounds to accompany visual media or installations. While doing this the project grew into a live band and playing some specially curated live shows they did not concentrate on releasing music that could stand on its own without any accompaniment. But now they did and they also came back to being a trio, one that has something to say with the help of dark, yet beautiful music. Music that will reward you for peeling back layer after layer so that you can discover some minute details like the cello parts which do not automatically reveal themselves. Or the small, Sigur Ros-like, vocals that are sometimes used in the background as another instrument in order to give the tracks some more human sound.

All of this and much more can be heard when taking your time to sit back and dive headfirst into this landscape rich of sounds that is “Lush Desolation”. The only thing lacking is “Desolation”, because the record is too warm and too rewarding for one to feel despair or desolation. 


​Thorsten

psychedelic / shoegaze

There was always something about the sunset in California as far as I remember. It was fast but it was a kind of orange that not only pulsated because of eruptions on the surface of the sun but that seemed to resonate with life with the pumping of the blood in our veins. One might have seen the sun go down thousands of times and yet, every time it feels brilliant and perfect if you sit down and take the time to really see it. When listening to Gong Wah’s self-titled debut album, there is this very same feeling. The band from Cologne, Germany has a certain mood and radiance surrounding their tracks that makes them stand out from the mass. The music is psychedelia in a very familiar way, but there is also some post-punk and some Golden State kind of AOR. It is like a mix of 13th Floor Elevators and the Mamas and the Papas, Blondie and A Place to Bury Strangers. A lot of that has to do with the voice of Inga Nelke, who met the two guitarists Thorsten Dohle and Felix Will early 2018; the band has grown to a full quintet since then. The other element contributing to this loving feeling is the guitar sound, which is a bit like a crossover between A Place to Bury Strangers and some simple effective wah-wah sounds. You need some sunshine in your life during these cold autumn and winter days,? Gong Wah is a good choice for you.

screamo / black metal

Montreal. A thriving scene. Lots of thriving scenes. Awesome bands. LOADS of awesome bands. One example would be Cell Press. Their new five-song EP to be released at the end of the month is adding a deep and well-constructed example for modern screamo. They are not playing it safe with this 24-song-monster, whose final track takes up nearly half of the time of the whole EP (and probably one complete side of the cassingle). The first four tracks are all variants of the screamo genre, some a little more on the black metal side, some a little more on the noise side. What really brings them all together is the thoughtfulness with which they perform: Listening to the first track “Piss Police” one notices that they use the same riff as intro and as outro. Or the final track “My Son will No the Truth” which they never want to play live – it’s more of an experiment with each musician adding one layer to the song without knowing what will be added next. And all of it is based on an 11-minute solo by drummer Mark McGee, who taped the solo and on the next day each musician added his part single-handedly so that in the end the band came up with a monster of a subdued noisy ambient track that never seems to find its course. But this sheer aimlessness makes it even more intriguing. Or the third track “Black Out in Verdun” which is right in the middle between Helmet (the drumming and the bass!) and some early HydraHead bands (the vocals and the dirty, meaty riffs!) - here the band is as close to noise-core as it gets. To put it in a nutshell: Don’t miss on Cell Press!

post metal / grunge

Sea Sleeper are from Seattle, Washington and, strange as it may sound, you can hear those old, deep grunge roots in their sound, especially in the vocals shared by bassist Nick Kessler and guitarist Jess Cooley. Sometimes it’s just this special kind of Northwestern phrasing, sometimes it’s a little reminiscence to vocals by the Grunge icons Staley and Cornell, just this special kind of slighty higher intonation that is still gritty. The band plays a mix of metalcore, blackened post-metal and some sort of tech death metal. What is striking that the band and especially the rhythm section is really up to the best of the game seemingly changes paces and genres effortlessly. Shane Cooley is on point and delivering some awesome blastbeats and fine-carved work driving the songs with force and finesse. Nevertheless, it is not to be denied that the band should improve a bit on the riff-side when they really want to go pedal to the metal, because the guitar lines cannot keep up. It is all fine, when it’s midtempo and Jess can add some extra distortion but when the songs speed ahead it seems as if he can’t come up with ideas other than your regular metalcore stuff. The vocals give the new album enough of a twist to keep listening, always waiting for that next moment, when they show the influence of their home scene and when the songs exceed the 6 minute mark. “Far more than Substance Now” is a good example for that, with its nearly eight minutes and some really interesting slowdowns and middle parts. If the band follows the path this song and “Mountain Carver” show up, they will definitely gain a lot more attention with their next record. 
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PS: Nostophobia is the fear of everything old or everything related to nostalgia. 

dream pop / emo

Planes Mistaken for Stars were/are one of the most important bands at the crossing between hardcore and midwestern emo without ever being emo-core. They released several full lengths all to critical acclaim.  Two members of the band now release a Covid-quarantine EP under the moniker Blunt Razors and via Deathwish (where PMFS also published their last full length). Gared O’Donnell and Neil Keener have collected six tracks, one being a cover of the Kate Bush song “Under Ice”. Their record is pure Midwestern magic with lots of spherical guitar lines, hushed up drums and a voice to fall to your knees to. The whole things becomes even more intimate when we remember that Gared is undergoing medical treatment for cancer. The songs show a kind of longing and wishing that it becomes hard not to fall in love with them. It’s like Cyrano watching his beloved from afar and never quite getting her attention. The last lines in “Amber Waves” are a perfect example for this: “I’m just a minute / A minute above you babe / Could you meet me /  Would you keep me / Could you give me your minutes / To drown in amber waves“. The narrator is so close to his beloved but yet there is this unbridgeable distance so that he can only dream of them being together and chase new ways. We share these moments and the duo has this ability of drawing us into the songs so much, that we do not feel like observers anymore but participants. The melodies are so delicate and the whole setting so calming and soothing that one cannot but hit repeat and repeat and repeat.


Thorsten

drone metal / noise

It was April 19th, 2018. A long, long time ago. When there were socially undistanced gatherings with sonic support called concerts. It was one of the mind-blowingly warm April days in Tilburg’s Freak Canyon at Roadburn. And late in the day there was another collaboration, this time by two of Finland’s finest: Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising under the moniker of “Waste of Space Orchestra”, a recording of that collab was released last year to high critical acclaim. For me, it was my first real encounter with Dark Buddha Rising, I had listened to some of their stuff before that weekend as I always do with most of the artists, but this concert was really able to transcend that place and moment in time. Since then I collected nearly all DBR stuff and was positively excited when I heard that they would release a new record mid-November.

After giving “Mathreyata” a thorough listening session, I can only say: Wow! Masterpiece! Top of the class for this year! Why? Well, let’s find out.

When entering the record via “Sunyaga” the listener steps into a world where human life is either non-existing or physically regressed up to a point where regular human interaction is not possible anymore due to the mental and bodily decay. Mankind is so regressed from before that no one even remembers anymore what caused this development. There is a small group of remainers that hold up a torch of enlightenment through rituals. These are accompanied by music from the apocalypse – deep, sonic assaults on the living and the dead and everyone in between. 

What strikes everyone listening is how rich this music is, even though it is to harsh and noisy. Listening to each of the four songs on “Mathreyata” is like witnessing a perfectly well-rehearsed orchestra performing songs by Neurosis. It is fighting against the scripted music but at the same time it still sounds awesome. DBR’s mix of noise, sludge, drone and doom is similar Sunn O))) at certain moments but then again it’s like a modern version of Godflesh or a less-well-lit adaptation of Swallow the Sun. This is very obvious with the second track “Nagathma” with its lush melodic lines on the one side and the harsh indistinguishable growls on the other. 

The band took up the concepts they had already introduced on their last two regular releases, the full-length “Inversum” (2015) and the EP “II” (2018), as Vesa Ajomo states "Mathreyata follows the visions that were received from ‘Inversum’'s implosion and is the accession of what we invoked with the ‘II’ EP. Before completing the great circle, all cycles must be dissolved. In the end we are standing at the edge of the abyss.” When listening to this record, an abyss must be quite tempting and disturbing at the same time. 

What is awesome about this record is its balance, you never have the feeling that anything on it is too much or not enough. The tracks tell you everything you need to know about its ugliness and simultaneously lures you in to find out more – in a very adequate length: unlike on some other DBR releases, no track is longer than 15 minutes (not shorter than seven at the other end). 

If you are looking to buy only one extreme metal album this year - “Mathreyata” might be your best choice because it combines the best trademarks of the Dark Buddha Rising-sound with a precise songwriting and some perfectly encapsulated soundscapes.


Thorsten

sludge / black metal / metal

“Lord Almighty!” - what a brilliant reaction when hearing a new band or a new music in general. It purveys respect and awe and shows that one is definitely in some way impressed (unless it’s utter shit and you cannot hold it any longer). In the case of Boston-based metal outfit Lord Almighty it would definitely be a positive outcry. The band performs a kind of black metal that is infused with lots of other influences, the NWOBHM probably being the most obvious genre and Priest the most obvious band. 

The foundation for Lord Almighty’s sound is aggression but combined with a strong will to give the audience more than just the usual black metal templates. By incorporating black’n’roll elements in the vein of Kvelertak and fast-paced classic heavy metal passages the band is able to create a sound resembling the stampede of wild buffaloes with humans running away from them in sheer terror. 

Interesting are those passages, where the Boston sludge-machine slows down and even goes acoustic so that a totally new atmosphere is created and you might consider their sound post-black metal but it is rather a kind of modern atmospheric sludge like Baroness on their Yellow and Green record. Naturally, not a bad comparison to get. 

The band comes very close to releasing what could become a highly influential second full-length – following their self-titled debut EP  (2013) and the full-length debut “Paths” (from 2015). As their approach is pretty variable they should invest a bit more next time and go all the way and create a great piece of atmospheric black metal with twists and turns. With “Wither” they deliver a great promise and hint at what might come in a few years. 


Thorsten