black metal / industrial / psychedelic

Yeruselem is a side project of Blut Aus Nord's Vindsval and W.D. Feld. Blut Aus Nord has been around since 1993, starting out as a black metal band, but gradually drifting into more experimental/industrial territory.

While very influential, it is also a fact that their music is not exactly easy listening. Industrial metal is often quite fatiguing to listen to, so imagine what happens if you throw a heap of ambient noise and dissonant riffs on top of that...However, BoN's last release (Cosmosophy) started showing signs of going into a more accessible direction (relatively speaking, of course, it's still not Steel Panther).

Yeruselem shows these guys going further into this direction. The sound immediately reminds me of Godflesh, but the guitars would not be out of place in a goth or deathrock band, and the melodies are at times, well, poppy. Vocal-wise,it also sounds refreshing - at times it made me think of Jesu, Front 242, or even Depeche Mode (go figure). Don't get me wrong, it's still heavy, but a more accessible way.

There are 9 songs on "The Sublime", two of which are instrumental mood-setters. The rest are fairly short songs, barely exceeding 5 minutes at max. Of note are album opener "The Sublime", (brilliant guitar work) , and "Eternal", with twisted drums and catchy vocals. 

What Jesu is to Godflesh, Yeruselem is to Blut aus Nord. And since I'm a big fan of Jesu, this really made my day. 2019 is off to a good start!


Koen

black metal

I​:​Collision is an album released on January 1st, by black metal project Strigae. Almost forty-nine minutes long, the record has five extensive tracks: 1) Impact of Collision; 2) Final Collapse; 3) Chaos of Fluctuation; 4) Mass and Spin; 5) Creation out of Strings; departing from tedious, generic and somewhat common ground black metal stylistic features, the sound of Strigae is ordinary and insipid. Very rapid, with a rude and brutal harmonious cosmogony – though massively disrupted by a somewhat exasperating atmosphere –, I:Collision is a dispensable album, saturated by massive and rudimentary deficiencies. While the quality of the sound is generally favorable – indeed, satisfactory to a degree –, the vocals are almost inaudible, as they were probably mixed in low-key tonalities, several scales below the instrumental passages. 

Even if this was done purposefully, to achieve a somewhat lo-fi production signature sound, to imitate the influent and recognizable 90’s Norwegian school, the artist does not succeed in producing the desired effect (assuming that this is what the creative forces involved in this work were trying to obtain). In the end, what transpires is a precarious production, upon which the vocals seems to be only background growls, that almost fades away in several passages. Despite the fact that the guitar lines displayed are moderately reasonable, they are exceedingly rapid all the time, so the sound inevitably becomes too homogeneous. In the end, it’s almost impossible to distinct one track from another.   

Unfortunately, Strigae has bought the ordinary urban legend that dictates that, in order for someone to create a good black metal record, astoundingly rapid guitar lines and low-fi production assistance is all that a musician needs. Although there is genuine talent here, and definitely, a decent degree of creative abilities, they are not well-developed on I:Collision. On the contrary – the album is very monotonous, obsolete and predictable. Definitely, the final result can only be defined as precarious and generic, and will hardly attract the attention of the black metal community.   

I emphasize that the musician – or musicians – involved in this project have a recognizable degree of veracious talent. They just have to regulate and adjust better their production techniques and devices, and explore more authorial, creative and audacious patterns of artistry. I, somehow, expect a more decent and inventive work from Strigae, in the future.  


Wagner  

dungeon synth / folk / ambient

Inheritor is an album released on December 1, by a dungeon synth artist, known only by the alias of Urrnil. A very concise album – only half an hour long –, Inheritor has ten tracks: 1) Thunder Howls; 2) Silver Paths; 3) The Ravenous Might; 4) Estë; 5) Born of Stone; 6) Worthy Inheritor; 7) (Wrath) Brought Upon; 8) Blood Written Oaths; 9) A Forest Where Time is no Lord (Remastered); 10) Hidden, Forgotten, Sequestered (Seamless Mix). With a great and profusely dense medieval soundscape, this album displays a very dynamic, diluted and epic style, that definitely establishes more ambitious and personal standards for the genre. Discreetly, but passionately consecrating its lurid and expansive musical layout as an audacious exemplar of an expressively more modernist and authorial quest for stylistic features, Inheritor emerges as an interesting work of art, whose sound is abundant in innovative and authentic elements, vigorously injecting a vivacious outlook into a genre that is in constant need of reshaping itself. 

With a natural, vigorous and creative splendor, the music of Urrnil is an esoteric voyage to the outer limits of time; to glorious periods of hereditary dynasties, distant realms, equestrian nobilities and majestic kings. A place where a sensible, grandiloquent and tender reality do exist, all elements of chivalry are brought back to the present, in a deeply surreal sonorous journey of lucid and invariable conquests, where the essence and the integrity of life are rescued by the genuine benevolence of noble spirits. 

Formidably capturing the imperative essence of a time full of splendorous cosmogonies and codes of honor, Inheritor definitely propitiates to its audience an undeniable return to a glorious past. With a consistent, restless and expansive, but gracefully imaginative and captivating sound, Urrnil delivers on this album a veraciously relevant and genuine collection of medieval symphonies, that strikes the spirit with the beauty of lost centuries, and the simplicity of an ephemeral moment of sincere human exhilaration.    

Definitely one of the best dungeon synth albums that I have heard, Inheritor doesn’t display the limitations and the stagnant dispositions usually so prevalent in the genre. With a more dynamic, sober and vivacious style, this is a very enjoyable album, whose sound is a pleasure to hear, all the way through. With versatile qualities and a very sensible intuitive timing, its harmonies are simple, but graciously aggrandizing, and its virtuous melodic polyphonies are beautifully extended into an everlasting universe of salutary serenities, that becomes more and more cohesive, as the music gradually unfolds its own singular, infinite and altruistic essence. 

 

Wagner

psychedelic / chill-out / downtempo

Bholenath is an album released on December 24, by a psychedelic chill-out artist, better known by the alias of Hypnotizer. An hour-long album, the record has ten tracks: Kiskanu, Aliens Room, Life Oportunity, Planet Tribe, Between Witches, Jungle Market, Changing Energy, Mystical Experience, Cloudy and Distant Connections. With gracious and somewhat tempestuous – though commonly stagnant melodies –, Bholenath is not a marvelous nor epic record, though manages to be quite interesting and responsive, revolving around colorful and symbiotic harmonies that inadvertently expands its sonorous waves over the diluted axis of its own musical allegories. Despite the fact that delivers some abrasive commonalities and clichés, there is a genuine creativity present on this album, that makes the nucleus of its work to be truly representative of the genre; more specifically, its modernist trends, influenced by reggae and world music, which are quite audacious and elegant. 

Bholenath displays moderately some tangentially sophisticated flavors and dynamic liquid grooves, that makes the music interesting. Its cohesive and free-flowing sound is a discreet amalgamation of lucid sonorous densities, passionately combined to create a colorful atmosphere of sensible, placid and sagacious peripheral possibilities. Nevertheless, occasionally, the music resents itself from a moderate and conspicuous level of monotony, although the quality and the dynamism of the sound remains intact. 

A cohesive and sensitive work, that understands the visceral anatomy of its harmonious and energetic layout, Bholenath can be defined as an impressive – even majestic, sometimes – exemplar of psychedelic chill-out music, if we are willing to ignore its more rude, but to a wider extent, insignificant limitations. True to the cosmogony of its own salutary, but inherently mordacious musical diagram, on this album, the sound expands itself through the tissue of its latent fragmented waves of digressive serenity, whose perceptive artistic platform revolves around the immensity of its refreshing abstract tonalities. 

Of course, while this album is not marvelous, it can be considered a decent, lucid and sardonically delusional psychedelic voyage, that takes its own volatile essence by storm, transforming each molecule of its own hallucinatory transient grace into a virtual reality sensitive journey. An interesting work – that fails to avoid entirely the generic elements of the genre –, Bhilenath is a moderately satisfactory psychedelic chill out album, with some impressive and extraordinary arrangements. 


Wagner

drone/ ambient/ experimental

The Simulacra Transmission is an album by American ambient minimalist project Shipwreck Karpathos, released on December 28. An hour-long elegiac symphony, the record has only four tracks, exactly fifteen minutes each: 1) The Pilot is The Builder; 2) The Builder is The Destroyer; 3) Virgil is an anomaly; 4) Wake The Singularity. If you are relatively familiarized with the sound of Shipwreck Karpathos, like I do, you will notice their recent inclination towards a drastically digressive, profoundly introspective and almost stagnant and minimalistic drone soundscape musical direction. Let me say that if you don’t appreciate this type of music, you will become exhaustively bored. What we have here is a soft, very serene and calm atmosphere, that expands throughout the tissue of its own hyperbolic vicinities, while duplicating the essence of its harmonious, but nevertheless symbolic sonorous conflagrations.  

Like I’ve written above, if you are familiarized with the sound and the style of Shipwreck Karpathos, you will probably love this album. It’s deeply authorial and artistic, despite the fact that on The Simulacra Transmission there is nothing new for enthusiasts of drone music. But this skilled group from Portland, Oregon, definitely does a decent work, exploring exceedingly well different musical layers of creativity, on a platform of sensible delight, that intelligently takes soundscape minimalism to a more profound level of musical elasticity. 

Of course, it requires some patience to go through one hour of music like this, that stays basically the same the entire time. Despite the good quality – and the essential characteristics that makes the music of the group to be poignantly peculiar –, the album is very homogeneous, and do not present any stylistic or effective challenge to the genre per se. 

Nevertheless, The Simulacra Transmission is a very perceptive, intuitive and cohesive album, and definitely a favorable exemplar of how a marvelous drone ambient soundscape elegy should be executed. The album can also be interpreted as one long symphony, split into four, as each song – more or less – can be considered the continuation of the previous track. So, despite the lack of audacity or innovation, The Simulacra Transmission manages to be a very consistent and dense record. Definitely, a satisfactory and coherent work, that will please the enthusiasts of drone music. 


Wagner

doom / death metal

What better way to start another rotten year on this dreadful planet than with a soul depraving doom metal album. 'IIIIXXI' by Lithuanian doomed four- piece Sullen Guest was released back in March but it reached us only now. According to the added note, this album is "their best Sullen Guest stuff" and they "are doomed to look forward to your fatal feedback". For the latter, I'm not sure sending the album to Merchants Of Air was a good idea to begin with. We rarely do "fatal" feedback. We're  way too nice for that, or too open minded. Plus, I'm a doom metal fan, so I'm afraid my feedback will be rather positive and uplifting and for that I  sincerely apologize in advance.

Sullen Guest was formed in 2013 in the city of Vilnius. Since then, the quartet has been sending vile waves of riffs, drums and growls though innocent instruments. That sonic torture now results in a pulverizing doom metal album, one with an excellent blend of styles and influences. These days, doom metal is a surprisingly varied genre so this album could have gone either way. Yet, these guys have taken the slow, melodic and depressive path, something opener 'Dies Irae' immediately showcases. Without any need for intros or atmospheric meandering, this track quickly delivers the melodic riffs and methodical drums. The whole thing feels like a mix between Saturnus and Evoken, which I think is a good thing. 

Most of the tracks on this album follow that example, with 'Altered State' being an absolute highlight. This is one of those songs that pushes an album into end-year lists and listeners into fans. My Dying Bride comes to mind here, without the violins but definitely a potential fan-favorite. 'Denial pt. 1' opens with grinding riffs before blasting out in a sluggish and intense funeral doom track. And so it goes on and on. I'm not going into a song by song description because that would turn out to become and endless repetition of the words "funeral", "doom", "awesome" and "slow". I'm afraid that this is just one of those brilliant pieces of doom metal, highlighting numerous times ('The New End' is another one of those smashers). So yeah, I am really really really sorry but this album comes highly recommended for all fans of melodic doom metal.


Serge

psychedelic rock / space rock

Trail Records

In recent years, there has been a kraut/space/acid rock revival, boosted by bands like Caudal, Lumerians and Minami Deutsch. However, as I have tried to explain people a thousand times before, genres never really die. Every day a band pops up, inspired by something from the rich history of music making. Back in the nineties, when everybody was getting excited about grunge and nu-metal, bands like The Spacious Mind were born, honoring a older tradition. That of krautrock, psychedelic rock, acid rock and space rock. This band has been around since then, continuing their sonic journey for decades on heaps of albums and EP's.

'The Drifter'  is a collection of rare cuts, two live takes and previously unreleased tracks. Six songs long, this record is a pleasant addition to their collection, preferably to be placed near their Hawkwind and Pink Floyd classics. The songs are long, with traditional rock 'n roll tunes expanding into elaborate jam sessions. It's as if the members of the band wrote one short song and freely improvise over the foundation. The result is a musical trip, immersive and adventurous. It somehow fits perfectly well with my new-found interest in old Star Trek series.

My favorite track on this album is 'Euphoria, Euphoria', and organic piece of music, loaded with surprises and variation, with spaced-out twin guitars and dreamy keyboards having an orgy over the drums/bass foundation. Something like that. You could actually say pretty much the same about every track on this splendid collection. I mentioned one favorite, but this whole thing is incredibly enjoyable for everyone who loves a good dose of acid rock once in a while. So yep, this comes highly recommended.


​Serge

ambient

Since we're going through all these wonderful albums by Sound In Silence, let's pick another absolute gem out of the pile. 'Four Years Away' is the new album by SineRider, the solo project of Berklee College of Music composer Devin Powers, based in Norwood, Massachusetts.

In the past decade or so Powers has recorded a wide variety of genres under an array of monikers, including indie, lo-fi, ambient, post rock, slowcore, 8-bit and dubstep. Yet for this album, SineRider seems to reach back to the basics, with tape loops, piano melodies and synth drones.

From the very beginning, this album takes you back to the birth of ambient, when Brian Eno unleashed his soundscapes and paths over airports and in films. 'Farmland' & 'Sea Level' are minimal pieces of music, driving on meandering synths and gently looping melodies. On 'Glimmer' the melodic aspect of the album expands into playful piano tunes only to fade out in Klaus Schulze inspired sound sculptures like 'Aomori'.

In several aspect, 'Four Years Away' is a classic ambient album, one that probably can stand the test of time. Twelve tracks long, each one narrating a short story on its own, this album is soothing and inspiring. 'Crimson', one of my favorites, nudges towards dark jazz, combined with what feels like looped field recordings. Halfway through title track 'Four Years Away' and thus halfway through the album, I'm absolutely sure that this gem is worth its money, and then there are six more tracks to come.

For those six, I'm not going into a track by track description, mostly since they're based on similar principles and the others: calm, minimalist music which will definitely sooth your soul. Perhaps the dark and gritty 'Sparrows' is an exception because of the atmosphere but everything else here is high quality old school ambient music (so is 'Sparrows' by the way, just darker). So my advice is this: treat yourself to this ambient gem, you won't regret it. In fact, you might need it after the noisy and obtrusive New Year's Eve tomorrow...


​Serge

electronic / downtempo / ambient

In the past few years, I have been rambling about the local ambient scene here in Antwerp. Yet, even for me that scene seems to large to properly explore. In one of my first reviews, I pictured a wide array of solo acts, producing their sounds in a bedroom, attic or basement. I wasn't too far off. Music really is everywhere. Just now, before I decided to write about this album, I was secretly listening to the soulful singing voice of my downstairs neighbor. So yeah, here in Antwerp, music is a driving force for thousands of people, which takes me to the new album by Styrofoam, aka Arne Van Petegem. 

Van Petegem has been making music for over twenty years and has collaborated and toured with a handful of respected musicians. With 'We Can Never Go Home' he now releases a splendid and adventurous collection of electronic tunes on the quality label Sound In Silence. His first album in eight years, plus his first instrumental album, is an intelligent and meandering set of songs, one which seems to combine today's electronic possibilities with the sublime warm sound of vintage synths and sequencers.

Those sequencers are amazing, delivering stunning tunes like opener 'Full Present' and the soundtrack-worthy 'Did Your Mouth Buy You This Scar?' With that, the music wanders into the same circuit boards as Tangerine Dream and Ashra. However, influences from modern day equipment and artists are never far away, so here and there Plaid and Autechre comes to mind. For those 'Love Restores Almost Everything' is a perfect example.

What I like most on this album, is the fact that although this is downtempo electronica, it doesn't share the easy-listening experience of many trip hop acts. Instead, the music often takes a gritty, harsh turn, bringing eighties soundtracks to mind, somewhere between Knightrider and Blade Runner, I guess. Title track 'We Can Never Go Home' is such a fine example of sonic confusion, laced with mild noise and a rather impending atmosphere.

So yeah, this is yet another mind bending example of electronics from this fine city/country. I can only recommend this thing to every fan of slow electronic music. Press play, and carefully follow the 'Blind Spot Safety Procedure' until the very end. You won't regret it.


​Serge

dark ambient / noise / drone / experimental

Cold Spring

The Cold Spring label celebrates their 250th release with a 29 track double CD. This UK label is specialized in all kinds of extreme music. This compilation contains a broad view of artists who create uncompromising underground music. All the tracks were already previously released. The only exclusive and unheard song is from Coil with Spastiche (Trumpo).

The songs are drowned in the darkest  and coldest atmospheres you can imagine. From the harsh noise of Merzbow to the addictive dark ambient sounds of Sonologyst, or from the doom punk escapades of Zeni Geva & Steve Albini to the creepy sounds of MZ.412. There is enough to discover on this sampler.

​The most curious artist on this release is Barry Adamson, former bass player of The Bad Seeds (Nick Cave). In collaboration with Pan Sonic, Barry Adamson composed this ice cold vocal song, The Hymn Of The Seventh Illusion, that ends this compilation in beautiful darkness. The sampler is a true guide in dark music for beginners and for experienced listeners. This double CD,  limited to 4000 copies in a gate fold Eco-pack is more than worth its money!

black metal / industrial metal

Debemur Morti Productions

During the darkest days of the year a flock of blood sucking bats were released with the compilation of Servants Of Chaos II. The French label Debemur Morti Productions indicates fifteen years of dedication to dark metal music. In fact, this is a very original release that contains fifteen exclusive tracks of fourteen bands. Au Champ Des Mort has the honor of having two hunting and atmospheric black metal tracks on the album. The variety of this extreme metal compilation is high. The psychoactive guitar riffs of Blut Aus Nord and Throane next to the more experimental and industrial approach of Terra Tennebrosa and Manes and the old school attitude of Behexen and Wallachia, show us the broad spectrum of the label in extreme metal. With no doubt Servants Of Chaos II leads the black metal fans to a dark and scorched heaven.

folk / celtic

With a fiddle and Hardanger fiddle as the only instruments used on Solo, Sara-Jane Summers shows her diverse talents on these folk instruments. She has already made several  live performances at rock, jazz, folk, country, and noise festivals worldwide. Sarah-Jane Summers  is releasing music as a duo with her husband Juhani Silvola and solo since 2008. She has made already many recording contributions in the folk-scene. Her playing  embraces the historical Celtic melancholic mood.  This release of old folk covers received an intelligent input. From happy dancing tunes to the sad sounding fiddle vibes, Solo, has the wisdom not to be boring or sleepy. Sarah-Jane Summers  managed to revive Celtic music from a different perspective. 

folk / acoustic

Stvannyr is a project of the Hungarian guitar player István ‘Musicformessier’ Csarnogursky. This artist from the Carpathian basin is a multi active guitar player involved in several projects. From guitar ambient (Musicformessier) to black metal (Realm Of Wolves) and much more (Silent Island, Black Hill). István Csarnogursky has the talent to create special floating guitar sounds that make you drift away.  With Secrets Of Black Ruins he brings a more  folk touch to the ambient guitar licks known from his other project Musicformessier. Six beautiful atmospheric folk instrumentals overwhelmed us with day-dreaming peace. Only available as digital download. Do not hesitate to have a listen to this artist’s other projects.

ambient / electronic

bandcamp

Evan Bartholomew has been performing electronic music for nearly 20 years as Bluetech. He has also credits in composing music for video games and TV/movie scores. With Liquid Geometries this American electronica artist from Portland joined the DiN label of Ian Boddy. Evan Bartholomew explores the electronic sounds  like the old masters of the Berlin School did. A lot of sequenced vibes  are put together into an interesting trip of soundscapes. Nothing new on the horizon but the recording has a high quality production and sounds refreshing. Bluetech  provided nicely constructed and moody tracks on this release. This is a grower. 

heavy metal

Athrox plays a groovy kind of old school metal, a mixture between Armored Saint and Anthrax. This hardworking band from Italy released with Through the Mirror their second album. The songs have lots of variety in style and tempo. When they speed up  you can feel and hear fragments of Metal Church. Athrox perform their music with finesse and deliver good melodic tracks. The down tempo songs don’t lose strength and have no disturbing effect on the album. Some compositions contain a welcome input of thrash metal. Athrox released with Through the Mirror an old school metal album carrying a wide range how heavy metal should sound. Nice work.

​Patsker