Lucifer's Dungeon - The Dark Army Raises
black metal
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Once upon a time, this now Russian band started out as a one-man black metal act, residing in Thailand. Today, it's a full blown band with an excellent debut. 'The Dark Army Raises' is a long album with 15 songs, ranging from gloomy dark ambient pieces over blackened experimentation to intense black metal. Personally, I'm quite fond of the dark ambient pieces but that's not really a surprise since I'm mostly an ambient fan. However, if you're into the bleak, aggressive and haunting sounds of black metal, you surely want to check this one out. It's an excellent album, promising great things for the future of this act.
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Lød - Folder
krautrock / post punk
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Hailing from Denmark, Lød delivered a surprising and immersive debut with this 'Folder' EP. It was presented to me as a blend between Neu! and Joy Division and in a way I fully agree with that. On three of these four tracks, you will hear a lot of krautrock goodness, pretty much like Caudal does. On the other hand, the gloomy side of eighties new wave also comes lurking around the corner, mostly in the vocal performance. And then there is 'Træder Ind, Bukker, Bukker', a strange electronic experiment which could have actually been the intro. Anyway, this is a weird but highly interesting debut. Check it out.
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Last Bullet - 80-69-64
hard rock / grunge
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Last Bullet is a Canadian quintet, influenced by Velvet Revolver, Stone Temple Pilots and Led Zeppelin. Opener 'Sin' is a world class grunge meets hard rock song, 'Gimme Time' is fuzzy blues rock. 'Bright Lights' is almost a classic grunge ballad. 'Southern Lips' is a searing hot southern rock anthem. 'Smoke And Ashes' could have been written by Alice In Chains. Closer 'Little Miss Filthy' is exactly that, a filthy grunge tune. In all, this ep is a stunning example of modern day grunge and hard rock, a clear proof that these genres are far from dead. Everyone who has ever been into the aforementioned bands should get their hands on this ep, for real!
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Svartsinn - Collected Obscurities
dark ambient
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For dark ambient aficionados, Norwegian act Svartsinn is definitely no stranger. Jan Roger Pettersen has been creating his gloomy masterpieces since 1999 and has been a landmark in the genre ever since. Now, Cyclic Law has released an excellent compilation of both album tracks and collaborations. Many of these tracks have been released between between 2002 and 2012 and have been unavailable since, until now. So yes, for fans of dark ambient this is an absolute must-have. It's a 75 minutes lasting overview of the obscure and enigmatic music from a talented artist that you just can't miss.
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Dominique Charpentier - Esquisses
classical
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How wonderful it must be to be able to touch a piano and create wonderful music. That's exactly what Dominique Charpentier can and does.I've been amazed by his previous work and I'm amazed again. His new ep 'Esquisses' contains five new piano pieces, here and there enhanced with strings. The songs are uplifting but also melancholic or just downright sad, like my favorite, 'Esquisse IV'. I can imagine the pianist, on the streets of Paris, gently pouring out these blissful melodies. I don't think it can get more romantic than that. This comes highly recommended, no doubt about that.
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Putrid Offal - Anatomy
grindcore
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After a gentle piano album, I'll blast some filthy, disgusting grindcore through my speakers. You know, just to feel manly again. Well, here is 'Anatomy', a six track serial killer that slashes, cuts and scars just for the fuck of it. If you like extremes, like grindcore and pieces of flesh flying through the room, this surely is your thing. Personally, I'd place them somewhere in between Cannibal Corpse and Macabre. With two brand new songs, two re-recordings and two live autopsies, Putrid Offal comes to rip off your testicles and gnaw themselves a way through your intestines. You have been warned...
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Moon Circle - The Cosmic Penguins
stoner rock / psychedelic rock
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Oh my god, it all comes together now. I've been fascinated by penguins for most of my life. I love rock music and I want to know everything about the cosmos. And now here's Moon Circle, a French psychedelic rock band that creates the sounds of penguins in outer space, or something like that. No wonder I love the music. It's old school psychedelic hard rock with an enormous jam-factor and heaps of fun. This ep is recorded live and, although the sound quality isn't perfect, the music can easily drag you into the joy of witnessing these guys live. I hope some good label signs these guys and puts them on the road soon. This is amazing.
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Misantronics - Contraformance 3
drone / ambient
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Belgian experimental ambient act Misantronics returns with part 3 of his 'Contraformance' series. This time however, bandcamp claimed that the 21 minutes track was too big so Misantronics had to cut it up into three parts ('Tar', 'The Acrobat' and 'Peril'). The album opens gently with calm drones and soundscapes but gradually gains momentum and intensity, especially when Misantronics' typical drums & percussion come in. The CD version contains the entire track, inspired by previous cooperations and recorded in one take. Both versions contain the bonus track 'This Is Not A Painting', a piano inspired drone tune.
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Mutank - W.H.A.T.S.T.H.A.T.
thrash metal
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The title of this EP by Canadian crossover thrashers Mutank stands for 'We Have Alotta' Thrash Songs That Have Abbreviated Titles' and sure thing, the release contains five of those. It's funny, I admit, but what I'm more interested in is the music. And that music is good old fashioned thrash metal, reminding me of acts like Anthrax, Megadeth, Overkill and so on. On the other hand, somehow Mucky Pup comes to mind too. So yeah, these guys are somewhat stuck in the nineties but I guess many thrashers are. If you are one of those, you have to get your hands on this EP. You won't be disappointed.
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Totengott - Doppelgänger
doom metal
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Spanish doom trio Totengott have been influenced by the old school of the style and you can clearly hear that on their debut. In fact, this album pays homage to Celtic Frost and their 'Monotheist' era, without blindly copying it. The three songs on 'Doppelgänger' are simply excellent vintage dark doom metal tracks, here and there influenced by thrash metal. Besides that, the trio manages to add a great deal of atmosphere to the whole thing, mainly with eerie soundscapes. Above all, this is a great debut, promising intense and immersive live performances. Doomers, check this out. I'm sure you will love this.
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Neverending Winter - Хиус
black metal / folk metal
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Black metal, inspired by the nature and the eternal winter of Siberia, an extremely remote and hostile region. Yet, somehow this blackened folk metal trio perfectly manages to illustrate both the isolation and the beauty of their surroundings, which is my opinion is a clear proof of talent. The music is complex, grimm and not easy to digest but on at the same time it's immersive and energetic. Obviously, the folk influences bring a lot of variation to the whole thing, as well as flashes of progressive metal and punk. I'm not going to say that this is a masterpiece but a band that can create something vast and bleak like this, is talented, no doubt about that.
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Tristan da Cunha - Soçobrar
post rock / ambient
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Speaking about remote areas, Tristan da Cunha is an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, one of the remotest inhabited islands of the world.It's also an Italian post rock duo, consisting of an ambient producer and a krautrock drummer. Together, they have created four deviant compositions, ranging from gloomy ambient and post rock to jazz and almost noise. A bunch of other bands come to mind but in a way Tristan da Cunha brings a fresh, somewhat harsh approach to the scene, which in my opinion is a very good thing. So yeah, I think this EP comes highly recommended; and I hope I'll ever get the chance to see these guys do this live.
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A Pale Void - Songs Of Sirens
electronic / downtempo / psychill
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And now for something completely different, a decent dose of psychedelic, electronic ambient, or "psychill" as people call it. This album by A Pale Void consists of five long tracks where all kinds of soundscapes, drones and electronic sounds freely float in an out. Here and there you can find some vague flashes of rhythm but for the majority this is a splendid album to meditate to, or simply to relax. Perhaps title track 'Songs Of Sirens' is my personal favorite here but that's a tough decision to make. If you're a fan of electronic ambient and meditative music, you surely have to check this one out.
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Santiago Niño - Cosmic Clearance
electronic / downtempo / dub
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Also from Mindspring Music but a bit more danceable, this highly enjoyable four track by Santiago Niño delivers a good dose of psychedelic electronics. Opener 'Alien Force' also reminds me eighties EBM acts, especially that groovy, immersive bassline. In that aspect, this is a great crossover between the two genres, 'psychedelic EBM' if you will, like Project Pitchfork meets Eats Static or Front 242 meets Hallucinogen. I also really dig the samples in this one, scientific and somewhat conspiracy theoretic vocals samples about atoms, illuminati, alien life and so on. Take it from me, this is great stuff.
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Elder Devil - Graves Among The Roots
grindcore
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When the beginning of an album reminds me of Napalm Death's 'Evolved As One', I immediately get interested. This American grindcore duo combines the same noise with the same sickness and throws it all into a bunch of unforgiving grindcore anthems. The result is something devastating, something that barks, grinds, gnaws and pulverised. Not only that, in these short songs, you can find elements from hardcore, death metal, noise, black metal and sludge and it all comes with only one purpose: destroy this planet and everyone on it.
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Elizabeth Shaw - I
drone / black metal
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Named after the protagonist from the 'Prometheus' movie, this mysterious Swedish entity combines raw, harsh black metal with haunting drones and ambient soundscapes. You might say, "now, we've heard that before" and that might be true but this band seems to excel as masters in their trade, which they call "xeno-black metal". The music is dark, impending at times and harsh on other occasions. In all, this is a dark, obscure and highly immersive release, something that definitely makes me hungry for live performances. Check it out, play it loud and be amazed by the splendor of xeno-black metal.
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Show of Bedlam - Transfiguration
doom / avant garde
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Named after the infamous St. Mary of Bethlehem insane asylum in London, this Canadian doom horde comes up with something dark, occult and somewhat disturbing. Perhaps I can best compare this music to Diamanda Galas fronting Neurosis, but there's more to this than just psychotic doom metal. This music comes laced with haunting ambient passages, avant garde guitars and the dark, creepy atmosphere of eighties goth rock. In the avant garde scene, this certainly is a brutal masterpiece. Music rarely is this fascinating and scary at the same time. I recommend either this or a lobotomy. The choice is yours...
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