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The Psycho Season - Ghosts
grunge / alternative rock
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Heavy rocking grunge from Finland, a perfect way to kick off this edition of Brieviews. This three track single is an excellent business card for this quintet. I hear flashes of Alice In Chains and Life Of Agony but most of all I hear a coherent band creating some delicious grunge music. I think 'Two Steps Back' is my favorite track. It certainly is one for nineties nostalgics, one the previously mentioned bands forgot to write. 'Ghost' and 'Fall Like Rain' are also strong and well-written songs. In all, this definitely is a grunge rock single and in that genre one of the most convincing things I've heard in the past few decades.
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Northern Plague - Scorn the Idle
black metal / death metal
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Polish extreme horde Northern Plague come up with a sick, brutal and often hyperspeed black metal album that is surprisingly overwhelming. I must say, I haven't been this stunned by the opening of an album since Dimmu Borgir's 'Mourning Palace'. 'Blindsight' is a brilliant track, definitely my favorite on this album. From then on, the album is loaded with blackened highlights, like the storming 'Rites Of The Devourer' or the haunting 'Man Of Glass'. Fans of Behemoth and Satyricon can't go wrong with this varied, complex and intense album, an absolute must have.
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Fractured Spine - The Price of Retribution
doom / black metal
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Back to Finland where we find the first of four EP's, set to be released by Fractured Spine. I'll just say it right away: this ep is strange, almost uncategorizable. I hear elements from melodic death metal, symphonic black metal, progressive metal, doom and free jazz, as if Amorphis and The Kovenant teamed up with Cradle Of Filth to make a jazz album, or something like that. Truth remains, this EP is not only well varied, it's fascinating, in a similar way as Summoning for example. It will constantly shock and surprise the listener with it's complex and continuously alternating sound. Check it out, you might have never heard something like this before.
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Howling Giant - Black Hole Space Wizard: Part 2
psychedelic rock
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Nashville rockers Howling Giant return with their second 'Black Hole Space Wizard' EP. In my review for part one, I uttered the phrase "Fuzz Yeah" and now I can easily repeat that. Once again, Howling Giant blasts some groovy psychedelic stoner rock into the cosmos. With six song, this EP lasts over thirty minutes, without one dull, unimaginative and stale second to be found. This thing is pure stoner goodness.If you're into anything between Black Sabbath and Farflung, you should not miss out on this one. This time, I have no favorite, although 'Vision' is epic. Hell, it's all epic...
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Tombstones In Their Eyes - Fear
psychedelic rock
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Psychedelic rock in all it's beauty and glory, his EP might be the best thing I have heard today. Tombstones In Their Eyes is a psych rock band from Los Angeles, inspired by everything between Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane and My Bloody Valentine. Yet, there is also room for a touch of doom and a decent dose of shoegazing goodness. Opener 'I Want To Fly' is an absolute masterpiece and 'Separate' makes me want to dance. All these songs are going into my day-to-day playlist since the other three tunes are just as mind expanding as the first two. Highly recommended stuff, no doubt about that.
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Atomçk - Every Room In Britain
grindcore
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Deranged, insane, psychopathic and frenzied, this were the first words that came to mind when I started listening to the album. These words still apply after I stopped listening too. This 17 minutes lasting effort is way too harsh and chaotic for most people but fans of noisepunk induced grindcore will undoubtedly get a boner with delightful songs like 'Fuck Off Back To London', 'Preston Slayer Fans' or 'Robot Cannibal'. Let this be a warning; this stuff is sick and it will cause your intestines to ferment. Only suited for hardcore Brutal Truth, Napalm Death, Melt Banana fans...
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Tod Huetet Uebel - N.A.D.A.
black metal
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We're not done with the extremes yet, and this one harshly dwells into utter madness. Hailing from Portugal, Tod Huetet Uebel returns with a two track EP that will haunt your dreams for a long time. These two songs named 'Nà' and 'Da', remind me of Belgian/Dutch act Stalaggh/Gulaggh, who replaced the vocal performances with real howls and screams of mental patients. This stuff comes very close. The music is a bleak and nihilistic approach to depressive black metal which pierces your eardrums. Again, only suited for the die-hard black metal fans.
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Philipp Rumsch - A Forward-Facing Review
ambient / electronic
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Born in 1994 and already preparing a release with his twelve-person ensemble ('Reflections', to be released in January), Philipp Rumsch is on his way to the top in the world of classical music, jazz and ambient. This two track EP is an excellent appetizer for things to come. Both tracks are minimal compositions with drones,soundscapes, piano and electro-acoustic music. The result is a twenty minutes lasting exploration of sound, gently oscillating through the air. Soon, this young man will hopefully stand among people like Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds and so on, mark my words...
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Slanderus - Walls of the Mind
progressive metal
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Seemingly, the members of American progressive metal act Slanderus are in love with guitar solos, complex song structures and melodic metal. At least, that what they showcase on this EP. You can hear influences from Dream Theater, Nevermore or Annihilator, but also from System Of A Down and Anthrax. All those different elements apparently caused Slanderus to write and record and well-varied metal album where nu-metal, heavy metal and thrash metal receive a slightly progressive make-over. I think most metalheads can appreciate this so check it out, you might be pleasantly surprised.
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Wicked - Crawling Back
alternative rock / blues
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For some good old nineties inspired rock we go to France where a trio named Wicked does something highly infectious with blues, alternative rock and grunge. This is music for hot days at summer festivals or for a road trip through the American continent. This six track EP contains immersive rock songs and gritty blues ballads. Nothing overcomplicated, just good old fashioned rock music, perfectly suited for gloomy pubs and massive rock festivals alike. My favorite track is 'You Can Die'. So if you like anything between The Pixies and Black Crowes, you might want to check this EP out.
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Sutekh Hexen / BLSPHM - Split 7"
black metal
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This split by American black metal acts Sutekh Hexen and BLSPHM has been released on tape in 2014 and now sees a vinyl release. Both bands delivered one song, probably the goriest, filthiest and most chaotic one they could write. As far as black metal is concerned, this split deeply penetrates the obscure. Both songs are cacaphonic blackened anthems which are unlistenable for 99.99% of the world's population. Yet, for that other 0.01% this is an absolute must-have, crawling from the deepest of underground scenes.
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Six Feet Deeper - Six Feet Deeper
hard rock
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Swedish female fronted hard rock band Six Feet Deeper seemingly found inspiration in the early days of rock music. I mean, when I close my eyes and listen to these four tracks, I can easily imagine being at the very first edition of Woodstock. The fifth song is an excellent cover version of Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song'. Other influences include Audioslave, The Hellacopters and King Crimson. My personal favorite songs are 'Make It Right' and 'Freak' but I can recommend this EP to all nostalgic rockers out there. It will be released on August 24th, don't miss it...
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Serge
