progressive / post metal

black metal / doom

electronic / coldwave

heavy metal versions of eighties hits

progressive / psychedelic rock

noise rock / industrial

noise rock / sludge

stoner rock / psychedelic rock

death metal

alternative rock

alternative rock / dream pop

indie rock / alternative

death metal

death metal

death metal / black metal

ambient

alternative rock / grunge / stoner rock

heavy metal

facebook

doom / drone / black metal

post rock / progressive rock

metal / alternative rock

Somewhere between the heavier side of alternative rock and the melodic side of metal and hardcore, we find French band Dementia and their hard hitting debut full-length 'Persona'. With fourteen tracks and fortyfive minutes long, this is a full blown rock album that will certainly get you on your feet, if you're a fan of heavy rock, that is. Because that is exactly what you get on this album. It's not easy to explain, although most of what I hear sounds familiar. Dementia continuously balances on the thin edge between different rock genres and still managed to create a coherent sounding album.

The biography and info page on facebook mentioned bands like Foo Fighters, Alter Bridge, Papa Roach, Thrice, Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine, to name a few. But, apart from the sheer energy of Foo Fighters, it's not really these bands that first come to mind. The first band I thought of while listening to songs like 'Speedball' and the brilliant 'Too Long', was none other than Evergrey, quickly followed by some other melodic metal bands. These guys just might have unknowingly entered the world of dark metal, which is just as good for me.

Here and there some hardcore and metalcore influences seem to surface, including the brutal vocals. Personally, I prefer the clean vocals, as they fit this music extremely well. Dementia are blessed with a talented vocalist who does not to scream to convince. Give these guys a stage on any big metal festival and they will win over a lot of metal hearts. I mean, I'm already thinking about removing the "alternative rock" tag above this review. In my opinion, this is dark melodic metal, and one from a very high quality too.

What I know for sure, is that this is going right into my heavy playlist where it will accompany the aforementioned Evergrey, plus Nevermore, Pain of Salvation, Savatage, Katatonia and many more. This is certainly a talented band, perhaps still searching for  the perfect sound but nonetheless interesting. I for one am curious about the future direction of this band but for now, I recommend this album to all you dark and melodic rockers out there. This one definitely rocks!!!


​Serge

alternative rock

I have to admit that I was a bit misguided by this album's cover. Usually, these kind of covers appear on dark ambient, power electronics and noise albums, rarely on anything else. However, when I read the biography and listened to the music, something completely different appeared.

Let's start with the beginning. Ulster Page is a band from France. The members were born in 1992 and thus grew up with nineties rock and grunge. With these influences, they wrote and recorded an album that seems to take the awesome sound of that era into the future.

The album opens with a blast. 'In The Explosion' is a tremendous outburst of energy and a solid reference of what the quartet is capable of. I think this remains my favorite track throughout the entire album. 'Memory' and 'Straight In The Eye' are excellent alternative rock tracks with plenty of energy and dynamics.  'Right As Violence' is a strong rock ballad with a nostalgic eighties hard rock feel, but still, 'In The Explosion' definitely stands out. 

'All Or Nothing' seems to push the whole thing into a post-punk direction and even drags in a bluesy slide-guitar. I like that, it gives the album the necessary amount of variation and it's certainly able to surprise the listener. There are more great songs to be found on this album. All of them are well written rock songs, some uptempo, some slower. 'Eternal Candle' is another world class track, my second favorite here.

You can feel that there is talent in this band, not only in instrument handling but also in songwriting. With 'Memory', this quartet has released an excellent debut but perhaps time will tell that this was merely their debut. It's a very promising album, that's for sure but I think that these guys can and will come up with even more impressive music in the next few year. So yes, this comes highly recommend to all rockers out there.


​Serge

progressive metal / alternative / avant-garde

Interesting and intriguing, Finestatico, released by In Tormentata Quiete, an impressively creative avant-garde metal act from Italy, has seven tracks: Zero, Sole, R136a1, Eta Carinae, Sirio, RR Lyrae and Demiurgo. Displaying wisely a dense, but functional and harmoniously abrasive, vast and dispersive diagram of symphonic and folk elements, In Tormentata Quiete is deeply entrenched – and to a certain degree, indebted – to the traditional groundwork of another Italian bands of the genre, being Lacuna Coil probably the most notorious of them all; so to a certain degree, the reference – and possible comparisons, favorable or unfavorable – is inevitable. Nevertheless, their songs are, to a modest degree, beautiful, the harmonies are cohesive, and they know how to carry on firmly the musical tradition upon which their music is profoundly engraved.  

Despite the lack of originality and major attractive features, Finestatico is an album that inadvertently has its beauty. Unfortunately, in a general sonorous layer, the group isn’t able to avoid the usual generic elements that also normally victimize other acts in the genre, which are mainly too exacerbated sentimental melodies, in a sequence sometimes exceedingly predictable, and way too demagogic symphonic common ground ordeals. But neither of these negative aspects – that are not that afflictive, some would qualify as smaller infractions at best – are enough to compromise the structural integrity and the genuinely stylish poetic serenity of In Tormentata Quiete’s music, which are quite beautiful and abundantly captivating, at certain specific passages. 

The fourth track – Eta Carinae – is one of the most effective and brilliant in the whole album. A beautiful and poetic song, it reflects the musical principles upon which the visceral and energized musicality of the band seems to rely on: a rudimentary, but at the same time increasingly sophisticated rhythmic axis of sentimental intonation, that revolves around the precious possibilities that vehemently reinvents their capacities, to a strikingly original point of artistic rupture.    

Although I cannot qualify this album as a masterpiece, Finestatico has its share of great moments, and can be considered an expressively satisfying musical experiment. Unfortunately, they rely too consistently and too repeatedly on specific and generic structural formulas, that were already exhaustively used by other acts of the genre. So, Finestatico would hardly be a surprise to someone who is profoundly familiar with the genre.    


Wagner

alternative rock / instrumental

El día de los fuegos is an album released on August 25 by Argentinian instrumental alternative rock group Ríoseco. Almost forty two minutes long, the album has seven tracks: Detrás del cauce, muere, Pestus eram vivus, La última ola, Todos mis manuscritos, Morens tua mors erro, ¿Por qué te dejaste asesinar escuchando cuentos de álamos nevados? and the title track, El día de los fuegos. A very interesting, sagacious and genuine journey through a more authorial, expressive and rustic style of alternative rock, El día de los fuegos is a very vibrating, eclectic, creative and colorful record, that synthesizes on the wider range of its curious and vivacious melodies the expansive ordeal of a sound that impressively celebrates the axiom of its concentrated synergy in the beauty of increasingly energetic harmonies, that extrapolates the cataclysm of its own organic flexibility in the vicinities of a larger and elongated musical vibration. With a precise set of rhythms that deflagrates the paroxysm of a postulated creativity that easily flirts with a well-devised chain of experimentalism, Ríoseco is a very meticulous band, that expands on the spontaneity of a marvelous art the consolidation of an elaborated technique, easy to verify by the high standards upon which they’ve created their music.   

An instrumental album that displays the verified nuances of a symmetry perfectly aligned to the dispersive atmosphere of their paradoxically highly concentrated sound – that sometimes seems to discreetly flirt with blues and psychedelic rock –, melodies are traced in a single conjuncture, upon which becomes easy to compress its elements in a synchronicity where time and space elevates the uncertainty of its own tempestuous musical sphere in a mostly chaotic anatomy, since everything adjusts to the ongoing harmony gradually and naturally, in a purely calculated effort, that seems to be simultaneously accidental, as well as thoroughly planned. 

With an impeccable technique, and a formidable style upon which they deliver their music, Ríoseco undoubtedly is one of the greatest Argentinian bands active in their home country’s underground scene today, and El día de los fuegos certainly is one of the best instrumental albums that I have heard recently. With an expressively graceful sonorous style, able to encompass a wider array of musical perceptions, their instrumental perspicacity is above any possible measurements. They know how to create a fascinating musical journey, since El día de los fuegos can certainly be classified as a majestic monument of colorful and surreal dream-like exploratory soundscapes of ambivalent rapture, that fill the mind of the listener with the inspiratory mosaic of an everlasting day of graceful happiness and satisfaction.

Although their sound can appear to be repetitive or redundant at times, this mainly occurs as a natural consequence of their characteristic style, which is too exceedingly vast, but, at the same time, concentrated and imperative. Nevertheless, El día de los fuegos is a terrific and wonderful album; I think no enthusiast of alternative rock should dare not listening to this amazing work of art.   


Wagner

ambient / experimental

ambient / electronic / downtempo

doom / sludge metal

ambient / classical

punk / antifolk

progressive metal

death metal / industrial

black metal

shoegaze / alternative rock / dark rock

facebook

ambient / downtempo

electronic / techno / experimental

Hypermedium

black metal

drone / ambient / minimal

noise

techno

post hardcore

alternative / indie rock

A formidable and creatively lucid album, the world doesn't belong to us, it belongs to someone yet to come, is the most recent work by American alternative indie project Seahorses, from Portland, Maine, released on August 6. Forty four minutes long, this inspiring, sensational and graciously wonderful melodic album has six tracks: time undoes even the mightiest creatures, inevitably we will disappoint you, life like, but not alive, one day you will lie with the rest of your kind, bones turn to sand and your mind is a walled garden. With an exceedingly sensible and exponentially graceful indie harmonic atmosphere, the world doesn't belong to us, it belongs to someone yet to come, emphasizes a monumental and tremendously poetic texture of artistry into the fabulous nature of its soft, but meticulously delineated virtuous and vivacious opacity, that celebrates the delicacy of life into the surreal – and subtle – divinity of a marvelous reality, that seeks to expand elsewhere into the universe, but especially, into our lives.

With calm, but intense harmonies, Seahorses carefully creates worlds of wind and expansive galaxies of comfort to surrender the listener into a sonorous miracle that revolves around the ecstasy of rapture, and the redemption of serenity. Adorned by intelligent melodies surrounded by the grace of a virtuosity that seeks to aggrandize the boundaries of its implicit definitions, Seahorses, on this album, engraves the precise sonorous equivalence of an everlasting solitary sunset, seen in a splendid horizon of perception.

Original, fascinating and overwhelmingly fantastic, the world doesn't belong to us, it belongs to someone yet to come has graceful and unimaginable qualities; sustaining a melancholic veracity that seeks to achieve the ascendant principles of its gregarious and consistent truths, this album is a sensational masterpiece, that pullulates throughout the planetary devices of its authenticity the extraordinary sonorous procession that clearly has consolidated through the path of its ambitions the marvelous artistry of a technical integrity that obviously demanded the impeccable work we can testify as the final result – which is no other than magnificent.

A fantastic work, that will be widely appreciated by an audience that loves ambient music with an indie rock flavor, the world doesn't belong to us, it belongs to someone yet to come is a lucid, compelling, virtuous, profound, energetic and highly original art piece; a reminder that the true artist never sleeps, and has a thousand colorful, restless and translucent different universes floating inside of him. But to translate this into music is a task for the restless and impeccably talented! 



Wagner

shoegaze

Now, that is a good question. Are we free? Do we really grasp the concept of freedom? Opinions might and will differ about that subject, so let's not engage in an endless discussion. Yet, if there is one aspect in life that breathes freedom, it's music. Music is both the most universal and the most personal thing on this very planet. You can't touch it but you can change it. You can't taste or smell it but it will be with you for your entire life. Music is free, but it too has to do exactly what the musicians tells it to do. Then again, there are a number of drone ambient musicians who let the music create itself. It's complicated.

Anyway, I'm currently listening to an album by American shoegazers Crash City Saints. I don't know the band. I have never heard them before but the name seems to ring a bell. A quick internet search teaches me that the band formed in 2002, released an album ('Glow In The Dark') in 2010. According to their facebook page, they like bands like Ringo Deathstarr, Scott Cortez, The Hex Bombs, The Big Pink, Japandroids and Meshuggah. Odd.

The album begins with a slow, lingering shoegaze tune in 'Ice Cream Headache' before suddenly blasting off with tempo and shoegazing goodness that often reeks of doom metal, as in 'Smile Lines'. Eventually, once I'm over my initial feeling of surprise, 'There Is No School Tomorrow' pulls me over. Jesus And Mary Chain comes to mind and if that happens, I'm dealing with something good, something I will definitely like.

In a way, the album describes the story of a teenager growing up in a dead-end small town in the early 90s and finding sort of a path to salvation by listening to bands like My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins, Galaxie 500 and so on. Personally, I can relate to that. I too grew up in a small village and I too quickly seeked my salvation in music, although I listened to different bands. (blatant self promotion: because of that lifelong search, I wrote a book about music, 'Cecilia's World'.)

But let's get back to the songs on 'Are You Free?'. I can't find a single one I can't appreciate. 'Spirit Photography' is a brilliant shoegaze track while 'Act 2' brings out a noisy, experimental approach to alternative rock music. 'Dawn Of A Bring New Nothing' somehow reminds me of Slowdive or Cocteau Twins, so now might be a good idea to mention that Simon Raymonde contributed on this album.

'Annabella' is one of my absolute favorites. I love the electronic noise opening and the rest of the song is immersive as hell. Speaking about electronics, 'It's Not a Party Until Someone Breaks Your Heart' is a weird but danceable tune, seamlessly followed by the shoegazing disco tune 'The Hour Of The World', another one of my favorites here. Oh well, I guess you will by now know that I absolutely love this album and that I recommend it to all shoegazers out there.


​Serge

alternative rock / industrial

People who regularly visit this website might have already read our "Belgium - The capital of the (underground) music scene" series (if not, click here). In these series, I pretty much glorify Belgian music, the one thing in this country I'm extremely proud of.

Today, I can add one more band to the already massive list of countrymen-to-keep-an-eye-on. Their name is This Can Hurt. It's a duo, live aided by two more musicians. 'When Nothing Matters' is their debut full-length, one that might set the Belgian rock scene ablaze again.


The music is a blend of electronic soundscapes and alternative rock, perhaps best described as a mix between Massive Attack and Nine Inch Nails. At least, that's what the band claims. Personally, I'd like to add a few more bands to the mix, including Deftones, Radiohead, Placebo, Muse, Editors,... So yes, you can easily classify this as alternative rock, laced with electronics and a gritty atmosphere. 

The album opens with 'If You Go', a downtempo blend between blues, trip hop and grunge. This song immediately sets the tone for the entire album. There is a lot of emotion to be found, not only in this song but throughout the whole thing. 'Runaway' continues this immersive downtempo approach and quickly becomes one of my favorite tracks. 'Nothing Matters' seems to delve even deeper into the dark electronic eighties and thus another favorite for me.

But before you think it's all slow and downtempo, there are a few excellent rock songs to be found here. My favorite in that aspect is the uplifting post-punker 'Colder'. I absolutely love the drums on this one. they somehow remind me of Sisters Of Mercy, simply ramming away while the rest of the band takes care of melody and harmony. 'Mindblower' also reeks of the glorious eighties and adds a touch of noise to the whole thing.

'Bleed' is another intensely rocking highlight, driving on a contagious guitar riff. Finally, 'Codex' delivers some dark industrial electronic music, seemingly inspired by the EBM scene. So yes, this is quite a varied album, one that I recommend to all alternative rockers out there. This is another example of Belgium's talent, unique but familiar and always intriguing. I'd like to see this live one day, preferably very soon...


​Serge

grunge / alternative / stoner rock

A marvelous record, Or Die is an album released on July 30 by wonderful stoner/ post grunge band Highfly from Warsaw, Poland. With six tracks – On the Disappearance of the Dwemer, Ab Urbe Posnani, Spooky Guy from the FBI, T. Bone Rocket, Swear to God and The Ballad of Larry Flynt – Or Die is a great album, with amazing guitar riffs and astounding melodies. On this album, we have the spirit of stoner, deeply inserted in a more relaxed, but exceedingly stunning – and sometimes reflexively poetic – post grunge atmosphere, a remarkable sonorous experience that will enchant your soul, your body, your sensorial perceptions, in a highly ascendant journey of proverbial intensity, that will revolve endlessly around your whole comprehension of the genre. 

With an amazing and intelligent unconventional approach, Or Die is a groundbreaking experience on wild rock. Labeling themselves as “surf metal”, the irreverent spirit of the band, a little reminiscent of bands like Faith no More, is brightly fused with a post grunge appeal that remembers Tantric in its “glorious” days (if they really had something that we could call this way), as well as Soundgarden and Pearl Jam (but these two just a little). Influences apart, Highfly has its own style: a surprising sound that conquers the listener instantly, and reveals a deeply infused touch of savagery, with a melodic perspective that stands over the perceptive sensibility of a cosmic emotional infinity, guarded by a restless soul lost in an immensity of touching serenity, encircled by a marvelous sonorous chaos of sincere comprehension.  

A very intriguing album, Highfly has what it takes to be considered a great experiment on their genres of choice. A rebellious, categorical and very sophisticated group with qualities of their own, Or Die gets close of being considered a masterpiece. Bringing with them all the formidable traditional qualities inherent to the genre, but working them over their own organic sonorous anatomy, there is a touch of exceedingly sensational originality into them that immediately captivates the listener. And other than that, the music is simply beautiful. 

A marvelous album that you should listen very attentively, Or Die is a giant record, fulfilled with wonderful music from the beginning to the very end. A deeply aggrandizing authorial work, filled with a genuine and authentic creativity, Highfly deserves the best praise for this incredible record. With killing tunes and powerful melodies, this is a highly fantastic album, that will generate a tremendous commotion on its audience.   


Wagner