Ihä - Estructuras De Aire, Colonias De Soplo
Chilean drone/ambient band Ihä return with a beautiful new four track album. Much like their previous release, 'Esperanza', this one focuses on minimal but atmospheric soundscapes. The result is a soothing yet immersive piece of work, something fans of everything between Brian Eno and Barn Owl can certainly appreciate. Furthermore, people with a hectic life, people who just want to ease down and relax for a moment, should also give this stuff a chance. Play it loud enough, not too loud, close your eyes and let this talented act guide you through the wonderful world of Ihä.
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Spankraght - Spankraght EP
Antwerp is a crowded city. One day a metalhead and a drum & bass producer slammed into each other in one of our many record stores. Their respective Channel Zero and Netsky vinyl albums smashed into pieces and fell to the floor. Instead of fighting each other, they bought some gear and locked themselves in a rehearsal studio. Now they released a nice piece of crossover with a pounding five track EP. Heavy guitars meet electronic beats and synths in a whirlpool of musical energy. It's Pendulum meets Combichrist meets ... let's say Rammstein, or Metallica. Most of all, it's bloody awesome, although I have no idea how to both dance and bang my head at the same time...
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August Rosenbaum - Rasa
Back in November 2017 August Rosenbaum released 'Vista'. Now, as a little extra, he offers a six track EP, containing the stripped down foundations of that album, plus one brand new track, 'Milo'. What can I say about this EP? It's a man playing a piano, nothing more, nothing less. That alone makes this one of the most beautiful things to listening to, especially if that man is a talented and experienced composer. So, if you're into calm, soothing and blissful smile evoking piano music, this EP is an absolutely must have, nothing more, nothing less.
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Show Aniki - The Deep Blue Sessions
The EP by French hard rockers Show Aniki compiles four singles. Throughout the years, the band has suffered several line-up changes but that didn't seem to harm the energy. Influenced by everything between Metallica, Anthrax, Disturbed and Alice In Chains these guys deliver four solid and groovy rock tracks. This is perfect stuff for a hot summer afternoon on some big ass rock festival where the older generation of headbangers will often point at the stage and tell the youngsters how metal should be done. So yeah, this is edgy metal with a heavy yet melodic approach. Great stuff.
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The Human Race Is Filth - Liberate
Right, that was nice metal and all but for true mental torment you'd have to turn toward this cute and friendly American duo. Thrif delivers their second set of chaotic grindcore pummeling, once again with the intensity of an atomic blast. Fans of bands like Dismember and Napalm Death will undoubtedly get a hardon from this stuff (I don't need photographic proof of that!!!). In eight tracks, mostly short blast of ferocious crust/grind, Thrif effortlessly destroys everything in their path, including your sanity, but who needs sanity when you can have grindcore, right?
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Misantronics vs Mint Narcosis - EPI
Mint Narcosis
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Ambient and dance beats mix quite well together. Just look at acts like early Biosphere or Psychic Warriors Of Gaia. In that aspect, it's almost weird that ambient act Misantronics and his EDM alter ego Mint Narcosis only now release a cooperative EP. On 'EPI' you can find four tracks, three of them delving deep into the world of ambient techno and one coming up with some breaks. 'Dragon' and 'Kepler' showcase the calm but danceable side of this EP while 'Kuba' is an hypnotic, trance inducing dance track. 'Unwasted Years' is the odd one here, a gloomy IDM track with haunting soundscapes. Certainly to be continued.
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The Room in the Wood - Magical Thinking
Somewhere between the gloomy sound of new wave and the uplifting energy of alternative rock, we find Liverpool residents The Room In The Wood. Think acoustic music with a strong, distinct voice. In the title track the band shows an infectious blend between Leonard Cohen, Wall Of Voodoo and The Lemonheads. Yeps, that's possible. Johnny Cash fans will undoubtedly appreciate 'Baba Yaga' while The Doors lovers will pick out 'Dragonfly' as their favorite. My personal favorite is the opener. It's a track that makes me curious about their other work. I'll check that soon, but for now, this is good enough.
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Twilight - Trident Death Rattle
To be released on May 1st, this three track EP by legendary American black metal band Twilight, is perhaps one of the most epic blackened releases from that continent. These tracks, which feature Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, are harsh, intense and chaotic songs. They showcase a massive sense of derangement and isolation. In fact, Opener 'This Road South' is currently one of my favorite black metal tracks. 'Weathered Flames' is a suffocating spiral of blackened nihilism and closer 'No Consequence' will haunt your dreams for decades to come. These are nightmares translated to music and I like that.
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Corpsehammer - Perversión
Speaking about musical nightmares, allow me to plug this ugly little filth monger from Swedish extremists Corpsehammer. This EP is the third part in their EP trilogy, released by Morbid Skull. If you are a fan of old school black metal, and I mean old school in the form of ancient 'World Domination' compilations, this undoubtedly is your thing. In three tracks, plus an outro, Corpsehammer delivers a rancid, hardcore punk influenced approach to extreme metal, often at ferocious speeds. There's nothing pretty about this EP, on the exact contrary. This is the musical equivalent of crawling to mud and faeces, mixed with needles. Awesomeness...
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Grim - Requiem
Equally awesome but in a completely different way comes this new EP by Belgian trio Grim. This band from Leuven turns classical music into post rock anthems with a gloomy jazz feel. This release is based on Frédéric Chopin, more specifically his Préludes and Marche Funèbre. the result is a cinematic and somewhat intimate sounding blend of post rock and dark jazz, something I'm pleasantly surprised by. I can imagine enjoying this in a small and intimate live setting, like a living room or a salon. However, it would also fit perfectly on a festival like Dunk!. Anyhow, this is pretty cool and certainly recommended.
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Mhönos - LXXXVII
This album by French ritual drone doom act Mhönos is a massive and epic undertaking. In a way, this is pure catharsis, driving on monolithic riffs, deranged vocals and a crushing atmosphere. What I like most about this, is that the band allow the music to take all the time it needs to grow and evolve. Although slow, I can certainly sense a punk attitude here, mostly in the vocal performance. That reminds me of acts like Winter and coincidentally also Phantom Winter. Yet, the music also reminds me of noise acts like MZ412 and Brighter Death Now. So yeah, this is a brilliant piece of work and it comes highly recommended.
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Zero Theorem - Ataraxis
Some people are waiting for the new Tool album, others hope Disturbed will release their new record soon and still others are still going heavy on the latest Five Finger Death Punch or Papa Roach. All those people should turn their ears towards Los Angeles based metal band Zero Theorem. This six track EP easily draws comparisons with the aforementioned bands. All these songs are infectious modern day metal songs, with exactly the right doses of aggression, melody, riffing and electronics. It's been a while since I have been excited about anything nu-metal related but this EP definitely does the trick.
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Vampillia - Happiness Brought By Endless Sorrow
Legendary Japanese "brutal orchestra" Vampilia returns with a four track ep that will undoubtedly blast you into mental oblivion. With a furiously raging blend of black metal, grindcore, drone, post rock and noise, this ten piece smashes all competition. Obviously, that shouldn't be a surprise since this act has been on every extreme experimentalists favorites list for years. Although short, these tracks represent massive anthems and come laced with guitars, drums, violins, piano, screams, grunts and whatnot. This is absolute madness, in the best sense of the word.
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The Orchestra Of Mirrored Reflections - Narrow Escape
And to conclude, let me introduce you to one of my favorite dark jazz bands and their latest single. I have been following this orchestra for quite some time now and I'm always pleasantly surprised by their output. This time they deliver a long track that might as well become one of my favorites in the while genre. It's an eight minutes lasting and lingering piece of dark jazz with delayed bass, lazy drums and a free floating saxophone solo. In other words, this is perfect for a Sunday evening with wine and cigarettes, courtesy of The Orchestra Of Mirrored Reflections.
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