experimental / noise

Endlings are an American band, borne of a collaboration at the Albuquerque Experimental Music Festival, way back in 2010, between John Dieterich of Deerhoof and Diné composer, visual and sound artist, Raven Chacon. They’re joined on three tracks of this release by virtuoso percussionist Marshall Trammell. 

Both of the key artists in Endlings have a huge weight of critically well-received work behind them, which makes this – their second album – an interesting proposition. Their separate projects with Collosamite and Gorge Trio (Dieterich), and KILT and Postcommodity (Chacon) have seen plaudits from across the spectrum of musical artistry.

Combining heavy processing with field recordings and insistent tippy-tapping, the album opener mutates over the course of 150 seconds into a disconcertingly feral wind chime – instilling a certain tension in the play between chattering percussion, crushing chords and processed vocals.
One accusation you cannot level at this album is that of unoriginality. Moving from the tense opening track and into In Us Confide, we find the electronic crunches and squelches trying their best to conceal an almost easy-listening melody. Breaking down at the halfway point, the band present what could be a tribal threat of violence or a promise of friendship. As we turn our heads back to face the music, it seems to have changed back into its easy-listening cosplay outfit again, having shown its teeth momentarily.

Moving through the album, each… it doesn’t feel right to call them “songs”… each piece needs to be listened to and accepted as an individual contributor toward the overall feeling of the album. We could be fighting huge, stomping boots of processed vocals in one passage, then happily tripping to twinkles and sprinkles of abstract piano in the next. One section could throw apparently dissonant, filtered strings into the room, and we don’t know whether they’ll duel each other to the death or gang up on an unsuspecting counter melody and bludgeon them with a sharpened bow!
By introducing this tension into each of the pieces on this album – not knowing where we’re going, how we’re getting there or even WHY we’re going there – Endlings compel you to listen to every single second of every single track. It’s like watching a horror film: you know they’re building to a reveal of some kind – a jump scare? An innocent character? The Killer? – but the anticipation of the build leading to a sudden reveal leaves you feeling exhilarated/relieved/scared out of your wits. 
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Far be it from me to tell you, dear reader, how to listen to music, but it’s worth noting that Human Form is worth experiencing with no distractions. It isn’t going to be background music to meal preparation or mowing the lawn. Engaging yourself in other activities whilst listening to Human Form is like reading a magazine at the cinema or scrolling through your phone at an art gallery – sure, you can do it, but you won’t gain half as much enjoyment from it.
Headphones on. Phone out of reach. Eyes closed. Now adopt your Human Form.


Ben

avant garde / doom

Collaborative effort by French bands Greyfell and Endless Floods turns into one of the most charming, mesmerizing and sonically crunchy records of the year. 

I think everybody would agree that having two bands collaboratively write an album and not just going the easy way (one band does Side A, the other Side B) can be a heck of a complicated thing. Just remember the awesome “In the Fishtank” - compilations Konkurrent Records put out: they only worked so well, because they were the result of very spontaneous eruptions of interactions and direct clashes in a Dutch studio. 
And now Rouen-based label Soza / Collective 5024 releases a collaboration record by two fellow French bands, Endless Floods and Greyfell; some guys in Greyfell are also involved in the totally independent label and therefore this is a very “indie” cassette-only release. However, I am sure that there would have been a lot of labels that would have loved to release this wonderful piece of art by ÂGE ⱡ TOTAL (at least in a perfect world, there should have been loads to do so). Why? Because this record is a perfect combination of appeal, avantgarde and ambition. 

Four songs, two “monsters” of more than fourteen and sixteen minutes respectively plus two “short” ones, combine for a total of 42 minutes. All of them killer songs, even the longtracks which are absolute must-hears this year. The band uses some enchanting organ-like synths at the basis of their songs, while they are also not afraid to really riff it out fiercely! The nine musicians involved create a very modern definition of Wall of Sound. In the past, this was always seen as a Phil Spector-thing: using many instrumental tracks, layering them upon each other so that they are much more than the sum of their parts. In some way, ÂGE ⱡ TOTAL also do that but with a very different approach: they do not want to sound mighty, they just are. You have huge riffs laid upon elegant synths enriched with some violins, trombones and, of course, a magical rhythm section; the latter itself is a little miracle, as the two bassists and two drummers involved have never played in one band. That is another fact about ÂGE ⱡ TOTAL: it is very interesting to see such a tight sound created by a collaboration, because it requires a lot of communication what the result should sound like. 

The people involved share a clear , highly ambitious vision which I would describe with ecclesiastical avant-doom. 
Avantgarde because of the incorporation of some very nice machine sounds and noise elements that really support the album, especially on the second track “Carré”, plus some fringy structures and the fact that they do not use choruses, everything is flowing into one direction. 
Doom, well, because the songs are very long, very chunky in parts and highly elegant. Ecclesiastical because of the synth sound; it often sounds like a church organ (hence the connection to doom as well). But you might also say it is pretty hard shoegaze as there are certainly some elements of it, for example when you have the long vibratos of a single guitar note in contrast to long reverbs of a riff. 

Interesting is the combination of that wall of sound with the vocals, as you have four vocalists sharing duties and each seems to bring something individual. We have some slightly ethereal lines, some good harsh growling, some mighty (maybe even poppy?) clean sung parts and sometimes also spheres where they all add up to one mighty choir (for example in the last track “The Songbird”).

One thing is very clear to me: This record needs to be heard. It is as much My Bloody Valentine as it is Isis, it is equally psychedelia and doom, having pop appeal and street dirt. If you told me this was the result of a longstanding and highly experienced band I would believe you as this does not sound like two bands working together. And that makes this record even better, even more enjoyable, more admirable. Two units sharing one vision and becoming one mind-blowing collective that release a record that will hold up for a long time. 


Thorsten

avant-garde / black metal

The Dutch duo Urfaust has always surprised us with their experiment-driven black metal. They profile themselves with an underground character and occultist atmosphere. For example, the band rarely plays live and they like to stay low profiled. Urfaust released several albums and split-EP's with bands like Ruins of Beverast, Joyless and King Dude. They are also deeply connected with the German Ván label operated by Sven Dinninghoff, former member of the German black metal bands Nagelfar and Graupel.

Urfaust latest album is the result of the band’s continuing developing progress. Teufelsgeist is a thirty-four minute hymn to alcoholic intoxication and desperate views through in a state of delirium. The album starts with very bombastic keyboard waves and a satiate euphoria. IX (Willem) sings his odes in his own style with theatrical vocals spreading a mesmeric pace. Giving this music style a name isn’t easy. The black metal guitar riffs disappeared on Teufelsgeist and made way for dark gothic oriented soundscapes filled with rolling bass riffs (De Filosofie van een Gedesillusioneerde) and pounding drum patterns from VRDRBR (Nachtraaf). The murky moods on this album are enhanced with stark background effects and a vivid awareness of the drinking devil’s presence. 

We were hammered by this epic piece of blackened avant-garde without a drop of alcohol. The titles of the tracks are in mesmerizing Dutch words like: Van Alcoholische Verbittering naar Religieuze Cult (From Alcoholic Bitterness to Religious Cult). The idea of listening to this music together with Jack, Glenn, Jim or gin makes us a little anxious about the devilish elaboration of the music mixed with the substances.

A special Teufelsgeist box with LP, CD and a 50cl bottle of gin with glass was almost immediately sold out. Check the band’s Bandcamp page for more info about the physical sound carriers of this almighty album.

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Patsker

doom / avant-garde / noise

Doom is one of those genres that can basically be everything because nowadays it is more than doom in the Type-O or Candlemass-kind of sense, it is also used as a description for a certain attitude and a certain range of music somewhere between Domkraft and Sunn O))), Anna von Hauswolff’s BADA and Wino. But to describe it simply as a state of mind is also not enough, because, unlike punk, doom cannot be an attitude. 

This is also noticeable when listening to Dutch doom/noise mashers Farer who have just released their full-length debut “Monad” at the end of November. But the band members are definitely no newcomers, as they have been playing under the name Menhir since 2013 and include members of Ortega. Last year they chose Farer as their new name and with that also came a change of style and sound. While Ortega gravitates much more towards post-metal, Farer is a bastard of doom and avantgarde noise. 

Their 4 track, 52-minute debut is a bastard of various parents – Sumac, Boris, The Body and Briqueville. Seems like a strange combination? Well, maybe, but Farer also play strange music. First off, they seemingly want to sound as if they are riding on the ways of a hurricane. There is always this sense of storm in their music, which is also a clear hint at their noise-aspirations. The distortion is set to echo over itself so that it keeps on reverberating in itself creating this kind of spiraling effect pulling the listener higher and higher. The latter effect is also supported by the fact that sometimes they use some smaller snippets in the background to even further strengthen their huge soundscape so that the air gets thicker and the oxygen gets less and less. Funny is the moment at the end of the opening track “Phanes” when you notice that part of those snippets was a clean-sung choral which was used in those part of the storm that are less upfront but still audible. 

The band plays with some industrial sounds in “Asulon”, the second track, which gives that song a “Godflesh”-feel, even though that is maybe a very personal idea. Nevertheless, this is also the track which seems most like Briqueville. The clean vocals at the beginning of the track connects it very well to the end of “Phanes” as mentioned before. The meandering industrial reverbs in the background are laid over the ever-present dangerous basic soundscape that connects all tracks and that makes this album also a very coherent unity. In “Asulon” the guitars take over after 5.20 minutes and they turn this track even more into a standout song. Alas, one should not forget that the creation of a “standout track” is probably not what Farer had in mind, they wanted to create a standout album and they really did. The noise guitars that are partially Sumac, partially Sonic Youth and yet always Farer are combined with wonderful little drums changes. Even when we have a guitar crescendo trying to move ahead of everything else it is still always held back by the other instruments so that we cannot but wonder how effective the band is. 

They show us so much in the final two songs “Moros” and “Elpis” that it becomes clear why Menhir only published one EP in 2016 before the band changed their sound, their songwriting, their approach and developed new songs. The choice must have been a hard one, but when listening to the “horns” (at least that’s what they sound like) in “Moros” one recognizes a band that chose not to choose between things but to be as borderless and free as possible. Everything works for the best of the record. 

“Monad” is nothing more and nothing less than another reason why to hold back with your AOTY lists till December. This band is gonna go far if they publish more music in the vein of their debut with so many high-quality songs garnished with as much virtuous noise as these four tracks. And, as if it was the most simple thing in the world, they show what doom is in the year 2020. It is writing a record that doesn’t care about what doom is but that defines it for themselves. 


​Thorsten

avant-garde / black metal

Photosynthesis – without it we would not be alive, for it is the key element for oxygen production. It is a very complicated process to explain, although as a teacher of mine once said “It’s not complicated, it’s just natural!” (Yeah, thanks, I still never got anything better than a C-). And there comes a avantgarde-metal band and explains it in its own way, as an analogy to human life, with regeneration as one of the major motifs. 

Otrebor, the mastermind behind and only constant member of Botanist, has divided his new record into the eight “steps” of photosynthesis - “Light”, “Water”, “Chlorophyll”, “Dehydration”, “Bacteria”, “Stroma”, “Palisade” and “Oxygen” (even by looking at this list one can understand the biological process more easily!). Of course, this seems like an analogy to other bands, who have a huge background concept behind their records like The Ocean. However, there is nothing too logical about this record, it flows nicely and, yes, naturally. 

To say that of a record of such harsh melodies, such raw moments (we are still talking about a black metal band, basically) speaks volumes about the quality of the music. That can also be connected to the collective he gathered to help him with the recording. Otrebor himself mainly plays the hammered dulcimer, a medieval instrument which he plays like a guitar, his constant companion Daturus once again contributed on drums and new on this record is Tony Thomas on bass. Thomas and Daturus also brought in Chelsea Rocha-Murphy who is their bandmate in Oakland-based progressive extreme metal-outfit Dawn of Ouroboros and who sings on “Dehydration”. 

That is also a very exemplary song: opening with an acoustic intro whose single note at the end is a bit high in pitch than the ones before, the song then turns into a near-classic black metal track where only in reflection you feel the lack of a guitar, as the dulcimer tones are always a bit more steely, a bit less distorted. The interesting bit about “Dehydration” is its middle part, where the band easily slows down and then also effortlessly kicks in again with some fear-inducing blastbeats. Chelsea herself provides some background lyrics and also joins Otrebor in his melody, so that their voices very nicely compliment each other. 

The “Verdant Realm” (the world of the plants) is Otrebor’s “safe haven” which he never leaves for the outside world, even on pictures you can see him wearing a mask over his face which resembles an assembly of twigs. Being anonymous and stepping back from a human personality to give as much space to his Verdant Realm philosophy is one of his major interests. That also shows a deep understanding of his on nature itself, as there is no tree or plant that tries to overshadow the other, there is no main role – each plant contributes to the ecosystem and to the process of giving life through photosynthesis. 

Looking at the record it is obvious that its artwork is one of the most beautiful of 2020. Listening to the music it becomes clear that this is one of the most intriguing and versatile black metal releases this year. For reasons unclear, Botanist is still one of those underrated bands – this must change with this beautiful record!


Thorsten

avant garde / piano

Comparisons can be so misleading. But every once in a while one can totally agree with the promo writer. When receiving the promo email for this record it said “For Fans of Chelsea Wolfe, Julia Holter, Anna von Hausswolf, Jarboe, Agnes Obel”. While I can really agree with using these as a cornerstone for the vocals, I think the most obvious one is lost here: Tori Amos. 

Amaya López-Carromero, born in Madrid and now residing in Edinburgh, is a classically-trained piano player and it becomes really obvious in the mix of her third record that the keys are the basis for her work. But we are not talking about a piano-only instrumentation. Just like Anna von Hauswolff a lot of layers are added to the soundscape; from a guitar and drums to cello and violin. Nevertheless, it doesn’t add up to a classical European ensemble: It sounds like straight from the Near East, from Iran or Syria, a place where cultures clash and together create so much more. Maud the Moth is an enigma, her voice is gentle and touching and yet at times it sounds dark and dangerous and this space between lurking and luring is the magic behind her work. 

It is easy to envision a nomad caravan in the 19th century traveling on camels from Istanbul to Damascus to bring several spices and something else, this piano that the lady of the spice merchant needs in order to enchant the travelers in the evening. The oasis is filled with the melody of minor and major keys accompanied by the violins and cellos and the sweet tea is strong and spicy and the air is still damp from the daytime-heat. And then they hear her voice, not strong and cheerish, but fragile and lamenting. They notice that she is singing about her grief and loss, about living at the crossroads and trying to find oneself. Another comparison that can be made is Declan De Barra and his debut record “Song of a Thousand Birds” because of the compositional value. The lamentations are like minuscule folk tales and sound like the result of hundreds of years oral history and traditional storytelling. It seems quite unbelievable that this is the work of such a young woman but then again, age is just a number and talent is not measured in summers passed. This is also reflected in the album title, “Orphne” which was a mythical nymph dwelling in the ancient Greek underworld. The other connotation is the connection to “orphan” (both words share the same stem) and the absence of a patriarchal figure; an idea not really far from the very feminine yet strong aspects of the songs. The woman without a father has to grow strong and self-reliant in order to survive in a world where masculinity is still the driving force. 

When entering the world of Maud the Moth you should be prepared to leave behind your actual place and time and be ready to embark on a musical journey to the crossroad between modern day avantgarde song writing and near east soundscapes. You won’t have to worry about comparisons; just relax and enjoy this unique and self-sufficient record. Worth every moment. 


Thorsten

black metal

Decades ago it was normal for bands to release at least one record a year. Nowadays that is rather unusual so that if a band comes along and is able to publish two good records within one year’s time this should be noted as is the case with Switzerland’s black metal hopefuls Aara. In 2019 they published their acclaimed debut full-length “So Fallen alle Tempel” and now they are back with “En Ergo Einai” – and in between these two full-lengths they were even able to release a one-track single called “Anthropozän” (also one Debemur Morti)! 

But not only Aara’s output rate is impressive but also its quality, “En Ergo Einai” is another good example of modern atmospheric black metal. If anybody asks you in twenty years “what was the state of the art in black metal back in 2020?” - you can just simply use Aara’s second full-length to exemplify your answer. Melodic vocals, often using ethereal backing chants in order to purvey some kind of community event also called ritual. The guitar work is on point as the riffs are heavy but clear, the tornado is still a tornado but now you can see the whirling circles of the houses uprooted and pulled towards the deathly heavens. The drumming is able to hunt down each soul in its proximity and then give it a rest by gently padding it on the shoulder as if to say “don’t worry, all will be well, soon. (when this is over.)” And in the middle of all of this there is even a bigger idea behind it all: 

The duo consisting of the anonymous members vocalist Fluss (“River”) and the instrumentalist Berg (“Mountain”) was inspired by the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century and the idea of mankind stepping out of its not-knowing, refraining from its omnipresent. Alas, Aara’s notion of the Enlightenment is not a merely positive one because to them, mankind’s strife for a better world is a lost cause as perfection cannot be found and thus this search is a futile one. 

Thus, we see – modern black metal fans must not fear (for fear is futile), Aara will keep your ears busy and your minds open for new thoughts and perspectives. Hopefully, with another good release next year!


Thorsten

grunge / stoner rock

Iceland’s scene is very likely one of the strongest worldwide as we are talking about a country with roughly 360,000 inhabitants and yet we all know so many bands from Iceland pushing the brim for modern music further and further. Keelrider is another one of those, although they most likely will not see as much attention as Sigur Ros, Björk or the whole Icelandic black metal scene because they are Stoner Grungers with a twist. In 2018 they published their debut album “North” and last year they published two singles from their upcoming album “Second Wind”. While “Too Far Gone” is in parts a very nice melange of Alice in Chains-vocals and Soundgarden-stoner riffs, “Sun” is much more interesting because the band some a little more variety when it comes to time signatures and giving the guitar lines more space to breathe. If you are into stoner rock and grunge, this band is something right for you! 

post metal

Post-Metal from Italy. Most foreigners automatically associate it with Postvorta but some, a little deeper in and a little longer might remember the name Calendula, the sextet from Parma, which released an EP (2011) and a full-length (2012) a while ago. After some changes concerning line-up and musical direction, they released a 25-minute-song in November which definitely doesn’t fit to the title “De Brevitate Vitae” - it’s not brevis (brief) at all. It is quite a monster with a lot of dynamic changes and oscillates between dynamic driving drums and some really clever, counteracting guitar-work following the long intro, which sometimes hints at a bit of Tool. The vocals are pretty good, they also use some samples to give it a more differentiated sonic outline. Something that can be criticized is the sound as the partially trashy Lo-Fi sound doesn’t really fit a record as ambitious as this one, although on the other side it fits to the proclaimed role models  – 90s post-rock bands such as Slint (noticeable in the very effective guitar motif after the first real break). If the guys follow this path, we might have two Italian associations with the term Post-Metal.

electronic 

Svart Records is one of the finest labels when it comes to hard, harsh music, most people know about that. Most people do not know that they also have an electronic sub-label – Svartronix which again is very open-minded. A few weeks ago they released the debut song by A Heart Beats “Dazes the Mind” which is pop music that fits perfectly in any 80s mix of songs by some tropical house producer. This songs purvey a kind of Caribbean calypso feeling but their sex-appeal derives to a large extent from the intriguing vocals of Paile who once was a member of Beastmilk. His delivery is very nice and especially the chorus is so funky that one automatically feels his feet moving, but the line also has some depth “It dazes the mind / and numbs the tongue”. The beats produced by Tuuki are layered with some space basslines in the sense of some more synth-driven Daft Punk and the beat itself is shuffling a bit, so that the sunny, opening sounds give the song a holiday feeling without the stupidity. A promising debut song, let’s hope A Heart Beats and Svartronix has some more servings.

doom / death metal

Russian death doom act Intaglio released a demo version of a new track at the end of last year and in some way, the beauty lies in the rhythm. Many voices will now scream that the rhythm is nothing particular new to the genre, as the slow, dragging rhythm of the song is really quite normal, but the way that the strings connect to it, support it in certain passages, yeah, even form it from time to time, that is really breathtaking – the Gothic attitude it brings to the song turns it into a remarkable one. The lyrics, speaking about the overwhelming character of a memory of death which overshadows everything else, are delivered in regular death metal style. Another standout feature is the use of the use of an upright bass that is tuned so well, that you can hear each tap and each ring.
In some way, three pretty singular metal genres are amalgamated into one pretty dense net of emotions that will leave no open ear without imprinting a memory of itself on the listener. If this is a first sign of a new album then one might keep Intaglio in mind.

punk

Everything about this 7” screams “Old school! Old school!”, the cover (seemingly a reverse from the classic Minor Threat discography cover that also was adopted by Rancid several years ago), the cover b-side, the black-white style, the sound, everything! But first things first: The revived band released a good album in 2018 and last December followed with this 7” out on Heartworm Press. The title track is a new shotgun blast somewhere between Zeke, MC5, The Clash, Turbonegro and Black Flag (although one must say, that only the vocals sometimes hint at Rollins) – definitely a good track. The b-side is a well-made cover of “Left for Dead” by The Lemonheads another one of these late 80s punk bands that turned more and more to indie-rock. The cover is good and shows a different side to American Nightmare. However, there is one thing that is lacking in this release and that is the teenage angst that made AN famous. The despair, the sadness, the melancholy – not there. On the other hand, that might drive the listener to despair and achieves the same effect.

avant garde / folk

Dog Tunnel Records

There are genres that seemingly are so heavily steeped in tradition and customs that it is hard to imagine to hear a new sound in them. Take Irish Folk for example; most of us at first might associate it with pub nights somewhere between the Dubliners and Christy Moore (at best) or Michael Flatley and Enya (at worst). But to combine the traditional folk instruments bodhran, flute, violin, and guitar with a wall of sound, lots of spoken word (not cheerfully and rhythmically, but rather intimidating and fierceful) is something rarely heard before. Tuatha is a fierce project that will leave some of us open-mouthed. Formed in early 2019 and already a rising star on the scene, the septet uses old Irish tales from the Middle Ages and Gaelic Dindsenchas (short poems describing certain places) to deepen their already impressive style. In parts, their unrelentless approach reminds one of the approach Archive and SubRosa took in totally different musical landscapes. This here is unique, bewitching and typical Irish yet also totally un-Irish. Folks, give Tuatha a listen!

sludge / doom

A quartet from Phoenix, Arizona with a very grainy, heavy sound, Mosara released their debut demo last November. It shall be a prelude to a record which is in the making and should see the light of day before the end of the year; of course the demo should also draw interest from labels and I think it might: The musical soundscape is strongly influenced by a lot of proto-metal like Sabbath, Blue Cheer, but also by classic doom bands like Electric Wizard or Cough – that means, you get what you expect, low-tuned, richly-distorted, grainy, a bit lofi-ish doom sounds with a tinge of sludge influences (most audible on the second track “Clay and Iron”). Sometimes the howls and growls could be a bit fiercer and less despaired because, sometimes, Tony Gallegos (ex-Twingiant) is a bit too clear. Nevertheless the sound is great, as if someone mated Fu Manchu with Sabbath and their offspring was left in the desert with a guitar as the only means of communication. The riffs are dragging, the bass is dominant, the drums are supportive – all good in the Arizona desert. 

death metal / black metal / doom / noise / grindcore

Noise bastard? Yeah. Death metal? Sometimes. Grindcore? For sure. Doomy Gloom? You bet. All of that and more is “Tellurian Insurgency” by Ploughshare. With their third release in as many years (after 2017’s “Literature of Piss” and 2018’s acclaimed “In Offal, Salvation”) the quartet from Australia’s capital Canberra once again proves that the bar is always too low for them. Excellent musicians with a highly complex understanding of how music works they show that extreme metal must also rely on atmosphere that sometimes exists between the chords and blastbeasts. A great deal of the attraction of this band is the vocals, which never sound cheesy but quite on point. This EP also features a remix of their standout song, the title track of “In Offal, Salvation”, which shows that it is even possible to give this dark nightmare of a song an even more desperate twist. One thing that becomes clear throughout the record is how important good drumming is for such a kind of music as it must set the tone for everyone. If the guys can keep up their productivity we should await a new heir to the extreme metal throne in 2020.

industrial

Describing this Oakland, CA, quartet is not that easy and not that difficult at the same time. Their sound relies heavily on synths, samples but also on guitar, bass and drums. They cross constantly between electronic noise (aka industrial) and post-punk’ish avantgarde sounds. Initiated in 2013 and having independently released already a bunch of records, Lament Cityscape set out to publish three EPs in 2020, each following some red thread and yet also standing out on its own. Something that they share with some of the pioneers of this kind of sonic assault (Godflesh, Killing Joke, Author & Punisher) are the harsh sounds that sometimes remind one of buoys warning the oncoming ships of the nearby rocks and sandbanks which here are symbolized by the rough drum attacks. In parts, this is a good record for those who like Godflesh’s Streetcleaner a bit less polished and a bit more straightforward. Partially, one is left behind by a lack of surprise, but fans of industrial noises and harsh synth-driven drums will really like this.

black metal

At first, the band’s name might sound like a nice pun on 80s karate flic “Bloodsport” (with the amazing multiple Academy Award winning actor Jean-Claude van Shakespeare) but when listening to this new face on renown Swedish Meta label Blood Harvest it becomes clear that the idea of a fungi which sits parasitically on its host and feeds of it before finally killing it works perfectly within the black metal community. It also works nicely because the record to it is really good and leaves one’s ears with an immediate wish to press replay because of its clever changes in mood, dynamics and tempi. The record (especially the second track “Cede to the Saprophyte”) is like a nice blend of groove metal and black metal with the emphasis, of course, on the latter. Thematically, the record presents the idea of the fungal mass on this planet slowly but certainly taking over and destroying all other organisms, a new take on the apocalyptic visions presented by bands like Botanist or Arx Atrata. For a band that only came together in 2018, this is really somewhat impressive. 


​Thorsten

avantgarde

Kreationist comes out of the blue with an out of the box release. Murky music needs an obscure underground label like the American Arctic Ritual Records who was willing to distribute the complex work of the bedroom artist Vidi. Merchants of Air was excited to receive this debut that was released on only 100 copies. 

Indulgence was build up on the poems of the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, he was a representative of symbolism and one of the great innovators of poetry during those days. The poems of Rimbaud were already an inspiration to several musical releases. The most known is the concept album Sahara Blue (1992) produced by Hector Zazou with, among others, David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto and John Cale. 

But Vidi has chosen an unopened path. He mixed the lyrics of the famous poet in a dreary whirlpool of avant-garde black/doom metal riffs, cold trip hop with electronica and ambient parts. His voice screams, rasps and talks with deep emotional content.  On track two, Tête de Faune, Vidi reaches the same ambient atmospheres of Hector’s Sahara Blue. Even though his voice distortions the romantic vibe, his rough whispering takes this awesome track to another dimension. The piano and organ sound creepy between the black metal riffs while on La Première Soirée part one and two, pumping trip hop and acoustic guitar got fused in sharp riffs and angry screaming.

With Indulgence, Vidi walks away from any genre. He doesn't repent his own musical interpretations of Rimbaud’s words and doesn't give a lack to what the world might think. We welcome the work of Kreationist which is stubborn, creative, mean and challenging. This is an album for open minded souls who seek new musical journeys, consider us one of them.

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Patsker

electronic / avantgarde

There are a few artists out there whose productivity and oeuvre are really hard to grasp in its utter madness. Zappa released more than 60 records, there are probably more than 200 Pearl Jam live-archive records released by the band itself, Bach composed way too many works for anybody to fully understand it, and then there are the noise artists of the last 30 to 40 years. And then there is KK Null. 

An artist who has worked on several important records and projects, Zeni Geva probably being his most well-known band, KK Null by now has worked on more 150 releases – either his solo work or the work with his band projects. For 2019 alone, discogs lists 16 albums and several smaller works! Talk about a restless person; nevertheless, if you look at his personal FB page you will see a man who is at peace with himself and who seeks peace. However, if you listen to his work, you will get a totally different feeling – one of unrest, of distress, of disharmonic chaos.

Interestingly, he performs the music for himself rather than for anybody else. You can’t cope with it? Your problem. Need any kind of information what he sounds like? Take Aphex Twin’s noisy snippets that jump in from the side and then flirr upwards into nothingness, only to come back down even noisier; take Atari Teenage Riots industrial drums but speed them up until they are merely one line on the oscilloscope; take the guitar riffs used by bands like Boris but take out the doom and turn it into gut-wrenching miniscule attacks on each of your nerves. Take all of this and take your time. 

Because, KK Null’s work needs time. On short listen to “Great Attractor” exemplifies all of this: You cannot grasp the “beauty” of it if you do not sit down and let the sounds wash over you. There is so much to absorb in this sound-verse that either you immerse yourself subconsciously into it until your heart stops trying to follow any form of drum pattern and you just feel it. Or you try to sit down and analyze everything that is happening – albeit, the latter is definitely the road to madness. The beats on the two tracks (one 22 minutes, the other 29 minutes!!!) do not remain steady they overlap each over; the noise elements do not connect to a larger unity, they separate themselves because they are loners. Only our mind and soul can bring all of this together. A hell of a work, a hell of a reward. 


Thorsten