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.

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...

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.

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.

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?

Misantronics vs Mint Narcosis - EPI

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Order Serge's debut novel 'Cecilia's World' now.

Pie Are Squared - Co​(​a​)​sts

This EP by Italian based, Egyptian born multi-instrumentalist Mohammed Ashraf is entirely composed with the Make Noise 0-Coast synthesizer. I'm not really familiar with the technical specifications, but judging from the sounds produced, it must be a wet dream for synth fans. Pie Are Squared delivers five minimal and dreamy ambient tracks that remind me of some of the electronics pioneers of the sixties. The overall sound seems somewhat cold and gloomy, especially in 'Three And A Half'. If you're a synth based ambient fanatic, this EP will surely fit in your collection, right next to old Kraftwerk and Eno.

Interface Type Seven - Devices

Another beautiful piece of electronic ambient comes from Las Vegas based Interface Type Seven. Here too, minimalistic soundscapes and gloomy drones create gentle and dreamy tracks. In most of these rather short tunes , a sense of rhythm can be found, adding a lot to the immersive nature of the whole thing. Somehow, a very minimalistic version of Boards Of Canada comes to mind, along with Aphex Twin's pure ambient works and - of course - Biosphere. So, obviously, even though I don't have much to add to this review, this album comes extremely recommended for ambient fans.

30.000 Monkies - Starrrrrrrrring

Belgian noise makers 30.000 Monkies have been called the bastard sons of Sleep, Melvins and Lightning Bolt. Yet, most of all, this is just an intensely noisy combo with an odd sense of humor. The four tracks here are titled 'Orlando Doom', 'Keanu Riffs', 'Sharon Drone' and 'Tom Wanxxx'. So I guess I can compare this EP to watching these actors crawling through rivers of mud and faeces in a post apocalyptic world, only to end up on a vile orgy of grinding guitars, pounding drums and sheer brutality. Nope, going to the movies will never be the same from now on. Weird, noisy fucking Belgians... Buy this.

Horse Head - Terminal

A while ago, the mayor of Antwerp found a horse head on his driveway. I can imagine his mother's reaction. She must have sounded somewhat like this brutal quartet from Arizona. In four tracks, Horse Head pounds and pummels you into a bloody mash and you will absolutely enjoy the abuse. That is, if you're into harsh, intense and murderous sludge doom. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it. Thick, Conan/Yob like riffs form the foundation on which the vocalist can throw his lungs into an unexpecting audience. Musically, this is nothing new or original, but is executed to perfection. So yeah. Buy it.

Arkhon Infaustus - Passing The Nekromanteion​

French extreme metal duo Arkhon Infaustus returns with a pummeling and disturbing EP. Of course, them being in this business for twenty years, you can expect nothing less than harsh and intense old school blackened perfection. Chaotic at first, the four songs on this EP gradually showcase the band's talent and thier excellent flair for the avant garde approach. Still, within all this chaos and turmoil, Arkhon Infaustus manages to come up with great melodic passages. In fact, it took me four minutes to really get into this EP but now, after listening carefully, I consider this a highlight in today's blackened scene.

Brørby / Clausen - Mannen Faller

A harsh and relentless ambient album, quite often crossing the line between dark ambient and noise. 'Mannen Faller' by Norwegian artists Anders Brørby and Rune Clausen is probably one of the most surprising and stunning releases I have heard in awhile. It contains sounds of nature, like the lovely sounds of birds, but also the harsh, intense reality of it, represented by haunting noises and overwhelming soundscapes. It's like Biosphere and Haus Arafna suddenly decided to do something together. Perhaps the term 'brutalist ambient' really fits here, but in any way, this is a highly recommended work.

LaColpa - Mea Maxima Culpa

Well, since we decided to dig into the darker sides of the musical spectrum, we might as well plunge right into the void of the occult and the obscure. There we find Italian band LaColpa and their 'Mea Maxima Culpa' EP. These three long tracks are massive anthems of despair and hopelessness, blending dark ambient, sludge doom and black metal. They come with gigantic walls of sound, fearsome screams and soul piercing riffs. This is extreme music at its blackest, no doubt about that. If you're into acts like Rorcal or Celeste, LaColpa comes intensely recommended. This is a brilliant piece of aural darkness.

Nervcast - Locked And Loaded

Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Nervcast might be one of the most convincing old school thrash metal bands in today's era. This EP contains four tracks, which are clearly inspired by the first efforts of bands like Metallica and Megadeth. In fact, 'Chemical Solution' might as well be a track from the 'Ride the Lightning' album. 'Fallen Angels' is slower, nudging towards arena rock while 'Moonstruck' has an Iron Maiden meets Nevermore feel. Closer 'Locked and Loaded' turns back to Metallica for inspiration and brilliantly assaults your neck muscles. These tracks are great, old school and bloody catchy, thus highly recommended.

Terra IncΩgnita - Sign with Blood

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Greek heavy metal combo Terra IncΩgnita want to drag old school metal into the present day, and I must say, they're doing quite well too. These four tracks are firmly rooted in the epicness of bands like Manowar or Gravedigger but there is a tendency to experiment with progressive and atmospheric metal. The result is pretty damn good headbanging material that is also perfectly suited for fans of technical dissipation. With some crushing guitars and very strong choruses, these Greeks might be on their way to the bigger festival podia allover Europe. Rock on!!!

House Of Broken Promises - Twisted

Heavy Psych Sounds have been releasing plenty of electrifying releases in the past few years and it doesn't look like this tendency will end soon. Take this seven track EP for example, which contains two covers (Black Sabbath and Billy Squire) plus live tracks and outtakes. The whole thing is good for thirty minutes of old school rock 'n roll bliss and to party like it's 1969. With potent songs and heaps of energy, this record is definitely a welcome addition to your ever expanding hard/psychedelic/stoner rock collection. So check it out and get that rock 'n roll party started. You know you want to...

Rites of Daath - Hexing Graves

Polish newcomers Rites Of Daath come up with quite a fascinating mini album. The first few minutes are slow, haunting and gnawing pieces of doom inspired death metal but then suddenly, all hell breaks loose. The tempo goes up - severely - and elements from melodic Scandinavian death metal start blasting through the thick, downtune wall of sound. From then on, Rites Of Daath seem to maintain a firm grasp on the listener with a short but well varied effort. Death metal fans, rejoice, this might as well become one of your new favorites. This is brutal, harsh, relentless and vile, exactly the things you like.

Prostitution - Egyptian Blue

I know, from looking at the cover, you might expect a psychedelic rock album. I mean, this one looks like it fits perfectly between your grandfather's Pink Floyd, Yes and Camel albums. However, this three track EP kicks of with fierce and intense black metal, driving on pummeling drums and gut piercing riffs. Little later, Brooklyn based horde Prostitution deliver some progressive elements but the growls and screams never make place for something calm. Obviously, that is not a bad thing, on the very contrary. I think Prostitution are on their way to find their own sound in a genre that is seemingly limitless. Excellent stuff.

Andy K Leland - Happy Daze

Right, after all that violence, I need something to ease my nerves. That is where the playful ballads of Andy K Leland come in. On 'Happy Daze' you can find six short tunes that could have been either shoegaze or rock songs if there was a whole band, but since Leland is doing this on his own, the songs seem stripped down to campfire capacity. Yet, even in their minimal approach, this are quite catchy and immersive pieces of music which might as well put a large smile on your face. Opener 'The Kingdom' is probably my favorite but I enjoy every second of this EP. Recommended for fans of Luka Bloom and colleagues...

Ummagma - LCD

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Dreampop combo Ummagma return with a new EP and it contains some big names. Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) and Dean Garcia (Curve) offered their remixing talents, and then you pretty much know what to expect. The song 'LCD' is a delightful and somewhat experimental mid tempo trip hop tune. While the original is highly enjoyable, I prefer the long dreamy remix by Garcia, who also remixed 'Back To Do' in a similar - brilliant - manner. So is the Guthrie remix for 'Lama': immersive, dreamy and almost otherworldly. Yeps, this EP is definitely worth the effort

The Kahless Clone - Our Never-Ending Loneliness 

Hailing from Chicago, The Kahless Clone plays instrumental rock, inspired by Mogwai, This Patch Of Sky and so on. But wait, there is more. If you know that this band features Novembers Doom guitarist Vito Marchese, you can also expect plenty of dark, melodic metal influences. And the combination between the two makes this EP a brilliant one. Immersive melodies, gloomy rock passages and emotional post-whatever landscapes create something breathtaking. These are excellent narrative pieces of music, enhanced by stunning keyboard and electronics. Or: this is psychedelic progressive post dark metal at its very best...

Encyrcle - Burning Child

Danish horde Encyrcle delves deep into the history of thrash metal with their latest effort 'Burning Child'. This EP contains two brand new songs, a short instrumental and a cover version of 'Strange Days' (The Doors). Opener 'Delight Of Evil' seems to be exactly what the title predicts, since metal is the most evil of genres and this is a delightful piece technical skills and songwriting. Title track 'Burning Child' brings back the epic glory of heavy metal. Manowar, Celtic Frost and Venom come to mind, which I guess are not bad references. Recommended only for stubborn metalheads...

Caesaria - Come On & Dance

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And now for something completely different. French quartet Caesaria intivte you to the dancefloor with two uplifting and playful tunes. 'Take It Out On Me' is a modern day disco tune, mixed with sweet and innocent indie rock. The other track 'Come On & Dance' does things a bit slower and contains a rap passage. Personally, I like both tracks, even though this isn't necessarily the stuff I usually listen to. If you want your pop music to be a little rough on the edges but danceable and friendly, Caesaria certainly is a band to keep an eye on, and two ears, obviously, and put your dancing shoes on.

Mint Narcosis - Obtrusive Tunes For Obtrusive People

Once in awhile, Belgian ambient engineer Misantronics turns into his EDM alter ego Mint Narcosis and unleashes a bunch of quirky dance tunes. For this six track EP, Mint Narcosis was seemingly inspired by The Prodigy's breakbeats ('Prodigo') but also by industrial electornics ('Klotekloten') and drum & bass ('Wodan', 'Fear and Loathing' & 'Laika'). Of course, the Misantronics touch is never far away so there are some (dark) ambient passages to be found here as well, be it in a rhythmic, danceable way. In all, this is a fun album from an artist that stubbornly does whatever he likes to.

Vvon Dogma I - Communion

What would happen if you lock Daft Punk, Meshuggah, Apoptygma Berzerk and Scorn into a rehearsal studio? Well, I have no idea but this fascinating EP by Vvon Dogma I might give you an idea. To say that this EP is quite varied would be a tremendous understatement. Elements from industrial (techno ànd metal), progressive rock, trap, funk, house, djent and metal pummel you down until have no idea where you are or what musical age you're living in. Of course, there is ChaotH at his 9-string bass, but that is just one aspect of the unique and eventful sound of this band. Or in one word: Wow !

Kult Mogil - Portentaque

Almost two years ago, I reviewed an album by Polish horde Kult Mogil. Now, they return with another disturbing and chaotic piece of extreme metal. This three track ep mercilessly blends death metal, black metal, pagan metal and grindcore into one huge, vile and dissonant piece of noise. These guys have clearly found their own niche within the world of extreme music and they're not going to stop releasing their strange and unique sound any time soon. Not that they have to, this EP proves that extremes can still be unique, self-willed and bloody intense. Recommended? Only if you are experienced!