Category: Folk Metal

The Vale - Autumn in the Valley

doom / rock

In the early days of Merchants Of Air I reviewed an album by Finnish band Ovenizer. Now they return with a new name and a new EP but the recipe seems to remain rather similar. Once again, this trio comes up with melodic yet heavy rock music, blending influences from doom, psychedelic rock, stoner rock, alternative rock and post-metal. The result is an EP with five highly enjoyable rock songs, highlighting in 'Dead Features', a fast punky rock tune that Lemmy would have liked. 'Ghost Ship' is another favorite of mine, a pummeling heavy rock tune. In all, this is an excellent EP which makes me curious for more.

Empress - Reminiscence

sludge / doom

This Canadian sludge metal monster was born after two of its members attended an Elder show. Inspired by the massive wall of sound and the psychedelic madness the two enlisted a third member and crawled into the rehearsal studio. Now, they are almost ready to unleash their firstborn, named 'Reminiscence'. What to expect? Well, five brutal and intense pieces of sludge doom in the vein of bands like Dopethrone, Yob, Elder and so on. In 'Immer', my personal favorite here, you can also find some blackened influences. Great EP, definitely a must have for sludge doomers.

Heligoland - Coriallo

shoegaze / dreampop

Produced and mixed by Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, this EP by Heligoland promises over twenty minutes of pure dreampop bliss. These five songs are beautiful, inspired by acts like Slowdive, Cocteau Twins and Portishead. Ambient soundscapes and post rock guitars deliver an emotional sound on which the fragile voice of Karen Vogt thrives. It's hard to pick out a favorite here but the uptempo 'Orion' and the breathtaking 'Three' will undoubtedly appear in my day-to-day playlist regularly from now on. If you're a fan of dreampop, this EP is an absolute must-have, no doubt about that.

Duran Duran - Girls on Film - 1979 Demo

new wave

Here is a surprise, four previously unreleased demo tracks by legendary band Duran Duran. These songs were recorded in UB40's studio back in 1979. That's right, before Simon Le Bon joined the band. On vocals you will hear Andy Wickett. The sound is very reminiscent of that early eighties UK new wave sound. Of course, the demo version of the smash hit 'Girls On Film' really stands out on this EP but I suggest you take a good listen to tracks like opener 'See Me, Repeat Me' (which later became 'Rio') and 'Reincarnation'. You have never heard these tunes like this before. I urge all Duran Duran fans to check this out.

Luke Fox - Sugarloaf

pop / rock

Australian singer-songwriter Luke Fox delivers five sweet, warm and enjoyable pop rock tracks, seemingly inspired by indie rock and country. Yet, this is not a one-man act armed with guitar and voice. For this EP Sox got a little help from his friends. Together, they turned these tunes into full blown soft pop ballads. Perhaps for most Merchants Of Air readers, this EP is a bit too nice and gentle but I would recommend checking it out anyway. This is warm music, perfectly suited for starlit nights on warm beaches. Favorite tune: 'Fly In The Champagne', a joyful tune that somehow reminds me of Ween. Not bad!

My Deathbed - My Deathbed

black metal

Another one-man project but residing on a completely different edge of the musical spectrum, My Deathbed comes up with a primitive, intense and haunting depressive black metal album. In four tracks My Deathbed guides the listener along feelings of solitude, abandonment and fear. Opener and title track 'My Deathbed' is a 25 minutes lasting anthem of despair, coming with howling vocals and a cold, bleak but rather slow black metal sound. 'Nails Deep In Wounds' is my favorite here. A harsh, relentless and chaotic piece of black metal. My advice? It might definitely be worth to check this out.

Versus The Ghost - We Don't Belong Here

post rock

In May of last year, Wagner reviewed the debut album by English post rock band Versus The Ghost (read). Now they return with a brand new single, a sixteen minutes lasting post rock anthem named 'We Don't Belong Here'. Well, I just want to say that Versus The Ghost definitely belong here, here in the ever expanding and mesmerizing world of post rock. This track is a beauty, one that certainly promises great things for the future of this young band. In sixteen minutes, these guys manage to showcase the full spectrum of their view on post rock, from ambient passages to immersive instrumentalism. Must-have!!!

(D)juret - Sök Din Sekt

punk / crust

Cramada

What would happen if bands like Tyr or Heidevolk jump on the punk train? Well, the answer might be something like this Swedish quartet. Somehow (D)juret have managed to combine punk rock with folk metal while still showcasing some crust punk and blackened hardcore. On this three-track EP they blast some weird but brutal, some unusual but fierce punk into your eardrums and you will have absolutely no other option than to love the shit out of it. Just when I thought punk music lost all its originality, this band comes into my life. Oh well, buy this and shut up.

Concrete Eden - Left

nu metal

NRT Records

Hailing from Graz, Austria, Concrete Eden aims to be a big part of the nu metal revival and I must say, they do a pretty good job at it too. With a blend of metal, hardcore and rap they manage to come up with a convincing sound. Bands that come to mind include Limp Bizkit, Clawfinger, Korn and at times even Fear Factory. Plus, there are some pounding anthems to be found here, including the brilliant 'Communication Fails'. Nu metal fans will definitely love this stuff. Some of the riffs might sound familiar but I guess that is just a genre-thing. In all, I think this is a splendid release and a welcome addition to your nu-collection.

Aidan Baker & Gareth Davis - Invisible Cities

drone / jazz

Time to calm down after all that heavy stuff and what better way to do that than with the minimal guitar drones of mister Aidan Baker. For this release he collaborated with Gareth Davis who plays the bass clarinet. The result is an awe-inspiring marriage between drone ambient and dark jazz, thus probably one of my favorite releases in 2018. The album contains four long tracks, each one a gloomy and immersive piece of "jazz noir". Think Dale Cooper, think Bohren, think Radare, but most of all, know that this is a brilliant collaboration between two immensely skilled and experienced artists.

Serge

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Brieviews 33

4/1/2018

Happy new year, dear reader, and welcome (back) to Merchants Of Air. To kick off the year in style, we prepared another heap of Brieviews and once again we're exploring many corners of the musical universe, from the heavy jazz of Dead Neanderthals over the fun folk metal of Nordheim to the soothing downtempo electronics of Build Buildings. Enjoy the read and let us know in the comments if you found something interesting.

Planetariet - Planetariet

post rock

An infatuated, but deeply calm and resourceful cosmogony amazingly inserted in an overwhelming ocean of clarifying thoughts, S/T by Planetariet, is an amalgamation of underlying vicissitudes brilliantly crafted at the harmonious line of a delicate and sensible planet of sonorous isolation. With a gentle touch of eternity, this interesting and refreshing EP is an intensely reverberating enigma of homogeneous synchronicity, that seems to revolve around the soul of its own reflexive and protuberating sincerity. With a calmer sound that apprehensively feels the underlying eccentricity of its profound and

densely acquiescent serenity, majorly entangled in a human emotional diagram of omnipotent infinity, S/T is a simple, yet complete sonorous conflagration of a melodic universe, whose imponderability is virtually attached to the most restless deliberation of a wonderful and honest expressive moment in time.

Wagner

Dead Neanderthals - Organ Donor

heavy jazz / grindcore

Dutch heavy jazz duo Dead Neanderthals come up with a late Christmas present: a fifteen minutes long improvisation with sax, synths and drums, accompagnied by some delicious looking artwork (unless you're vegan, obviously). Expect brutal sax drones, gloomy soundscapes and René's repetitive, almost ritual drums. I know, those are Dead Neanderthals' usual ingredients but like many bands they're getting better and better at this. So if you're a fan of these two deviant jazzists, you have absolutely no excuse not to download this track. Tip; serve loud !!!

Brosandi - Music For An Unknown Galaxy

ambient / post rock

Canadian one-man project Brosandi comes up with a sweet EP, containing three gentle post-rock tunes (and an intro). The music here is not overly complex. Instead it feels like watching and listening to a guitarist on stage, armed with only a few effects and loop pedals. The result is something gentle, something perfectly suited for these cold winter evenings. The artist claims to be inspired by Sigur Ros, Explosions In The Sky and so on, and yes, those references certainly apply, be it in a minimal, introvert and intimate way. I wonder how this would sound with a full band but this already comes highly recommended.

Boltzmann Brain - Sentences

jazz / noise rock / experimental

This German band has so much fun recording and release their debut in October 2017 ('Sind Die Echt') that they immediately decided to record another EP. What to expect? Well, something between Red Snapper and Add N To (X) or Black Dice getting a go at jazz and rock music. Jazz, noise, rock, soundscapes and psychedelic music come together in a weird but exhilarating orgy of indefinable music, perhaps that is the best way to describe this thing. The second track 'Come Join My Religion' is simply awesome, reminds me of Haus Arafna a bit. Not many jazz rock bands can do that, you know?.

Knight ‎– High on Voodoo

heavy metal

Heavy metal is far from dead and this band from India once again proves that. With flashing guitars, methodical drums and potent vocals, these guys deliver a solid EP. Think Iron Maiden, think Manowar, think Judas Priest think Helloween and you come quite close to what Knight sounds like. Everything about this album sounds and feels vintage, as it if comes directly from the eighties. For old school metalheads, this certainly is a band to keep an eye on, especially since there is still room for improvement, room to grow as musicians and as a band. I curious to where this leads to.

False Flag - EP

crust / hardcore

Here is a pulverizing three-track EP from Indian extreme music horde False Flag. Although the lyrics seem to be philosophical in nature, the music here is a scathing blend of crust punk, hardcore and black metal. Yet, in all their ferocity, they also leave some place for melody and variation, which is a huge plus in this genre. Now, don't get me wrong, this music will still torment you to the point where you can't take it anymore but I'm 100% sure that every fan of extreme punk will adore this. I mean, if both Oathbreaker and Exploited come to mind in only three songs, we're dealing with something promising!

Scarlet Phantom - Singleness

progressive metal

Haiming from Saint Petersburg, Russia, Scarlet Phantom delivers some interesting metal instrumentals. Although the music is based on black and death metal, you can easily classify this as progressive metal. Personally, I'm quite fond of this, partially because of its instrumental approach. It's as if Meshuggah, Opeth and Dream Theater gather in a recording studio and everybody keeping their mouths shut. I like that and I will definitely recommend this album to all you metalheads out there. If you want something refreshing, varied and impressive, you'd want to check this out.

Akadama Bros - Sunshine

hip hop / j-rap

Adaadat

And now for something completely different. We don't often review hip hop albums here but this one is neat. Akadama Bros deliver some decent and well varied J-rap. "J" stands for Japanese, should you not know that. On this 12", you get some well varied tunes, each obviously driving on hip hop beats and raps. Yet, they also seem to throw in some different influences, ranging from classical music over dubstep to indie, dub, noise and post-rock. The result is something intriguing and quite often surprising, reminding me of anything between Manu Chao, Cypress Hill and Xzibit. Hip hop yes, but rather enjoyable.

Build Buildings - Glass EP

electronic

Audiobulb

New York electronic music producer Build Buildings returns with a massively enjoyable EP, containing four new and well varied tracks. Opener 'Hebei Victory' is a brilliant blend of Autechre and Miwon while follower 'Honey Locust' brings Plaid to mind. So yes, downtempo electronics with heaps of microsounds, clicks, soundscapes and poly-rhythms, exactly the way I like my electronic music. 'Glass' is an odd ambient tune which could have been on Aphex Twin's ambient collection. Finally, there's a song called 'Cecilia' which is my favorite here, a slow but immersive piece of old school electronic music. Awesome EP.

Vantablack Warship - Abrasive Pulmonic Speak

black metal / metal / death metal

Back to the extremes where we find a pulverising hybrid between black, thrash, death and hardcore. Vantablack Warship hails from Canada and deliver some in-your-face riffs, some methodically tormenting drums and a bunch of fierce screams. The endresult is an intense and overwhelming album. Fans of bands like Gallows and Everytime I Die can surely find some fingerlicking good tunes on this one, like the brutal headbanger 'Blood On The Mat' for example. With short but abrasive songs, Vantablack Warship are certainly making a name for themselves and soon metalheads from around the globe will be onboard.

Mist of Misery - Fields of Isolation

black metal

Black Lion Productions

Swedish atmospheric black metal act Mist Of Misery has been around for a while and have always delivered high quality music. On this EP that is no different. In fact, with eight songs and over half an hour long, this EP is a sonic blackened adventure on its own. Unfortunately, I don't think I have a lot to say about this EP. It's top level extreme, depressive, atmospheric and somewhat progressive black metal and it would fit perfectly between your Dimmu Borgir, ColdWorld, Summoning and so on. If you're a fan of Mist Of Misery, you should already have gotten this EP. If not, check it out.

Hundred Year Old Man - Rei

doom / post metal

A harsh and somewhat chaotic blend of doom, sludge and post-metal, coming at you with severe intensity, that is what English sextet Hundred Year Old Man delivers. If you are into bands like Isis, AmenRa, Cult Of Luna and so on, this EP would definitely not misstand in your ever growing collection. 'A Year In The North Sea' is probably my favorite here, a dark and noisy piece of music that serves as a breather between the two massive slabs of slow musical aggression. For the record, closer 'Rei' is a brilliant piece of sludge doom, and I don't say that very often. So yeah, this comes highly recommended.

Obscene - Sermon to the Snake

death metal / thrash metal

Indianapolis based quartet Obscene claims to have been influenced by all the greats in the metal scene, including Death, Morbid Angel, Edge Of Sanity and Asphyx and yes, I have to admit, I hear all of them in these four tracks. Not that Obscene does not have their own sound. With thick riffs and deranged vocals, these guys deliver some good old fashioned death metal, something I can only applaud. Songs like 'Shadow Burial' and 'Blood Moon Rats' can easily make you bang your head and scream along. So yeah, this is some sick and twisted stuff, suited only for the seasoned death metal fans and thus recommended.

Nordheim - RapThor

folk metal

Hailing from some ancient forest in Canada, Nordheim simply wants to play folk metal and have fun with it. And there is no better description for this EP. This is a fun folk metal album with titles like 'Boobs And Bacon' or 'I Wish You Were Beer'. I guess all you can do is join the party, grab a beer and scream along with these tunes, just like you do when you listen to bands like Ensiferum, Finntroll or Korpiklaani. Although, I have to say, Nordheim take their black metal influences quite far and quite ferocious too, raging at high speed. So yeah, perhaps you should drink a bit more while listening to this awesomeness.

Project Renegade - Cerebra

alternative metal

Female fronted alternative metal from Greece, and I must admit that the first band that came to mind was Lacuna Coil, even before I actually listened to the songs on this EP. Although that reference still stands, I'm very glad I discovered this band. The music is interesting, laced with some mild electronics and it comes with excellent vocals by frontwoman Marianna. Opener 'Pressure' surely has hit potential, especially in the alternative charts. 'Natural Born Killer' grooves and crawls and 'One Of The Crowd', my personal favorite, is an irresistible headshaker. Buy this, it's awesome.

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From North - From North

23/8/2017

viking metal / progressive metal

A fantastic and tremendously magnificent album to be released on September 1st by Downfall records, From North is the self-titled debut of the eponymous Swedish avant-garde metal group, that enters the underground scene in a marvelously aggrandizing and effective style. With eleven tracks – Volund The Smith, He Who Hates, Last Appeal, Ships Tale, Mead Of Poetry, Sworn Brotherhood, The Sacred Oath, Ormr Inn Langi, The Catch, The Longest Wait and From North –, this wonderful debut defies the norms and patterns usually applied to alternative metal, in favor of a more authorial and organic sonorous conception. Already in the first track, Volund The Smith, the listener is savagely, but spiritually introduced to a divine state of splendorous glory, where a brutal, but sophisticated musicality conceives an everlasting twilight of stone that draws the line of a genuine and accurately precise axiom of artistry. This grandiloquent atmosphere of an omnipotent parallel reality rapidly follows in the second track, He Who Hates, with a monumental melody that furiously dissipates the diagram of a sound impulse rotated by a diluted, but explicit viking ferocity. And this marvelous greatness continues intact until the final track.

With ferocious, but whimsically dilapidated guitar lines, and almost clean vocals – although incisively strong and harsh at certain passages –, From North is an exceedingly genuine band. With a style impossible to properly define or categorize, they wisely reunite and easily compress in a wonderful sonorous galaxy of creation several astute and intelligent elements from a lot of different musical genres: from hard rock to progressive metal, from alternative rock to speed metal, going through avant-garde, power and post metal as well, with occasional viking, folk and symphonic arrangements, From North is a pluralistic cosmogony of excellent musical eclecticism, that keeps on their audacious and virtuous authenticity the greatest formula for sensational creative abilities that has potential to highlight the band as a rising and prosperous act in the underground scene.

Exceedingly versatile and flexible, the strong musicality of the group takes the virulence of sonorous ascendancy to another level: with a melancholic icy poetry that rapidly shifts from a solitary, but aggressively reflexive rapture, From North comes to explode the musical possibilities to the highest degree, and explore all sonorous possibilities to a maximum, pursuing a perfect degree of artistry dying to be properly appreciated and recognized.

One song in particular, The Sacred Oath –, a camp folk ballad that warms the soul and heats the heart –, is a majestically monumental and sensible poetic anthem of faith, hope and tenderness, profoundly humane, protective and paternal, that calms the spirit, and sets the world into an ecstatic moment of reflection. A song that sings the everlasting quest of human beings for interior serenity, you instantly envisions in your mind a night around a bonfire in a camping site with close friends, with the eternal forest fulfilled by snow in the background. Although the entire album is gracefully fabulous and beautiful, this track is certainly my favorite. One of the most wonderful songs that I’ve heard in my entire life!

With absolutely anything to be criticized negatively about this album – on the contrary, I would massively suffer from the lack of adjectives to qualify this imponderable and masterful work –, From North rises from the distant icy landscapes of Sweden to defy the perceptions of our musical horizons, with their creatively exceptional and unconventional harmonies. I would love to wish them luck in their career, but they don’t need it! Their astounding beginning can be described in just one word: P-E-R-F-E-C-T!

Wagner

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Brieviews 23

20/7/2017

Lucifer's Dungeon - The Dark Army Raises

black metal

Grimm Distribution

Once upon a time, this now Russian band started out as a one-man black metal act, residing in Thailand. Today, it's a full blown band with an excellent debut. 'The Dark Army Raises' is a long album with 15 songs, ranging from gloomy dark ambient pieces over blackened experimentation to intense black metal. Personally, I'm quite fond of the dark ambient pieces but that's not really a surprise since I'm mostly an ambient fan. However, if you're into the bleak, aggressive and haunting sounds of black metal, you surely want to check this one out. It's an excellent album, promising great things for the future of this act.

Lød - Folder

krautrock / post punk

Hailing from Denmark, Lød delivered a surprising and immersive debut with this 'Folder' EP. It was presented to me as a blend between Neu! and Joy Division and in a way I fully agree with that. On three of these four tracks, you will hear a lot of krautrock goodness, pretty much like Caudal does. On the other hand, the gloomy side of eighties new wave also comes lurking around the corner, mostly in the vocal performance. And then there is 'Træder Ind, Bukker, Bukker', a strange electronic experiment which could have actually been the intro. Anyway, this is a weird but highly interesting debut. Check it out.

Last Bullet - 80-69-64

hard rock / grunge

electronic / downtempo / dub

Mindspring Music

Also from Mindspring Music but a bit more danceable, this highly enjoyable four track by Santiago Niño delivers a good dose of psychedelic electronics. Opener 'Alien Force' also reminds me eighties EBM acts, especially that groovy, immersive bassline. In that aspect, this is a great crossover between the two genres, 'psychedelic EBM' if you will, like Project Pitchfork meets Eats Static or Front 242 meets Hallucinogen. I also really dig the samples in this one, scientific and somewhat conspiracy theoretic vocals samples about atoms, illuminati, alien life and so on. Take it from me, this is great stuff.

Elder Devil - Graves Among The Roots

grindcore

When the beginning of an album reminds me of Napalm Death's 'Evolved As One', I immediately get interested. This American grindcore duo combines the same noise with the same sickness and throws it all into a bunch of unforgiving grindcore anthems. The result is something devastating, something that barks, grinds, gnaws and pulverised. Not only that, in these short songs, you can find elements from hardcore, death metal, noise, black metal and sludge and it all comes with only one purpose: destroy this planet and everyone on it.

Elizabeth Shaw - I

drone / black metal

Named after the protagonist from the 'Prometheus' movie, this mysterious Swedish entity combines raw, harsh black metal with haunting drones and ambient soundscapes. You might say, "now, we've heard that before" and that might be true but this band seems to excel as masters in their trade, which they call "xeno-black metal". The music is dark, impending at times and harsh on other occasions. In all, this is a dark, obscure and highly immersive release, something that definitely makes me hungry for live performances. Check it out, play it loud and be amazed by the splendor of xeno-black metal.

Show of Bedlam - Transfiguration

doom / avant garde

Sentient Ruin