post rock / drone / post metal

Ever since the first days of Merchants Of Air, I have been fascinated by one man projects and their often surprising output. Not only noise and ambient artists but also musicians in the fields of post rock, black metal, classical music and doom. There are heaps of talented people out there and most of them rarely get the attention they deserve.
So when I saw this album by Polish project Noche Oscura in my mailbox, I immediately became interested. The project, formed by Wojciech Szachowski also seems to roam in the post-rock/metal regions. Besides, the artwork by Michał Szymański is pretty stunning too, so I just had to check this one out.

It was coined as a post rock, post metal album but the first tones seemed to pour directly out the noise scene. Opener 'End' is strange, something between noise, guitar drones and post rock. I'm not sure if it is an intro but it is a quite unique tune. There is a drummer, Mateusz Mazur, but his work seems to be rather limited. The post-scene is far away but somehow that doesn't matter. Besides, the true beauty of Noche Oscura still has to bloom.

And that happens on 'Suspension', a song that contains violins by Katarzyna Gronowska and seems to be inspired by many of today's drone-ambient acts (Syndrome, Thisquietarmy, N) but also by Mike Oldfield. What? Well, much like Oldfield, Noche Oscura doesn't limit itself to elaborate droning ambient tunes. Here, the artists tried to tell stories, mainly with the narrative sound of the guitars. It's different, it's nice and it's certainly interesting.

My personal favorite here is 'Before', an ambient drone tune that also borrows elements from the music of Amenra or Neurosis but also the dark folk of Barn Owl and the post rock of God Is An Astronaut. Mind you, all still without the drums, making me wonder how massive this track would sound with a full live band. That must be bloody impressive, if you ask me. Same goes for closer 'Gate', an impending track, nudging to the doom scene.

Although coined as something for fans of Sunn O))), Amenra, Ulver and Neuroris, I'd probably place this album in my ambient/dark folk collection. That is not a bad thing, on the very contrary. I enjoyed every second of this album, even the confusing chaos of the opener. I'm just afraid that this artist limits himself a bit too much. If he forms a full blown band with this material, they'll be on big ass stages in no time, but for now, let's all enjoy these sounds in the quiet comforts of our own homes...


​Serge

alternative / dreampop / folk / blues

Transitions is an album by American musician Andrew Rothschild, released on June 22. Almost sixty five minutes long, the record has fourteen tracks: Nu, Get Up, Acceptance, Growth, Routine, Suwanee, Roots, Devil Behind Your Smile, Memories, Home, Fall, Crimson, Natural and Encore. Working dedicatedly in the development of a genre he defines as bluestronica – which is the combination of blues music’s graceful intricacies with electronic music devices – Rothschild is a primordially intuitive, sagacious and innovative musician, that has no fear diving deeply on underground and genuine methodical experimentalism. With melodies that works vividly fantastic and exponentially fragmented sonorous intonations within a wider melodic diagram, Transitions can be described initially as a calm, serene and relaxing album, although rapidly becomes much more than that. The horizon of a new musical sensibility that integrates into the apparent simplicity of its content projects the expansion of a rational, sensational and lucid authorial work, that filters on the antagonism of its paradoxical tenacity the beautiful and elevating disposition of a vivacious style of music, that impresses for its formidable level of creativity, flexibility and audacity. Transitions is a majestic masterpiece, and this becomes evident already on the first few songs of the album.   

With an energetic, irreplaceable and synergic punctuating premise that wonders throughout the ambivalence of its own passionate sonorous dissidence, the eloquence, the profoundness, the vitality, the consistence and the originality of Andrew Rothschild’s music is beyond ordinary categorizations. With a polyvalent degree of artistry that combines different elements from several apparently disparate genres, the artist deliberates gracefully over the harmonies of its own musical emancipation, creating a totally different and surprisingly original sensorial treasure of sonorous possibilities.  

Generally departing from the educated elegance of lounge music, the sound of Andrew Rothschild incorporates elements of folk, trip hop, world fusion and electronica – amongst other genres –, in such a personal way, that you can almost say he invented his own peculiar style of music. Fearlessly innovating and bravely intense, the sensibility, the versatility and the authenticity present on this album will make you feel your life as a projected conscious dream.

The sixth track – Suwanee, possibly my favorite – is simply a wonderful journey throughout a different form of sensibility. In fact, each and every song on this album is a monumental flavor for the soul, a sentimental gift of nature exposed over a silent universe that echoes endlessly inside the most fundamental principles of a sincere conscience. But, strictly speaking, no words or written evaluation could do justice to this marvelously aggrandizing and excellent state of the art work. You just have to listen by yourself. You will be thrilled, be sure about that. 


Wagner

dungeon synth / ambient / folk

A beautiful, sensible, amazingly poetic record, Ghosts of boscus cavus is the work of a French medieval folk ambient artist known as ElixiR, released on July 1st. With delicate and serene harmonies, that wonders throughout a sonorous conflagration of sincere devotional artistry, the general layout of the work is simple and elementary conscious of its monumental placidity, but splendidly sensational and beautiful, to say the least. With twelve tracks – Boscavium, Boscavum, Monastic ruins, Deus vult, A procession to war, Ghosts of boscus cavus, The holy glory, Une présence près des bois, Misericordiae, L'ordre du temple, Le grand maître, De Molay, Nearer my god to thee and Shelob - Shelob - Fantôme du passé – that are uncommonly more concise than what the genre usually presents, the level of artistic grace and sentiment present on Ghosts of boscus cavus is primordially relevant, formidably  created and exceptionally executed. For sure, reveals a talent that certainly knows how to display confidently a decent degree of competence, pragmatism and authenticity.  

With a dense parameter of harmonious expression, the volatile expansion by which the anatomy of the sound dilates itself is genuinely organic, although there is an inherent simplicity in the work that makes it abundantly profound and original. With a captivating style, that reunites at the epicenter of its serenity the wonderful sentence of a timeless dream, Ghosts of boscus cavus is an aggrandizing state of the art work, that filters, elevates and condensates at the axis of its marvelous extemporal innocence the sincere grace of existence, which unwittingly transmits a spiritual relevance that absorbs the grandiosity of the human nature. 

As I wrote some lines above, the general layers of the music present on the album are simple, but the conflagration of sincere elements, conglomerated at the center of calm and philosophic – sometimes delusional – harmonies, disperses among the dust of invisible planets the groundbreaking allegories upon which the music is created. And the impeccable feeling it generates evokes beyond the lucidity of reason the wonderful artistry that are concentrated behind the work.     

A splendid and sensational album, certainly one of the best of the genre released this year, Ghosts of boscus cavus is the infinite anthem played over and over again in the evening of a displaced and solitary cathedral lost in time. In the voracious ruins of a night that never ends, but recalls the savage sorrow of its bitterness, the music of ElixiR is a discreet blessing, that fantastically revolves around the world in a cloak of surreptitiously serene harmonies, displayed over and over again at the pure densities of the soul.   


Wagner

ambient / folk

Boring Machines

From crushing death metal riffs to calm acoustic guitar fingerpicking, we at Merchants Of Air like ourselves a bit of variation. I don't think that's really a surprise for most of our readers. Throughout the years we have been getting comments about the versatility in genres on this website. It seems like everything is possible here.

But enough about us, let's dive into these 'Standing Waters' by Italian guitarist Maurizio Abate, a soothing blend of folk and ambient with a minimal touch of drone and with a warm, comforting atmosphere. That is pretty much all I need right now. 

The digital version on bandcamp opens with a track titled 'Teaser Track' while 'Odonata' opens the physical edition. Shortly after pressing play, on either one of these tracks by the way, I'm imagining a walk over an Italian beach on a warm summer evening while nearby a street musician is playing beautiful, romantic but melancholic tunes on his acoustic guitar. It alternates between blissful folk and mesmerizing ambient soundscapes.

'Shaping The Mud' is my absolute favorite here, an acoustic track that dares to look forward and issues influences from post-rock. It's followed by the lingering 'Nymphs Dance', which feels like a long solo jam session. That musician from the previous paragraph is now carefully experimenting, testing melodies and plucking techniques. I like that. Halfway through the track I'm already doubting if this should be my favorite instead of the previous track.

But I guess that doesn't matter. All that matters is that this album is filled with acoustic guitar goodness. 'Pond Mood' is another one of those inspiring pieces of music, one with an immersive sound and a nostalgic atmosphere. 'Standing/Crumbling' is yours to discover, dear reader, and I urge you to try it out. This is a beautiful album, one that digs right into the essence of music and right into your soul. 


​Serge

post rock

doom / sludge / psychedelic

metalcore

folk / alternative rock

facebook

post rock / shoegaze

Spotify

alternative rock

progressive rock

dark ambient

experimental / avant garde / classical

bandcamp

stoner rock / alternative / metal

funeral doom

funeral doom / ambient

bandcamp

alternative rock

Glauber

drone / experimental

Abjection Productions

Glauber

alternative rock / shoegaze

folk rock / americana

website

metal / post hardcore

post metal

progressive metal

downtempo / electronic

Audiobulb

death metal

doom metal / dark metal / death metal

thrash / death metal

techno

post rock / indie

That is a smart business idea, name your album after a legendary band. Then, fans of that band blindly buy the album, only to discover that these are not The Shadows at all. This is a post rock inspired band from Leeds. So no, no 'Apache' or 'Guitar Tango' to be found here. But since they bought the album already, they might as well have a listen to it. And then they discover that this actually isn't bad, on the contrary. In fact, much like The Shadows, this album can bring a blissful smile to your face. With your eyes closed, enjoying the almost divine pleasure of listening to music. That is magic. I'll stop writing about The Shadows (the band) now.

Actually, my initial idea was "ow, they have been inspired by Sigur Ros and they use vocals." For the record, I am not a Sigur Ros fan, because of the vocals. My favorite artists keep their mouths shut. Not that I hate vocals but they have to be just right. It's complicated, I know. Because of that, I approached this album carefully. The music started and just like with Sigur Ros I enjoyed it so far. Then the vocals came in. 

As I already mentioned, Tomorrow We Sail is a six-piece from Leeds, formed in 2009. Since then, they have been developing their style, which is a blend of post rock, indie rock and English folk. Their instrumentarium is quite impressive, from the basic post rock set up to harmonium, piano, violins and glockenspiel. Perhaps the best way to compare this is: imagine Clannad, Jeff Buckley and Maybeshewill travelling to Iceland with Silver Mount Zion Airlines.

So, how about those vocals? Well, they are ok here, quite good actually. The vocals are mainly the folk part of the whole thing while the rest of the music gently post-rocks away. The result is an album with calm, sweet pop songs that might do very well on stage ànd in the charts. That being said, for some post-rock/metal fans, this music might sound a bit cheesy but I like it. It's going right into my day-to-day playlist.


​Serge

progressive / folk rock

Excerpts From a Future Past is an album released on October 13 by Swedish progressive rock group Hällas, through The Sign Records. With a charming and colorful sound, that has a grandiosity of its own, the style of the group is greatly reminiscent of seventies traditional folk rock, as well as a little Jethro Tull and America in their glory days, with an unquestionable countryside appeal of sorts. Sidelined by a myriad of peculiar characteristics that reinvents the genre in an intrinsically calmer dimension of sensible, but inquisitive melodies, Excerpts From a Future Past is a vivaciously captivating, precious and lucid conflagration of incisive, flammable and diluted – but explicitly emotional – harmonies, that conquers the impulsive exhilarations of the heart at the height of an instant, captured at the persistent elevation of beautifully sensitive musical expectations. 

With delicate melodies, sensible and radiant intonations, flirtatious eternities of everlasting youthful happiness, and an imperially digressive ecstasy of harmonies dissolved at an ecstatic afternoon of melancholy, Excerpts From a Future Past is a delightful album, with beautiful and thoroughly poetic passages. With a singular style, technically and emotionally developed in a fantastically captivating level, Hällas really has sought to create and anticipate a new form of musical splendor with their infinite horizon of magnificently vivacious sonorous radiances.

In unpredictable and vivid harmonies, greatly driven by marvelous and quasi-impressionistic guitar lines, Hällas masterly exhibits their abilities in what concerns the creation and dissipation of the fundamental axis of their wonderfully intricate, but at the same time sincerely simple, musical style. The final result, this graciously sensible album, speaks for itself.   

A very pleasant surprise, Excerpts From a Future Past has revealed itself to be, track after track, a genuinely terrific and aggrandizing state of the art work. Thrilled by a formidable and sentimentally uplifting level of authenticity, this record certainly has potential to acquire cult status, and to be an iconic reference for the genres of folk and progressive rock in the years to come. 


Wagner

ambient / electronic

ambient / electronic

sludge / noise rock

doom / sludge

black metal / death metal

ambient / experimental / noise

doom / black metal

thrash metal

heavy metal

hard rock

death metal

black metal

folk / lo-fi

shoegaze / dreampop

post metal / progressive metal

thrash metal / heavy metal

electronic / indie

electronic / industrial / drum & bass

metal / djent / industrial

death metal / black metal

folk / neofolk

A very involving, sidereal and atmospheric work, Uthuling Hyl by Osi And The Jupiter is a very transcending album. With a splendorous multitude of softly expansive sounds, the record is exceedingly desolate, but diversified. It assumes, in all of its nine tracks – Baldur, Draugadóttinn, Útiseta, Ulv Kult, Ravencraft, Hlidskjalf, Empty Moons, Old Dead and Landvœttir – a powerful consonance of confident melodies, that overpowers the boundaries of time, throughout the martyrdom of an harmonious descend, that comprehends the graceful treasures of the spirit, and the glorious morality of the soul. With a sound that easily connects an emotional reality with a wider impersonation of transcendence, Uthuling Hyl is an axial work of art, that carries on the symbol of its majestic consistence the omnipotence of a melodic victory. 

An intelligent album, astonishingly intuitive as well, Uthuling Hyl, at the apex of its centered sonorous calmness, seeks to translate the sound of a parallel dimension, where an ever increasing serenity prevails over the sordid disillusions of a dead world; so, as long as the sound keeps coming, the everlasting sincerity for a living victory will keep the flame of life burning. This is the genuine sentiment graciously transmitted by the waving vicissitudes of the everlasting harmonies that beautifully overflows through the inner boundaries of your soul, sensibly protecting the passionate spheres of surrendering grace created by the synergy of a sonorous universe where time has no measures, and the human spirit is dosed by the splendor of an inherent benevolence.      

A calmer album, with soft, but reenergizing harmonies, Uthuling Hyl is the right symphony for the night lost in an eternal forest. The hazardous deliverance of darkness will reclaim a battle of fate, and the overall structure of your strength will seek the delirious sadness of an existence that will never dream. Nevertheless, the truth is a question constantly highlighted by the realm of conscience.    

A very atmospheric, transcending, translucent and impressionistic work, that reclaims a higher, and more original, standard to the principles of neofolk, Uthuling Hyl, as a groundbreaking work of authenticity and imperial delight, envisions a more dramatic, darker, obscure, but paradoxically vivid and sensitive path to the genre, highlighting a new musical horizon of more mysterious dispositions, that certainly will pave a fantastic journey for Osi And The Jupiter in the current underground scene.     


Wagner