Category: Metal

Ihä - Estructuras De Aire, Colonias De Soplo

ambient / drone

bandcamp

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

industrial / metal / drum & bass

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

classical

Tambourhinoceros

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

metal

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

grindcore / crust

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 / techno

Misantronics

Mint Narcosis

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

new wave / alternative rock

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

black metal

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

black metal

Morbid Skull

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

classical / post rock / jazz

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

drone doom

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

hard rock / metal

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

black metal / noise

Temple Of Torturous

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

dark jazz

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.

Serge

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Brieviews 40

5/4/2018

we have some cool shirts, check 'm out and support Merchants Of Air

Objector - Social Intolerance

thrash metal

We kick off this edition of Brieviews with some ruthless Belgian thrash metal, courtesy of Objector. With this eight track EP, these guys pay homage to the glory days of the genre, and mostly to bands like Slayer, Kreator, Exodus and Destruction. After a brief intro, 'Life Denied' starts the merciless pummeling at an excruciating tempo and it doesn't stop until 'Vengeance (Will Be Mine)' fades away. For fans of old school thrash, this EP definitely is a must-have, you can't get closer to that overwhelming sound without blatantly copying your heroes. Objector is a welcome, fresh and raging name in the thrash scene, no doubt about that.

Chief Roberts - The Hopeless

stoner metal / sludge

This Belgian riffing-tsunami is not over yet because here is Antwerp combo Chief Roberts and their face punching EP 'The Hopeless'. On this EP, the band showcases a punishing mix of hardcore, sludge metal and stoner rock, coming at you with the intensity of a raging horde of rhinos. And if that's not enough, they also throw in some extreme influences to completely beat you down. I would recommend this EP to all sludge fans out there but I'm not it will be safe for them to listen to it. I mean, this is one of the most aggressive and violent sludge releases I have heard in a while. Bloody awesome one too.

RRRags - RRRags

psychedelic rock / stoner / blues

Ron Van Herpen, Rob Zim and Rob Martin had themselves a little jamsession in September 2017. They had so much fun playing together that decided to form a brand new band and RRRags was born. This power trio comes up with good old fashioned stoner blues, laced with psychedelic rock and a joyous jam-atmosphere. Fans of everything between Hawkwind and Grand Funk Railroad will undoubtedly love this six tracks. You can hardly go more old-school than blues crackers like 'Rag Machine' or psych-rockers like 'On With The Journey'. This is definitely something to look out for, especially live performances.

Hellstorm Of Flaming Nothingness - Sattva

drone / ambient

Time for a resting point with the first full-length of Belgian minimal drone engineer Hellstorm Of Flaming Nothingness. With Sattva, HOFN processed a rough year into seven deep droning meditations. As usual, the approach is minimal and dark, giving the whole thing an extremely introvert atmosphere. Yet, it also sounds otherworldly and comes with a sense of angst and hopelessness. So no, this is not a pleasurable album to listen to but it is a emotional one, one to listen to while you reflect on your life choices, your past actions and your future opportunities. There is light at the end of the tunnel but the tunnel is dark and insecure.

Forte Ruin - Rebuilding the Machinery

death metal / symphonic metal

Right, back to severe headbanging, this time with the return of Finnish melodic death metal sextet Forte Ruin. Their new EP shows a band that has evolved and grown since their 2015 effort, much to my delight. The influences from Dimmu Borgir, Children Of Bodom and Fear Factory are still there but now Forte Ruin has found their niche in the fierce but melodic corners of the metal scene. The result is a violent five track album, loaded with cutting edge riffing, atmospheric synths, intense screams and melodic clean vocals. This EP is a whirlwind of modern day metal, one every fan of the genre should check out.

Postcode - Dandelion Radio Session II

alternative rock

To celebrate their tenth birthday, Isle Of Man residents Postcode revised some of their older songs and turn them into a sweet live registration. On this five track EP you can find nice alternative rock tunes, inspired by acts like The Pixies, The Breeders and PJ Harvey. This definitely will bring a smile to the faces of nineties rockers. You can feel the joy of playing these songs live. My personal is the lingering 'Hope Makes the Stars Shine Brighter' but I'm quite positive that all of these tunes regularly appear in my alternative rock list from now on. I suggest you do the same and check out this highly enjoyable band.

Hypnodial - Aether Alcoves

ambient

Hailing from Palma De Mallorca, Hypnodial seems to be influence by everything ambient and downtempo related, from Brian Eno over The Orb to the harshness of Cold Meat Industry. Those influences reflect of this album too, even though the whole thing comes in a minimal and gloomy approach. With twelve tracks, ranging from gentle ambient tunes to downtempo electronics, this album is well varied and thus an excellent companion for daily listening. My favorite is the dubby ambient tune 'Old Café' but I'm damn sure that every ambient aficionado will easily appreciate this stuff.

Dead Neanderthals - Life

drone / noise / ambient

It looks like an eighties punk inspired thrash metal album but it comes from Dutch heavy jazz combo Dead Neanderthals and it sounds like a massive drone experiment. These guys never cease to amaze us. This time, the Dutch primitives decided to leave the drums and the sax at home. So what are left with? A thirty six minutes lasting psychedelic drone track, hypnotic, immersive and as minimal as Maggie De Block's sexlife. So yeah, it's a surprising Dead Neanderthals release but definitely one to add to your ever expanding drone-scape collection. I'm already curious about what they'll come up with next. Hip hop?

Hiemis - Nachtstücke

dark ambient

GH Records

If you're into deep, dark drones and eerie soundscapes, this album by Hiemis is right up your alley. The music has plenty of similarities with your favorite dark ambient acts, such as Raison D'Etre, Desiderii Marginis, In Slaughter Natives, Lustmord and Inade, to name a few. These are gloomy instrumental tales of ghosts, demons, dreams, visions and nightmares, both minimal and overwhelming at times. 'Die Jesuiterkirche in G' is my personal favorite but every fan of old Cold Meat Industry releases will undoubtedly appreciate these nocturnal soundscapes, no doubt about that. So check it out if you're one of those eternal dark souls...

Setaoc Mass - Solid Void

techno

SK Eleven

Every once in a while an electronic dance music release appears on our pages, and that solely means that I like it. I surely like this one, driving on heavy, hypnotic and repetitive beats and percussion while array of industrial inspired sounds continuously slap you in the face. Of course this is stuff for the nighttime dance floors, where artists like Marco Bailey love to roam but I'm sure that tracks like 'Light Falls' and 'Eurhythmic' will often blast through my speakers from now on. If you are not weary of some old school techno beats, you might as well check this one out, play it loud and get that party started. Why wouldn't you?

Meka Nism - The War Inside

symphonic metal / death metal

What would happen when you lock Arch Enemy and Lacuna Coil in the same room and force them to record an album? Well, you'd probably get something like Florida residents Meka Nism. Supported by skilled musicians, Ms. Meka delivers an impressive array of clean vocals, grunts and screams, sometimes melodic sometimes simply smashing your face against the wall. Behind her, the musicians deliver a solid truckload of modern day death metal riffs and licks, topping everything off with methodical drums. Stuff like this can easily set the big stages at metal festivals on fire, and maybe also blow the roof off your living room.

Severin - Safe Following Distance

electronic / experimental / breakcore

Petrol 80

This odd and unusual electronic dance music album will be revealed on April 20 but I can already tell you that it will be worthwhile. Somehow, Severin manages to throw heaps of dance tunes into the blender and come out with something exciting and unique. In a way, this stuff can build a bridge between house, techno, breakbeats and breakcore. This results in four in-your-face experimental electronic tracks which you can either try to dance to or go insane by. I guess the choice is yours. I mean, even Autechre doesn't often go this wild and bizarre. So obviously, this little thing comes highly recommended.

Serge

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Brieviews 39

28/3/2018

These Brieviews have been written by Serge. If you like what you read here, be sure to check out his book, 'Cecilia's World'. It's about music, life and love.

Owl - Orion Fenix

doom / post metal

Zeitgeister

Owl, the solo project of Valborg frontman Christian Kolf, delivers an overwhelming piece of music. Post metal, ambient and doom meet and alternate in one massive track, clocking off at 22 minutes. The track was written and recorded in eighteen hours over three days, which definitely explains the organic flow of the whole thing. In a way, this track feels like a concept album, revolving around dark and haunting emotions. Calm ambient and modern classical passages make way for intense pieces of doom inspired metal and vice versa. For fans of decent narrative music, this is certainly a must-have, and that includes sludge metal aficionados.

Stonemule - Dystopian State

metal / hardcore

Polder Records

Speaking of sludge metal fans, they might as well throw their ears at these noise makers from Koksijde (Belgium). What Stonemule delivers is a massive blast of hardcore infused stoner metal, laced with grunge and doom and flirting with the extreme. How they do that? Well, first of all by a solid background of drums and bass, then by face melting riffing and finally by having three vocalists showing of their respective talents in singing, growling and screaming. The result is quite impressive, a blast of sheer energy. Eventually, they top it off with excellent musical skills by flashing some delicious solos. Nice work.

Ritual King - Earthrise

psychedelic rock / doom

When Planets Collide

Speaking of delicious guitar work, here is the new EP by English stoner rockers Ritual King. On 'Earthrise' they come up with three energetic songs. 'Ideology', 'Tides' and my personal favorite 'But Anyway' are uptempo psychedelic blues rock tunes that seem to come right from the early seventies. The jam-calibre is very high on these, making them all perfect candidates for live performances on sun lit (and probably smoke filled) music festivals. I wouldn't be surprised to see these guys appear on Desertfest, Up In Smokes and everything else stoner rock related in the near future.

Wykan - Solace

psychedelic / doom

A strange and bewildering piece of psychedelic doom metal, inspired by both old school doom and black metal, this debut by Canadian act Wykan is certainly something special. On one hand you get the classic riff worship, supported by methodical drums and clean vocals. Yet, on the other hand, there is that cold, eerie and vile atmosphere of extreme metal, enhanced by screams, growls and occult imagery. Needless to say perhaps but this EP is so varied that it almost sounds like a split-release. This is intriguing, to say the least and I am already extremely curious for what this act comes up with in the future.

Soft Science - Undone / I Don't Know Why I Love You

shoegaze / dream pop

Test Pattern Records

Hah, I doubted this single for exactly four seconds. I didn't know what to think about the jangling guitars at first, but then, when the rolling bass and the propelling drums came in, I became interested. Then the vocals of Katie Haley and I was sold. Now, Soft Science has a place in my shoegaze folder where it appears alongside acts like Belly, The Cranes and Slowdive. 'Undone' is my favorite here but 'I Don't Know Why I Love You' is in no way inferior. Both are energetic dreampop tunes, there is very little else to say about that. So get them, on April 6, if you're a shoegazer. Of not, check it out as well.

Maff - Melañiña

shoegaze

Then, where you're in a good shoegazing mood, you certainly have to give Chilean collective Maff a listen. I remember being rather impressed with their 2015 album. Now they return with a five track EP, blending shoegaze, dreampop, post rock and noise rock into another heap of delicious atmospheric rock tunes. In fact, opener 'Act 2' might soon prove to be one of my favorites in that genre. I love those howling, lingering guitars and that almost industrial beat. And then there are still four more awesome tunes to go. So yeps, shoegazers of all ages, you definitely need this one.

Nostalgist - Disaffection

post punk / new wave

Some more eighties inspired music comes from Seattle residents Nostalgist. Their music reflects the dark corners of that era, the one where The Cure, Killing Joke and Joy Division ruled. However, Nostalgist has also been listening to bands like Deftones and Alcest and they're not afraid to throw some distorted guitars into the mix. The result is a brilliant EP, containing six gloomy tracks which perfectly combine these two styles, or eras. Actually, I'm quite impressed by this effort. I didn't know this kind of awesomeness was still being made today. I'm sure that the old school goths will easily appreciate songs like 'Pendulums' and 'Present Tense'. Highly recommended !!!

Amusement Parks On Fire - All The New Ends

alternative rock / shoegaze

Saint Marie Records

English art rockers Amusement Parks On Fire return with a three-track EP which is as simple as it is brilliant. Opener 'All The New Ends' blends post rock with britpop as only the British can. 'Temporal Rinse' is a drone ambient creeper Godspeed! You Black Emperor wished they had recorded. Finally, 'Infernal Flame' picks you up and drags you to the dreampopping dancefloor where you will gaze at your shoes for what feels like hours and hours. To be honest, apart from the name I didn't really know these guys. Now I'm a fan. They only needed three songs to convince me, isn't that neat?

Grift - Vilsna Andars Boning

neofolk

Nordvis

Hailing from the lonesome woods of Scandinavia, Grift delivers two enigmatic neofolk songs. This Swedish poet/songwriter has been around since 2011 with several albums and a split-record with legendary act Drudkh.

On this two track, he comes up with two acoustic songs. I think fans of acts like Sol Invictus, Wardruna and Darkwood can easily appreciate these stripped down folk sounds. 'Bortom Berget' is my favorite on this two track, a solid neofolk track about nature and culture.

Giovanni Verga - Sylphic

experimental / ambient / noise

Unexplained Sounds

A more haunting and otherworldly musical view on solitude and loneliness comes from composer/experimentalist Giovanni Verga. With field recordings, no-input mixers and other kinds of sound manipulation, Verga created an alienating ambient adventure, on that delves deep into the avant garde. The line between music and incomprehensible noise is very thin. There are howling wolves, industrial soundscapes, vocal samples and mysterious drones but there are also tiny hints of melody. And obviously, there is this allover gloomy atmosphere which makes you imagine alien worlds and underground tales. Awesome

TRI:.OBYTE - STAR ⠃⠊⠗⠞⠓ KIC 8462852

ambient / noise / experimental

Speaking about sounds from alien worlds, this album certainly is an interesting one. With a mix of dark ambient, cosmic noise and tales about UFO sightings, this album takes you to new dimensions. I can easily see this music as the soundtrack for new episodes of the X-Files, or any other sci-fi series for that matter. Opener 'Some Kind Of Reflective' is haunting ambient gold and the rest of this record graciously follows it example, except maybe 'Visitation'. This one doesn't just take you to outer space, it places you right on the operation table in one of those abduction stories. This is a great release, certainly recommended.

Bloodkry - Dark Paradise

dark ambient / drone

Even more darkness comes from Finland, where Bloodkry reveals a new EP. 'Dark Paradise' contains four tracks, beginning with the hypnotic title track. I love the percussive elements in this one, it feels likes descending into an underground industrial complex. 'My Shelter' is a bit more friendly, melodic but also glitchy and unusual, like a post rock track that's falling asleep. 'Nowhere' is my favorite track here, a genuine dark ambient piece that brings many of the great names to mind. Closer 'Don't Forget Me' eventually comes up with repetitive industrial beats, along with hypnotic drones. Awesomeness.

Kloob - Remarkable Events

ambient / electronic

Dani Kloob has been making music for twenty years, from underground dance tunes to atmospheric ambient. With this album, he seems to investigate where ambient turns into dark ambient, balancing on the edge between the two. The result is an immersive ambient album, minimal but rich in both sound and atmosphere. 'Remarkable Events' is a perfect album to play late at night, warmly tucked in bed, reminiscing about your life. It will guide you into pleasant and adventurous dreams. I can't pick out a favorite track, because that's a hard thing to do with this kind of minimal music but rest assured, this is definitely worth your time.

Widow's Peak - Graceless

death metal

Right, time to blast some relentless death metal through my speakers. Here is Canadian horde Widow's Peak and their suffocating debut EP 'Graceless'. That title fits the load quite well. This thing is raunchy, filthy and gore, a blend of death metal, hard & grindcore, complete with deep growls, harsh screams and pig squeals. Fans of Aborted or Cattle Decapitation will undoubtedly get a hard-on from this stuff. I don't but I'm old, don't mind me. I know for sure that contemporary death metal, deathcore and metalcore fans will absolutely adore this. So, if you are one them, you'll have to check this out. Period!

Cult of Extinction - Black Nuclear Magick Attack

black metal

Sentient Ruin

We end this edition of Brieviews with one of the most menacing, unpredictable and chaotic releases I have heard in a while. German extremists Cult Of Extinction release a thunderous tape, loaded with a filthy and vulgar mix of death, black, grindcore and whatnot. Quite often driving on inhumanly fierce tempos, this four track aims for nothing less than your rotten soul itself. The result is a massive cesspool of noise, hammering and screams that will drain the last bit of hope for humanity out of your miserable life. I think I made myself clear. This comes highly recommended only to the most seasoned extreme metal heads out there.

Serge

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Phendrana - Sanctum: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

10/3/2018

black metal / progressive

Sometimes when an album comes in, I'm immediately charmed by the whole project. That happens mostly when the whole package has been taken good care of and because the accompanying letter is do damn friendly. That was definitely the case with this album. It brought a smile to my face while I was walking up the stairs to my apartment.

The artwork is excellent, the biography was nice and the intentions are interesting. Phendrana "tried to contribute with something new and innovative in the black metal scene". Admit it, that sounds exciting, no? Did he succeed?

Well, before answering that question, we have to take a few things into consideration. First of all, it's not easy to bring something innovative into the already massively varied black metal scene. Many innovative black metal acts have a sound that is already far beyond the genre boundaries. Second, this album was recorded between October 2016 and November 2017. It took the artist over a year but being a one-man project, that is the normal course of events. However, somewhere in that year the artist celebrated his seventeenth birthday. That is very young, considering the fact that there are guitars, drums, bass, keyboards and vocals. Most seventeen year olds are glued to their Playstation or Tinder nowadays. This dude decided to become a creative generalist and try to make an impact on the metal scene.

For that I'll take my hat of.

However, I think Phandrana should take a bold step and leave the black metal world behind him. If this really is one person playing all these instruments, if one person can easily remind me of everything between dark ambient, progressive metal, doom, gothic rock and whatever you want to categorize Pink Floyd as, this person is way too talented to be a black metal musician. I do not mean that in a bad way, on the contrary. Most people won't take black metal seriously and this talent should be taken seriously. He doesn't even have to change that much. Leave the screams behind and he'll enter the realm of progressive metal, like Opeth, like Dream Theater. Mixed with the gothic feel of Tiamat, Moonspell and Epica.

So, that leaves me with one question. Who to recommend this album to if not to black metal fans? Well, let's just say that every fan of progressive rock and metal must surely check this out. Fans of the nineties Götheborg scene will find heaps of sweet riffs. Nostalgic gothic metal fans will love the female vocals by Vera (Caelestis) and the strong rock feel of the whole thing. Post and sludge metal fans will certainly appreciate the cathartic vocals and so on. This is simply excellent progressive metal, one that proves that there is still plenty of talent out there and that modern music doesn't necessarily have to suck.

Well done, very well done.

Serge

p.s. All of the above aside, closer 'Gjenganger' is my new favorite black metal song...

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Barabbas - The Locksmith

7/3/2018

stoner rock / metal

Consouling Sounds

Right, back to Belgium and you know what that means: a glorifying review. I mean, regular Merchants Of Air readers already know that I'm convinced that this is one of the world most talented countries as far as underground music is concerned. I could drop a truckload of Belgian band names now to prove my point but I'm not going to. I'll just focus on this groove blaster from Genk residents Barabbas. Much like their colleagues in Bathsheba and Hemelbestormer, Barabbas proves that Limburg is not necessarily a quiet place. Sometimes, there in the woods of Bokrijk and surroundings, the earth trembles and shakes, caused by thick riffs and pounding drums.

Then again, that shouldn't be surprising. Barabbas consists of members of Sardonis, Rebel Yell, The Grams and Solenoid. They are veterans, massively experienced in creating groovy, immersive metal, which is exactly what they deliver on this album. Influenced by acts like Mastodon, Queens Of The Stone Age, Black Sabbath and Baroness (to name a few), these guys grind, rock and roll as if there is no tomorrow.

The album opens with 'Goldstone' which immediately sets the tone. We're dealing with high energy groove metal here, nothing more, nothing less. The array of riffs, drums, twin guitars and a decent sense of humor will make every stoner rocker drool. 'Sister' and 'Right Where You Want Me' seem to follow the opener's heavy rocking example, but then there is the weird and amusing 'Guy Tells Us How To Make An Omelet' which for more than one reason reminds me of Tool's 'Die Eier Of Satan'. Maybe I'm just hungry.

'I'll Stand Behind You' is arguably my favorite track here, a classic old school hard rock tune that nowadays would make a perfect stoner rock track. In that aspect, I wouldn't be surprised if Barabbas appears on one of the stages on Desertfest in October. I wouldn't mind and I wouldn't be surprised if the quartet delivers a mouthwatering set. Just listen to a track like 'Thorn In My Side' which brings the spirit of Led Zeppelin to today's heavy scene. Heads will bang, crowds will surf, pits will mosh.

In all, this is a highly interesting debut album from a club of ultra experienced gentlemen. There is no denying that. I'm sure we will hear more from these guys in the near future and I'm very curious about their evolution. Today, Barabbas stands for good old fashioned rocking and rolling fun. The future looks bright for Barabbas, who seem to have invented a beautiful time machine which leads us back to the glory days of hard rock. Recommended? I'd be severely disappointed if you thought I wasn't going to recommend this gem...

Serge

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The Blacktones - The Day We Shut Down The Sun

22/2/2018

metal / stoner rock / sludge

Oh come on. The weather is just getting better with clear blue skies. Sure it is still cold and rather windy but the sun is already energizing the flowers and plants on my balcony. Even the cat seems to revive again. And now these Italians want to shut down that sun? No fucking way.

I mean, I don't it is a good idea to to something like that. It will eradicate practically all living things here on earth. Besides, how the hell are you going to shut down the sun? Use a huge firetruck? Levitate earth's oceans? I have so many questions.

Luckily for The Blacktones, this is just an album title, one for a surprisingly groovy album too. It was sent to me by their bassist, Gianni. Somehow, from beneath a massive pile of emails, his got me intrigued. I have actually no idea why. The mail was friendly but not out of the ordinary. Just a "hello", a "here is my band" and a bunch of links. The usual. Yet, my reviewer-sense started to tingle, a bit like Spiderman feels when danger lurks. That reviewer-sense often tells me something special is going on. It was right.

At first sight, nothing seems to nudge towards doom, sludge or stoner rock. Not the cover art, not the band logo. Both pushed me into the direction of avant garde doom metal, which is perhaps why I became interested in the first place. I pressed play and 'V - The Pope' started playing. It was an intro, a good one. There are a few other breathers to be found here too, adding a conceptual feel to the whole thing. But then 'The Upside Down' suddenly blasted through my speakers and I immediately knew "this is not avant garde doom".

This is ruthless stoner metal in which doom, stoner rock, sludge metal and grunge have been blended into something juicy and dangerous. That opener alone made me twist my volume knob to neighbours-annoying levels. For a doom track, this is tremendously fast but it rocks like hell. I think my first reaction was "fuck yeah", a bit similar to when I first heard 'Old' by Machine Head, 'Becoming' by Pantera or Sepultura's 'Beneath The Remains'. Too metal for stoner rock but too awesome to be ignored.

And that counts for most of the tracks here. My personal favorite, albeit competing with the opener, is title track 'The Day We Shut Down The Sun'. This is an epic piece of doom metal, influenced not only by Black Sabbath or Pentagram but also by today's scene. There are potent riffs, melodic aspects and both clean and rough vocals. Somehow Entombed came to mind too, I'm not exactly sure where but it still is a decent reference. Another odd band that comes to mind is Thought Industry, mostly in the complex vocals and their timbre on 'Not The End'.

I'm damn sure that some of these tracks will find a lot of frenzied headbangers. But I also suggest that fans of acts like Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Tool and Converge check this out. I mean, 'Alone Together' could actually be a Tool meets Alice In Chains spin-off and 'I.D.I.O.T.S.' contains enough raw energy to actually send a massive firetruck up in space. Nah, for real, this is a remarkable album, one that every metalhead should give a try. The Blacktones are on to something awesome and I really hope they have a bright future ahead of them. They deserve that.

Serge

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Greg Sinibaldi - Ariel

22/2/2018

experimental

bandcamp

Imagine the following scene: Allan Holdsworth playing SynthAxe like Vangelis, accompanied sometimes by Dylan Carlson and sometimes by Buckethead together with a great multi-faceted drummer (Bryan Mantia, for example). A line-up like this would have a lot of probability to go wrong, would not? Well, this album didn't going wrong, it became very awesome! This "crazy" mixture of jazz, fusion, metal, technology, noise and free jazz surprised me a lot!!! The breadth "polystylism" of 'Ariel' had a REALLY big chance to go wrong, but all the musicians played every sound and every note meticulously where it should be, and the album became powerful and a kick ass work!!!

This album was recorded by Greg Sinibaldi (EWI and SuperCollider), Ryan Ferreira (electric guitar) and Ted Poor (drums). All themes were based on the poems' book called 'Ariel' written by Sylvia Plath, released postumante, because her private life was very troubled. and her suicide was carried out after she left bread and milk near the bed of her children, ingested a lot of narcotics and put her head inside the stove, with gas turned on. Realizing her writing themes, this was possibly her last and most melancholy poem. But Greg used five of her immortal works as the inspiration for his music: ‘Ariel’, ‘The Arrival of the bee box’, ‘Lady Lazarus’, ‘Wintering Cut’ and ‘Elm’.

Greg chose these poems and not only "translated them musically", he convey the sensation of the emotional charge that he had with each poem written by Sylvia. In this very sad book, you can clearly saw passages from something calm to obscure moments like in the song 'Arrival at the bee box'. Already in 'Lady Lazarus' and 'Lady Lazarus Part 2' the feeling of no future or no perspective ahead the humanity, is like in this excerpt from the poem: "Dying / Is an art, like everything else. / I do it exceptionally well". Her disenchantment with humanity is extremely evident in all the poems chosen by Greg.

Like the three songs mentioned, all the other tracks show an emotion that is incredibly consistent with the chosen poems, I even suggest that you read them before listen to this album, because all the emotions of Sylvia’s book can be perceived in a deeper way. Depressive moments are extremely dense and heavy, moments of doubt are puzzling and so the album goes on. This is a very interesting project and has managed to unite several different music idiomatics, creating sounds with an unbelievable cohesion!!! This album is available in digital format and in physical CD. Besides that, it has a special limited edition in Vinyl (300 copies). And to finish, I would like to say with all my sincerity: I loved this album because it surprised me a lot!!! So give yourself a chance to be surprised by 'Ariel'!!!

Glauber

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Brieviews 37

20/2/2018

Grantezuma - Grantezuma

alternative rock

soundcloud

A rock band, definitely! All the songs of this EP are great compositions as individual pieces. This work were produced by Sebastian Carsin in a very professional way, only reinforcing that Grantezuma works very hard to achieve his goals and doesn't do this in a sloppy way - a praiseworthy attitude in this ephemeral world. Definitely the big hit of this EP is ‘Doce Negro Abril’ (Black Sweet April, in English). If I were the musical producer (in an artistic way), I would have put this song as the first track, with no doubt! Grantezuma deserves recognition, so keep working hard!!! One of the life's secrets (at least in my humble opinion) is: Always be patient and persistent!!!

Glauber

Ferla - 13122017

drone / experimental

Abjection Productions

What do you do if you have a composition that is impossible to play because it requires a lot of expensive electric guitar pedals and all the guitar players that you know don’t have money? Ferla decided to get this music concept and just play it at a festival called ‘Jazz No Hope’, in Porto Alegre city (BR-RS). The music is amazing (despite the poor recording)... Its concept is very simple but very powerful: An overlap of loops with slightly changes at the tremolo bar and the tone potentiometer. So if you like that old-school low-fi bootleg cassettes, this album was made for you!!! If not... that’s ok, because this artist have other interesting works recorded in studio!!

Glauber

Maff - Melañiña

alternative rock / shoegaze

Hailing from Chile, Maff delivers some good old fashioned shoegaze, mixed with alternative rock. So yes, this EP drags you right into the nineties but at the same time it sounds incredibly relevant today. Parts Jesus and Mary Chain, part Sonic Youth, part Dinosaur Jr and part Explosions In The Sky, Maff brings highly enjoyable ethereal rock tunes to your speakers, highlighting in the single 'Hawaii'. That one certainly is one for the dark dancefloors, and so is 'Deserts Are Rainbows', be it in the early morning hours. My suggestion? Check it out. What Maff does is nothing new but it's so damn satisfying...

Sophia Marshall - Lin-dah

folk rock / americana

Former HaveNots vocalist Sophia Marshall spent several of her school years in the same building as three members of Kasabian. Now she releases a tribute EP containing three songs from the world famous act. Funny thing is, I am not familiar with Kasabian's music so for me, these are all brand new songs. And I like them, although I'm not sure I will equally like the originals. I'll probably check them out soon. I like Marshall's often fragile voice and the gentle, country-inspired guitars. I'm quite sure that 'Goodbye Kiss' and 'Fire' will often appear in my day-to-day playlist, especially on these chilly winter evenings. Nice work.

We Are Cursed - We Are Cursed

metal / post hardcore

French eardrum violators We Are Curses deliver four pounding and pummeling tracks, balancing between metal, sludge doom and post hardcore. The band consists of members of Synopsys, Godisdead, Jack Dope And Noise so these are experienced musicians. Therefore it will be no surprise when I say that this EP is a thunderous blast. Fans of anything between Conan, Amenra, Yob and Neurosis might want to check this out. It might not yet be the mesmerizing quality delivered by those acts but We Are Cursed are certainly getting somewhere with this. This is a very promising debut EP.

Taller Than The Trees - Hubris

post metal

Since I mentioned Amenra I might as well throw yet another ridiculously talented post metal band from Belgium. The oh so quiet town of Westerlo now has its own noisemakers, named Taller Than The Trees. On this EP they deliver four crushing tracks plius three pieces of ambient noise by W.D. Spectrehead which serve as breathers. The endresult is an immersive twenty minutes lasting epos of sludge doom, post metal and post rock that hopefully will get a decent amount of heads turned into their direction. Sludgers, doomers and headbangers will easily enjoy this album, I'm sure of that.

Black Neon District - Standing Waves

progressive metal

Rising from the ashes of French progressive death metal act Outcast comes Black Neon District, formed by three of its members. They left the "death" part of their music behind them, resulting in clean vocals and a more convincing overall sound. Fans of bands like Dream Theater, Pain Of Salvation and perhaps even Opeth, Evergrey and Meshuggah will easily appreciate the skills and talents that Black Neon District showcases. For me personally, this is a bit too progressive, but that is personal taste. I cannot deny that these guys are skilled and attuned and that there is little to stop them from breaking through in the world of progressive rock soon.

Ficture - Filled Spaces

downtempo / electronic

Audiobulb

This is a coincidence. I was looking for something new to add to my "downtempo" folder, something to accompany acts like Bonobo, Autechre, Miwon and Boards Of Canada. Now this EP falls on my plate and I immediately loved it. It fits right in there, especially the bass loaded opener 'Portable'. All five tracks on the EP are intriguing. They're gloomy yet playful and filled to capacity with interesting sounds, hooks and angles. It's albums like these that put a smile on my face. Today's electronic scene is loaded with generic rubbish but EP's like this one show that there is still hope and that there are still great talents to be discovered.

Depths Of Kronos - From The Void

death metal

Back to the headbanging regions of the musical spectrum where we find Dutch destroyers Depths Of Kronos. These guys from the lovely city of Tilburg come up with some infectious melodic death metal. With heaps of tempo changes, brutal growls and tormenting riffs, this bands places themselves in the footsteps of bands like At The Gates, In Flames and Soilwork. To be honest, this is not really my cup of tea, but - also to be honest - I recognize a talented death metal act when I hear them. This certainly is a talented band, one with plenty of variation and with all the necessary elements to make death metal great.

Affasia - Adrift in Remorse

doom metal / dark metal / death metal

Transcending Records

Speaking over diverse metal, here is American death doom band Affasia and their mindbending debut EP 'Adrift In Remorse'. On this EP they seem to show what it would sound like if November's Doom entered the recording studio with Anathema, Slowdive and Evoken, or something like that. Elements of classical music, darkwave, gothic rock and shoegaze fuse with lingering doom death metal and the result is massively intriguing. These four tracks, highlighting in 'Dissolute' show a fresh and interesting direction for the slow and heavy scenes. I wonder how the future of Affasia sounds like...

Revenger - The New Mythology Vol. 1

thrash / death metal

Ok, one more slab of ruthless aggression before I jump into something calm and soothing again. Here is the new, second, EP by Canadian thrashers Revenger. This five track EP is a harsh, powerful and fierce work with skulls ripping riffs, flashing solos and bitter, arduous vocals. It constantly balances on the edge between thrash and death metal. So no, this is definitely not for the faint at heart. On the contrary. I think you'd have to be a seasoned extremophile to be able to enjoy this, but if you are, you will undoubtedly end up with severe whiplash, multiple bruises and a hammering headache. Fuck yeah!!!

Hemka - 707 Collision

techno

Balans Records

From death metal to techno without hesitation, only on Merchants Of Air. Anyway, it's dancefloor time with French producer Hemka and her '707 Collision' EP. The EP contains two tracks and two remixes of the title track. What to expect? Well, repetitive beats, Detroit techno inspired melodies and a raving atmosphere, nothing more, nothing less. I guess this is just one of those releases to play loud and throw yourself onto the dancefloor. My personal favorite here is 'Nocturnal Rounds', probably because I like all things nocturnal. Oh well, let's just dance our asses off. It can be cleansing sometimes...

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Brieviews 36

8/2/2018

Operant - Harnessed To Flesh

industrial

Berlin based duo Operant delivers an EP that immediately made me twist the volume knob to blast-levels. It opens with an impending piece of electronic dark ambient before entering the realm of rhythmic noise in 'Be A Boy'. Side A ends with a pounding harsh ambient piece, 'Chancellory'. Side B invites you to the heavy and dark dancefloor, blending noise with techno, resulting in the infectious 'The Sacrifice Of Meaning Power' and the chaotic frenzy of closer 'Dead Realities VII'. Fans of everything between Contagious Orgasm and Imminent can easily appreciate this. (S.)

Wild Mighty Freaks - Guns 'n Cookies

nu metal / hip hop / metal

French weirdos Wild Mighty Freaks come up with a fusion between hip hop and metal. Personally, I would just throw this in the nu-metal genre, as I do with all rap metal. I don't mean that as a bad thing, on the contrary. This is a highly infectious EP, well executed and with plenty of groovy riffs. Furthermore, I bloody love the ragga-induced 'Freaks' and the dark and angry 'Empty Skies' is one of the best hip hop tracks I've heard in the past nine years or so. Nah, for real, this shit is surprisingly good. I wouldn't mind of Wild Mighty Freak become the next big thing in the nu-scene. (S.)

Bongthrower - Demo

stoner doom / sludge metal

Now available for your wicked stoner parties: Bongthrower, another band that has weed fanatics' favorite tablewear in the bandname. Much like Bongzilla and Bongripper Bongthrower delve in the world of stoner doom and sludge metal. These Germans deliver thick doom riffs, crusty vocals and sheer power, combined with a low, sluggish tempo. This surely is something for fans of bands like Conan, Dopethrone, Yob and so on. My personal favorite here is 'Bongthrower', which also shows a bit of the psychedelic side of this band, but rest assured, if you love stoner doom, you will absolutely love these guys. (S.)

Ecloss - Diluvienne

black metal

Diluvienne, released on January 26 by French atmospheric black metal project Ecloss, is a magnificent, surreal and thoroughly terrific EP, that has on the quintessential structure of its omniscient sensibility the vehemently overlooking serenity upon which its melodies rejuvenate so ostensibly the peaceful eternity that dwells around the flexible frontiers of its everlasting and magnanimous eloquence, that seems to revolve around a sleeping conscience, that fully comprehends the mortifying exasperations of human transience. With beautiful and exceedingly poetic melodies, that virtually has all the necessary predispositions to expand the sonorous

elements of its sagacious and vividly spontaneous sensitivity all over its universe of demanding intonations, Diluvienne presents to its audience a mature, whimsical, cohesive sentimentally realistic and marvelously artistic atmospheric BM work. With wonderful harmonies that can lead you to an imaginary world encircled by the shadows of a permanent desolation, Diluvienne is the perfectly envisioned sonorous conflagration for this sinister, but exceedingly pleasant journey, made entirely on elegant and sophisticated melodies, that exposes on the peripheral parameters of its principles all the hidden beauty of a mystery inserted at the most fantastic abysses of the human conscience. (W.)

Valiant - A Timeworn Oath

black metal

An amazingly fantastic EP, that understands and penetrates deeply into the realm of atmospheric black metal, A Timeworn Oath is a thoroughly poetic, charming, serene and philosophic state of the art work, with pervasively dense and beautiful melancholic ballads, where an eternal winter sorrow dilapidates into the heart of the listener the despondent rumors of prominently defying silent whispers, that revolves around an increasingly tense, but peaceful interior darkness. With five tracks – As Echoes of Dreams, Distant Lands, Oath to Destiny, Forlorn Shadow and In the Midst of Worlds –,

this EP is a fantastic, lucid and poetic sonorous everlasting declamation to the universe, with all the sincere odes of ordination and vividly sagacious harmonies, that makes this work so ostensibly brilliant. With greatly devised, ascendant and almost medieval melodies, Valiant has created a lugubrious, but marvelous masterpiece, with this half an hour long EP. Definitely, a majestic and fundamental work, that will enchant the genre’s audience. (W.)

Tides of Emptiness - Tides of Emptiness

black metal

A greatly devised work, Tides of Emptiness, an EP released by the eponymous American project from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 31, is a formidably marvelous exemplar of a sound that preserves tradition, expanding its formula to a groundbreaking level of subtly genuine aggression, but without renouncing to a modest degree of delusional atmospheric tension. A little more than thirty six minutes long, the album has three very extensive tracks: Her Body in Ashes, the homonymous Tides of Emptiness and Finality of Existence. With rough guitar lines and a conspicuous brutality that dilapidate each and every furious stigma of its hostile harmonious

sentences, the sound of Tides of Emptiness is deeply consistent and thoroughly reverberating. Rearranging in more crude patterns the sinister excellence of the genre, the group exposes at the sonorous horizon of its lancinating artistic patterns a cataclysmic sobriety, upon which every ghost that lives by the shadows of its harmonies should die, or accept the volatile integrity of its fate, at the request of a rhythm that disperses fatality in each and every one of its notes. (W.)

Vindorn - Perdition

black metal

A fabulous record released by German black metal act Vindorn, Perdition has seven tracks: Masquerade, Ansiktet, Panie Diable, Rozhodnutí osudu? Trest, Eros hemlighet, Vanmakt and Vládcové. With a sonorous fury and a convulsive energy perfectly able to suppress all the nefarious vicissitudes of the general melodic limitations usually heard in the genre, the dark and rude authenticity of the artist showcases a creative domain that not only enables him to perfectly devise a very singular style, but also infuse its own sagacious elements of aggressive dissonance within the introspective sensibility of the music.

While honoring tradition with a fabulous ordeal of acrimonious excellency and wisely restrained rhythmical barriers, Vindorn deflagrates at the epicenter of the harmonious convergences of his expressive splendor the uplifting urgencies of melodies amazingly conceived at the height of a true black metal insurgency. (W.)

Obscure - Zero Dawn

metal / stoner rock

Spotify

Finnish stoner metal quintet Obscure deliver a riff-loaded debut EP with three groovy and heavy songs. They seem to blend metal with stoner rock, which rarely is a bad combination. Opener 'Zero Dawn' is a hard hitter, reminding me of something between Channel Zero and Mastodon. 'Low Low Down' takes on a more vintage hard rock oriented approach. Closer 'River' seems to combine the two. Not a bad debut but one that shows a few challenges for this band. For me, there are a bit too much vocals which sometimes overrule the great hard rock riffs. Like some say, "less is more". Less vocals leaves more

place for air in your lungs and thus generates more power. Other than that, I don't think I have a lot of advice for these guys. They have been going to setbacks and delays releasing this EP but they pulled through. Now all they need to do is rehearse, write, rehearse, play live and rehearse again. They have the talent, it just needs to bloom. (S.)

Ossian Smith - Sleepless Town

rock

Spotify

Ossian Smith is a young Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist, influenced by everything between David Bowie and Soundgarden. He and his band deliver a five track EP with highly enjoyable rock tunes. In fact, the whole thing just puts a smile on my face as a big part of my youth seems to flow by. Bands that come to mind include The Scabs, Lemonheads, R.E.M... My favorite track is 'Jimmy Roux' and my least favorite is 'Rainmaker', but even that one is a pleasure to listen to. Just good old fashioned rock 'n roll with loads of energy and a very bright future if you ask me. (S.)

Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goat Rave - Queen Of Darkness

black metal / hardcore techno / industrial

Svartlava

I have to let my sister-in-law listen to this. She is a hardcore techno fan. You know, Neophyte, Angerfist, Drokz... that kind of stuff. Her six years old son is slowly becoming interested in what they call 'Yeng-yeng music' after hearing Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' on the radio. A few weeks ago I played Therapy? for him and he loved it. Next step is black metal, just for fun. Then, they can both listen to this bizarre and turbulent release from Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goat Rave, a project by Jason Köhnen & Jurgen Desmet with vocals by Baseck. Hardcore techno and breakcore mixed with chaotic black metal,

that is the recipe for this unique output. Of course, that techno escapade by Morbid Angel often comes to mind but here it's brilliantly executed. In that, perhaps it's not even such a bad idea to compare this to Zeal and Ardor. Both acts successfully managed to put two seemingly incompatible genres together. So yeah, this is unique and undoubtedly comes highly recommended, not only to my sister-in-law but to all extremists with an open mind. (S.)

Babalith - Gramatique du Ciel

experimental / ambient

Sombre Soniks

Portuguese Ritualist ambient act Babalith returns to Sombre Soniks with a dark, droning album which is loaded with voices. The result is a strange and somewhat alienating epos that speaks to you in many different tongues. Fact is, sound gave birth to communication, even way before languages have been developed. That is probably why this amalgamation of vocal efforts is so fascinating. It takes you on a odd trip through history, through the occult and through your own DNA. This comes highly recommended for fans of Diamanda Galas and dark ambient aficionados alike. Check it out, it's something unique... (S.)

Dark Archive - Cultivate Our Blood in Aeon

black metal

Spotify

Dark Archive is a satanic black metal band from Finland, founded in 2016. The duo wanted to bring something fresh into the scene but their path was rough and full of setbacks. However, stubbornly the original members continued their blackened journey which leads to this jawdropping piece of work. I don't know if it is really fresh and renewing but the music here is massively varied and highly impressive. In fact, bands that have come to mind while listening to this include Immortal, Cradle Of Filth, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Mörk Gryning and Limbonic Art. And with that, I do actually mean all the best parts

from these respective artists. I stopped following all these bands quite a while ago but Dark Archive makes me hungry for blood again. Opener 'Cultivate Our Blood In Aeon' and 'Godfear Eradication' are brilliant pieces of late nineties inspired black metal. 'Unohda ei ikinä' is pure and utter chaos, dressed in immersive extreme music. I'll leave the other two up to you, but I'd definitely recommend this thing. (S.)

Limbs - Body Without

shoegaze / post punk / noise rock / black metal

Euhm, wait. Is Limbs four bands combined? These guys, hailing from Manila, Philippines, throws a wicked piece of work on the bamboozled market. Their music certainly don't fit one box. It's shoegaze, it's screamo, it's post punk, it's math rock and it's black metal, and that is just the first song. The only constant seems to be the energy blasting out of these complex and intense songs. 'Fever Fawns' is my personal favorite on this album but I'm sure fans of outrageous music can easily enjoy everything Limbs create. Besides, the EP is free for download, so there is absolutely no reason not to check it out. You'll be pleasantly surprise, I promise you. (S.)

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Brieviews 34

9/1/2018

Vhorthax - Nether Darkness

death metal / black metal

Iron Bonehead

An interesting black metal EP, full of sinister and crudely afflictive melodies, in the best style of the genre’s old school, Nether Darkness has powerful and distinctive guitar lines, that ostensibly create an atmosphere of doom and demise. With rapid and crudely hostile, almost agonizing melodies, Vhorthax gets really close to what is known as blackened death metal, although they maintain their style more aligned with traditional BM. With pragmatic virtues that showcases a group in the complete command of its technical skills, the harmonies of this EP displays a world of good old fashioned black metal, with aggressive guitar lines, and a permanently lugubrious atmosphere. With six tracks – Altar I - The Mass, The Levitating Tomb, Stabat Mater, Thy Foul Graal, Crushing The Vessels Of Trinity and Altar II - The Descent of the Martyr –, Nether Darkness is a formidable EP, that has a tremendous amount of dark fury, delivered at the perfect intensity to reach the highest peaks of the black art.

Solip - Without

post rock / shoegaze / doom

An energetic, skillful and wonderfully captivating EP, full of great scale harmonies, Without, by Solip, an American group from Oakland, California, is a pretty reflexive, poetic and sensible work of art, ostensibly built on the axis of a profoundly philosophic and quiet serenity. With four tracks – Adaptation, Held In Place, The Burning Car and No Gomorrah – perfectly tied together by a formidable sense of unity, the purity of their sound is proportional to its intensity. With the logical propensity to wander above the dense fibers of their own fragile melodies, that seems to gravitate delicately over the everlasting rainbows of invisible, but palpable

delightful universes of sensitive compassion, the music of Solip seems to be the sonorous configuration of a reasonable moment of beauty, doomed to be ephemerons at the pretentious highlight of its infinite vastness.

Electric Hobo - Valkoinen Ratsu

drone / noise / experimental

This side project from Finnish act Junkyard Shaman delivers three psychedelic drone trips loaded with feedback, noise and shrieking vocals. The result is a one-man version of sludge doom bands, something between the haunting musicality of Amenra and the guitar noise insanity of Skullflower. Don't expect any tempos, percussion or soothing chamber music. This is harsh, intense and exorcising music that only those who understand this genre can appreciate. Yet, for them, this EP surely is a highly recommended gem. Best to be played loud, that's for sure.

Democide - Omen

electronic / psychedelic

Under the motto "experiments with techno", Democide ended last year with a two song + two remixes EP. Opener 'Lethe' is a gloomy, immersive and atmospheric track, thriving on breakbeats and soundscapes. 'Vanguard' follows that example and seems to add a touch of psytrance. The remixes are just as interesting, especially the last on, for 'Lethe'. This is a formidable dark electronics tune, one that can easily fill the dark dance floors. So my advice: check this out. If you like your beats broken and dark, this stuff is an absolute must-have.

Gurt - Skullossus

sludge / doom

The UK sludge metal scene seems alive and kicking and this Gurt-vehicle is a perfect example of that. With monstrous riffs, thundering drums and howling sludge vocals, Gurt rage like madmen. While most sludge metal bands cause some hooded head-nodding, these guys guarantee moshpits, crowdsurfing and beer throwing. Yep, this is party-sludge, the "grindcore of the doom scene". Fans of everything between Dopethrone, Slabdragger and Iron Witch can easily trust Gurt to deliver the filth, the noise and the overwhelming sound they crave so much. Party on !!!

Neraterrae - The Nhart Demo[n]s

dark ambient / noise / drone

This album by Neraterrae contains remixes and reworks of his early work under the Nhart moniker. In nine rather short tracks, the artist seems to balance on the edges between dark ambient, noise, death industrial and drone. Personally, I think I would and will place it in my noise-folder, where acts like Gruntsplatter and Deathpile roam. With shrieking sounds, vague rhythms and eerie soundscapes, this album is probably not suited for everyone but seasoned noise-adepts live for stuff like this. I am damn sure that most of those people will absolutely adore this album. So yeah, this comes highly recommended, if you dare...

Day Before Us - Nihil Interit

dark ambient

Rage In Eden

This album got lost in my mailbox for a long time but I'd still like to push it a bit. I've reviewed his work in the past and I have always loved what I heard. Not surprising since I'm a dark ambient fan. Yes, this is dark ambient, laced with neoclassical music and a cinematic atmosphere. The production quality is excellent. The music is well varied, giving each track its own identity and the whole thing a conceptual feel. There are beautiful vocals and strange, eerie soundscapes. I think fans of acts like Penitent, Raison D'Etre and Dark Sanctuary will easily appreciate this album. So to them, this comes highly recommended.

The Veldt - Thanks to the Moth and Areanna Rose

shoegaze / dream pop

Shoegaze / dreampop pioneers The Veldt deliver a solid EP with five new tracks and two remixes. As per usual, you can expect overwhelming guitars, dreamy vocals and an overall sound to lose yourself into. Furthermore, as atmosphere is concerned, everything about this EP seems to come directly from the soul. It's deeply emotional music that will make every fan of acts like Slowdive and Cocteau Twins burst out in joyous tears. The Veldt have been doing this for decades now and they still find room to improve and surprise. So naturally, this is a must have for all shoegazers.

Novaria - EP1

progressive rock / metal

Heading from Amersfoort, The Netherlands, Novaria delivers four quite strong songs. Initially, this was a one-time studio project but apparently Novaria is being turned into a full band. Personally, I think that is a great evolution. These tracks deserve a stage and an audience. Fans of bands like Katatonia, Anathema and Paradise Lost will undoubtedly appreciate songs like opener 'Into Nothingness' while Evergrey fans will adore the brilliant 'Blindsight'. I'll leave the other two songs up to you but I promise, if you're into atmospheric and progressive metal, you'll probably want this one.

Centripetal Force - Eidetic

thrash metal / progressive

Xtreem Music