post-metal 

Another band steps in the footsteps of Belgian underground pride Amenra, that's pretty much the most reliable short description for this debut album by Ghent based noisemakers Hæster. However, it doesn't fully cover the load as Hæster is a rampaging force of their own and not just a copycat.
The members of Hæster have already earned their stripes in bands like Aborted, Nemea, Dedicted, Customs, Death Before Disco and Horses on Fire, plus they have invited some nice guests too: Brennt Vanneste (Steak Number Eight), Stefanie Mannaerts (Brutus) and Sven De Caluwé (Aborted).

​No time for intros, Hæster is here to destroy, demolish and pulverize. Opener 'Ironmongers' does that immediately, with brutal riffs, shattering drums and hellish screams. There is also little time for calm, soothing passages as the whole thing seems to go on with an unseen intensity. Halfway through 'Ghost In Us' I need a little break, a time-out from all this nerve-wrenching aggression. By now I'm sure that this is one of the most brutal releases on the otherwise so nice and friendly Dunk! label. The Zottegem-crew has released a murderer.

I think it's around this time that I have decided that it's just not my cup of tea. But that is not Hæster's fault. I'm just not that much of a fan of these fierce hardcore inspired vocals. On the other hand, fans of post metal and sludge doom will absolutely eat this up, I'm 100% convinced of that. All the elements for decent post metal are present, and they all come in the same convincing level of quality as other Belgian bands like the aforementioned Amenra, or Oathbreaker, or Steak Number Eight, or Hemelbestormer, or All We Expected.

Plus, here and there, Hæster does provide the listener with a little breathing space, like the beautiful instrumental passages in 'So That We Could Live' and 'Graves'. That I can fully appreciate. The disturbing vocal samples also add a lot to the dark and ominous atmosphere of the whole thing. If you want a record that beats you down in a slow and tormenting manner, this surely is your thing. Even though I'm not a fan, Hæster delivered a stunner, one that will undoubtedly set them on their way to Belgian post-metal stardom and hopefully far beyond. 


​Serge

post metal

While the heatwave in Belgium continues, I'm constantly reminded of this year's edition of Dunk! festival. I'm walking around in my apartment, doing the usual household shores. There is music playing, all kinds of different styles, flowing on in a constantly varying shuffle. Quite often a post rock, post metal or doom band appears and most of the times that album teleports me back to Zottegem. Then I wonder how awesome that band would have been on one of these stages. Since I'm a doom and post rock fan, in my imagination all of them are pretty impressive but I know, for now I'll have to do with the recorded versions of the music.

​
Good thing that I have big ass Magnat speakers to blast the volume to festival levels.

Two and a half years after their highly acclaimed split with Belgian sludge mongers All We Expected, Dublin based Raum Kingdom returns with a full-length. Still sailing on the oceans of post metal and sludge doom, this quartet brings a pulsating and immersive version of their preferred genre. With seven songs, Raum Kingdom attempts to make their mark on the hungry and demanding scene. And, in the same effort, they simply steamroll that scene to shreds, aided by a monolithic sound, the intensity of a rhino stampede and riffs as effective as a guillotine.

But, it's not all heavy and brutal. For starters, loyal to the style, pretty much everything here is slow. Then, in between the punishing sludge metal assaults, you can find elaborate post rock passages. What I personally like the most, is the wide variety of vocals. From clean, melodic verses to harsh and uncompromising screams, they all add the necessary level of variation to the whole thing. 'Winter', featuring Mia Govoni, is my favorite track in that aspect. Possibly also because it's one of those brilliant and huge post-whatever journeys.

I also dig the fact that there are a few shorter tracks on the album, perfect for a five or six minutes headbanging workout session before going back to the daily tasks. Obviously, tracks like 'Dig' and 'Hidden Pain' can easily become live favorites. Most audience members will go wild on these tunes while I prefer the Tool inspired 'Rebuilding the Page' or the eleven minuter 'Struggle'. Oh well, that's the thing with preferences, they differ. However, after listening to this gem, I'm confident that Raum Kingdom are aiming for the thrones of Amenra, Cult Of Luna and Neurosis. Time will tell if that will ever happen but I predict an overwhelming Dunk! festival appearance in the near future.


​Serge

post-metal / doom / alternative rock

dark jazz / ambient / experimental / trip hop

hardcore

acoustic blues

dark ambient / noise

doom / occult metal

death metal

black metal / doom / death metal

post punk / synth pop

breakcore / industrial

alternative rock / blues

facebook

style of Tool and quite a bit of grunge - vocals that remind of Cobain included. So go buy this one if you appreciate something that refuses to fit into one box.

ambient / experimental

Pany Rosas Discos

post rock

Empty Colors is an album released by French Post Rock act Fall of Messiah. Despite the fact that the record was released more than two years ago, it certainly deserves an honest and profound evaluation, since reveals itself a modest, but sensible work of art, although its musical agenda follows the traditional formula of the genre. With an energetic symmetry whose beautiful, but at the same time discreet and imponderable harmonies overexposes the joy of its continuous, sagacious and vividly tempestuous melodies, Empty Colors is a delicate, but pungent sequence of sincere symphonies of ardent splendor, that gracefully evaluates the colorful abilities of a creativity that works heavily over the boundaries of the genre, without disqualifying not distorting its most recognizable features. 

With a correlated and passive calmness that standardizes a joyful conjuncture of pleasant harmonies under subtly pertinent circumstances, Empty Colors is a very simple, but thrilling album. Very concise – only twenty eight minutes long –, the record has seven tracks:  Monochromic Synesthesia, The Grey Heart Blues, Blue ruin, I always thought that one day everything would be settled, but everything just went black, Alors on en est là, à pisser sur du cuivre..., Rust and Vert-de-gris. Its brevity rejoices at the generous, but tempestuous wave of a confluent mobile objectivity, whose purpose deflagrates over the waves of its ardently ceremonial intonations the glorifying splendor of a calm, serene and everlasting sensitive ordeal. 

The album does have some degree of predictability over the course of its run, but, nonetheless, it’s greatly appreciable and formidably well executed; at the peak of its more abstract moments, it is possible to feel the rapture of its graceful, but warmly diluted singularity. A delicate, measurable, exceedingly pleasant work of vigorous authenticity, Empty Colors presents to its audience simply the best qualities post rock has to offer, in a genuine, refined, unpretentious and competent creative scope, whose incredibly simple, but high standards are sufficient to evoke the marvelous placidity of its surreal grace. 


Wagner

doom / post metal

metal / hardcore

psychedelic rock / doom

psychedelic / doom

shoegaze / dream pop

shoegaze

post punk / new wave

alternative rock / shoegaze

neofolk

experimental / ambient / noise

Unexplained Sounds

ambient / noise / experimental

bandcamp

dark ambient / drone

bandcamp

ambient / electronic

death metal

black metal

Serge

post rock / doom / shoegaze

The last three reviews I wrote described music from acts that have been featured on Merchants Of Air before. Since 2014, heaps of acts have been present on these pages and quite often bands seem to return. Somehow that makes me feel proud of what we have accomplished here. It's great fun to see these bands come back even better than before. French act Ddent is number four in that list. I reviewed their album 'آكتئاب' about a year ago (read) and now they reveal the next chapter in their musical adventures. Again this shows a band that has been growing, maturing, something I can only applaud, obviously.

The music on 'Toro' is rather similar to 'آكتئاب'. Once again Ddent treats the listener to an impressive blend of doom, post rock, shoegaze and (post) black metal. Once again they play with mesmerizing riffs and tonnes of atmosphere. There are seven tracks to be found, pretty much all of them are highlights in their own right. 'Dis à la lune qu'elle vienne' is probably one of my favorites, a highly immersive piece of post rock that would undoubtedly be a show-highlight as well. Then again, I surely believe most of these tunes are show-highlighs.

'Torse De Marbre' is another one of my favorites. I absolutely love the percussion performance in this track. That's the thing with Ddent: they always seem to go that extra mile. They always seem to add that little extra that makes them stand out in an overcrowded post-rock/metal scene. At the end of my previous review for these Parisians I mentioned that 2017 was going to be an awesome year for music. Well, 2018 is heading into the same direction and I couldn't be more pleased about it.

Another masterpiece is 'La Pluie Emplit Sa Bouche', which gradually evolves from dark ambient to atmospheric doom metal to something every metalhead can bang his skull to. Apparently many non-metalheads too. My wife is headbanging right now, how cool is that? Anyhow, this is a brilliant album, one I will gladly recommend to all my slow music friends. Ddent have clearly evolved which is always a good thing. They were great already but now they are slowly entering my top-20 list. 


​Serge

post rock / post metal

Right, in between my household tasks, it's time to do what I intended to this week: write at least one review a day. In this particular situation, that not only means a change of scenery (from kitchen to living room) but also a change of sound. Right before this EP started playing, acts like Shaolin Wooden Men, Hallucinogen and Planetary Assault System had been blasting their electronic beats through my speakers. Now it's time for something different, courtesy of Swiss five piece Darius. And when I say different, I mean "completely and utterly" different. This is probably what would happen if Melvins and Russian Circles enter a studio to record a Black Sabbath tribute.

Or maybe not.

This EP is the follow-up to their 2015 album 'Grain'. It contains four tracks. In these tracks, Darius shows a rough version of post rock and post metal. That roughness seems to be inspired by noise rock acts and it really sets Darius apart from many other post-whatever bands. Opener 'Glaucal' is a perfect example of that. A bit chaotic, a bit uneasy but rocking like hell. 'Charlotte' is my personal favorite. It contains the same roughness but also manages to capture the immersive atmosphere for which we all love post rock so much. This is a narrative piece of music in which heavy riffing and dreamy passages alternate.

'Pipistolet' is a short but intense riff based groover and mainly functions as a bridge between 'Charlotte' and 'Trace'. You can bang your head to this little thing, which I guess is awesome. Eventually, 'Trace' once again drags the listener along sonic and epic musical landscapes. It's an excellent competitor for 'Charlotte', thriving on basically the same elements. Together, they're definitely worth your attention. If you are into bands like Jakob, Pelican and Bossk, you should give this one a try. You won't regret it.


​Serge

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 / post metal

It's Sunday. A big part of Belgium is covered in snow. Gulls seem to have the time of their lives, flying around with no apparent reason. People walk slowly, careful. Somebody on a bicycle is having trouble not to slip and fall and an old lady can't wait for her dog to poo so she can go inside again. 

Belgians are not prepared for snow, even a thin sheet causes accidents, traffic jams and continuous whining about how cold it is. So for me, it feels like a perfect day to stay inside and enjoy the brand new album by All We Expected, their debut full-length which has been released this very day. 

People from in and around Belgium will probably know All We Expected. With their heavy yet immersive blend of post rock and post metal these Izegem residents have been mesmerizing audiences at Dunk! festivals and a wide variety of stages in this country for quite some time now. On their full-length, 'Hatàr', they deliver five brand new tracks, including the massive, twelve minutes lasting closer 'Conquered, We Conquer'. The others are a bit shorter but nonetheless amazing pieces of post-you-name-it.

From the get-go, All We Expected come up with the distorted guitars and heavy drums. Opener 'Abano' is already a highlight. It's a vintage All We Expected track, immediately showcasing their talents. 'Feudal' follows its predecessor's example. I can already see these guys deliver these tunes with great "bravoure" on an upcoming edition of Dunk!, or again, any other stage in or near Belgium. Personally, I adore the narrative nature of the music. These are stories, told with guitars, drums and a load of effect pedals.

'Nomad' feels a bit like the obligatory ballad. It's calmer, at least for a while, but it still contains these immersive post rock passages we all love so much. And suddenly I realize something. I have seen these guys live. I have heard their music before and I have always like them. Yet, somehow it only now strikes me how good All We Expected actually are. This is top-notch post-metal, something all fans of Russian Circles and Cult Of Luna should add to their collection. Just listen to a masterpiece like 'Shortlived' and you'll know what I mean. Definitely recommended!!!


​Serge

grindcore / crust

psychedelic rock / blues / stoner

post rock

An effervescing idiosyncrasy of starving, but calm and levitating melodies swears to an infinite ocean of time a formidable conflagration of creative harmonious contingencies. The sound is beyond exceptional, and everything that revolves around your ears bears the scope of an infinite storm of peaceful eternity.

​With precise and overly diluted, but poetic guitar lines, ​Three Horizons Away is an imaginative and surreal glorious panorama of exponential beauty. Despite its brevity, the sonorous sincerity expanded through the brave, but serene vastness of splendorous rhythms redirects the soul through a journey of ascendant and pure reality. The continual universe promulgated by its linear and constant propulsion of peripheral sounds exhibits the greatness of it’s fantastic, but discreet style, as a different pattern of sensibility.  

post rock

A full, energizing and pure post rock work, with profoundly melancholic, but genuinely organic sonorous vicissitudes, upon which formidable and lucid guitar lines comprehend the painful vicinities of incisive and latent harmonies, that revolves around a mysteriously ancient, but poetic silence. A monumental transformation of conscience reveals itself at the grandiloquent axis of serene melodies, that not only impress by the brutal honesty and sincerity of its audacious beauty, but also by the infallible ordination of its salutary sonorous manifestation, that opens an omniscient pattern of authentic intuitive creative algorithms over the impatience of its notes. With a striking, but overwhelming simplicity, the sensitive calmness of this work is a delightful experience, that makes this brief, but majestic masterpiece a glorious necessity for all enthusiasts of the genre. Leviathan is definitely a precious and marvelous state of the art work, highly recommended.  

post rock

A brief, but poetic immersion towards a recrudescing world of ethereal conflagration, Lift Off ably leads the listener towards a more introspective and interior version of himself. A calm, serene and minimalistic quasi-operatic work that derives the essence of its intrinsic value through the vastness of its sincere and genuine sonorous evaluation, this EP by Man Against Mankind is a rude, but decisive filtration of translucent harmonies eager to revolve around the undermining capacities of reality, determined to descend over a spirit of pure sensibility. With seriously experimental overtones, the audacity of the musician’s style is an experience that reflects the authentic rapture of his creative spirit. With plausible sonorous features that expand the antagonistic principles of its abundant qualities without renouncing the splendor of a glamorous simplicity, Man Against Mankind deserves to be comprehensively inserted in a more singular musical category, given the fact that its aura of original sensibility is  highlighted by the fantasy of harmonies impossible to forget. 

black metal

An interesting EP, with a full atmospheric layer of enormous grandiosity, the hazardous and afflictive anxiety that comes out from the imperial harmonies of this grotesquely delightful sound replicates with precision the endemic agony and the intense features that characterize the genre, and its sinister overtones. With a somber expectation that announces  an imminent conflagration of unraveling proportions, the melodies that strikes the tissue of infinite possibilities simply reaches a level of splendor that eagerly evolves to a planetary dissension. Perfect as the soundtrack of a really macabre movie, Ice-Cold Souls drives at the core of its majestic opportunities the real lancinating devices exceedingly genuine to the genre. Undoubtedly, it’s a marvelous example of how graceful, dense, subtle and evasive the tempestuous sonorous tissue of atmospheric black metal should be.       

black metal / death metal

A majestic and very powerful metal work, with traditional elements brilliantly inserted at the core of the songs, If it is True What the Prophets Write is an elemental journey through the most sincere qualities of an intriguing style, that seems somewhat crossover.

​Despite some moments of more generic harmonies, the group displays an intelligent and passionate singular style, that interestingly revives at the heart of its vibrant molecules an amalgamated version of metal. The human virulence of death metal intertwines the efficiency of its brutal coalescence with the furious fastness of black metal, in a sidereal conflagration of melodies, that exhibits fatally hostile harmonies, also abundant in sensible thrash metal intensities. Definitely a memorable work, If it is True What the Prophets Write is a curious and refreshing EP, that deserves to be highlighted at the center of the underground scene. 

indie / psychedelic / alternative

electronic / downtempo 

crust / grindcore

Fucking shitfuck, did I just become a crust/grindcore fan or what? I mean, I wanted to add this album to Brieviews because quite usually these albums are rather one-sided and there is just not much to write about them. I also wanted to promote these guys because they're from Antwerp. But when I started to play 'Barbarians', I was in shock. Here was a perfect industrial sounding crust punk tune blasting through my speakers. Fast, delirious, harsh and intense, just what we need. So I continued listening. 'The Violent Way' is another of my favorites. These guys have just turned crust and grindcore in one of the most immersive pieces of extreme music I've ever heard.

I mean. I know some of these guys. I often see them at gigs but I have never talked to anyone of them and now they present me with one of the most impressive albums in Antwerp (and the world, or as we say "the parking lot") today.  Fuck yeah this comes highly recommended. 

grindcore

Whooaaarg

post metal / drone