post metal / sludge / doom

What constitutes a heavy album? There are so many different ways to answer this, it's almost not worth asking, but still, whichever way you look at it, London noise mongers Torpor are heavy, I mean seriously heavy. They blend sludge, doom, drone and post-metal in a heady brew. Previous album From Nothing Comes Everything was recorded as a 4 piece, but the lead singer left after the album was released. After losing their lead singer, some bands would have called it a day, but  Torpor rolled up their sleeves, regrouped, spread the vocal duties amongst the remaining members and spawned their latest album Rhetoric of the Image.

Opener Benign Circle is a great way to kick things off with. A clean drum beat and strummed guitar riff lulls you into a false sense of security before the hammer drops and the song hits like planets colliding, it's an almost physical thing (and if you turn it up loud enough, it will be!) And you know what? It feels glorious. Then the whole thing collapses upon itself and the aforementioned beauty shines through with a sense of serenity, before crushing you again with a slab of granite-like sludge.

We get somewhat of a respite in the form of next song Two Heads on Gold. with it's rolling ominous drones. Hidden within the song is quite a beguiling melody hidden under the layers of aural miasma which become apparent when you give the song your full attention.

From there, we move onto next song Enigmatic Demand. A droning almost calming intro begins the song before hitting you with an absolute gut punch of sonic heaviness. Tortured vocals reminiscent of Aaron Turner at his most acerbic howl over monolithic noise dragged from the primordial swamp. It's as if the band have reached into themselves, dragged their darkest thoughts and energies and transferred it directly to their instruments. Yes it's suffocatingly intense and heavy, but it's this act of purging themselves which has produced something cathartic and cleansing. The dichotomy at the heart of this album is what makes it special.
 
From there, it's another shorter song Mouths Full of Water, Throats Full of Ice which is a surprisingly delicate number with gorgeous clean female vocals. It is a beautiful track and a real gem, it also gives the listener somewhat of a sonic palette cleanser. Then it's into final track Mourning the Real which is a real juggernaut of a track, slightly more experimental with longer ambient sequences which are particularly effective and do a great job of accentuating the bouts of sonic onslaught when they inevitably drop like an anvil. It's like an unstoppable black hole dragging everything in on itself, collapsing and condensing into a super dense nugget of weight. There is nothing rushed about this song, it's intricacies revealed to the inquisitive listener, yes it's bloody heavy, but also, it's beguilingly soothing, it's that dichotomy at play I mentioned earlier.

The band have taken the bones of their previous sound and refined it, improved upon their previous album in every way imaginable and produced a monument to monolithic grandeur. They have a firm grasp on dynamics and know the power of holding back until just the right moment to hit with an intense burst of noise, and the album is all the more powerful for it. The ambient sections are not just thrown in but have real thought, purpose and meaning. The whole album benefits from giving it your full attention as the layers slowly reveal themselves, it really benefits from repeated listens as all the nuances start to become apparent. There are moments of genuine beauty which are allowed to shine through like crepuscular rays of sunlight through an apocalyptic sky. Also, did I mention it's bloody heavy? If you like your music heavy and intelligent you owe it to yourself to listen to this album as it is glorious.
  

Simon

sludge / doom

Aaron Turner of Isis was once asked to describe his band's genre of music, he didn't want to be pigeon holed so he replied “we play thinking mans metal”. Even though his band helped define a new genre of metal in Post-Metal, he did not want to be boxed into one style of music.

So, that laborious intro is my way of saying that new album 'Failure to Thrive' by Massachusetts band 'Cazador' could, on one hand be labelled 'post-metal' but on the other hand, this only serves as a touchstone, a launchpad if you will, into this rather exciting album.


Things start off as they normally do nowadays on any album with am intro of feedback noise, so far so good. Second song 'Skeleton Crew' is a different beast altogether. It's a slippery eel of a song, whenever you think you have a grasp of it, it slips and turns out of your grasp into different sonic directions. There are contemplative sections, punk sections, sludge metal twists and to complete this heady brew, a dash of hardcore. It's great. Really great.

The next song 'Children of Man' is a delicate sonic shower of noise which flows nicely into next track 'Kingdom' which starts of with the same delicate musings before exploding with sludgy murkiness, it's really rather good, in a mucky way (just how I like it!)

 Title track 'Failure to Thrive' flips the previous song on it;'s head and begins with some straight forward metal before flowing into a gorgeous post-rock-esque serene passage of clean guitars before slowly building up (or should that be down) into the gloom. The following 2 tracks again feel like one long song switching between the meditative styling of 'Edema' into the fierce hardcore leanings of 'Comey' The album ends with 'Sassafras' which encapsulates all which has gone before. 

I very much like this album and would recommend anyone in an interest in intelligent metal to check this out, there is enough here to pique anyone’s interest. Although if I do have one gripe with this album, it's that the vocals don't quite seem to have the weight that the music so richly deserves. They are not bad, far from it, they are very good, it's just that to my ears, they don't match the soaring heights reached by the rest of the band. Overall, this is an excellent album.


Simon

post rock / post metal

noise rock / jazz / experimental

doom / sludge

psychedelic / doom / stoner rock

ambient

house / techno / electronic

dark ambient

ambient / experimental

electronic / downtempo

bandcamp

heavy metal

black metal / death metal

ambient

Audiobulb

​Serge

post metal / alternative metal

This is not an easy world to live in. An increasing amount of people seem to be unable to find their place in life. They wander alone, haunted by their own past and the circumstances which have lead to a life of uncertainty, emptiness and despair. To them, this hasty, stressful society feels unnatural and downright evil.

On average, these people are extremely creative but also extremely misunderstood and underappreciated. These 'lone wolves' are introvert, scared, tormented and emotional, but they also deliver some impressive music, like the quartet of Carneia, for example.

Formed by members of Miava and King Hiss, Carneia bring some solid heavy rock anthems with intense riffs and the soul shattering vocals of Jan Coudron. 'Voices Of The Void' is their fourth studio effort after two full lengths and an EP. With eight straight forward tracks, this album is a strong and well varied piece of work, showcasing excellent songwriting skills. According to the biography, the band is influenced by bands like Faith No More, Tool, Deftones and Nine Inch Nails but there is so much more to be found. For instance, 'Shadow Man' could have been a reggae tune and here and there you can hear a few death metal growls.

Yet, for the majority this albums feels like a heavy concept album by a well attuned band. While listening to opener 'The Making Of The Universe', I still had to get used to this sound, especially the rough vocals. Yet, as soon as 'Blood and Candy' started oozing out of my speakers, I was convinced of the sheer quality of the music. Element of progressive rock meet with stoner metal riffs and rolling bass. That being said, I think the bass player is the biggest Faith No More fan in this band. Correct me if I'm wrong. He does an excellent job supporting his bandmates, that's for sure.

'The Hangman' is one of my favorites here, a potent piece of alternative metal with a dark, brooding atmosphere. The sludge doom inspired 'Alter Ego' is as immersive and overwhelming as quick sand, or a container of tar. Yet, my absolute favorite here is 'Anthem For The Wasted', which mixes the intensity of heavy music with perfect songwriting skills. It shows a mature sound with a certain au-serieux, which I can appreciate. I'm sure many of our readers can appreciate this as well, so I urge you go over to their bandcamp page and check them out. Fucking hell, I love the musical output of our stupid little country...


​Serge

power metal / speed metal

Witchlords, how more metal can a band with this name still sound? These two metal heads from Belgium, Kristof Dedene (vocals, guitars and bass) and Thomas Lambeir (drums) decided to bring their shared passion to life. In addition to the love for headbanging, they got their inspiration for this release from war and fantasy board games.

Demons In The Dark is their debut that is packed with solid power metal. The title track Demons In The Dark, their first single by the way, immediately rolled through the speakers like a roller-coaster. Powerful riffs and high metal vocals with flashy guitar solos are the trademark of Witchlords. The second song tempered our exuberance when this turned out to be a copy of Demons In The Dark. With frowned eyebrows, we had doubts about how this album would continue.

No worries. From the third song, The Horde, the duo do unfold their talents with an atmospheric intro in the style of Blut Aus Nord. Old school metal is served here, with all the possible tricks and ideas. The thunder of ferocious metal gods is assisted by the howling guitars and rattling double bass drums. We got some goosebumps moments with this song.

The heavy, growling, speed-metal-like tracks worked like a time machine that catapulted us back to the grim and old fantasy worlds. Kristof Dedene cries out his triple lung content with full passion on this 30 minutes blasting album. We are curious how he will ever be able to combine this on stage with his creative guitar playing.

Witchlords can be added to our list of Belgian metal acts like Evil Invaders and Lethal Injury. The duo  is strongly influenced by the 80s metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Helloween, Judas Priest and the legendary US metal band Metal Church. Demons In The Dark is a powerful enthusiastic edition topped with a speed metal sauce that made a strong impression despite all the cliches present. A nostalgic and joyful tear could not be suppressed from our old metal heart. 

​
Patsker

doom / post metal / sludge metal

Formed in Genk, Belgium, Splendidula does something bizarrely interesting with doom, sludge and post metal. In fact, what they do is so unusual that I had to listen to the whole thing a few times before it finally dawned on me. Sludge metal is slowly turning into what we used to call "gothic doom". Or in other words: "Am I listening to a long-lost The Gathering album?" Perhaps there I gave this band the biggest compliment of all, and not just because of the female vocals. Being compared to that legendary band is a heavy burden to carry but it truly feels like this band contains some extraordinary talents. But let's start with the beginning.

The intro made me giggle and search through my Misantronics collection. I'm sure it's a coincidence but opener 'Post' sounds a lot like my own ambient work from a few years back. I don't mind, it's a neat opener. Plus it's followed by the smashing 'Nami', a melodic yet heavy metal song that made me write that opening paragraph. Immediately that nineties female fronted metal sound comes pushing forward, much to my delight.

Just for the record: I refuse to call this gothic metal, but yeah, there are resemblances. 'Too Close To Me' even raises the bar, nudging back toward goth rock and pagan doom, perhaps influenced by leading ladies like Chelsea Wolfe. And, since we're going into the "why-the-hell-not" stuff, there is a cool psychedelic rock solo in this song. Yeps, they've got it all.

I can't say all of these songs are unique pieces of metal. '.38' is an excellent doom metal tune, well executed and performed. Yet, halfway through the album, the listener knows that this act is capable of so much more than excellent doom metal. Take 'Insanity' for example. Now there is a standout tune (just like 'Nami'), driving on grinding guitars and guided by Kristien's strong voice. Another one of those highlights is the strange 'Stream Of Concioussness', containing odd sounds and an infectious, rolling bass. 

In all, 'Post Mortem' is a great album and yeah, perhaps a worthy replacement for the now defunct Bathsheba. Kristien is a formidable singer/songwriter, backed by a well-adjusted band. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing them live yet, but if their stage performance is a solid as their songwriting skills, Splendidula will be ready to conquer the bigger doom metal stages. My advice? Check it out, and then check it out again, and again. This is a grower.


​Serge

post metal / progressive

Just a few days ago, I was talking about the importance of cover art. This noble art alone has sold millions of albums. Heck, some of my favorite albums are in my collection mainly because of the cover. That's why I bought them back in the days, to overload my poor parents with the nasty covers of Cannibal Corpse, Death, Napalm Death and Sepultura. The right cover art says a lot about the respective album. It can make or break it, or at least raise some serious questions. In this case, the question is: will this loaf of bread taste fresh and delicious or old, dry and infected with fungus? And also: what would happen if I grill this thing with cheese. But let's focus on the music.

The biography throws some big names around. "For fans of: Neurosis, Cult Of Luna and Russian Circles." In a way, that is spot-on, be it for the fact that all members in Swiss band Orso keep their mouths shut while they play, and that is a huge plus in my opinion. 'Paninoteca' is loaded with instrumental rock music, heavy, immersive and atmospheric. Intense post metal passages abbreviate with lengthy post rock pluckings. To guide all these riffs and strings-flirts, the band enlisted an energetic beast of a drummer. His contribution adds a lot of drive to the music, which is a second plus.

The references to Russian Circles are plenty but I feel that Orso is not merely copying these post-metal giants. These songs, with an early highlight in 'Jambon-Beurre', come off as a bit more progressive and experimental. You can still bang your head to this, but you can also sense that there's more going on that just a collection of riffing. The narrative songwriting is close to perfect and the band shows confidence. Take the video track 'Mitraillette' for example, a doom infused tune which main riff will rock you off your socks.

Perhaps the only exception to the blend of post-whatever, is the short and spooky drone/ambient intermezzo 'Jucy Lucy', which introduces the magnum opus of this album, the long 'Monte Cristo'. The latter somewhat reminds me of Tiny Fingers or 65DaysOfStatic but it's also a typical Orso song. This far into the album you'll recognize these tunes as typical Orso tunes. Why? Well, because Orso have found their sound in an overloaded scene: a bit like Russian Circles but grittier, more experimental and unforgiving. This is a pretty damn good post-metal album.


​Serge

experimental rock/ post metal / sludge metal

Ambiance is an album released in November 2, by Swiss experimental post metal trio Ølten. Forty minutes long, the record has eight tracks: Igelkott, Raus, Klark, Lied, Gover, Sludge, Popoutro and Pope. An interesting album, that presents to the audience a colorful, eccentric mixture of post metal and sludge with a varying degree of experimental tenacity, the music is elaborated in concentrated layers of consistent vitality and synergy, with continuous grooves of expansive densities, intrinsically worked over the lethal placidity of its exceedingly abrasive harmonies. 

The style of the group – despite its opaque premises –, is very flexible and cohesive. They engage in a salutary degree of experimentalism, without any fears, but without extremisms or exaggerations either. Moderate and proverbial to a certain extent, their melodies dilacerate its own rhythmic devices, flirting a little with repetitiveness, but they do it in a very dynamic and lucid fashion, never becoming monotonous nor tedious. The know how to genuinely provoke the organic fuel of their harmonies, and definitely knows how to maintain vivid the mostly ecstatic densities upon which their music is made. 

While Ambiance is not a fantastic nor fabulous album, it has major qualities that reveal – to a certain extent –, how original, audacious and inventive these skilled musicians really are. With embracing tonalities that circumnavigates their slow paced harmonies, working exponentially, beautifully and existentially with somber, but discreet elements that makes their music to be a little bit sinister and mysterious, but inadvertently fragile at the same time, Ølten knows how to transform music into a more surreal, dispersive and quintessential form of art. They are definitely a sensational band, whose stylized sound departs from a distinct, plural level of creativity.  

Despite all of their qualities, though, they definitely have to reinvigorate their music with more unpredictable components, something to make them sound more tempestuous and exhilarant. Nevertheless, they are definitely in the right direction – elaborating a sound of their own –, that doesn’t appeal to a particular genre. Ølten is an interesting group that deserves to be followed closely, and Ambiance is an intelligent and very nihilistic experimental ambient rock album, that oversees the gracious and sensible development of a genre, yet to be fully understood and defined. 



Wagner

progressive rock / progressive metal / post metal 

Fire by the Silos is an album released in the beginning of the month by British instrumental progressive metal group Toska. Sixty four minutes long, the record has nine tracks: The Herd, A Tall Order, Abomasum, Congress, Fire by the Silos, When Genghis Wakes, Ataraxy, Prayermonger and The Heard. An interesting album, that reveals a mature, proficient and very technical band, Toska doesn’t have any fears when experimenting with distinct sounds, synchronicities, cadences, dissonances and interchanging rhythms, interweaving all those elements in a very interesting musical mosaic, with a majestic degree of experimentalism that really makes them an extraordinary musical act, that definitely doesn’t know what a comfort zone is, since their main musical disposition is to disrupt them all.

With an intelligent, diverse and unconventional musical identity, that departs from exceedingly original premises, the music of Toska is bounded by audacity and opulent doses of vertical, dissolute and flexible creativity, despite the fact that their sound is prominently heavy, and they never retreat in the slightest degree the ferocious nature of their music. Nevertheless, I do think that Toska is a band that works better as a live act (but this is just speculation, I never had the privilege of seeing them playing). While their sound is powerful and full of qualities that make their style to be quite exuberant and consistent, Fire by the Silos is a very extensive album, that eventually becomes repetitive, and highly fractured by hazardous levels of predictability and monotony – although these deficiencies, in a general evaluation, doesn’t harm the album in any way –, especially when you fully acknowledge the anatomy, the dynamics and the general propensities of their musical diagram.

Despite their apparent flaws, I must say that Toska has some abrasive and coherent virtues, that definitely consolidates wisely the sensibilities of their style. With rude and tempestuous, but also expansive and serene harmonies, they advance vigorously towards experimental territory with more bravery, tenacity, cohesion and graciousness than most bands do, with a level of creativity and security that is definitely above the ordinary standards.   

But I feel they pushed some of their most organic and vital musical elements too far on this album, revealing too much of them. When the album finishes, you feel saturated, without the curiosity or the need to listen to more of their stuff. Toska has to learn to leave the audience with the “I want more” taste, that is the basic premise of conquest. Of course, this is only my personal evaluation about Fire by the Silos. But, like I wrote some lines above, I do feel that they are the type of band that simply sounds perfect in a live performance, being Toska one of those acts that are just made for live concerts, rather than records. Despite this observations, I should point it out that Fire by the Silos – regardless of minor deficiencies – is an interesting, aggressive, pungent and exhilarating record, that elaborates dispersive and severely dilacerating atmospheres, that makes universes collide, in the rapturously extreme dissonances that falls over the strenuous harmonies of their elegant and very abrasive sound, with versatile dispositions that definitely makes Toska one of the most promising acts in their genre, active nowadays in the contemporary underground scene.  


Wagner

post rock / post metal

Maven is an album released in mid-October, by Italian post rock band Menhyr. A very concise album – a little more than half an hour long –, the record has six tracks: Atlantis, Maven, Jacqueline, Ab Aeterno, Echo and Oblio. A very simple album, that departs from the more conventional sonorous layouts of the genre, Maven is a decent and interesting work, though there is nothing exceptional about it. The melodies are good and consistent, but suffers from a severe lack of audacity, subjecting the listener from the beginning to a moderate level of monotony; nevertheless, there is a sad and calm beauty on their lethargic style, that definitely understands its place on the dispersive musical layers devised by the group’s evasively mordacious musicality.

While Maven in general have exceedingly slow harmonies, you can have a modest degree of satisfaction listening to it. The technical elements displayed by the band are way more efficient than its stagnant creativity, although they showcase a pungent and highly concentrated level of comprehension on their genre of choice, and seems secure exposing it’s more virulent and aggressive qualities – confined to some random passages of intense and hostile volatility – which are definitely the highlight of the album. 

With calmer melodies confined to a very homogeneous sound, there is not enough elements on Maven to sustain a profound discussion about their sound. As the album progresses, though, it gets better and better, especially from the fourth track onwards. My favorite track is definitely the fifth, Echo. Despite being ardently slow, the song is beautiful, and its graciously expansive musical devices are relatively distinct from other songs on the album. With heavier and dense guitar lines, it’s the most pungent, visceral and redemptive track, although, in a broader evaluation, showcases the generic standards present in the other songs as well. The final track, Oblio, is also very good. Its harmonies deliver a poetic and melancholic horizon of depressive and somnolent splendor, that will sleep forever in the adjacent emptiness of its own latent impatience. 

In the end, Maven is not a bad album. It’s just too ordinary, and somewhat predictable. While definitely this work has a modest degree of qualities – able to entertain enthusiasts of post rock –, it will hardly impress anyone. Nevertheless, its good work. This band just have to learn how to be a little more original, emotional and creative.


Wagner