post rock

Svarta Stugan, translated The Black Cottage, is a Swedish post-rock band from Gothenburg. With their debut album Islands/ Öar the band presents a journey into experimental rock. The music is very cinematic in approach, guiding us to an imaginary world of perplexity. Svarta Stugan is active since 2012 and has already released an EP Aspects of Our Future Selves in 2014.

There is a groovy interaction between guitar and electronic sounds building up strange weird melodies. Beautiful intervals colored with synths provide the songs with dynamic spheres. The guitar strings sound with charming easiness. Every song contains that returning peaceful but mysterious psychedelic feeling.  Sometimes it felt like we were trapped in a spaghetti western scene. 

This four member band plays post-rock like Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky. The themes of the tracks are worked out well and distribute a mood of strange surrealistic happenings. Islands/ Öar stays interesting from the beginning to the end. There is enough tension constructed in the melodies and soundscapes to avoid any monotony in the song structures.

Svarta Stugan’s experimental immersion surprised us. Their music exudes calmness and sounds peaceful but contains a lot of depth. This is an excellent piece of psychedelic (post) rock. The album will be available on LP and MC just like in the good old days of physical releases.


​Patsker

post rock / ambient rock / art rock / alternative

Birds Contending is an album released on November 23, by Chinese alternative rock group Zhaoze. With only one track – the eponymous Birds Contending – which lasts more than forty-three minutes, this surreal, intense and poetic epic symphony definitely showcases a special and monumental sound, that unravels a vastly different level of musical creativity, profoundly grounded in oblique, frugal and perceptive experimentalism, without fear to display a genuine and exceptional will to create something new, and entirely different. 

With a more protuberant and lenient delicacy, that combines classical Chinese instruments and traditional musical elements, the style of Zhaoze is organic and mostly natural, the melodies flow with the spiritual essence of its proverbial calmness and unbreakable serenity. With an exceptional, but meticulous technicality, though, that proves able to sustain a paradox that is fully aligned with more aggressive, but conversely downplayed sonorous layers, the formidable convergence they display of an ambient rock sound with a postclassical surreal sensitivity is exceedingly brilliant and emotional, being essentially genuine and quasi-minimalist in the structure of its inherent nature. 

They sound very enthusiastic – despite the calmness of their style –, and the continuous turnarounds Birds Contending do all the time keeps the music a constant inventive surprise, that keeps adding an excitement to their boundless creativity. A great lesson on music experimentation, this one-track album is a rapturous sonorous experience, that integrates with crafted, but imponderable sensibility the most marvelous elements of the group’s musical abilities, concerning synchronicity, sound refinement, elegant melodies, and a sophisticated musical layout. With a general basis that departs from a very consistent and thoroughly original sonorous premise, definitely Zhaoze undoubtedly proves they are a fantastic band, and Birds Contending should be considered the art rock album of the year. 

An epic one-track album that definitely displays marvelous musical excitement and a proverbial originality, Birds Contending is a surreal and groundbreaking sonorous experience. I have no doubt about their potential to be China’s greatest underground act in their genre of choice. Certainly, I became very anxious to discover what they are going to release in the future. 


​Wagner

post rock

Wanderers is an album released recently, on November 17, by German post rock group SOJUS3000. Beautifully primordial, elegant and quite sensitive, their style is simple and serene, but focused and consistent, abundant on exhilarant harmonies that aggregates a splendorous sonorous cohesion to their laboriously creative and meticulously calm nature. A relatively concise effort, Wanderers is forty-one minutes and fifteen seconds long, having only five tracks: Vostok, Terraformer, Prelude, Requiem and Wanderers. With a spontaneous vivacity that displays a somewhat restless and fugacious, but moderately expansive style, SOJUS3000 works in a very abrasive zone of contingence, where they have to highlight the most imperative and dense qualities of their music, to realign the stagnant propensities of their melodies.

With an interesting and peculiar dynamic, that revitalizes the organic sensibilities of their inherent creative structure, the general layout of the group’s music is abundantly effusive and somewhat dispersive, but unfortunately, this also has the undesired effect of making them sound a little too monotonous at times, as the calm layers of their music contemplate just a few major variations. Nevertheless, in a more general evaluation, this doesn’t compromise the beauty nor the quality of their music; they definitely know how to compose dense, sagacious and very idyllic atmospheres, that spread throughout the vastness of indefinite oceans of splendor the existential grace of profoundly vivacious and elusive harmonies.      

The album definitely has some highlights, though, like the song Requiem – whose marvelous waves of dissonant poetic graciousness wonders in the infinite sensorial vicinities of its own melancholic fantasy, floating through the imperial emptiness of a universe that revitalizes the sonorous continuity of an everlasting grief of interweaving melodic tonalities, completely sidelined with the essential uneasiness of the inherently afflictive rapture of the human soul. 

Despite some fabulous moments, though, Wanderers has some limitations, that makes this album a little predictable and redundant. But definitely, its qualities overshadows its deficiencies, deserving to be qualified – by a moderate perspective – as a minor exemplar of genuine artistry, a colorful mosaic of salutary and graceful textures, an exponentially good ordinary album, with some extraordinary moments. Nevertheless, be sure: this sober, vivacious and elemental work definitely is worthwhile of your time. 


 
Wagner

post rock

take great joy is an album by Australian post rock group hazards of swimming naked, released on November 16. Almost forty two minutes long, the record has eight tracks: there was never a right time, waiting for 5120, curtis, i don't know this road, sofðu unga ástin mín, a loose thread, this common thread and accept the mystery. Although the group mostly follows the basic trends of the genre – at least in some of its most volatile aspects –, with all the preponderant majesty of its conventional sonorous layout, they are able to elaborate and to execute interesting, flexible, texturized and very dynamic harmonies, that circulates indefinitely over the lurid axis of their musical pragmatism. The harmonies are diluted and then recomposed in very fluid and vivid tonalities, that redefine their own cyclic and pleasurable style of conscious splendor in a lucid organogram, that flows indefinitely over its own dilated panorama of impulsive vicissitudes, though in the extension of their more expansive and serene melodies it is possible to feel that the group appears to be more technical than emotional.    

With melancholic harmonies that feels more skeptical and cynical than innocent or dramatic, the group knows how to use time and slowness very efficiently, though more occasionally, they also attack furiously the grave surface of their music with tempestuous and abrasive melodies. With the soul of their abundant, but dispersive musical qualities effectively delineating each element of their cohesive sonorous devices, hazards of swimming naked discreetly dwells into a proficient, proverbial, graceful and unpredictable degree of versatility, navigating discreetly even into post-classical territory, expanding their sonorous and majestic elusiveness into a latent, but sensible splendor, that definitely makes their music a mosaic of subtle and perennial dissonances.  

The perfect soundtrack for an everlasting dream of imponderable sensitivities and unexpected consequences, take great joy – as precisely the name suggests – is an album upon which you can take great joy while listening to it, as your senses undoubtedly will travel to distant, but warm places, where a surreal, fugacious and vague reality will paint life with a more colorful and poetic vitality, with the exact tonalities upon which hazards of swimming naked impregnates their music. 

Despite the fact that the album is somewhat repetitive – at least to a certain extent – take great joy is a marvelous, flexible, genuine, vivacious and delightful sonorous experience. You can definitely feel a vibrant enthusiasm flowing all over you. Despite minor limitations, this album is a very elegant and satisfactory work of art. Mandatory, as a matter of fact, for enthusiasts of post rock. 


Wagner

ambient / drone / post rock

Variaciones cromáticas del Atlántico is an album released in the beginning of October by Spanish ambient/soundscape/post rock group Sans Soleil. Forty-four minutes long, the record has five relatively extensive tracks: Myosotis, Cian, Índigo, Cobalto and Cerúleo. With beautiful, graceful, delicate layers of sound, the music of Sans Soleil on this album can be described as an exuberant journey through the vicinities of marvelously colorful, dense and placid musical tonalities, albeit a little repetitive. Fully predisposed to embellish harmonies of abundant splendor – that are gracefully dilated over the tissue of its own quintessential, but dispersive ambivalences –, the tenacious, gentle and virtuous diligence of the group’s style serves as the main fuel for a simple, but primordial musical mosaic of ephemeral, but sober variations on lethargic excellence, that consecrates the vastness of its gracious beauty over the placid anatomy of its diluted, but flexible sonorous features.  

The style of the group is vivaciously sensible, but also ardently oscillating. Underneath the sound, there is a mordacious, dual and consequential emptiness, whose emotional underlying vicissitudes are converted to more unexpected, but sincere forms of artistry. While the beauty is definitely overwhelmed by layers of dramatic effervescence, the melodies rotate over an axis of impulsive tension, which is something deliberately propelled by its slow acerbically rhythmic dissonances, that always advances discreetly through the surface of the melodies. So, while superficially we have a calmer disposition of sound, the inherent structure of the music is being condensed to liquefy into a more abrasive, though stable layout. The third and fourth tracks – Índigo and Cobalto – greatly exemplify this quiet musical dynamic, whose inherent structure is subject to a flexible degree of tension, that inevitably wanders over its own imperative fugacious drift. 

While the music of Sans Soleil is simple, its different layers are all competently conceived, elaborated and executed. Over the more indefinite precipice of its sensible and dilated extravaganza, calmness is an element ardently conceived beyond a consistent measure; harmonies remain vagrant in an ascendant journey, but rotating over a vivacious continuity that definitely reinvents the qualitative principle of its own peripheral autonomy. Which means that its elegant calmness reluctantly enjoys a pungent level of solidarity within the sound, but is never isolated. It has a favorable relation of symbiosis with a regressive solitude, that always anticipates its elucidative consequences in the music, as a whole. 

While the harmonies are well created, and exhibit consistent features, never dismantled by its intuitive oceans of serenity, Variaciones cromáticas del Atlántico is a good album with a great beginning, but a declining conclusion. Unfortunately, the atmosphere of the album becomes too uniform towards the end, and its excessive musical stability – that never contemplates any relevant disruption –, makes the album a little too conventional. Nevertheless, I must say that this record, after all, certainly is an interesting exemplar of post rock. One that might not surprise you, but definitely will make you feel delighted to a certain degree.


Wagner

post rock / dream pop

While publishing the reviews written by Wagner and Patsker, I played this new album by Townsville, Australia based one-man post rock act Mesozoic. I remembered his sound from his 2014 album 'Welcome, Girl. Our Second Sun Shines for You', while Wagner took care of 'We Create Because All Will End'. Both of us were quite impressed by what Owen Davis had produced so both albums came highly recommended. Now Mesozoic returns with 'Earth Alone', firmly following his own path within the world of slow and atmospheric music. This new album shows a matured sound, and once again I'm hoping for a full-band performance in the near future but that probably won't happen.

The album opens with 'Synodic' which rather quickly sets the tone: strong, potent post rock, laced with ambient soundscapes. The track seems to doubt between being a full song or a mere intro but that doesn't spoil the fun. On the contrary. It promises good things to come. 'Always The Same' is one of those good things. Mostly thanks to the subdued vocals, this songs balances between post rock and dreampop. Someone is a Slowdive-fan, I guess. Yet, this first real highlight is the single 'Suns', a classic post rock anthem, honoring the blissful tradition of the genre. Someone is also a God Is An Astronaut fan, I think, but that's perfectly fine.

'The Earth Alone Will Outlast Us All' is a lengthy track with vocal samples and heaps of atmosphere. This is pretty much how blind people watch movies, and I suggest you close your eyes while playing this song. A strange and warning story will unfold while the lingering guitars guide the way. So far, this album already shows plenty of variation, and then there is 'Sidereal', a downtempo electronics tune that nudges more towards Boards Of Canada than to Explosions In The Sky. This one too seems to doubt between being a full song or a tweener but most of all it's just a nice tune to listen to.

The second part of this album continues Mesozoic's typical post rock sound. 'Wax' is another one of my favorites here, often reminding me of A Swarm Of The Sun. With the last track, that ambient tune '/Wane', Mesozoic seems to hint towards Cocteau Twins, which might explain the elements from shoegaze and dreampop in the album. Yet, for the most part, this simply is an excellent post-rock record, containing all the right elements and coming with a decent dose of variation. I can only recommend this one to all you post-rockers out there. Mesozoic is a strong force and one that deserves to be heard.


​Serge

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

post rock / progressive rock

Chains For The Sea is an album released in November 11, by Greek post rock group Halocraft. A little more than forty minutes long, the record has nine tracks: Under the Waves she Sleeps, The Daughter you've Always Wanted, Vertigo, the Desire to Fall, Chains for the Sea, In Orbit, Those who sow winds, It has Awaken, False Vacuum and She speaks of stars. With beautiful, passionate and delicate harmonies, this album is marvelous, despite the fact that, after some time, becomes relatively predictable. Nevertheless, there is a genuine beauty and a wonderfully poetic fragrance, deeply attached to its virtuous melodies, which definitely makes this interesting and gracefully expressive work totality worthwhile of your time, despite some minor and obvious limitations. 

With a progressive layout embellished by gracious and creatively majestic guitar lines – albeit moderately inclined to a hyperbolic, but genuine melodic pretension – there is a wonderful degree of vivacity gravitating around the sensational axis of a colorful musical conjuncture, that balances towards the fertile density of its own sonorous anatomy. The sound of the band is fundamentally organic, and reorganizes its own volatile proclivities according to a very intuitive pragmatism.

The gracious, calm and delicate vividness of its colorful harmonies is the most exceptional element present on Chains For The Sea, although the group rapidly tends to lose its moderation, and to be excessively dispersive in the continual development of a revolving musical tissue, that converges to an indefinitely expansive atmosphere generated primarily by guitar driven melodies. Nevertheless, what we have here is a very decent and cohesive result, that not only understands the logic of its own vicissitudes, but displays an elaborate set of vividly poetic sonorous tonalities, that are profusely elongated with its own infinite methodic layout, that never seeks the end of its own personal universe of fragile melancholy. The final track is a vocal track, that closes in an elegant and elusive style this graciously crafted work.  

While Chains For The Sea is not a magnificent album, the work has strong qualities, and a satisfactory level of originality, vigorously displayed by the enthusiastic sincerity of its musical synergy. Departing from audaciously pungent and creative virtues, highlighted by a sensibility that seriously seeks the splendor of its own introspective serenity through the waves of formidable and delicate symphonies, this album definitely is a captivating sonorous experience. Despite the fact that the group eventually disperses its musical grace by undertaking a drastic, severe and excessive dive into its qualities, extending them too much beyond the boundaries of virtuosity, and sacrificing their triumph by making a sound that eventually becomes too homogeneous, Chains For The Sea remains an interesting work to be delightfully appreciated, despite its minor deficiencies. 
 

Wagner

drone / ambient

death metal / grindcore

death industrial / dark ambient

Exabyss Records

post rock / ambient / electronic

ambient / classical

funeral doom

gothic rock / alternative / metal

drone / ambient / folk

dark ambient 

alternative rock / funk rock

facebook

indie / dreampop

industrial / electronic

Perc Trax

​Serge (2 & 3 by Patsker)

post rock / post hardcore

Sense by Erosion is an album by Italian post rock group Winter Dust, released on November 9. Almost fifty minutes long, the record has eight tracks: Quiet January, Duration of Gloom, All My Friends Are Leaving Town, Furnace, Composition of Gloom, Disharmony, Cruel June and Stay. A very beautiful and striking album, interestingly conceived by a band engaged in an incredible and intelligent mixture of post rock and hardcore, despite some limitations. With a generally soft, sometimes romantic, flavored and melodramatic sound – that is occasionally assisted by more tempestuous harmonies –, Winter Dust definitely can be categorized as a competent and proficient band, that has developed a very personal, concentrated style, that knows how to extract the best elements of two distinct musical genres, and perfectly merge them altogether, despite the fact that, most of the time, they stay exclusively on the zone of conventional post rock.

With quite distinct colorful tonalities, that definitely work as a delusional corporeal frame to dispersive and exponentially effusive melodies, Sense by Erosion reveals itself to be a gracious album, with an audacious and sensible degree of creativity, despite the fact that sometimes they fall in more ordinary and predictable musical territory. Nevertheless, they definitely know how to create and to execute marvelous music, that sounds proverbially graceful and poetic in very specific passages.  

With some delightful melodies completely immersed in poetic cadences that ostensibly fall over their inherent creative sensibilities, the overall musicality of the band is very vivid, despite the fact that displays a modest structural simplicity. On its basic interludes, the music is virtually a conscious expansion of sensitive atmospheric harmonies, deeply indebted to an ascendant virtuous cosmogony of expressive, but delicate vitality. 

While the group is very methodic and ostensibly conscious about their vivacious and unapologetic artistic proposal, sometimes they occasionally get lost in repetitive or similar sonorous sequences, although this doesn’t compromise their qualities nor their formidable level of competence. They only need to be more pungent in their audacity, that becomes too horizontal, as they seem to accommodate themselves in a tender and serene, but stagnant comfort zone. Nevertheless, Sense by Erosion is a good album, with excellent guitar lines, beautiful solos, amazing harmonies and surprising melodic vicissitudes. Definitely, deserves to be appreciated. 


Wagner