post metal / progressive metal / black metal

Raljarn are certainly an intriguing prospect. A one-man project from Russia, we’re promised “A cold conceptual” dose of ‘Post, Math & Black’ metal with lyrics inspired by “myths, shamanic stories and mysticism” amongst other themes on Practicing Death, which is Raljarn’s first album after a number of sporadic singles. Dan Mikalchenko handles the instrumentation and lyrical concepts on the record and vocals are supplied by several guests. It’s a bold project to undertake, does it deliver on the promise?
The answer is Yes and No: Practicing Death sometimes adds up to the sum of its many parts. At its strongest it’s a devastating listen; within individual tracks we have multiple twists and turns, grinding riffs at odds with clean picked passages, blasts, syncopated beats, sparse synths, echoing guitars and a crystal-clear production which takes us undoubtedly toward the unforgiving cold North. There’s an emotionless quality to the bulk of the material in the delivery and although there is a wide range of influences, at heart this is very much a metal record with a distinct absence of any uplifting quality in any great quantity. As the release is digital only, I would’ve liked to pour over the lyrics to get the full experience, which is a shame as I feel it is an integral part of Raljarn’s presentation.

“North Omen” opens proceedings and immediately brings me to one of the records major flaws - the varying quality of the vocal delivery. With four vocalists on board, I had the impression that perhaps there would be four distinctly different takes on the material, but they are all more alike if anything. Artem Sergeev aside, I found I had to consistently check the credits to verify which vocalist I was listening to. Resemblances by the by, there’s a couple of falters and in occasional places the approach lets the material down a bit. Sergeev provides sublime vocals on each of his tracks – equally capable and effective whether using clean or harsh tones, there is much more the feel of a journey on each of these  in terms of crafting of the songs, culminating with “Metahuman” which is hands down the standout moment on the album. In fact, if any of the words here have inspired curiosity – this is the song to check out. It’s got the best of what Raljarn can offer in one fully realised package, the crescendo of the song is brilliant, opening up like something off Fear Factory’s excellent Genexus album, accompanied by a simplistic Type O-Negative style lead providing an extra hook. It’s completely crushing and leaves you wishing there were more moments like this on the album.

With Practicing Death’s zenith behind us, the rest of the record proves to be much more of a mixed bag, sometimes with diminishing returns. Galeb Shashkov returns to deliver a much more assured performance on “Posthuman”. “Whilst Darkhuman” and “DeadHuman”, although somewhat effective in places, start to retread to already covered ground, especially the latter. Dan’s guitar effect over the refrain of “DeadHuman” is ill-judged and borders on the gimmicky, taking us a million miles away from the arctic environment we previously occupied.
A final small piece of critique must be reserved for the drums: There is no drummer listed on the credits so (I stand to be corrected but) they sound programmed, whilst the tone and placement are right on the money and pack serious punch it does seem like the same patterns reappear across the record, leading to a (perhaps unfair) feeling of familiarity. Maybe this is part of Dan’s vision to have a kind of mechanical coldness from the rhythm section, but it causes the latter half of the record to lag somewhat. 

Dan Mikalchenko is a fantastic musician and as I said at the beginning, Raljarn is intriguing: Sonically and conceptually he has an incredibly clear vision for the project and thus has delivered a record which must be judged by the high standards he himself has set. I urge you to keep Raljarn on your radar, Practicing Death is a very solid foundation but for now it is just that. Raljarn’s best is yet to come. 


​Greg

alternative / progressive / metal

French Prog-Metal oufit joins the fold at Pelagic HQ and gives the roster a new, refreshing feature that takes time and repeats to grow but then doesn’t vanish from your memory. Good roster move, Robin!

Whenever Pelagic Records announces the addition of a new, rather unknown act, I start to wonder and feel excited because that often meant a chance to discover a great new act in the past. When they announced the addition of French Prog-Metal trip Lizzard to the fold, I immediately checked out their older stuff and then my excitement for the new full-length “Eroded” became a bit stronger. When listening to it again and again I noticed that there is something in their music I don’t like, the vocals. However, after listening to the new record a few times, I felt a certain pull by these exactly same vocals which then led to me re-visiting the older stuff as well. And – voila! - I now can proclaim that the vocal delivery and style by Mathieu Ricou are one of the things that work best for me on “Eroded”. 

The trio consisting of Ricou on guitars and vocal duties, Katy Elwell on the drums and William Knox on the bass delivers a very tight performance that was recorded, produced and mixed by Peter Junge in Röhrsdorf, Eastern Germany in a month of full concentration on that record. “Eroded” is their fourth full-length since they became a band in 2006 and it definitely shows the band at the peak of their abilities. 

When listening to the record, there are two comparisons that sprung to my mind rather quickly – Motorpsycho and Soen, there could be worse parallels, right? The vocals are clean and well-sung (like Joel Ekelöf’s vocals for Soen), Mathieu breathes life into them by giving them exactly the amount of sharpness they need for their dance with the proggish cascades and riffs collapsing over the audience’s heads with the guitars leading the drills that led to the mountain falling down; of course these chunky riffs and proggish parts are the mental bridge to Norway’s masters around Bent Saether and Hans Magnus Ryan. Compare the second track “Blowdown” and you will notice how the guitar lines try to “outduel” each other – really good work (also on behalf of the mixing engineer). One can totally imagine Mathieu holding the guitar on his upper leg and riffing it out while at the same time mesmerizing us with some wonderful vocals. On the other side there are many very intimate moments, when small, tiny arpeggios and licks are Mathieu’s weapons of choice to create moody and thoughtful songs, for example the wonderfully light and flowing interlude “Usque Ad Terram” which leads directly into the next track “Blue Moon”. These moments show that Lizzard are also able to incorporate some very direct post-rock emotions into their record without these standing apart from the other tracks. 

​One should also not forget the rhythm section of Katy and William who do an outstanding job, not simply following Mathieu’s lines but also giving a lot to the soundscapes themselves – notice the heavy, grungy basslines in “Flood” where William’s bass often dominates and Katy’s effective, chippy use of the hi-hat and cymbals is really giving the song a lively feeling. The two give the song that edge that it deserves and the moments when the stop for half a breath are just brilliant. It will be interesting to see how they perform such tight songs on stage. 


To put it all in a nutshell – Lizzard is definitely a very good addition to Pelagic’s roster, they might not be a hit factory but they give us a record that is a real grower if one is willing to give it some spins. It’s like one of these good 90s records which did not convince at first glance but rather on third or fourth listen. These are often the records that hold up best!


Thorsten

progressive rock / djent

There has been a time when bands like Amplifier, Dredg and Oceansize were the latest shit in modern alternative music. When djent was not something you found on too many metal albums, when it was hip to be different but not to overthink stuff. These bands had something about their sound that set them apart and that something was often their use of drums and synths.

A few hours ago, a friend of mine told me about a band I should check out and he mentioned Dredg and Oceansize as references. Of course that immediately ignited my interest and man, I was not disappointed. This record really is a reminiscence why this kind of alternative hardcore was so interesting. “Connect” is the third release by this Indian band and their first after a long break since 2015. 

The drums are very poignant and poly-rhythmic, able to set real highlights into the tight-knit web of sound. The spherical synth elements are very well-set and round out a really remarkable listening experience. The guitars are crisp and with just the right amount of hall to turn some simple pickings into nice shortly meandering spaces. The only thing that one might point out negatively are the vocals as they sometimes are a bit too simple. 

To give you an example for this really well-constructed I want to point out the final track “Northern Lights” which has a very nice picking intro with a simple synth-space growing out of it. Both things might remind some people of Stabbing Westward and “Catch Without Arms”-period Dredg and when the guitar starts its little riff it completely changes the track. The drums set in and the song turns into an Alternative monster with a djenty guitar with the triplet notes in the middle making it even more interesting.

At the other end of the record we have the opening track “Hide” with all its rhythmic elements working with and simultaneously against each other. The vocals of this track are quite fitting for the band but sometimes they could break out more, become more dominant. Dredg songs were always even bigger with the vocals, here the vocals are good but don’t evolve the songs any further. 

I must point out something: This might not be a one-to-one-copy of the old classics like Oceansize or Circa Survive but it is an evolutionary step as it incorporates new elements taken from bands like TesseracT.  The tracks on “Connect” flow effortlessly into each other although they are clearly marked off from the next one, but nevertheless the record has the same flow as records by these stalwarts mentioned above. The guys might be the next big thing in alternative, progressive metal, so keep an eye open if you like crescendo-driven, hall-laden emotional guitar lines. 


​Thorsten

progressive / sludge / doom 

Sometimes it occurs that the first spin of a record leaves you speechless and then you find your voice again more and more with every turn because, well, the record is not making a lasting impression. Sometimes there are records that work just the other way around and these are what we call growers. Interesting about this is, that sometimes there are releases that could be split in half – you listen to a, at first sight, mediocre first half and then something changes and that leaves you spellbound. When going back to the same record again, you might find yourself liking that first half a bit more because of the lasting impression of that second half. Is that then a grower? Or just a convincing way of structuring your record? 

Well it is what happened to yours truly when listening to Holden’s debut “Ursa Minor” (the “little bear” in astrology). At first, the first two songs didn’t really strike a chord in me, but when the 15-minute-centerpiece “However Small, However Hidden” (talk about an adequate for such a huge beast of a composition!) it was all swept away by a very dynamic tornado of a song. Completely instrumental the composition rides on one not-changing soundscape which means that the tonality of the song is pretty constant. And now comes the tricky part: How can a track that is not based on creating an epic and storytelling atmosphere blow you away? Holden’s answer: by variations of groove! This is basically an awesome stoner rock song played within the cavernous sound of good sludge metal. The way that drummer Michael Arcane (again – what a name!) is able to take us on this dragon-rollercoaster-ride is breathtaking. His cymbals are exact on spot and his use of the rest of the drum kit is really great. I could take about this song alone for hours. 

After that song the whole attitude towards the debut by the trio from Richmond, VA, changed. Even more if the next song is “Emperor of Maladies” which is like another one of those Mastodon-songs one might have come to miss on some of the last releases by the Atlantans. This might be one of those gems unearthed from the “Blood Mountain” sessions. Some hints at why this comes across like that? Because Palmer Sturman sings and screams his lungs out like Brent Hinds and plays his guitar in certain moments like Bill Kelliher. This is dirty, this is raw, this is awesome. The blastbeat middle part lead by Arcane and bassist Sam Berson is like the aggressive side that Mastodon haven’t really shown since Leviathan. One could also compare this song to bands like Conan or High on Fire. Nonetheless, Holden are pretty unique and will leave quite some metal-heads spellbound. Especially if they listen to the reprise of the guitar motif from “Emperor” in the final outro “The Way it Was and Will Be”. They even have the guts to seemingly fade out and then come back for a final moment to give the listener one last sweet kiss and then dragging him to play the record again. One might even think that the outro and the intro share some riffs so that the seductiveness is even more appealing and mesmerizing. 

Taking another spin on the first two tracks now and probably they will grow on me again after having gone through tracks 3 to 5 again. This record and its song-structure is simple magic. More than a grower or a “convincer”! 


Thorsten

progressive / alternative / metal

ometimes records can surprise you with every twist and turn they take. The third full-length by London-based quartet Elephant Tree is one of these. Just when you thought, you had them figured out they come up with yet another direction. The one constant on the album is probably the soundscape that is being dominated by a distorted, slightly fuzzy guitar. A kind of noise-rock production that seemingly is the red thread throughout the songs and that shares some relation to the Melvins.

Nevertheless this record is more than a sound-a-like. It jumps a bit between the genres which makes it more interesting. A hike through selected songs will probably clarify the eclectic nature of the album:
After the pumping, vibrating intro “Wake. Repeat” the first full song “Sails” is one of these songs that can stick to the back of your mind for week because the band is able to weave Pink Floyd’ish vocal lines into a song that is dancing on the razor between noise and post-metal with a strong nod to orchestral grunge when the synth spaces kick in at half-time. 
The fourth track “Exit the Soul” is only straightforward at first glance with its spiraling guitar lines in the background and the warm bass and drums at the center. But then the song slows down more and more until one might think that it is fading out, before taking a turn to become a stoner beast with some heavy-sparkling pearls and dots painting it a different shade of crimson. 
“The Fall Chorus” then surprisingly acts as an acoustic miniature with vocals placed right between chants in old Oxfordian halls and some Simon & Garfunkel pop-appeal – by the way, that is a strong bond between many of these songs: They can all keep your mind and “oral memory” blocked for days. It is the necessary pause for breath in the middle of the record. 
“Bird” then uses the chant-structure just to lead over into a grunge song for the 21st century. This song might be best described with a modern-day version of Stone Temple Pilots or Candlebox with an underlying melancholy and the vocals joyfully changing pace and style in between.

One could do this song by song analysis for all songs but by now it should be clear that “Habits” doesn’t hide its roots and influences. Nevertheless, the tracks never bow too low in front of the predecessors, so that they would become stagnant emulations; no they are very self-reliant and independent, very self-aware and proud. Something very valuable for a band that loves to play with the audience’s expectations and to surprise them more than once.


Thorsten

progressive / stoner / rock

Always one of the most refreshing things in music are well-established bands with a good reputation and a strong following being able to re-invent their sound and style and still getting away with it because of sheer musical joy and quality. Think of Celtic Frost and their turn towards a darker and yet more progressive side of black metal with “Monotheist” (as a positive example, or Dredg and their last record if you want a negative example). Elder just did that very same thing, the highly popular stoner rock band has re-invented their sound-verse a few years ago and now follow this wide open future with “Omens”, the seventh regular full-length for the Berlin, Germany-based Heavy Rock band.

The songwriting has taken another massive step forwards and the “anything goes”-attitude definitely knows no boundaries on this meticulous record. There is nearly no genre untouched on “Omens” and the five songs with 55 minutes running time deliver big. Of course, the basis is still heavy rock and the sound is also still strongly stoner-influenced. However, the soundscapes alterations can come any second and nevertheless contribute to an immense gratifying whole. 

The new line-up of singer Nicholas DiSalvo and Michael Risberg on the guitars and the keyboards, Jack Donvan on the bass and Georg Edert behind the drums is able to progress from the mind-blowing 2017 release “Reflections of a Floating World” and keep its own identity at the same time which means that we witness unique combinations of space rock (with some quirky sounds speeding from right to left) and simultaneously heavy repetitive patterns. New drummer Georg Edert, together with his team-mate bassist Jack Donvan, needs to be mentioned here singularly because it is always difficult to enter such a strong line-up and not feel nervously. But his perfectly timed rhythms and nicely balanced drum patterns and fills give the long instrumental passage a more than solid foundation not to forget amid all the guitar tornadoes of riffs, solo and licks. He has so much near jazzy drive in his toms and such an undeniably eloquent use of the cymbals that one wonders whether they found an incarnation of Shiva serving the purpose of driving that will keep many heads nodding and feet moving at the same time. 

This version of Elder might be a bit poppier than before and a bit more accessible but damned be if it turns out any less successful. Elder have found a niche which only they inhibit, not because nobody else wants to, but because the level of their skills cannot be matched easily. 


Thorsten

progressive metal

Progressive Metal is a genre that is either loved or hated because sometimes the musicality and genius-level abilities of the musicians involved are shown just that one bit too often. If the founding members of the band met up at Berklee College of Music with all its high-class, top of the line graduates and high profile teachers, it’s esasy to think that this is just another one of those bands where the display of talent supersedes the talent of songwriting. However, that is not true for Myth of I even though of course they show that their fingers are quick, their kicks are talented and their knack ability to incorporate several styles into different songs is only second to their idea of letting the song speak for itself.

Interesting about Myth of I is the fact that they are an instrumental band only, nobody is offering multi-octave-singing or screaming, there are no James LaBries involved in the making of “Myth of I”, their first full-length after an EP in 2017. The band shows a lot of speedy technical aspects and switch between classical prog rock and death metal, between acoustic elements and ambient passages effortlessly. But none of these parts are ever driven over the top, so that one might put them into one genre – it seems as if they are very comfortable being “non-pinpointable”. 

Each song has numerous changes and turns, using microscopic scales and huge epic turns, so one might hear some Between the Buried and Me while others hear some Cloudkicker in these songs and both are correct in hearing that because these bands definitely helped define the sound of Myth of I. Usually one argues that songs must take you on a journey, but in this case it is more like being thrown across the globe all the time – not with a harsh kick, but with soft touches so that, in the end, you want to know which spot will follow next.

If you can imagine listening to instrumental versions of Between the Buried and Me or Tesseract, then this album and especially songs like “Glass Castles”, “Needlepoint” or “The Maze” should be next on your playlist as they combine a lot of elements to give this highly musical genre a nice new twist.


Thorsten

progressive / alternative / metal

There are bands who like singing about literature – Maximo Park; there are bands who like storytelling – Mastodon; and there are bands who create complete worlds and setting for their stories which then again is the basis for their music – Coheed and Cambria; or Huntsmen from Chicago. The difference between the latter two categories is simple: Storytelling often goes for one record only – you may also compare Bowie’s different records each based on one individual plotline – be it Ziggy or be it Nathan. Creating whole settings, characters, plot lines and everything that transcend one record and encompass all that the band tries to release is a very difficult task (especially if you are developing the story yourself and not using a story out there). Nevertheless, Huntsmen seem to stand the test of musical relevance and literary conciseness and inner-plot-logic. 

The story they set out to bring to the world is about a post-apocalyptic, post-war wasteland (whose precise location is yet not given) where the audience follows the former soldier who must find her way through barren landscape after a failed mission and who is joined on that odyssey by a man who first (among others) rescued her from a bunch of “pirates”. On that journey they find not only some obstacles and solutions but also….. 

Oh this already got you? Then go on and listen to the album which musically is as diverse as one could imagine a progressive alternative metal to be. Progressive because the now-quintet (after former help Aimee Bueno is now a full-time member providing the voice for the soldier. Alternative because the band definitely has a knack for writing very well-tuned melodies, but never frightening with proggish scales and interludes, licks or solos. They deliver 13 songs in 78 minutes (spread out across two records) and very often the basis of that is a good balance between 90s-style, grunge-influenced alternative metal (a bit similar to Intronaut but without the jazz elements) and well-interwoven metal riffs that give the sound enough depth with their small details (a short drum blast, a swirling synth in the background, an upscaling guitar element). The most remarkable thing are the vocals, shared by Bueno and Chris Kang, which turn these duets into real conversations that can leave you spellbound. 


Thorsten

progressive / sludge /  doom / metal

Ravenna might turn out to be this year’s capital for everything metal. January saw the release of Nero DiMarte’s angry post-metal record, February witnessed the release of Postvorta’s opus magnum “Porrima” and in March, Void of Sleep show their third full-length “Metaphora” to the world. Interesting is that members of Nero DiMarte and Postvorta also play in Void of Sleep and in some ways there can be parallels in the sound. 

Void of Sleep perform a kind of very proggy post-metal or sludge with twisting time signatures here and there with short breaks and “stop and go”-moments which really takes you on a journey. The most impressive here is certainly the rhythm section because without a tight performance by Andrea (bass, Nero DiMarte) and Allo (drums) this whole thing would fall apart. Nevertheless, that shall not imply that the guitar work by Gale and Burdo (also responsible for vocals) is not worth mentioning, because very often they show an amazing feeling for timing and interweave their sometimes doomy, sometimes sludgey riffs with a soothing solo or some acoustic passages to purvey the songs room to breathe. The only thing that might not be to everybody’s taste might be the vocals as they often delve into the realm of prog-metal (not the cheesy end, but the clean style).

When listening to Void of Sleep you can fall into songs that transport you either to the highest satellites or the deepest ravines, which shows how open the musical horizon is. The author of these lines saw a group of people trying to run up some steep Appenine hill slipping on the rocky parts and yet determined to reach the top as a group not as individuals, helping each other out if one of them stumbled and fell. However, at the supposed “top” of the hill they have to realize that they are not even close to the summit but only mastered a few peak behind which a whole “universe” of mountains of even greater heights hid. Determined to keep their bond and friendship intact, they start ascending the next one.

One might wonder about the structure of the mountains close to Ravenna, the momentary capital for thinking man’s metal. 


Thorsten

psychedelic / progressive

bandcamp

Sunday afternoon, half of the country is closed, the other half remains inside, hiding from the Corona-virus which is threatening society as we know it. Outside it's cold and windy, although the sun tries to pierce through the clouds. Here in my living room it's warm and comfortable, a good time to get working on another bunch of reviews. And what better way to kick things off than with this complex yet captivating piece of work by Seikai, the progressive ambient act by Anthony Pandolfino and Samuel Groat. Although, "progressive ambient" might not be the correct words to describe this music as there is a lot more to be found here. Let's see if I can guide you through.

Seikai are known for their spacey electronics and space rock jams but for 'IV' they focus on a wide array of instrumentation, letting their respective sounds roam freely. That way, the album somewhat feels like a set of jazz improvisations which slowly turn into psychedelic jam sessions, a bit like if Tangerine Dream had a jam session with Ozric Tentacles during a starlit night on a beach in Goa, something like that. There are elements of krautrock, the pulsating bass of psychill, the playfulness of jam band guitars and the atmosphere of old science fiction movies. All of that is created by synths, (slide-)guitars and even a melodica. It's been a while since I've heard that thing in a recording.

I think my favorite track here is 'Galaxahatchie', which seems to drive on a throbbing eighties bassline. There is something gloomy about the whole thing, which immediately reminds me of old soundtracks. Besides, all four tracks here are quite long improvisations and all of them are well worthy of a decent listening session, especially of a daft Sunday like this one. Check it out, you'd be pleasantly surprised. Even post rock fanatics will appreciate a track like 'Starlit Trail'. In fact, this whole album, and thus the band, could prove to be an interesting addition to many post rock festivals, just saying. Anyway, 'IV' is a beautiful album, narrative and adventurous but also comfortable to listen to, and that is all that matters now...


Serge