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

drone / ambient / folk

electronic / ambient/ synthwave

bandcamp

bandcamp

acoustic / folk

post punk

post punk

funeral doom

shoegaze / dreampop

electronic / house / synth

hard rock

math rock / alternative rock / experimental / noise rock / punk

​Serge

progressive rock / post rock / shoegaze 

Spectra is the most recent album released by American progressive/ stoner/ shoegaze group Alone on the Moon, from Houston, Texas. Forty minutes long, the record has eleven tracks: Say Again, Scatterbrain-ed, Pool of Tears, Kings, Bishops, and Pawns, Bright Bite Wound, Some Day It'll All Go Dark, Suicitation,
Spectra, The Digger, Naked Lady Park and Small White Object. With gracious, diligent and strong guitar lines, that really incorporates the tenacity of its flexible and indulgent, but methodic and pungent musical elements, Spectra is a gracefully proverbial album, exceedingly technical to a certain degree, although without losing the quintessential volatilities of its monumental effervescent soul. 

The salutary creative provinces upon which the melodies easily flow seems to voluntarily depart from the vicinities of an infinite realm of innocent, intrinsic and spontaneous serenity, that persistently embrace the shadows of its sonorous descendant highlight. The style of the group is intelligent, vivacious and quite remarkable, for sure, and its strongest virtues are cohesively dense, expansive and abrasive guitar lines, that drags to the epicenter of its sentimental horizon the lugubrious hemisphere of a purely dimensional strategic space, that comprehends on the placid melodic reverberations of its titanic sonorous possibilities the ostensibly sensible, but lucid graciosity of an indefinite diagram of musically entangled vertical parameters, easily configured by the band.  

Unfortunately, the album presents some fragile issues, although they don’t compromise the general competence displayed in the work. The melodic variations are not strong nor distinctive enough to avoid a modest degree of monotony, and the general uniformity of the sound – added to its superb, but excessively disdainful level of musical technicalities – makes the album somewhat too predictable, sometimes resembling more a recorded guitar lesson than an actual art album. Nevertheless, I do have to say that the musical groundwork is beautiful, and Alone on the Moon has all the necessary qualities to surpass the current limitations presented by their latent, but stagnant style.  

Alone on the Moon is a band that concentrates an expressively sensible amount of talent; indeed, the group have a tremendous potential, that overlooks all of its relatively insignificant deficiencies. They just have to let their natural virtues flow out of their creative musical axis, and the magic will just naturally happen. They have to learn only not to worry so much about technical grievances. Besides that, they are very close to be qualified as the next marvelous act on the underground scene.  


Wagner 

post punk / new wave / goth rock

Heading from Bristol, Naut decided to ignore all current trends and to look back to the dark eighties. Now, this five-piece comes with a baffling debut EP, containing five pitch black goth rock tunes. Influences from bands like Sisters Of Mercy and Killing Joke run rampant and come with the overwhelming energy of post punk acts like The Jesus and Mary Chain. Song like opener 'Disintegration' and 'I'm Here' are destined to fill dark dancefloors everywhere. My personal favorite here is closer 'XVI'. It makes me curious and hungry for more, but for now I'm sure that this EP will be an excellent addition to every post punk / goth rock collection. 

doom / sludge

Sheffield doom mongers Kurokuma return with a two track EP, based on the Dope Rider strip from High Times in the 70s. The artwork comes from Paul Kirchner, the creator of the strip. The music is another slab of severe psychotic sludge doom, five and eight minutes long. Part 1 also showcases something industrial, reflected by repetitive, almost methodical drums. Part 2 simply continues to slow but brutal pummeling. Fans of bands like Conan, Dopethrone and Yob can easily trust Kurokuma to deliver the monolithic riffs and fierce vocals they crave so much. So if you want your sludge metal as destructive as a wrecking ball, this EP should do.

post-metal / doom / alternative rock

facebook

Several months after the release of 'Serrated', Dutch heavy rockers An Evening With Knives unleash three songs that did not make the album because of the limited space on the vinyl. Yet, these songs were to important for the band to be ignored. Opener and title track 'Fade Out' deals with the death of Marco’s father due to Alzheimer disease. It's a long, heavy and cathartic lamentation, showcasing the darkest side of this band. The other two songs follow that example, be it a bit shorter. They all walk a similar path as the songs on 'Serrated', and thus would also fit perfectly into every sludge, doom and grunge collection. These guys are growing steadily, that's for sure.

electronic / ambient / experimental

An alienating two track EP that will leave you confused and entangled, that is what Soho Rezanejad delivers. Subtle electronics, minimalist drones, gloomy soundscapes and her vocals come together in two lengthy modern day folk songs. I can't help but think about a mix between Zola Jesus and Diamanda Galas, be it a bit less creepy than the latter. Yet, there is emotion, there is fear, mourning, wonder and hope in these two tracks. There is a mystifying atmosphere, one that borrows elements from dark ambient. Yet, above all perhaps, this is a unique piece of work, reminding me of an act like Dark Ensemble. Recommended only for eternally wandering souls.

post rock / post metal / stoner / sludge

In today's post rock scene, new bands pop up like mushrooms. Würzburg residents The Man Within are one of those newcomers. Mostly, that first effort comes with a low production and a careful introduction in what the band really is capable of. Yet, here that results in a full-blown post metal album with seven outstanding tracks. Most of them, including 'Mount Santo', my favorite 'Institution' (that rolling bass is hot!!!) and the massive 'Limitless' can easily entertain audiences far and wide. Although firmly rooted in the post-scene, elements from sludge metal, psychedelic rock and stoner rock are never far away. A great introduction, now let's hope they can confirm this in the near future.

dark ambient

The new brainchild of Nachtzeit, the man behind ambient dark metal project Lustre, comes up with an interesting dark ambient album. Although playful at time, this album takes us back to the mysterious  and dark age of the Norse gods. Early in 'Drömmarna' acts like Mortiis (on Cold Meat Industry) and Wongraven come to mind. Synths, soundscapes and dreamy melodies guide the listening on a musical tour of medieval Europe, so it seems, highlighting in 'Löftet' and 'Tårarn'. Strangely, the title track 'Hädanfärden' has an X-Files OST feeling about it, which isn't bad, on the contrary. Fans of old school medieval dark ambient can easily appreciate this album.

alternative rock / hard rock / grunge

facebook

Belgian hard rock duo Breakfast At Midnight proves that two is enough to create heaps of noise. On this debut EP they blast seven tracks through our speakers, beginning with the heavy rocking 'Kidi Coke'. From then on, the rock doesn't seem to stop. Inspired by anything between Tool, Queens Of The Stone Age and Stone Temple Pilots, these two feed an everlasting fire. Most tracks drive on sheer energy but in 'What I'm To Say' and in '1813', the band delves deeply into the Pearl Jam version of grunge rock. Here, the vocals are excellent and clean while the other tunes contain heaps of aggressive screams. Not that I mind, this is pure rock 'n roll: raw, rough and heavy.

black metal / death metal

Grab onto something now because Ukrainian trio Goatsperm is about to unload a hellish, chaotic and vulgar EP, loaded with orthodox black/death metal. 'Voice In The Womb' contains three tracks, each one being a pummeling piece of extreme metal, as dark as Satan's butthole but with an ambient breather here and there. Somehow, this trio manages to combine atmospheric passages with sheer metallic terror, something that might indeed make a lot of banging heads turn their way in the near future.  Besides, 'Into The Deep Waters Of Catacombs' is one of the fiercest black metal tunes I've heard this year. If you're a self-respecting extremist, you need this.

krautrock / shoegaze / punk

What would have happened if Ramones used My Bloody Valentine's guitar effects? What would a punk rock cover album of Neu! songs sound like? Well, Finnish six piece Teksti-TV 666 might have a decent answer for you. 'Aidattu Tulevaisuus' delivers six high-octane krautrock tunes with the raw energy of punk and the immersive nature of shoegaze. I admit, it is something different from the usual slabs of rock 'n roll that appear here but 'Turbo-Mondeo' and 'Aidattu tulevaisuus' can easily get your behind shaking. My favorite here is the somewhat slower 'Rauhankone', which might be described as a down-to-earth space rock track. Recommended? Hell yeah!

ambient / electronic / experimental

Hailing from Porto, Vitor Joaquim is a sound sculptor and visual artist, active around the strange borders between soothing ambient and otherworldly noise. This new album, 'Impermanence' contains seven tracks, revolving around repetitive soundscapes, almost subconscious loops and immersive musical textures. Here and there vocals samples have been added to increase the narrative nature of the music. That, along with the minimal soundscapes, makes the title track my favorite here but I'm sure that every fan of decent ambient music can appreciate these sounds. Obviously, this comes highly recommended.

ambient / drone / experimental / noise

bandcamp

An even more noisy and experimental variation on ambient sounds comes from Han, a project by Vitor Joaquim and Emidio Buchinho. This album revolves around live improvisation and real time processing, which results in something severely unusual and highly experimental. Yet, behind the gritty freestyle on the guitar, beautiful ambient loops lurk. These seven tracks are weird, immersive in one way, yet restrained and peculiar. Somehow this album feels like the early days of drone experimentation, when artists were exploring the other possibilities of their instruments. In all, this is an interesting release to dive into, but only for experienced avant gardists...

Serge

krautrock / psychedelic 

psychedelic rock / krautrock / neo folk

doom / blues

techno

electronic / darkwave

shoegaze

death metal

ambient / downtempo / post rock

death metal / power metal

americana / alternative rock / indie

bandcamp

stoner metal

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 / sludge / psychedelic

metalcore

folk / alternative rock

facebook

post rock / shoegaze

Spotify

alternative rock

progressive rock

dark ambient

experimental / avant garde / classical

bandcamp

stoner rock / alternative / metal

funeral doom

funeral doom / ambient

bandcamp

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

krautrock / drone / shoegaze

A few months ago, Eric Quach (Thisquietarmy) and I were talking about his busy touring and recording schedule. He told me that he had been recording with Hypnodrone Ensemble again. I was thrilled. I had discovered this project a few years earlier and immediately become a fan. Now the new album is available, titled 'The Hunting Season Is Open!' and once again it is a pleasurably trip to bury yourself in. The set-up is similar, Aidan Baker and Eric Quach deliver the drones while Felipe Salazar (Caudal, Muerte En Pereira), Jérémie Mortier (Alice in the Cities, Lady Shot from a Tree), and Dave Dunnett (Man Meets Bear) play the drums.

Yes, three drummers. That should make up for some potent rhythm section. However, in track one those three sound very modest, almost subdued. I don't mind but somehow it feels like this multi-drummer thing is not yet reaching its full potential on this one. That will probably change soon. On a side note, I wonder if the idea comes from Dirk Serries who once formed Fearfallsburning, also with three drummers. It was one of the heaviest drone-ambient things I've ever heard.

Perhaps heaviness is not the characteristic Hypnodrone Ensemble aims for. Perhaps here  the focus lies on immersiveness and a dreamy atmosphere. In that, this act certainly succeeded. Track two is equally friendly, a bit rougher but just as meditative as it's predecessor. For the record, there are four tracks, each over ten minutes long, so there is plenty of ambient rock jazz kraut goodness to be found here.

Oddly enough, throughout the album, the music invites me to continuously adjust the volume. I played track one on a mild level, track two a bit harder and track four on neighbours-annoying levels. Oh shit, I'm becoming my friend Marc, who often manages to annoy an entire city with his high volume jazz.  Oh well, I guess that's what good music does, no? And this is good music, you can be certain of that.

If I have to pick a favorite track here, it will number three. Here the drummers are more prominent than on the previous ones. Here they really got the kraut going. Minami Deutsch suddenly comes to mind. The band shows a similar joy-of-playing. I can easily imagine crowds dancing, shaking their behinds and nodding their head to this music. I hope one day I will be one of them. I really want to see this thing live. But for now, I'll just recommend it to the entire city, at high volume of course.


​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