gothic metal / symphonic metal

I know, there is a slight possibility that this band might not appreciate the 'gothic' tag on top of this review. For some reason, the name 'gothic metal' doesn't sit well with a lot of musicians. In a way, they're right. It's not because the main vocalist is a woman and there are plenty of keyboards and symphonic elements that this is automatically gothic metal. On the other hand, I have to find an audience for this, and in that case I'd recommend this music to fans of Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Epica and other bands in that area.

French melodic metal band Asylum Pyre have been around for awhile, since 2006 to be exact. So this third album could be seen as a ten-year celebration. It fits quite well in the gothic metal scene but there is a lot more to it. Opener 'Second Shadow' shows a radio friendly approach, possibly even resulting in a smash hit. With piano, heavy riffs and Chaos Heidi's firm but melodic vocals, this would make a great sing-along for metal minded audiences far and wide. True, it's a damn good song but maybe a bit too goody-goody to please those who like it hard and heavy.

For those people, Asylum Pyre wrote a few other tracks, including 'The Silence Of Screams', which brings out the grunts and seems to combine influences from Children Of Bodom and Helloween. 'Only Your Soul' comes up with the electronics, reminding me of something between Moonspell and Pain, with female vocals, obviously. By now, I'm really getting into the sound of Asylum Pyre. This really is an excellent album, regularly reminding me about the good old days, when I enjoyed all of the aforementioned bands at metal festivals.

'Unplug My Brain' is another candidate to become a massive hit single. It rocks, but you can also dance to it, a bit like 'The Bad Touch' by Bloodhound Gang but better, way better. But I promised myself not to go into too many song-by-song reviews anymore. Besides, I think by now you should have a proper idea of what this album sounds like. It sounds like a well-written, well-varied and well-performed album by skilled musicians and songwriters. I'll just mention that the gloomy 'The White Room' is my favorite and that there's more melodic goodness and some fierce surprises to be found on this album. So go ahead, check it out, you know you want to.


​Serge

noise / drone

Time to return the favor. A while ago, my colleague Björn reviewed the latest Misantronics album, 'Contraformance' (read). He also rebooted his own experimental project and renamed it to this jolly phrase, "Hellstorm Of Flaming Nothingness". Now, he released a first ep, an eerie four-track, nihilistic, minimal, droning and even more minimal. So it's only correct that I return the favor and write this little review. Besides, it's a pretty good ep too.

The four pieces on this ep are excellent pieces of minimal ambient or noise, so minimal that you can almost call it microscopic. They drive on deep mechanical drones and a few soundscapes, sometimes showing a hint of melody. The whole reminds me a bit of the works of Sam Prekop, Zoviet France, Rapoon or Tactile. Or the works or those early electronic pioneers with their oscillators and strange music machines.

The opener 'Compassion' remains my favorite, and perhaps I'll make a little Misantronics remix for this one. My favorite title is the last one, 'My Life, And By Extension Everyone Else's Is Meaningless", which might be one of the most minimalistic pieces in the history of music. So check it out, play it during your dark meditation sessions or just blast it through your speakers to make your neighbours go mad. It's definitely worth it...


​Serge

post-rock

Helios|Erebus is the most recent release of Post Rock Irish group God is an Astronaut. Continuing somewhat the sound proposed in previous albums, distinctly maintaining their post rock identity well defined by their cohesive and refined work in the past years – that greatly expanded GIAA fame, making them intensely renowned in both sides of the Atlantic –, Helios Erebus initially, to the inattentive listener, could well be considered just like the same old albums, with a supposed absence of new elements. But disguised in an unabashed upper atmosphere of serene clouds, there is an uplifting and continuous element, of admonishing beauty, that makes this particular work way less melancholic, and a lot more grounded in a highly pure elemental nature, which is somewhat surprising, regarding how God is an Astronaut’s sound usually is. 

With a full, and yet, especially serene atmosphere, the entire album seems like one song evolving to another, in a post rock ambient stream of divine ascendency, heading towards a mysterious path bounded by an unknown strain of sagacious intensity. Characterized by a calmness very uncommon to God is an Astronaut, Helios Erebus presents us a much more composite and restrained sound, being at the same time curiously  expansive in the tranquility that presents itself completely available to the listener. And yet, the melodies that evolve from such harmonious ascendency are so beautifully organized, and so behaved in the way the arrangements present themselves as they dissolve in the serenity of the dreamscape lucid atmospheres, that you can really think you are on an ascending journey towards the unknown. But this is in fact GIAA, doing what they do best: create composite atmospheres and descending layers of sound, in all of its undeniable beauty, and harmlessly presenting themselves to the listener, as an album majestically intuitive, that interacts wonderfully with the emotions of the listener. 

With eight increasingly solid and formidable tracks, as to know, Agneya, Pig Powder, Vetus Memoria, Finem Solis, Helios Erebus, Obscura Somnia, Centralia and Sea Of Trees, Helios | Erebus redefines the vibrating transcendent electricity usually heard on GIAA’s previous albums. Nonetheless, it sets some new – although subtle – elements into their music, that makes them step in new territory, and thrive a new way regarding their art, yet impressively holding their sensibility concerning what they are doing. 

With a somewhat different atmosphere of sound – that sometimes cracks in the slits and gaps of its notes traditional rock’n’roll and hard rock influences –, never leaving uncompromised their distinct and intriguing proposal of calmness, serenity and transcendence, Helios | Erebus is one of the most different God is an Astronaut albums to date, setting their style into a different pattern of configuration, by redefining and challenging the nature and the characteristic physiology of their music, which is something present also in the time of the tracks, with shorter songs, not as long as post rock songs normally are. With its soundscape dream-like transcendence, well restrained outlook on creativity and shape, daring attitude in leaving their usual common ground to try something new – without losing their identity – and a serene, yet marvelous takeout on its straightforward musical elements, Helios | Erebus certainly is a magnificent and meritorious piece of work. Which makes me say quite enthusiastically: Long life to Irish Post Rock [in general] and God is an Astronaut [in particular].   


Wagner

electronic / experimental

More weirdness on Merchants Of Air today, and more electronic sounds as well. This time we're going to Italy, where we check out the debut of K.Lust, a new project by Anacleto Vitolo (X(i)NEON, AV-K Kletus.K, Infernos, Algebra del Bisogno). If those projects don't ring a bell, don't worry. I'm not familiar with them either to be honest. I guess a man can't know everything. Mainly active in the fields of electronic music, ambient, noise, minimal and drone, Vitolo tries something new with this album, something quite exciting too.

The main ingredients on 'Liven' are soundscapes, beats and energy, initially pushing this album into the techno-scene. But there seems to be a lot more to this album. I have absolutely no idea who or what influenced Vitolo so for me it's difficult to add names to the whole thing. All I can think of are industrial and IDM acts like Imminent, Antigen Shift and perhaps even Blackfilm or Autechre. Perhaps I can add some of those strange EDM acts on alternative festivals like Pukkelpop, but again, I don't know any of their names.

What I do know, is this: when I walk around on a festival and I hear these nervous and dynamic pieces of music coming from one of the tents, I'm going in. Opener 'Liven' is an awesome alternative dance tune. I can see a lot of people shaking to this one. Most of the other tracks can do pretty much the same.  Yet, my personal favorite is the gloomy, almost eerie 'Shove', thriving on broken beats and otherworldly soundscapes. 'Sweep' is another one of my favorites, a dubby IDM track to chill and relax after all the heavy dancing.

​People might still frown upon electronic dance music but albums like this one show that the genre has its place in the world of art and music, and quite rightfully too. Therefore, it has its place on Merchants Of Air as well. Well, everything I like has its place on Merchants Of Air, that's basically our whole philosophy on genre-restrictions. So yes, I like this album and, as soon as possible, I might check out Vitolo's other music too. You should too, like now.


​Serge

electronic / techno / experimental

Well, this is a bit of a surprise. Since it's Sunday, I wanted to start my writing session with a nice, relaxed ambient album. So I loaded this little ep into my media player. After all, I've heard Benjamin Finger's previous albums, and although they had a pretty experimental approach, I usually categorized them under 'ambient'. This time however, instead of relaxing, I've started a little house party in my living room.

In a previous review for this Norwegian composer, I uttered the phrase "this is either uptempo ambient or techno-trance without beats". Well, here come the beats, and they bring a very playful approach to Finger's oeuvre. Now, don't expect this to be stale techno or boring house music. There are still loads of soundscapes, melodic elements and even some repetitive jazz passages. The experimental nature of the music still prevails, that's for sure.

The ep reminds me a bit of acts like Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia, Zen Paradox or Gas and that's a tremendous compliment. Even though I never really was into dance music, I own and enjoy some of these people's records and I certainly enjoy this ep. Now I want to go to a summer festival where Benjamin Finger plays these tunes, and I'll sure as hell be dancing to the beat. I'll meet you on the dancefloor...


​Serge 

blackened death metal

Well, since we're submerged in extremes, let's blast another one of those jawbreaking releases through our speakers. EvnaR, is a Spanish/Slovenian band, formed by blood brothers JM & RM after RM left Between The Frost, where they both played. After the first rehearsals and sessions, they recruited Belphegor & Scaffold drummer Robert Kovačič. Now they are ready to unleash their first statement upon the world, one that cannot be unheard.

The album opens with the thrash/death monster 'Blasphemia Manifesta', which immediately sets the tone for this album. From then on, things rage forward in sheer speed and with enough aggression to destroy a horde of berserkers. 'Contemptus Vitæ' even raises the level of brutality, adding influences from old school black metal to the already pummeling mix. This is probably as noisy and chaotic as the blackened death metal genre can get, absolutely punishing.

"Old school" seems to be keyword here, because all I can think of are old school black and death metal bands, from Dissection to Beherit or Bathory. Here and hints of melody might shine through, making 'Infinite Dark Hatred' make favorite track here and I can hear some post-black metal passages , but this is far from a melodic or post-black metal album, believe me. It claws, it slashes, it scorches. It shows absolutely no mercy.

'Torment Of The Damned', is another one of my favorite heres, showing some brilliant guitars and a suffocating atmosphere. These guys are great musicians, that's for sure, just check out 'Conceived In Fire'. and you'll know I'm right. My advice? Well, if you're one of those people who like to spend their weekend in moshpits and surfing on top of outrageous crowds while the most evil sounds imaginable to mankind blast to massive speakers, then you should definitely buy this album. 


​Serge

thrash metal / death metal

Usually, I forward the death metal releases to Paul but since he's at Maryland Deathfest this weekend, I decided to try it out myself. I've reviewed this genre in the past, obviously, but lately my focus is on other styles. However, to be honest, I'm glad I picked this seven track ep. It brings me back to a time when I listened to this stuff all the time. This is one of those nice and brutal old school thrash death albums that emerge from the vast underground of the metal scene.

Badass Commander is a trio from Canada, Quebec to be specific. I don't know when exactly started this orgy of extremes but I do know that this is their debut. It's loaded with fierce metal, inspired by everything between Kreator and Deicide or between Sodom and Dismember. Opener 'Bad Intentions' perfectly sets the tone for these eighteen minutes or eardrum slaughter. It comes with a decent amount of variation in tempo and vocals but pretty much constantly drives on grinding guitars.

The rest of the ep pretty much follows the same example, highlighting in 'General Addiction' and the grind-inspired 'Uncontrolled Hatred'. There's little else I can say about this album. It's clearly something for the old school fans, something that might in a way be seen as a tribute to those early days. So, if you're in for a decent portion of aggression, gut-ripping and deep growls, this certainly is your thing. Go ahead, download this ep and play it while you prepare to go into the weekend. You know you want to...


​Serge

dark ritual ambient

A few days ago, my wife got me a Tibetan singing bowl and ever since, a lot of people want to try it out. None of those people are in any way interested in ambient and ritual music but they all love the sound of that singing bowl. I certainly hope it will prove to be a gateway to other sounds for them, possibly towards things like the album I'm about to review. This album is also inspired by Tibetan spirituality & ancient aesthetics, in a damn good way too, I might add.

Alone In The Hollow Garden is a solo project from Romania while Nam-khar hails from Germany. Both have had their share of experience before and both are excellent acts, but what they came up with on this collaboration, is nothing but majestic. With deep drones, eerie soundscapes and hypnotic tribal percussion, they take the listener on an unforgettable journey, a mind-altering voyage through primordial sounds, distant melodies and chants.

I'm not going into a song-by-song review with this one because you just have to press play and immerse yourself into the music. I can compare it with some Cold Meat Industry or Cold Spring acts if you like. Perhaps a blend of Deutsch Nepal, Z'ev, Herbst9, Job Karma, O Yuki Conjugate, Zoviet France & Raison D'Etre might be a decent reference. Puissance comes to mind, but this collaboration doesn't focus on apocalyptic themes so much. Instead, this is deeply spiritual music.

For something emerging from the deepest underground of the musical universe, this collaboration produced a high quality album. Perhaps that's just me, since I absolutely love the conjunction between soundscapes, drones and repetitive percussion. Yet, even then, I've heard a lot of dark ambient albums in my life and this one tops many of them. I really hope these guys take this show on the road. I'm sure this performance would be an otherworldly experience for everyone involved...


​Serge

psychedelic rock / space rock

Twenty years of "Spacerock for 21st Century Heads", that alone should give Farflung the status of veterans in the psychedelic rock scene. Since their inception in 1995 the band has recorded four full-lengths (five now) and a number of splits. They have shared the stage with The Melvins, Voivod, Fu Manchu, Nebula, Amon Duul, Hawkwind, Silver Apples and many others... And they included guest musicians from Hawkwind and Queens Of The Stone Age. Plenty of reason to find this album interesting, no?

Yes! This is a vast set of grooves, fuzz and amp worship, best to be enjoyed loud, like me and my neighbours are at this very moment. Of course, Farflung have proven to be a solid band with an awesome sound before, but this album is a masterful blend of everything I love in the music scene, from straightforward stoner rock over psychedelic outburst to gloomy eighties gothic rock and even touches of shoegaze.

The album opens with the groovy 'Hive', which reminds me of the whole stoner rock scene and a bit of Stone Temple Pilots too. It's mainly an instrumental intro, but serves perfectly as a party starter. 'Proterozoic' comes up with the fine psychedelics, the oscillator and the hypnotic sound I love much. At this point, I'm getting ready to dance a little. I'm not a dancer, so you don't want to see that, but still, the urge is growing.

'044MPZ' suddenly throws this whole thing into a Hawkwind meets Fields Of The Nephilim kinda thing, much to my delight actually. The dark sound of the eighties gothic rock scene is so intensely present here and adds a lot to the variation of the entire album. So does follower '27th Sun', which sounds like something between Om and Slowdive, yes, stonergaze. Did we already invented that genre?

On 'Lupine', I'm even thinking about Ministry, not that this is industrial metal or anything. It's the vocals I think. It still is a great song, an in-your-face stoner rocker for sure. After that comes the biggest surprise of the album, the song 'Being Boiled'. Some people might know that song as an electronic piece of new wave, written and recorded by The Human League. Well, now it's a grinding piece of psychedelic darkness which is simply irresistible. Yep, this might be a candidate for the 'cover of the year' award.

There's three more great tunes following, and they're just as psychedelic and immersive as the ones I already mentioned. Take it from me, this album will keep entertaining the hell out of you for the foreseeable future. It will make you dance, it will make you fly and it will take you on an unforgettable trip. So get your hands on a copy of this album quick and meet me at the massive party in space...


​Serge

post-rock

It seems like it's raining one-man post-rock bands these days and they simply fascinate me. They do because of one particular reason: the fact that they usually succeed into showcasing the grandeur and epic nature of post-rock, not from a stage but from a bedroom or basement studio. Of course, the advanced technology of today certainly helps, but still. Writing and recording music like this can only be done by someone with a lot of perseverance. It's not an easy task.

Code I is Alex Wilkinson, a solo multi instrumentalist recording artist and producer from Nottingham, England. In 2015 he released his first effort, now followed by this ep. Influenced by acts like God Is An Astronaut, Explosions In The Sky and Mogwai, this act places itself at the heavier regions of the genre. Obviously, there are the elaborate soundscapes and the gentle, almost modern classical pieces, which make this genre so interesting, but there also seems to something else, something heavy.

The ep opens with the stunning 'Return Of The Black Star', a classic heavy post-rock track with all the right ingredients to make it an outstanding tune. Soundscapes, synths and bashing guitars, exactly what I like in this genre. Besides, apart from the obvious post rock influences, parts of this song remind me of Metallica while other parts bring Massive Attack to mind. Now, those are two bands I'd like to see writing an album together.

Speaking of bands, that's the only thing I pity with these one-man post-rock acts. They'll probably never perform live. So I had a little idea. Alex Wilkinson is a label mate and friend of Jan Platek (We Deserve This, another one-man band). What if they would work together, form a band and play few songs from each act. They should do that on Dunk!Festival, for example. I'm pretty sure the tent would explode when they play songs like 'Chaos In Disorder'. My god, what a massive and awe-inspiring track is that.

I didn't mention the other three tracks but I can assure you that you'll love them too if you're a fan of post-rock. So go ahead, do yourself a favour and check it out. 


​Serge

crust punk rock 'n roll

Hah, The ace of spades, what a coincidence. That playing card has been on my mind ever since I started working on this whole "Metal Deck" thing. In fact, the ace of spades was the only card that has  been dedicated to a band from the very beginning, and as you can see above, that band obviously is Motorhead. No, this paragraph is not some blatant promotion for my card game, but a pretty fitting intro to the album I'm trying to review.

Hard Charger is a band from Canada and they might as well be the crust punk version of Motorhead. The cover art clearly shows the ace of spades, which I feel is an obvious tribute to Lemmy, certainly from a band that rocks just as hard as Lemmy did. Their rock 'n roll is loaded with a massive "up-yours" punk attitude and pure, uncensored energy. The songs rage on in sheer speed while the vocalist spews out his intestines, or so it seems.

I admit, I don't often listen to crust punk but for some reason I feel like this album might slip into my playlist once in awhile. Why? Well, this actually isn't just fierce aggression and uncontrollable chaos (except maybe for songs like 'Snow Axe') There are some great guitar riffs, often nudging towards the stoner rock scene and with a tremendous rock 'n roll calibre. This might be what Elvis would have been writing if he was a punk.

Imagine that
Elvis and Lemmy starting a crust punk band in the afterlife, with GG Allin as guest vocalist. 

​Anyway, if you're in for a twenty-six minutes nutsack kicking and ear drum torture, this certainly is your thing. In my opinion, this is the perfect wedding between hardcore punk and brutal rock 'n roll. Put it on repeat, grab a beer, maximize the volume, evoke a massive moshpit and stagedive from your window (note: for safety regulations, this tip is only applicable to people who live on the ground floor).

​Lemmy would be proud of you...


Serge

ambient

Two weeks ago, I reviewed the debut for Dutch black metal act Naagauk. Shortly after, I received a message from one of the members, asking me if I could lend an ear to his solo project, Frank.Wheeler. The cover art immediately grabbed my attention, obviously aided by the fact that I'm a big fan of ambient music. It reminded me of Biosphere and his glacial soundscapes. So when the CD arrived, I didn't hesitate and fed it to my CD player.

The first time I listened to this album, me and my wife were doing the dishes. Yes, even reviewers have to do that once in awhile. The second time we were playing a game of Rummikub. The third time I enjoyed this album was when I was relaxing in a hot bath, eyes closed, music at high volume. That must make this the fourth and fifth time I listen to this piece of work, and I love it time and time again.

The Biosphere reference still stands. The music on this album is quite similar, made out of a number of soundscapes, drones and vague melodies of piano or guitar. Opener 'Lighthouse' and the followers '//1995//' and 'C.B.S.' feel like one track, perfectly succeeding each other, often minimal, sometimes with a lazy beat but always nice and relaxed. In fact, until a few minutes ago, I really thought these three tunes were one long track, even though there are some pauses between them.

I guess that aspect just highlights the cinematic character of this album. You can easily imagine these soundscapes being used as the soundtrack for an independent film, possibly one with vast Icelandic landscapes. The gentle piano tune 'April's Theme', in its turn, could be used for a romantic film. It sounds playful but determined, a bit like any good relationship should be. I don't know who April is, but if she deserves a theme like this, someone must like her a lot.

'Yellow Creek Port' and 'Longshoreman' remind me of the works of people like Dirk Serries, with their gloomy guitar drones and hints of melody. Only thing is, and that counts for most of the tracks here, it's quite short. As far as I'm concerned, this music could go on and on. Personally, I simply put it on repeat, and I recommend you do the same. There are eight songs here and the whole thing clocks off at about twenty-five minutes, but you can easily make that fifty or seventy-five..


Serge

doom metal

Sorrow, despair, solitude, grief, combined with epic riffs, methodical drums and dreary vocals, sometimes that's all I need to get me through the day. I don't even consider myself a dark, depressed person, but doom metal pretty much always does the trick .When it's as good as this album by San Antonio, Texas doom act The Howling Void, I'm immediately sold. The thick, burdensome atmosphere of funeral doom, mixed with epic, almost gothic doom of Anathema or My Dying Bride really hits a nerve here.

The Howling void once started out as a funeral doom act but gradually changed its course towards a more melodic style. On The Triumph of Ruin that results in shorter songs with clean vocals. But that doesn't make opener 'Lords of Barren Fields' or follower 'The Looming Darkness' any less heavy. This still is epic doom metal, enhanced by classical instruments and keyboards. It's still isn't happy music. It's like going from pitch black to dark grey, as mentioned in the biography. 

However, things go further and at one point I'm even considering 'The Nine Worlds Wept' a post-rock song, like the ones written by A Swarm Of The Sun for example. It feels like there's more classical music than growling guitars, but that's a good thing. It adds to the versatility of the whole album without neglecting the overall grievous atmosphere. Besides, follower 'Fenrir' seems to combine all of the above and turns it into one of the most immersive pieces of music on this album.

Unsurprisingly, the longest track, 'Where Once a River Flowed', is also the funeral doomiest one. Torpid, sluggish, dragging itself through my speakers like a pitch black mush, withering every leaf on every plant it touches. Love it. And I love the last song 'Silence After the Storm' too, a safe haven, a warm homecoming maybe. Comes to show how versatile a doom metal album really can be if you open your mind give it a try.


Serge

psychedelic rock  / alternative rock

"Psychedelic blues-infused organ wave rock", that made me giggle. I noticed the phrase on their facebook page, right before I started listening to the music. Shortly after I finally pressed play, I realized I couldn't have said it better myself. However, since I'm a music reviewer, I'm going to have to try anyway. So I'll give it a shot, but if anything goes wrong with this review, just remember the words "Psychedelic blues-infused organ wave rock", they could be all you need.

When I was a young boy, at the end of the seventies, I often listened to the music of Alquin, a progressive rock band from The Netherlands. Later on another progressive rock band from that country, Kong, became my all time favorite. When I got into the gothic scene, it was yet another Dutch band that dragged me in, The Gathering. So it shouldn't be a surprise when I say that my musical preferences are inspired by the Dutch.

You guessed it, No Man's Valley is also a Dutch band, formed in Horst After two ep's, they're now ready to release their mind-altering debut full-length. However, the whole albums feels like it could have been released about thirty years ago. What we get is a nostalgic trip through rock history, influenced by Iggy Pop, The Who, Nick Cave, Pink Floyd, Stevie Ray Vaughan and several other bands in their parent's record collection.

The album opens with a dark chant, almost a mantra, and shortly after turns into an immersive organ driven classic rock album. 'Kill The Bees' seems to have a repetitive and psychedelic aura, which immediately brings a smile to my face. It's followed by the delightful ballad 'Sinking The Lifeboat'. By now I'm convinced, this is a damn good album, written by some excellent musicians. In fact, I really like the vocals but unfortunately the only comparison I can imagine is "Danzig does the blues". It's meant as a compliment, honestly.

'Love Or Axe Murder' is arguably my favorite song on this album, a song that would have fitted perfectly on Nick Cave's 'Murder Ballads'. ​"And The Wolves Are Coming" is a true hip shaker, one which will remind everyone of 'The Passenger' and some people of some eighties britpop songs. This will get everyone dancing, that's for sure. 'Man Who Walked Backwards' is a song for gloomy jazz clubs, blues but strange blues, smoky, haunting.

Title track 'Time Travel' is another one of my favorites. It's a great blend of new wave and psychedelic rock and it's a damn groovy one.And with that, I think we covered the entire "Psychedelic blues-infused organ wave rock" thing. There's one more song to go, but I'll let you figure out that one for yourself. It's a good one too, obviously. All the songs are. So check it out, this is a great trip.


​Serge

ambient / drone

Aah, a new album from Dag Rosenqvist. That's always something to look forward to. We've been listening to his work quite a lot in the past year or so and with this new album it doesn't seem like that will change soon. I'd even go as far as saying "on the contrary". 'Elephant' is a great album, ranging from modern classical music over ambient to downtempo electronics. It's also his most surprising album, one where Rosenqvist doesn't shun some harsh experiments.

Dag Rosenqvist is no stranger to this website since we've reviewed his work before. He uses a wide array of acoustic and electronic instruments to create his compositions, which results in a quite varied oeuvre. On this album Rosenqvist showly exactly how versatile his art can be, reminding me of a multitude of artists including Gas, Massive Attack, Laraaji, Olafur Arnalds and even some noise industrial acts...

The album opens with 'Born In Smoke', a gloomy piece of ambient, driving on deep, torpid beats, an array of soundscapes and vague melodies. It's here where I start noticing the post-rock influences and on the heavy 'Porcelain' they return. Somehow this track brings bands like A Swarm Of The Sun to mind, much to my delight to be honest. By the end of this song, he even goes all Haus Arafna on our asses. Not bad for an ambient album.

'Whatever It Takes To Disappear' is a beautiful hymn, opaque, mysterious and somewhat whimsical. It slowly evolves from ambient to dark folk, driving on an bassline comparable to those in drum & bass or dubstep. "How is that possible", you might ask. Well, apparently, it is and it sounds delicious. After that we get a short drone tune in 'Come Snow' before the earlier mentioned 'Porcelain' completely blows me away, again and again actually.

After the punishing noise at the end of 'Porcelain', he treats us to a nice jazzy neo-classical ambient tune which, true story, suddenly brings out the sun. All of a sudden, after a few days or grey clouds and pouring rain, the big yellow orb in the sky warms everything up. All of that because of one Dag Rosenqvist tune, stunning. The album closes with 'In All The Hours Of Every Day' which turns classical ambient into experimental ambient noise and back again.

So that leaves me with two possibilities. Either I know way too many musical genres or Dag Rosenqvist knows no boundaries. I guess it's both. I mean, I heard his work before and I know this is a very versatile artist, but I never expected so many influences in one album, each of them perfectly fitting too. Take it from me, this is a great piece of work, certainly Rosenqvist best to date, and that means a lot if you know his previous work...


Serge

post-rock

Dust and Disquiet is a 2015 album, by American Post Rock band Caspian. An unbelievable album, exhibits the classic features of post-rock, although in a much more pervasive and heavy atmosphere, slowly uplifting a more progressive approach to the sound, which is somewhat unusual to the genre. With some songs having vocals – which is also uncommon to post-rock – Dust and Disquiet shows us much more traditional rock’n’roll oriented influences, with the solid distinction of having, on the other hand, a concentrated, and way more experimental approach to their continually evolving sound, with the final result being a lot more different than the normal plain static atmosphere of ordinary post-rock.

Being the greatest highlight of the album its first half – although the entire album is brilliant – Caspian, in this particular work, had the distinction of, very, very subtlety, insert progressive, experimental and space rock elements to the sound, creating an ambivalent atmosphere that reveals itself to be very unique, and will sound innovative, more colorful and surprising to post-rock enthusiasts. Like I always say, in my personal opinion, when dealing with such a static genre like post rock, bands have to take care, and do their best effort not to play songs that sound always the same, over and over again, and do not deliver to its audience a boring and monotonous sound. And yet, continuing to create and to play music that would be easily identifiable as post rock, which is certainly no minor task.

But the level of musical input and creativity shown by the members of Caspian appears to easily downplay all of these challenges! Creating a platform of dream-like sounds in a somewhat ethereal atmosphere, that allows the more progressive elements to deliver even orchestral background symphonies in a very elusive manner, they reveal a symbiosis of impressive musical chemistry, that certainly will make your head spin, if you enjoy this genre of music. And still, having the bright distinction to remain extremely post rock in sound, their music turns itself to be an amazing work of art, although we could say that here we have – maybe – a new kind of music, that certainly can be seen as “progressive post-rock” (I know this maybe would sound contradictory to the more conservative-minded post-rockers); but I do know how bands in general don’t like being labeled this way or another, or to be limited to a particular or specific genre, since their primary matter of work is creativity, and good musicians certainly doesn’t have restrictions or creative boundaries, when writing their songs and creating their art.      

Well, all that I can say is that Dust and Disquiet is a great astonishing masterpiece!!!! It would be impossible for me to give a score below the five stars rate for this album! Being one of the greatest bands of post-rock in the world, Caspian it is not just groundbreaking, but probably one of the most perfect definitions of post rock music in the whole universe! For once and for all, these guys rock above the ground! I’m foreseeing the fact that I will listen to this album a hundred times, certainly!!!    


Wagner

post rock / psychedelic rock

At the latest edition of Dunk! Festival, the bands from Poland proved that their country is stacked with talent. Tides From Nebula, Spoiwo and Obscure Sphinx all managed to captivate the audience with their specific branch of music. As far as I'm concerned, Beyond The Event Horizon might as well deserve a chance to prove themselves on that very same festival with their heavy and dynamic post-rock.

The music on 'Beyond The Event Horizon' seems to combine typical post-rock with flashes of space rock and stoner rock, somewhere between Explosions In The Sky, Monkey3 and Zombi perhaps. In 'Unknown Void' the spacey synths remind me of bands like Ozric Tentacles or Hawkwind. To add to the excitement, there are quite a lot of distorted guitars, perfectly capable of pleased the metal minded people among us. 

But wait, I'm not done talking about these synths yet. They add a lot of interesting elements to the music, certainly a tremendous psychedelic aspect. Tytus (keyboards) seems to have a background in space rock, krautrock. Either that or he has been listening to Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, a lot. I don't mind, not at all, adding stuff like this is what makes a band interesting. And this certainly is interesting.

Since we're talking about the bandmembers, Pawel (drums) sounds like a metalhead, often going berserk with the double bass drums and barely refraining himself from coming up with blast beats. That's not a bad thing either, who would like to bang his head in space, right? There are no blast beats on this album, but again, I don't mind. They would only devalue the immersive nature of the rest of the music.

Because yes, the music is pretty damn immersive. In all honesty, opener '4CE' didn't convince me that much but halfway through 'Sharper' I definitely was sold. The repetitive nature of this track is awesome and almost hypnotic.  Besides, halfway through the title track, 'Event Horizon' I was pretty sure that I want to see these guys live. If the good people from Dunk festival read this review, I hope they take it as a hint.

Before I finish this writing, I have to mention the fact that 'Post Waltz' is exactly what the title predicts. Imagine a waltz, play it with a rock setting and you get a really nice tune. It adds a lot to the variation on the album, which is also a good thing. Hell, this whoàle album is a good thing, so check it out. You won't be disappointed.


​Serge

dark rock, indie rock, shoegaze, doom

Doomgaze, I'm not sure if that term already exists but it definitely covers the load on this album. I knew Mike from Consouling Sounds loves "slow music" but his taste certainly got wider over the years. His expertise brought us a lot of gems in the past, including albums from Inwolves, Jozef Van Wissem, CHVE, Dirk Serries...The list goes on and on. Now he adds another masterpiece to his, and our, collection, a stunning doomgaze album.

Triple Sun formed in 2011 after playing as part of Katia & Marielle Labeque's 'Minimalist Dreamhouse' over three nights at King's Place in London. Although they had different backgrounds the trio formed an immediate bond, a musical alchemy and they decided to continue working together. It must have been an interesting journey, where rock, classical music and avant garde somehow blended in something intensely captivating.

The sound of Triple Sun alternates between Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore, Anathema, Tool, Alice In Chains, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Slowdive, Brian Eno, Sonic Youth, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Cure and South San Gabriel. Yeah, I know that's a massive list of names but it should give you a general idea about how great this album sounds. Besides, that's not all, I even forgot to mention a number of drone acts and post-rock bands.

Always slow, usually quite dark, often coming close to the heaviness of sludge metal and often intimate and melancholic, I guess that's the best way to describe this music. Needless to say perhaps, but the atmosphere on this entire album is immersive, inspiring and gloomy, three of my favorite sentiments. I think 'There Are Weapons' is my favorite track, but I don't want to lift it out of context. You need to listen to the whole album.

So yeah, fellow slow music aficionado, look no further. This album will definitely maintain its grip on you in the near future. It's trip-hop for rock fans, ambient for doomers and drones for jazz fans. I don't know if that makes any sense but in Belgium we rarely do. We just know what good music is and we'd very much like it when you listen to it.


​Serge

symphonic rock / metal

Rock opera, another potentially dangerous term, and another genre I don't really know how to feel about. I mean, I really like rock music but I despise anything that smells like musicals, actually including opera. I never liked it and I guess I never will. On the other hand, rock operas can be quite good, often comparable to classical pieces, ouvertures, anthems and epics. Often they're written by one composer and performed by a bunch of guests.

Which is exactly the case here. Gabriels is an Italian keyboard and piano player with a history in classical music and in metal. That combination alone should make a lot of people interested, except of course the die-hard "metal-is-guitars-drums-bass-vocals" fanatics. The whole album seems to be based on synths and enhanced by top level musicians.  It's the first part of a trilogy and it's loaded with epic hard rock.

So what can you expect? Well, anything ranging from Toto and Van Halen to Dream Theater, Rhapsody Of Fire and Helloween. You can expect catch vocal lines in perfect power metal tradition. You can get immersed in flashy guitar solos and straight forward rock music. I'm sure you will raise your fist and sing along plenty of times on this album, certainly with the choruses of 'Fist Of Steel' or 'Seven Stars'.

The biography also mentions that Gabriels is working on a classical music inspired metal album, rightfully titled 'Vivaldi Metal Project'. I'm quite curious for that one too, but for now I think I'll just recommend this epic rock opera to all you symphonic rockers out there. Check it out and allow yourself to get emerged in this whirlpool of music and this gloomy, strange world, created by Gabriels. It's definitely worth your attention...


Serge

black metal

Man, twenty years, it sure does feel like a long time. I remember when I listened to the old Evol albums which gradually dragged me back into the whole black metal scene. Earlier I listened to Venom but somehow I lost track of black metal until the symphonic version became popular. Over time, I got more and more into the chaotic, primitive and bleak sound of the old school bands and somewhere along the line, Death Dies reached me a first time.

But, like many bands, they faded away from my attention span, only to reappear a few days ago. The album came with a note, saying "Death Dies returns with an anniversary compilation". Formed in 1995 by Evol members Samael Von Martin and Demian De Saba, Death Dies recorded a split with Satanel in 1998, a 7" the next year and several full length in the years after. Now, the history is celebrated with new recordings of old Death Dies, Evol and Satanel tracks, plus a Rotting Christ cover ('Fgmenth Thy Gift') and an homage to Negatron.

Obviously, this is a must-have for old school black metal fans, containing fierce and brutal but varied and often quite melodic pieces of extreme music. If this album proves anything, it's the fact that Death Dies still has it and that black metal will be strong, vigorous and evil as long as humankind exists. So go ahead, get your hands on a copy of this epos of musical blasphemy and drive another nail in the coffin of Christ.


​Serge