alternative rock / grunge / nu-metal

post rock

Is the post rock genre already old enough to have an old-school scene? If so, French quartet Tölva could soon become a force to be reckoned with. Inspired by the greats, you know, Godspeed, You Russian, This Will Destroy the Explosions in Mogwai, that kind of stuff, Törva delivered a very strong debut ep with all the necessary elements to make it a strong competitor. The opener 'Poveglia' remains my favorite and I really enjoy the calm breather 'Puzzle' as well. The other two track? Well, they're equally loaded with beautiful soundscapes, a blissful atmosphere and all the emotions only decent post rock can deliver. This is a great, and highly recommended, debut.

alternative rock / grunge

See? I told you we were facing a nineties revival. It's hit France now too, and it hit it good. Leaving Passenger is an alternative rock band from Paris who are about to debut with this magnificent ep. Influenced by the likes of Hoobastank, Incubus, Linkin Park and Nickelback, these guys come up with some  strong and highly convincing songs., strangely enough reminding me of Tool and Deftones. 'Lies On The Floor' is a world class song, and definitely not the only one on this ep. I love the riffs, who show some stoner rock influences as well. But the coolest thing about this is the use of electronics to give the whole thing an extra touch, something glitchy often. This is a brilliant ep.

electronic / techno

Anomia

I had no idea what to expect from this 12" but the opening track 'Divulge' certainly got my attention. Glitchy ambient and otherworldly soundscapes filled the room, much to my delight. On 'Patterned' the techno beats arrive and I thought, "well, why not" and started shaking my ass a little. The music reminds me a bit of acts like Riou or Unit Moebius, two acts I quite like fro their experimental approach to electronic dance music. In that aspect, the title track might be my favorite but I like this whole ep, even the somewhat nineties inspired '500 Words'. So yeah, perhaps it's a good idea to check this out and do a little dance. It's a nice change from the stuff we usually listen to...

dark ambient

When French artist and writer Nihil asked Swedish one-man martial ambient act In Slaughter Natives to compose the soundtrack for his book, something very interesting happened. I don't know which is the darkest element of this experience: the music, the artwork or the short stories. Main theme is the search for identity of the main character, a man who accidentally awakes from the artificial lethargy everyone has been submerged into for ages. The amazingly detailed artwork mostly displays one desperate human being, face or eyes covered. The soundtrack only emphasizes the lonely and frightening atmosphere of the whole. In Slaughter Natives again delivers top-shelf dark ambient and martial industrial soundscapes. For fans of Puissance, Triarii, Raison d'Être but also recommended to anyone who's fed up with the muzak which comes gushing out of your radio...

electronic / dark ambient / industrial / noise

We're not done with crawling through utter darkness yet. In fact, we're going deeper down into a world where sounds are no longer natural, no longer bearable for the ordinary person. Fans of electronic drones, dark ambient and dark industrial noise on the other hand will have a blast with this album from French one-man project Sona Nyl. This album constantly balances on the edge between musicality and noise and quite often blatantly crossing over. The result is a captivating album, loaded with unidentified noises, creeping, crawling and repetitive enough to grind you into a deep and gloomy state of trance. This is something for fans of everything between ​Aghiatrias, Atrium Carceri and Atrax Morgue 

dark ambient / neo classical

Russian dark ambient and neoclassical project Astarium has been around for quite some time now, always delivering some strong and mysterious music. On this cooperation with Portuguese act Antiquus Scriptum that is no different. The eight tracks delivered by Astarium are once again representations of mystical worlds and times with beautiful arrangements and a eerie atmosphere. Antiquus Scriptum adds another set of strange songs, perhaps a bit more experimental and bizarre but nonetheless very interesting. There is something pagan, something medieval to this music and clearly something I can appreciate. This is an excellent split which you should check out if you're into ancient folk and gloomy musical bliss.

folk 

Aah, the beauty of being an introvert. It's so nice to dwell in someone's mind by exploring their music and that certainly is the case on this album by Canadian singer songwriter Clara Engel. Here and there aided by people like Aidan Baker, Armen Ra, Thor Harris and Siavash Amini, this woman delivers intimate but soulful folk songs with guitar, vocals and soundscapes or drones. The result is a pleasure to listen to, often even evoking a teardrop. For me, it's hard to compare this to other artists, because it's a realm I don't often visit. But that doesn't matter, all you need to know about this album is the captivating and immersive nature and the simply beautiful songs, loaded with emotions. Definitely recommended stuff.

classical

Dominique Charpentier is a multi-instrumentalist from France. He chose the piano for his first full-length album, his instrument of predilection. and you can immediately hear that this is one very talented fellow. He has also made soundtracks for films and video games in his home studio, and you can hear impressive orchestral compositions on his soundcloud page. The piano songs on Passages are breathtaking gems that remind of the works of Yann Tiersen and Ludovico Einaudi, two other self-made musicians and Carpentier's main influences. I'd say: go check this album out now!

doom

Once starting out as a blackened doom metal band, Swedish act Nangilima gradually evolved into the symphonic doom death combo they are today. Their new single, 'Shards Of Loss' contains two tracks which should every fan of Saturnus, Novembers Doom, My Dying Bride and Swallow the Sun tremble with excitement. Deep guttural growls and thick riffs are being accompagnied with piano and orchestral arrangements to create vast sonic journeys. Both songs are varied enough to remain interesting and lingering enough to maintain that always awesome doom metal bliss. See, this is why I love this genre so much. It comes from deep within and speaks directly to the darkest of souls.

black metal

bandcamp

When an album title translates as "I hate life", you know you can expect something depressive and harsh. And yes, that's exactly what this Italian one-man act delivers. After an intro, hell breaks loose with harsh, minimal, mainly slow, gritty and primitive black metal, somehow reminding me of some of those ancient pioneers in the scene. Yet, the mid-tempo approach of songs like 'Primavera Depressa' has something post-punkish as well. 'Ricaduta' is probably my favorite track on this album, one that shows decent musical skills and a flair for a bleak atmosphere. I recommend this album to all fans of Nyktalgia, Nortt and Xasthur, or anyone who thinks life is something to be suffered, not enjoyed...

experimental / noise / improv

Cylinder Recordings

What happens when an experienced double bassist and a seasoned electronic experimentalist climb on stage together? Well, apparently you get something highly impressive that defies all categorization, like this twenty minutes lasting orgy of drones, soundscapes noises and hints of jazz. This release was recorded during a gig the two artists did in Rotterdam and damn it, it makes me regret not being there. In its digital form it's already impressive but my guess is that the concert itself has been intensely captivating and hypnotizing. Then again, that's something we're already used to with Machinefabriek, but still, this surely is something you need if you're into experimental ingenuity...

alternative rock / electronic / indie

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Hailing from France, Tomy Lobo doesn't seem to be interesting in doing this normally. The indie rock this act delivers, drives on modern electronic sounds but also seems to showcase a tremendous flair for the bombast of alternative rock. The result is a combination of everything you can hear on a decent alternative music radio station. You can dance to it, you can kneel-down and cry your eyes out to it or you can just shake your head in absolute approval. Personally, I prefer the latter but wouldn't mind dancing to gems like 'Night Prism' or the gloomy dubstep track 'Erase It All'. It's a bit like Oscar and the Wolf, but better. Way better. Check it out, you just might have found something new to expand your collection.

crust / screamo / post-hardcore / noise rock

Hailing from the beautiful country of Spain, but a bit more on the noisy spectrum of the musical industry, comes this raunchy and loud trio, Drei Affen and their untitled blast of sheer aggression. With a blend of screamo, noise rock and post-hardcore, this trio is out for nothing less than utter destruction and as far as I'm concerned, it works pretty well. I mean, listening to this ep already caused me to throw a hot cup of coffee at a mosquito and punish a pillow for its uncomfortable position. This music is intense, that's for damn sure, and I think it's not suitable for everyone. Yet, for fans of ruthless violence, this definitely comes highly recommend. I'm sure live shows by this trio will cause a lot of bruises and broken noses...

gothic metal / death metal / doom

We end this edition of Brieviews with two harsh doom songs with a gloomy, gothic atmosphere. German band Valborg has been compared to bands like Type O Negative, Celtic Frost and Triptykon and who am I to contradict that. Fans of these bands will certainly appreciate these massively immersive pieces of death doom but I still feel that Valborg has its own sound, somewhat industrial, somewhat dirty and vampiric. I'm sure Bela Lugosi would have loved the brilliant title track if he were still alive. Oh well, go ahead, check this out and join me in hoping that Valborg will come up with a stunning full-length and tour in the near future.

writers: Serge & Eline

progressive rock / jazz

What do we have here? This is something that doesn't often reach our inbox. Come to think of it, I don't think there are many bands left in the progressive jazz rock area of the musical universe. But that's ok, we don't need many bands, we just need one or a few good ones and in that aspect, we're being quite pampered with this little gem. It's an adventure in rock music, loaded with elements that you just don't hear a lot these days.

Seven Impale is a band from Norway, formed in 2010. They released their debut 'City Of the Sun' in 2014, which is now followed by 'Contrapasso'. On this new album, they explored their unique and varied sound much further, resulting in an album loaded with unexpected hooks, contrasting rhythms and strange melodies. Furthermore, there are some brilliant vocal lines and hypnotic psychedelic solos.

That being said, perhaps this album is a bit too experimental for some people. Too much rock and metal for jazz fans and too much jazz for metalheads. I think the real target audience for this full-length is somewhere in the middle, where fans of Frank Zappa, King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator live. Yes, "live", for that kind of people, music is a safe haven in a world that isn't competent enough to control its own noise.

For me, personally, 'Contrapasso' is a great album, highlighting in the opening track 'Lemma' and in 'Helix'. Again, that's a tough decision to make since every song here contains massively impressive passages, like the jam-session in 'Inertia' which is hypnotic as hell. Other elements seem to come from post-rock, psychedelic rock, krautrock and whatever it is that people like Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze made.

Then again, you can also bang your head a little to 'Langour', if you're an experienced progressive metalhead that is. A short headbanging session to some heavy part of a Dream Theater concert is that least you should have done before you're ready for the musical ingenuity of Seven Impale. Yes, this stuff is way more interesting that Dream Theater, but that might be personal opinion.

To end this review, I'd like to mention Sleepytime Gorilla Museum to emphasize the theatrical and often cabarettesque feeling of the whole thing. This atmosphere mainly comes from the vocals and the use of the sax. It's a weird combination but it works pretty damn well. It adds a lot to the variation of the album, which is already highly varied to begin with. So yeah, I think you should check this out.


​Serge

post-metal / doom / sludge / black metal

About a year ago, I reviewed 'Cult' by German winterdoom horde Phantom Winter. I was quite impressed by the sheer sonic agony these guys produced. Now, they're back with a new effort, one where the seemingly perfected their bleak, haunting and downright depressive sound. This new album, called 'Sundown Pleasures' is somewhat inspired by Joy Division, hence the equivoke on 'Unknown Pleasures', but don't expect too much post-punk or new wave here. Instead, expect to be beaten down.

This album surely is not for the faint at heart. From the very beginning this band drags you down into a whirlpool of sorrow, despair, anguish and punishment. Their music is nothing short of an exorcism, dressed in long, mostly slow songs. With elements from doom, sludge, (post-) hardcore and black metal, songs like the title track or 'The Darkest Clan' will get you down on your knees in no time, perhaps even locked-up in an isolation booth in some dark gray madhouse. 

My personal favorite is 'Bombing The Witches', a grinding depressive black metal resembling piece of music. However, that sure is a tough decision to make because the songs are rather similar to each other. That sound is actually a decent representation of the state of our society, which is equally bleak and disturbed as the awesome track 'Black Hole Scum'. The horror seems endless, the punishment seems eternal and Phantom Winter perfectly illustrates that with a massive heap of distressed noise.

So yeah, you need this album. Even if you're not a fan of this stuff. Everyone needs at least one album which you can play loud while banging against the walls in complete and utter frustration and anger. Everyone needs that one album that helps him get rid of all the negative energy, where he can scream along with the sick and twisted vocals. Well, this is that album and I suggest you get your hands on it as soon as possible.


Serge

stoner rock / psychedelic

Well, it's about time I start preparing for the upcoming edition of Desertfest, and what better way to do that than with a decent blast of stoner rock. Greek stoner rockers 1000Mods will be playing this year's edition in support of their third album 'Repeated Exposure To...' and, judging from the songs on this full-length, their gig will be a party you shouldn't miss. In short: this is 1000Mods most mature and attuned album, showing a band that has been growing and evolving in the past eleven years.

The album opens with 'Above 179' which shows the general direction: straight-in-you-face stoner rock with a psychedelic touch. Bands like Kyuss, Clutch and Fu Manchu pop-up in my head for a short while, but mainly, my head wants to absorb these songs more than comparing them to others. 'Loose' is one of my favorites here, a solid rocker which has plenty of power to get your ass shaking and your head banging.

Speaking about headbanging. 'Electric Carve' is what would happen when Deep Purple and Foo Fighters had a lovechild. Heavy rock, driving on immersive riffing and coming out with more energy than your bowel movements after eating Mexican food. This one might evoke a little mosh-pit at Desertfest. By the way, I also really, really, really like the vocals on this album. They might be one of the best vocal performances I've heard in this genre, but of course that's just a personal opinion.

I'll tell you a little secret: I've never been really high on 1000Mods before. Before I listened to this album, I placed them in the 'somewhat generic' section of my stoner rock playlist. It's a massive playlist, mostly shuffling the entire time so 1000Mods often appeared but without the "wow" effect that some of my favorite bands in the genre do provide. However, like I already mentioned, this is their most mature, most complete, most varied and most satisfying album to date. Just listen to 'The Son', a testament of vintage songwriting.

Well, that's the first half of the album covered and you can rest assured that the second half is going to be just as good. 'A.W.' is a stunning track, somewhat punky, somewhat grungy and somewhat psychedelic. The rest of the songs are up to you to check out. I'll just leave you with the knowledge that this is a damn impressive piece of work, loaded with energy and fuzz. You know what, I'm going to give these guys a hug at Desertfest...


​Serge

stoner rock

"Eat, sleep, fuzz, repeat", a motto I often live by, especially when I'm in the mood for some solid stoner rock. I know, the idea was somewhat stolen from Brock Lesnar but I doubt he'll ever visit a concert venue to F5 me for stealing his catch phrase. On the other hand, if Lesnar ever wants to beat the shit out of me, I'll send King Hiss at him. In no time, he'll be down out his knees, fuzzed-out, begging for more of that awesome groove.

If you don't understand the previous paragraph, don't worry. It's a wrestling thing. All you need to remember from that piece of writing, is the phrase 'awesome groove' and the catchphrase 'Eat Sleep Fuzz Repeat', because that's what Belgian stoner maestros King Hiss live by. Their second album, 'Mastosaurus' certainly proves that. It's a brilliant orgy of fuzzy guitars, dynamic drums and sheer intensity, seemingly with more influences than I expected.

The album opens with a Conan meets Soundgarden thing in 'Homeland', which immediately sets the tone for the entire album. From then on, King Hiss takes us on a massive journey, loaded with energy. In the first four tracks alone, I can hear influences from Clutch over Fu Manchu to Corrosion Of Conformity, Alice In Chains and Mastodon. 'Tourniquet' and 'Black Sea, Slow Death' are pounding rockers. Well, pretty much all the songs are.

Driving on grinding riffs and destructive drums, King Hiss delivered something overwhelming. 'We Live In Shadows' is probably my favorite track on this album. Not coincidentally it's also one of the doomiest ones. These guys have been listening to vintage doom metal a lot, that's for damn sure. They've also been listening to thrash metal, judging from some of the riffs. I'm sure a lot of people will engage in a fierce headbanging session over songs like 'Stuck In A Hoie' and 'Renegade'. 'Egomaniac' even harbours a hardcore punk attitude, which adds a lot to the variation of the album.

Another one of my favorites is the title track, which indicates an excellent sense of songwriting. Hell, even acts like Moonspell and Marilyn Manson come to mind here. There's something dark, hidden between the layers of fuzz  This no longer sounds like a band of Belgian youngsters trying to copy their idols, an unfortunate feeling I had when I first encountered King Hiss. Instead, King Hiss now sounds like a world class act that will soon demolish stages and venues all over the world.

So I guess it's no surprise that this album comes highly recommended to all you stoner rockers out there. 'Mastosaurus' should be a breakthrough album. It contains the perfect sound, a convincing attitude and plenty of variation to remain interesting and maybe even to become an absolute must-have in this genre. So prepare to get your hands on this epic piece of work, you won't regret it...


​Serge

experimental / drone / noise

The world of experimental music is one of many 'mehs' and a few awes. I've seen people make drones, noise and ambient with all kinds of instruments, from guitars and bass guitars over hurdy-gurdies, tape recorders and window glass. Once in awhile, a drummer joins in on the fun, bringing an extra dimension to the whole thing. However, this time, the drummer doesn't join anybody, he does it on his own. In that aspect, this is the longest and most intriguing drum solo I've ever heard.

But what would you expect from someone like Rene Aquarius? Being one half of power jazz duo Dead Neanderthals and cooperating with people like Dirk Serries and John Dikeman, this dude certainly knows his way around everything between ambient, jazz and grindcore. Armed with his drum kit and loads of effects, he now comes up with his solo debut, a debut I was extremely curious about. I know most of Aquarius' other work and I'm a big fan but there is a difference between Dead Neanderthals and this album.

The main difference is the tempo. Do not expect any grindcore blast beats because those are left behind and replaced by eerie drones, often harsh noise and strange, otherworldly soundscapes. The result comes very close to dark ambient acts like Svaixt and Treha Sektori, as well as experimental noise projects like MZ412 and Megaptera. That being said, this album would have fitted perfectly in the Cold Meat Industry stable. There are even some nice Deutsch Nepal percussion passages here.

So yes, this is an extremely slow album, sluggishly dragging itself through my speakers. It has an eerie, haunted atmosphere which makes it a perfect soundtrack for nightly quests through abandoned buildings, if you're into that stuff. Come to think of it, abandoned buildings would be a neat place for Aquarius to perform these pieces. I'd certainly like to see that happen. Even more, now I'm wondering what a cooperation between Aquarius and Tomas Järmyr would sound like. Maybe that would make an interesting project for the future.

But I'm digressing again. Apparently I'm very good at that, just like this Dutch gentleman is very good at getting more out of his drums than most other drummers could possibly imagine. Obviously, this album comes highly recommended for all fans of experimental ambient, from Anenzephalia to Zoviet France. If you like any of the acts I mentioned in this review, I urge you to check out this awe-inspiring piece of work. Now, how about that abandoned buildings tour Rene?


​Serge

black metal / post metal

Trna is a blackened post-rock / blackgaze band from Saint Petersburg, Russia, consisting of musicians Andrey Novozhilov on guitar, Anton Gataullin on bass and Sergey Tikhomirov on drums. Lose Yourself to Find Peace, their second album, was released on September 23. With only two tracks, the songs Gale and Calm, the album is forty minutes and thirty seven seconds long, limitless on it’s far reaching considerations of atmospherics. 

With an astounding breath that overlooks simplicity, and a far reaching scale of solid technical proficiency, Trna, on these two tracks, manages to reach the unbelievable: a sonorous monumental configuration of ethereal polyphony, that underlies within an abyss of harmonic conjectures a reverberation of diluted rhythms, anxious to retain, preserve, reinvent and dilacerate the logics of traditional post-rock, rediscovering on the onset of its own expansive melodies a new pattern of cosmic possibilities able to diverge from the current waves that dictates the commonalities of the genre, reassuring a formidable degree of originality that enables them to create and discover their own identity.  Transfiguring in the vastness of the mass composed by their sound the ruins of a creative energy doomed to recreate the post-modern approach of all the basic elements that disperses the boundaries on which the genre is currently found, Trna really set for their sound a new artistic overlook, reinstating their ability to shape their music according their own terms and principles.

Nevertheless, they do maintain at the core of their music the basis of an atmospheric charge, that crafts and balances a very hard drowned ambient styled sound, with aggressive lines of guitar dictating the patterns of the rhythms that drives the pace of the songs, sometimes as gray as melancholic, and in some other passages as hard and as fast as the dying decay of an endless morning. With a very fluid composition that simply goes within the rhythm, these two songs that we have here, on the album Lose Yourself to Find Peace, is as amazing as a post-rock album, with a more progressive and creative outlook, can be. Essentially atmospheric, and anthropomorphic in the diluted sincerity drawn by the music, what we have here is, generally, a very good post-rock album, with the higher inception of more easy-layered peculiarities, that dares to be experimental in some moments. In just a few words, a very outstanding album to listen to. 

While this is only their second album, we definitely should maintain an eye on these guys. A great musical act to have on the post-rock scene, heavier and darker, Trna, with this Lose Yourself to Find Peace, certainly deserves to have a place on the spotlight. A solid and consistent work, that really highlights their musical abilities, and their inclination towards a fundamentally artistic approach, Lose Yourself to Find Peace is the album that definitely consolidates their place on the scene, being a causal element for progressive and positive changes in the genre.                   


Wagner

electronic / downtempo / progressive

Vagabond is an album by Nick Brennan “Tripswitch”, an electronic music artist and producer from the UK, that works mainly in the downtempo and progressive subgenres of electronic music. With nine tracks, being them This Way Home, Divine Falsehood, Vagaries, Glass Heart, Big Time Line, Zoetrope, Payola, The Left Bank and Hulahoop, what we have here is a decent album, certainly capable of pleasing the most inveterate enthusiasts of the genre, although in very, very specific places and environments.

With vociferating and rising upbeats, that circle the uplifting sonorous gears of its own paradoxical harmonies, and a contrived rhythmical constraint that solidly harmonizes sometimes nervous, but enduring cycles of marvelous continual patterns, Vagabond is generally a good album, although it does resent itself to be a little monotonous sometimes, with little to no variations. While it does provide, in one hand, decent tunes for the club scene, the tedious repetitions that goes over and over again, although it is for sure an aspect of the genre, makes listening to an album seventy seven minutes long an exceedingly boring task. If you start listening to this album in a very exciting mood, be sure after a few tracks you will be excessively drained, and not pleased at all.  

While the album does have its qualities, and a landmark of the instantaneous frame of possibilities rearranged within the layers of its composite nuances, Vagabond really had the potential to be a more exciting album. Nevertheless, it can be deemed a decent, creative and definitive reference to the genre, highlighting the elements for which the genre is known. But be sure that, even if you’re an authentic enthusiast of the genre, you hardly will be far too enthusiastic about it. 

In resume, this is an album set for specific audiences, and very specific places, during very specific times. Some of these tracks surely will be great to listen in the right place, especially if you’re the nocturnal and outgoing type of person, that is always out there, in the club scene and in the dance floor. Listening to this album by yourself, on the other hand, in your house, all alone, will get you totally bored. This album is specifically tied to an audience, and to the right location, and doesn’t work outside of it. It belongs exclusively to the club scene, and to the agitation of the nocturnal life. In any other circumstances, it will be an instant displacement. It is totally comprehensible this dynamic, though, since downtempo is a subgenre of electronica aiming to be repetitive. And being Nick Brennan a constant presence in the UK regional scene, it is quite obvious that he will be making albums filled with music that works in his natural environment: a dance club at midnight, with lights sparkling everywhere inside the pub, and people – mostly young – dancing all night long. This is Tripswitch: exciting in the right place, and totally boring at home!          


​Wagner

ambient / downtempo

Released recently, on September 1, by Greek label Cosmicleaf records, the album Dreaming Awakening, Part One, is a compilation album that presents the audience some of the best chillout artists we have in the world today. With nine tracks, being them  Native, by The Amygdala, Good Times, by Magobee, Voice of Spring, by Kuba, Nostalgic Euphoria, by Side Liner, Above the Roofs, by Zero Cult, Deep Space Travel, by Easily Embarrassed, Orbs, by Kadasarva, A Whole New World (The First Sunset), by Innerself, and Skyer, by Lauge, this work will really satisfy an audience eager for a decent and true to the roots chillout compilation, that reunites in one work the most amazing tracks ever created on the genre.   

With an obviously passionate thrill that harmonically fitted in one album so many different artists, the uniformity that we have here, although being very heterogeneous, is really impressive. With a solid statement that reinvigorates the genre, in the basis of its wide scope, and it’s flexible and more ethereal sonorous layout, the record in one way stands for what chillout really is, and what truly means in the contemporaneous worldwide music scene, while at the same time is seemingly anxious to align, explore, analyze and discover the most prominent and energizing possibilities the genre could ever have, in the minds of its listeners, and as a meaningful and expressive form of sonorous artistry for the musicians working and unraveling on this kind of music. Starting its creative existence in the minds of the artists that works within the genre, exploring its boundaries, frontiers, tunes and harmonies, delineating in the process a remarkable achievement, exceedingly worthy for the progress of the tangent musicality found in the genre, Dreaming Awakening, Part One, does more than just simply collecting a few tunes here and there of chillout music: it digresses and accompanies the history and the evolution of the genre, presenting to its audience a dream that recreates chapters of a marvelous sonorous existence.    

Of course, having just nine tracks, you can’t expect too much of a history; nonetheless, what we have here is certainly worthwhile checking it: nine formidable and excruciatingly divine tracks, that traduces perfectly the basic principles of the genre. All of them beautiful, there is not a single one of them that could possibly be double checked, or that shouldn’t deserve to be included in the compilation. And besides that, they all complement one another very well, having been coherently chosen, and presented in an exceedingly impeccable order. 

A great gift for all chillout fans out there, Dreaming Awakening Part One is simply a great, excellent chillout compilation, and presents us with above the top tracks produced by the very best artists of the genre, in worldwide scale. So, if you are a chillout fan, like me, here’s a compilation that you certainly don’t want to miss. You will enjoy every second of it!       


​Wagner

electronic / downtempo / psychedelic

Hinkstep is an electronic ambient musical project from Gothenburg, Sweden. A Generation Lost in Space is the project’s fifth and most recent album to date, having being released in June 28. With eight tracks, being them Like A Mirror, Within Your Echoes, A Little Tree, Blend In With The Crowd, A Generation, Lost I Ft. Saimiri, N Space and Easily Distracted, a little more than one hour long, what we have here certainly is a fantastic and superbly well produced masterpiece. Eager to be considered one of the great representatives of the genre, certainly it is one of the more exciting and thoroughly groundbreaking albums the genre has ever produced in this century. 

With a central poignant device perfectly aligned in the sphere of circular rhythms rearranged in homogeneous cyclic patterns, overdeveloped under mesmerizingly cadenced gears of protuberating calmness, the music streams a beat of rising tones, under a dissident flow of sonorous dissonance, relying in the confluence of harmonies – masterminded by a vigorous sense of completeness – to assure the central axis of its rhythms to navigate under a precise sense of cohesion. With a calm and detailed resonance that converges to a path of exhilarating harmonies, that can stay on the verge of rapture while being overtly serene at the same time, A Generation Lost in Space manages excitingly to arrange the traditional old school elements of the genre, while at the same time aggregates new ones, with a soft sense of deliberate originality, that composes altogether an over the top masterpiece, absolute in its own peculiar sphere of devotional artistry.

Even the more calm tracks are filled with an elemental purpose of harmonic sensibility, delineating a sense of poetic dissolution that works within the music, ostensibly sculpting a colony of rhythms not just beautiful, but exceedingly lucid and pure, as vivid as a colorful rainbow in the eyes of a supernova. Listening to this album can really be a different experience, as you can travel a journey one hour long throughout the whole universe, reimagining your soul through solar landscapes, in a vast configuration of conspicuous nothingness, immerging your heart in an everlasting sense of wonderful sensibility and visible introspection.

With its more progressive layout, and a multidimensional shape of marvelous sonorous digression, A Generation Lost in Space is a majestic album, able to fill all the gaps usually left aside by the more ordinary works done in the genre. With electronica elements that persists, and also build slowly a curiously sentimental taste of consistency within the harmonies, this album is way above the usual ground normally found in this kind of music. With several different elements that dilute and create contrasting nuances to an already monumental style, Hinkstep has a progressive and experimental approach that sets his work aside, in a whole new, different level, with a very unique categorization. So, if you like creative ambient music, with chillout harmonies and experimental elements added to it, you have to listen to this amazing work. You will be astounded, that is for sure!               


Wagner

ambient / electronic / downtempo

With increasingly great, but exponentially soft harmonies that elevate the listener into the most reenergizing sphere of sonorous omnipotence, Meridian is a very uplifting album, that lives by the core of its harmony. Profoundly resting on the definitive majesty of its calmness, the marvelous melodies that divides the circumspection of the music maintains itself on the solidity of constantly evolving harmonies, that prompts a unique cohesion regarding the proper ascension of the music’s rhythm. With a slow dive, but a strong sense of unity, Meridian is a ten tracks album, that evolves from an ambiguous point of sensitive unbound intuition, never relying too much on a common basis, but always shifting the ethereal precision of its infinitely pronounced descriptive tonalities.

A great ambient album that always maintains the disruptive force of its incisive melodies, Meridian from the beginning exhibits a formal trait willing to revolve towards more ambitious goals, that projects organic musical hyperboles into a focus of consistent rhythms rearranged in interesting discursive patterns, somehow dispersing a new flow of creative influx. With a more circular sound, that projects its beginning in a path ostracized by a very familiar ending, Meridian goes way beyond the common boundaries usually seen in the genre, pushing to more figuratively soul frames unbroken harmonies that never seeks for an end, but always seems to start at the breaking point of a perceptive antagonism.

With an interesting pace and exceedingly vivid melodies, that balances in the wonderful rainbows of expressive eyes, the sound that we enjoy on this album is almost as detailed as it seems spontaneous. With an overview of sounds that seems infinite, an everlasting creative fortune appears to vividly describe dreams, in a very lucid interlude of pleasant configurations, almost unbearable to the ingenious heart. Nevertheless, with a sound that could describe the whole universe, Meridian is a very palpable album with an intangible voice, that seeks throughout the indefinite journey of thoughts the sensible stream of a monumental somnolence that dissipates the beautiful serenity of profound melodic purposes, always willing to renew the kindness of all hearts.

As the starting point of a glorious and uneventful journey, on which never lacks any happiness, Meridian, by Ascendant – a magnificent ambient music duo from California – has all the basis to be a divine gear of sonorous omnipotence, excellence, beauty and dynamism, with a powerful vigor that exposes a new and superbly original cadence into the music, being as unusual as discreet, sounding a lot more colorful, vivid and consistent than most acts in the genre. With a futuristic concept, a rearranging pattern of cadenced sensibility and a voracious method to stand on the point of a causal reinstatement of a marvelous transient universe, Meridian is an unbound vehement work of art that aggregates an innovative wave of devotional sincerity to a traditional prism of exceptionally cohesive sonorous layers, going far beyond the places the genre expected them to be!              


​Wagner

post rock

The first time I encountered Chinese post-rock heroes Wang Wen was a Dunk! Festival. The band played an enchanting set, which caused me to buy the 'Eight Horses' CD and write an enthusiastic review about their appearance. Although at first the CD often appeared in our everyday playlist, it gradually moved to the background for some reason. It was a good album but for me personal not that memorable after all. I have absolutely no idea why.

Yet, that didn't stop me from listening to this new album. Mere seconds after the CD arrived in my mailbox, the disc was spinning in my music machine. I was curious, to say the least. Not because the biography mentioned a spectacular vinyl packaging with different sleeves, depending on how you like them, but because I know how meticulous and detailed Wang Wen works, both musically and visually.

Personally, I didn't really care about the visual aspect as I find the music to be the most important thing about a release. That being said, I'm extremely sure I will cherish my little promo of this epic and magnificent piece of work for a very long time, definitely way longer than 'Eight Horses'. I once compared Wang Wen to Ennio Morricone meets Godspeed You Black Emperor and on 'Sweet Home, Go' they reach perfection with that beautiful sound.

The album opens with the highly promising 'Netherworld Water' which immediately got me hooked. This is a classic Wang Wen track, immersive, dreamy, building elaborate landscapes. Their perfectionism is pushed the limit, and with 'Red Wall And Black Wall' they even exceed that very boundary. The second track of this album is one of the most beautiful and immersive pieces of post rock I've ever heard.

The always impressive instrumentation of Wang Wen is unbelievable. One moment you are listening to a classical orchestra and shortly after you're engulfed in a whirlpool of post rock bliss. Then, of course, there are the subdued piano passages and the trumpet driven cinematic elements that made Wang Wen as brilliant as they are. All these elements bring a load of variation to the the album and showcase a multitude of emotions.

'Heart Of Ocean' is a tearjerker, a beautiful instrumental with a fantastic story to tell. Of course, storytelling is what Wang Wen are masters in and on this album that's no different. From deeply introvert journeys over gloomy adventures to epic and heroic telltales, it's all here, pressed into almost seventy five minutes of sonic waves. 'Children's Palace' perfectly illustrates that filmic approach.

Well, I'll leave the rest of the songs up to you to discover. After all, by reading this review, you should already be very aware that 'Sweet Home, Go' is a serious contender for the upcoming album of the year lists. So I'll just end this ode by recommending this album to all you post-rockers out there. Man, I hope they tour with this stuff soon...


​Serge

stoner rock

Well, time for some heavy rocking and what better way to do that than with a good slab of stoner punk rock. But wait, there are some highly unusual references, some unexpected people that come to mind when I listen to this album. Not that it harms the overall fun and atmosphere, not at all, but it's odd to see how the likes of Lou Reed, ZZ Top and Joy Division can crawl into an album that has mainly been inspired by Fu Manchu and Queens Of The Stone Age.

The debut by Finnish trio Monsternaut is actually a compilation of their two previous eps. These nine songs provide the stoner rockers among us with a decent overview of what these guys have been doing since the band was formed in 2012. They play straight forward rock 'n roll with plenty of fuzz and plenty of energy to get even the most stoned people in the crowd shaking their asses. 'Dog Down', 'Caravan' and 'Mean Machine' are pretty heavy rockers, and their not the only ones.

Lou Reed and Ian Curtis often come to mind when I listen to the vocals. I can't help but think they these people have had some kind of influence on Monsternaut. Not only in the vocal range but also in some quite Velvet Underground-reminding vocal lines. That being said, there seems to be a nag for noise rock, grunge and sludge as well. Take the song 'Mexico' for example. That one could have been a song by any of your favorite sludge doom bands.

And what about ZZ Top? Well, that might have been exaggerated a little but still, there's something blues rocky about some of these songs. And since we're throwing genres around, basically, this is pure punk rock, pure, harsh, immersive and fuzzed-out punk rock 'n roll. It makes me curious about what's next for this trio. After all, these are older songs and we rockers always want new stuff. But for now, this will definitely satisfy your stoner punk needs...


​Serge

doom / sludge / psychedelic

Do you ever start listening to an album and think "yeah, this is great, now please don't ruin it" and they actually don't? With each new track, you think "please don't disappoint me" and the album just gets better and better? Well, that's exactly what I have been experiencing since I first allowed this gem to penetrate my brain through my eardrums. I remember it quite well. I was doing the dishes, again, when this thing started playing and was immediately awed. Yet, a little voice inside of me said "watch out, they might do something horrible and smash your enthusiasm". That little voice is dead now...

​Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard is a band from Wales, and although the band name might sound a bit odd and weird, they're all business. Their debut was released only nine months ago but they already return with this masterpiece. The album is produced by Chris Fielding of Conan, which should not be a surprise. Led-heavy riffs and punishing drums clearly blasts this band into the world of doom and sludge metal. However, there is something unique in their approach, something they call 'Shamanendoom'. Their secret? Two surprising and brilliant elements.

The first one comes early in the album, in the form of the beautiful and dreamy vocals of Jessica Ball. Through her participation this act sounds like the lovechild of Conan and Cocteau Twins. Yes, doom meets dream pop, "dream doom" so to speak. She turns excellent and pretty catchy doom songs like 'Valmasque' & 'Testudo' into epic pieces of music. That's also what I meant when I said "now, don't ruin it". I would have hated this stunning beauty to be ruined by sludge screams of death growls.

The second surprising element is the fact that every single member in the band seems to play synths, next to their original instrument. Now, you might think, "yeah, synths, we heard that before" but they come in different forms. 'Testodu' feels like the doom version of Tangerine Dream while 'Osirian' is an immersive piece of industrialized drone doom. Something like that. These synths add a lot of psychedelic energy to the music, something I found rather irresistible.

In all, this album is a gem, one that every fan of slow, dreamy music should have in his possession.  I can't wait for these Welshmen and -woman to crossover to the ancient mainland and conquer our venues. It shouldn't surprise you that this album comes extremely recommended.


​Serge

post rock / doom / post metal

I think it's about time I start making a wishlist for next year's Dunk! festival, or a few recommendations for any post-rock related festival for that matter. Judging from the albums I've been listening to in the past months, any of those events would become a tremendous blast. Moase, or Memoirs Of A Secret Empire, would definitely be on that list as I think they would make a great opening act to wake people up and get them ready for another day of perfect music. With this stuff rolling through the tent, any festival would kick off awesomely.

Moase is a band from Portugal, founded in 2012. 'Vertigo' is their debut full-length but in 2013 they already released an ep. That ep gained them some recognition and the friendship of fellow countrymen Löbo. Now that's thought, how about Löbo and Moase touring Europe together, I'd like to see that. With this new album, Moase try to break through in the world of post-rock and atmospheric post-metal, or whatever tags you want to give their music. 

At least a few members of Moase seem to have a background in doom metal and either symphonic metal or ambient. The riffs are lead heavy, sludgy at times but not as loaded with fuzz as most of today's sludge acts. Instead, these riffs are played with a sound reminiscent to post-rock and accompagnied by dynamic drums. Then there are the ambient soundscapes and the calm, subdued guitar plucking that we know and love so well in the world of ambient.

The album kicks off with a smooth and relaxed intro before 'Angst' drags the listener down into a darker, often eerie corner of the post-whatever industry. From there, the band guides you on sonic waves of monolithic riffs and droning basses. They top it of with often screechy electronics which remind me of the whole industrial scene. Bands I'm reminded of include Wang Wen, Tiny Fingers, Russian Circles...

'Carried' is my absolute favorite track on this album, or maybe the short and gentle 'Lull'. It's hard to chose since the conceptual feel of the full-length is very present, making it almost a necessity to listen to the whole thing entirely. Perhaps even a few times in a row. To be extremely honest, all that praise might not  have appeared in the very beginning of the album, but gradually it evolves, grows and becomes a solid piece of work, worthy of your attention.

So go ahead, indulge yourself in the massively immersive soundscapes of Memoirs Of A Secret Empire. Let the steamroller that 'Whorl' really is roll over you and join me in hope these guys will conquer Europe soon. This is a very strong debut, one that makes me very curious about how this band will evolve in the future.


​Serge

post-rock

I've known Swedish post-rock masterminds pg.lost for a while now and I've always liked their music. Yet, with this new album, they give me a bit of a problem. As a fan of their previous works, I can highly appreciate their constant evolving music but as a reviewer, this is one tough mofo to write about. Why? Well, it's a post-rock album, vintage and definitely worth the tag "classic", but that's where the trouble start. How do you define "classic"?

Perhaps it might be worth stating that 'Versus' belongs right up there, right with the greatest albums in the history of the genre. Opener 'Ikaros' is a stunning earworm which immediately got stuck in my head, something which doesn't often happen with post-rock anthems. It's arguably one of my absolute favorites this year. From then on, pg.lost keeps up blasting high quality post-rock music in our direction, much to my delight.

'Off the Beaten Path' is another great piece of work, mostly mid-tempo but nonetheless quite immersive. This will get crowds shaking their asses off, I guarantee it. Those crowds will also become blissfully hypnotized by the gloomy shoegazing 'Monolith', especially when things get heavy and intense. For me, mid- and uptempo post-rock songs usually aren't as powerful as the slow ones but 'Monolith' is a smasher, that's for damn sure.

I'm not going into a full song by song description with this one, because I feel that this definitely is something you need to discover. Fact remains that pg.lost know quite well how to combine the necessary elements into awe-inspiring music, those elements being alternations between calm, clean passages and flashes of wildly distorted guitars, dynamic rhythms and subdued electronics, sheer power and pure beauty.

Like I already said, I'm not going into a song-by-song description, but I will mention the title track 'Versus', a massive and heavy track that dares to challenge Russian Circles. Quite frankly, the whole album can compete with the entire post-rock roster, mostly the heavily distorted ones. Even die-hard metalheads will have absoluty no problem banging their heads to this stuff. Well, maybe the ultra-extreme-harsh grind lovers, but let's ignore those for a second here.

In all, 'Versus' simply is a masterpiece and a clear highlight in a genre many people think is dying out. pg.lost managed to revive that awesome sound and bring new life into the whole scene. They won't be the only ones by the way. There are some other brilliant albums coming this year. 2016 will prove to be a year to remember as far as post-rock is concerned and pg.lost just placed themselves very high on the ladder.


Serge

black metal

Released recently, on September 16, Solace, by Norwegian melodic black metal act Vinterbris, is an astounding, direct, furious and exceedingly fantastic state-of-the-art masterpiece. With six tracks, being them Dysphoria, Ash Alight, Fathoms, The Aurora Of Despair, Gazing At A Fallen Sky and Euphoria, Vinterbris has everything a true, amazing and genuine Norwegian black metal band is expected to have, to be considered authentic and honorable enough, to be worthy of being called True Norwergian Black Metal, a label that comes with a honest, legitimate and truthful compromise, rooted in a tradition that holds the most valuable legacy the genre has ever produced, in the history of the genre.

With their own style pretty well settled, and amazingly built at the core of their own salutary organic rhythmic patterns of highly skilled symmetry, Solace is an album astoundingly  impressive for succeeding on its abilities concerning a solid convergence between undeniable fast rhythms, and a groundbreaking spiral of continually evolving harmonies, that disrupts the melodies while at the same time showcasing the tunes that amalgamates a curious crystal sound to their rapidly energetic fiercely grounded style of stepwise scale of poetic unbroken pace. 

Making use of very well crafted, balanced and well-designed melodies, with a songwriting approach brilliantly shaped into a very distinctive sound, way more sophisticated than usual BM bands, without ever abdicating the lancinating device of very fast rhythms, Solace displays a very “progressive” approach to black metal, incredibly more detailed, symmetric, skillful and resourceful than usually expected, with the general outcome being a great masterpiece, very unique for the history of the genre, as a whole. Certainly a milestone that exhibits a fine trace in music writing, with exceedingly powerful tones, pulsating cadencies and overwhelming symmetries working at the core of amazingly crafted melodies – outlined at the pace of beautiful and groundbreaking guitar lines – Solace is a remarkable masterpiece, unexpectedly dense, while at the same time as fluid as an imposing realm of serenity, draining thoughts in the dawn from the darkness of an infinite night, to feed the soul of one’s existence.

Certainly a curious and intriguing milestone, that displays an impressive degree of remarkable musical abilities, and a groundbreaking creativity able to explore rhythmical possibilities, Solace, by Vinterbris, is an album that has everything to achieve cult status, and arise to be one of the most significant milestones of the genre. With a poetic approach that seemingly explores very well each and every guitar devices available, at times drawing influences from traditional heavy metal, but assimilating them and transforming it in accordance with their own style, Solace certainly is a remarkable, unbelievable and over-the-top creative work of art, that deserves to be considered one of the best releases of the year. So excellent, amazing, well-crafted, curiously intriguing and wonderfully beautiful, that is impossible not to like.    



​Wagner

ambient

End of Suffering is a three tracks EP by Coven, an ambient music project by Spanish musician Vadym Sycantrhope, a marvelously unique artist, responsible for several other independent music projects as well, like Enearth, and the eponymous Sycantrhope. With three songs, being them Follow Insanity, Resting Area and Sepulcro, what we have here is an exciting, afflictive and deadly agonizing confluence of a beautiful scenario of mortifying malice and descending demise, directly installed into the heart of a nervous, but divinely poetic spiral of gloriously undivided journey, towards a sincere realm of sorrow, destined to perish with a sentimental unconvinced emptiness below.

The first track, the long and monumental Follow Insanity, is a song literally built in an extraordinary ambience of tense and severe antagonism, literally held and torn beyond any description. With a beautiful poem serving as the basis for a lyricism that displays suffering, sorrow and contempt, the nervous atmosphere enticed by the song seems to drag you to a personal swirl of undisposed doom, where everything is lost and empty, and will ever stay like this, for the purpose of a morbid existence.

Being an incontestable master of exceedingly tense ambient music, the sonorous devices marvelously built over the sand of predisposed diluted melodies seems to rely exclusively on the forgotten realm of a well-crafted tune, where the perfect rhythm converges precisely with the set of the right atmosphere. Creating worlds of gloom and denial where everything is severely destitute of possible ambivalences, the sonorous atmosphere developed here – particularly in the first track – seems to announce the morbidity of a valueless existence, whose dreams try to survive in the deepest harmonies hidden in the layout layers of an opaque sphere, where everything seems ready to testify the risk of an eternal death.

With a remarkable ability to create declining harmonies, with an intriguing and outstanding delicacy that fulfills a rewarding serenity to the mindful set of the general emotional sonorous overview, at the same time seemingly eager to predict the end of a world to come, Vadym Sycantrhope is unique in introducing beauty to dark ambient musical tonalities, crafting poetic elements of a higher sensibility into an exhilarating melodic tension, that superbly overdue all atmospheres of sensational constraints, enabling his music to acquire a very personal form and a unique style, deliberately generating a genre capable of establishing a shape and a content of its own, without a predecessor to be named.  

As one of the most important ambient artists in the underground scene of his home country – Spain – Vadym Sycantrhope, along with Coven, as well as his many other artistic projects, is a very outstanding and groundbreaking creative force in the current music scenario nowadays. A musical power that aggregates new forms of creation, he is an unquestionable talent on the rise. And End of Suffering, this marvelous EP with three tracks, is here to prove that he is an astoundingly creative, imperiously fundamental, and outwardly necessary force, on the verge of his genuine and sagacious originality.  


​Wagner

black metal / post-hardcore / crust 

Holy Roar Records will release in the end of the next month, on October 28, to be precise, Discography 2012-2014, a compilation of songs by Svalbard, a post-hardcore band from Bristol, UK. Containing fifteen songs, as to know Ripped Apart, Grayscale, Allure, Floating Anchors, Faceless, This Is The End, Flightless Birds, For What It's Worth, Melting Hands, Never Look Back, Pick Up The Pieces, Leave It, So Much For Meritocracy, The Damage Done and Anything Goes Nothing Stays, the compilation reunites several works the band has done since becoming active in the underground scene: their self-titled debut, the Gone Tomorrow EP, the Flightless Birds EP, the split record with Pariso (including collaboration songs) and a Victims cover that appeared on the Cover Buzz split 7 with MINE, Let It Die and Pariso. This is mostly everything that Svalbard recorded, prior to their seminal debut album One Day All This Will End, collected together in full for the first time.

With a groundbreaking hell descends on earth type of sound, letting all go down heavily ever after, Svalbard certainly is one of the most fearless bands in their genre active in the scene today. With a furious wrath and a passionate sonorous presence, exceedingly hard and objective, their heavy sound is superbly concentrated in a straightforward nucleus of a sincere and aggressive demise. With a hard, horizontal and tough, but at the same time uniquely poetic approach, their marvelous sound can be characterized as post-hardcore, with elements of crust punk and metalcore, without ever renouncing more colorful, precise and melodic passages, that sets to their music an atmosphere of relentless beauty and hostile desolation, reminding a little, in some aspects, American band We Came as Romans. 

If you really like a roughly objective, expressively heavy, unforgivingly abrasive and monumental joyful sound, you need to be introduced to Svalbard, if you still haven’t heard of them yet. With a direct approach that relies solely on the rapid pace of a sonorous infinite storm that predicts in seconds the absolute end of everything, you will really love this amazing compilation. Exceedingly fantastic, coherent and with a strong sense of unity between songs, a magnanimously built uniformity makes the record a solid work of art, although each and every song has its own identity. This is certainly one of best records I have ever listened in this genre. If by one way they don’t really bring too much innovation, on the other hand they marvelously expand its beauty by fearlessly rearranging its roots in their own genuine style. It’s the same old, same old, but a very good one, one that really should be heard and enjoyed over and over again. Certainly, most – if not all – fans of the genre will have a great deal of motives to celebrate the release. It’s fearless, uncompromised and groundbreaking. You have to check it out for yourself. You will obviously love this record, be sure of that.  


​Wagner

ambient / modern classical

Rivers & Shores is the most recent release by Black Hill (the alias of musicformessier Czarnorgursky István), done in a very astounding partnership with heklAa (the alias of French musician Sébastien Touraton), where the guitar pieces (Black Hill) are the rivers, and their piano counterparts (heklAa) are the shores.

A very unusual album, it is composed of 8 songs, although there is 16 tracks. Each song is played on guitar, and then follows the same song, on a piano version, making an unusual, but very unfathomable, picturesque and unique expressionistic diagram of marvelous beauty, where each track has a beautiful composition, gracefully completed by a poetic counterpart, which you will find quite hard to translate in words, as they are so much capable to build unexpected dialogues between your emotions. And you will feel between the songs, as well as at the very own core of each one of them, that kind of genuine emotion that makes the music reflects the uneasiness required for a deep and sincere appreciation of the listener. 

Since every track is very short, each one of them makes you travel free through the groundbreaking notes of every song, since this peculiar and unusual change of guitar and piano gives you the feeling of flying between worlds of angelically delineated serenity, while at the same time gives to your spirit the astonishing peculiarities that only a carefully constructed masterpiece achieves with such a great, but measuredly crafted symbioses of instruments, creating in such beautiful and well delineated harmonies the groundwork that only great musicians are able to combine perfectly together. 

All in all, Rivers & Shores is another great and beautiful Black Hill album, with another great and solemn guest artist, heklAa. The marvelous and poetic beauty of such expressionistic pieces, that isolated from one another shares the greatness of impenetrable and subtle fragments, are greatly combined together to compose a carefree mosaic of dense artistic structure, that works heavenly as a tapestry of beautiful layers of sound, very unique even for such talented and incredibly skilled musicians. In fact, it is the kind of album that no words can describe. You have to listen to yourself to believe! Beautiful, astounding, magnificent. Destined to become an underground classic, with no other album being able for comparison yet.


​Wagner