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Saule - Saule

17/5/2017

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avant garde / metal / post metal
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Saule is the debut album of the eponymous Polish crossover post metal act, released by Italian record label Avantgarde Music, on May 13. Forty one minutes long, the record has seven tracks: I, II, III, IV, V, VI and O. A brilliantly conspicuous, sagaciously unreserved, pervasively ambivalent and profoundly monumental album, with consistently epic elements, Saule reverberates through the colossal components of its own intrinsic beauty thoroughly exacerbated and melancholically dense desperate devices, that harmoniously shapes the melodic oceans of sensibilities upon which their music is crafted, and intelligently expands the fundaments of its redeemed phantasmagoric labor. 

Marvelously beautiful and thoroughly efficient, the style of Saule has an imperative grandiosity centered in wonderfully shaped and sculpted melodies, that brings at the confluence of its sonorous axis the experience of a sound convergence that reiterates the strength of a formidable and inextricable creativity. Sidelined at the lucidity of its ambitious harmonies, it is possible to observe the birth of entire universes, craving in the linear opacity of its thought the fugacious galaxy of a serenity that dreams way ahead the philosophy of its delightful whispers. In the corners of a delicate and splendidly voracious sensibility, Saule becomes the ethereal veil of melodies covered in dust, upon which the world has buried the coalescence of its unwanted dreams.  

Although the album is deeply submerged most of the time in a beautiful and almost hypnotic density of a marvelous instrumental ocean of deeply saturated sensibilities, there are thoroughly gracious vocal passages, that highlights the subtle style of the group to another path of reflexive grace. Stricken by an aggressive stupor of melancholy, the sound seems to levitate between somewhat inexistent monumental spheres of fallacious agony, and afflictive worlds of dying secrecy, upon which the fundamental principles of our soul becomes diluted, but keeps feeding at the fountain of the music’s essence. 

Despite some sonorous uniformity, Saule’s debut is a great and very unexpected record. A genuine and incredibly original work of art, full of gracious energy and displaying a genuine vortex of melodic infallibility, in thoroughly consistent rhythmical dissonances that creates a very singular dimension of plural expansions, Saule condenses the pressure of a gas giant into a symbiotic strength of versatile proclivities, meticulously engendered to pronounce the fugacious doom of a universe lost at the insensitive fables of our own inhumane hearts. So, summarizing, a formidably creative and astoundingly terrific album. 


Wagner
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Hant – Arisen 

10/4/2017

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avant garde / metal
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Arisen is an album by Hungarian avant-garde metal project Hant, released on April 4. Forty one minutes long, the album has eight tracks: Desolate, Evolution of Minds, Of Longing and Lust, Black Lake, Arisen, Beyond the Astral Doors, Summoning and Mad World (a beautiful instrumental cover version of the notorious Tears for Fears song [and, in my opinion, the best track on this record]). With an incisive work competently built on guitars, Arisen is an album with interesting shapes and nuances. With generally calmer melodies, the harmonies are conceived in an anxious and afflictive layer of lancinating and acute atmospheric anguish. Somewhat interesting, there is a virtuous degree of skilled technical proficiency holding the musical structure of the work. Unfortunately, since the harmonies are mostly slow all the way through, and the songs are generally very long, a tedious, nefarious and exasperating sense of monotony overcomes the listener, and the album eventually becomes more of a boring task than an actual pleasure.

Nevertheless, there are distinct elements, as well as intriguing passages, in some tracks along the way. With minimalist and neoclassical tendencies, Arisen has charming peculiarities, and the sensational sonorous dilapidations that ostensibly arise in the outer limits of the conclusively splendid exterior layers of the songs reveal, quite surprisingly, a modest, but sagacious level of audacity, originality and creativity, well-worked and majorly conceived in the expansive fields of rhythmic dissonances discreetly dispersed throughout the album. 

Although Arisen can’t be qualified as a majestic record – and you will hardly be surprised while listening to it – this album has, indeed, several qualities. The hazard, dilacerating and meticulous guitar lines undoubtedly are the main force behind the work, and create all the major elements that consecrate the overall musical atmosphere. Taking that away, you don’t have too much components to appreciate on the album, although some harmonies are fulfilled by a lonely, restless, reflexive and poetic appeal. Evidently, if you like slow, melodic, melancholic guitar driven rock’n’roll with avant-garde elements, then Arisen is an album that you should listen. 
     
As far as my personal evaluation goes, Arisen is a good album, but is incapable of going beyond that. Too much accommodated in a common concept, with an ostensibly exacerbated uniformity, with little rhythmic variations, the overall sound, in the end, reclaims an ordinary and inefficient final product, that will probably appeal more to guitar players and guitar students in general.     


Wagner
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Figure of Six – Welcome To The Freak Show 

10/4/2017

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nu metal
Bleeding Nose Records
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Welcome To The Freak Show is an album by Italian nu metal group Figure of Six, to be officially released by Bleeding Nose Records in the end of the next month, in May 26th, precisely. With ten tracks – Welcome To The Freak Show, The Man In The Dark, The Weak One, Edward Mordrake, The Tightrope Walker, The Mirror's Cage, Monster, The King And The Servant, Clown and But Deliver Us From Evil – Welcome To The Freak Show is a very interesting and uplifting record. With a vivaciously vibrating and spontaneous approach, although retaining all the traditional elements of the genre, the record has strong and creative melodies, genuinely constructive harmonies and a positive sense of musical mordacity. 

With very audacious compositions, Figure of Six is a band bound by no fears. They wisely experiment, and extend the overwhelming beauty of the genre to the frontiers of the possible and the impossible. With a monumental, graceful, sensible and gently emotional sonorous layer, that reveals a creative talent that extrapolates everything you thought you knew about nu metal, they seem to deliberately abolish and virtually exclude all the generic common concepts usually associated with the genre. As a matter of fact, Figure of Six seems to be fully committed with the creation of something new, and, as a result, has conceived Welcome To The Freak Show as an intriguing and genuine record, that revives with an astoundingly lucid intensity the most fundamental elements and principles of nu metal.

Although they retain, evidently, the main components of the genre, they exert no limitations upon their creativity. With lancinating fury, an impeccable sense of direction and tempestuous melodies full of anger, redemption, sorrow and demise, Figure of Six reshapes and redefines with mordacious determination, objectivity and a higher degree of innovations the usual structure and the sonorous tissue of the genre, infusing a surprising level of vitality and revitalization into the nu metal music scene, in general and specific terms as well. 

A very interesting and sagacious record, Welcome To The Freak show is a great gift for each and every individual enthusiast of the genre. With no general faults to be pointed out, this album is full of abundant qualities that were brilliantly combined to create a marvelous record, that has all the necessary requirements – in the creative, musical and technical fields – to be considered a reference and a cornerstone of the genre.          


Wagner
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Scritikall - Draft

6/4/2017

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metal
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I've been writing about the self-willed metal scene in France a lot in the past, and I feel like I have to do it again and again. For some reason, many French bands come up with a wayward approach to metal, usually in a very creative and interesting way. Right now, another one of those bands is playing, a band that claims to crossover between rock and metal. However, although this album rocks, this certainly is one for the metalheads among us. 

Scritikall has been around since 2012. The six songs on this album have been played live for a year or so, and I can easily imagine an amazed audience witnessing them. To me, it feels like the band members are experienced metal musicians, but in different corners of the scene. The vocalist/guitarist is probably a hardcore, post metal and metalcore fan. The drummer has been listening to Fear Factory and Meshuggah a lot.

Furthermore, there are elements from death metal, black metal, progressive metal and plenty more. In that aspect, this album is a whirlpool of distorted guitars, pounding drums and a decent variation between clean vocals and screams. That being said, opener 'Yelling' is my absolute favorite here, closely followed by 'Disturbs And Manhandles'. If you like your metal intense and immersive, this certainly is your thing.

There are six tracks on 'Draft', five if you count out the dreamy intermezzo 'Max. 1'. But those five tracks blast, that you cannot deny. I can see many people bang their heads to these tracks, be it slowly since the music never gets uptempo. Not that that matters here, 'Drafts' certainly doesn't lack intensity, just listen to closer 'Draft', a song I might consider as one of my favorites too. So anyway, metalheads, check this out. It's different but it's awesome.


​Serge
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Blaine Rohmer – Promise of Autumn 

6/4/2017

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melodic dark metal
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Promise of Autumn is an album by Byelorussian atmospheric dark/ heavy metal group Blaine Rohmer, released in March 31. Forty three and a half minutes long, the record has seven tracks: Misery Storm, Solar Empire, Song of an Apocalypse, Promise of Autumn, Your Secret Shore, The Reaver of Worlds and Fool of Chains. Vibrating, marvelously poetic, delicately enchanting, formidable, exhilaratingly beautiful and serene, the sound of Blaine Rohmer is, by its own genuine definitions, difficult to describe, and specially, to categorize in a specific subgenre of metal. With heavy and dark metal elements, added to this flavor atmospheric and melodic components, their sound has unique features, specially captivating. With more philosophic and reflexive undertones, their style is primarily shaped by slow melodies, consistently punctuated by effusively melancholic clouds. With a wonderful sonorous shape that standardizes the efficiency of their melodies, Promise of Autumn is one of the most intense, poetic, reliable and singular albums ever created in the history of underground metal. 

Simply astonishing, each and every track is more beautiful than its predecessor. With a singular approach that expands their unusual slow, but credible and intense rhythms, the songs on Promise of Autumn are ardently passionate, filled by a vibrating consistency that brings the style of the band closer to romantic ballads, but without becoming ballads de facto. With thunderous and tempestuous, but graceful guitar lines, the songs have a fortifying structure that dwells towards the flexible functionalities of its own essence.     

With an incredible sentimental appeal, Blaine Rohmer’s music is an emotional landscape filled by the insatiable and everlasting beauty of an eternal autumn that never fades away, but remains forever shining in the fields of your heart. With pure, calm and well sculpted harmonies, these formidable songs sounds like the wild freedom of your soul, taking all the pain and suffering away from the known universe, dwelling to protect you from everything that is evil.

Although the harmonies are predominantly slow, their sound is so fascinating that monotony is never felt, not even for a second, all the way through. An exceptional and overwhelming album, Promise of Autumn is an amazing grace in the history of metal. A truly great, evolving and fantastic work, this album deserves all the best possible scores from the audience, reviewers and critics alike. It’s a revolution, a slow revolution, as a matter of fact, but an amazing and necessary one! Never before any other group had made music like Blaine Rohmer does.  


​Wagner
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Brieviews 22

31/3/2017

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Lynhood - Septembre

ambient / experimental / shoegaze
Atypeek
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Lynhood is the solo project for French bassist Chloé Della Valle, founder of the Grenoble label. Lynhood is also a very interesting take on ambient, drones, noise pop and shoegaze. Armed with a bass guitar, her dreamy voice and a loop station, Lynhood creates textured pop songs with a gritty edge. That now results in this four track ep which at times is extremely melancholic. While opener 'Tree' is a gentle tune, 'White Emperor' is a tremendous tearjerker, gloomy and deeply introvert. In all, this ep is not an easy pill to swallow but certainly one worth the effort. It's simply another interesting take on drones and ambient. Try it out...

Duality - Archeology

metalcore / metal
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French metal act Duality come up with a complex but immersive take on progressive metal and metalcore, a genre I'm not always a big fan of. However, the three songs on this ep are laced with oriental influences, unusual vocal lines and tantalizing electronics, which make this thing a lot better than I expected. The songs are quite slow but still contain heaps of energy and grinding riffs. My personal favorite on this ep is 'Osiris', an intense piece of work that will often surprise the listener. I suggest you check it out, musical surprises are always a good thing as they open your mind for new things.

Never Train - Dnar

hard rock
Inverse Records
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They call it "street rock", but I think the term "hard rock" will fit the band very well. I mean, uptempo rockers with a dirty edge and plenty of power, both in the riffs and in the vocals, that spells hard rock in my book. Never Train, a band from Finland, does nothing really new but they did record three highly convincing pieces of good old fashioned rock 'n roll. There is a little bit of Skid Row in here, a dash of Ramones and even a touch of Guns 'n Roses. So this just can't go wrong. Opener 'First We Live' is my favorite. 'Hope In Youth' is a rocking dance floor filler and closer 'Dnar' is simply an uplifting piece of old school hard rock. You might need this...

Dominique Charpentier - L'attente

classical / ambient
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The email that contained this ep, also contained the words "It's a piano solo album", which is probably the truest thing I have ever read. On this ep, there is a piano and ten massively experienced fingers who gently help the instrument reveal its dreams. The five short pieces on this ep are soothing and minimal classical pieces that can lighten up every day. I don't care what genre you usually listen to, dear reader, but I strongly urge you to purchase this album. Music like this should be in everybody's collection. Everybody needs moments like these, moments to meditate and look into their own soul. This album can help you with that...

Vautour - Vautour

drum & bass / industrial metal
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With the energy of a metal album, French electronic act Vautour comes up with six massively energetic pieces of industrial music. Fans of Chase & Status or Pendulum will undoubtedly embrace this thing. There are references towards hardcore techno, dubstep, drum & bass and breakbeats but also towards rock and metal, be it a highly electronic form If you ever see a moshpit forming during a drum & bass gig, it will probably be while Vautour is playing live. In all, this debut is an interesting piece of work, one which will definitely get your dancing boots on. I can see good things happening for this act in the future.

Moonlight Prophecy - Eternal Oblivion 

progressive / thrash metal
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Philadelphia's Moonlight Prophecy is a Progressive, Thrash and Neoclassical Metal project from multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Lawrence Wallace, and that is pretty much all you need to know before getting your hands on this stunning ep. Mostly instrumental, this three-track is loaded with shredding riffs, epic guitar solos and a massive drum sound, all coming with a gloomy atmosphere. People have said that this compares to Nevermore meets Testament and I'm not going to disagree with that. Fans of epic, technical and immersive metal can easily trust this project to deliver the goods. So yep, recommended as hell, this one...

Era 9 - Warrior

nu metal
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This single by Montreal based rock band Era 9 is a very nice appetizer for their upcoming album (planned to be released in May). This song seemingly blends influences from Linkin Park, Paramore, Lacuna Coil and even Skrillex and throws them into one immersive piece of music. The result is a possible hard rock charts hit, a song that would do perfectly well as a Wrestlemania tune, for example. So yes, it's worth to check this out. I'm already curious for the upcoming full-length and if you're into anything that smells like nu metal, you should too...

Electric Floor - Fader

synthpop / new wave
Vipchoyo Sound Factory 
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With elements from indie rock, new wave and synth pop, this trio politely invites you to the dancefloor, especially if you are a fan of Echo & The Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, The Cure, Human League and so on. These five tracks seem to come directly from the eighties but will just as well please fans of modern day indie rock. Opener 'Bluedive' and the gloomy 'Borderland' are my favorites on this five track but all the songs are worth your attention. So yes, for a nostalgia trip, this is definitely a highly recommended ep and to be frank, I'd rather go see these guys on stage than Depeche Mode.

Headless Horseman - 47009

techno / industrial
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Speaking about invitations to the dancefloor, this one is something for the discotheques and dance festivals around the globe. Headless Horseman delivered a four track ep, loaded with beats and eerie soundscapes. Yet, instead of the regular 4/4 beats, this act gives the whole thing an industrial touch, reminding me of acts like Imminent, Sonar, Morgenstern or Synapscape. The opener, 'Widow's Peak' is my favorite here, along with the Scorn-like dark dub track 'The Day She Vanished'. So yeppers, for a techno record, this is a bloody good one, one that will find the way to my playlists quite often from now on.

Lonely The Brave - Diamond Days

alternative rock
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British band Lonely The Brave delivered a nice four track ep, named 'Diamond Days'. On this ep, the band comes up with small rock anthems, seemingly influenced by alternative rock, indie and post rock. Opener and title track 'Diamond Days' is a possible fan favorite, an intelligent rock anthem that would fit perfectly well in today's alternative rock community. 'Two Heads' is a bit heavier and 'Collider' is another awesome anthem. The ep closes with a nice version of 'The Rat', originally recorded by The Walkmen. In all, this ep might not be earth shattering but it's definitely a nice addition to your collection.

Misto - Infinite Mirrors

post rock
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This debut ep by Italian one-man post rock act Misto has been released last year but it only reached us a short while ago. Usually, when that happens, the release ends up in the pile of albums-we-don't-have-time-for but this time I'd like to make an exception. Why? Well, this is a very nice six-track ep, containing some gentle post rock tunes. This certainly is one of those ep that would perfectly fit in your massive post-rock playlists, there where Explosions, Godspeed, Mogwai, Caspian and Astronaut also roam. So go ahead, download these tunes help me in hoping that Misto will form a band and tour soon...

Grave Plague - The Infected Crypts

death metal
Give Praise Records
Redefining Darkness Records
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On to the extremes then, courtesy of American death metal horde Grave Plague. Their sole goal is to resurrect the old school version of death metal and on this two-track ep they do exactly that. With a sound that reminds me of something between Dismember and At The Gates, this quintet blasts two ferocious slabs of vintage death metal through my speakers at a very high paste. The whole thing is quite short but powerful enough to demolish a small suburb. So if you're into grinding riffs, sick grunts and pulverising tempos, this one should have a spot in your collection. Period.

HaatE - Crystal : Farewell

dark ambient / black metal
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Italian black ambient act HaatE returns with a mesmerizing and hypnotic ep, one that has everything it needs to be a solid reference to this dark and mysterious genre. Although mostly rooted in dark ambient, there are elements from black metal and the whole post-black/rock scene. The end result is a sonic journey that never disappoints, never gets stale and continuously contains this cold, eerie and haunting atmosphere. I can only recommend this thing to all you dark souls out there. For people like you, this music is comforting and calm while it's dark and scary for others. Great work, a must-have.

Kolfskop - Cambozola Superster

experimental rock
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The weirdest ep in this edition of Brieviews comes from Belgian trio Kolfskop. These guys from Ghent once had an idea about how music should sound, threw that overboard and started experimenting, influenced by Zappa, Waits, Beefheart and Primus. Now, they come up with this strange ep, one that has the words "avant-garde" written all over it. Nonetheless, this thing comes highly recommended because it's something you just don't hear very often anymore. Oh, and it's all in Dutch, but don't let that stop you. After all, plenty of Belgians are musical geniuses as well as completely mad.

Eli van Pike - Herzschlag

gothic / industrial metal
Darksign Music
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A German-American cooperation, deeply rooted in the dark industrial metal scene, that has got to be interesting. And it is, certainly for fans of bands like ASP, Oomph, Wolfsheim and so on. This single contains the gothic rock song 'Herzschlag' and a bunch of EBM/industrial/future pop remixes. Personally, I would have preferred one or two other songs on this single, just to add a touch of variation, but nonetheless, this is an interesting example of today's gothic scene. So I guess the choice is yours, and I strongly suggest checking this single out. If you like it, why not get the whole album?

Fork / Göttemia - Indre Enfold

punk
Kraftpest
Fork
Göttemia 
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And we end this edition of Brieviews with two bands from the Norwegian punk underground, bands that have been playing live and touring for years and became quite good friends. Fork comes up with two energetic punk songs, nudging towards alternative and noise rock but still raunchy enough to please hardcore punks. Göttemia adds three aggressive punk tunes to the mix, perfectly capable of getting that mosh pit started. Both acts seem to do exactly what they want, which obviously is in perfect punk tradition. So, punk of all ages, check this out. You'll love it.
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Mahakala – The Second Fall 

15/3/2017

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heavy metal
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The Second Fall is an album by Greek heavy metal group MAHAKALA, released on March 13. With nine tracks – Army of the Flies, Redemption Denied, Purgatorium, Better to Reign in Hell (Than Serve in Heaven), Darkness in their Eyes, Wrath of Lucifer, Unholy Fight, Blessed Are the Dead and War Against Mankind – The Second Fall is quite an interesting album, not the typical heavy metal record, although following the traditional features of the genre in several aspects of its musical direction, where it becomes perceptive and incredibly predominant which are their driving forces and basic influences. Despite the fact that The Second Fall is not a fantastic or deeply innovative album, it has several qualities, and a force of its own. With cohesive guitar lines and a creative musical guideline of their own, this album proudly aggregates interesting components to the genre, with a spontaneity astoundingly masterminded at the center of a profoundly methodic style.

With authenticity and abrasiveness, MAHAKALA has careful and cautious melodies, more centered on constructive and well-balanced harmonies, than heaviness or aggression, although you are mistaken if you think their sound is soft. Not recommended for beginners, although there is a proficiently inserted tranquilizing component brilliantly installed in their music – whose versatility really outstands itself at the height of an amazing musical technicality – MAHAKALA is unforgiving on their wild side, but always maintaining their compromise with a well-shaped and coherently dilapidated rhythm, with a harmonizing detailed nature, that unravels a band very secure of their style, their capacities, their abilities, their goals, and what they can really achieve, with the perfect convergence of all the qualities they have at their disposition. 

With the discreet insertion of symphonic and power metal elements, MAHAKALA remembers a lot bands like Iced Earth. They are not just another generic act, despite honoring the tradition, especially with overwhelming and astronomic guitar solos, that seems to wander endlessly throughout the whole universe, going back and forth. With a lucid and very prominent sound, this interesting and astute Greek band proves with The Second Fall their relevance, although they really have to crystallize with more strength and sobriety the peculiarities of their own style, to avoid a generic marginalization of classification, that they barely avoid in some tracks. Nonetheless, I think that all enthusiasts of heavy metal will appreciate The Second Fall. Whether you are predisposed to admit this conclusion or not, this is a record that does a lot more for a true rescue and a genuine perception of heavy metal than most contemporary bands of the genre.           

So, despite the fact that this album cannot be categorized as a masterpiece, it stands as a serious, strong, decent, cohesive and interesting album. Different passages in different songs sound too similar, but I think that MAHAKALA is in the right direction, revolving, evolving and consistently developing a genre that really deserves not to die, since it has been for quite some time now relegated to a despicable limb of boredom and unoriginality. If there is a band that can really revive heavy metal, and elevate the principles of its true standards, you can be sure that this band is MAHAKALA. 


Wagner
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Dope Out - Scars & Stripes

14/3/2017

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hard rock / metal
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The French hard rock scene is quite amazing if you ask me. That country produces a lot of bands that seem loyal to the old school of the genre and just want to rock, regardless of genre restrictions and boundaries. Not that I mind, on the very contrary. Good old fashioned rock 'n roll is always welcome here. So when this album by Paris residents Dope Oüt reached me, I immediately opened a can of beer, got the barbeque ready and started rocking.

In ten songs, Dope Oüt clearly show what they stand for: rock 'n roll. The band, formed in 2013, comes up with a sound that somewhat reminds me of everything between Skid Row and Black Label Society. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, Motörhead, Black Stone Cherry  and Foo Fighters also come to mind when I listen to songs like 'Scars & Stripes', 'Dive' and 'Lady Misfits', to name a few.

The latter, 'Lady Misfits' show a bit more of the melodic and song writing abilities of this band, which is a welcome variation from the raw rock songs. Because yes, most of this album consists of grooves, riffs and licks that make you want to go out there and party with these guys. This is dirty rock 'n roll without having to be too complex or too radio friendly. I like that, and I know that there are plenty of people who agree.

I don't really have a favorite song on this album, although I have to say that 'Clan Of Bats' is an awesome piece of work and that 'Nose White' somewhat fuels my interest in nu-metal. I'm quite positive that most of these will end up in my day-to-day playlists, especially the one where I need uptempo rock 'n roll to guide me through those boring household tasks. I suggest you do the same, check this out and just party hard!


Serge
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Arkan - Kelem

11/3/2017

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melodic metal / death metal
Overpowered Records
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Sometimes it is as if the French live in a completely different universe than the rest of the world. Their music often follows different rules and restrictions than their American, English or even Belgian counterparts, which obviously makes French bands harder to categorize. Take this album by Arkan for example. It was delivered to me as a melodic death metal band. It's melodic, that is true. It also clearly belongs in the world of metal, but death metal? Don't you need growls and grunts for that? Is't death metal a genre that often goes fast?

Oh oh, that doesn't sound very good, does it?
Well, keep on reading.

Arkan was created in May 2005 by Foued Moukid (former member of The Old Dead Tree). His goal was to mix metal with oriental music. Their previous effort, 'Sofia'  was released by Season Of Mist and was quite well received. Yet, 'Kelem' takes on a different approach. Sarah Layssac has been replaced by Manuel Munoz (also from The Old Dead Tree) who, by the way, does a brilliant job. The death metal references have almost disappeared, making place for a modern melodic metal sound that focuses more on emotion than aggression.

When I listened to opener 'Kafir' for the first time, I was surprised. This gloomy and immersive mid-tempo song contains no grunts, no ferocious tempos, no shrieking solos. Yet, it thrives on this dynamic rhythm and massive riffs. Manuel's voice is excellent here. Somewhere rooted in extreme metal, this track is a prime example of modern day metal. 'Nour' eventually comes up with the grunts, and from there on the songs become more varied, ranging from a heavy version of Anathema to today's metalcore scene.

'The Call' is one of my favorites. It's somewhat faster, comes with plenty of energy and the Arabian elements make this such a great listening experience. It's probably also the most death-metal one on this record. 'Cub Of The Caliphate' is also an awesome track, graciously inviting you to a decent headbanging session. 'Just A Lie', is another possible fan-favorite, another mid tempo masterpiece of melodic metal that will make heads bang and hip shake.

I'll leave the other songs up to you, dear reader. I will definitely recommend this to today's metal fans. Perhaps not to the old school death metal fan because he might find this thing a bit too modern and melodic. Yet, those who love decently written metal from an excellent technical level will easily appreciate this. In all, 'Kelem' is a splendid album, varied, stubborn and immersive. What else could you want?


​Serge

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Aquila – He Gives

9/3/2017

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progressive metal
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He Gives is an album released on March 3, by German progressive metal project aquila. With eleven tracks – Ambition, Belonging, Confidence, Obedience, Impressions, Wisdom, Home, Priority, Guidance, Clarity and Rehabilitation – He Gives reveals itself to be an intelligent and very resourceful album, with unbreakable and creative guitar lines, brilliantly elaborated in a very progressive and experimental atmosphere. With more fragmented harmonies, and the general layer of an aggressive, but at the same time very subtle sonorous expansion, the sound on this album is generally very calm, and reverberating guitars give a primordial beauty to the graceful and rich nuances that seems to be the stronger elements of aquila’s music. 

Playing in a sophisticated and elaborated style with restless and irrational elements, He Gives features discreetly deathcore and death metal musical components, although the album vehemently sustains its predominantly melodic, experimental and smooth essence, giving precedence to a heavier emphasis on guitar, that displays a sensible, but paradoxically hostile nature all the way through.   

Sincerely, I think that He Gives suffers from too much technicality, and lacks spontaneity. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting album, far above the average score. I think personally, though, that this work appeals a lot more to guitar players than the general public. The musician behind the project certainly is strongly audacious, ambitious and creative, and demonstrates extremely well that he has developed brightly a very personal style. What becomes evident rapidly when you listen to this record is that aquila’s musical style is by no means generic, on the contrary. This album delivers to its audience a greater sense of wonderful and genuine originality, some tracks being far beyond captivating and exceptional. Aquila is an artistic force driven by a talented, enthusiastic and objective musician.  

If you are unfamiliar with aquila’s work, this is already a very good motive to listen to this album. Made primarily with very curious and intensely singular qualities, I really don’t have any faults to point about He Gives. It’s a remarkable album, that certainly can be qualified as a very gracious and creative artistic endeavor. 


Wagner
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Voodoo Terror Tribe - The Sun Shining Cold

8/3/2017

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Industrial / Alternative / Metal
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VTT… Vélo Tout Terrain? Not exactly. Voodoo Terror Tribe? Of course! Top shelve music brought by an alternative metal band that already has quite a repertoire. Showing up with bands such as W.A.S.P., Biohazard and more VTT added Il Nino to their list last year. After the ’15 years of revolution’ Anniversary Tour with this last band in 2016 VTT prepared themselves to unleash their newest work, produced by Christian Machado (Il Nino), on the world. 

Lead guitarist Emir Erkal explains in an interview (collegenews.com) that his Turkish and therefore some Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences unconsciously return in his work. This immediately becomes concrete in ‘Lady In The Wall’ and ‘Edge Of Within’. He also adds that their music progressed over the years making their third and newest album sound more modern and industrial with catchy melodies. An amusing fact: the song ‘No Hell Like Home’ was written backwards. Starting from the title the music was written and later on the lyrics were added. 

This 10-track album is one of my favorites so far this year. ‘City of Sixes’ was the first single released together with a very entertaining music video. I have often caught myself singing its chorus or whistling its tune without even listening to the album. I agree with Erkal when he says that the melodies are catchy. This is not only the fact for ‘City Of Sixes’ but also for songs like ‘Burn More Bridges’ and ‘No Hell Like Home’, which somehow reminds me of Blackstone Cherry. 

My personal feeling about their latest release is that it is a high-quality piece of metal magic. It is an album that varies in style. What does that mean? Well, VTT has a wide reach. The different tracks, in my opinion, cannot all be placed in the same basket. ‘Night Wolf’ and ‘Under The Knife’, songs that are a bit heavier, differ from, for example, ‘Die To The Din Of The Drums’, which is more Danko Jones-like. Does that mean that these mentioned titles do not have any resemblances? No, I will not go that far. VTT always succeeds in producing its own unique sound. 

Because I do not want to withhold any information from you, I have to add one final thing. There is also a cover on the album, a Rammstein one. Not many bands can pull off something like that. VTT gets away with it. Although ‘Pussy’ is not my favorite song, I enjoy the Voodoo Terror Tribe version. Honestly, I have to conclude that I would not have added that track to the album. Voodoo Terror Tribe is enough on its own. Erkal and his companions do not need to be a cover band. They deserve to be covered.  


Michiel
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Jagged Vision - Death Is This World 

6/3/2017

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sludge / stoner metal / hardcore
Fysisk Format
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A few days ago, I had a weird dream. It took place in ancient Egypt, but it was different. In my dreams, the Egyptians had discovered the power of sound. Instead of gigantic walls, they kept enemies at bay with massive speakers, blasting out a harsh, pounding noise. Whenever an enemy tribe would approach, the sheer power of the sound would just blew them back to where they came from. The bouldering noise was too much for their puny little bodies to bear. Heads exploded and the ones that got away had become deaf for the rest of their lives.

I don't think it's a coincidence that this dream appeared the night after I first listened to this album by Norwegian steamroller Jagged Vision. With their blend of stoner metal, thrash metal and hardcore, these guys easily blast through walls, and probably your sanity too. From opener 'Betrayal' to closer 'Palehorse', this album is an intense assault on your eardrums. That opener is one brutal mothersludger too if you ask me, drenched in thrash metal riffs and with the energy of a supernova.

The level of aggression is extreme, the riffs and pounding drums seem to come from everywhere while the harsh, brutal vocals bash you down. 'I Am Death' even takes things a little further, borrowing elements from the black metal scene. Perhaps that is why that song is my favorite one on this album. 'Feeble Souls' is another mindboggling piece of work, something between Kylesa, Mastodon and even Arch Enemy.

I know, this is not death metal, but believe me, young death metal fans might piss their pants in sheer distress when they listen to this album. It's aggressive and brutal enough to compete with that scene. Others will quickly start banging their heads to powerhouses like 'Seven Seals' and 'Forlorn'. I can easily see this music cause moshpits, stage divers and crowdsurfers everywhere. So yes, if you like beat-down music, this surely is your thing.


​Serge
  
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Brieviews 21

4/3/2017

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Ibyss - Hate Speech

industrial metal
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When several media refuse a release because it's 'too provocative and problematic', Merchants Of Air puts it on top of a new edition of Brieviews.That's exactly what happened with this conscience-kicker from German industrial horde Ibyss. Inspired by Godflesh, Nailbomb, Ministry and Treponem Pal, these guys blast out an intense and heavy heap of distorted guitars, pounding drums and brutal vocals. So to hell with mainstream media, this shit is the shit. I mean, this isn't even a political ep, but one that simply wants to tell you to use your common sense and not be an asshole. Besides, it rocks!!!

Primal Age - A Silent Wound

metal / hardcore
Deadlight Entertainment
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Some more kicks in the brain come from French vegan aggressors Primal Age. This ep is rooted deeply in the hardcore and metalcore scene, which obviously results in fierce riffs, tormented vocals and a wide array of murderous tempo changes. Fans of everything between Kickback, Hatebreed and Arkangel will easily adopt this killer into their collection. Fans of Slayer should check out the last song, which is a tribute to Jeff Hanneman in the form of a medley with his best riffs. So yes, this is a short but firm assault on the muscles in your neck, but by now you should already be used to that...

Angus Black - Live From The Cellar

stoner rock / psychedelic
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The band name looks like a tribute to both AC/DC and Black Sabbath, something which might get old hard rock fans immediately interested. So good choice there, but how is the music? Well, not that much AC/DC but an excellent dose of sabbathesque and fuzzed out psychedelic rock. This ep by Finnish fuzzers Angus Black was recorded live in their rehearsal cellar and it's exactly what you can expect from these guys on stage. If Type O Negative would have made stoner rock, Angus Black would have a problem, but now, these guys are just another great psychedelic rock and doom band you want to see on a stage near you very soon. I do.

Flicker Rate - Reframe 

post rock / math rock / progressive rock
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The second ep by English one-man act Flicker Rate is pure ear candy. With progressive guitar lines, a solid post-rock build-up and epic passages, this act certainly delivered something highly immersive and entertaining. In four tracks, this kid show both high class technical skills and a decent flair for atmospheric and instrumental storytelling. And yes, "kid", because the person behind this project is only seventeen years old. I wish more seventeen year olds would do something like this instead of hunting for Pokemons. Then again, not every teenager is a talented musician. Spencer Bassett surely is and I highly recommend checking this ep out.

Quick & Dirty - Falling Down​

alternative rock / hard rock
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Hurray, boobies. That's one reason to buy the ep. I mean, the fact that the ep contains a bunch of heavy rocking blues songs that will make you shake your ass like there is no tomorrow, is a good plus. The obvious influences from everything between Led Zeppelin and Foo Fighters will fill your evenings with joy, which is also a massive advantage. I mean, heavy blues with the energy of alternative rock is a must-have on all those summer festivals in need of a good kick-ass rock 'n roll band that will automatically increase the alcohol consumption, also a plus. But you know you will mainly buy this ep for the boobies...

Analogue Wave - Hope

electronic / trip hop
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Irish duo Analogue Wave are knocking on the doors of Depeche Mode and Massive Attack fans, hoping to find interested ears for their immersive electronic music. 'Hope' is a great song, eclectic, energetic and danceable. I hear influences from Amon Tobin and Gus Gus, which are always a plus in this household. The ep also contains a heavy remix by experimental psych/kraut collective Tuath for the same song and one by Ummagma for the song 'Mezkal'. The latter is a classic synth pop tune that will easily get Depeche Mode fans shaking their behinds. Nice single, certainly recommended.

Mahùt - Your Violin Is Still Playing

post rock / electronic
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Post-rock for Boards Of Canada fans, that's pretty much what Italian duo Mahùt delivers. Their new ep is loaded with gentle instrumentals, rooted in the post rock scene but also carrying a wide array of electronics. The six songs are well-varied, not too long and listener friendly. Picking a favorite one isn't easy but I will have to go with the gloomy and beautiful 'The Last Time We Spoke', probably because I can't resist violins and deep bass lines. So obviously, I will recommend this one to all post rock fans out there, just like I would to all fans of downtempo electronics. This one is a must-have.

Rückwater - Bonehead

stoner rock
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Right, time to dive back into the thick cesspool of the psychedelic stoner rock scene. With two equally rough and intense vocalists and a kickass sound, these Fins blast like there is no tomorrow. This six-track ep is a strong, dirty and heavy gem, a certain recommendation for fans of Truckfighters, Black Rainbows, 1000Mods and everything in between.  The blues-ballad 'Labyrinth' is a masterpiece, one that should have been written and recorded forty years ago. So yes, if you are a stoner (rock fan), you have to check out this ep. It will immediately raise the temperature in your room to desert-levels. 

Absinthe From Society - The Angels Ignored Us

metal
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Canadian metal trio Absinthe From Society comes up with a raw and heavy four-track ep. The band, influenced by everything between Jimi Hendrix and System Of A Down does not want to be innovative. Instead, they want to rock and in that, they are pretty good. Although I'm not a fan of the song 'Hellbound', 'A Man Possessed' is a great track, groovy, heavy and pounding. 'Never' feels like an eighties new wave tune, which is surprising but also welcome. 'Worth It' is an interesting rock ballad. That being said, yes, this is damn varied. I think a lot of rockers will appreciate this. It's nothing new but good enough to be entertained, which is all we need...

Ancst - Furnace

hardcore / black metal
Vendetta Records
Yehonala Tapes
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A dark, impending intro, followed by one of the most brutal sonic assaults in the history of music, thriving on hardcore and drenched in a blackened atmosphere, that's what you get when you purchase this murderous piece of music. German blackened crust horde Ancst delivered a relentless ep, one that is out for nothing less than utter destruction. Of course, this stuff is not suited for untrained ears and for people who like to maintain their sanity. But fans of extreme metal will gladfully bask in the pitch black darkness delivered by these masterminds. I mean, I'm not a fan of crust and hardcore but this album is bloody awesome.

Vorzug - Three

death metal
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Strange, after listening to the previous ep in this list of Brieviews, this one by American death metal combo Vorzug doesn't sound as heavy and intense as I expected. Nonetheless, opener 'The Ever Living' is a brilliant piece of old school death metal. There is plenty of aggression and intensity but also room for melody and decent songwriting. 'Under A Dying Sun' is my favorite here, a solid headbanger which no death metal fan can resist. I'll leave the closer up to you, but I promise you, it's worthy of a spot in your death metal playlist. I mean, look at me, loving death metal again...

Sangre de Muerdago - Os Segredos da Raposa Vermella

dark folk / neofolk
Neuropa
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Time for something completely different. The band calls it "forest folk" and I would like to add "old continent music". Sangre De Muerdago come up with an ancient folk sound, something that will easily appeal fans of In Gowan Ring, Arnica or Wardruna but also by fans of Mike Oldfield. With traditional instruments and dynamic percussion, this music is a solid soundtrack for solstice ritual in the middle of a forest. Of course, you're absolutely free to enjoy this in the comfort of your living room or bedroom as well, and I suggest you try that. It's a great listening experience, I promise.

Serge
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The Ralph – Enter Escape

28/2/2017

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alternative metal
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Enter Escape is an album by Croatian alternative metal group The Ralph, released on February 20. Forty minutes long, the album has ten tracks: End of Everything, Next In Line, Enter Escape, Means End, Detached, Delimiter, Years Away, Reflux, Untouchable and D.I.G. A very powerful, energizing, strong and exceedingly furious album, Enter Escape really inserts interesting components into the genre. With the digression of pop and alternative rock elements infused into their sound, The Ralph has created a very intriguing and promising album, a little reminiscent of acts such as Seether, Shinedown, Nickelback, Creed and Three Days Grace. But don’t get me wrong: they are much, much, much better than those references. With an exponential sound that has a superb, vigorous, free-flowing, fluid and spontaneous synergy, The Ralph easily manages to be superior than all these other bands combined. 

A furious, splendid and very aggressive album, the musical spontaneity of their sound is surprising, They lack the mechanical and mathematical despondency of similar acts, whose aggressiveness sounds forced and artificial. With primitive, but expressively melodic pulses, their music proposes a true and formidable revival on a genre that has been dying for a long time now. Although at first they do not sound innovative, they do insert so many original and authentic components to their music, that their style immediately exposes itself by its unique scope and singularity. With an expressive vitality that shines with a brutal, but marvelous intensity, Enter Escape, song by song, reveals itself as a wonderful album, that has on the verge of a splendidly solicit flame of originality a marvelous ordeal of musical lucidity, artistic ambition and expressive sagacity. One of the best albums of the genre that I have heard, Enter Escape is filled by elements of other genres, that largely contributes to expand the brilliance of The Ralph’s musical style. 

For enthusiasts of alternative metal, Enter Escape is not just a tremendous record, but a gracious and overwhelming personal victory. An album that has everything to outstand each and every possible milestone of the genre, there is not a single moment, a single passage or a single track that could be labeled as bad, mediocre or lazy. This is a very energetic, surprising, elemental, formidable and intense album, that certainly will satisfy at large all the expectations demanded on the scene by the devotees of the genre. I don’t have the slightest doubt about that. 

With that crude vibe that easily combines with the ongoing lone stranger on the ride, but without losing the youngster appeal, Enter Escape carries on the dimension of its artistic capacities everything you can imagine: free and reverberating guitar lines, intense harmonies, exceedingly major impulsive beats and very unforgiving lacerating rhythms. An impeccable album, full of gold and sensational artistic elements, The Ralph really has proved for once and for all why they are astoundingly relevant on the scene.     

   

Wagner
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Altar of Betelgeuze - Among the Ruins

23/2/2017

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stoner / doom / death metal
Transcending Obscurity
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I have to admit, the death metal scene doesn't thrill me as much as it used to. There was a time when I devoured albums by Entombed, Dismember, Death, Amorphis and so on. Yet, in recent years, the genre seems to slip through my fingers. At first, I thought that that was age related. I'm just getting older and thus more interested in slow, calmer music. Yet, that doesn't seem to be the cause of my growing disinterest in the genre. The main problem seems to be a lack of originality. Many bands seem to fear trying new things, which results in uniformity. 

Enter Finnish quartet Altar Of Betelgeuze and their green smoke filled approach to the genre. Their new album 'Among The Ruins' is saving the genre for me, blending the harsh and abrasive nature of death metal with the monolithic riff capacity of doom and stoner rock. As if that is not varied enough, they throw in some clean vocals and even some psychedelic guitar solos. It's not often that bands like Black Sabbath & Electric Wizard come to mind while listening to a death metal album, but it sure is pretty damn bloody awesome.

Although opener 'The Offering' is a strong and immersive piece of music, follower 'Sledge Of Stones' is an absolute masterpiece. Somehow, Altar Of Betelgeuze managed to add the groove of bands like Entombed and Dismember to the thick sound of the bands I mentioned in the previous paragraph. At some point even Queens Of The Stone Age come to mind, along with some of their stoner rock colleagues. 'New Dawn' is another favorite, but more a vintage doom metal track than a death metal tune.

Another absolute highlight its 'Absence Of Light', a slow but brutal steamroller of a song, one that will have you on your knees in no time. There is a tiny bit Amorphis in here, enhanced with all of the above. Obviously, the majority of metal fans will classify this album as doom metal and I can't disagree with that. The overall tempo is quite slow. The riffs are almost touchable. The clean vocals remind me of the early days of the doom genre.

Basically, perhaps you can simplify classification by saying that this is "Conan with grunts" but that would be too easy. Fact remains that this is a well-written, well-thought-out and original album that definitely deserves a spot in your collection. So who to recommend it to? Well, doom fans of course. They will adore this thing, no doubt about that. Death metal fans will have to open their mind a bit, but once bitten, Altar Of Betelgeuze could easily become your favorites.


Serge
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Mercury Rain – St Matthieu – Remastered & Reborn

13/2/2017

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power metal / gothic metal
Bristol Archive Records
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St Matthieu – Remastered & Reborn, is an album by power metal group Mercury Rain, to be released by Bristol Archive Records, on April 7th. With fourteen tracks –Tales From Beyond, Sanctuary, The Messenger, Shadow’s Scent, Chimaera, Sortileges, Eldritch Mirror, Heaven in Sunset, St. Matthieu, The City of Ys, Bride of The Dark, The Boat of The Dead, Incubus and Amber Reflections – what we have here is a very lucid, vigorous and original power metal album, that really works splendidly well, departing from the genuine components of the genre, aligning the strength of melodic elements into a convergence of solid harmonies, that really knows how to interact between the creative intensity of poetic rhythms, and the spiritual alliance of a dense and cohesive musical versatility. 

With an original style, Mercury Rain has clear and profound melodies, that works from the ascendant fluidity of its genuine emotions, towards a pattern that reconcile the heavy passages of the songs with the more poetic and ethereal sonorous enchantments of their art. Impressively dynamic, in any moment you get bored throughout the album. With dense, but free-flowing rhythms, that sometimes evokes the fascination of distant crystal kingdoms lost somewhere in time, St Matthieu – Remastered & Reborn, is a major power metal work, that certainly will get by the heart each and every enthusiast of the genre. A phenomenal masterpiece – if analyzed inside the borders and frontiers of the genre – this album is a colossal work, being amazingly strong and lucid on the technical part as well. With a conscious sonorous outlook, and a verve for a marvelous, but easy minded proficiency, Mercury Rain definitely has to be regarded as an avatar of the genre.

With beautiful female vocals, the intense, ethereal and epic poetry that emanates from their magnificent sonorous artistry goes beyond any epicenter from the halls of imagination. Distant realms frozen in perpetual winter, epical battles that never end and the victorious coronation of kings, rapidly come to mind as you listen to this album. Perfectly aligning its musical sensibilities with the convergence of the epic imagery common to the genre, St Matthieu – Remastered & Reborn, is a powerful album, with no faults whatsoever – whether this would be major or minor – to be pointed out.

Although I do not feel inclined to evaluate the album as perfect, I admit it gets very close. With a greatness of its own, and an astounding creativity that resonates towards a marvelous sense of originality, Mercury Rain, on this album, really have outstood it’s principles as a band, and especially, in the impeccable work done in the improvement of their art. In a close interaction between shorter and objective songs and longer ones, abundant on beautiful melodies, vigorous harmonies and resonating glorious vocals, an authentic approach concerning how creativity can be worked out on the genre, and a major attention on the quality of technical devices, gives credit to St Matthieu – Remastered & Reborn, as a record, to fully deserve a spectacularly giant celebration. Certainly, this is what each and every enthusiast of power metal will think, soon after the album is released.    



Wagner
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Brieviews 20

8/2/2017

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Aidan Baker & Karen Willems - Landlos

drone / ambient / jazz / krautrock
Midira Records 
Aidan Baker
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Another cooperation between Aidan Baker and a drummer, this time Karen Willems from Belgian experimental band Inwolves. Together, the duo recorded two tracks which both showcase the drone ambient we all know Aidan Baker for, but also take on elements from krautrock and jazz. Of course, neither of both musicians go for a conventional way of playing their instruments and in this case, that leads to a strange, mildly psychedelic trip. The overall tone is rather calm and soothing. Of course, this comes highly recommended for all drone ambient fans. You simply can't go wrong with Baker & Willems.

Derby Derby - Love Dance

drone / krautrock / experimental
Ormo Records
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This debut album by French improv-experimentalists Derby Derby is quite an interesting one. Split into two parts, this thirty minutes lasting blend of krautrock and drone reeks of jazz, without losing itself in the chaotic approach of free jazz. Part one, 'Love' reminds me of Caudal, but with trumpets instead of guitars. It's slow, repetitive and immersive, and perfectly suited for all fans of Aidan Baker and company. The other track, 'Dance', is wild, energetic and psychedelic. Both are absolute recommendations for those who love to wander in elaborate musical landscapes, that is a fact. 

Noemie Nours - Songs From The Life Of Bears

singer-songwriter
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These are four of the saddest, most fragile songs you'll ever hear, seemingly recorded somewhere in a bedroom. There is nothing complex or overproduced about this ep, on the very contrary. This is an introvert singer and her instrument, completely locked into herself, into the subdued correlation between the two. The result is an exceptionally minimal singer-songwriter ep that breathes the spirit of folk activism and protest.  Amplified and extended with other instruments, these tunes could become immersive shoegaze songs and I kinda want to hear that happen, but for now, this surely is something to listen to while shedding some tears...

Fen / Sleepwalker - Stone And Sea / Call Of Ashes II

doom / dark ambient
Ksenza records
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A dark and haunting split between Russian one-man act Sleepwalker and UK's progressive black metal act Fen. Sleepwalker opens the split with three amazing pieces of music, ranging from shoegaze to post-rock and doom to dark ambient. Opener 'Somnambulistic Trance' alone is worth the effort of buying the album, an immersive piece of work, like The Cure meets A Swarm Of The Sun. Then there are three Fen tracks, two epic progressive black metal pieces and one calm, acoustic track. Obviously, all six tracks are worthy of a spot in your collection. This simply is an awesome split album, period.

Assent - We Are The New Black

metal / metalcore
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Aah, the French, such a bunch of stubborn experimentalists. Once again a French act comes up with something that defies all classification. This project, created in 2015 by Aurélien Fouet-Barak (vocals, bass, drums programming) blends a bunch of metal genres, including groove metal, black metal, metalcore, progressive and heavy metal, into a whirlpool of heavy, violent, technical and blasting music. With all these different elements, obviously this is a well-varied album. Yet, in all honesty, I do have to say that only trained metal ears will be able appreciate this. For other people, this is just too weird and exhausting, not for me though...

Raptor King - Dinocalypse

thrash metal / hardcore
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We're not done with the weirdness of the French yet, and apparently that also counts for the level of variation and the number of different genres. Here, thrash metal goes fist in fist with hardcore, black metal, stoner doom, heavy metal and whatnot. The result is an ep that rips on your eardrums and stomps your stomach. My personal favorite is the blackened 'Fight 'n Roll', but I would recommend the entire thing because of two good reasons. One, it fucking rocks, and two, the front man is a dinosaur who survived the meteor impact and the following extinction 74 million years ago. I know, it sounds weird but in France, everything is possible...

Nula - Kenoma 

doom / sludge
Black Bow Records
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Hailing from Serbia, Nula comes with a different and refreshing approach to doom and sludge metal. not only are the vocals in Serbian, which is already pretty unique I think, but Nula also brings a sense of melody to their rough and intense sound. Furthermore, it seems like black metal has been one of Nula's influences, along of course with several sludge doom bands. 'Silazak U Prah' is my personal favorite but I'm quite positive that all three songs on this album will eventually end up in my heavy playlist. I suggest you do the same, check out this album, let these Serbians surprise, shock and awe you. You know damn well you want to...

Adrian Pain & The Dead Sexy - Mixed Messages

metal / metalcore 
All-Core
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Canada delivers another slab of musical aggression with metal hybrids Adrian Pain & The Dead Sexy. Here, we have something between metalcore, death and progressive metal, as if Alexisonfire or Funeral For A Friend combined forces with Deftones, Ill Nino or Incubus. In a way, this ep can be seen as a gateway, something to lure younger rock fans into the massive world of metal and core. Honestly, this isn't really my cup of tea, as I'm not a big -core fan, but I have to admit that there are some awesome tunes to be found and that 'Say It Like You Mean It' is a world class song. So, youngers, meet your new favorite...

Soothsayer - At This Great Depth

doom / sludge / black metal
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Hell yeah, a huge dreamy post-rock/doom passage, followed by nutsack ripping black metal and sheer brutality. Normally, those sudden outbursts of aggression cause me to go 'meh' but in this case, I'm definitely sold. These Irish doomers have released a stunning ep, with two long tracks, heaps of variation and some psychedelic passages. This is sludge metal at its best, intense as fuck and immersive as hell. And then the second song still has to start. Doomers, doubt no longer, this will provide you with multiple eargasms, or it will make you go absolutely insane, which is just as good...

Illimitable Dolor - Illimitable Dolor

doom
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From Australia comes arguably one of the most beautiful doom metal albums of the year. This album is a tribute to Gregg Williamson, a deceased band member, and perhaps one of the most emotional tributes I've ever heard. The album contains for deep and sorrowful doom anthems, somewhere between the funeral doom of Evoken and the doom death of bands like November's Doom. If you are nostalgic for those glorious nineties and its awe-inspiring bands, you definitely need this gem in your collection, right next to My Dying Bride, Saturnus, Officium Triste & Shape of Despair. Get it now, you will not be disappointed, I promise...

Radien - Maa

sludge / doom
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Oh damn, this is a massive doom monster with fierce claws, perfectly prepared and willing to rip you shreds. Finnish sludge doom horde Radien comes up with a very nasty and gritty version of the genre, seemingly also inspired by the punk scene. The two tracks on this ep are horrifying pieces of music, and that is actually a compliment. Throughout the two songs, I've been thinking about Winter, Skullflower, Dopethrone and the complete uselessness of our existence. Besides, usually, I'm not so high on sludge metal vocals, but this one is awesome. These guys are on their way to become one of my favorites in a precarious scene...
Serge
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Brieviews 19

26/1/2017

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Alex Cordo - Origami

progressive metal
Amazon
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This one is a guitarist's dream, the musical equivalent of a karate student looking at his sensei. Alex Cordo is a classically trained guitar player who brings his skills into the world of progressive rock and metal. The songs on this album are instrumental metal anthems, narrated by technically perfect guitar play. Fans of flashing guitars, heavy rocking music and technical skills will probably adore the hell out of this album. If you're into Vai, Malmsteen or Satriani, you will undoubtedly appreciate this compositions and you'll definitely find a spot in your already massive collection to add this. So go ahead, check it out and enjoy the awesome landscapes of Alex Cordo...

December Hung Himself - Perseidi

dark ambient
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Speaking about landscapes, this Italian duo surely knows a thing or two about atmospheric and cinematic music. Formed by the guitarists from Thank U For Smoking, Drought & Charun, December Hung Himself take their post-rock and black metal experiences into the world of dark ambient and drones.The result is a must-have for fans of Atrium Carceri, Inade, Kammarheit and so on. If you're into minimal dark ambient, there's no doubt that this album deserves a spot in your collection. Here and there you can find a hint of melody, guitars and gloomy electronics. To conclude I have to say, the trippy closer '​Beta Persei' is pure genius

Last Builders of Empire - Hades

post rock
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American quartet Last Builders Of Empire also seem to know their way around post-rock and with this ep they show exactly how versatile this genre can be. Opener 'Descent of Perithous' is a classic post rock anthem, something between This Will Destroy You, Mono and Wang Wen. 'Clinostat' reminds me of the heavy and drone-infused regions of the scene, with bands like A Swarm Of The Sun. 'State Of Grace' brims with symphonic arrangements and then there are two more awesome tunes to be discovered. You guessed it, this ep definitely is worth the effort, and an excellent sonic journey into the Ancient Greek underworld.

Tuath - Things I Don't Know

shoegaze / psychedelic
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Irish noisemakers Tuath come up with a dark and gritty four-track ep, breathing a vintage shoegaze atmosphere but also incorporating elements from ambient, noise rock and even a hint of sludge doom. The title track is a strange episode with soundscapes and a long vocal sample, but definitely one I can often listen to. The other tracks rock quite heavy, here and there even getting a psychedelic and occult edge, like The Jesus And Mary Chain meets Hawkwind perhaps. If you know Tuath, you know that these guys aren't easy to categorize but that's exactly their strength. So, my advice, check it out, you'll be surprised.

Cyclocosmia - Immure

symphonic doom
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Progressive, symphonic, female fronted doom from London, created by producer James Scott, vocalist Aliki Katriou and guest musicians from all over the world. The result is an interesting album, blending the symphonic approach of gothic metal with the heavy riffing of vintage death doom and progressive technicality. So don't expect Nightwish or After Forever but expect a blend between Draconian, Ayreon, Dream Theatre and more modern metal acts. Even though it's not easy to correctly categorize this ep, I would certainly recommend adding it to your collection of unique and stubborn metal releases. I does deserve a spot there.

Hummingbird Of Death / Beartrap - Split

grindcore
Here And Now Records
Give Praise Records
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Grindcore, grindcore, grindcore, guttural, grindcore, short, attack, grindcore, punk, thrash, grindcore, growl, scream, grindcore.

I think that's pretty much all a grindcore fan needs to know about this fierce split between Hummingbird Of Death & Beartrap. It's a single, containing a bunch of extremely short and extremely aggressive hardcore punk influenced pieces of grindcore.

Oh, did I already mention grindcore?

​Grindcore 

Feller Buncher - 203040

alternative / metal
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A feller buncher is a type of harvester used in logging, something I jokingly called an "industrial treehugger". That aside, Feller Buncher is also a metal band from Paris. they have just released this heavy ep, highly influenced by sludge metal and the ever awesome power of the riff. Yet, the music reminds me more of bands like Danzig and Channel Zero, which I guess isn't that bad to be compared with. Although the tempo isn't always fierce, there is plenty of energy coming from these five tracks. Metal Fans should doubt no longer and start banging their heads to this massive machine...

Desiderii Marginis - Songs Over Ruins

dark ambient
Cyclic Law
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When this email came in, I was pleasantly surprised, but mostly because I thought it was a brand new Desiderii Marginis album. However, this is a reissue but nonetheless an interesting one. Back in 1997 and released by Cold Meat Industry, 'Songs Over Ruins' became a landmark dark ambient album, one that influences acts and labels all over the world. Now, the good people at Cyclic Law decided to reissue this masterpiece so more fans can get their hands on a copy of this. All I can add, is "go ahead and buy this thing", this is the stuff that gave birth to an entire scene...

Pintandwefall - Red and Blue Baby 

indie rock / pop rock
Svart Records
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On the somewhat joyful side of the musical universe we find this pop rocking girl band and their damn catchy tunes. With elements from indie rock, grunge and punk, Pintandwefall present a lo-fi version of acts like The Breeders or Throwing Muses. Opener 'Come To Rest' is my absolute favorite on this album, a song that easily gets stuck in your head. 'Seasimularo' is another fav, somehow bringing the sixties back. In all, this simply is a very enjoyable album that undoubtedly goes right into my day-to-day playlist. I'm sure I'll be smiling every single time one of these songs roll through my speakers.

Ric Gordon - Just Can't Get Enough

punk rock
Russian Winter Records
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While moving, punk rocker Ric Gordon discovered a box with fifty copies of his 1979 debut ep. So he decided to reissue them and make them available on CD and digital formats as well. In that case, I guess this is officially the oldest release ever to be reviewed on Merchants Of Air. Do I recommend it? Obviously I do, this is old fashioned rock 'n roll that is actually old enough to be old fashioned. There is a sense of timelessness in these songs. If you like acts like Ramones, Misfits and Status Quo, I suggest you check this thing out. Vintage just got a lot vintager... 

Gentle Savage - Introduction

rock / blues
website
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"Let the good times roll", they sing in opener 'Bring Back Rock`n`Roll' and I can't help but agree. Let me introduce Finnish blues rockers Gentle Savage and their first tribute to rock 'n roll. In three songs, one catchy, one rather psychedelic and one pretty damn southern, these guys delivered an awesome debut, something for fans of everything between Hendrix, CCR and Black Crowes. Obviously, this gem calls for a full-length in the near future, followed by a tour. So, I guess it's clear, Gentle Savage are here to bring the soul back to rock 'n roll and judging from this ep, they're doing the right thing...

Funeral Mourning - Descent MMXV

funeral doom / black metal
Nihilistische KlangKunst (cd)
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Right, enough joy and happiness. Time to drag our depressed souls through endless floods of despair and misery, courtesy of Australian act Funeral Mourning. That might sound as a little joke, but I'm damn serious about this album. This is an atmospheric funeral doom blast, one which easily fits the gaps between your Esoteric, Evoken and Shape Of Despair albums. In two lengthy tracks, this act definitely convinces. If you want the assaults on your sanity to be slow, intense and punishing, you need this album. Hell, it's stuff like this that made me become obsessed with this whole genre to begin with...

Adam Probert - The Battle For Tomorrow

noise / drone / spoken word
Sonic Entrails
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Noise music and activism often go hand in hand, and that is exactly the case with this album by spoken word punk poet and dignity in care campaigner Adam Probert. The music here can be compared to acts like Con-Dom, Atrax Morgue, Brighter Death Now and Propergol, although Probert's tracks are not as harsh and punishing as the others. Yet, the whole remains in the drones and minimal noise regions and contains a heap of spoken words and samples. My suggestion, download the album, play it loud, listen to the words and think about them, even if you're not into noise, just listen and think!!!

Steelballs - Steelballs

heavy metal
Witches Brew
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We've been travelling through time a lot in this edition of Brieviews. Right now, we're in the eighties, where bands like Helloween, Manowar and Grave Digger were the heroes of metal. Formed in 2013, Steelballs is a band from Argentina who honor that era of heavy metal. So how do they do it? Not bad, my friend, not bad at all. Raging heavy metal, flashing solos, high pitched vocals... it's all here and it comes to you like a freight train. The ep contains four fine tunes which will easily remind you of the bands I previously mentioned. To some it might sound outdated but to others this is timeless metal, period.

Teleport - Ascendance 

death metal / black metal
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A band that answers the question "bands we like" with "insane ones" immediately demands respect. With that alone, this Slovenian band gained my interest, but also with the term "cosmic metal". Apparently, that means, "a complex and progressive blend of black and death metal which aims to pulverise your very soul into a massive black hole of musical extremism". So yes, blast this thing through your speakers and prepare to bang your head into an endless vacuum. Fans of extreme metal can easily trust this ep to bash them into a bloody pulp because take it from me, these guys can play.

Serge
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Emptiness - Not For Music

26/1/2017

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doom / industrial
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The first month is not over yet and one thing is already starting to become clear. 2017 will color black, yellow and red (mostly black). There is no denying that Belgian bands are about to dominate the musical landscape and, as a result, plenty of end-year lists in December. Bathsheba and Wiegedood already set the standard in their respective genres and now Emptiness is aiming for the absolute top in whatever genre it is they play these days.

That being said, I have no idea how to correctly describe the music on this stunning full-length. The follow up to their 2014 album 'Nothing But The Whole' simply shatters every genre restriction you can think of, eventually resulting in something between Anathema, Godflesh and Massive Attack. I know, those are miles away from each other, but somehow Emptiness managed to throw these and other influences into something that actually deserves the term "unique".

It opens with the awesome track 'Meat Heart', a dark metal tune with plenty of keyboards and soundscapes but still damn catchy and immersive. I really dig the vocals here, along of course with the pitch black atmosphere. The vocals seem to come directly from a haunting horror movie, which adds a lot to whole concept. 'It Might Be' follows a similar path, but on the same time adds some elements from the whole post-black metal scene.

With the addition of Ashtoreth's Peter to the line-up, Emptiness brought in someone who know his way around drones, noise and soundscapes, something you can clearly hear on this album. 'You Skin Won't Hide You' perfectly illustrates that. This is one of my favorite tracks here, somewhat reminding me of Nadja covering The Cure and using these awesome dark grunts over it. Yep, apart from everything I already mentioned, this album also breathes shoegaze-galore.

So yes, in a way this album contains plenty of variation but at the same time it showcases a coherent and conceptual sound. Even the dark jazz influenced post-doom track 'Digging In The Sky' fits perfectly in this concept, even though this song issues an atmosphere of increscent madness rather than the pitch black darkness in the other tracks. And if all that is not enough, 'Ever' comes up with synthpop meets gothic death metal and still sounds convincing.

After listening to the album a few times, the phrase "I hope this is Emptiness' 'Wildhoney'" appeared in my head. With that, I was thinking about the conceptual feel, the lower tempo and the domination of atmosphere over aggression but also about simply breaking through. With this album, Emptiness added an absolute blast and certainly a landmark in their career. Obviously, this comes highly recommended for every fan of dark metal or "angst rock".


​Serge
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Brieviews 18

14/1/2017

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Hurray, the first edition of Brieviews of 2017 is here and once again it's a damn varied one. From shoegaze to grindcore and from techno to djent, it's all in here. I'm sure that there is something you like in here. Enjoy...
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Blushing - Tether

shoegaze / dreampop
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Two husbands and wives making music together, that's always a better idea than go on a joint bicycle trip while wearing similar fluorescent bike-wear, not? Well, it certainly proved to be an excellent time spending idea for these four Americans, making blissful dreampop and shoegaze. In these four tracks, they easily please fans of Slowdive and Cocteau Twins while also coming with with some gritty grunge sounds. Opener 'Tether' is a damn catchy tune, one that might easily get stuck in your head. The other songs are perfect shoegazing tunes, once again highlighting in 'Mess'. This truly is a recommended ep.

88 Mile Trip - Blame Canada

stoner rock
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Another neat idea comes from Canadian stoner rockers 88 Mile Trip. During a beer drinking and record spinning session, they discovered some awesome songs from their home country and decided to cover the ones they like the most. That results in groovy stoner rock versions of songs by Bachman Turner Overdrive, Red Rider, Doug and The Slugs, Neil Young and Stampeders. Yet, the band manages not only to cover the songs but to make them their own, eventually resulting in a surprisingly coherent sounding ep. Although, as good as the ep is, I can't help but continuously singing South Park's 'Blame Canada'. Perhaps a cover idea for the future? 

The Empire Line - Syndicat de la Couture

electronic / ambient
Avian
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Scandinavian multi-disciplinary artists Jonas Rönnberg & Christian Stadsgaard come up with some haunting electronic ambient like only experienced techno producers can do. Opening with the creepy 'Fragrance Arpege', this ep is as atmospheric as it is varied. 'Cafe Anglais' drives on electronic percussion and unidentified noises while 'Jewelry Armoire' is post-apocalyptic soundtrack material with eerie soundscapes. Closer 'Syndicat de la Couture' eventually brings out the analog beats and techno influences, but in a good way, a trancy and somewhat hypnotic way. Nice little gem, certainly recommended.

Movement Of Static - Novelty Seekers

post rock
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We also have something nice for fans of post rock, namely the Greek band Movement Of Static who have released their quite promising debut ep. Although, ep, the whole thing last over half an hour, which gives us plenty of time to get acquainted with these beautiful tunes. In four songs, Movement Of Static provides the listener with an excellent blend of post rock and ambient with some heavier passages and loads of atmosphere. Opener 'Telomeres' is a brilliant piece of work, dark, creepy and immersive, like Godspeed meets Deftones.  If you like well-varied post rock music, you just can't go wrong with this ep.

Cowards - Still

black metal / hardcore
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Somewhere in the extreme spectrum of the musical universe, we find French horde Cowards and their brand new ep 'Still'. With a blend of black metal, hardcore and sludge, this act plans a vicious assault on your sanity. The music is gritty, noisy and more in-your-face than you can imagine. Pulverising riffs, blasting drums and a vocalist who seemingly feels like he doesn't need his lungs, this thing is out for nothing less than utter destruction. However, they do have a sense of humor, brilliantly covering The Horrorist's 'One Night In NYC', which actually is one of the coolest covers I've ever heard. Anyway, if you want music to murder you, this ep might be worth a shot

Dead Neanderthals - Dolphin

heavy jazz / noise rock
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Dutch heavy jazz combo Dead Neanderthals are seemingly doing everything in their power to make something unique. As a gift to their fans, they uploaded this eleven minutes lasting epos of sax, drums, chaos, intensity and insanity. It's stuff like this that connects the jazz scene with the grindcore and noise rock scenes and I have no idea what most jazz fans will think about this. That aside, I would recommend checking it out, preferably at a ridiculously loud volume and start throwing things against the walls. It therapeutic, I promise, you'll feel a lot better when it's all over. Rare jongens, die Nederlanders...

The Stone Cox - Blackboard

alternative rock
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Hell yeah, time to rock 'n roll  and for that French combo The Stone Cox are the perfect companions. On this ep, they come up with three high energy rock tracks, influenced by everything between Led Zeppelin and Foo Fighters. The first two are heavy and groovy rockers that can get every party started. Closer 'Not Going Home (Hard Red Sun)' somewhat reminds me of a band like The Scabs and shows a more musically gifted side of this band. Anyhow, rockers of all ages can easily appreciate this ep and I hope that soon this will be followed by a full-length. 

Death Metal Pope - Harvest

doom metal
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Imagine that, a death metal pope, growling his yearly "urbi et orbi" from a black and red painted Vatican. Would be funny. However, this Death Metal Pope has nothing to do with Christianity and just barely with death metal. This is a doom metal band which often comes very close to Black Sabbath and on other occasions blasts some guttural grunts and some psychedelic passages in your face. Although I still had my doubts in title track 'Harvest', 'From The Dust Returned' convinced me that this is an awesome ep, one that is certainly worth your attention if you're into old school doom. A must-have for doom fans, that's for sure.

Ben Blutzukker - Analog Blood

heavy metal
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German one man electro band Blutzukker becomes German one man metal band Ben Blutzukker and comes up with something surprising. As you can see on the cover, one of the influences is Guns 'n Roses but the whole thing sounds more like an Abbath side project, exploring the massive history of heavy metal. The four songs on this ep are quite gritty metal songs, reminding me of acts like Venom or Motorhead. Not bad for songs that were initially electro/industrial tunes. My favorite is 'Red' but I'd certainly recommend every open minded metalhead to check this out and compare the songs to the originals.

A Cunning Man - Practical Applications Of Theurgy

power metal / heavy metal
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Another one man project, and one with a quite unusual twist. A Cunning Man describes his act as "One man metal project with a strong Scottish accent", something I can't deny. Of course, the Scottish accent makes the whole thing sound somewhat weird and drags it into the world of pagan metal. Yet, the music feels like a mesmerizing amalgamation of metal styles, from the power metal of bands like Hammerfall over black and death metal to modern day arena rock. The ep contains three songs which certainly deserve your attention, especially if you want something familiar yet unique. 

Beneath A Godless Sky - ​Beneath A Godless Sky

hardcore / progressive
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French djent-act Beneath A Godless Sky comes with a debut that will pierce you in more ways that you could possibly imagine. Now, personally, I'm not a connoisseur of the whole djent scene, which to me makes this whole ep sound like something between Meshuggah, Periphery and Tesseract. I guess that's not a band list of bands to be compared with. I do know that the songs on this thing are loaded with energy, intensity and brutality. Besides, some passages here are damn immersive and most riffs are well-worth of an intense headbanging session. In its entirety, I know that this is nothing for me but for fans of progressive hardcore and djent, it is definitely a must-have.

Elusion - Desert Of Enticement

symphonic meal / gothic meal
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This debut by Belgian band Elusion does not sound like a debut, far from it. If you told me that this was a new effort by After Forever or Epica, I might have believed you. The three songs on this ep are high quality symphonic metal songs, played by seasoned musicians and sung by a talented  woman. What's more, these songs rock, making them perfect headbanging material. Personally, I didn't really follow this particular genre anymore but I'm damn sure that these three tunes, especially the folky closer 'Facade' will appear in my day-to-day playlist quite often from now on. They should appear in yours too if you're into this genre.

Rumah - A View To The Sea

techno
Wolfskuil
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At festivals, I often wander into the dance hall, even though I do not consider myself a techno fan. However, I usually enjoyed these sonic adventures for a while, which is exactly why I sometimes decide to review a techno ep This one comes from English producer Rumah and contains four high energy dance tunes, mainly inspired by the Detroit scene of the nineties. The first act that came to mind to compare this ep with, was Joey Beltram and you can add people like Jeff Mills or Dave Clarke to that list as well. So yes, this is a recommended release if you're in for some decent, old school dance music.

American Anymen + Lise - Oui

alternative / singer-songwriter
bandcamp
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From the United States comes a nice cooperation between anti-folk act American Anymen and singer-songwriter/keyboardist Lise. In four songs, both acts seem to explore the possibilities of this get together. Opener 'Nobody Made Me Smile Like You Did' is an excellent ballad while 'Less Complex' and 'Does Anybody Still Think Of Me' are uplifting rock songs, driving on acoustic guitars. Closer 'H' is another ballad, but probably my favorite track on this album. I wouldn't really know who to compare this ep with, Beck maybe? But then again, nice pop songs like these don't need comparison, they just need to be listened to.

The Vomiting Dinosaurs - Exoplanets

death metal / thrash metal
Grimoire Records
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And we end this edition of Brieviews with a short but destructive assault by American thrash-death horde The Vomiting Dinosaurs. In mere  fifteen minutes this trio blasts nine songs of gore and brutality over their listeners and I'm sure those listeners will enjoy the abuse.  Most of the songs drive on fierce hardcore punk tempos and issue an array of guttural growls and screams. If this stuff doesn't get your grindcore party started, you are not having a grindcore party, that's for damn fucking bloody sure. A favorite? Nope, this whole thing is only fifteen minutes long, which makes the entire thing well suited for a session of audible SM.

Serge
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