shoegaze / post-punk / alternative rock

Things you do not want to experience as a band: arriving at your rehearsal room only to find out that someone had broken in and stolen the equipment. That happened to Belgian post punk act The Mary Hart Attack and, needless to say, they were devastated. Still, they stubbornly kept working on their debut full-length and crowdfunded themselves some new equipment. Now, that album is ready to be released, and it's a blast.

The album opens with the song 'In Dreams' which is basically Joy Division meets Sonic Youth. There is a lot of noise and feedback, tonnes of energy and a dark, aggressive atmosphere. In short, the perfect opener for a brilliant post post record. From then on, the band takes on a what can only be described as a vintage post punk journey. The earlier mentioned bands are never far away, which is a good thing.

'Spiders' is a great song too, slower but immersive as hell. It is followed by one of my absolute favorites here, the uptempo and mesmerizing 'All Wrong No Bliss' which drives on an almost industrial drum beat. This one will get many people shaking their butts off at gigs, no doubt about that. Who knows, maybe I will be one of them too. My feet are already tapping along and my head nods like a madman.

By now, we're halfway through the album and I have decided that this album is one where we Belgians should be proud of. It's one of the most dynamic and entertaining alternative rock albums I've heard recently, just listen to the murderous 'This Room' (after it's strange intro). If that doesn't get you off your feet, you might as well amputate them. That was a little joke, please do not amputate your feet.

Anyway. I guess it's clear by now that The Mary Hart Attack is a firm candidate to become the next big thing in alternative Belgium. I won't be surprised when these guys appear in Humo and on Studio Brussel a lot from now on. I will be surprised if they don't end up on the bills of Pukkelpop, Rock Werchter or Marktrock. They definitely deserve it, especially with such a vintage sounding and immersive album as this one.


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psychedelic / shoegaze 

Now here is something unique, something that's quite hard to categorize too. Usually, genres are quite easy to define, except maybe for the highly experimental ones. Yet, this one is not, and to be honest, it's not even that experimental either. It moves somewhere between psychedelic rock, shoegaze and noise pop. It's rock music, but also laced with electronics. It would easily fit in with the bands on today's post rock related festivals but it might also have just arrived here from the seventies. 

Horta is a band from Finland, specialized in music that will guide you through an adventurous journey. This self titled album is just that, a narrative and trance inducing piece of music that will please fans of psychedelic sounds everywhere. Bands that come to mind include Hawkwind, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Tangerine Dream, Can, Ozric Tentacles, Neu! and even Dead Can Dance. I know, that's a load of different things to throw into one album, but somehow these Fins have pulled it off.

I'm not going into a song-by-song description here, but I will say that there are some brilliant shoegaze rockers, with '78' being the highlight in that aspect. On the other hand, there are calm, soothing ambient passages and psychedelic ballads, mostly accompagnied by beautiful vocals. There are drones, soundscapes, post rock resembling passages and amazing synths. In all, this is a stunning piece of work, one I will recommend to every fan of music that touches your very soul. This is one of those albums you do not want to miss...


Serge

ambient / experimental / shoegaze

metalcore / metal

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hard rock

classical / ambient

drum & bass / industrial metal

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progressive / thrash metal

nu metal

synthpop / new wave

techno / industrial

alternative rock

post rock

death metal

dark ambient / black metal

experimental rock

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gothic / industrial metal

punk

shoegaze / drone / doom

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the world of one-man bands is an intriguing one. Solo acts have been fascinating me for years. Many of them come up with dark, enigmatic music, exploring their deepest emotions, fears and ennui with all kinds of instruments. Of course, loopers, samplers and software make it possible for people to work alone but still, doing it all on your own is quite an achievement, especially when the result is a perplexing piece of work.

Planning For Burial is such a one-man project, formed by Thom Wasluck. His music is slow, harsh, emotive and gloomy. 'Below the House' is an introvert but bombastic piece of work, loaded with influences from shoegaze, doom metal, nineties dark rock, ambient and drone. It is an album that comes from deep within the artist and it reaches out to all those who are into sonic darkness.

Opener 'Whiskey and Wine' first comes up with the droning beauty we know are respect bands like Nadja and Jesu for. However, soon the blackened sludge metal vocals come in, making the whole thing even harsher than it is. Here, Deafheaven comes to mind but they soon disappear when the following songs show different vocals, clean ones. On 'Somewhere In The Evening' another side is shown, the one that reminds me of  a band like Anathema.

To show his know-how in the noise and dark ambient scene, Planning For Burial threw the dark track 'Past Lives' on this album. Right before that 'Warmth Of You' drags in influences from dark rock and new wave bands, like Killing Joke meets A Place To Bury Strangers. '(something)' is soothing ambient tune, serving as an intro for the stunning tandem 'Dull Knife pt. I & 2'. Here, like in the opener, the noise elements seem to return. If Skullflower would make a shoegaze album, it would probably sound something like this.

In all, this is another one of those albums that throw their listeners into a whirlpool of drones, despair, depression and solitude and that's perfectly fine by me. If you are one of those people who prefer slow music which is loaded with sentiment, you need this album. On a medium volume, it's an enjoyable alternative rock album. On high level it's a massive blast of drones, drums and doom. So it's perfectly suited for every situation...


Serge

dream pop, shoegaze, ambient

Here is Aidan Baker again, by now probably to most frequently occurring artist on this website. Not that I mind, Baker's works are pretty much always welcome in my inbox,, whether it's Nadja, Caudal, Hypnodrone Ensemble, his solo musical endeavors or his cooperations with people like Karen Willems or Tomas Järmyr. In that, this release is no different. but in some other aspects, this is a completely new direction for Aidan.

That new direction is mainly guided by his interest in coldwave, shoegaze and dream pop, but also by the distinct voice of Shield Patterns' vocalist Claire Brentnall. Together, Baker and Brentnall have created something amazing, something that almost made me replace the genres on top of this review with the word 'magic'. Away from the usual drones and soundscapes we are used to by now, this cooperation beautifully pierces itself into the dream pop scene.

With that, I do indeed recommend this album to every fan of acts like Cocteau Twins,  This Mortal Coil and here and there even early Dead Can Dance. Apart from two interludes, this album is filled with atmospheric, dreamy songs. Brentnall's vocals fit in perfectly with the soundscapes and often appearing mild drums. Opener 'Delirious Things' and the breathtaking 'Wingless' are jewels, and they are far from the only ones on this album.

So yes, this is an awe-inspiring album, one that will undoubtedly become a favorite for many fans of Aidan Baker. I don't think I am the only one who wants to experience this magic live and I hope that I will have that opportunity one day. But for now, this album is going straight into my day-to-day playlist, perhaps even twice so the songs appear more often. I suggest you do the same. This is pure magic...


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experimental / black metal / shoegaze

Anomie is an album to be released on March 1, by Azerbaijani musician Emin Guliyev, under his artistic nom de plume Violet Cold. With six tracks – the eponymous Anomie, She Spoke Of Her Devastation, Lovegaze, My Journey To Your Space, Violet Girl and No Escape From Dreamland – Violet Cold’s music is a complex mixture of several different – and at a first glance, disparate – genres, like atmospheric black metal, blackgaze, ambient electronic music, shoegaze and post black metal, amongst others, resulting in a peculiarly unique blend of sonorous artistry, that has created a singular kind of experimental music, in the whole history of the underground scene. A very surreal album, with sad nuances, opaque colors and emotional soundscapes, Anomie is certainly a very unique composition. With beautiful harmonies, and a fantastic melodic layout, the record is full of abyssal and enchanting dream-like fantasies, as well as sincere disdainful loyalties, deeply inserted in the vastness of a pure and cosmological vision, that resurfaces at the core of an unseen labyrinth of agony, never testified in a work with such level of sensibility, in the underground music scene before. 

With the serenity of unspoken, but deeply energizing harmonies, full of soul, relinquishing beauty and aggrandizing features of spontaneity, this is certainly a refreshing, embellished and interesting album. Deeply committed to a general level of uneasy originality, which, at least to a certain degree, seems obvious, given the fact that so many different genres are combined with the genuine proposal of creating something unique – though ambient elements do prevail most of the time throughout the album’s length –, Anomie is a magnificent record. Authentic and singular, certainly this album is anything less than a major outstanding work. 

Splendid, fulfilling, original, faithful to its roots, and genuine by the sake of its purpose, there is no other album that could be highlighted as a possible comparison. A formidable artistic achievement, you are never bored throughout its fifty three minutes long run. In the end, you will be asking yourself when something with such a powerful magnitude will ever be created again.   

A great experimental work, with a phenomenal final result, Anomie is a sensational record, being a splendid work in the experimental music category, probably the best ever made. With the perfect infusion of so many different elements from a lot of different genres, what has been created on this album is marvelously unique and unparalleled in the history of underground music. A splendorous sound from a different world, a different dimension and a different galaxy, you will never believe what you are hearing, in the first place. A majestic exemplar of artistic excellence, Anomie is an album that deserves its place of honor.  



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dream pop 

Apparently, somewhere in Portugal, someone is incredibly sad and melancholic. At least, that's what I think after listening to some of the songs on this gloomy and emotional album. Sweet Nico is a dream-pop duo consisting of vocalist and lyricist Marisa da Anunciação and guitarist and producer David Francisco of post-rockers When The Angels Breathe. Together, they wrote and recorded nine songs that will undoubtedly weigh on your soul, and they top it off with a cover of Mazzy Star's 'Fade Into You'. You can indeed say that Mazzy Star has been a major influence for Sweet Nico, along maybe with acts like Slowdive and Radiohead. Yet, in a way, the songs on 'R Evival' gnaw deeper, probably because of the edgy, lo-fi sound of the whole thing. 

When I close my eyes and let my imagination wander, I can see images of an abandoned village, soon to be completely demolished. Yet, somewhere on the edge, in an old, gloomy café, sad music is playing, slowly lingering over the empty streets and into the moonlight. The music feels like ancient blues, driving on soundscapes and percussion which are just as sad and nostalgic as the voice the accompany. Sometimes, the tempo goes up, caused only by the percussion and drums. All else remains slow, dreary and mirthless. Colors seem to fade away, nature seems to retreat. For now, there is only that old café and that murky music.

So no, this is not a happy album, not at all. This is something for shoegazers, dream pop addicts and sombre minds. Fans of Mazzy Star, Slowdive and The Jesus and Mary Chain will definitely appreciate songs like 'Honeymoon', 'Love Caravan' and 'Rain'. The latter is my personal favorite here, a heavily emotional ballad, so minimal it almost hurts your heart. So if you're in for a decent crying session, or you just want to wander in the darker regions of your innerself, you might want to give this album a shot. In that case, this comes highly recommended. 


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progressive metal

dark ambient

post rock

shoegaze / psychedelic

symphonic doom

grindcore

alternative / metal

dark ambient

indie rock / pop rock

punk rock

rock / blues

funeral doom / black metal

noise / drone / spoken word

heavy metal

death metal / black metal

Serge

shoegaze / dreampop

stoner rock

electronic / ambient

Avian

post rock

black metal / hardcore

heavy jazz / noise rock

alternative rock

doom metal

heavy metal

power metal / heavy metal

hardcore / progressive

symphonic meal / gothic meal

techno

alternative / singer-songwriter

death metal / thrash metal

Serge

drone / doom

After several releases Morgan Bellini decided it was time to put Italian shoegaze and drone doom cult act Vanessa Van Basten to sleep and embark on a new sonic adventure, That new adventure received the name Angela Martyr and somewhat further develops the much appreciated blend of styles, created by Vanessa Van Basten. In the past, the act seemed to be influenced by acts like Godflesh, Jesu and Swans and those references return on this outstanding debut.
On 'The November Harvest', this act once again blends shoegaze, doom metal and drones into an immersive sonic whirlpool. The whole thing sounds like a mix of Slowdive and Godflesh. Slow, droning doom songs sluggishly roll out of my speakers, accompagnied with soft, clean vocals. Some of the songs, including 'Carsleeper' and 'Deathwish' bring Nadja to mind, Undoubtedly, this music will make a lot of head nod in approval, currently including mine.
That being said, I think it's about time that bands like this one appear on psychedelic doom festivals like Desertfest and, why not, post rock festivals like Dunk! Festival. Ok, perhaps that might be a bit selfish of me because I really, really, really want to experience this live, but I also think they will both fit in perfectly and provide the necessary variation on these events. You should have guessed by now that I've already become a massive fan of Angela Martyr.
My favorite songs on this album inlucde opener 'Deviant' and follower 'Georgina'. However, what I like most, is just get lost in these massive drones and riffs, all the way to the awesome and huge closer 'Angela Martyr'. I suggest you do the exact same thing. If you're a fan of Nadja, Jesu, the late Vanessa Van Basten or anything in this genre, 'The November Harvest' should definitely have a spot in your collection.


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drone / ambient / post rock

Aah, the Belgians. What a bunch of drone geniuses we have. Dirk Serries, Stratosphere, CHVE, Syndrome, Ashtoreth,... the list is getting bigger and bigger. Now we can add another project to that list, one named Barst. After numerous live performances, splits and cassettes, this one-man project is now ready to release his first full-length. The album contains two tracks, each lasting for over twenty minutes. However, before you expect some nice, blissful ambient, please read on. This might be one of the most varied and surprising albums in its genre.

First off, the massive achievement wouldn't have been possible without a little help from his friends. On this album a heap of artists lent a hand: Mike Armine (Rosetta), Dehn Sora (Treha Sektori, Sembler Deah, …), Karen Willems (Inwolves), Mathieu Mathlovsky(Mathlovsky), Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe (Empusae, Onus, …), An-Sofie De Meyer (FÄR), Tokyo Oyo and Herr Man. If you know some of these acts, you might start realising just how varied this thing really is. I'll try to guide you through.

The album opens with a drone, and so far this was pretty much exactly what I expected. Yet, then it happens. In the first track alone, the music ranges from ambient to post metal to martial industrial to ritualistic chants. Besides the usual drone-ambient acts mentioned above, acts like Deutsch Nepal, Russian Circles, Sophia, Biosphere and even Dead Can Dance come to mind. This is a heap of influences pressed together, no wonder the track lasts this long. Track two even adds a dash of gloomy techno with sludge metal vocals to the whole thing. I've never danced to drone music before.

So yes, for this genre of music, 2016 has been a fantastic year, especially in Belgium. Lots of our most respected artists have released a brilliant album and, in my humble opinion, Barst tops it off in the most varied way imaginable. I can only recommend this gem to pretty much every fan of inventive and original music. You can be sure that this thing will end up somewhere in my end-year list, just like I'm sure that you will often stare at your speakers in absolute disbelief. 

Damn, I love this job...


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black metal / crust punk

symphonic metal

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funk / alternative

synthpop / electronic

post punk / alternative / indie

hard rock

black metal / shoegaze

grunge / alternative rock / punk

rock 

bandcamp

post punk / alternative rock

alternative rock / noise rock

hard rock / heavy metal

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grindcore

bandcamp

With Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation on vocals, San Diego grindcore outfit Anal Trump comes up with a short and vicious assault. The longest song on this album is eighteen seconds long and I had to listen four times while writing this thing. So yes, this is sick, gore grindcore in perfect Anal Cunt / Napalm Death tradition. It comes with a lot of shit that someone named Donald Trump has been spewing out, like 'I'd Date My Daughter', 'Build That Wall' and 'Breastfeeding Is Gay'. So if you miss Seth Putnam, hate Donald Trump, think music should be torturous and have no problem with the fact that downloading this release will last longer than actually playing it, you need this.

black metal / thrash metal

black metal

punk / alternative rock

doom / sludge

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black metal / shoegaze

The most recent album of Russian project Fall to November Sky – which is led by the same unknown musician responsible for the project No Need to Open Your Eyes – Autumn Light was released on November 1. With seven tracks – being them this soul doesn't need mask, last evening of summer, ...and her eyes dissolved in dark, circles, cold november sunrise, astral journey and apathetic call of autumn –, here Fall to November Sky is more philosophical and reflexive than ever. Extending his serene dimensional musical horizon, to form soundscapes of meditative possibilities, characterized by very peculiar and transcendental artistic ambitions, on this album, our mysterious musician seems determined to make his music sound more fluid and organic, decidedly compromised to embrace a fully formed ocean of resounding artistic fertility. Summarizing and uplifting his singular style, an impressionistic mixture of post rock and shoegaze, Autumn Light is an album that comes with distinction and sobriety, more free than the usual harmonically adorned songs featured on previous records.  

Characterized primarily by the dispersion of a peaceful tranquility that excels the interior feelings of all tracks, Autumn Light is a work that displays cohesion and sincerity. With little of the Post Black Metal more apparent on his previous releases, here the work is diluted into a more dispersed framework, that builds in the dissolving sonorous walls of its beauty exceedingly transient atmospheres, with a sparse melancholy that fully comprehends oceans of sound at the heart of a space that turns the majestic light of an isolated afternoon into the distorted sorrow of a forgotten anger. 

With a great sense of space and sound, the harmonies that softly reverberates a tenuous intensity into the poetic devices of the music are easily felt by the sensibility that expires within each and every note that dilacerates the universe built by the delicacy of the rhythms. A work that seems composed at the height of a lucid, intense, frivolous and quiet storm, Autumn Light is an album aimed to bring peace, tranquility and calmness into a turbulent world, devoid of any major human abilities. 

A very poetic work, filled with colorful, soft and exuberating harmonies, Autumn Light was marvelously built at the core of a profound sensibility, that understands the ethereal design of music, and perceives it to be the soul of an intense universe, filled with particular seasons, and considered eternal, for an everlasting sense of grace.     



Wagner

post rock / doom / shoegaze

Erudite Stoner is the namesake and eponymous debut of Brazilian musician Matheus Novaes. With an unprecedented degree of originality, that works from a curious stream of several different influences, combined in an organically creative arrangement of detailed textures and dynamically accurate nuances, that saturates the rhythm in favor of a gray numbness contorted in a panoramic set of harmonic sensitivities, Erudite Stoner combines classic guitar playing with doom and black  metal influences, intertwining his incredibly out layered sonorous prospect with a darkly innovative shoegaze approach, in such a high level, never seen before in the history of underground Brazilian music before.

Daring, inconspicuous, serene and refreshingly pungent, with a unique style of playing, meticulously precise and depressingly melodic, his over excelled musical proficiency is sustained by his superbly refined sense of building a brightly cohesive, dense and atmospheric layer of sound. With nine songs – being them  Spiritual deliverance, Alienist, Ride to nowhere, Far away from city walls, There is no home, Waiting for the storm, Sand Path, Roads to somewhere and Left behind –, Erudite Stoner, on his debut, really mesmerizes and attracts the listener, with its hugely undertaking exploration of metrically harmonic cadences, surpassing horizons of beauty that conquers a vastly dimensional sonorous demise, that awakes  fully transformed in the heart of a sorrowful conscious exhilaration.

An exceedingly poetical work, with a solidly impressionistic rhetoric of underlying beauty, the delicate punctuations that flows marvelously below each and every note of his tracks reveals a minimalist impersonation of sound, impressively built to disperse tears of solitude, eternities of sand and castles in the air. A work that perfectly blends the classic with the original, the influence with the authorial and the traditional with the innovation, Erudite Stoner’s debut is a compelling force within the underground scenario. Being already hailed by worldwide underground music websites and magazines, with reviews and interviews popping up from all four corners of the globe, Matheus Novaes has proven himself to be Brazil’s next big thing. With an amazing degree of talent, timing, pace and self-reliance, an elusively displayed baroque ability to disseminate into the air a panoramic construction of a rhythmically profuse galaxy of sonorous expansion makes the listener lose himself into a hole of infinite delight. The dark sobriety of his music is not only a lucid stream of artistic voracious technique, but, on the verge of its expansive dilution, defines hidden possibilities, that solely converges the interior elements of his songs into an overdeveloping conjuncture of majestically abrasive sonorous devices. 

Already being recognized by his unprecedented musical talent, and a striking ability as a fully accomplished songwriter, Erudite Stoner has already matched several scores of best-selling Bandcamp album. Boasting the underground with his impressive, exhilaratingly precise and formidably penetrating peculiar style, Erudite Stoner sets into another level the remarkable degree of experimentation for which his album stood for. And yet, being so fantastically simple, on the other hand, his ferociously deep and pervasively ordered style of playing digresses from the organic form that highly disunites his cosmically melted and amusingly creative musical distinctions and artistic disruptive definitions. 

Set to break boundaries, and define new ones, Matheus Novaes, with his project’s debut, Erudite Stoner is an organically active fusion set to propel to a new level the Brazilian underground scene. With an astounding degree of originality, audacity, creativity, ability and technique, Erudite Stoner becomes a matter of national pride. It’s so amazing to see this coming in a country that misunderstoods so much it’s extraordinary geniuses. With an appreciative, inconceivable and impressively higher ordeal of sensorial beauty, this is an album doomed to make history. And this could not have been different, being the work of one of the most talented musicians of his generation. The free flowing sonorous expression that will turn a joyful redemption into a new form of understanding music.     
 

​Wagner

alternative / rock / shoegaze

A captivating and amazing album by an emerging alternative rock band from Brazil, You Never Cared, by Killing Surfers, is a six tracks album – Pillow Face, Another Horizon, I Wanna Sleep, She's Like Heaven, Sunrise and Medications – with beautiful and delicate escalating harmonies, poetically uplifting and surprisingly wonderful. Being somewhat a weird, but functional mixture of an indie rock apparently influenced by The Smiths, with a puncture of The Verve, The Velvet Revolver and New Order, this is one of the most surprising gifts I have heard from my own country in a while! With a refreshing degree of originality, and an intriguing ability to surprise, their strong melodies speak as wonderfully as an eternal horizon could fulfill an everlasting sense of beauty into your eyes. With gracefully amazing lines of guitar, striking vocals, powerfully fulfilling, but soft at the same time, You Never Cared is a major underground achievement, and Killing Surfers – I strongly hope, for sure they have talent to do this – it’s the future, and the only future we need in the underground Brazilian scene.

With a fulfilling sense of poetic joy, the second song, Another Horizon, not just reminded me the amazing grace of The Smiths, but overwhelmingly surpassed a marvelous sense of transcendental sensibility. With a compassed strengthened rhythm, a fine sense of security, and a magically divine output, characterized by refined harmonies, You Never Cared is a straight and dynamic shot, direct to the point. Poetic, enthusiastically emotive, spirited and free, this is a groundbreaking achievement not just for the band itself, but for the entire underground Brazilian scene!

A great, great album, that made me really happy while listening to it, this is a state of the art work! Coming from a region from Brazil – the northeast – mostly known as a stronghold of popular regional genres of music, few people, possibly including myself until I have listened to them, knew that such an astounding, cool and carefree alternative rock band could arise from this corner of the country, that is mostly hostile to this genre.

Certainly the future of the underground – if they manage to undertake all the difficulties that being in a rock band means in a country like Brazil – in the national scene (and why not internationally also? they certainly have talent for it), Killing Surfers is an amazing alternative rock band, and You Never Cared is the best alternative rock album that I have heard in a while. And certainly, musically, restores my faith in my own country, for a long time!            


​Wagner

drone / doom / shoegaze 

Sometimes, I imagine Merchants Of Air as a massive building, with rooms where unknown inhabitants display the emotions, fears and joy of the music that is being played. In some rooms, they're dancing, while in others strange rituals are taking place. Others are banging their heads, with their fists raised towards the society we are forced to live in. Then there is the basement, where hopelessness, despair and inner darkness roam.

This one is the latter.

Fvnerals is a band from Glasgow, Scotland, specialized in creating floods of sonic bleakness since 2013. Over the years, they recorded two eps, debut full-length and now this brilliant piece of work. Always driving on a torpid tempo, Fvnerals combine drones, soundscapes, eerie doom metal and shoegaze into something that sounds as far away from happiness as it possibly could. Down in that basements, this particular inhabitant is down on the floor, screaming, crying, weeping.

There are seven songs on this album, each perfectly following the previous one. In five or six listens I wasn't able to pick out a favorite track since everything fits so well together that this feels like one long concept, displaying emotions like depression, anxiety, lethargy and isolation. Over the music, which reminds me of something between Earth and Slowdive, the vocals of Tiffany Strom guide the listener through all this crushing despair.

What I did notice during my listening session, is the fact that this album grows on its listeners. Gradually, songs like 'Void', 'Shiver' or 'Teeth' gain their own identity. So yeah, of course I will recommend this gem to everyone who likes a decent slab of audible darkness once in awhile, whether it is shoegaze, doom or drone. You will definitely find something to exorcise your inner demons with on this album.


​Serge

alternative / indie / shoegaze

Well, that last album was so enjoyable that I don't feel like play some heavy stuff today. Which, of course, is good news for Poomse, a four-piece from Mallorca, Spain. In their email, they wrote "Though our songs are a bit 'softer' than most of the music you review we've got some elements from post-rock and mathcore so, why not try?", and I can't agree more. Of course their music has a place on Merchants Of Air. After all, they just release and damn pleasureable album.

There are indeed some influences from post-rock noticeable on some of these songs. However, if my knowledge of musical history is correct, post-rock evolved from shoegaze and slowcore, which makes a better description for this music. These are mostly slow pop songs with a great sense of melancholy, reminding me of bands like Low, Codeine, Red House Painters and at times even South San Gabriel meets Slint.

In a way, you can see most of the songs on 'This Is How We Fail' as folkish singer/songwriter tracks, enhanced with a full band. Songs like 'Out Of Tune', 'Break' or 'California' are quite minimal pieces of music, without too much technicality, which keeps the whole thing down-to-earth and intimate. Here and there you can hear a flash of grunge, like in my favorite track 'Worker Bees', a song that has something cabarettesque.

In all, 'This Is How We Fail' is an excellent alternative pop rock album, one in a genre you don't encounter that much these days. If you're a nostalgic person, longing for some nineties melancholica, this definitely is your thing. The level of songwriting is excellent, there's enough variation and there are some beautiful tunes to be discovered here. So check it out, you won't be disappointed.


​Serge

alternative rock / post-punk

A little bit of Ramones, some Sonic Youth, a flash of Teenage Jesus And The Jerks and a touch of Slowdive, that might get you an idea of what Turkish garage rock act Reptilians From Andromeda have released upon the world. The ep opens with some rough, mid-tempo tracks but suddenly dives into noise-rock insanity with the eerie 'We Are Who We Are', which sounds like Hole on some weird drug. Right after, they pour a synth-poppy shoegaze thing in our ears. Weird, very weird, but damn immersive and definitely ready to make their entree into the world of noise-rock and garage rock, and entree through the grand gate if you ask me. Interesting stuff...

noise rock / experimental / post punk

Epileptic Media

An experimental rock act that reminds me of bands like Cabaret Voltaire and Crash Course In Science, that is odd. I think the last one that managed to do that, was Black Dice. Anyway, Postman seems to draw influences from everything between Ween, Joy Division, Sonic Youth and the aforementioned bands to come up with some surprising songs. The set-up seems to be minimal, synth, drums, guitars but what they do with those instruments, is far from limited and often results in decent gloomy pop songs. 'Escape Velocity' is one of my favorite tracks but I strongly suggest to check out the album if you're a fan of strange, out-of-the-box releases. Hell, there's even a hint of dub and reggae here, or even Iggy Pop, or post-rock... Great stuff!

electronic / electro-rock

Somewhere in California, this duo is barking out a strange blend of glitchy electronics and rock music which kinda reminds of something between Lydia Lunch, Archive and Autechre. The songs on this ep are quite danceable pieces of music, but come with a gloomy new wave atmosphere. Their main influences seem to be Glitch Mob, Sleigh Bells and Purity Ring but, to be quite honest, I like this little ep a lot more than those acts, especially the somewhat industrial 'Edge Of Infinity'. There is a certain gritty feeling about this one, an impending atmosphere. It reminds me a bit of some Tricky songs but, again, way better. 'Parish' is a brilliant piece of joyful glitch electronics, something you definitely should check out...

metal / metalcore

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French extremists Aanod move somewhere between metalcore and the melodic death metal of the Götheborg scene. Yet, somehow they combine it with a modern sound, plenty of variation, electronics and epic ambient textures. The result is a massive and pounding ep, loaded with energy and sheer violence. The music feels suited for the tiniest of venues and the biggest of metal festivals alike, which isn't easy to accomplish I think. For the record, metalcore isn't really my thing, but I can surely respect the level of songwriting and the technical skills of these guys. So, all you metalcore kids, check this one out, it might as well become one of your favorite bands.

post metal / doom

Hailing from Poland, Moanaa have released a debut in 2014, now followed by a blast. With elements from post-rock, doom, sludge metal and psychedelic rock, they create a highly immersive sonic adventure. In some strange way, these songs remind me of a heavy and more intense version of some Cure songs, played by a mishmash of bands, including A Place To Bury Strangers and Cult Of Luna. The overall atmosphere is intense, dark and downright crushing at times. The vocals usually are clean, except from a few growling outbursts, something I can truly appreciate. In all 'Passage' is a tremendous album, perfectly suited for any post-metal fan out there. Check it out, you need this.

shoegaze / alternative 

Alternative rock and post-punk, interlaced with joyous dreampop, that's what you get on this ep by Finnish quartet Mumrunner. The four tracks on this album remind me a lot of acts like Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and even The Cure. 'Shawshank' is my favorite song on this ep, an uptempo earworm that gets stuck in your head, an ability most of the songs actually have, even the punky shoegazer 'Cascais'.  This truly is stuff for the dark and murky dance floors all over the world, which obviously comes highly recommended. I hope I get the chance to see this quartet soon. I'm sure they will guarantee an immersive live performance, causing entire venues to dance the night away...

psychedelic / blues / folk

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Oh man, I absolutely love this newfound interest in seventies music. Take this French trio Dätcha Mandala and their latest ep for example, a brilliant piece of psychedelic blues rock which could have come directly from the studios where people like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles recorded their stuff. 'Misery' is a gloomy blues ballad (with a beautiful guitar solo) while 'Mojoy' is a pretty heavy rocker, somehow reminding me of Black Crowes. Both songs are excellent examples of how this newfound interest should sound: vintage, convincing and perfectly executed. I hope this single will be followed by a full-length and a tour soon. 

death metal

Portuguese horde Colosso have released a behemoth, a pungent blend of death metal and industrial, loaded with soundscapes and sheer ferocity. The result might indeed be one of the most impressive death metal albums in 2016. Somehow it reminds me of a mix between Carcass and Limbonic Art, crushing the boundaries of one genre and smashing right into another one. This album is a ranging assault of blast beats, haunting screams and vicious, often droning riffs and pure noise created with the sole intention of demolishing anything in its path. I admit, you have to be used to some level of crushing death metal before you can handle this, but once inside, the beast never lets go.

electronic / techno

Dance music right after death metal, because why the fork not? Besides, this isn't ordinary, stale and unimagined techno. In fact, there's only one true techno tune on this ep (and its remix), 'Obsession'. True, it's not my favorite but it might get some people dancing. Opener 'Vanished Breath' is more like an eerie ambient tune while a great track 'The Ritual' is a breakbeat inspired vintage electro act. Speaking of vintage electro, 'M.U.M.' seems to come directly from the seventies when people like Klaus Schulze and Kraftwerk were pioneering in experimenting with electronic music. So yeah, this fits perfectly on this edition of brieviews. 

electronic / ambient / experimental

Speaking of acts like Kraftwerk, Schulze and Tangerine Dream, here are two pieces of circular synth and tape-loop music, courtesy of Italian artist Marta De Pascalis. Both are long tracks, seemingly based around a central theme but constantly moving and changing. Title track 'Anzar' really takes me back to those early electronics pioneers, often coming up with some folkish melodies along with the cold synth sequences. 'Emerso' sounds a bit darker, somewhat nudging towards the ambient scene. In all, I like this one a tad better than the opener, probably because of its lingering soundscapes. In all, this certainly is an interesting release, which comes highly recommended to anyone who loves those old, almost psychedelic electronics. But be quick, there are only 100 copies of this tape...

experimental / ambient / noise

Silken Tofu

Another strange two-track album comes from Belgian label Silken Tofu, who released this one-session recording of Jonas Van den Bossche & Benne Dousselaere. These two tracks are elaborate audio-adventures with drones,  noise, soundscapes, synths, guitar and minimal percussion. On hand hand, the music reminds me of acts like De Fabriek, Machinefabriek; Maurizio Bianchi and Tim Hecker, while there's also a hint toward ancient electronics and gloomy eighties electro. It constantly changes, mostly driving on one or a few drones. In fact, the only thing that remains a constant on this album, is the quality. This thing definitely comes highly recommended.

black metal

From "meh", over "hm, interesting" to "fuck yeah" in mere thirty seconds, that's not an easy task to accomplish but this German trio somehow managed to do exactly that. I wasn't fond if the opening of this ep, but gradually it grew on me and halfway through 'Eyes of the Scythe Wielder', I was heabanging along with their chaotic and primitive approach to black metal. Nothing fancy, no over produced feel good shit, just sheer violence and intense blasphemy. This ep sounds like it comes directly from an underground bunker in the early nineties when the blackened scene was just beginning to make headlines everywhere. If you like your black metal true, bleak and vulgar, this is your album of the week.

post rock / ambient / shoegaze

The eponymous EP by Notape – an atmospheric ambient post-rock project with shoegaze elements, authored by an unknown Russian musician – is an intriguing and very lucid album, with seven short tracks, released on June 16. Although doesn’t satisfy you in any way, by virtue of its shortness, is filled with an impressive beauty, and casual poetic elements, that sounds so good to your ears, that you will hardly believe what you are listening.

A very promising project, that certainly could be compared to the greatest highlights of the genre, its uncompromising sound, delayed atmospheres and beautiful guitar starlight headlines will impress you deeply. Although its seven tracks span a little more than twenty minutes overall, you will feel amazed and captivated by the subtle ambiences and compounding, delicate and soliciting atmospheres that this anonymous musician creates, with his music. 

The fact that he appears to be originally from Klin, Russia, the hometown of another anonymous Russian musician, that has to prominent projects on the underground scene – Fall to November and Sky, and No need to open your eyes – given the fact that I also came to be acquainted with this project on the Fall to November Sky FB page, makes you think if this is not another project by the same musician. Their styles also being a little similar, makes the suspicions stronger. Nevertheless, regardless of these speculations, we should always think about the music first. And if you like a very thoughtful, poetic, melodic and exceedingly ethereal kind of post-rock, then this should be obviously for you. 

With soft, serene and charming melodies, this seven short tracks have everything you need to feel deeply amazed. The guitar lines and the rhythms are soft spoken, with continuous nuances of ascendant patterns, astoundingly arranged in a cohesive constitution of sonorous intricacy. Regardless of the particular individual that creates these beautiful compositions, we are talking about a very talented musician, with a precious gift for composing very precise sound layers, and arranging harmonies in the precise corners of his instrumental fields of creative ley-outs. 

Although this is a really short EP, you should give it a chance. It is as beautiful as it could ever be. A very stargaze shining modern and poetic post-rock, you will feel enchanted at the very first second. Guitar sequences played precisely at the right notes, unusual poetic cadences built at the virtuosity of a higher artistic evaluation and soft atmospheres wandering by the instantaneous illusions of a very ephemeral universe constitute an odyssey of sound peculiarly unique, as you have never heard before, making your emotions flow from out of your mind. 


​Wagner

electronic / dream pop / shoegaze

Well, that's a fairly decent way to start a conversation, "hello, we're not enemies". I think it's a suggestion every single person on this planet needs to stick to. After all, hasn't it been enough with all the hate, fear, abuse and aggression? Isn't it time we need to put the humanity back into the human race? Wouldn't a little love, empathy and respect make this world a better place for everyone and everything living here?

Italian one-man act Novanta surely seems to agree with me. This project, formed by Manfredi Lamartina, dwells in the gentle but gloomy area of shoegaze and post-punk, using dreamy electronics as a basis to explore his sound. Guitars and an often equally dreaming voice make up the rest of the music, highlighting in songs like 'Tell A Story', which comes close to trip-hop or the heavy shoegaze 'Goðafoss'.

That being said, this album is pretty varied to begin with. While listening to 'Mike', I can't help but think of Smashing Pumpkins for some reason. '​Akureyri' delves into the sound of acts like Boards Of Canada or Bonobo. 'Blue Lagoon' hints towards Slowdive while 'Melted Eyes' combines eerie drones and soundscapes with almost distresses vocals. That's plenty of variation, without losing grip on his own style, and that certainly deserves a compliment. Recommended stuff? Absolutely!


Serge