Merchants Of Air
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Albums
    • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Interviews
  • Giveaways
  • Playlists
  • Shop
    • Merchants Of Air releases
  • About us
    • About Us
    • Writers Wanted
    • Logos and banner
    • Advertise
    • Mailinglist

Inwolves - Involves

30/3/2016

Comments

 
kosmische musik / post-rock / krautrock
Consouling Sounds
bandcamp
facebook
Picture
Picture
Support Merchants Of Air Check out our THISISNOTABANDSHIRT collection
Last night, during a discussion with a fellow writer, I noticed that one of the hardest things in this job, is to categorize the music. Some people who know the Belgian trio Inwolves might disagree firmly on this post-rock tag I just gave them. But don't worry, I mean no harm and I can explain that. Today, slow, instrumental, immersive and cinematic music is often given that tag and with good reason too. Obviously, there is much more going on. I'll try to guide you through this mesmerizing album.

Inwolves is basically a project by drummer Karen Willems (Yuko, Zita Swoon Group, Cycle with Dirk Serries), aided by the synths and guitars of Jürgen de Blonde and Ward Dupan. Together, they take the kosmische music of acts like Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Temple or Faust and give the whole a modern twist, and a whole lot of variation. The result is an adventurous and somewhat strange album that ranges from soft, gentle and modest to heavy, overwhelming and surprising. 

Yet, most of all, this album is dark and dynamic, much darker than their previous effort. Opener 'I Va Va Vimedoom' quickly takes the listener into what could have been an intro for a symphonic black metal record. Don't worry, this is not black metal, far from it but you can expect some industrial influences along the way. We'll get to those shortly. For now, let Inwolves lure you in slowly. The hypnotic 'Minimal' could also do that trick. This immersive piece of work is probably one of my personal favorites here.

Belgium has a good tradition of looking back and forward at the same time (at least musically). I don't think it's a surprise that this album often makes me think about another ever-evolving act, namely Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat (yes, we're also brilliant with band names). Although quite different, both acts succeed in recreating a vintage and convincing sound with modern day equipment and influences. That is a talent, believe me, and certainly a talent that these people should explode further.

'Vladimir' even goes way beyond the realm of kosmische musik and krautrock and digs right into the psychedelic rock music of the seventies, completed by John Carpenter's horror sounds, haunting church organs and the stunning strangeness of Zappa. Did I already mention that this is quite a dark album? It even has some gothic metal arrangements here and there, even bringing acts like Tiamat to mind. 'Strange Waltz', another one of my favorites here, is a brilliant piece of music, one where you might truly feel the typical post-rock atmosphere.

I already compared Inwolves to another Belgian act and I'm going to do it again. I wouldn't be surprised if you made me listen to 'Intown' for the first time and told me that it's a Normann song. This track combines jazz with rock and, of course, the typical Inwolves synths and once again come out with something inspiring. It might also be the brightest and most joyful piece on this album; something 'Dirty Monks' clearly is not. Damn, this is a gloomy piece of industrial rock, fast, relentless and repetitive. And weird, man this is a weird tune.

This album should definitely be in your collection, otherwise you have absolutely no right to claim you know anything about the Belgian underground scene (unless you're a metal-only kind of person - but even then you should buy this). There's one more, brilliant, track to go through, but I'll leave that one to you. I'm just going to finish this review by mentioning that 'Involves' is a masterpiece, period, and I'm not just saying that because I'm such a nice guy, I'm saying that as a music lover who has been listening to all kinds of stuff for about forty years now.


Serge
Comments
    subscribe to our newsletter

    Genres

    All
    Acoustic
    Alternative
    Ambient
    Avant Garde
    Avant-garde
    Black Metal
    Blues
    Children
    Classical
    Country
    Crust
    Dark Ambient
    Dark Jazz
    Darkwave
    Death Metal
    Doom
    Dream Pop
    Drone
    Drum & Bass
    Dub
    Dubstep
    EBM
    Electro
    Electronic
    Ethereal
    Experimental
    Folk
    Folk Metal
    Funk
    Gothic
    Grindcore
    Grunge
    Hardcore
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Metal
    Hip Hop
    Hip-hop
    Idm
    Indie
    Industrial
    Instrumental
    Jazz
    Krautrock
    Martial
    Math Rock
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Neo Classical
    Neo-classical
    Neo Folk
    Neo-folk
    Noise
    Noise Rock
    Noise-rock
    Nu Metal
    Nu-metal
    Opera
    Pop
    Post Metal
    Post Punk
    Post Rock
    Progressive
    Psychedelic
    Psytrance
    Punk
    Reggae
    Rock
    Score
    Shoegaze
    Singer/songwriter
    Sludge
    Soul
    Southern Rock
    Speed Metal
    Stoner
    Symphonic Metal
    Synthpop
    Techno
    Thrash
    Triphop
    Trip-hop
    World

    Archives

    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

Find us on

facebook
google+
twitter
tumblr
​
minds

About Us

Contact
FAQ
Logos and banners
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.