Steve Von Till probably needs little introduction to most Ghost Cult Magazine readers. His hugely influential work with post-metal icons Neurosis needs no further elaboration here. What people may be less aware of, though, is that Von Till has been releasing solo records since 2000. Indeed, Alone in a World of Wounds (Neurot Recordings) is his sixth solo offering to date. Continue reading
Invocation / Supplication (By Norse Music), the new offering from experimental cellist Jo Quail, is actually a compendium of two connected three-song cycles. The first, Invocation, features the contributions of Heilung vocalist Maria Franz, plus brass instruments, percussion, bass and a choir assembled from crowdsourced mobile phone recordings of individual syllables. Supplication, on the other hand, is a less embellished affair, with just vocals from Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari and Koen Kaptin’s trombone parts to augment Quail’s cello and sound design.
Forever Autumn’s Crowned in Skulls EP (Self-Released) is raw, in many senses of the word. Autumn Ni Dubhghaill, the band’s creative force, seems to be drawing us in to witness an intensely cathartic pain-cleansing ritual over the course of the record’s five songs. Her voice acts as a vessel through which the ritualistic channeling of various primal expressions takes place. It is by turns painfully fragile and terrifyingly ferocious, but always fully saturated with unrefined emotion.