Having been seven years since the release of their stellar debut full-length album Solipsist (Unique Leader Records), it was sadly seeming to be the case that Technical Death Metaller’s The Zenith Passage were perhaps going to be lost to the annals of time. Therefore it is a given news of a follow-up on Metal Blade is very welcome news and perhaps a sign of bigger things to come from them and as evidenced on Datalysium, time appears to have been kind to them.
In a world of ever-increasing hardship and struggle, it is easy to feel that dread is a more regularly present and less surprising companion day to day. Certainly, that is a sense that the multi-national (consisting of members from Brazil, France, Italy, and the UK), London-based Calligram convey throughout their sound with their roots consisting largely of Black Metal and Hardcore to a harrowing and ultimately relatable effect. Continue reading
It isn’t often that a band can make a legitimate claim at making a cultural impact on, or even before, their debut album is released, however, it is one that Voice Of Baceprot (or VOB) can certainly make. Hailing from a largely conservative Muslim province and nation in Singajaya, outside of Garut, West Java, Indonesia, the fact the band consists of three young, hijab-wearing women has generated plenty of ire.
It has been nine years since Scar Symmetry released their previous album and the first in a planned trilogy, and time has seemingly not been the kindest to them since then with a plethora of delays (am pretty sure we can all guess one of them by now) preventing them releasing any form of follow up.
There are certain facets of life and the world that are absolute. Until the inevitable apocalypse it is simply a given that the sun will rise and set, that the tides ebb and flow, and that, most importantly, Willowtip Records rarely miss. Continue reading
Trevor’s Head are self-described as the most exciting thing to come out of Redhill, Surrey in three centuries. Without being a local, a quick investigation suggests little of note from the town bar the Foundling Museum setting up a school in the 1920’s and the construction of the M23 Motorway nearby during the seventies (thanks Google) and very little else of note, so this is most certainly a tongue in cheek boast. It is one that certainly sells the band short however as evidenced on the intriguing genre-melding on display on their latest album A View From Below (APF Records).Continue reading
The multicultural and multi-talented Adanowsky has turned his hands to many things – acting, directing, producing, and making music. Written during the pandemic and taking inspiration from tarot cards, is his latest album The Fool (Universal Music Mexico). This is the French-Chilean-Mexican polymath’s tenth album and it is a down-to-earth one; a soft and melodious melting pot of pop, indie, folk, funk, and his Latin American roots.
Much like the dense expanses of sci-fi space that their music thematically focuses upon, the UK’s Wallowing are a band of mystery. With their identities largely hidden and their physical presence in cloaked and masked outfits, Wallowing instead allow their music and their theming of darkened science fiction to be the true focus of their creative outlet.
With the first release in eight years, Norway’s Dødheimsgard return armed with a reputation for the abstract and the almost absurd. Formerly a more pure Black Metal act, 1999’s seminal 666 International saw the band broaden their sonic palette to incorporate a widening range of styles within their sound, often incorporated in sudden ways as opposed to fluidly throughout, with 2015’s return, A Umbra Omega, receiving plaudits and adding to their cult following.
How often can it be said when speaking of supergroups that its individual members are at the peak of their powers? The only reason it perhaps cannot be said of the members of boygenius is simply that it feels like the trio is on the ascent if anything.