When I received the news that I would cover a split between the US-based Häxanu and the Sweden-based Greve for review, I was immensely enthusiastic about it as I’ve always had high expectations of the craftsmanship of both Black Metal acts– all-round mystical, atmospheric, and heavy on belligerent blast beats. Continue reading
Hot on the heels of 2023’s excellent Nature Morte, experimental doomgazers BIG|BRAVE release their sixth full-length record, A Chaos Of Flowers (Thrill Jockey Records). Continue reading
There is a beauty in simplicity. An elegance in thought and form pervades Silent Skies’ Dormant (Napalm Records). Where life is bombastic and loud and aggressive, Tom S Englund and Vikram Shankar provide respite. Harkening back to the singer-songwriter genre of the seventies, Englund and Shankar create a landscape of the sublime. Dormant is a beautiful flight through light and love.
Forest Nocturne (Southern Lord) is the debut full-length LP from The Lord, a solo project of the ever-prolific Greg Anderson, perhaps best known for his work with Sunn O))). The press release uses words like “pictorial” and “cinematic”, and mentions the influence of film composers such as John Carpenter and Bernard Hermann. Continue reading
The contradictions of crafting an album using the very technologies and processes the band had previously railed against are but one small element of the complicated and interesting layers that make up Artificial Devices, the self-released second full-length composition of London duo Andrei Alan (guitars/bass/programming) and Chris Bevan Lee (keys/vocals/programming) collectively known as The Ever Living (I promised myself no Mumm-ra comments, but here I am in the intro… I can’t help it, every time I see the band name…).
Ghost Cult caught up with musician Tyler Cox of the solo project Wrack released his new album “Solo Gravity” this spring via King of Sticks Records. Tyler is also known for his work in other bands such as Thought Leaders, Young Lions (with Noah of Neurosis), The Mass, ex- Totimoshi, and more! We chatted about his entire career in music, his varied interests as an artist and producer, his move to the Bay Area, and much more!
One of the more leftfield collaborations of 2022 so far, see’s French electro maestro Perturbator (aka James Kent) purveyor of heavily eighties-influenced dark-wave join forces with Johannes Persson, vocalist/guitarist and principle songwriter for Swedish post-metal innovators Cult Of Luna. The collaboration first bared fruit early in 2020 as Holland’s Roadburn Festival, the legendary celebration of heavy and experimental music offered Perturbator and Johannes the opportunity to collaborate with a specially commissioned live performance.
The concept Abhorrent Expanse debut release Gateways to Resplendence (Amalgam / Lurker Bias) is indeed a fascinating one. All the tracks have been improvised, and the whole thing was performed as a continuous take. Nothing specific was discussed beforehand except for the pairings of who would play each section and how long they would last, it all being tracked by a stopwatch. The result of such a challenge is interesting if a polarized hit-and-miss affair. Continue reading
Vexier, the sophomore full-length from Switzerland’s enigmatic post-metal / doomgaze / experimental rock outfit E-L-R (Prophecy Productions), is a record that takes its time to get where it needs to. The record features five tracks spanning a total of 45 minutes; the shortest song is more than six-and-a-half minutes.
We caught up with music legend Burton C. Bell (ex Fear Factory) of Ascension of the Watchers for a new podcast, to chat all about his new album Apocrypha (Dissonance Productions). We chatted about the history of the band, the lead up to making this new album, Burton’s songwriting process, how he derives inspiration from film scores and soundtracks, his bandmates Jayce Lewis and John Bechdel (Ministry, Prong), the spiritual side to his lyrics and themes he writes from, the concept of “modern analog” and how it influenced the recording, memories of the late Paul Raven (Killing Joke/Prong), some thoughts on other projects like City of Fire and G/Z/R, and much more. Order the album here, and check out our chat.
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