One of the many things I love about being a music journalist is the never-ending stream of new music that comes my way on any given day. Sometimes it’s good stuff, sometimes it’s terrible, and sometimes it’s “where have you been all my life?” The last one is how I felt after just one listen to Kariti’s latest album, Still Life (Lay Bare Recordings).Continue reading
For Alice Ronzini (better known as Ailise Blake in her current musical guise) the visual component of her art is no incidental afterthought. Indeed the cover photo of her latest record Soave (These Hands Melt), with Blake sitting on a wooden frame, her face obscured, grass and trees around her, very well captures the mysterious, paganistic atmosphere of the music contained within. Continue reading
Marissa Nadler’s 10th album, New Radiations (Sacred Bones Records), finds her stripping down to a more minimalist yet cinematic feel. It feels spacious, yep, with an intimate yearning. Her vocals are produced in a similar reverb-heavy manner. Her approach to vocals continues to expand the well-layered vocal harmonies. The harmonies are more prominent in the mix time, adding more depth in the absence of more Rock-oriented instrumentation. Continue reading
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
Eye is the new project of MWWB (formerly Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard) frontwoman Jessica Ball and Dark Light marks its debut following MWWB’s 2022 album The Harvest. Joining Ball in her latest venture are keyboardist Jonny and Drummer Gid Goundrey (Gulp/Ghostlawns/Martin Carr). Continue reading
On Troll (By Norse Music) Drott draws from Scandinavian folklore to create a soundtrack for the listener to inhabit a dank, murky forest, with the eponymous troll close enough that you can smell it, delivered via dark, slightly campy electronic rock soundscapes that would feel totally in place in a (not too scary) fantasy/ horror movie. Continue reading
There is a rich tradition of Doom musicians releasing stripped-back acoustic affairs as the likes of Scott Weinrich, Tony Reed, and Mike Scheidt can attest to. Windhand‘s Dorthia Cottrell is no exception and Death Folk Country (Relapse Records) marks her second solo effort to date following a self-titled debut in 2015.
There’s a slow, mournful funeral march coming through the mists, on a still silent plain, on The Buried Storm (Prophecy Productions), the latest release by Darkher. Led by multi-instrumentalist Jayn Maiven, the album at times bears a resemblance to Neurosis or Triptykon at their most quiet and reflective. With each song centred around the vocal layering of Maiven, the instrumentation often stripped to cello and violin backing, it’s an evocative and understated musical landscape. Often bringing to mind Bat For Lashes, one that sings her siren song with a doom folk backing, this is soothing music for people who like it dark.
It is easy to forget that Forever Blue is the debut album from AA Williams, such is the level of status she has already acquired since first taking to the stage only last year. In the meantime, she has garnered a huge amount of critical acclaim, released a self-titled EP, and collaborated with Mono before releasing Forever Blue.