ALBUM REVIEW: Big|Brave – Nature Morte


 

Big|Brave, along with recent collaborators The Body (on Leaving None But Small Birds), Sunn O))) and Earth, are one of those bands whose music while fundamentally heavy and ‘Metal’ (for all intents and purposes) nonetheless expands far beyond the sometimes self-imposed conservative restrictions of the genre. Being a somewhat inactive member of a Metal group on Facebook, I am all too familiar with the more traditional brand of Metalhead for whom the genre stopped being ‘true’ after Iron Maiden‘s Somewhere In Time or Metallica‘s …And Justice For All. If you are of that ilk therefore, I have a sneaking suspicion that this album possibly won’t be for you. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Bosco Sacro – Gem


 

Gem (Avantgarde Music) is the debut album from Italy’s Bosco Sacro, a band formed in 2020 by seasoned contributors to the Italian and European underground heavy music scene. 

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Earth Releases a New Album – “Even Hell Has Its Heroes (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)”


 

Doom/Drone Metal innovators Earth have released a new album for New Year’s Day. Even Hell Has Its Heroes (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), from the forthcoming movie of the same name, is out now and streaming via Bandcamp. The vinyl edition was successfully crowdfunded by the fans and is sold out, but CD and limited cassette versions are available. The album contains 16 tracks and 63 minutes of new music, with artwork by Richey Beckett. Engineered and mastered by Mell Dettmer. Additional musicians on the album include Steve Moore, Don McGreevy, Bill Herzog, Lori Goldston, and Dettmer. Purchase and stream the album now! 

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Boris, Pelican, Nothing, Pianos Become the Teeth, Junius, and More Booked for Post. Fest


 

Indianapolis post-rock festival Post. Festival has announced its 2022 dates and lineup. As always, Post. Festival seeks to bring together both musicians and fans of post-adjacent genres without the aid of commercial status.” This year’s line-up includes: Boris, Pelican, Nothing, Pianos Become the Teeth, Junius, Arms and Sleepers, Coastlands, I Hear Sirens, Facs, Glassing, Pillars, Fayle, Colin Phils, Glacier, Brave Arrows, Black Flak and The Nightmare Fighters, & Onus.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Darkher – The Buried Storm


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. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Tome of the Unreplenished – Earthbound


 Atmospheric black metal project Tome of the Unreplenished have upped the ante on Earthbound (Avantgarde), the band’s forthcoming album. After laying the groundwork on a few initial releases, multi-instrumentalist Hermes brought in a full-band for 2017’s Theurgy – Act I. A departure from the more musically straightforward debut, 2015’s Innerstanding (both I, Voidhanger), the first “full-band” release, probably alienated some listeners. If you aren’t open to noise and industrial experimentation (think more Throbbing Gristle than Nine Inch Nails) you may want to leave that one alone. The latest release is far more in keeping musically with the debut record and it’s a satisfying forty-six minutes of riffing and atmospherics. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Oceansnow – Vivienne


Following on from dropping their debut EP Celestial Towers Of Silver Ash in 2021, Vivienne is the follow up release from Oceansnow, having signed with Italy’s Avantgarde Music a label specialising in quality black and doom metal in all their forms, with recent notable releases from the likes of A Pale December and Noircure, and a stable which also includes Abigor and Violet ColdContinue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: BIG | BRAVE – Vital


The role of mythology is to inspire both individual and collective growth through storytelling. Myths do that by making sense of the world. Vital (Southern Lord) by BIG | BRAVE is a mythical-sounding album that does just that. Of the colossal yet intimate Vital, the Doom-Sludge trio from Montreal featuring Robin Wattie, Mathieu Ball, and Tasy Hudson says, “This album involves what it means navigating the outside world in a racialized body and what it does to the psyche as a whole while exploring individual worth within this reality.” Vital tells a story through sound that makes sense of the modern world, prompting growth for those who listen. 

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EXCLUSIVE STREAM: Chalk Portraits – “Memory III”


When we last brought you news of Chalk Portraits, the ambient music instrumental project from New Jersey musician Greg Kennelty, we shared the full EP stream of his debut, No Visibility. Now returning with a new release, Memory, we hear the sound evolving in a more cinematic style.  Listen to “Memory III” now!

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