If a single band were to personify avant-garde, Mamaleek have made as valiant a case as any for that honor. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Experimental metal
ALBUM REVIEW: Piah Mater – Under The Shadow Of A Foreign Sun
The answer to the question “What if Opeth were Brazilian and even more progressive?”, Rio de Janeiro act Piah Mater return after a six-year absence with the genre-bending Under The Shadow Of A Foreign Sun (Code666 Records).Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Kollapse – AR
The newest offering from Kollapse is by no means something that should be consumed whilst in a distraught headspace. AR (Fysisk Format Records) is as much an introspection as it is a complex collection of seven Noise Rock, Sludge, and experimental tracks from the Danish trio. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Thy Catafalque – Alföld
Since their formation in 1998 Hungary’s Thy Catafalque have been releasing category-defying experimental metal records to an ever-growing fanbase. In 2011 the band effectively became the solo project of songwriter Tamás Kátai, who provides guitar, bass, keyboards, programming, and vocals and now makes use of various guest musicians on each release.
ALBUM REVIEW: Portal – Avow
It lies deep within the cold vastness of space. A distant, inhospitable land that exists at the farthest reaches of an unforgiving, lonely planet. Cast adrift and surrounded by an ocean of venomous, fanged, and tentacled monstrosities lies an island of such unimaginable manifestations of horror that madness and fear await every nervous footstep with eager, slurping lust. Crawling, slithering, scuttling, swimming, hiding. It waits.
Australia.
REVIEW: Devin Townsend – Order of Magnitude: Empath Live Volume 1
Devin Townsend is a music extraordinaire who is well-known for his many different and successful projects that he has participated in over the last 25 years or so. Whether it be Strapping Young Lad or Devin Townsend Project the man has always thrown his heart into it. He is a Canadian machine that expertly and consistently generates epic-scale music in many diverse forms. Last year he released his latest solo album, Empath (InsideOut Music). He took his essence to a new level of eccentricity with a masterful embodiment of bonkers meets serene. Many cling to the wilds that is Dev for his honest presentation, whether that be in Jazz, Metal, or whatever genre he chooses to express himself with. His devotees gather in the masses at his shows for a guaranteed excellent and entertaining performance. Last December he brought his uncommon magic to England and much like his actual works, the presentation was a little unconventional. Dev is about to release his new live album, Order of Magnitude: Empath Live Volume 1 (InsideOut Music) documenting that European tour. It will be released as a limited deluxe 2CD/Blu-Ray/DVD artbook package, a limited 2CD+DVD digipak, gatefold 3LP+2CD vinyl box set, and more.
Periphery – Periphery IV: Hail Stan
Periphery has come a long way. From humble origins that saw them credited for the rejuvenation of the Progressive Metal as a genre, to continually pushing creative boundaries with each release, their newest effort Periphery IV: Hail Stan (3DOT) continues the upward musical trajectory of the band.Continue reading
Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales, To Mega Therion, Into The Pandemonium, Vanity/Nemesis, Innocence & Wrath REISSUES
While most Thrash fans during the ’80s were concentrating on the burgeoning scenes in the US, Germany, and to a lesser extent, the UK, bands from a number of other, slightly less fashionable, countries were also getting in on the act. Sepultura were a first glimpse of Brazilian Thrash, Canada gave us Annihilator, Razor, and Voivod, Australian act Mortal Sin looked set to make it big for a while, while the terminally underrated Artillery arrived from Denmark.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Eight Bells- Landless
Eight Bells release their sophomore album Landless (Battleground Records/Tartarus Records) in time for Valentine’s Day and it is one that fans are sure to love. It is available in three different forms—vinyl, digital, and tape—to reach the maximum amount of music fans. As their nautical name alludes to, they are prepared to create great experimental metal no matter how stormy the seas.
The Meads of Asphodel / Tjolgtjar – Taste of Divine Wrath
The Meads of Asphodel are no strangers to split LPs, nor is Tjolgtjar for that matter, but this is the first time the pair team up for a co-creation. The result is Taste of Divine Wrath (Eternal Death).
The Meads of Asphodel has one of the best song titles I have seen in a while: ‘An Ebullient Prelude to a Loathsomely Grim End’. This short intro has a high level of bombast and the promised ebullience with its orchestra and choir, and gives way to the sufficiently grim ‘Chidiock Tichborne’. This song is very high paced and strange. The lyrics “High treason, hung, drawn, and quartered,” really impart the loathsomely grim end that was referred to in the previous title. The grunts are slow when compared to the music, and this contrast, together with the variation in styles of grunt, makes the song interesting.
Then follows an utterly bewildering cover of ‘You Got the Love’, called ‘You’ve Got the Hate’. It is mystifying and confusing, but actually quite good.
The penultimate song on the A-side is about Balthasar Gérard, the infamous murderer of William I of Orange who was gruesomely executed for his deed. This song details the execution and questions the value of the assassination. The music is rather atmospheric and beautiful, with acoustic guitars and synths, and contrasts rather poignantly with the subject of the lyrics. The atmospheric style continues into the final song ‘Infidel’, but this also contains some of the musical brutality of ‘Chidiock Tickborne’.
The B side of the split is Tjolgtjar, a one-man project in a genre known as “Black’n’Roll.” The first song, entitled ‘The 5th Mass & Her Works’ is a bit of a cut and paste of a mind-boggling mixture of Psychedelic oriented Rock’n’Roll with sections of Black noise. The next song, ‘Near You Always’, is far more balanced, having mostly a base of Psychedelica with a topping of Black rather than the rapidly altering sections of the previous song. I was rather pleased with the sounds of an actual goat in ‘A Goat in the Woods’, which is an instrumental song firmly entrenched in Psychedelic territory. The main guitar riff for ‘Winter Research’ is brilliant and catchy. The voice-overs at the start, middle, and end of this side make this a strange collection, however, the alien manifesto and satanic cults do make for very interesting listening.
With songs well put together; if you are interested in the strange and experimental sides of black metal, this split album might just broaden your horizons.
7.5/10
The Meads of Asphodel on Facebook
LORRAINE LYSEN