As the mastermind behind the sadly missed Dodecahedron, future works of Michel Nienhuis were always going to challenge conventions. This was certainly the case with Autarkh’s debut Form In Motion which was as abrasive as it was innovative in its execution. So, in perhaps expected fashion, a new album feels markedly different to its predecessor with sophomore release Emergent (Season Of Mist), if not proving any less progressive and captivating.
If the sea had teeth what would they look like? (You’ve probably never wondered). If you have asked yourself such a question, you’ll likely have to keep pondering. As to what they would sound like, well Sam Barton, Mike Bourne and Jimmy Martin, known collectively as Teeth of the Sea, have been providing an answer to that question since their first record (2009’s Orphaned by the Ocean). Hive (Rocket Recordings) is the group’s sixth full-length release.
The hope for a band to “return to their roots” is a phrase that has been thrown around so much in modern music, it has begun to lose its meaning. As with the roots of a tree, a band’s roots are always there, securing the foundation of their sound, no matter how many different directions it may branch out into.
Despite the mystique around the band itself (with the identity of the members largely unknown), musically The Netherland’s An Autumn For Crippled Children have been consistent and mostly familiar. Across the span of ten full-length albums, their sound has hardly deviated at all but has shown signs of refinement in the past, with their brand of post-Rock and shoegaze-tinged Black Metal being both despairing and simultaneously almost comforting with the consistency.Continue reading
Instrumental metal act Huelga is the brainchild of artist/activist and jazz multi-instrumentalist Michael Fonseca of Austin, TX. Huelga is bringing the release of his debut EP next month, promising to rewrite the book on progressive metal. Huelga, mixed by Mick Kenny of Anaal Nathrahk, will be released in digital and cassette format on April 5th, 2019. Inspired by modern composers Charles Ives, Frank Zappa, and Elliot Carter, as well as the Chicano Movement and the current political tensions that have come to a boil on the Texas/Mexico border, Huelga is making an emphatic statement musically and politically. Check out the new single ‘Chinga de Perro’ right here at Ghost Cult! Continue reading
Having your LP go past the hour mark can be pretty daring these days, so to reach past 70 minutes must be the sign of great confidence and greater creative output. Primarily the musical vision of the multi-talented Justin Greaves, Crippled Black Phoenix, particularly on Great Escape (Season of Mist) doesn’t much care for traditional songwriting or popular convention. What you’ll find here is an assembly of amplified guitars, pulsing electronics, whispery vocals and somber beats.Continue reading
Terminal (Southern Lord) is Circle’s thirty-second album, not counting sixteen live albums and three soundtracks (!). To say they are constantly putting out new material is an understatement.Continue reading
Normally, when a press release boasts that no samples were used on an album, we can infer two things about the band in question: firstly that they’re trapped in a time-loop that extends no later than 1994 and secondly that they play some kind of raw, sloppy Punk/Metal that no-one would imagine for a second used samples. For the first time in the history of music, however, there is actually a point to declaring that – if you go in to Igorrr’s kitchen-sink onslaught of Metal, dance, Balkan music, 8-bit synths and whatever else solo permanent member Gautier Selle feels like chucking in, you could be forgiven for thinking that samples play a heavy role. They certainly used to, but in the decade-plus since the first Igorrr demo was released, Selle has gradually built up both his own musical ability and his circle of connections and collaborators, until every sound on Savage Sinusoid (Metal Blade) was created specifically for the album.Continue reading
Since their inception in 2010, Dynfari have proven to be a true, unearthed gem for forward thinking metal; and yet another entity in Iceland’s thriving and rich Extreme Metal scene. Continuously showing evolutionary steps across their early albums, 2015’s Vegferð Tímans (Code666) was at the time their creative zenith, bridging atmospheric Black Metal with post-Rock and ambient landscapes to stunning effect. On latest album The Four Doors Of The Mind (Code666/Aural), this duo have majorly upped the ante both in musical execution and in subject matter.Continue reading
The word “experimental” is a double-edged sword. For some it classifies anything veering from the typical form people are used to. Thus it renders whatever it is; be it medicine or art, undigestable to safer minds. To others the word conjures a magical playground where truly anything is possible. When foisted upon artists, such as guitarist/vocalist Ron Varod (Kayo Dot) and his solo outlet Zvi, we get the latter. Arriving in 2014 Zvi I challenged the listener to feel a piece of music on Varod’s terms. His new release II: Death Stops Us All (Halfpear Records) is no less of an emotional tug of war for the senses.
Composed of just three pieces, Zvi:II differs from its sister release in some ways.’You’ve Charmed Me, I Will Stay’ begins with a swelling guitar repeated like waves with other instrumentation flowing in. The layers of harmony vocals in the background suck in your attention. While the plucked guitars parts are calming, there is a unease that sets the table for what is to come.
‘Black Leaves’ (featuring Alan Dubin of Khanate and Gnaw on vocals) begins with more unsettling bassy notes. They soon stop and the song takes shape with Varod crooning forlornly at first. Moody strangeness pervades the track with, but never confusing you. Finally, a familiar harrowing shriek from Dubin fades in and out from the mix over and over. Jarring stabbing chords, detuning strings along with underlying keyboards flood in, giving a feeling of sonic vertigo. Ending with a mantra type singing wail, some malicious whispering, and other oddities from beyond, we glide into the final track.
We again meet Varod and his voice to some off-kilter balladry and guitar, with a motif close to the first track. What ‘Whale Bone Cage’ does is beckon you to come down from the anguish and recover. A final strum of an open chord seems to breathe out a phrase….. rest.
A release like this can only come from vision of a person without bounds as a writer. Matching Varod’s work are the talents of engineer Colin Marston (Gorguts/Kralice) and James Plotkin (Khanate) to engineer. The only shame of these releases is they are too brief, and leave you lusting for more.
8.0/10