The first full-length studio release from Trøndelag Folk act Gåte since they represented their country at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, Sigil (Season of Mist) finds the band in familiar territory, drawing on ancient Norwegian myths, stories, and legends.
Greek heavy rockers (for that’s what the press release dubs them) Villagers of Ioannina City deliver a ten-minute journey (I’d have said “Odyssey” but come on, even I’ve got standards) of epic breadth, from the gentle Folk guitar opener, to swooping Heavy Metal with enough distortion to run for office as the opening song to Venceremos (Napalm Records). The only really important other thing the press kit gave me was “folk”. Really important, like, “pretty much every track is infused with generalized Folk Rock during the slow moments” important. I like the mix. Even the occasional use of hurdy-gurdy feels more “tonal landscape” than “folk.” Continue reading
Far was one of the most underrated bands of the 90s, so this is the ghost that will forever haunt the solo work of Jonah Matranga, the band’s former singer. With Onelinedrawing’s new album RAINBOWMACHINE (Iodine Recordings), it is still hard not to gravitate towards the moments that sound like his old band. Is this fair? No, but life is not fair, and he raised the bar for himself so high with Far that it’s hard to give his other work much of a chance. Let’s try and listen to this objectively. Continue reading