In 2020, Canadian Post / Avantgarde Black Metal collective Respire, released their memorable third album Black Line. A record with a spin on the genre that stood out as the works of a band who were comfortable in pushing the boundaries of what was possible with the Black Metal sound. Hiraeth now follows, four years in the making and diving deeper into the use of experimentation, with grand orchestral arrangements creating a sound that owes as much inspiration to the likes of their fellow countrymen Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as it does classic Black Metal bands such as, well Emperor.Continue reading
Tag Archives: folk
ALBUM REVIEW: Perchta – D’Muata
Hailing from Tyrol, Austria, Perchta have exited since 2017 and are now releasing their second album, D’Muata (Prophecy Productions). Named after a goddess of Alpine Austrian paganism and led by Frau Percht, the band seek to marry a feminist perspective with folk-inspired black metal, whilst also focusing on the regional traditions of Tyrol. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: BIG|BRAVE – A Chaos Of Flowers
Hot on the heels of 2023’s excellent Nature Morte, experimental doomgazers BIG|BRAVE release their sixth full-length record, A Chaos Of Flowers (Thrill Jockey Records). Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: New Model Army – Unbroken
Not unlike their Parliamentarian namesakes, Bradford’s New Model Army have tenaciously hung on to their libertarian left-wing hopes of a new “utopian” society, fusing Punk, Folk, and their own twisted brand of progressive Pop along the way.
The band’s latest full length, Unbroken (earMUSIC) marks their forty-fourth year, and this record brings exactly the experience fans of the band will be looking for.
ALBUM REVIEW: Ryujin – Ryujin
The new year is off to a good start because Ryujin’s shining new self-titled album Ryujin (Napalm Records) is about to be released. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Bjørkø – Heartrot
Tomi Koivusaari is known for being one of the founding members of the masterful metal act, Amorphis. He has been a champion in one of Finland’s most acclaimed bands for over thirty years and he is now getting ready to release an album from his debut solo project: Bjørkø.Continue reading
INTERVIEW: Rebecca Vernon of The Keening (ex Subrosa) Breaks Down Her Debut Album “Little Bird”
Keefy caught up with Rebecca Vernon from The Keening. Her debut album “Little Bird” is out now via Relapse Records , and she shares with us life after SubRosa, writing new music, working through the creative process in a new way, coping with the new DIY artist realities after the last few years, and much more.
ALBUM REVIEW: Rival Sons – Lightbringer
You wait four years for a Rival Sons album and, just like buses, two come along at once. Lightbringer (Atlantic Records) is the new record from the Californian quartet, following on from companion piece Darkfighter which came out in June this year. With the everpresent Dave Cobb behind the desk, their eighth album is a compact six track offering that mixes their classic, fuzzed up Rock N Roll with atmospheric Folk and acoustic elements to great effect.
ALBUM REVIEW: Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter – SAVED!
Kristin Hayter is perhaps better known by her erstwhile pseudonym Lingua Ignota, under which moniker she has released several albums that combine dark experimentalism with the influence of classical and folk music. Stating that it is “not healthy for [her] to relive [her] worst experiences over and over” through the music of her previous project, she has now recast herself as Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter, under which name her new album SAVED! (Perpetual Flame Ministries) arrives.
ALBUM REVIEW: The Menzingers – Some Of It Was True
When a band captures a perfect creative moment like The Menzingers did with their sixth album 2019’s Hello Exile, they find themselves in a position of having to measure up to it. While Hello Exile was a creative high mark met with deserved praise from music critics such as myself, its success in terms of dollars and cents was relative as it hit 89 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts.