Sometimes an album cover can give a very descriptive sense of the music contained within. Traverse the Bealach (Avantgarde Records), the second album by multi-instrumentalist Tony Dunn (under the name Sgàile) portrays a solitary figure, gazing out over a stormy landscape.
Is danger on the horizon? Is there a treacherous journey ahead? Continue reading
Following their return from hiatus in 2014, much to the delight of a sharp, in-the-know fanbase, Norway’s In The Woods… showed a glorious return to form with 2016’s Pure (Debemur Morti), an album that wasn’t a re-treading of past glories, but an alternate and matured direction for the band that highlighted their esoteric nature. Ever the shape-shifters, latest release Cease The Day (Debemur Morti) sees further subtle alterations, in what is their most commercially ambitious and accessible (within reason) to date.Continue reading
Over the course of, up until now, nine studio albums Norwegian band Gazpacho have resided in a musical plane entirely of their own, and have consistently shown to be one of most captivating and spellbinding bands of today as a result. Trying to define their sound or vision aside from describing them as an art/avant-garde rock outfit is near impossible with each passing release giving different movements and colours; what is usually a definite however is that the music will be densely packed, complex and often shows an embrace for the dark and melancholic; either vividly or perhaps beneath the surface. Continue reading