Thursday 28 March 2013

The Tragedy We Live In - ST

my fellow countrymen of The Tragedy We Live In are a Belgian post-something band (fill in the post as you like) and have seen themselves fit for releasing their unfurnished self titled album into global existence. Defining their genre as 'post-something' might seem like an affront to the band in their efforts to sound unique, but this is not the case here.

In their efforts they succeed in a number of things but the most notable is to provide listeners with a clear musical contrast between beauty and decay, shining through in their music by fluently alternating melancholic landscapes with noise ridden slabs of post-metal. Unlike many post-something bands though they don't conform to the 'buildup to climax' template that has defined slow heavy music from the beginning, they opt for the Neurosis approach and keep on teasing their listeners with misplaced constructs that in the end makes for an uneasy product. In this i have to admit that the implementation could be better, the parts that are meant to surprisingly deliver the punch are bleak and barely make the cut.
 
all in all this band delivers a very interesting debut album, particularly the gloomy post-rock segments are surely up to standard. I'm certain that plenty of touring experience and more musical input will have a positive affect on following releases, i am looking forward to reviewing their next one.




Tuesday 26 March 2013

Kawloon Walled City - Containers

Kowloon Walled City make for a dynamic sludge band, with smooth sounding vocals, but terribly harsh riffing. They released their most recent album Containers in december 2012. In my eyes there is still room for progression but all in all the album excels in it's straightforward approach to a couple of closely related genres.


Wednesday 20 March 2013

Inter Arma - Sky Burial

'Inter Arma' have recently released a new full album called 'Sky Burial' under the lengendary 'Relapse Records' (home of a fantastic array of great bands like: Red Fang, Minsk, Pig Destroyer, Hooded Menace, Cough, Buzzov*en and many many more).

with this new album 'Inter Arma' have managed to cook up a unique musical contraption, slithering fluently through all of the darker metal genres to create something that is entirely their own. They do not shy away from slow droning swells as well as fast paced black metal surges, in this they're not unique (just think of bands like 'Dragged Into Sunlight') but what does is their compulsory need to keep rejuvenating successive songs by adding all kinds of atmospheric subtilty's in the vein of (i'm assuming) they're greatest example, Neurosis.

Not only does the album stem from an undoubtedly brilliant set of individuals, so does the the recording quality originate from a very tedious eye for perfection, a perfection that will undeniably resonate through the years to come.

Monday 18 March 2013

Trix Presents

The trix venue in Antwerp Belgium has proven a haven for belgian doom and stoner fans for many years now, by announcing bands like Sleep, Harvey Milk, Colour Haze, Electric Wizard, My sleeping Karma and many others in the past few years, they have fortified their reputation in the Belgian stoner/doom scene and considering recent developments they seem to be persistent in their intentions.

One of these recent developments is a small mini 'fuzzfest' with the spacejammers of 'Endless Boogie', the psychedelic soundscapes of 'The Cosmic Dead' and my two favorite bands of the evening: 'Elder' and 'Process of Guilt' (Maybe it isn't a coincidence that they're both featured on the Roadburn Line-up)

Elder play an enticing mixture of Stoner, Doom and Heavy Metal employing brutally fuzzy riffing with an intelligent twist. They're most recent full album 'dead roots stirring' ranks as one of my top favorites if 2011 and i am increasingly nourishing the impression that i'm not the only who's thoroughly infatuated with this band.

Process Of Guilt are of a different breed, they have been compared to bands like Neurosis and Godflesh, but in my experience the influence from the former (Neurosis) is far more present.


Moving on to the second development i intend to cover i have to point out that the Trix venue has a lot more good evenings in store for us, just think of 'Ufomammut' and 'Swans'.


Another concert that imprisoned my attention was this announcement for an evening with 'Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats', 'Wolf People' and 'Master Musicians of Bukkake'.

'Uncle Acid And the Deadbeats' (Also featured on Roadburn, damn what a festival) play occult traditional doom in a very authentic fashion, really old-school but at the same time a reinvention of the doom genre.

'Wolf People' are known for they're earfriendly blend of Neo-Psychedelica and Folk Rock, i saw them live 2 years ago and they never lost my attention since.

But the absolute highlight of the evening must be the obscure wizards of 'Master Musicians of Bukkake' (what a name) With their alienating mix of genres (Folk, Psychedlica, Drone, Black Metal and many more) and presenting members from Earth, Burning Witch, Grails, Asva and the Accüsed. This band can't be incorporated in mere http formatted text, just listen, be dazzled and travel to Antwerp on the first of june.

Sunday 17 March 2013

Roadburn Interviews

Apparently the kind people at roadburn have graced with a series of interesting interviews,
really worth checking out.


INterview with Mike Scheidt from Yob.





Interview with Matt Pike





Interview with Internal Void.



INterview with 'Valient' from Valient Thorr.

Wednesday 13 March 2013

The Howling Void - Runa

The Howling Wind is a one-man funeral doom band from San Antonio, and for those who've been regularly catching up on this blog should know that this is another project from 'Ryan' who also impressed the shit out of me with Tethered to A Dying Animal. In the post i did on TTADA i had this to say:

"I'm really looking forward to see (or preferably 'hear' ) what this guy has in store for us in the future."

And apparently this time has come with a new Ep called Runa. The first thing that's strikingly clear to me is that the focus here is making dark ethereal music, music fit to mourn and act as a celebration of sorrow. I believe The Howling Void succeeds flawlessly at what it set out to achieve, delivering a utopian swell of melancholic surges bolstered with exemplary guitar and drum techniques.

I also like that the entire ep reminds me of 'Ruins of Beverast', which in my opinion is a band that delivers the most organic blend of funeral doom, black metal and folk. The Howling Void could still learn a thing or two from Alexander Von Meilenwald's lavish compositions, but i feel that greater things are still in store for this project and all of Ryan's brainchilds.

Bandcamp
Metallum




Monday 11 March 2013

Salem's Pot - Watch Me Kill You/Run the Night

Salem's pot (sweden) reigned down on the world in 2012 with their debut album Sweeden and have been repeatedly hailed on various metal blogs from all over the world. They have recently released another demo called 'Watch Me Kill You/Run the Night' which is obviously another release of only 2 songs. Salem's Pot plays lengthy occult doom in the vein of Saturnalia temple and Windhand, putting the emphasis on slow decomposing riffs and eerie wallowing vocals. To sum up: an immensely valuable addition to the doom scene.

Thursday 7 March 2013

Major Kong - Sequoia

For those who aren't familiar with the band, here's a small bio from their Bandcamp:

Instrumental doom metal trio from Lublin, Poland. They began their journey in late 2010, initially as a project alongside their parent band – Fifty Foot Woman. After a couple of months they recoded 4 track EP “Orogeneis” and began serving their slow guitar hypnosis live. Currently they’re looking for label to release "Doom for the Black Sun" - their debut album made in 2012.

To me Major Kong's one of those bands that's neither Stoner/Doom nor Stoner, and could be defined as swirlingly meandering between both genres. At times sounding like your average Stoner/Doom band but then again not shying away from lengthy psychedelic jams and frantic soloing. The thing that stands out though is the relentless pace at which they overwhelm you with their crushing and pounding riffs, like a doom marathon. These characteristics are undoubtedly portrayed on their latest full length album Doom for the Black Sun but about a month ago they also released a single song called 'Sequoia' as a remnant of the recordings of the latter album. This song again further fastens them into their niche of a genre, thus defining them as one the most unavoidable bands of 2012.


Tuesday 5 March 2013

Rorcal - Vilagvege

I've been anticipating the release of this album for quite some time now, because there's only a couple of bands that portray this aggressive blend of Black Metal, Post Hardcore, and Doom, in my experience the 2 most profound and well known purveyors of this atomic blend of genres are Celeste (One of my favorite metal bands, especially after seeing them live) and Shora. (If there's any others, don't hesitate to comment).

Rorcal (Switzerland) distinguishes itself from these other bands in a couple of ways. The main thing to note are the vocals, rather then originating from Post Hardcore or Doom the vocals are purely black metal inspired (with maybe a hint of Post Metal), and when i mention it i have to say that the overall sound also tends to lean towards the blackest of metals, with sudden sweeps of melodic tremolo picking that would remind any black metal connaisseur of Burzum or more modern black metal artists like Ash Borer or maybe even Wolves in the Throne Room.

Aside from these minor differences Rorcal is still unlike any other ordinary black metal band, implementing overtly aggressive riffs and combining them with odd time signatures and atonal melodics, and to create a more energetic album the songs are sproradically separated by intermezzo's of classical music. Impressive album, Impressive band.


Bandcamp

Sunday 3 March 2013

Lonely Walk - V.I.H.S.

New Wave is not dead! well actually it is a dead genre, but when listening to this new release by Lonely Walk (Bordeaux, France) i briefly felt like New Wave was alive still, commanding millions of people all over the world to dance ecstatically to the spirit-lifting beats and sequences or to bend their backs and wallow in the eerie darkness of some of the world's most depressive musical compositions. Being a torrid New Wave enthusiast i always enjoy finding parcels of New Wave influences in modern music, but this band denotes almost all standard modern music elements in an attempt to create a fluent and seemingly flawless continuation of the genre.

the one song that's available reminds me of electronic new wave bands like Fad Gadget (actually not a band but a one-man project fronted by the legendary Frank Tovey), Neon Judgement, Men Without Hats, Cabaret Voltaire and of course early New Order. After listening to their back catalogue i've found that this list of references extends. At moments they tend to sound a bit like Throbbing Gristle or Young Gods and at the other (in the rare instances that guitars are employed) they sound like what New Order would have sounded like now if they didn't opt for making pop music, they also sound a bit like a more synth-orientated Horrors.

I've listened to the new song over and over, even whilst writing this entry and i'm still baffled at what i've stumbled upon. I will certainly be checking regularly for any new developments regarding the release of the album but in the meantime i'll just keep listening to this song over and over until my mind implodes.

Update:

Apparently only 2 days after my original post they placed the entire album online, available as a digital album or as a mail-order lp. The album has been demanding a lot of time from me, i've given it a couple of spins and i'm truly satisfied with the entire listening experience. for me the highlights of the album are:  'Halloween Sixteen' (The song that made me notice the band in the first place), 'Talking to you' (Reminds me of the Smiths, don't ask me why), 'People Run' (probably the best song off the album, and surprisingly radio-friendly) and 'We need a Miracle' (Gary Numan written all over it).

It would advise anyone to give this album your undivided attention for about an half hour, and if you enjoy it don't hesitate to buy the album and support the band, they deserve it.

Bandcamp
Facebook