This is the debut album from Sol Kia, a Belgian experimental black metal band.
Zos Ethos features a member of Neptunian Maximalism, and contains 45 minutes of experimental psychedelic black metal. Continue reading “Sol Kia – Zos Ethos (Review)”
This is the debut album from Sol Kia, a Belgian experimental black metal band.
Zos Ethos features a member of Neptunian Maximalism, and contains 45 minutes of experimental psychedelic black metal. Continue reading “Sol Kia – Zos Ethos (Review)”
Brutal Blues are a Norwegian grindcore band and this is their debut album.
I have been looking forward to hearing some more material from this band ever since 2014’s self-titled EP was unleashed. It seems like it’s been a long wait, and it has, I suppose.
Has it been worth it? Simply stated; yes it has. At least, if you’re a glutton for aural punishment. Continue reading “Brutal Blues – BB (Review)”
Igorrr is a one-man project, (with guests), and this is his fourth album.
How to describe this? It’s not easy. Well, I think I’ll just sidestep the entire issue and call it a metal album and be done with it. Then I’ll run away and hide. So, ‘metal’ loosely covers it in a general sense, I suppose, but what an injustice a simple genre tag can be.
This is an album that’s as insane as the album cover. Continue reading “Igorrr – Savage Sinusoid (Review)”
Prisoner 639 are from Belgium and play grinding powerviolence. They have teamed up for this split with Dutch sludge band Throw Me in the Crater.
Prisoner 639 get things going in a slow-burning fashion, opening up with lots of noise, distortion and feedback. Before long some drums and bass enter the fray, producing grim sludgy sounds. After a couple of minutes of this the Continue reading “Prisoner 639/Throw Me in the Crater – Split (Review)”
Brain Tentacles are an experimental/avant-garde/jazz/grind/doom metal band from the US. This is their debut album.
Experimental/avant-garde/jazz/grind/doom metal is a bit of a mouthful, and in all honesty doesn’t even properly do justice to the sounds that this album contains at any rate.
In addition to the usual drums and bass you’ll also find synth, piano and horns on this release. But no guitars. Continue reading “Brain Tentacles – Brain Tentacles (Review)”
Uboa is a solo Doom artist from Australia and this is his latest release, which comprises one track that lasts almost 23 minutes.
Holy shit. Okay, that could be my entire review, really. Holy. Shit.
I suppose I should write a bit more though, here goes.
So, it starts off with a sample, some feedback and some slowly-added in noises. Immediately an unsettling atmosphere is created which is maintained throughout in one form or another. Shudder.
Then, all of a sudden, it’s as if all Hell’s daemons are unleashed, as twisted pain-filled screams and maniacal percussion are unleashed on you in a barrage of chaotic frenzy. It’s not pretty, but it certainly is engaging.
Coming across as a depraved mix of Atomsmasher, Khanate and Venowl, Uboa effectively spends these 23 minutes creating a horror-filled semi-organic nightmarescape that defies conventional music in favour of pure mood and feeling, seemingly dredged up from the abyss.
Birthed raw as a twisted combination of sparse Doom and eclectic noise, this is surprisingly enjoyable music, although I suppose I should point out that to most people neither the words enjoyable nor music would seem to apply here. Their loss. This wall of anguished sound hits the right spot with me, and that’s all that matters.
There’s a tense undercurrent to all of this that I find quite tasty; I always like music that uses tension well and on Coma Wall there’s no let up until the final dying sounds have disappeared into oblivion. During the latter part of the track the mayhem subsides, but the tension does not, and just when you think it’s settling slowly into a dying ambience, it gets heavy, sludgy and apocalyptic.
Phew! Very nice. Or nasty. Whatever. Either way, after 23 minutes I’m raring to go and listen to this again.
For true Doom/Noise connoisseurs only; check this one out if you dare.
Convulsif are from Switzerland and this is their third album.
Well this is quite insane. Imagine Ephel Duath, Fantômas, Blut Aus Nord, Atomsmasher and Sunn 0))) all working together to bring on the apocalypse…it’s intense.
The recording is first rate, with everything sounding clear and precise, but not overly so. I especially like the bass presence, which provides a full contribution to the aural chaos.
This features eclectic Metal, freestyle Jazz and Progressive workouts as well as Drone/Doom sections, all plastered together in a melange of Blackened undertones. What to classify this as? Who knows, but it’s pretty damn good. I suppose you could loosely term it Experimental Black Metal, but Convulsif are a band that genre tags just don’t work for.
There are no guitars, which makes CD3 an even more interesting listening experience. Instead, we get drums, bass, clarinet, violins and electronica. Just what the (mad) doctor ordered.
And when you think you’ve heard it all, they do something else that makes you sit up and take notice. The unexpected, demented screaming that suddenly appears just when you’ve taken them for an instrumental band is a case in point.
This is highly creative and individual music that nonetheless manages to create coherent atmospheres across these 29 minutes. The eerie sounds and otherworldly noises emanating from this recording is a testament to the talent of the individuals involved in its birth.
CD3 just needs to be experienced. This is challenging, interesting music that demands your attention.
I love this. What’s not to love? You’ll love it too. LOVE IT!