Fen are a UK progressive black metal band and this is their fifth album.
Fen combine atmospheric, progressive and post-black metal into their beguiling music. Taking the appropriate elements of each and using them to suit their own purposes, the music on Winter is expansive and full of dark vision. Continue reading “Fen – Winter (Review)”
Into Orbit are a post-metal band from New Zealand. This is their second album.
Unearthing is just over 40 minutes long and combines post-metal/rock, progressive metal/rock, doom, drone and ambient. Continue reading “Into Orbit – Unearthing (Review)”
Riviẽre are a progressive metal band from France and this is their debut album.
This is an intriguing blend of styles that uses progressive metal as a base to launch forays into post-rock, post-hardcore and alternative metal.
As you may be able to ascertain from Continue reading “Riviẽre – Heal (Review)”
[::] are an instrumental post-metal band from Poland. This is their debut album.
Pronounced 4 Dots, the band features an ex-member of the mighty Obscure Sphinx, which immediately made me keen to find out what they had to offer on this release.
The album reveals itself Continue reading “[::]/4 Dots – Aux::in (Review)”
This is the debut album by post-metal band Nebulae Come Sweet from Belarus.
Although the band itself consists of three core members, on their debut album they’re joined by a wealth of additional musicians and vocalists, (programming, cello, saxophone, pipe, percussion, synthesizer, violin, choir), as well as guests from Minsk and Moloken. As you might imagine, this allows for a lot of scope and on It Is Not the Night That Covers You they take advantage of this to the fullest. Continue reading “Nebulae Come Sweet – It Is Not the Night That Covers You (Review)”
Arcade Messiah is a one-man progressive metal project from Ireland. This is his third album.
Although there are some vocals on this release, it’s mainly instrumental, with the man behind the band making sure that the music has the starring role.
The songs are the kind of modern, progressive Continue reading “Arcade Messiah – III (Review)”
This is the latest EP from US post-metal band A Province of Thay.
According to the promo blurb – “This album is an amazing blend of doom and goth rock that takes the melodies of The Cure and combines them with heavy metal, into a unique whole.” Now, I don’t always put a Continue reading “A Province of Thay – Atonement (Review)”
Russian Circles are an instrumental post-rock/metal band from the US. This is their sixth album.
Russian Circles are a band who have produced some thoroughly enjoyable albums over the years, ones that I regularly return to. Instrumental bands like this frequently leave me cold, as I all-too-often feel that something is missing Continue reading “Russian Circles – Guidance (Review)”
This is the début album from this Swiss post-hardcore/sludge band.
There are only two tracks on this release, but lasting 39 minutes in total there’s more than enough content to keep people happy. Although, as we’ll see, happiness might not be the best term used in conjunction with the music on here.
So what do we have here, then? Rue des Cascades play music that combines ambient/post-rock quietness with louder post-hardcore/sludge sections. This is quite atypically done, though, and isn’t a case of simply juxtaposing clean/distorted or Continue reading “Rue des Cascades – Odes to Love, Flames to Paris (Review)”
This is the third album from Romanian instrumental Post-Metal band Valerinne.
Treading the same stylistic landscape as bands like Pelican and Russian Circles, Valerinne offer up 63 minutes of long, epic tracks that take the listener on a journey in sound and the many ways that it can be used to evoke certain feelings.
Post-Metal and Post-Rock are rightly known for bright, resplendent guitar melodies, shooting out of, (usually), darker music to create multi-faceted and rich compositions that aim to strike a chord with the listener. The music on Monumenta certainly meets that goal and these five songs have more than enough meaningful content to satisfy.
The guitars aren’t the only star of the show though, as not only is there an extremely solid rhythm section providing a firm backbone to the tracks, but added synths also make appearances, subtly enhancing the musical soundscapes and adding value whenever and wherever they’re used.
Deftly utilising the Post-Metal/Post-Rock tried-and-tested build/release mechanic, these tracks take their time exploring the various sounds and feelings of the world they find themselves in, building to crescendo before moving off in into other areas, repeatedly, as the nuances of the songs demand. These are frequently slow and gradual shifts, with the music having a glacial, unhurried feel, despite the sometimes upbeat drums and rhythms.
Albums like this are effortless to enjoy; it’s very easy to just put them on and slip out of the everyday world, getting lost in the exotic and enticing soundscapes created by a talented group such as Valerinne. Press play on this album and this is precisely what happens.
Sit back, take it all in and savour.
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