while this Blog has been silent for long, i’d still like to give a heads up that im starting a video channel for music reviews and related topics
here is the first video about what i consider a kinda underrated piece of norwegian black metal history that got a recent vinyl repring. go check it out
Dungeon Synth Gems #2 / Vorvadoss – A Pulse From The Shimmering Beyond EP
today its all about an EP released in june 2019 by the australian artist Vorvadoss. The general direction is cold, melancholic, with a theme of cosmic horror. The sound is rather clear but has some fuzzy edges and especially the bass synths are so thick they literally creak and crackle, something you’d usually avoid in other genres but here it adds to the mood and intensifies a few drops (see „a mirage of infinite forms. Two rather unusual elements come to use; drums and vocal samples, however both woven neatless into the compositions. Especially the beats add to the slow, depressed pace and help this release stand out. The progressions on this one are really impressive, weaving elements in and out while never getting stale or standing still. This music moves and breathes, moans and gently pushes your soul into the cosmic abyss.
was one of my personal favs of 2019 and i think it deserves more attention.
Dungeon Synth Gems #1 Hunting Sword – Secrets within the Black Forest
After several years, another Post. I wanna pick and show you some Gems out of the foggy Domain that is ‚Dungeon Synth‘. I wanna focus on shorter releases to work with my current attention span.
Opening with a drony two track release by Hunting Sword. It’s called ‚Secrets within the Black Forest‘ and consists of Part I and II of ‚Reliquary‘, recorded on a Casiotone MT-220. It’s been only out as digital on Bandcamp so far, so lets get this tape goin *wink wink*
The first track starts with long, swampy drones in a slow pace, gentle percussion like sounds evoke the rattling of tools in the wind. A few higher tones kick in to sing a ghostly song, while the wind comes and goes. Time starts to freeze. The ghost’s become silent. Just the last minute makes you get a bit lost, just to have Part II suddenly change mood, into a faster, aggressive Pace. The distorted euphoria and hectic percussions are pretty interesting here, some nice bending at times too. Total wreckage at the end, deconstructing the whole image very fluent.
Its overall very noisey, but with a concept and a few really sick drops. Like it’s clear that even dungeon synth is about the Drops. And there is a lot of release and tension going on in these ten minutes. Advised to blow this through capable speakers.
Nikifor – Demo
This post is about this young Bands first Demo. Done in DIY-Fashion, the three-piece Nikifor presents their very own mixture of Melodic Hardcore, Screamo, Punk and Post-Blackish Elements mainly painting Pictures of Loneliness, Isolation and Despair. Their range of moods goes from very silent, introverted to fully furious. From first second on, Nikifor weave a downward spiral to get lost into. Though being surely not quite sunny music, I feel like this release still contains a glimpse of light that makes it stand out a bit – it is the sound to let yourself fall down but also to hold on and regain strength. At least thats my very personal Interpretation. Oh shit, should maybe talk more about musical components here. Ok, here we go! We have clean and calm guitar parts, powerfull emotional mid-tempo parts (thats where I draw the comparison to Melodic Hardcore Bands), but also full-savage skramz Blastbeats all mixed up with Vocals that wont let you unimpressed, very emotional screaming (and sometimes going close to DSBM like shrieking lol). Overall, their style isn’t focused on complexity, all these elements are rather merged harmonically and it’s very straight music that in the end mainly contains a very Punk Vibe although focusing on rather intimate emotions. I wanna point out how beautiful the last two songs are, though I can’t see much weak spots on the other songs. A bit raw songwriting from time to time, but I still love it. Enjoy this while your Winter-Mood lasts. Or, if you are a hopeless emo-kid, enjoy it all year! 😛
I’m looking forward to hear more from this Band in the future.
Woman is the Earth – Torch of our Final Night
I actually wanted to write about this Record some months ago when I helped a friend setting up a show for this Band, since i enjoyed the show. However, I got lazy and distracted and in the meantime they have a new Release I should probably write about. However, I’ll review their 2016 Album „Torch of our Final Night“ because I like it a lot.
The three-piece Band from South Dakota plays a melodic, emotional Style of more modern Black Metal. They emphasize on calm and more vulnerable emotions instead of focusing rage, although there is some furious moments as well. While there is a bit of a progressive spirit to be found in composition of song structures, its still all atmospheric and straight music that I felt attached to on a very primal level. Some few acustic parts are just the tip of the iceberg on the sincere effort of WITE to create a varied but emotionally driving piece of Music. It needs a lot of attention though, as I experienced the Music to enfold its potential only when I listened to it without beeing occupied. The mix and sound of this album are well done especially for a completely diy-outfit doing everything themselves. If you liked some of the atmospherical „cascadian“ Black Metal, you should check this band out, though they have their very own perspective on music.
Cady
I have seen this Band live for the second time a few days ago, impressive performance again. The UK-group plays a dark and heavy kind of screamoviolence, with influence from the well-known classics of the genre but bringing their own style and sound overall new and refreshing to me. Their emotional explosions sometimes feel like a volcano, if you listen to their latest release you might understand what that means. Be sure to check this bandout, a new split w/ Coma Regalia is announced and if you ever have the chance to catch this band touring, do yourself a favour and do it!
About Slutever
Slutever announced their split up in January, i’m really sad to hear that.
The LA based Duo first got my attention when a friend showed me their „1994“ single. A powerfull, stompy and very stoner-rockish riff roars out of the speakers, driven by slow and heavy drums and vocals with a fuzzy touch.After some minutes the slow track ends with a upbeat surfy punk that contrasts the previous experience and shows the ability of this band to craft simple but well-though arrangements (garage, u know?). Their latest album, „Almost Famous“ is a good way to start diggin into a band that is the best of all the newer grunge-garage-rrriot outfits out there.
Set and Setting – „Reflectionless“
English below!
Das neue Jahr fängt ja direkt super an; Set and Setting haben am 27 Januar ihr drittes Album veröffentlicht. Die Band aus Florida spielt instrumentalen Postrock mit starkem (Post)Metal-Touch, wobei die ganze Mixtur damit nur dürftig umschrieben ist. Atmo-Black Metal kann man in der Melange ebenso ausmachen wie Shoegaze und Progressive/Psychedelic Rock. Das Quintett bietet in ihrer Musik stets ein Auf-und-ab zwischen dem Ruhigen und dem Aufgewühlten und weiß die unterschiedlichen Einflüsse fließend zu verbinden. Krachende Gitarren sind da ebenso fester Bestandteil wie das druckvolle Drumming der beiden Schlagzeuger, die Band wirft sich stets von einem Extrem ins andere und weiß auch ohne Texte ein sehr lebhaften Bild zu zeichnen. Die Songs sind sehr clever aufgebaut, so das das die Songs nicht ins Belanglose abdriften oder zu langatmig werden, sondern gehen gekonnt mit Kontrasten um. Im Vergleich zum Vorgänger, „A Vivid Memory“, das einen emotional klarer eingegrenzten und grundsätzlich melancholischeren Ansatz hatte, sind die Songs etwas experimentieller und auch progressiver Natur, wodurch das Album im direkten Vergleich mehr ein Grower ist. Die Tracks sind direkter wue zb im Beginn von „… The mirrored Self“, das auch das bisher härteste Stück der Band ist und sich unter Riffkaskaden stetig auftürmt. Mein Lieblingstück ist „…The Idyllic Realm“, das neben Sehnsucht und Traurigkeit zum Schluss auch Hoffnung versprüht. Ziemlich gut.
Alles in allem ein Album, dass ich meist zweimal hintereinander durchhöre und für das Musikalische Jahr 2017 die Messlatte direkt hoch ansetzt. Ich lege euch auch „A Vivid Memory“ ans Herz, wenn ihr mit diesem Album etwas anfangen konntet.
2017 had a great Start with Set and Setting releasing their third full-length „Reflectionless“ on 27th January. The Band from Florida plays instrumental Postrock with strong (Post)Metal Influence, though it’s not really a proper description of their sound as various Elements are reminiscent to Atmospheric Black Metal and also Shoegaze and Progressive/Psychedelic Rock. The quintet provides a constant back and forth of calm and loud and knows how to fluently connect these contrasts. Heavy Guitar-Walls and the furious Drumstorms of two Drummers build a emotional spiral and create a colourful picture even without lyrics. Compared to the predecessor, „A vivid Memory“, which had a more melancholic tone, this album is more experimental and includes a brighter spectrum of moods, which also makes this album more of a grower as its more proggy. Its a very addictive piece of music nonetheless. The tracks feel more compact and direct like in the first minutes of „… The mirrored Self“, which is also the heaviest track of the band so far and builds up on a storm of relentless riff cascades. My favourite Track however is „…The Idyllic Realm“ which wonderfully plays with feelings of yearning and sadness but also flashes with hope and light in the end. Marvelous.
All in all, this is a Album I often listened to two or three times on repeat and it’s already going to be a hard time for other groups to release better stuff this year. I also warmly recommend „A Vivid Memory“ to you if you liked this one.
Erster Post / Gutes Aus 2016
Ich beginne diesen Blog einfach mal mit einer kleinen Auswahl an Musik, die mich in 2016 begeistert hat. Prinzipiell halte ich nicht extrem viel davon, Alben in einer bestimmten Reihenfolge zu raten, vor allem wenn die Genres varieeren. Auch möchte ich nicht den Anspruch erheben, das das hier die „besten“ Veröffentlichungen des Jahres waren, sondern lediglich auflisten, was mich langfristig begeistert hat.
Tancred - Out of the Garden
Indie Pop-Punk mit bissiger Grunge Note. Ohrwurmgarantie mit Gute-Launefaktor.
Void Omnia - Dying Light
Rasender Black Metal, sehr melodisch und hymnisch aber trotzdem sehr straightforward
Mur - Heartworn
Doomiger Folk Black Metal im klassischen Cascadian Stil.
Anicon - Exegeses
Ein Black Metal Album mit unvergleichlich sonnigen Melodien, das den finsteren Anspruch der alten Schule zugunsten einer sehr luftigen, rockigen Herangehensweise fallen lässt
Wormrot - Voices
Das Grind-Release schlechthin. einige emotionale Black Metal momente (!) verleihen der Durschlagskraft der wütendenPrügelpart noch mehr Gewicht, alles in allem bleibt kein Stein auf dem anderen
Amygdala - Population Control
Screamo mit einigen Metal-Momenten, sehr wütend, aber auch traurig und verletzlich. Eine Emotionale Achterbahnfahrt
Svarti Loghin - De Överjordiska
Psychedelische Folk Ambient Teppiche treffend auf klassischen Black Metal im Stil der ersten Dimmu Borgir Scheibe.
Full of Hell - Amber Mote in the Black Vault
In ca 6 Minuten beweisen FoH dass sie alles kapiert haben. Wie immer herausragende Produktion.
Lugubrious Children - Lugubrious 7"
Powerviolence mit Gütesiegel.
WØLFENSTEIN - STAEDTER
Zwischen Wut und Trauer hin und her pendelnd, haben WØLFENSTEIN ein dickes Brett aufgenommen.
Talk About Noise 