Monthly Recommendations: January 2017

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‘Utopianisti is a Finn one-man experimental big band project – yes, such a thing exists, apparently -, that is releasing Brutopianisti on January first. Usually more in the progressive rock and metal genres, Markus Pajakkala’s experiment now delves in the worlds of avant-garde metal and grindcore, with this album. Immense props must be given to Markus for writing and playing a thirty-minute album with drums, bass clarinet, soprano sax, xylophone, flutes, and ‘additional vocals’, with only a few guests, mostly for singing. I won’t go into too much detail here, as Dillon, who showed me this album, expressed the desire … Read more

Mini-Reviews LVII

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Experimental math rock is such a fertile ground, and this time it’s U Sco‘s turn to reap the fields, with Tuskflower, the band’s third album, which came out last September. The six tracks – from ‘O’ to ‘OOOOOO’ – fill the fifty minutes at hand with very cool compositions leaning on the noise and kraut rock genres, while constantly reaffirming their math roots by way of odd time signatures. Most of what you’ll hear comes from improvisations, one-takes, and little overdubs.
Aican is a Russian instrumental progressive rock band, and they’ve released Don’t Go Deep into the ForestRead more

Mini-Reviews LVI

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Audiomachy‘s Holofracture is a math metal album from the Australian duo. A rare sight in the genre, nowadays, is to have compositions based on genuine mathematical concepts, a few examples of which are listed in the album’s description on bandcamp. This makes not only for an alien sounding album, but also for an active and intellectually interesting listening experience. This album was released in 2014, but it’s very much up to date with the current math scene. The band is said to be working on a new album for 2017!
Meganeko is an awesome project from Sweden that creates … Read more

Mini-Reviews LV

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Blame Kandinsky is a Greek mathcore band, and Spotting Elegance in Chaos is their debut album. Their bias towards dissonance makes me happy. While they’re not using them all day, all night, the inclusion of minor and diminished intervals in their songs is just and wise. You could think of it as a more straightforward Dillinger Escape Plan, but they’ve got something more than just that, so be sure to try this one out!
The work of Austin Woodward, Echopraxia just released Candle Cove. As the uncanny tag ‘thalloween’ suggests, this album is a blend of melodic progressive djent … Read more

Mini-Reviews LIV

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The low fidelity nature of Ad Christi gloriam‘s self-titled effort is the only thing detracting me from wholeheartedly recommending it. In an experiment to push new boundaries for the blackgaze genre, the band adopts a very religious, optimistic, and wholesome point of view, which is further supported by their choice of chords and lyrics. While the production at large is rough and uneven, what’s worse is the drum kit. It’s obviously from an electronic drum kit with a rather basic sound library attached to it. This is the detail that bothers me most, but if you can get behind … Read more