Finland’s TJ0 is an interesting doom metal project. Vége a világnak seems to be their debut EP, and it is set to come out on the fifteenth, even though you can listen to and download it already. What’s special, here, is the importance given to the symphonic elements of the songs. The metal section of the project is nothing new or impressive, but it does the job well and effectively, and then the compositions are embellished by strings, pianos, and brass and other classical instruments. Pretty interesting!
Grand Discovery is another Finnish project, but this one’s latest album, Complex Face is almost ten years old already. The music here is in the realm of progressive rock, jazz fusion, and avant-prog. They just published their two albums on bandcamp, so it’s a great opportunity to get to know the band, like I did, and get a hold of these two wonderful albums! The level of writing and musicianship here are very high, and the songs are a joy to listen to! Hopefully there’s something in the works…
The Romance of Crime & Your Beautiful Bones is a new EP from Funeralbloom, consisting of two ten-minute tracks. The band plays some very slow post-metal akin to doom… post-doom, with a touch of blackgaze… post-doomgaze, yeah. Their style takes advantage of clean and harsh vocals, and spoken word excerpts, with which they craft absolutely beautiful songs and atmospheres. Their compositions are slowly evolving, but the journey is worth the time, I tell you!
Weeping Sores is a pretty nasty band who just released their debut, self-titled album on voluntary contribution. It’s a death doom project featuring members from Pyrrhon and making really cool use of the violin as integral part of the band. Leaning on dissonance and slow, heavy riffs, this album is a tremendous debut for a promising band (that already delivered on their promises). If you feel like you need to be stomped to death, take this instead!
Lithuania isn’t particularly well-known for its metal – or at all, really -, but Au-dessus aims to put that country on your mind. Their debut album was pretty good itself, but their upcoming sophomore, End of Chapter, proves to be particularly impressive and enjoyable! Right when ‘VI’ kicked in, I knew I was in for a ride. I still think this is the best song on the record, but the other ones aren’t too shabby either. The band’s post-black metal has been developed on Au-dessus, and perfected here. The album comes out on May nineteenth, which is quite a while away, but be ready for when it drops!
Holy shit.

This is quite something. Prometheus Omega is a self-described ‘progressive rock band’, but I think it would be fairer to call them a vaporgrind band. Their butchering and reuse of pre-existing pieces of music borrows from vaporwave, but their focus on harsh music, especially metal, calls for the suffix. The featured track, ‘Exph0mage （ｆｏｒ　ｗｉｎｄｍｅｎ） feat. PETA Titgrain’ is quite representative, but is, in my opinion, one of the weakest tracks on this quite massive album. If you want to experience what I think of as the best songs on Strange Fruit Öŕð, listen to tracks seven and eight, which feature samples from Leprous and Death Grips, respectively. Each song, from the beginning to the end of the hour-long album, blew my mind a little bit more, sending shivers down my spine and having me jaw-dropped. This is a truly unique, weird, and amazing experience that every one of you should try!
Saagara is an Indo-Polish jazz ensemble that wants to bridge the gaps between Western and Eastern musics, with an electronic music producer. The end result, on 2, is a magnificent and lush interplay of acoustic instruments, most prominently the saxophone, in a sort of ambient, atmospheric improvisational jazz structure that’s easy to listen to and appreciate on multiple levels. This album is superb!
You want to relive the nineties? Here’s an appropriate high-concept post-rock soundtrack featuring crooked cops, science-fiction monsters reminiscent of Resident Evil, and amazing voice acting! Hibernal is an Australian project that sets out to convey enthralling stories through music albums, and The Dark of the City is the latest such experiment. The music itself even takes the back seat, it’s not impressive or captivating, but it supports the story being told and leaves it enough space to leave a mark on you, listeners. The story here is very well written and executed, and is quite an amazing experience to go through, so I won’t say more, in fear of spoiling it; go!
The Big Carrot (and Misuse of It) is the seventh album from Italian Canterbury-style progressive rock one-man band Orchestre Celesti. The compositions are very good and interesting throughout, but their use of programmed drums is a blatant flaw. I think most – if not all – instruments are synthesized, here, but none is more aggravating than the drums (and the occasional high-pitched fretless bass). Nonetheless, here are five noteworthy compositions that could have been way better if played on tangible instruments.