‘The Second One is a collection of nine opera (plural of opus). This Ukrainian band plays really top notch avant-garde fusion metal, bringing math metal to the jazz world. It’s an improvement on all fronts from their debut album, “42”. Don’t miss them!’
Mini-review XIV.
‘Boston avant-garde metal band Ehnahre released their latest album, Douve, back in January, but that doesn’t seem to stop them from releasing an EP in September. Nothing and Nothingness is a two-track, twenty-two minute dive into the depths of experimental doom and black metal. The album is as dark and gloomy as it gets, with some classical orchestration to emphasize – namely contrabass and clarinet. It’s a really slow burner, and it should be the tape that plays outside your home on Halloween night. Completely recommended!’
Mini-review XVII.
‘Aidan Baker & Tomas Järmyr are a sort of super-duo, as they were in other bands such as Nadja, Zu, and Yodok. Werl is, simply put, an hour-and-a-half-long piece of ambient rock, often swerving into psychedelic, doom, and noise territory. I’m really not one to like ambient music, but Yodok’s Legion of Radiance proved me I could like some of it. Well, this isn’t too far from Yodok’s material – I would even say it’s better, but maybe that’s because it’s fresher -, forever-changing and slowly evolving, with odd-time signatures drumming underneath a wall of reverberated chords. It’s immense, it’s beautiful, and it’s awesome. Listen to the first of the eight parts, and your mind should be set.’
Mini-review XVIII.
‘Right away, it’s quite something! It’s a sort of progressive fusion world music concept album that uses a lot of vocal harmonies, world drumbeats, jazz compositions, electronic elements, and a hefty dose of experimentalism from time to time. Where Is Everybody? is truly a musical world of its own, and you should definitely dive into it.’
Mini-review XV.
‘One big piece of music it is, and regardless of whether you share my reservations about its finale, there is undeniably an enormous amount of high-quality material to ruminate on here. I loved City of the Sun, and I have a hard time weighing the two albums against each other to pick a favorite. Someday, when I revise my personal spreadsheet of the best albums of all time, I will have to make that call. Today, I don’t have to, and instead I can just offer a full-throated endorsement of both albums. If you were a fan of Seven Impale already, this album should tingle all your senses in ways you never even saw coming. And if you weren’t, then good news – you have two incredible albums to check out. ‘
Full review. Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society‘s Real Enemies is a bit of a latecomer, being released on the thirtieth. So, I don’t have anything written yet for it, but let’s go through it. This progressive jazz ensemble has a solid history of stellar compositions: 2009’s ‘Infernal Machines’ and 2013’s ‘Brooklyn Babylon’ predated yesterday’s release and set grounds for one of the best jazz album of the year. Exploring conspiracies and the minds of their believers, the album started as a multimedia experience (as did Brooklyn Babylon), which is unfortunately unavailable for now, and is spiced up by moments of twelve-tone serialism. Real Enemies is yet another grandiose artwork from this secret jazz society.