One year after Swvmps, first of the name, which came out on the first day of 2017, American electro-hardcore project Rabitrup will release Swvmps Ⅱ; on 5 January. The so-called “sludgestep” entity is a tough one to label traditionally, although I’d say it’s some sort of electronic-heavy experimental post-hardcore. The synths have the same intensity, even more so perhaps, than those found in Phuture Doom‘s “blackstep” experiment, but Rabitrup lack any sort of parallel to metal music, technically. Of course, there are the cathartic screams, and the intensity of metal is conveyed perfectly through the synthesized instruments … Read more
Monthly Archives: December 2017
Weekly Release Dump #1
Sunday, 3 December
Alex’s Hand – Katatak (avant-garde progressive rock)
Tuesday, 5 December
Void Omnia – Void Omnia (atmospheric black metal)
Wednesday, 6 December
Fixions – ヘッドハンター (Heddohantā) (synthwave)
Thursday, 7 December
Art as Catharsis – 2017 Sampler (compilation)
Destroy Uranus – In the Scale of Galaxy (doom metal)
Mirage – It’s Been a Pleasure (math rock/jazz pop)
Organized Chaos – Divulgence (progressive metal)
Sex-Android – Angelic Sounds (experimental electronic music/noise/hardcore)
Gendo Ikari/Droves – Split (grindcore)
Friday, 8 December
All We Expected – Hatàr (atmospheric post-metal)
Big Big Train – Merry Christmas/Snowfalls (progressive rock)
The Clearing Path – Watershed between … Read more
Vincent Touchard – Classe moyenne
Vincent Touchard is a French jazz drummer and composer, and brings his quintet formula to make chamber jazz on Classe moyenne. Here, the usual piano, double bass, saxophone, and drums are joined by a cello, while two core members also play clarinet and Wurlitzer piano, and an oboe, clarinet, and bassoon trio is added to the band on three tracks to create a real woodwinds quartet vibe. Classe moyenne is a very relaxed and beautiful jazz album. It’s rather impressive how touching the compositions and playing on the album can be, while staying relatively minimalistic in nature. Throughout more … Read more
Alex’s Hand – Katatak
Russia-based R.A.I.G. (Russian Association of Independent Genres) label seldom disappoints. The latest hit from under their wings is from German avant-garde progressive rock band Alex’s Hand, and their fourth studio album, Katatak – stylized KaTaTaK. Contrary to tradition, the songs don’t follow an overarching theme or concept, but the three main chunks – “Waterfalls”, “Epic”, and “Ghost Peppers” – each tell a story through convoluted long-form structures, atypical riffs and rhythmic patterns, and a generally rather aggressive take on progressive rock and jazz rock. Katatak is unsurprisingly very colourful, despite the overall bleakness of the concepts and songs; … Read more
Genevieve, Zombieshark!, Feasting on Scaphism Remains, Technopath, Spinifex, Ignis haereticum, Herd, 01101111011101100110111001101001 (Ovni), and Doomeye
Genevieve – Regressionism
Genevieve‘s experimental black metal is pretty widely known, now, thanks to their dedication. Regressionism is only their latest album, and it’s a great blend of post-metal and black metal, with a lot of Genevieve’s own idiosyncrasies embedded into their sound. It’s at times harsh and at times beautifully bleak, but it’s always sure to make you feel something.
Zombieshark! – The Digital Sea
Nintendocore is a very niche genre, where chiptune sounds are blended into hardcore or mathcore music to create a new kind of video game boss music. Zombie Shark is the latest iteration of … Read more