Endon is often described as ‘Tokyo’s most extreme band’, and it’s quite easy to spot why, when you listen to one of their albums – perhaps more so with Mama. They play with noise electronics, grindcore, punk, and black metal to create one of the most in-your-face music out there. Through the Mirror came out on March eighth in Japan, but is going to be released for North America and Europe on June second, through Hydra Head. I bought my digital copy on iTunes, and I guess you could do the same, but, if you want a physical copy, … Read more
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Mini-Reviews LXXI
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… Read more
Ghost Bath – Starmourner
Ecstasy. Joy. Paradise. Cosmos. “A surrealistic journey through the heavens drenched in sorrow.” That’s how American blackgaze band Ghost Bath describes Starmourner, a direct sequel to a trilogy which started with their 2015 release Moonlover, a forty-two minute exploration on humanity’s melancholy and depression; it managed to be one of my favorite releases of that year due to the beauty encased within its dark sound. Two years later and signed to Nuclear Blast, one of metal’s biggest labels, Ghost Bath returns with the aforementioned Starmourner, their longest and most ambitious album to date, changing their topics to deliver … Read more
Mini-Reviews LXX
Pete Bailey is a guitarist from Canada, and his debut solo album, Omniscience, is downright butter. The jazz fusion-inspired melodic progressive metal on display is smooth and tasty. The programmed drums is good enough to not be an inconvenience – and it has somewhat become a staple of the solo prog artist -, but I would favour its abandon for the future. Otherwise, the music in there is pretty much flawless! It’s truly an amazing EP from a promising musician, so check it out!
Legend John Zorn has released a new album, quite recently: The Garden of Earthly Delights… Read more
Mini-Reviews LXIX
French band L’effondras, or ⊙, released quite an impressive instrumental post-rock album, in Les flavescences. From X to XII, Les rayons de cendre to Phalène, the band explores buildups and variations in relatively short pieces (from six to nine minutes). It’s really well executed, and it’s seriously some of the best post-rock I’ve heard. On XIII – Le serpentaire, however, they take things to another level, in a thirty-four minute epic. Though it’s closer to a twenty-four-minute song with a ten-minute ambient extroduction consisting of nature recordings. The whole album is fascinating, and utterly … Read more