Category Archives: News

OSR: November 25th, 2015

by Dæv Tremblay

The Syters is a mathcore band from Russia whose sound is closer to the Frontierer/Sectioned brand than the Dillinger Escape Plan’s; it’s a pretty good album.

12 Areas is Telepathy‘s latest: a great post-metal journey.

That’s the sort of black metal I like, atmospheric, sludgey, and post-ish.

What would happen if djent and rap collided and worked together? If you thought about Hacktivist, you’re right, but DVSR is now also an acceptable answer (since 2013 apparently).

It gives me great joy to hear a perfect blend of jazz and math rock, thanks to Father Figure.

Område is an … Read more

The Mire – Vice Regalia

by Dæv Tremblay

a1848591908_16 (1)UK’s The Mire is a black metal band fond of experimentation, and not so much of preconceived ideas about the genre. They’ve been active since 2009 with a two-song demo, and Vice Regalia is their most recent release, which classifies as an EP, clocking in at just under 25 minutes. Unfortunately, the band has announced this release as their final one, and apparently won’t be making new music anymore.

The band blends clean singing with different styles of harsh vocals, which pulls them towards the side of avant-garde black metal just a little, sound-wise. To that is added their experimentation, … Read more

OSR: November 21st, 2015

by Dæv Tremblay

Sanzu‘s debut EP was very impressive, their new album not so much.

I remember Empirine‘s Oculi being one of the strongest releases of last year, The Vermilion King is not so different.

Cleric are an amazing experimental noisy, mathy, grindcore band, and Regressions is their last, 2010, album. It’s worth it, though.

Willows is one of the best and most interesting progressive metalcore releases in recent memory.

Coma Cluster Void have got a steaming hype train following them, but deservedly so; just listen to this single and you’ll understand.

Harsh, short, and raw, three words to describe Faceless … Read more

Instrumental (adj.) – A Series of Disagreements

by Dæv Tremblay

a1446988580_16Plini, Fat Guy Wears Mystic Wolf Shirt, The Helix Nebula, SEIMS, and Violence In Action have a baby together. The name of the child with such a terrifying genealogy is Instrumental (adj.). In fact, it’s not even an actual name. But as we shouldn’t mock anyone’s name, let’s tackle this one with no preconceived ideas.

Instrumental (adj.) is an instrumental (…) band from crazed Australia. If the portfolio of its progenitors is any indicator of how the offspring will turn out, then it’s going to be quite a listen! And oh boy how it is! A Series of … Read more

Spectral Lore – Gnosis

by Dæv Tremblay

a2074334670_16Gnosis is the second EP from Greece’s Spectral Lore this year, both labeled as “experimental” from the band. The first one, Voyager, was admittedly pretty different from the band’s usual material as it wasn’t a metal release at all. This one, on the other hand, is closer to their style, but still has some aspects that make it stand out.

First of all are the Middle Eastern-sounding melodies found in there, and also a greater focus on acoustic instruments. The latter is at its extreme on Averroes’ Search. This aligns well with Spectral Lore’s approach to songwriting, in … Read more