Bushwhacker – A Fistful of Poison

by Matt Matheson

bushwhacker fistful cover

I can’t remember exactly how it happened, but one night I stumbled upon a relatively unknown cluster of Pacific deep-northwest metal bands. They were mostly average in terms of musicianship and appeal, but one act with a couple of singles from a forthcoming album stood above the pack. This band was Bushwhacker, and their since-fully released third album A Fistful of Poison is one of the most creative and polished offerings to come out of any metal scene in recent memory. To call this album “underrated” would be an understatement as big as the Montana sky; at the time … Read more

Weekly Release Dump

by Dæv Tremblay

Friday, 19 July

Alarmist – Sequesterer (math rock, jazz fusion)

Brighton, UK
On Small Pond / Art as Catharsis

Read our review.

Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti – In manus tuas (contemporary classical)

Honolulu, Hawaii
On New Focus

Bushwhacker – A Fistful of Poison (post-metal)

Vancouver, British Columbia

Cat in a Bag – Cat in a Bag (experimental jazz)

Portugal
On Clean Feed

Danny Widdicombe & Trichotomy – Between the Lines (bluegrass, jazz fusion)

Brisbane, Australia
On Futurfonic

… Read more

Michael Gordon, Eight Carl, John Zorn, Daxma, TISM, and Charlie Kirchen Quartet

by Dæv Tremblay

michael gordon eight carl john zorn daxma tism charlie kirchen quartet

Michael Gordon & Deborah Artman – Acquanetta (Cantaloupe Music)

Acquanetta is a short hour-long opera written by composer Michael Gordon. This piece takes its inspiration from horror movies of the forties, telling the tale of an actress that rose to fame before vanishing from the scene. The composition is far from traditional, for an operatic work. Instead, Michael’s score feels at the same time very contemporary and much like a movie soundtrack. Needless to say, this studio-recorded version of the piece is of the highest calibre, thanks to the Bang on a Can Opera Ensemble and the invaluable vocal … Read more

Weekly Release Dump

by Dæv Tremblay

Friday, 12 July

Arctic Sleep – Kindred Spirits (post-metal, doomgaze)

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Auras – Binary Garden (progressive metalcore)

Ontario
On eOne Heavy

Bartłomiej Krysiuk’s Батюшка (Batjuška) / Batushka – Господи (Hospodi) (atmospheric black metal, blackened death metal)

Poland
On Metal Blade

Black to Comm – Before After (experimental electro)

Hamburg, Germany
On Thrill Jockey

Eight Carl – Carl (math rock, noise rock)

Ann Arbor, Michigan

… Read more

John Ghost, For Now, Hermann Nitsch, Vessels, and CP Unit

by Dæv Tremblay

john ghost for now hermann nitsch vessels cp unit

John Ghost – Airships Are Organisms (Sdban Ultra)

Upon first listening, Airships Are Organisms immediately made me reminisce Canadian prog act Glaswegians and the timeless Tubular Bells. This was perhaps only a temporary passage, but it was nonetheless present strongly in the opening piece, “Deconstructing Hymns”. In fact, the entirety of John Ghost‘s opus is highly diversified and masterfully crafted. As they put it, the album is “an exploratory symbiosis drawing on electronics, post-classical, cinematic atmospherics + jazz”, and I’ll have to agree with them. Airships Are Organisms draws as much from contemporary classical and jazz as it … Read more