Zevious – Lowlands

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

The Zevious trio has something to tell with its music. With members from Dysrhythmia, Sabbath Assembly, and more, their album Lowlands is a real treat combining post-metal with elements of progressive rock and jazz, all instrumental.

Mike Eber’s guitar parts are versatile and well furnished so that there’s always something interesting from that part of the spectrum when you go through the album. Backing him is the rhythm section of drums and bass, which are also very proficient, energetic, and non-standard. So much so that when more standard parts come into play, as in “Smear Campaign”, … Read more

Jackie Frank Russell III – I’m So Fucking Lonely

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Jackie Frank Russell III made some waves, last year, with Outward Calm, Inward Chaos, his debut album. The Illinois composer comes back with I’m So Fucking Lonely.

The album takes a side step from its predecessor in that it’s much more heavily influenced by electronic music than it appeared in the previous one. This statement is evident on the opening track, “Softly Asking for the Attention of Kings”, while songs like “This Bad Won’t Leave” retains much of its metallicity, with few of the new electronic music elements. One of the pleasant side effects … Read more

Facegrinder – Kugelblitz

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

If the name itself of the band—Facegrinder, Face. Grinder. GRINDER OF FACES—doesn’t invoke visceral sentiments, or if the album’s title, Kugelblitz—a black hole made of pure energy—, doesn’t resonate with higher orbital levels, then let the music speak for itself. The Perthbound deathgrind trio just released one of the big titles for today’s grinding repertoire.

The band’s sound is harsh, raw-sounding; thanks, in part, to the absence of a bass guitar to the mix, giving the wall of sound a razor sharp quality that often is a hallmark of grindcore as a genre. … Read more

August Release Dump, Part 1

by Dæv Tremblay

Saturday, 28 July

The Bepis Brothers – B (jazz, bebop)

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Manta – Manta (experimental jazz)

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Monday, 30

i.o – Puzzle Solvent (experimental jazz)

Tuesday, 31 July

The Mercury Tree & Cryptic Ruse – Cryptic Tree (progressive rock, microtonal)

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Wednesday, 1 August

After Nations – Consteleid (instrumental progressive post-hardcore)

Facegrinder – Kugelblitz (grindcore, death metal)

More.

… Read more

The Key to Nchuandzel –
N’gasta! Kvata! Kvakis!

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music?

The Words

The tentacled brain behind The Key to Nchuandzel has long teased me about the existence of the N’gasta! Kvata! Kvakis! album, withholding me the privilege of being able to listen to it, peer into its essence, become shattered by its gaze… Fortunately, the time of reckoning is here and the Key is unleashed, for all to be enraptured.

In twenty minutes and five tracks, The Key to Nchuandzel bewilders and astonishes incessantly with its improbable but characteristic black metal. Black metal? That’s the idea I had at first, but I’m far from being certain anymore. Grindcore, … Read more