Mathcore can be an interesting beast. What can sometimes be seen by some as just a bunch of weird times signatures and senseless noodling put together in a blender, it has the potential to be a powerful medium of expression for the musician, and a unique experience for the listener. Enters Ikea Mutilation Manual and their debut EP, Anxiety Assembly. Owen Swertz and Tom Verelst set out to write and record nine songs, or “Images”, for this record; each started and completed in one evening. Creative restraints often lead to unexpected and surprisingly innovative results, as is the case … Read more
Lost Salt Blood Purges & Boring Bathtimes – Yellow Fog Sword
Australian and British entities Lost Salt Blood Purges and Boring Bathtimes have collaborated on a release of massive proportions, elegantly titled Yellow Fog Sword. On this release, Michael Snoxall (Lost Salt Blood Purges) set out to create a novel and its accompanying soundtrack with Oliver Aldridge (Boring Bathtimes), whom he already had made some small collaborations in the past. The original story of Michael ended up as a forty-four-page novelette, illustrated by Ov Exvn Infërnvz. Then, the outline of the music was created, with directions for pacing and events, and the task of coming up with music was handled … Read more
Leprous – Malina
There is a trend in modern prog: some of the more popular bands are seeking to capitalize on their popularity via the age-old model of shifting to a poppier style with broader appeal – lowering their common denominator, as it were. Leprous’ debut single from Malina, ‘From the Flame’, suggested to some that the Norwegian titans might be drifting in that direction. They are certainly ripe for popularity, with their smooth and entrancing approach to metal composition and Einar Solberg’s appealing singing voice. However, I am pleased to report that, despite some of the structural elements being poppier… Read more
Quantum Trio – Duality: Particles & Waves
With members from Poland and Chile meeting in the Netherlands to play modern, progressive jazz together, Quantum Trio just released a massive hour-and-a-half-long double album, Duality: Particles & Waves. Besides being of massive scale and tremendous musicianship, Duality is a concept album on the wave-particle duality, an important concept in quantum physics. The first disc, Particles, is focused on the tangible, while the other one, Waves, embodies the ethereal facet of matter and energy. Concretely, the shift is very noticeable on the music itself. As per their own description, Particles contain polyrhythmic tunes and ballads, both undeniably … Read more
Porcus vs. Equus – Music out of Shit
Australia’s experimental rock band Porcus vs. Equus just released a single, or short EP, under the name Music out of Shit. With merely three tracks and a runtime of just eight minutes, M.O.O.S. is very short, but also very sweet. First of all, ‘Wet Sugar (Player vs. Environment)’ is a magnificent song to begin with. Reminiscent of the Spaghetti Western aura of Robotmonkeyarm, with their reverb-laden, aggressively-plucked overdriven guitar notes, Porcus vs. Equus bring in some rhythmic and structural surprises into this complex ear-worm of a song. At over three minutes long, it’s the least concise of the triptych, … Read more