Coming all the way from Singapore, progressive indie rock band Sub:Shaman just released their most recent album, Apnea. Consisting of nine explorative tracks, this forty-five minute magnum opus intertwines a wide variety of genres into the band’s own style and vision. Progressive rock, math rock, indie, and jazz all partake in the melting pot that is Apnea. The alternative quintet will use scat singing, pulsating electronic notes, dissonant chords, odd metres, and seventh chords to their advantage, and it creates something greater than the sum of its parts. I didn’t remember why I followed this page on bandcamp, but … Read more
B L A C K I E… All Caps, with Spaces – Remains
B L A C K I E… All Caps, with Spaces – yes, that’s the full name and stylization – is an experimental metal duo from Houston, Texas, and Remains is their latest release. The album starts off with a minimalistic piano-saxophone-voice trio that still sets the tone for what is about to happen, although things get much darker and heavier. Most of the music is made from saxophone, keyboards, programmed drums, and samples that create a chaotic, ambiguous space full of contradictions. Yet, there is beauty to be found on there. Beauty in the chords and their progressions, in … Read more
Gravetemple – Áthatolhatatlan félelmek
Gravetemple‘s newest barrage of sound, Áthatolhatatlan félelmek (English title: Impassable Fears), comes out on June second. This experimental, droning, and abstract death metal album consists of Hungarian chants screamed through a musical haze consisting of mostly low-register notes, uncertain rhythmics, and absent melodies. If you want a more imaged comparison, I’d say it’s like listening to Portal underwater. Áthatolhatatlan félelmek is really an odd but entrancing release. It’s relatively short, the meat of it being concentrated in three songs – ‘A szarka’, ‘Elavúlt földbolygó’, and ‘Áthatolhatatlan félelmek’ -, making up around twenty-seven minutes, and the three other tracks … Read more
The Clockwork Deity – An Anthology of Human Sickness
An Anthology of Human Sickness is the debut EP of UK-based solo symphonic deathgrind project The Clockwork Deity. At under ten minutes long, it’s quite a short EP, but the three songs plus introduction are more than good enough to warrant a good time. While the symphonic elements were more upfront on ‘Spontaneous Abortion.’, the other songs integrate them fully and naturally to the grinding compositions. It’s quick, it’s aggressive, full of blast beats and technical riffs, and with a touch of classical music in the orchestration. The Clockwork Deity manages to craft something rather unique and entirely good. … Read more
Yazz Ahmed – La saboteuse
British Bahraini trumpet and flugelhorn player Yazz Ahmed just released her new jazz album, La saboteuse. Mixing occidental jazz with middle-eastern music, Yazz crafted a unique and fascinating record that crosses generations and cultures. It’s really a good album to listen to if you want to travel at home, just let yourself be flown across the globe by it. La saboteuse is just full of wonderful moments, of melodies that speak old tongues and rhythms that tell old tales. I can’t recommend it enough.