Rikard Sjöblom – The Unbendable Sleep

by Jeff Nixon

I’ve been into the progressive rock band Beardfish for a while, my favorite album of theirs being their two parter “Sleeping In Traffic.” I also enjoyed their latest album 4626+Comfortzone quite a bit. So I was excited to hear what the band’s frontman Rikard Sjöblom had in store for his second solo album “The Unbendable Sleep”.

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Rikard’s unique and catchy melodies paired with his distinct vocals makes for some interesting music to say the least. This album flows well but also goes unexpected places. One of which being a short interlude track “Building A Tent For Astor” which is a … Read more

OSR: February 4th, 2016

by Dæv Tremblay

Let’s have a listen at what came through the [electronic] mail since, well… yesterday!

A new Doom Salad release is always good news! Sunscreens and Aerosols maintains their experimental math rock legacy with pride, and this is an incredibly interesting 4-track to listen to! AHP is an ambient black metal band, and Against Human Plague – whence I guess their initials came from – is their debut album, scheduled for the 21st of February. It’s an assault of blasting and roaring black metal spaced by ambient interludes. In that sense, it’s more of an ambient and black metal album than… Read more

OSR: February 3rd, 2016

by Dæv Tremblay
Devotion releases their fourth album, Words and Crystals on February 26th, and it’s quite a pretty album, hard-hitting rock with a heavy atmospheric part to the sound. The Ralph just put out their single, Mean’s End, featuring Karlo Horvat, the singer of alternative metal band Kryn. He’s got a good and imposing voice reminiscent of the alt metal of the 2000’s: Godsmack, Disturbed, etc., but now on 2010-era djent riffs.
Point Pleasant is a solo guitar album from Dean Murphy; it features a bunch of advanced tapping techniques and overall good compositions, but I can’t help but feel… Read more

Blumen/With a Smile – Banana Split EP

by Dæv Tremblay

a3764493273_10As the collaborative work of two great one-man projects on their own, namely Blumen and With a Smile, this Banana Split EP should be very nearing perfection! Blumen’s “Press 1 for Music” was released in 2015 and presented something fresh in the modern prog scenery. As for With a Smile, I didn’t have the chance to be acquainted with it prior to this collaboration, but I quickly realized my misfortune when I played their “Never Listen” EP, which is a welcome addition to my regular playlist.

The Banana Split is three songs long, the first of which is a … Read more

Monthly Recommendations: January 2016

by Dæv Tremblay

monthlyrecommendationsjan16

2016 is officially one twelfth of the way in, and we’ve been graced with many outstanding releases during that first month. Let’s see what are the best ones, the ones you should definitely not sleep on!

First is the dissonant technical death metal Demo 2016, from Sunless.
“A big heap of harsh noise, with dissonant chords, metallic bass, aggressive drums, screams of pain and anger, a ton of odd time signatures, a handful of tempo alterations, and jagged song structures, is – one would assume, at this point – a winning recipe! Sunless has merely about eight minutes… Read more