Tag Archives: ambient

Kvøid – Nihility

by Dæv Tremblay

Experimental black metal has lately been a thing I opened about, and I’m glad I did. The amount of incredibly good music that this genre hosts is mind-boggling, and I won’t ever forgive myself to not have opened up to the marvellous world of black metal before that. That being said, the latest band I became acquainted with is Kvøid, a duo from Portland whose first album, Nihility, came out September 23rd of this year.

First off, the amount of field recordings and minor seconds on this album is rather impressive. It reminds me somewhat of Ulcerate and … Read more

Déluge – Æther

by Dæv Tremblay

France doesn’t cease to bombard us with incredibly good metal. The newest on the list is Déluge and their debut album Æther.

Musically, it’s a sort of atmospheric post black metal with tidal blast beats and a barrage of distortion. Not that these attributes are uncommon in the genre, but they’re prominent and well-executed here. The axis of Déluge seems to be on the ebb and flow of dissonance in their chordal progressions, like the waves. It’s a really good approach that makes for an always moving portrait that is only rarely immobile, and even then it serves some … Read more

Sanguine Hum – Now We Have Light

by Dæv Tremblay
[Stream samples of the album on Amazon or iTunes.]

Sanguine Hum is a known name in the indie prog/neo-prog community, and with reason. They’ve released consistently good, mellow prog with an ambient vibe to it, but Now We Have Light is on another level. A just over 80 minutes conceptual double album of, arguably, their best material to date.

For the uninitiated here, “neo-prog” is a term that labels indie bands that are oriented towards prog rather than pop or folk. It’s mellow stuff, with electronics and chimes, but with odd-time signatures, long and intricate song structures, and conceptual … Read more

Sea In The Sky – Visions

by Dæv Tremblay

Sea In The Sky is a new up and coming band from California, and they focus a lot on melodic vocals and play djenty prog-pop metal with a slightly ambient feel to it.

Being quite technically proficient (what struck me is the slap bass solo in Tamagotchi) doesn’t mean they can’t put the vocals at the forefront. This makes it so that the band is pretty accessible to, well, anyone while remaining enjoyable for the musicians listening because there’s always something interesting that’s being played in the background. Be it the aforementioned slap bass solo, some guitar tapping riff, drums … Read more

July Recommendations

by Dæv Tremblay

monthlyrecommendationsjuly

Here’s the monthly recommendations post you’ve awaited for so long! Ah, who am I kidding? I’m the only one reading this blog! Anyways, what are the unmissable releases of July 2015, according to the three-legged raven?

First off is Ethan McKenna‘s sophomore, In Transition. It’s what I’d call an acoustic prog album. Ethan makes use of advanced techniques on his acoustic, like percussive playing, loads of harmonics, and some slap and tapping too, for good measure. Even though its main focus is on the acoustic guitar, it’s well-accompanied by the usual bass and drums, and sometimes even by … Read more