Edit Peptide is the latest achievement of American eclectic and hectic progressive act Bubblemath. Out on May twenty-sixth through Cuneiform Records, this set of intellectual compositions might burn a fuse or two in your brain. That’s prog done right, and giving back the literal epithet of the genre. Complicated multi-part harmonies and melodies go over compound and conflicting rhythmics with an ease only before seen with King Crimson, and some new bands from that truly-prog resurgence movement. However difficult they are to play and however deeply they have been written, the songs are incredibly accessible and don’t feel like … Read more
Tag Archives: avant-garde
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
Crystal Larva – Sacrificial Blade
Only available on a very limited edition cassette tape, Crystal Larva‘s Sacrificial Blade is an intriguing phenomenon. The ten-minute, self-titled track is the only thing there is on tape, and the format makes it less than ideal for an accurate playback of the original material – the excerpt available on bandcamp is of much better quality than what you will be able to get on any tape player -, but it’s an interesting experience and composition. For the unboxing experience, I have written a post on Heavy Blog Is Heavy that should come out during the next week describing … Read more
Featherwolf – Featherwolf
It’s not every day that you see a math rock quintet delivering an album that’s as whacky as the more experimental duos and trios out there, but that’s just what Los Angeles’ Featherwolf have done. Their eponymous debut album cooks bands like Doom Salad and Yowie and dissolves them into something less volatile, more manageable, but that still has a lot of angles and personality. Featherwolf isn’t for the faint of heart, you definitely need to like your rock spicy and varied. It’s a great, entertaining EP, and a promising start for the band!