Tag Archives: avant-garde

Fire! – She Sleeps, She Sleeps

by Daniel Kuburoglu

When one first hears of the band Fire!, one may be tempted to first imagine a hardcore punk act, brutally tearing down establishments one performance at a time; an in-your-face barrage of aggression which unleashes your adrenaline and demands your attention. Is this not how one would generally imagine “Fire!” after all? A cry shouted out in the wake of uncontrollable destruction which will shortly reduce all around it to ash? It is a powerful force to say the least.

Yet there is another, more subtle side to fire which many tend to overlook. The flames can emerge, small … Read more

Book of Sand – The Face of the Deep

by Dæv Tremblay

RELEASE-distro-bookofsandBook of Sand is a black metal one-man band that has been around since 2009, and The Face of the Deep is their fifth full-length. It seems that, specifically for this release, they went out of their way and dove head first in experimental and avant-garde waters. However I feel they did so in the shallow and might have broken their neck…

Their previous catalogue comprises pretty traditional black metal with various external influences that almost go unnoticed if it were not for the addition of violin. Some songs are very decent, like “Arran Boat Song“, with its contemplative monotony, … Read more

Amogh Symphony release Aai, from their upcoming album IV

by Dæv Tremblay

A song about mothers of this world, and of Onamika, which you’ll remember from previous Amogh songs. On IV, they’re ditching the whole “concept album” things, and rather go for an “album of concepts”. Each song is like a soundtrack to a short movie, and we can appreciate that with Aai. The song draws strong connections with world music, as well as jazz, and with a touch of metal too. I think it’s wildly successful at what it wants to be, and I honestly can’t wait to hear more from Amogh IV.… Read more

Sales de Baño – Horror Vacui

by Deidre House

album art

The second release from Argentinian avant-garde jazz sextet Sales de Baño is Horror Vacui, an intriguing live performance. The ensemble is led by bassist and composer Carlos Quebrada, and also features flute, trumpet, keyboard, guitar, and drums. They definitely play “outside” a lot, but what I appreciate here is that it’s often difficult to tell what is composed and what is improvised. Quebrada has done an excellent job, at times approaching a sophisticated chamber music sound and at others harsh avant-noise.

At first, it may seem that the playing here is somewhat aimless in the way that avant-garde music … Read more

The Mire – Vice Regalia

by Dæv Tremblay

a1848591908_16 (1)UK’s The Mire is a black metal band fond of experimentation, and not so much of preconceived ideas about the genre. They’ve been active since 2009 with a two-song demo, and Vice Regalia is their most recent release, which classifies as an EP, clocking in at just under 25 minutes. Unfortunately, the band has announced this release as their final one, and apparently won’t be making new music anymore.

The band blends clean singing with different styles of harsh vocals, which pulls them towards the side of avant-garde black metal just a little, sound-wise. To that is added their experimentation, … Read more