Tag Archives: experimental rock

Weserbergland, Yawn, Vetvi, and Izthmi

by Dæv Tremblay

Weserbergland – Sacrae symphōniae, numerō 1


Sacrae symphōniae, numerō 1 is a one-track, forty-minute, progressive, atmospheric, psychedelic, , symphonic krautrock piece. Yeah, I bet I tickled your curiosity right there eh! This is the third album from Norwegian band Weserbergland, and it’s just as advertised. When you click play, you’re submerged in an aura that’ll only end two-thirds of an hour later. During that time, you’ll come across the mesmerizing repeated riffs of krautrock, only spiced up with a lot of keyboard ambiance, woodwinds, and piano. The whole thing sounds uncanny, like it shouldn’t exist, yet it does. And it’s… Read more

Backxwash, Adapar, Cydemind, and Horse Lords

by Dæv Tremblay

Backxwash – His Happiness Shall Come First Even though We Are Suffering


Backxwash—Montréal-based rapper Ashanti Mutinta—just released their new album: His Happiness Shall Come First Even though We Are Suffering, the final part of the trilogy that began with 2020’s God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It. So-called “horror rap”, this is some real heavy hip-hop on the more experimental side of things. I mean, it’s got features from Pupil Slicer (mathcore) and Ghais Guevara (another experimental hip-hop artist I like), so I’m already sold on it! As dmaestaz puts it so brilliantly… Read more

Brian!, Trevor Dunn, Miriodor, and Oiseaux-Tempête

by Dæv Tremblay

Brian! – Cataclysmic Engine (Nefarious Industries)


What if you replaced the bassist with a bassoonist? Well, Brian! answered this question in 2010 with their debut EP EEE. Twelve years on, the New York power trio has mastered its peculiar sound and grown more confident, more adventurous, and more certain. With the Cataclysmic Engine, you can hear the idiosyncratic sound of the bassoon, somewhere between electric bass and synthesizer during the riffs and a genuine woodwind instrument during solos. I love this instrument, and I’m really grateful that such a band exists! Be sure to check out this new… Read more

Drumcorps, Charbon, Ahleuchatistas, and Edith Judith

by Dæv Tremblay

Drumcorps – Creatures


So have you ever tried to blend mathcore and breakcore? I have, but that’s a story for another day, for today I’m talking about Netherlands-based Drumcorps. Their new album, Creature, is indeed a creature of its own. The moment you hit play, you get the dissonant off-putting riffs, you get the glitch effects and synthetic drums, and you get the howling screams. That’s basically all I want from different music genres put into a cereal box. And it’s amazing. Be sure to check it out!

Charbon – Cavalcade


Admit it, you already know what to expect,… Read more

The Lovecraft Sextet, Black Math Horseman, HC Behrendtsen, and Phantom Spell

by Dæv Tremblay

The Lovecraft Sextet – Miserere (Denovali)


Dark jazz and doom jazz are terms that have been thrown around pretty much since the start of the Twin Peaks TV series, along with its legendary soundtrack. There have been many attempts at emulating the mood and vibe of the original sound, but few innovators. With the Lovecraft Sextet, however, it doesn’t get any more doomier than that. While listening to Miserere, their third opus, I couldn’t get it out of my mind that this album is actually a doom metal album played by a jazz quartet. While the Twin Peaks fascination… Read more