Leeds-based mathcore one-man band [reference needed] II II II (read “two two two”) released their debut album, A Conundrum on My Coffee Table, which we adored, back in 2012. Fast forward four or five years, and they share some work-in-progress demos on their facebook page, stating that they were looking for a new vocalist. Without it being announced officially, they found one! The name hasn’t leaked yet, but the voice remains in the same vein as before. Well, here we are now: we received an advanced digital copy of Frequency Illusion, coming out on September 22. What is … Read more
Tag Archives: experimental
Ehnahre – The Marrow
Ever since Douve came out, in 2016, I’ve held the Boston avant-garde doom metal quartet Ehnahre in the highest of regards. Earlier this month, they released their newest experimentation on The Marrow, a four-track, fifty-three-minute slab of slow, heavy, and unbridled contemporary music. Yes, Ehnahre swims pretty close to modern classical music with their compositional approach, a feeling reinforced by their use of contrabass and piano. The band’s long, drawn-out pieces are very atmospheric and even entrancing, often relying on slow, repeated motives and spoken word passages to build a ritualistic summoning of heartfelt and mystic music. The outstanding … Read more
Sewing Circle – Nausea
Sometimes, we need to take a step back and take a listen to something that really makes you ask yourself “can this even be called music?” Of course, the answer is almost always a resounding “yes!”, but, to the neophyte’s ear, the answer might not be so clear-cut. Enters Sewing Circle, the project of Arturo, Noah, and Patrick – the latter of whom we already wrote about many times for his involvement in some of today’s wildest and most interesting musical projects – is, I believe, an improvisation-based experimental noise rock trio. The nearly thirty-minute EP is adventurous and, … Read more
Down I Go – Mortals
Hovering between Iceland and the United Kingdom like the plume of ash of the Eyjafjallajökull, the progressive hardcore trio Down I Go recently released an EP by the title of Mortals. Their 2015 full-length, You’re Lucky God, That I Cannot Reach You struck my imagination – and I’m sure many of yours – with just how near perfection and unique it was. I still have shivers when the “Mother in the Pen” theme gets brought back at the end of “The Sending”, it wraps this masterpiece beautifully. Mortals is more akin to one of the band’s other thematic EPs, … Read more
Ikea Mutilation Manual – Anxiety Assembly
Mathcore can be an interesting beast. What can sometimes be seen by some as just a bunch of weird times signatures and senseless noodling put together in a blender, it has the potential to be a powerful medium of expression for the musician, and a unique experience for the listener. Enters Ikea Mutilation Manual and their debut EP, Anxiety Assembly. Owen Swertz and Tom Verelst set out to write and record nine songs, or “Images”, for this record; each started and completed in one evening. Creative restraints often lead to unexpected and surprisingly innovative results, as is the case … Read more