The Best Thing I’ve Heard All Week: Kilter – La suspendida


I’ve been a huge fan of the progressive metal band Kilter since their Axiom album back in 2020, and they’ve kept busy with the amazing Sys album and, coming in March, La suspendida. This upcoming album is an experience on a whole other level.

First off, the album is sold as a jazz-metal opera about a woman discovering herself through death, and for this occasion they brought together Folterkammer singer Andromeda Anarchia, the impossibly cool Growlers Choir, and the Seven Suns string quartet, and that’s without mentioning dancers Fanny Coulm and Yutaka Nakata, who are central to the … Read more

Live Show Review: Poil Ueda and John Zorn at the FIMAV

FIMAV, photo by Martin Morissette

It is well known that I seldom venture out of the comforts of my abode to seek the fellowship of likeminded individuals in a live music ritual. However, upon seeing the delightful programme that the FIMAV (the French acronym for Victoriaville’s International Contemporary Music Festival) had to offer this year, I was tempted—and later fulfilled these temptations—to journey beyond the borders of my realm and into the unknown. You have to hand it to the organizers of this festival for the awe-striking programme: Poil Ueda (opening the festivities), Ikue Mori, Zoh Amba, Fred Frith, Guy… Read more

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

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

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