Tag Archives: post-metal

Jute Gyte and Spectral Lore – Helian

by Ignacio De Vincenzi

The Music

The Thoughts

The ruin of a generation is shattering.
In this hour, the eyes of the one who watches fill
With the gold of his stars.

Georg Trakl was one of the pioneers of expressionism in its poetry form, an art movement which started in the early 20th century with the purpose of using powerful emotions and moods to express one’s view of the world. “Helian” was, according to him, his most precious and painful poem ever written; dealing with death, decadence, existential crisis and man’s struggle with religion. With this topic on the table, avant-garde masterminds Ayloss … Read more

Eschatos – Mære

by Dæv Tremblay

Latvian experimental atmospheric black metal band Eschatos have released a promising album, last year, in The Grand Noir, and they’re already back at it with their EP Mære. It consists only of an eight-minute track and a fifteen-minute, three-part epic, but displays in that short amount of time great leaps from its predecessor. The first part of “The Night of the White Devil” is one of the most emotionally intense pieces of black metal I’ve recently heard, with some passages reminiscent of Oathbreaker, with the broken voice Kristiāna Kārkliņa pulling those same strings. Mære is a great EP, … Read more

Monotrope – Unifying Receiver

by Dæv Tremblay

Monotrope is an experimental progressive rock quartet from multiple American states, and they’ll be releasing their debut album, Unifying Receiver, on 10 November. The avant-rock release is entirely instrumental, and they take all the room they have available to make an interesting album. It’s full of diverse influences that coalesce into something that’s somewhere between post-metal and experimental math rock. Unifying Receiver is more contemplative than demonstrative – although there’s a soft balance between both aspects of the genre –, so it’s not something that will put you in awe at every turn, but the songs are cunningly crafted … Read more

Charnia – Het laatste licht

by Dæv Tremblay



Belgian post-metal band Charnia released their most recent work on 20 October: the forty-minute unbroken track “Het laatste licht”. Grossly, the album-length song is split in two vague sections. For the first half or so, it’s a chamber music session comprised of a violin and double bass duo where lazy and languid voices interweave to form a droning piece, between melancholy and despair. The second half starts past the twenty minutes mark with a drumbeat that is soon joined by the rest of the band. For the remaining time, strings and electrics join forces in a slow, heavy, and pounding … Read more

An Art as Catharsis Special: Opium Eater, Raven, Seims & Slowly Building Weapons

by Ignacio De Vincenzi

Australia has become one of my favourite places in the world to look out for new and exciting bands. From alien overlords such as Portal to fresh faces of progressive metal like Caligula’s Horse, there is a pallet of sounds to be found on the Lucky Country. However, there is a special label that has gained recognition for finding and delivering some of the most unique albums I’ve heard in recent years: Art as Catharsis.

Psychedelic drone music with eastern influences (Ḥashshāshīn), John Zorn worship jazzgrind (Kurushimi (苦しみ)) or experimental hardcore madness (Tired Minds), Art as Catharsis has … Read more