Tag Archives: rock

Poil Ueda, Lasiodora, Baber & Wileman, and Don Bolo

by Dæv Tremblay

Poil 上田 – Poil 上田 (Dur et Doux)


Poil is among one of my all-time favourite bands—just check this review or this one if you need convincing. With this new album, which is set for release in March 2023, the French avant-prog trio teams up with Ni’s bassist—they’ve already collaborated on Piniol—and, for the first time, Japanese 薩摩琵琶 (satsuma-biwa) player and singer 上田純子 (Junko Ueda). The result of this collaboration is an incredible, although rather short (32 minutes is really not that bad), blend of French avant-prog and traditional Japanese music, poems, and spectacle. It’s a truly astounding record… Read more

Best of Tzadik Records 2021

by Dæv Tremblay


Tzadik Records is a very special thing to me. John Zorn’s label showcases his own compositions, ranging mostly from jazz to classical, as well as other groups and albums who are spearheading their respective genres. It’s often pretty difficult to listen to these albums, since they are usually not streaming online, so I’ve gathered them all here and got the five best Tzadik releases of 2021. This way, you’ll know where to start looking to dive into the surreal world of Zorn.

Number Five: John Zorn – Heaven and Earth Magick


Heaven and Earth Magick is one of the truer … Read more

Best of Post-Hardcore 2021

by Dæv Tremblay


Best of post-hardcore!

Number Five: Dead Lights – The Uncanny Valley


The new Dead Lights album is high production and high profile, The Uncanny Valley borders on metalcore with its heavy riffs and harsh vocals, but I made the choice to include it in the post-hardcore list. Whatever you choose to tag it, it remains an incredibly strong album from 2021!

Number Four: A Secret Revealed – When the Day Yearns for Light


Blackened, sludgy, noisy, and filthy, A Secret Revealed’s When the Day Yearns for Light is an amazing and disgusting album, one of the strong points of the … Read more

Dan’s Top 31 Albums of 2020

by Daniel Kuburoglu

A bit late to the party, but here we are, nonetheless.

Let’s get the obvious out the way first. 2020 was a bad year, and this did have a knock-on effect with the amount of music that was released as well. While I personally would not say we had any absolute gamechangers this year, that doesn’t mean the year was an absolute waste. (At least, not in this one regard…) It was enough to bring me back from the dead, after all.

I may not have the same mettle for metal as Matt, nor the same dedication to deathlessly digging … Read more

Haken – Vector

by Jeff Nixon

The Music

The Words

Haken are back at it again with their fifth album Vector releasing this Friday, October 26th. A surprisingly short album, clocking in at just under 50 minutes, with only one track “Veil” breaking the 10 minute mark. That’s not to say this album isn’t still jam packed with prog metal goodness. The album starts off with “Clear” a short instrumental intro similar to “affinity.exe” off their last album. This leads right into the first single “The Good Doctor” a fun song that sets the theme for the album.

According to the band, this album very riff … Read more