01 Mar 2024 - Gene
Dark FolkElectronic

Exactly everything I could have hoped for!

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27 Feb 2024 - Knut
Atmospheric Stoner Sludge

A year after their amazing eighth full-length release the New York-based lords of heavy psych-fuzzy Sludge Doom Metal are back with their ninth massive instrumental opus.

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26 Feb 2024 - Thorsten
FolkAtmospheric Black Metal

Hephaestian Black Metal. There I did it. Came up with another unnecessary name for a genre that many by now have closed the lid on as it has become stale for them. But isn’t inventing new genre names also fun? Of course we need a basis on which to formulate our idea upon: They Came from Visions is an anonymous Atmospheric Black Metal trio from Kyiv, Ukraine. In the middle of the war-torn times they release their second full-length The Twilight Robes now via Eisenwald and it is a pure pleasure to listen to.

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26 Feb 2024 - Stephan
Modern ClassicalExperimentalDrone

Dear VoS Ultras, is an artist with a recent feature in the New York Times even still underground enough for this platform? In case of Kali Malone I would say yes, since despite almost unanimous critical praise the composer/organist still operates at the minimalistic fringes of every musical realm she touches.

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23 Feb 2024 - Knut
Post-Rock

A flow of unhurried contemplative music through subtle misty, sometimes elusive, sonics. The cascades of distorted, yet translucent crescendos. The omnipresent timbre of glimmering melodic Post-Rock. All of that and more is fused into the ten tracks on the astounding second full-length from this musical collective.

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22 Feb 2024 - Thorsten
Funeral Doom

There is certainly a red thread going on here: 20 Buck Spin‘s last record of 2021 was Dream Unending‘s wonderful Tides Turn Eternal. 20 Buck Spin‘s last record of 2022 was WORM‘s amazing Blue Nothing EP. 20 Buck Spin‘s last record of 2023 was Dream Unending teaming up with WORM for a powerful split record named Starpath and my god, if they do a real collaboration for the end of 2024 – I think that record might be one of the very highlights of the year. Listen to this record here to get what I mean!

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14 Feb 2024 - Gökhan
Funeral DoomDeath Metal

Rituals have been with us since the Paleolithic era, stretching back to tens of hundreds of thousands of years ago. It is highly likely that the act of repetitive rituals was one of the earliest documented forms of collective behavior in the history of humankind. Sometimes a sacrifice to the gods, sometimes to send a loved one to another plane of existence. Music in its various forms, whether being performed by a throat singing shaman, a chanting of a “church” choir accompanied by an organ, or a simple rhythm that comes out of a crudely made percussion, has always been an integral part of these endeavors.

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12 Feb 2024 - Daria
Post-Metal

This February marks a comeback from one of those bands that we will surely have to keep an eye on in the next future! Bipolar Architecture presents its sophomore album Metaphysicize, released via one of those music labels that is always synonymous with good quality: Pelagic Records!

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08 Feb 2024 - Simon
Psych RockSpace Metal

Slift return with a monolithic slab of the finest music to transport you to the edges of the Cosmos!

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07 Feb 2024 - Lucia
Atmospheric Black Metal

There are four classical elements within nature: Wind, Water, Earth and Fire. Just like these elements bring something of their own to nature, the four members of Solbrud bring something unique and phenomenal to IIII making this band one that has a unique take on creating atmospheres and patterns in their music. Delivering slow moments of tranquility, just to take you into ones full of fiery rage. This is not just an album, it’s an experience and a journey through various and diverse emotions that all come to make this an amazing listen from start to finish.

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06 Feb 2024 - Martin
Classic RockDeath Metal

Change is inevitable. Everything is possible. Embrace deathtastic Classic Rock!

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01 Feb 2024 - Knut
BlackgazeBlackened Post-Hardcore

A cacophony of emotional atmospheric metal music oozes from the yearning arpeggios and tremolos. The melodies swirl, the music swells and rushes as the bass and drums drive the anguished vocal screams from strength to strength.

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31 Jan 2024 - Daria
Dark Folk

Long time no see, but we’re definitely back at work! This year 2024 is going to be another year filled with good music, and I can’t wait to listen to it, the expectations are high! So, there’s no better way to start this new year of reviews than with one of those records that will surely be one of my favorites for the next few months!

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29 Jan 2024 - Stephan
Space Rock

Three prestigious members of the contemporary German-speaking Kraut Rock scene met in January 2023, set up their stuff in Hanover (So please read all this in the voice of either Klaus Meine or ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder!), pressed record and just went wherever the moment would take them.

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27 Jan 2024 - Knut

With a band name translating to hurricane, you expect turbulence as a listener; a rollercoaster of a listening experience. You get that and even more when you are dragged into the vortex of Uragano´s music.

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26 Jan 2024 - Knut
BlackgazeAmbient

A force of meditative, hypnotic, mesmerizing, emotive, beautiful, uplifting music - Olhava.

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24 Jan 2024 - Knut
Atmospheric Black Metal

Inspired by the ancient deity of Cybele and influenced by the second wave of Black Metal, the Poles discharge their vehement magnus opus in their third full length for those of us who cannot get enough of fierce undulating Black Metal.

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23 Jan 2024 - Gökhan
Death MetalCrust-Punk

What would happen if Regurgitate and Incantation had a love child who was covered in so much slime at birth, thrown out on the streets in their infancy, grew up learning how to fight, full of scabs, who got meaner and meaner and turned into a mutant freak by the age of 16? Well, Jarhead Fertilizer definitely would have happened, that is for damn sure.

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20 Jan 2024 - Stephan
Post PunkKrautrockAnatolian RockDub

It’s January and I know everybody’s transitioning from retrospective into expectant mode. Nonetheless here comes one more throwback to the whole year 2023 - yet merely focussed on only one group this time. Different than usual this review isn’t about one release, but a whole four-part series of seven inches which Kara Delik released from February to December of last year.

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18 Jan 2024 - Lucia
CrustGrindcore

If you want to listen to an album with a thunderous might, you definitely need to listen to Yersin’s The Scythe Is Remorseless as this has the speed, harshness, delivery and intensity you would expect from an album that has mixed Crust, Thrash and Grindcore in a very amazing amalgamum that almost feels like one swift strike of death’s scythe. They achieve this in a way that will leave you speechless, almost as if it takes over, not able to help it as it commands you to just start stomping your feet or headbanging.

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12 Jan 2024 - Thorsten
Funeral Doom

Arriving a tad-bit late to that minute hype revolving around Slow is not a negative thing in the sense that the Belgian duo is in no hurry at all. For them it seems as if the way is the proverbial goal and not the arrival, thus whenever you join, the welcome will be the same. Whether you want to join depends on you, but as soon as you step foot into this world of sparkling darkness and warm descents your wish to leave might diminish, for the Funeral Doom of records like Abîmes I, their latest, is simply, astonishingly good.

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10 Jan 2024 - Thorsten
AmbienceDreamgaze

This record connects worlds that never wanted to be connected – Ambient and Drone on the one side and on the other Latin and Psychedelic. The effect can best be described with a color: Golden. Thus, the name of this project is as fitting as it might be. The three musicians are atop of their game, their sound is perfect, the warmth is mesmerizing and one might not want to stop listening!

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08 Jan 2024 - John O. (former writer)
Post-RockElectronica

Sweden-based SOARS (Kristian Karlsson of Cult of Luna and pg.lost) has released its second synth driven Post-Rock record, Repeater - a sublime collection of cinematic and grandiose songs. While there are the occasional vocal melodies sprinkled throughout, these Post-Rock instrumentals with a synth driven twist conjure dark atmospheres and bright pinnacles.

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06 Jan 2024 - Knut
DoomSludge Metal

In 2014, the Portuguese trio released their debut album Sowing the Seed writing in the liner notes that the album was from a band ”still in search of our musical identity.”. Nine years later, they yank you towards themselves with the musical vigor of a very mature band building heavy and engaging music around seven poems with their second full-length album.

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04 Jan 2024 - Thorsten
Post-Rock

Those of you who follow VoS closely have heard my words a few days ago during our interview with Aaron Turner that we like to “go in with a bang” and what would be better for starting my review year of 2024 with a review of a Post-Rock record that really occupied my player for many weeks at the end of last year? Right, nothing probably. Thus this review of Being Human by Shipwreck Karpathos is one hell of a start for me. And for those who still have some catching up to do – this is also a great start for you!

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