15 Nov 2023 - Thorsten
Black MetalCrust Punk

With this new record by Marthe it becomes clear again, why people burnt other people at the stake and why the term “witch” is nothing but a surrogate for “person not accepting the rules of a patriarchal society”. Let’s follow that thought a little onward and let’s also follow Marthe a b bit Further in Evil

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13 Nov 2023 - John O. (former writer)
AmbientExperimental

Waking up in your hotel room overlooking a narrow bay, the gleaming afternoon sun ricocheting in infinite golden reflections, finally over the jet lag, the salty Adriatic breeze buffeting your hair and skin, the smell of the sea and coffee waft into your senses. The clink of glasses and the murmur of the hotel bar reach your ears, along with seagulls and the distant thrum of patrons splashing in the pool. After a few moments, you’re fully awake and the memory of what’s about to happen to this magical place returns. Your last stay at the famous Hotel Arkada, jewel of the Adriatic, as it is remembered by so many. The next time you come, it will be a different hotel altogether as the planned renovations take shape. One can only imagine the memories created in such a place, the richness of the lives lived within its walls. A fitting subject for a soundtrack of sorts, and the subject of the new album by harpist Mary Lattimore - Goodbye, Hotel Arkada.

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11 Nov 2023 - Gene
DoomDrone

The latest entry in the sequence of psychological thrillers shakes up the approach and leaves us shaking in the dark.

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09 Nov 2023 - Stephan
AvantgardeNoise RockIndustrial

Music reviewing 101, today’s lesson: Berlin. Berlin is not only a city, but also an adjective in music reviewing. It stands for a certain array of spirit, attitude and clichès, which most people caring for music will immediately recognize as associated with Berlin, even if they cannot explain it any further. So Berlin is a useful tool if you as a reviewer are too lazy to elaborate on a style and just want to put one sufficing term out there. As an example the new album of Årabrot sounds impressively Berlin for its Scandinavian heritage. Of course artists like Bowie or Blixa Bargeld, who even wear aliases alliterating with it, are even Berliner that that. However the Berlinest album coming to my attention recently is the the debut of Lolita Terrorist Sounds.

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07 Nov 2023 - Daria
Post-Rock

It’s now a fact that my attention is always caught by records that have a particular concept behind their creation. My most recent find is this three song-concept album by Sidus. A balanced mix of Post-Rock with atmospheric and instrumental Post-Metal that revolves around the developing process of earthquakes and panic attacks. If you want to know how it goes, keep on reading!

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04 Nov 2023 - Stephan
Doom MetalPost RockHeavy Psych

If you’re new to Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree your first assumption about the group from Stuttgart could be that they are some kind of Earth tribute act. And both the Drone as well as the more laid back Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull sound of Dylan Carlson are indeed part of their DNA. But those strands are also only a small fraction of everything their third studio album has to offer.

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03 Nov 2023 - Thorsten
Avantgarde Black MetalWorld Death Metal

When it comes to Metal with World Music influences there is always that thin red line (or razor’s edge, if you like) that the bands have to walk on. On the one side of the blade you will find Sepultura (and/or Soulfly) and on the other are bands like Ill Niño – you can decide for yourself which one is the good side. Now we get a new (symphonic) Blackened Death Metal band named Ershetu who perform on the Sepultura side of things and who have released their debut on Debemur Morti Productions. Really good stuff!

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02 Nov 2023 - Knut
Post-Rock

A billowing current of energetic, fuzzy Post-Rock surges effortlessly from the softest touches of music and meanders through gushes of musical distortion. The trio of Paolo Cirillo, Gianluca Zannone and Libero Verardi knows how to fuse guitar, drums, and bass to create impeccable musical art as a way to develop the ideas behind their music.

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31 Oct 2023 - Thorsten
Black MetalGrindcoreNoise

Which moment might be the hardest in all of the history of mankind? Answer Rorcal: That one moment – for each person individually or as a whole society – when we realize that the end is unavoidable that we cannot change it anymore no matter what we do about it. The moment of total silence. Of course, their new album is not one of complete Silence, it’s just the idea behind it. Nevertheless, this kind of “silence” might be one of the most brutal, devastating and haunting ones ever.

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27 Oct 2023 - John O. (former writer)
AmbientDrone

On their accomplished debut album Melodic Drone, Unruly Disturbance deftly blends expansive electronic soundscapes and resonant, expressive melodies across a lengthy 16 tracks. With a run time of more than an hour and a half, there are plenty of immersive worlds in which to lose one’s self.

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27 Oct 2023 - Martin
Melodic Blackened Metal

Pssst, you…yeah, YOU! In search for new music? Then I have something special for you…a band still somehow relatively unknown, but oh so good. A hidden champion of Melodic Blackened Metal, just waiting for you to be unveiled. A maelstrom of heavy circular riffing, forward pushing drumming, sweeping melodies and intriguing storytelling, that will make an lasting impact, the second you hear it´s mesmerizing charm. Accompanied by unique visual elements and a warm, clear sound, you get the full package here. So, do I have your attention?! Then let me introduce you to Crystal Coffin and their new masterpiece The Curse Of Immortality.

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23 Oct 2023 - Thorsten
SynthwaveIndie-Rock

Lush. If there is one thing that my wife and I cannot agree on, then it is my preference for soap of that name, because if I use soap and not some kind of creamy soap lotion or something, then I like that one. However, when putting on Slowdive’s new record everything is alive we both agree that lushness can be something great, because when there is a band with the ability to wrap you in a blanket and give you comfort that feels as lush as this one – then it’s a moment for the heart. Even though its background story is a very sad one.

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22 Oct 2023 - Jeremy (former writer)
Post-MetalSludge Metal

The soul crushing full-length debut from London based Post-Metal collective Novere has seemingly, for me at least, came out of nowhere to thrust themselves at the top of AOTY discussion.

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21 Oct 2023 - Stephan
Post Black Metal

War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!

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20 Oct 2023 - John O. (former writer)
AmbientElectronic Chill Out

Ed Herbers takes listeners on a “nighttime odyssey” with his latest album, Coming of Age. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Herbers’ contemplative piano and guitar sojourns evoke strong feelings of nostalgia through a rich compositional style focused on graceful melodies and gossamer soundscapes. The album explores themes of loneliness and angst that unfurl along the journey of a supposed protagonist of a movie that doesn’t yet exist.

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19 Oct 2023 - Hunter

When thinking about ‘Rock’n’Roll’, it is likely that someone might imagine their father talking about back when bands made ‘real music’, classic rock songs played on the radio, or cringe-worthy karaoke renditions of Journey witnessed at a bar. Over the decades, rock music has distanced itself from its blues-y origins and branched into innumerable genres and subgenres where the original moniker no longer provides an accurate portrayal of the music. At its best, rock is a blanket term. In most situations, however, describing music as ‘Rock’ has more or less come to mean ‘not Hip-Hop or Country music’. The wanton abandon and loosely-controlled sonic chaos of electric-blues music as well as the label created to describe the style in its infancy are relics of the past which have lost relevance and meaning long ago. What does ‘Rock’n’Roll’ even mean anymore? On their most recent release, Norwegian outfit Årabrot imbibes the essence of rock throughout an eclectic assortment of tracks.

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18 Oct 2023 - Knut
Post-Rock

On their third, eponymous album First Came the Shadow have widened their musical scope with a layered album with wonderful, complex orchestration where the instruments infiltrate each other. At times the music sounds elusive, sometimes dense and engulfing.

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17 Oct 2023 - Lucia
Black Metal

There are albums that I know I will immediately love without even listening to them and then be blown away by the beauty and the emotion. Such is the case of Drache’s Devenir le rien. This is music that will pierce your soul, a downpour of emotion, bleakness and all those haunting things and feelings that lurk deep inside, just waiting to come out.

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16 Oct 2023 - Daria
Black MetalAtmospheric Black Metal

This time I may have crossed a peculiar line. I always try to explain why I choose some records to review, and I have my reasons for this one as well. It may not be the kind of music that I listen to everyday but I have my reasons for this choice: female vocals (It’s always nice to feel represented in music), aggressive and intriguing riffs, use of a language that is not English (yes sorry, I’m a simple linguist, I see lyrics in a foreign language and I’m already intrigued). Another brief note to catch your attention: if you’re into black metal with an epic twist this record may be for you!

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13 Oct 2023 - Martin
Death Metal

In times like these, do you also want to escape the harshness of reality without neglecting its very existence? Maybe even observing the power of fear embodied, the potential for chaos we experience, from close range, but nonetheless securely enjoyed in the safe space of the imaginary? You might be utterly captivated by the unknown and its presence intensively felt. So behold! I will convey to you the greatest ”pleasure” you can have with the embodiement of boundless evil this year: the mighty Sulphur Aeon and their newest sonical take on the Cthulhu -mythos of Lovecraftian lore. Melodic Blackened Death Metal at its most diverse and potent!

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11 Oct 2023 - Gene

An incisive, fiery achievement unerring in vision and execution!

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08 Oct 2023 - Knut
PostHardcore

Damokles´ sophomore album is even more feisty than the first one. They have fused their creative forces into making another engaging, ferocious, and high-spirited album.

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07 Oct 2023 - Stephan
Post-Metal

The AI secretly running this site reminded me that my Post Metal review quota doesn’t meet the required expectations for this quarter yet. This could have been a problem, because the wall of monolithic monumentality usually built in this genre often tends to feel a bit stale and tiring on studio albums to me. Fortunately the Norwegians Dwaal recently released their second album - and it doesn’t fall into this category.

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05 Oct 2023 - Knut
Post-Metal

A debut release made by seasoned Grenoble-based musicians for connoisseur listeners. The band´s take on Post-Metal is unique in form and performance and at the same time deeply rooted within the genre and open to nearby genres.

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03 Oct 2023 - Thorsten
Industrial Metal

Iskandr has shed its skin and yet it is the same kind of appealing snake it has always been – a mix of deadly seduction and dark mentality, but now clad in Post-Punk and Industrial sounds. O.’s latest work Spiritus Sylvestris is very convincing but please do not think it is a completely new thing for our beloved Gelderland-historian!

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