Although this might seems a supergroup incorporating Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Beck and R.E.M. drummer Joey Waronker and Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco – “Amok” it’s definitively a quite strange journey into the wilderness of minimal electronic and glitchy electronica and feels like the follow up of “The Eraser”, Yorke’s 2006’s debut solo album. On the other hand, this is not so different from the latest Radiohead sonic experiment, the 2011 “The King of Limbs” as well.
While the rhythmic build up of the album it’s quite similar throughout, Yorke’s ghostly falsetto singing haunting feverishly from song to song. It’s nice to know that Flea contributed to this, but do not expect to hear his presence, and except some rare jazzy flavoured moments, “Amok” it’s more about how it feels, then how it sounds. Read more Atoms For Peace – Amok (2013)
avant-garde
The Phantom Carriage – Falls (2013)
Back in 2011, the debut album, “New Thing” by the French band, The Phantom Carriage, literally rocked my world, it was an exciting and tumultous mixture of black metal rooted extreme metal and jazz fueled experimental, avant-garde contortions and envelop-pushing. It was one of the best releases of 2011 and I was very anxious about the follow-up. Well, “Falls” unfortunately pulled off all the experimental tooth of the band and this second turn they focused exclusively on the post-modern, hardcore fueled, nowadays more and more trendy extreme metal side of the band. Don’t get me wrong, “Falls” it’s brutally good, but I miss those experimental, jazz flavoured passages, those dark and adventurous breakdowns.
“Falls” it’s a grinding to the ground collection of slaughters, you can run, but you can not hide, The Phantom Carriage will get you and rip you apart! Read more The Phantom Carriage – Falls (2013)
Hate – Solarflesh (2013)
Considered as one of the leading extreme metal acts coming from Poland, Hate are back with their 8th – and probably deadliest – studio album. This is a masterpiece of dark power and absolute aggression, a perfect blending of their ambient and industrial fueled black metal and the chainsaw ferocious death/thrash metal. “Solarflesh” seems conceived and inspired by the same wicked God who breathed life into monsters like “South of Heaven” and “Seasons in the Abyss”. This album it’s brilliant and brutal just like those pillars of metal delivered by Slayer. “Solarflesh” it’s merciless, atmospheric, brutal, hypnotizing and addictive like any other vice or joyful sin.
After the atmospheric, incantation-like intro of “Watchful Eye Of Doom”, “Eternal Might” it’s intense, brutally grinding and memorable like any of the Slayer anthems from the South/Season era. The guitar riffs and solos are impeccable while the vocals are blood spitting deadly growls. Just a perfect way to rip your head off right from the beginning!! Read more Hate – Solarflesh (2013)
Triptych – 3 Melbourne based bands split, promo CD (2013)
3 Melbourne based bands, Asperity Within, Belle Haven and Glorified! released this free promo album, each band featuring with two original tracks. Not at least, can grab the 6 tracks for free (“name your price”) from each band’s Bandcamp page. Cool and a smart, efficient, joint way to promote their bands.
The sonic slaughter starts with Asperity Within, “Mutatio” begin smooth and quietly, but shifting into a contorted, technical and gloomy, death metal fueled butchery build upon solid riffs, schizophrenic harmonies and blood vomiting vocals. “Atrophy” starts pretty the same, gentle and misleading, but with the menacing riffs turn into another depressive and maniac metalcore massacre. The breakdown it’s very tasty, the swinging between the spacier and smoother passages and the total grinder moments it’s very efficient. The solos are also adding a nice colour to the tracks. Promising start!
“Spite Conception”, the first track by Belle Haven Read more Triptych – 3 Melbourne based bands split, promo CD (2013)
No Omega – Metropolis (2012)
Extreme and brutal, dark and raw sounding, this Stockholm based post-hardcore band will rip your head off with tones of ferocious riffs and their chaotic, contorted, furious music. Both rooted to punk and metal, this pounding, post-hardcore genre became quite popular lately and many exciting new bands proved true creativity widening the borders of the extreme, avant-garde music. They call their music “hopeless and heartbreaking doomsday hardcore punk”, which actually covers quite consistently the noisy butchery and beautiful poetry they create.
No Omega manage to define their own sound and find their own path of express their fury and desperation, although, they are recommended for fans of Touché Amoré, Dead Swans, Killing the Dream, Meleeh, Oceana and Rise and Fall.
They are also promote and support vegans and vegetarians, as well as they incorporates political ideas and civilization criticism into their lyrics. They spreading these ideas in a very open and relaxed way, but you can still enjoy their music without agreeing with their views and opinions. Best thing come last, “Metropolis” can be downloaded even for free (“name your price”) from their Bandcamp page, or can order from there the hard copy, CD for 6 Euro, respectively the 12″ vynil for 10 Euro. As I always say, artist need and deserves our support and encouragement! No Omega it’s definitively a name to keep in mind! Read more No Omega – Metropolis (2012)
Gliding Soul – Travelling With Mr. Who, EP (2012)
Gliding Soul deliver a quite contorted and dynamic mixture of modern metal heaving roots back to death metal, but revealing nu and groove metal resonances and metalcore infusions as well. While singer Benoit Derat mainly sings as Maynard Keenan of Tool, sometimes he shift into Serj Tankian, but he’s also capable of some deadly or furious death metal howls. The band’s music it’s same colourful and intense. Technical, progressive death metal, brutal metalcore and twisted out nu metal with experimental edge are efficiently merged here. Brutal riffs and acoustic breakdowns, complex rhythms and aggressive grindings are smartly incorporated and build together. Think of a mixture of Tool, System of A Down with a twist of Korn and death metal.
Very intense, very efficient and creative. Although they definitively have some solid influences, the final output it’s expressive and efficient. Technically flawless, Gliding Soul it’s a name to keep in mind if you love experimental, but brutal, modern metal! Read more Gliding Soul – Travelling With Mr. Who, EP (2012)
Voivod – Target Earth (2013)
While both fans and critics were skeptical regarding the future of Voivod considering that guitarist Piggy (Denis D’Amour) was Voivod, three years after releasing the supposed final album “Infini” and touring pretty heavily with new guitarist Chewy (Daniel Mongrain), Voivod is back and seems and sound healthier and stronger then ever. Blacky (Jean-Yves Thériault), their former bassist who left the band in 1991 after releasing “Angel Rat” returned as well in 2008, so, “Target Earth” actually have excellent chances to be another murderous Voivod release. And it is. With serious resonances back to “Killing Technology” (1987) and their definitive mile stone “Nothingface” (1989), regarding their lucky thirteen studio album, there’s nothing to complaining about. Actually, if I would not know that Piggy passed away back in 2005, I could swear he delivered secretly all those bone cutter, maniac riffs. Damn! Some of those riffs are quite familiar. This is one of the best Voivod albums since “The Outer Limits” (1993) and a glorious return to their Pink Floyd affected, complex and schizophrenic, thrash metal polluted experimental/progressive/avant-garde (insane) metal. Read more Voivod – Target Earth (2013)
Tomahawk – Oddfellows (2013)
While the long awaited new Faith No More album still seems to be a dream away, Mike Patton and Duane Denison resurrected Tomahawk out of the blue and “Oddfellows”, the project’s fourth studio album will be released worldwide in January 2013 on Patton’s record label Ipecac Recordings.
Beside Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Fantômas, Lovage, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Peeping Tom, etc), ex-The Jesus Lizard guitar player Duane Denison, and ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier (currently playing with Battles), Trevor Dunn (ex-Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, etc) player taking the place of Melvins/Cows bass player Kevin Rutmanis.
The 13 brand new songs of “Oddfellows” shows a mature, but still adventurous, willing to explore rock band twisting in and out the borderline between avant-garde and post rock. This is a fever-burned, tensioned, sometimes contorted, sometimes surprisingly chilled and settle down mixture of music. There’s a subtle, but smartly balanced struggle between abstract trips and vivid rock rides with just the right amount of odd and genuine rock energy. “Oddfellows” it’s less furious, less noisier and industrial fueled then their self titled debut in 2001, and the follow up “Mit Gas” in 2003 (the 2007’s “Anonymous” was a different story!!), but still powerful and tensioned throughout. This is 100% Tomahawk with some solid hooks back to Faith No More and a gloomy twist of Peeping Tom flavor. Read more Tomahawk – Oddfellows (2013)
Otep – Hydra (2013)
I love Otep and it was unpleasant to hear that their upcoming sixth studio album will be their final one as well. Listening “Hydra” it’s a strange feeling because it’s not only their supposed final album, but their weirdest one too. And it’s absolutely nothing wrong with being weird, but this is like a twisted little nightmare on a loop. And then again, there’s nothing wrong with twisted little nightmares. Just as Shamaya pointed out: this “music is universal and does not belong nor can it be contained in a nice, neat, little box.” Which is definitively good.
“Hydra” it’s an unusual mixture of mostly whispered spoken words and cinematic, gloomy and minimal, avant-garde music with here and there surfacing riffs and metal rooted passages and carousel like, dark, hip-hop flavored grooves. Quite different from their previous release, the intense “Atavist” which was released in 2011, and was one of the best releases of the year on my personal list. Read more Otep – Hydra (2013)
Blue Willa – Blue Willa (2013)
Blue Willa is the debut album by the Italian art rock quartet bearing that same name. The band had been touring and recording for years under the name Baby Blue, but then they decide it that the time has come for change and came up with a brand new identity: Blue Willa.
They explains: “Continuing a story which lasted seven years and three records so far, we decided to carry on our pursuit for a sound that would fit neatly onto our ideas asking a person we unquestionably loved to help us fulfill it.
We called on Carla Bozulich, whom we had met in Florence some four years ago, and she immediately got involved and interested in our plans.
We spent ten days in the Italian countryside, working side by side with her and our sound engineer, Davide Cristiani. Carla took care of our songs and sounds, proposing shapes and a whole new imagery for them. She made our sounds feel aquatic, ringing and overturned: a sort of underwater punk rock music from the Thirties.
This music then went on to be mixed and fixed on the Himalayan mountainside and in Paris: it is a pleasant thought for us to imagine that something from these places – as well from our provinces – got entangled and caught inside these songs.”
And well, this is really a journey to folk flavored punk, psychedelic rock and vivid experimentalism, but also to yet undiscovered places, unrevealed sounds. Read more Blue Willa – Blue Willa (2013)
