This is a beautiful release from Norway by Helge Lien Trio – Helge Lien on piano, Frode Berg on bass and Knut Aalefjær on drums. Their previous release was “Hello Troll” in 2008, while this is their fifth full-length studio album. “Natsukashii” is felt with impressive lyrical moodscapes, maintaining the balance between jazz traditions and the avantgardist art of improvisation, including something from the contemplative approach of Garbarek and the bright play of Jarrett. This trio changing moods, shifting tempos and tunes fluently and colorful leaving wide open spaces to each other, but still going tight close together in a wonderful exploration of yet undiscovered sides of music. Read more Helge Lien Trio – Natsukashii (2011)
Reviews
Iro Haarla Quintet – Vespers (2011)
Iro Haarla composer-pianist-harpist and her Finnish-Norwegian ensemble consist of Mathias Eick – trumpet, Trygve Seim – tenor and soprano saxophones, Ulf Krokfors – double-bass and Jon Christensen – drums, six years after releasing of “Northbound†are back with this brand new album released under the same trademark of ECM. Classy and gloomy, this is a slowburn, kind of candle light in the dark, winter night. Quiet and improvising, this “free ballads” have a kind of family reunion feeling where everybody tell his own story of the past few years, sometimes simultaneously, “speaking” over each other. Sometimes vague, often soaked with the particular Northern melancholy or directly with the taste of sadness, “Vespers” sounds as the score of our desperate alienation. Read more Iro Haarla Quintet – Vespers (2011)
Aidan Baker – Lost In The Rat Maze (2011)
Aidan Baker is a Canadian musician and writer alternately based in Toronto & Berlin. He performs as a solo artist and with several groups: Nadja, Whisper Room and Arc. A classically trained multi-instrumentalist, his primary instrument is the electric guitar with which he creates music ranging from experimental/drone to ambient post-rock and contemporary classical. He has released numerous albums on labels from around the world & has authored several books of prose/poetry. Read more Aidan Baker – Lost In The Rat Maze (2011)
Moon Duo – Mazes (2011)
Scheduled to be release on March 28 in Europe, respectively on March 29 in USA, “Mazes” is the second full-length album by Moon Duo. Inspired initially by the legendary duo of John Coltrane and Rashied Ali, Moon Duo was formed by Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips and Sanae Yamada in San Francisco in 2009. Utilizing primarily guitar, keyboards, and vocals, the Duo play a mixture of Psychedelic and Trance/Chillout, counts such variant groups as Silver Apples, Royal Trux, Moolah, Suicide, and Cluster as touchstones. They music is spacy and airy, minimalist, but kind of warm, pulsing, sometimes it give me the feeling that Iggy Pop jamming with the French duo Air. Read more Moon Duo – Mazes (2011)
Poisonblack – Drive (2011)
Poisonblack sounds just like James Hetfield & Co. disguised are playing in some Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) tribute band. Well, some Gothic resonances are still vibrating mainly in their slower themes, but Poisonblack – just like many other bands – left behind their roots and strip down to the bones their sound and it results nothing but pure Rock. And above all this parallels, Poisonblack sounds mature, grinding powerful and those cracking guitar tone, catchy riffs, simple but colorful guitar solos and clean, powerful vocals are quite convincing. This Finnish band rocks literally.
After the departure of Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto in 2003 (currently in the bands Charon, Harmaja and Northern Kings), bringing of Ville Laihiala (ex-Sentenced) seems to be a winning card. Laihiala wrote very few songs for Sentenced whose main-songwriters were Miika Tenkula and Sami Lopakka, became the band’s principal songwriter, assumed vocal duties himself and has since led Poisonblack in a musical direction that closely mirrors that of his former band. Read more Poisonblack – Drive (2011)
ZeroGravity – Misplaced Moments (2011)
It’s just like I’m looking for! There’s a band named Zero Gravity Band from Michigan, US and this one called ZeroGravity from Belgium. ZeroGravity was formed in 2003 and they soon recorded their first demo entitled “Synchronicity”. After several line-up changes, in April and May 2004 their first live concerts were played and in 2005 a new demo was released, the 4 tracks “Passagesâ€. Between 2005 en 2007, the band hit the stage again and started to develop a steady live reputation with a gig at the Progpower Festival in Baarlo being a definite highlight. By the end of 2008, ZeroGravity started the recording of their debut full-length album , but things have been delayed till the end of 2010. But here we go, “Misplaced Moments” are finally available. Read more ZeroGravity – Misplaced Moments (2011)
Lake Of Tears – Illwill (2011)
Four years after their 2007 effort “Moons and Mushrooms”, Lake Of Tears will release on April 29 their eight studio album. “Illwill” it’s dark, it’s heavy, it’s beautiful, it’s always recognizably Lake Of Tears, but they always evolved, searched, experimented and vary their sound and this ongoing development has continued through to this new album as well. There’s still gloomy reminiscences of Doom Metal, persist some polished Gothic shines, but Lake Of Tears have a strong and simple line of pure Rock groove in their vein and what make them different from most of the now days bands it’s their determination and focus to quality and music without fitting into some strictly delimited genre. Read more Lake Of Tears – Illwill (2011)
Debauchery – Germany’s Next Death Metal (2011)
According to the dictionary, “debauchery” means indulgence in sensual pleasures; scandalous activities involving sex, alcohol, or drugs without inhibition. So, let’s have some scandalous fun! The horror and fantasy world melt into noisy, powerful metal in the hands of these guys from Stuttgart, Germany. Honestly, I was a little bit afraid of another Running Wild or something, but hell no, Debauchery are kicking like a mule and they are heavy like the elephant shit! Try to imagine a freaky mixture of Gwar, Rob Zombie and add some traditional Thrash and Death – eventually Kreator – flavor to it and you will get the idea what’s Debauchery sounds like. But what actually I really like about this “Germany’s Next Death Metal” is the fact that they write some great songs and have a fantastic groove. Read more Debauchery – Germany’s Next Death Metal (2011)
Grendel – Corrupt to the Core (2011)
Another name, two bands use it, it’s pity and annoying. For both of them. There is one Grendel from Netherlands formed in 1997 and playing Aggrotech/Post Industrial music, and Gendel we’re talking about now, from Finland, formed in 1999 originally using the name Crimson Sky – another name used by more than one artist… Hey, what’s wrong with you people?! Seriously… Leaving aside the legal issues: be imaginative, creative, don’t drive drunk, drugs are bad and stuffs like that.
So, they shift their name into Grendel in 2000 and recorded their first EP “Broken Dream”. Vocalist Vocalist Jarno Blom leave the band one year later, they bring in 2002 Mikko Virtanen to the microphone and record another EP: “Fight Against Time”. The first album, “Lost Beyond Retrieval” was recorded in 2005 and released one year later. In 2008 they sing a record deal with Firebox Records and released their second album “A Change Through Destruction”. Last year they recorded their third album, this “Corrupt to the Core”. Read more Grendel – Corrupt to the Core (2011)
Blunt Concept – Society Poetry (2011)
It’s always exciting to discover musics from the other end of the world. Blunt Concept comes from the Philippines and they play a kind of blending between more or less traditional heavy metal and rap metal. Kind of Linkin Park jamming with Iron Maiden from ’80-’82. As its trendy now days, they put two guys at the mic, Lux Ayque and Ramon Garcia, one of them singing, the other screaming, Ayi Ayque plays guitars, Ross Perez bass and Alwin Rojas drums. They say about their self: “The music of BLUNT CONCEPT are representations of poetry, individuality, courage over adversity, love and self respect. The band relates social inequality and real life drama to heavy angry music; expressin’ life struggles against the greedy, fake, vain hypocrites; screamin’ STOP NOW!!! to all the corrupt and judgmental characters of our society.” Read more Blunt Concept – Society Poetry (2011)
