Heretoir – .Existenz.

Wow. This the 2nd in a row ‘black metal’ album I’m ‘reviewing’. Who would have thought that such interesting things could come out of this characterized by redundancy musical genre.
Ok, rant aside, this group plays music based on black metal, but not quite that. They have a strong desire to play atmosphere. Their music is a bit raw, but mostly dreamy. Powerful stuff. Try to find them . Well worth it.
As their myspace page says:
“The music reflects the deadly and cold realism that we as human beings experience every day. The isolation one is caught in even if surrounded by hosts of others becomes seizable…
Heretoir is nostalgia, melancholy and a glimmer of hope. ”

8 blackish but also dreamy peppers

Darkspace – Dark Space iii

Darkspace is a band from Switzerland that combines the black metal atmosphere, with ambient keyboards, and amazing melodies. The soundscape they create is unique and wonderful. Well, wonderful is a bad word, since their world is a cold, empty, suffocating and claustrophobic eternity, as it is for the entire length of this cd, but it’s they way they created such a mood that captivated me.
You will not find such a strong atmosphere anywhere else.
Black all the way

8 blackish peppers

little happy music

This has been one of my favorites (if not THE favorite) piece of classical music. This is the almost famous “Marche funèbre: Lento” from Frederic Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat minor, op 35. Words can not possibly express what a few piano notes can. This piece is simply beautiful. Enjoy it.

My dying Bride – For Lies I sire

“quite possibly the most depressing thing we’ve created to date”
Aaron Stainthorpe, MDB

* Finally a satisfying album from MDB after 1 mediocre and 1 awful one. (Homework for you: figure out which one is which).
* The violin is back (Well, not Martin, just the violin – you can’t have everything). The band’s trademarked sound is back with a vengeance.
* Actually, way more than just satisfying.
* “My body, a funeral” sounds like it is from the “angel and the dark river” era. YAR!
* There was place for more brutal vocals, but hey one more reason to put “A chapter in loathing” in repeat.
* Damn, now i have to await their new album again. One more thing in my to-do list
All in all, a great return from the Kings of Doom.

8 black doomish peppers.

Isis – Wavering Radiant

Listen #1: Mmmhmhhh??

Listen #2: mmmmm, Interesting…

Listen #3: All hail ISIS!

Do you see a pattern forming?

The albums sounds like a revisit to the glorious Panopticon days, but with a twist. More psychedelic but more condensed too.  Also a bit groovy (surprise surprise).

p.s. waiting to see them live soon in athens!

post p.s. (might add more peppers upon further listens and the live)

Giant Squid – The Ichthyologist

Ichthyologist - Giant Squid

Brilliantly played ‘post-metal’ blah blah. Great vocals, dual attack, Anneke is featured in a song, awesome instrumentation, classic organs, summer feel, concept album, rocking, bizzarre, blah blah.

Enough chit chat. Get this CD, NOW!

9 huge peppers

recent stuff

• Gutter Twins – Saturnalia (go, go mark!)
• woven hand – ten stones
• transit – decent man on a desperate moon (/yeah!)
• stille oppror – s.o2
• steve von till – a grave is a grim horse
• porcupine tree – fear of a blank planet

also, waiting for the new satyricon album (rawr!)

Kiss the anus of a black cat – An interlude to the outermost

interlude_to_the_outermost

I’m quite thrilled to discover this band hailing from Belgium iirc. In fact it’s been a long time since I’ve last listened to such a quality album.

So, what is it about?

The cd is mostly acoustic. Acoustic guitars, violas, gentle percussion, some accordion and folkish themes create a really strong atmosphere.  Thats the pretty side. However there’s more than that. All of the songs are multi-layered. Above the acoustic layer, there are distorted guitars, bizzare effects, almost rocking techniques. The beast. There are a few times where the songs sometimes explode into rock territory. Take for example the ‘A Scatterbrain Sings Of Christians And The Ghoul Bares Teeth’ song with its powerful chorus. Acoustic and electric themes come and go all the time, before the song ends in a ala 16 horsepower psychedelic ending.

The rest of the times, you can feel the songs almost exploding. They are so charged (emotionally and musically) that you yearn the outbreak. And even though it rarely comes, you have a feeling of completeness. You can feel the band trying to contain themselves and not explode in a whirlwind of distortion and screams. Powerful songs.

Ideal for lots and lots of listens. And very carefully structured. Just listent to the catchy ‘Firesky’ or the dreamy ‘Salt’ or ‘You Will Reap A Whirlwind’.

The writing force behind the band tags them as ‘apocalyptic folk’, and that sounds interests and totally unheard of so far. Having heard to this album for a while, i can now totally understand the label.

One of the best cd’s of 2007.

9/10

p.s.1 how can you not love the cover?
p.s.2 Proving that this blog is actually different than the hundreds of music reviewing blogging attempts, i won’t even comment on the name of the band

In the Woods… – Omnio

in the woods... - omnio

In the Woods… , such a strange name. Add to that the nicknames each band member uses, and a veil of mystery shrouds this magical band. I’m quite thrilled to write a review for this album, especially since it has been only of my really few beloved ones, over many many years. So yea, i am biased, and will of course give this masterpiece a ten out of ten rating.

My goal here though is to manage and write here the scattered thoughts i’ve been having over many years about this cd, with no particular oder, hoping that i might get one few of you interested enough to sample it..

So, here it goes:

• Progressive ‘metal/rock’
• The type of music that pink floyd would play if they had a metallish background
• TOUCHING
• Amazingly smooth transitions. How the hell do they do that?
• Each song flows so brilliant. String passages intertwine with heavier passages and your mouth won’t shut in awe
• Heck, in 100 years this should be called classical music.
• /loves the piano intro of bardo (post)
• Love the bass work. Waters would be proud.
• ETHEREAL
• Not an easy album. You will need quite a few listens to fully appreciate it.
• In fact the more you’ll hear it the more you’ll love it.
• See above
• 3 guitars
• EPIC
• Love the artwork
• A bombardment of great and oh-so-melodic guitar riffs.
• Everything is needed. Each note counts
• Each note hurts. In a good way
• EERIE
• Male/female singing. They do it in their own style, much to their credit..
• Mature Music.
• Melodic
• ‘talk to me-do you know me, and who I am.  I am your flesh, remember me’
• Give it your full attention
• The ending of 299.796 Km/s is a music orgasm
  
• The space rock of Omnio (Bardo)
• SOOTHING
• The feeling of satisfaction after Omnio (bardo) ends in
• Why did i not see them live?
• Make sure to check out more music from the creative forces of this amazing band.
• Currently in love with the new Stille Oppror’s cd (SO2)
• Thanks for your time

10/10 (you didn’t see that coming, did you? )

reviews to come

coming up:

pax cecilia – blessed are the bonds

kiss the anus of a black cat – an interlude to the outermost

fall of efrafa – elil

stay tuned