March has been a hell of a month for me musically but pretty savage with writers block, which is why this is a bit late. So let’s get down to it boppers.
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Dust Moth
Rising // Sailing
It took me a few listens to work out exactly what sort of music Dust Moth play. I mean, there’s some obvious points to catch onto, there are shimmering guitars and fantastic noisy bits but it doesn’t quite sound like a Shoegaze album. There are big riffs and occasional filthy distortion on the bass, but it doesn’t feel like a metal album. And then there are the vocals. Irene Barber has a strong, sweet voice that I’d expect to find on a trop hop album. But this isn’t late night chill out music. So what the hell is it?
It’s all of those blended together and sounds nothing like I’ve heard before. Meshing all of this together seems like madness but somehow, not only does this work, this becomes its own sound.
The opener, Annular Eclipse, may start with a light shoegaze shimmer but after the first verse we get some serious riffage. However the vocals keep the music from becoming overpowering.
The track Flinching, is the best example of the perfect merging of the bands different sounds, this is a doomgaze band playing 90’s chill out music. I’m Not Anyone, capes the album off perfectly, bringing the heavy shoegaze for a crushing end to what is a very unusual album.
Rising // Sailing’s musical makeup is crazy. It should not work. It’s brilliant.
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HVOB
Live in London
HVOB released their album Rocco back in 2019 and while it was really good, it suffered from all of the songs being too long and an exhausting run time of 90 minutes. I was hoping that this live album would have rein in their over generous, maximulist tendencies.
No chance.
This is a huge 2 hour gig. If you’re looking for a short, concise introduction to the band, well, you won’t find it here. However, If you’re looking for a great live set that will make you sad that you missed the gig? Well we’ve got that right here.
HVOB does a great job of keeping the energy of the show carefully controlled. At their heart, this is a downtempo act but they dole out the high energy when needed, never letting the crowd or the listener lose momentum. The slower songs are enough to keep your attention but HVOB know when to let go, and when they go hard, they remind me of Underworld. That’s high praise around these parts.
The only downside is that the gig closer, Butter, is such a face melting stomper that I never feel the need to listen to the two songs that make up the encore. But that’s not spoiling my enjoyment one bit.
(I’m still mad I missed this gig. Damn you Chanel!!)
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Dvne
Etemen Ænka
One of my biggest musical disappointments of last year was the postponing of this album. Dvne’s last album, Asheran, was one of my albums of the decade, so to say I was excited is to put it mildly.
Thankfully, they have somehow exceeded my expectations. With Asheran, the band’s influences were a bit too visible, a Tool base line here, a Neurosis riff there, but here they’ve developed their own. Post metal has gotten very stale in my opinion and the prog elements here open the album in a way that most trad post metal can never touch.
The album has a slow fade in but the opening track hits hard, Enûma Eliš perfectly sets up the album that’s going to be crushing you for the next 70 minutes. Huge riffs, clean melodic parts and some nifty 70’s sci fi synths. It’s all here and is all fantastic.
The album highlight for me is Omega Severer, the first single from the album. Nine minutes of what may be the finest metal I’ve heard all year. While there’s the usual huge riffage what stands out most is the female vocal that’s performing a wordless solo, reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s, The Great Gig in the Sky. This then duals with the guitar solo and lifts the song head and shoulders above most other bands. I’m pretty sure this would make an amazing soundtrack to some sci-fi madness.
Even though this is a 70 minute album, it never feels like it. There is a lot of space here, the interlude tracks are varied and prevent all the massive riffing from getting tiring, which these days seems to be a rare feat.
This is an incredible album and hopefully will get the band the bigger stages they deserve.
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Genghis Tron
Dream Weapon
I missed Genghis Tron when they first appeared, so the complete change of style on this album, from metal to electronica, doesn’t bother me the way it does their older fans.
The opener, Pyroscene, starts with NIN drumming and reminds me of HEALTH’s later albums, the layered electronics and processed vocals have a similar feel.
On Dream Weapon however, the band’s metal roots are more visible. The drumming is frenetic, there are some tasty riffs but the mixing of the track makes it feel a lot less abrasive than these elements would normally feel.
There are touches of pure dance music on the album. Alone in the Heart of the Night, sounds like Jon Hopkins’ Open Eyed Signal until it locks into something more motorik.
The album standout, Ritual Circle, is the first song in a long time to catch my interest with it’s drumming. The track starts out with a fairly simple dance beat but as the song continues, the drums begin to get more complex, adding more toms every few bars until it feels like they’re trying to give Tool a run for their money. All this percussion relentlessly pushes the track forwards until it climaxes at 5 minutes, which would be the perfect place to end the song. But, the band then lock back into their motorik groove for another 5 minutes. I’m still undecided if this is genius or a bad idea, but the first 5 minutes are so good I’m not fussed.
Great Mother ends the album on a heavier note, with the guitars coming forward in the mix and pretty much just putting a bow on this fantastic album.
Dream Weapon has been a very unexpected release for me, but one that I’m sure will be on my end of year list.
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The Horrors
Lout ep
It’s 2021 and I’m talking about the Horrors! Nothing means anything any more.
You see, I never liked the Horrors, it always felt like pure hipster nonsense. They just drifted to whatever was cool at the time and now, for some unknown reason they’re playing industrial.
What’s crazy is that this is really good.
Lout is primed for dancefloors that are probably too sniffy to ever play it. I can’t imagine this being embraced but the Goth / Rivithead crowd but it should be.
The second track, Org has an opening riff that calls back to the chainsaw sample used by Coldcut on Timber, which is a fair warning as they then assault you with an industrial techno banger. As I say, this is confusing and weird. None of this makes any sense but I’m really enjoying it. This is pure stompy boot music that should go down a storm with certain sections of black clad music lovers.
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Sofia Kourtesis
La Perla
La Perla feels like sunlight in music form. It’s the perfect recovery from the darkness and oppression of the winter we just struggled through. And while that might feel like hyperbole, this track has just kept me smiling every time I’ve played it. Sofia plays house music with such a light touch that it feels effortless. At low volumes it feels chill out but as you push the volume, what felt slight begins to fill the space around you. This almost begs for sunlight and forests to dance in.
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Grandbrothers
All the unknown
This came out in January, but I only became aware of them after Mogwai did a remix of one of their tracks.
Erol and Lukas formed Grandbrothers to merge their musical backgrounds: Erol is a trained jazz pianist and Lukas builds synthesizers. Now, to me that sounds like it’s going to be the soundtrack to a dinner party nightmare, or something for a M&S ad campaign. And to be honest, in places, it gets a little close. But, when they pick up the pace this sings. The electronics have a nice, dirty feel, reminding me of Max Cooper in places. While it’s not going to surprise a lot of people, I’m amazed just how much feeling they get out of the grand piano while still having enough momentum to make you want to dance around your room. The jazz or classical elements never overpower the electronics and that’s a very careful balance for me as too much of either would kill my interest.
So, if you’re looking for some emotive electronica, I can’t recommend this enough.
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Obligatory Dawnwalk plug.
Dawnwalk released a video for their amazing track, The Wheel. It’s a shortened version of the song, clocking in at a brisk 7:44. But if you’re in the mood for some fantastic heavy music this is the place to get it.
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Playlist Action
There’s a bonus playlist this month. It’s a dance playlist for listening to in the sunshine. Hopefully it’ll come back.
The ways of exile 