This April has been one of the most disappointing months in music for me in a long time. A lot of albums that I was really looking forward to just left me cold. (And in one case put me off the act altogether.) It was a bit of a shocker and honestly threw me off wanting to write, which is why this is so late this month. Well, that and work, but that’s less dramatic.
But we only dwell on the positive on The Way of Exiles so let’s get into this month, with what is undoubtedly one of my albums of the year.
HVOB
Too (Techno)
There’s something about the bass kick of techno that brings me to my happy place. It’s a sound that just electrifies me, puts a big grin on my face and makes me want to be in sweaty clubs, and it’s a sound HVOB (Her Voice Over Boys) have perfected here.
The opener, Bruise, kicks off with that glorious pulse and it just relentlessly pushes the track forward. Anna Müller’s soft but confident voice quickly takes center stage as she carries you along, almost disguising how hard this track is. It’s a perfect amalgam of the warm and chilled sound and the dance floor stormers that HVOB can combine so effortlessly.
Track two, Capture Casa, starts with a gentle, almost ambient track where Anna is asking someone in a very pointed way, what’s wrong with her? “ Am I too alone,Is it because you can’t see my bones, Am I not enough for you” but as the track ramps up the hint of obsession starts to take hold. “You are the fever, That I seek, The one who loses control is gonna bleed” The lyrics may be laced with anger and pain but the music isn’t, it just grabs you and runs.
There’s just so many brilliant tracks on here, Kid Anthem is a full on banger, Gluttony may even top it. The album does end on a downbeat note though.
A Piece of Me, the closer, finishes with, “But I know you will never find love, Cause you are begging for attention. And that’s not love.” Mixing that air of sadness and wrapping it in big room techno is an amazing balancing act and it’s carried off perfectly.
HVOB sound like Underworld, fronted by a woman who’s sick of people’s bullshit but still wants to dance. What’s not to love about that?
Heriot
Profound Morality (Metal)
Heriot cover an incredible amount of ground over the 20 minutes of this ep. Ambient, Sludge, Hardcore, Death Metal, Industrial with shades of Dead Can Dance, there’s a lot going on here.
The opening track is a very threatening ambient number, but as it fades, the first thing that hits you is the pure filth of the band’s sound. The mix has crushed everything but the kick drums into one snarling roar, the female vocals that come shrieking in sounds like they can barely keep themselves from drowning in the mix. The male vocal has such a deep roar that it just cuts through everything in its path.
It’s exhausting, it’s exhilarating and it’s about 2 minutes into the second song! Then everything changes because this band cannot sit still.
But this is no ADD addled release, this EP flows, somehow in it’s short runtime it runs between many styles and tempos but never feels like the switch up was made to throw the listener. To quote Larry Mullen Jr, “It’s a musical journey”. Just no one that sits around and waits for you, Profound Morality just grabs you by the throat and drags you with it, leaving you startled, a little confused and instantly ready to press play again.
Last Sign
Beyond Recall (Trip hop / Goth)
Last Sign is a new project by Charlie Dawe who brings in different singers for songs that don’t fit with his main work. Here, it’s melding Goth and Trip Hop. I’m not sure that’s something people have been clamoring for, but life can be like that. What matters is the music is great.
The opening track, Destroy, builds a striking atmosphere with smoky beats and spooky synths but when the chugging guitar comes in, it reminds me of Ribbons by the Sisters of Mercy and that’s high, high praise. I just wish I knew who was singing on it, she’s great. Track two has Maya from Cold in Berlin guesting on it and she brings the full force of her over the top gothic vocal to the track, bringing an edge of sex and danger to the ep.
The guitars once again bring a steel that the trip hop label wouldn’t suggest.
As a debut EP it’s a perfect calling card but I wonder how it would sound without the two very strong vocalists that feature here.
And from March, because I missed it.
Absent in Body
Plague God (Sludge / Post Metal)
What happens if you take two members from Amenra, one from Neurosis and Igor from Sepultura? (amongst many other acts.) You get an album that sounds like the end of the world.
With an album called Plague God you kinda know what you’re in for. There’s going to be the kind of sludge that will crush your bones, a darkness that will consume all light and it will give you The Fear. And you’d be right, and you’d be wrong.
The opening track, Rise from Ruins, takes very little time in bringing in the crushing riffs but something this album does very well is its use of dynamics. Pretty quickly the song drops to an echoing, disonate void and Colin H. Van Eeckhout (Amenra) makes his entrance, with his strangled vocal sounding like the world’s pain is tearing its way out of him. It’s pretty intense stuff, but to be honest, that’s why we’re here.
The album highlight, Sarin, is built off one drum and riff loop. For six minutes. There’s no way that should work but Scott Kelly’s (Neurosis) hoarse roar sounds like the voice of the damned, echoing from somewhere very cold and very far away. Somehow it keeps me riveted to the song as it grinds it way forward. It’s a masterclass in repetition, something I’m not normally a fan of, but it works flawlessly here.
The biggest surprise for me is that this album isn’t difficult to listen to. I’ve heard post metal albums that are much harder to enjoy, that are almost as intense. Maybe it’s the thirty five minute run time but the album just flies by and leaves me wanting more. Hopefully we’ll get it someday and this won’t be a one off.
The ways of exile 