I’m not sure what was in the water this January but the music out there was heavy as hell, but to be honest, it really fit what felt like an eternal month of darkness. So I’d advise strapping in as this month is going to go hard.
À TERRE
Embrasser La Nuit
Hardcore / Post Metal
It’s always interesting coming across music from outside the Anglosphere. There’s usually something a bit different going on, maybe an influence that you’re not aware of, that gives the music something that stands out, something more than just the vocals being in a different language. À TERRE hail from Gascony and the Basque Country and while they are walking the well trodden path of hardcore and post metal, they do it with style and a self assurance that belies the band’s age and are not afraid to experiment with their sound.
Even with my rubbish French you can tell that this is an album aimed at the darker side of things. Opening with ÂCÂB, (I doubt this stands for All Coppers Are Bastards but you never know) the band wrongfoots the listener with some very moody synthwave before the crawling, sludgy hardcore comes crashing down on you.
Paris Sous Les Tombs quickly changes that mood, speeding up and doubling down on the aggression; it then pivots into an almost dub section, bringing the dread. Album highlight, Prophétie, switches up from hardcore to skyscraping post metal without the listener even noticing the change.
This is a fantastic debut that shows the band’s mastery of Hardcore and their willingness to experiment outside those genre confines. If you’re looking for something to blow the January cobwebs out of your mind, this will do the job perfectly.
https://lynkify.in/song/prophetie/kXbAOGa8
.Vril
Saturn is a Super Computer
Techno
It’s taken me a long time to appreciate electronic music that isn’t dancefloor ready, but as I dip my toe further into this kind of electronica, the more I’ve realised that I’ve been missing out. Here, Vril sets out an immersive, moody album that, even for me, is easily accessible. However, accessible doesn’t mean that this is disposable or background music.
This is a heady techno album and a quick look at the track listing will show more than a little intellectual flexing from Vril. If Truth out the Cave isn’t a Plato reference, I’ll eat my hat, while Final Earthbound definitely confirms the producers philosophical leanings over some great moody beats.
However, it’s not all chin stroking. Vril isn’t afraid of cutting loose when needed, Truth out the Cave has a much tougher attack to it with it’s driving bass The title track is quite high energy compared to the rest of the album, whos down mix bleeps and bloops reminds me of 90’s techno, and Zivtem im Lab is a knotty bit of IDM. This isn’t an album content with locking in and staying in its lane, Vril understands that techno is a broad church and there’s a lot a producer can experiment with and stay in the genre’s confines.
Saturn is a Super Computer is an album that delivers evocative and cerebral music while still making you want to move. It’s no easy thing to do and Vril nails it.
https://lynkify.in/song/truth-out-the-cave/bFjWZuuP
Tayne
Love
Industrial noise pop
I caught Tayne at a gig last year, and even though they were pretty far down the bill and only had a few songs to their name, I was really impressed with them. I made a mental note to keep an eye on them, and now, finally they’ve released their debut album and it was everything I’d hoped for.
Now, it’s going to be impossible to review this album without mentioning HEALTH, Tayne have obviously based their sound on the L.A band’s sound. The high delicate vocals and the more electronic side of industrial but it’s fair to say that Tayne make a fair attempt at carving this sound for themselves. This feels much heavier than HEALTH somehow.
Tayne come at the listener hard, the first track, Erased is less than two minutes long and functions like the first paragraph in a tabloid news story. It tells you exactly what the band is about. It’s all in here, melodic vocals, sweet synths all mixed with big riffs and a smattering of harsh vox. The next nine songs are the band unpacking those ideas
So mixing the light and dark, harsh and clean vocals while throwing in some sci-fi synths, Tayne take 30 minutes and rattle your brain. The songs just hit one after the other. Cause Worthless has some filthy riffing and a just pounding industrial assault which makes it an album highlight. James from Rolo Tommasi turns up for some guest vocals on Fear, which is as full on as that sounds it might be. But it’s not all an attack, the slow section of Wasted has a gloriously slow strut to it.
I know I go on about it a lot but this album needs volume. It’s a really good album on headphones, but when played on some speakers, when let dominate the room, this album is ferocious and an absolute assault. And I mean that in the best possible way.
Tayne call themselves “Industrial noise pop” and while I normally roll my eyes when a heavy band calls themselves pop, here it makes sense. This is a heavy album but it’s also catchy and somehow breezy in a way that most bands never manage, this is a stunning debut album.
https://lynkify.in/song/fear/tnrCszeB
Obscure Sphinx
Emovere
Post Metal
Emovere is Obscure Sphinx ’s first studio release in 8 years but this is the first time I’ve come across them. And it’s a hell of an introduction, this is the kind of post metal I really love.
The opening vocals are closer to Lisa Gerrard than you might expect, with Zofia Fraś’s wordless vocal giving an exotic feeling before the heavy arrives, and oh how it does. Scarcity Hunter hits like Cult of Luna on top form, with Zofia’s harsh vocal leading the attack. From there we get 12 minutes of peak post metal, the push and pull of light and heavy. In particular I love the bits where the band let the bass carry the song. Not enough bands let the bass take the lead as far as I’m concerned.
The middle, and shortest track, As I Stood Upon The Shore, leans more toward metalcore than post metal and the drummer gets to let loose which isn’t something that happens often on this kind of release. But when they do slow down again, you can be assured that they dive back into the sludge. The final track, Nethergrove starts off with a folk feel before they break into some heavy bass and relaxed soloing. It’s a lighter track focusing more on the vocals than the riffs, which certainly makes an interesting change.
Wielebna’s (as Encyclopaedia Metallum informs me Zofia is also called) has a amazing voice and is going to draw some Julie Christmas comparisons, especially on As I Stood Upon The Shore, but she’s much more focused than Christmas’ more unhinged tendencies and her clean vocal is every bit as powerful as her harsh. She can really really hit those high notes when needed.
At 28 minutes for a 3 track ep, Emovere clocks in longer than most hardcore albums, but don’t let that put you off. This is a release you can just lose yourself in and you don’t feel the time pass at all. So settle yourself in and enjoy some great post metal.
https://lynkify.in/song/scarcity-hunter/hQecWGJm
Torba
II
Industrial / Darkwave
Another unusual thing about this January is that there are two industrial albums being featured! That really doesn’t happen but for some reason we have two gems dropped on us this month.
II is the second release as Torba by Italian producer, Luigi Pianezzola and I’m kinda disappointed that I haven’t discovered him before now. II is one of those “albums of two halves”. While the album begins with some chilled electronica, it’s not long before you get hit by some of the best industrial club dancefloor bangers that I’ve heard in a long time.
Deal starts off with subdued beats but you can feel it ratchet up before the song kicks in with an electronic swagger. This then smashes into gloriously filthy distorted bass on Punto and we’re onto the floor fillers. Dare, the album highlight, should set alternative clubs on fire. Swagger is the best word for this half of the album, those distorted vocals push these songs harder than the bass that rattles your teeth. It’s so much fun, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Then we get to the back half of the album and it’s like Torba is spent and it’s chill out time, as the album shifts to instrumental electronica. Somehow it’s not jarring, the songs transition well, keeping an edge, even though things are slowing down.Caduta is a moody piece of synthwave, while Rider has a delightful, narcotic, woozy feeling to it. It’s all great stuff but it may be a bit off putting to the more hardcore listener, but I’m all for it. Go wild, follow your muse people!
https://lynkify.in/song/dare/aaMY4hv5
The ways of exile 