I wasn’t sure if I should bother with a December write up, there usually isn’t much released that close to Christmas. But last year two of my favourite albums last year were released in December, so I figured it was worth doing. I’m glad I did! There are some storming eps here for your entertainment.
But before we get to the music, I’d like to say thank you for reading this. I’ve been running this blog for a year now and that’s the longest I’ve ever stuck with something creatively. It means so much that I’m not just writing into the void. I’m starting a new job this year and will have a lot less free time but hopefully I can keep this going. It may be difficult but it’s nice to have a body of work I can look back on. Who knows, maybe I’ll even finish some of those short stories I’ve been working on for years.
Anyway, the music!
Rupture // Rapture
Live and Unreleased 2021
This is a compilation of live versions and unreleased tracks from this year. I’m slightly embarrassed by how much space I’ve given R//R on this blog and have promised that I’m not going to say any more nice things about his music. So I won’t.
This is an album of melodic techno that exists.
Ejeca
Take It
Garry McCartney has always dabbled in retro sounds and usually at the unfashionable ends of dance music. He’s repurposed trance before but this though, this is something else. Take it, the EP opener is Hard House, and that has to be one of the most reviled and ignored genres.
It’s a brutalising (in a good way) stormer. Huge beats and rave synths abound, it’s the kind of track that is designed to put a big, gurning smile on your face. The next two tracks are a more restrained, colder techno but no less for dialing down the frantic energy of the opener.
The fourth track, Mallusk is the EP highlight. With a slower pace it draws you in with warm synths, driving bass and some rattling breakbeats. It’s is right up there as one of my tracks of the year.
Novere
Soulless Elements
Novere don’t go in for subtlety with the opening of this EP. Starting off with huge sludgy riffs and a guttural growled vocal lets you know pretty quickly what you’re in for. This is a heavy as hell bit of post metal and you better be ready for it.
But for me that crushing brutality gets very wearing very quickly and what sets a post metal band apart is the slower sections, that’s where the bands song writing ability will shine.
Here it takes three minutes before the band drops out leaving the drums and a clean, almost jazzy guitar and a clean vocal. It’s a refreshing choice that promises more than your bog standard post rock.
It’s a promise the ep delivers, the second track, Awake, has the most fantastically heavy instrumental second half where the drums just assault the listener on the outro. The EP standout is the last track, Farewell. It’s first half is a ferocious attack before things slow down, with the singer’s clean vocal coming back to the fore, before coming back with the sludge. It’s a well worn template but Novere just crush while using it.
It’s a great debut and I can’t wait for more.
Fasme & Maelstrom
Lotus 48
I know nothing about Maelstrom but Fasme appeared in my October write up with his Home ep. I’m not sure just how this collaboration works as a merging of the producers sounds, but what we get is fantastic.
Almond Blossom is a pleasant synthy, chilled opener but once we get to the second track, things get harder. Ciliae has a slight Come to Daddy feel about it’s bassline, but without being evil.
Lotus 48 sounds like a 21st century Orbital banger, it’s an amazing track that hopefully will set dancefloors alight. The EP closes with Moneres, a moody synth number that again has a moody Orbital feel that I absolutely love.
This EP might not offer anything new but it is absolutely hitting my sweet spot.
Diadem
The Silver Plate
I missed this last month but it’s far too good not to cover.
I’m always a little cold on Goth Metal, it always seems far more metal with just a slight lean on the classic goth sounds. Diadem are front and centre with their goth influence, evening having it listed as one of their genres on Bandcamp, instead of hiding behind Post Punk like other cowards. ( 😉 )
The opening song, Bend to the Great Will, sets the band’s sound out perfectly, a moody opening verse before the blackened vocal comes screeching in at 90 seconds. The vocal never overpowers, it just raises the intensity, giving a great texture to the song.
The Devil Always Wins sounds more than a little like Siouxsie and the Banshees. There’s something about it that reminds me of the stuff Nightbreed Records used to put out in the 90’s and it hits my sweet spot nicely.
Blissed Out lives up to it’s name with warm fuzzy guitars until it slowly shifts into a fantastic doom metal ending.
This seems to be the band’s first EP so fair play on such an incredible debut, I’ll be keeping a close eye on what they do next.
And that’s it, a year of music reviews. Thanks again and here’s a playlist of dance bangers to close the 12 months out with.
The ways of exile 