ALBUM REVIEW: Barst, "The Endeavour"

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type:Full Length

Date Released:18/05/2018

Label:Consouling Sounds

‘The Endeavour” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. The Endeavour

The Review:

Boy! Barst has done it again. On their 2016 outing, “Western Lands,” Barstyielded stunning results when they combined post metal aggression with claustrophobic psychedelia. This Friday, Barst is going to hit the scene with a new offering, “The Endeavour.” In doing so, this Belgian band is taking their sound to unexplored territories.

“The Endeavour” is presented as one, 42 minute song. Whether “The Endeavour” actually is one, single song is up for debate. I’d go so far as to say the album is three of four movements, all tied together by way of smooth transitions. But presentation counts for a lot, and if Barst wants us to take this album in as one song, then that’s what we’ll do. Either way, the band implores the listener to give the music full and undivided attention.

As far as genre is concerned, “The Endeavour” is hard to pin down. There’s definitely a dark element to the music, and it’s heavy in its own way. Is it metal? Yeah. Industrial? Check. Psychedelic? No doubt. Heavy doom? Uh-huh. And those are just a few of the genres that Barst brings to the table.

Throughout, the guitars are laden with a variety of distortion effects. None of the guitars are ever overpowering, but they sure do set the mood. So there’s still a subtlety in the music that holds the band back from diving head first into mindless riffing. “The Endeavour” continues its foray into the unknown by introducing programmed percussion and other electronics, giving way to a rather palpable industrial influence. Sometimes an Ufomammut tint springs to mind and at other times the music gets psychedelic enough to wonder if it’s still Barst that we’re listening to.

Then there’s the emotional palette that Barst paints from. It’s probably even more varied than the musical palette. Barstspends these 42 minutes intently dipping their proverbial paintbrush in the darkest of blacks as well as the brightest of colors. The resulting painting is one that grabs attention of both its somber tone as well as its shades of hope and elation.

Despite the sprawling nature of the music on “The Endeavour,” the album is still a very concise listen. Barst’splan of attack is based on a clear vision, so much so that every note and chord and melody played is as intentional as the last. Barst’svision is so sound that they don’t get caught up in themselves, but instead are able to translate what was in their mind to a recorded format without coming across as self-indulgent.

“The Endeavour” is available digitally, on CD and LP here

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Wiegedood - “De Doden Hebben Het Goed II”

By: Conor O’Dea

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 10/02/2017

Label: Consouling Sounds

I cannot find any fault with this album. It is a rending and harrowing masterpiece, and I recommend it without reservation. At first, I found myself missing the longer songs of the debut, but the stripped out agony that this tighter piece represents is just brilliant...and gutting. Get it

“De Doden Hebben Het Goed II” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Ontzielling (07:32)
2. Cataract (11:11)
3. De Doden Hebben Het Goed II (08:29)
4. Smeekbede (06:13)

The Review:

There is something sublimely overwhelming about Wiegedood'sapproach to black metal; listening to “De Doden Hebben Het Goed” for me felt like slowly being battered to death by waves while simultaneously being dragged down by undertow. The sublimity here, however, comes from the sense of willingly letting go and being carried down into death by those black oceans. And why not? "The dead are faring well," as Wiegedoodtell us.

“De Doden Hebben Het Goed II” refines and enhances this sense of black metal rip tides and heavy, perilous gravity. More sparse than the debut album, but retaining the same pummelling undercurrents layered sinister melodic whorls and eddies, this album feels like a titration and distillation of the bleak poetics of Wiegedood'searlier work. This album is short; 33:25 in total length. But it has a definitive narrative arc that is compelling and elegantly structured. Opener “Ontzielling”rushes out at the listener, tsunami-like and unrelenting. This is the first immersion into violent, dark and frigid waters. “Cataract”conjures both the sense of the rushing flow of these waters and the deepening of that darkness through encroaching blindness. This track crescendos, then crashes and ebbs into the resignation and resolution of “De Doden Hebben Het Goed II.” Deep solemnity pervades the title track on the album, itself in: let yourself go, do not fight this drowning, the dead are doing well, join them. In the end, we return to deep grief and tragedy: supplication, pleading, begging – “Smeekbede”. This final song feels like the mourning and keening of those left behind by this death; a final howl, an agonising cry.

I cannot find any fault with this album. It is a rending and harrowing masterpiece, and I recommend it without reservation. At first, I found myself missing the longer songs of the debut, but the stripped out agony that this tighter piece represents is just brilliant...and gutting. Get it.

“De Doden Hebben Het Goed II” is available to buy/preorder here

Band info: facebook|| bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Ortega - "Sacred States"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 05/10/2016
Label: Consouling Sounds |
Tartarus Records |
Narshardaa Records

Ortega are not the first band to fuse post metal, doom and spaced-out sludge but they succeed by doing it bigger, better and heavier than most.  Sacred States” sees Ortega take their sound to the next level, delivering on the promise of previous releases and stretching out towards bold new horizons.

“Sacred States” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1. Strong Eye (11:25)
2. Maelstrom (09:31)
3. Descending Ladders (05:24)
4. Crows (18:48)
5. Void (11:18)

The Review:

Ortega’s new LP “Sacred States” has been a long time coming. Anticipation has been high for the Groningen post metal quartet’s first full-length since their excellent 2012 EPs “The Serpent Stirs” and “A Flame Never Rises On Its Own”. They are not the first band to fuse post metal, doom and spaced-out sludge but they succeed by doing it bigger, better and heavier than most.

Opener “Strong Eye” begins with some insistent chugging before launching into fearsome, lumbering riffage reminiscent of a more immediate Neurosis. “Maelstrom” continues in a similar vein with melodic guitar parts echoing “Panopticon”-era Isis, while “Void” sees the band add some of Yob’s psychedelic crunch to the mix.

“Descending Ladders” marks the mid-point of the record with a swirling cauldron of noise and gut-churning heaviness. In contrast to the other epic compositions here, the track focuses on hypnotic repetition and minimal riffs to create a dark cloud of menace. This sets the scene for the 19 minute behemoth “Crows”. The track is Ortega’sfinest hour and showcases their considerable song writing skill.

Often bands stretch tracks into double figure duration by stringing together unconnected ideas and relying on predictable quiet/loud dynamics. “Crows” is a fine example of a monstrous track that justifies its length, a sprawling journey into the unknown where each section flows naturally into the next. In amongst the crushing riffs and ominous clean guitar lines, Ortegaalso expand their post-rock side with a captivating and atmospheric passage in the middle of the song.

“Sacred States” sees Ortegatake their sound to the next level, delivering on the promise of previous releases and stretching out towards bold new horizons. Hopefully the wait for their next opus won’t be so long. 

“Sacred States” is available on CD here, vinyl here, cassette here and digitally here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

FFO: Neurosis, Isis, Cult of Luna, Minsk

ALBUM REVIEW: 30,000 Monkies - "I Ate Myself to Grow Twice As Big"

By: Jay Hampshire

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 16/04/2016
Label: ConSouling Sounds

Noisy, experimental and not without its moments of bristling intensity, “I Ate Myself …” is a record that piques interest with seven chaotic, constantly shifting tracks bursting with a myriad of influences, underpinned by a borderline disregard for the safe confines of genre.

“I Ate Myself to Grow Twice As Big” CD//DD//LP track listing  

1). Melæna

2). Coproliet

3). Coccinelle

4). Monuntainesque II

5). Apollo 10

6). Mountainesque I

7). Juice

The Review

Belgian noisesmiths 30,000 Monkies return with their second studio album ‘I Ate Myself To Grow Twice As Big’, seven chaotic, constantly shifting tracks bursting with a myriad of influences, underpinned by a borderline disregard for the safe confines of genre.

‘Melæna’ kicks in with hoarse, anguished vocals set in amongst cycling, fuzzed out riffing. It all seems far off, echoing, but the drums usher in a main riff composed of heavy tom work and whining, jarring chords. Muscular, overdriven bass raises its head, and the track alternates between these two patterns before dropping into a hardcore infused run that’s shaken up with heavy, frantic kick work and maddening guitar lines. It’s chaotic, a tad sloppy, but wonderfully organic.

‘Coproliet’ is a tumbling rush of density and urgency, military snare building then stopping suddenly, bright, fragile, strummed chords replacing it before being replaced in turn with a mass of groaning, feedback laden guitars. ‘Coccinelle’ is a roiling lump of sub-doom guitars and unsettling high-pitched vocals, chords growing in strength, well-spaced and threatening. The atonal chants build by layers, and it grows into a more upbeat affair, picking up pace, locked in tight, exhausting itself before lapsing into meditative noise.

‘Mountainesque II’ drives from the get go, enraged well-bottom shouts and thumping drums powering through a thicket of tremolo guitars and whining feedback, bleak and paranoid, the crescendo of a track stretched far beyond normal limits. ‘Apollo 10’ swells with ‘radio’ noise, coming in waves, spreading unease, punctured by haunting shouts, before wild, scraping guitars and clattering drums throw things for a loop, before things break apart with whining noise and echoing, overlapping vox loops.

‘Mountainesque I’ is like a man railing against being trapped in an 80’s film score, reverb drenched shouts fighting against rushing synth layers, drums and guitar occasionally raising their heads to belt out grinding chords. Closer ‘Juice’ kicks in with dreamy synth and slow, pounding drums. Strident, barked vocals come in, along with big, ringing chords, before everything falls down a spiralling rabbit hole of grinding guitars, descending drums and sweeping synths. It’s intense, dramatic, and bleak stuff, which is offset by the tracks’ zenith – layers of bright, ghostly synths that evoke the slightly unsettling climax of a psychedelic space opera.

Noisy, experimental and not without its moments of bristling intensity, “I Ate Myself …” is a record that piques interest with its cleverly constructed tracks. But, the self-same tracks struggle to find true individual identity, to stand apart from one another fully, which isn’t helped by a recording that lacks overall dynamic impact, seeing everything played safely towards an aural middle ground. A solid enough release, it sadly won’t leave a lasting impression on all but the most ardent noise fan.

“I Ate Myself To Grow Twice As Big” is available here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp