Low Flying Hawks come at you with a chugging, thick mélange of sound you will not soon forget, there's an aesthetic through this release that makes their second foray sound quite breathtaking.
"Genkaku" CD//DD//LP track listing:
1.) Smile
2.) Uncool
3.) Virgin Witch
4.) Space Wizard
5.) Hallucination
6.) Twilight
7.) Sinister Waves
The Review:
Sporting a bond to sludge metal icons the Melvins is never a bad thing. And such a relationship is all the more noteworthy when your bag is self described as ambient metal, known otherwise depending on who you ask as drone metal. In the case of Low Flying Hawks, they're even closer to the WashingtonStatelegends than throwaway words in a press kit. As Low Flying Hawks features Crover's peerless stylings as well as Melvins'producer Toshi Kasai and guest vocals from King Buzzo himself.
Do not come to the recording expecting the Melvins' crunch, though. On its successor to the 2016 debut “Kōfuku”, Low Flying Hawks instead come at you with a chugging, thick mélange of sound you will not soon forget.
"Genkaku" (Japanese for “hallucination” or illusion”) is a mind-bending journey. The swirling guitars and indecipherable words in "Uncool"are indicative of that trip – dreamlike, or nightmarish, paths lain bare with Crover's pensive drum duties. A song such as "Hallucination"has almost a shoegaze feel to it, even though it is most decidedly doom in nature. The discerning listener will find a bit of a psychedelic rock influence in several tracks. Although you may hear such especially in our sludge metal friends, prototypical notions of 'Melvins side project' this is not. Rather, there's an aesthetic through this release that makes Low Flying Hawks' second foray sound quite breathtaking.
At the same time, the release is punishing when it needs to be. As in “Kōfuku”, the sophomore recording takes plenty of toilsome turns. The big sound is present and accounted for, complete with multilayered instrumentation and riffs that build to impressive arcs throughout. You have to appreciate the King Buzzo-fronted track "Space Wizard" for its pacing in this regard, as well as that of "Virgin Witch," which is one of the most Melvinssounding songs, in all of the best ways, on this recording. All in all, Low Flying Hawks exceeds the anticipation one might have about its members' histories. The band also gets you thinking about how they can expand past that.
This is another thrilling blend of jarring styles that Human Future bring together in seamless fashion.Although it is a shame to lose such a distinctive voice in the UKheavy underground, the band can be proud that they went out with a bang.
“Flat Earth Blues” CD//DD track listing:
1). IV
2). Swine
3). Axiom
4). None Shall Survive Through The Churn
5). V
The Review:
Human Future’s new EP “Flat Earth Blues” is a bitter-sweet affair due to the band’s announcement of their untimely demise shortly after its release. The UKquintet’s swansong is an ambitious and exhilarating listen tinged with sadness that the potential displayed on this brief but beguiling release will go unfulfilled.
Bookended by two atmospheric keyboard soundscapes, “Flat Earth Blues” is a captivating journey through wild shifts in mood and genre. “Swine” begins in dark post-hardcore territory, an urgent razor-edged groove that comes across like a heavier Self Defense Family. The volume and intensity increases until the music drops away to an ambient cloud of hypnotic repetition and slow-burning psychedelic lead guitar. This soon erupts into a searing solo as the band strike into an epic finale that feels like the perfect meeting point between post-rock and prog.
The other main attraction here is nine-minute behemoth “None Shall Survive Through The Churn”. This is another thrilling blend of potentially jarring styles that Human Future bring together in seamless fashion. The first half of the track shifts between blissed-out choral passages and huge slabs of widescreen slide-guitar assisted heaviness that come across like a combination of Envy and Earth. The second half sees proceedings collapse into glorious controlled chaos, fuelled by some impressive drumming that teeters on the edge between mathcore complexity and all-out grindcore fury
“Flat Earth Blues” is a fine parting gesture from Human Future. Although it is a shame to lose such a distinctive voice in the UKheavy underground, the band can be proud that they went out with a bang.
Today's guests released one of the albums of the year in 2014 with the brilliant “12 Areas”, indeed Colchester-based instrumental sludge/post-metal band Telepathy are one of the underground's best kept secrets. They play unique and ambitious music, not so much songs, rather complex compositions, music to get lost in, the perfect juxtaposition of beautifully mellow and hideously brutal passages which they execute with remarkable intelligence. Telepathy are musical conjurors, employing masterful tricks within the construct of their music, which they deploy in unpredictable ways throughout their art and that is indeed what they create, art in the truest sense, you never know what’s coming around the corner but you can’t wait to find out.
With each release their raw, voracious and vicious sound has gained more and more clarity, their ideas more expansive and forward thinking. Now, with Jaime Gomez Arellano at the helm, their new album “Tempest” is a different beast entirely. The producer, who can boast Ghost, Opeth and Paradise Lost as notches on his bedpost, is exactly what the band needed at this point in time, and it will surely propel them to greater, more luxurious stratospheres.Subscribing to their own rules, the band are in a unique position of being embraced by fans of post-metal, hardcore, sludge and progressive music alike, which is testament to the bands imaginative, off-kilter and ambitious musical expressionism
“Tempest”,their second full length for all intents and purposes, is better experienced than anything. Be that in the flesh or sat in the dark with their immersive compositions blaring through your headphones, painting vibrant images in your imagination as they do, amonsoon of riffs, from slow, knuckle-dragging doom moments to the calculated chaos of Mastodon, spinning on a huge axis with their long, winding loops, this album hits you like a drug, freewheeling into your body.
Safe to say then, that TERR0R are massive fans and ardent followers of their instrumental musical expressionism, so today it gives us great pleasure to have invited Telepathy to talk us through their top 5 instrumental albums, as we take our weekly trip into the extreme and turn the volume all the way up to 11. Why do we go to 11, because its one louder.
Earth – “Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull” (By: Teddy James Driscoll)
This album is like a wander through the PalmDesert on peyote. The instrumentation and minimalist approach is both sonically rich and wonderfully bleak at the same time and you can almost feel the dry air dancing past your cracked lips as you journey through the barren landscape. All in all, it is just fucking great album!
Vangelis – “Blade Runner OST” (By: Piotr Turek)
First of all, I must say that I love synths. This soundtrack is both complex and spacious. I love the fact that although it is very ambient, there is enough depth to the music to allow a variety of instrumentation and sound. At the same time there are moments, like in the track "Rachel's Song", where a melody is sung without words, adding a human element whilst retaining its instrumental core. It's the whole climax up until the final moments, and my love of 80's electronic music, that makes it my favourite album to listen to. It contains all the best things from its period.
Bohren & Der Club of Gore– “Sunset Mission” (By: Richard Powley)
This was my first introduction to the band, and is still one of my favourite instrumental records to this day. Sometimes referred to as doom or noir jazz, Bohren & Der Club of Gore trade in an incredibly slow and ambient take on jazz soundtrack work. “Sunset Mission” perfectly encapsulates their smoky, dystopian brand of after-hours city jazz and never once lets you break from its grimy charms. Despite it's slow pace, the album is incredibly gripping and every shift, every change in each track is perfectly timed to make the greatest impact. Minimal, atmospheric and incredibly well played; “Sunset Mission” is an escapist soundtrack to the detective story that lives in your head.
Hans Zimmer – “King Arthur OST” (By: Albert Turek)
I think the layering/production/composition is one of the standout points for this Hans Zimmer score. It sounds like he used mostly orchestral musicians for this score, unlike some newer ones, which use electronic libraries of orchestral samples he’s collected over the years. I feel like this is fairly close to the type of music we write and it truly tells a story and fits the film beautifully - in fact I can't imagine the film without it - 50% of the film is that score for me. It says just as much as the picture does. The drums sound amazing and it's the kind of drum sound and playing I am leaning towards in the next Telepathyalbum, a big orchestral sound - epic and powerful. It's inspired me a lot. Compositions are super intricate and beautiful. Some of the harsh and heavy sections on drums, brass and other rhythmic ensembles are brutal and hit harder than a lot of metal records I've listened to recently.
Miles Davis – “Bitches Brew” (By: Piotr Turek)
The instrumental album that has had the most impact on myself would be “Bitches Brew” by Miles Davis. Its was the first time I heard someone using a guitar so well in jazz music, and the experimental nature of this Miles Davis period made it easy to fall in love with.
Honourable mentions:
Bongripper – “Miserable”
Mogwai – “Happy Songs for Happy People”
Burial – “Street Dealer”
Lustmord – “Purifying Fire”
Don Cabellero– “American Don”
Telepathy’s latest album “Tempest” is available here
“Ain-Soph Aur” is a heavy experience on all levels. The band have dialled back the volume and slowed the tempo from previous releases which has unexpectedly resulted in increased impact. This album is towering achievement from In The Company Of Serpents. It is a fine addition to an already distinguished discography and an inspiring work that sets the standard for heavy music in 2017.
“Ain-Soph Aur” DD//LP track listing:
1). Middle Pillar
2). Nothingness
3). Crucible
4). Merkabah
5). Limitless Nothingness
6). Limitless Light
The Review:
Denver doom duo In The Company Of Serpents’ new LP “Ain-Soph Aur” is a heavy experience on all levels. The band have dialled back the volume and slowed the tempo from previous releases which has unexpectedly resulted in increased impact. Coupled with some weighty thematic and lyrical content that draws on Qabalah philosophy (“Ain-Soph Aur” means limitless or eternal light) and Jewish mysticism, this album hits hard.
“Middle Pillar”opens the album in punishing fashion, a relentless steamroller that destroys all in its path. This track acts a meeting point between the bands aggressive sludge roots and the grandiose widescreen destruction embraced over the course of this record.
There are many bands that employ quiet/loud dynamics, maximum reverb usage and crushing doom riffage. In The Company of Serpents employ all of these elements here but their attention to detail and method of delivery have resulted in a completely absorbing and unique sounding record. The fact that this dense, multi-faceted music is the work of only two people is even more mind-boggling and impressive.
The key to this record’s distinct atmosphere is the dark country influence that runs through its veins. On paper, the combination of doom and country doesn’t sound like a winner. However, In The Company Of Serpents recognise the common ground between these two disparate genres and bring them together to create a glorious noise. “Ain-Soph Aur” brings to mind Panopticon’ssimilarly unlikely black metal/bluegrass classic “Kentucky”, particularly during the cold acoustic ballad “Merkabah”.
“Crucible” and “Limitless Light” demonstrate the band fully embracing their new sound to create epic, awe-inspiring journeys into uncharted heavy territory. The former is particularly striking when the brooding dustbowl menace of the song’s first half is shattered by an onslaught of devastating sludge. Imagine Earthand Neurosisjoining forces to provide the soundtrack for True Detective and you have an idea of the eerie heaviness to be found here.
In The Company Of Serpents’ massive riff explorations are obviously their main strength but the shorter acoustic tracks are just as effective and integral to the flow of the album. The sparse minimalism of “Nothingness” and “Limitless Nothingness” provide periods of bleak calm that are as hypnotic as the explosions of volume that surround.
“Ain-Soph Aur” is a towering achievement from In The Company Of Serpents. It is a fine addition to an already distinguished discography and an inspiring work that sets the standard for heavy music in 2017.
Date Released:03/02/2017 Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories
I hate to sound melodramatic or overstated but this was a completely other-worldly experience ... the likes of which I'm still recovering from.
“Scriptures of Grief” CS//DD track listing:
1). I
2). II
3). III
The Review:
It can be said that in this modern age we all have a sense of universal gateways. Instant paths to information, shared experience and ideologies - for better or worse. The beckoning, albeit distracting handheld glow of our portable gateway devices. The altar of research and interaction that takes form as a desktop battle station or a convenient laptop. Your path to these gateways is not beset on all sides with a burden of gnosis, or a life resolute on mastering the arcane mysteries of the universe. The gateway is the path, and the path is the gateway. Sorry, I just got done listening to "Scriptures of Grief" by Gateway.
Having emerged from the alternate plane that this Gateway release puts you - it's sort of difficult not to look at things a bit differently. Sure, blackened death doom is a thing and those words in conjunction sort of let you know what you're in for when you hear them - but this is something else. I hate to sound melodramatic or overstated but this was a completely other-worldly experience ... the likes of which I'm still recovering from.
Three tracks, titled as simple numerals - "I-II-III" comprise this album as ways to delineate three concise movements or phases. So for the sake of coherency I'll just refer to them as "parts". Part one is a telling display of this one man's death doom dealing abilities overall. The knack for creating atmosphere and laying a formidable track for you to attach yourself to. Clocking in at almost twelve and half minutes long it takes you through gravity questioning swirls and sweeps of low-end frequency annihilation and eerie distant digital percussion. A rare instance where mechanical drums actually fit to serve the experience. The guitar tone is for me, more reminiscent of early 90's drone distortion - a la early Earthwith sort of a destructive industrial warmth but sterility that beckons you near whilst burning and semi-sizzling your ear drums. In terms of vocal performance, it's more of a production than an outright telling. Deep, guttural bellows soaked in reverb so wet it glistens and drips. I'm reminded of bio-mechanic landscapes in the latest Doom video game and the sounds they would make when no one was fighting on them.
Part two further delves into a more scientific and somewhat industrial conjuring of textures with the seamless transition from the first part. Marked by an increase in mechanical drum excellence, this part of the album wants to take you for a ride. Big breaks, followed by cliff-drops and more trudging with hypnotic guitar work and those calculated machinations that are the drums culminate to make this 8 and a half minute affair stand out resolute as a different phase of the album. Probably a deliberate notion to give the entire journey its height in intensity and callousness. Not a guitar solo in sight here - nor anywhere on this entire landscape. The guitar serves as solid slabs of gristle and glacial meat for the rest of the aural participants to feed from.
Part three folds in organically at the brief respite that marks the transition. From there it’s an inevitable downhill affair with a final surge of tempo and intensity which disassembles and deconstructs to sub-sonic ruminations and rumblings encapsulated in yet another 8 and half minute dirge. Kind of like the slow motion death rattles of a wounded elder god - the dying breaths of a world destroyer. At somewhere around the 6 minute mark the song releases its final frustration in tempo and intensity to fall to the ground, awash in a fuzz tide and crispy wizard whispers. The gateway has closed and the scriptures have been read aloud. Time for you to return to the plane of the mundane mortal.
“Scriptures of Grief” is available Europehereand USA/ROTW here
“Diablo, Con Amor…Dios” is a relentless dose of irresistibly gruelling metallic hardcore. Xibalba have crafted a flawless shot of misery that will keep you coming back for more until you have been beaten into submission.
“Diablo, Con Amor…Dios” DD//7inch track listing:
1. Diablo
2. Con Amor
3. Adios
The Review:
California quintet Xibalbahave built up a formidable reputation for crushing brutality. New EP “Diablo, Con Amor…Dios” is a succinct yet terrifying reminder of the bands fearsome power.
Few bands manage to convey the constant atmosphere of threatening menace that pervade these three tracks. “Diablo” opens proceedings like a kick in the gut, an evil blend of sludge-encrusted doom and chug-heavy hardcore. “Adios” shares a similar sound but drags the punishment out over five grimly-compelling minutes, like Crowbarbeing dragged into the moshpit by Integrityand Earth Crisis.
“Con Amor” acts as a relative breather between these two slabs of dense heaviness. The band let their death metal tendencies rise to the fore, furious blastbeats and straight-ahead punk rhythms intertwining to create a dark adrenaline rush.
“Diablo, Con Amor…Dios”is a relentless dose of irresistibly gruelling metallic hardcore. Xibalba have crafted a flawless shot of misery that will keep you coming back for more until you have been beaten into submission.
“Diablo, Con Amor…Dios”is available to preorder/buy here
By: Charlie Butler Album Type: Full Length Date Released: 14/10/2016 Label: Golden Antenna Records | The Native Sound
“Wounds” is a captivating set of songs that are simultaneously heavy and delicate. FVNERALS unique brand of doom-filtered slowcore creates a powerful feeling that stays with the listener long after the final note has rung out.
This is the perfect time of year for the music of FVNERALS. The bleak and desolate atmosphere of new LP “Wounds” completely captures the feel of days when you leave and arrive home in cold darkness.
The Glasgow trio’s distinct sound does not fit the standard mould of metal but it hits harder than the heaviest of doom bands. An intoxicating blend of Earth’s dustbowl minimalism, the spiky dissonance of Slint and the hushed intimacy of Grouper, FVNERALSpower comes from hypnotic simplicity and restraint. Sparse guitar lines, deep drones and ominous drums make an ideal backdrop for Tiffany’s haunting vocals, a key element to the weighty emotional punch of this album. The climax of the title track is all the more affecting when wordless howls wash over the crushing distortion that breaks the rising tension of the quiet build-up. The mid-section of “Shiver” provides one of the albums hardest hitting moments when the track falls away to just organ and hushed vocals.
Although the moments when the band cut loose on the volume front are few, when it happens they make it count. The snail-paced riff that brings nine minute finale “Where” to a close is a stark contrast to the surrounding taut menace, its impact amplified via glorious repetition.
“Wounds” is a captivating set of songs that are simultaneously heavy and delicate. FVNERALS unique brand of doom-filtered slowcore creates a powerful feeling that stays with the listener long after the final note has rung out.
“Wounds” is available in the USon vinyl (here) and in Europe on CD//LP (here)
I’m a bit obsessed with Neurosis. I was given the “Souls at Zero/Enemy of the Sun” bundled digipack on release about 20 years ago (by my Gran, of all people) and have been a fan ever since. In all that time I’ve never managed to catch them live, so when they announced two shows at Koko to celebrate 30 years as a band - supported by instrumental USdrone-mongers Earthon the Monday night and British anarcho-punks Subhumans and Dischargeon the Tuesday - I snapped up tickets immediately and have spent the last few months salivating in excitement.
Having initially bought tickets for the Tuesday show I was pretty disappointed when work got in the way and I had to switch to going on the Monday night – I’ve been a Dischargefan for yonks but had never really listened to Earth past a cursory spin of “The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull”which left me a bit unsure what all the fuss was about. Turns out I was wrong.
After a few pints over the road, we arrived a couple of minutes before Earthcame on and just had time for a run to the merch stand and the bar before Dylan Carlson and co wandered onto the stage of Koko. Their set was hypnotic ally brilliant, as Carlson - backed by Adrienne Davies on drums and a baritone guitarist whose name I’m not sure of – ground out a succession of long, mesmerising instrumental pieces full of ultra-slow, head-nodding grooves and bluesy guitar riffs that were big, slow and heavy enough to have been written by dinosaurs. Music I’d found difficult to pay attention to on record was suddenly all-encompassing and completely gripping. I’m sure a proper fan could give you a much more thorough review, but I’ll just say that I was grinning from ear to ear by the end of the set and leave it at that.
And so, having been thoroughly re-educated about Earth, it was time for one of the most influential acts in modern heavy music to unleash the apocalypse on Camden. What followed wasn’t quite what I was expecting. In an interview with Overblown in the run-up to these shows, Steve Von Till mentioned that Neurosis“[wanted] to celebrate our 30th anniversary by going back in the catalogue, trying to find some songs that would work, and trying to acknowledge each phase of our band” and that comment had me excited about the possibility of them raiding “Souls at Zero”, “Enemy of the Sun”, “Through Silver in Blood” and “Times of Grace”, in turn bringing out a crowd-pleasing set of classics. In the end the set list leans much more heavily on recent albums than I was hoping. “Lost”, from “Enemy of the Sun”, gets a huge cheer from the crowd about halfway through and they close with the incomparable “Locust Star”, which is one of my all-time favourite songs by any artist, but the rest of the ten-song set is drawn from their last four albums, including three of the five tracks on new release “Fires Within Fires.”
But if that sounds like a complaint, it isn’t. Neurosis are majestic. They don’t chat. The visuals are long gone. What we get is visceral, intense, totally alive heavy music, and the fact that I don’t know the new stuff that well doesn’t get in the way at all. There aren’t many bands who can take music that didn’t really set the world on fire for you on record and make it feel like a vital listening experience live, but Neurosis does precisely that. They pound out almost two hours of non-stop riffage, load it with waves of electronica from Noah Landis's sample/keyboard/theremin station on the side of the stage and offer more dynamics and subtlety in ten songs than many modern metal acts manage in an entire career. 30 years of making music hasn't slowed the juggernaut of sludge that is Neurosis down one iota and on this form you wouldn't bet against seeing the 40th anniversary shows come around. Maybe they'll finally cave in and play the greatest hits set in 2026.
Setlist:
1). Stones from the Sky 2). Given to the Rising 3). Bending Light 4). Lost 5). Broken Ground 6). Casting of the Ages 7). Fire is the End Lesson 8). Distill (Watching The Swarm) 9). At the Well 10). Locust Star
Album Type: Full Length Date Released: 24/10/2016 Label: I Hate Records
“What makes Zaum’s music so intoxicating is the sheer density of their sound. Layers of synths, sitars, flutes and who knows what else, build up to create a foundation of all-encompassing drone for the bands epic compositions.Prepare to be transported to a higher realm.”
“Eidolon” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Influence of the Magi
2). The Enlightenment
The Review:
“Eidolon” is a term from ancient Greek literature that refers to a spirit-image of a living or dead person. It is an appropriate title for Zaum’s new album given the ageless, haunted soundscapes contained within.
Few bands can touch the New Brunswickdoom duo in terms of sheer hypnotic atmosphere. “Eidolon” sees them raise their game once more with two 20 minute behemoths, “Influence of the Magi” and “The Enlightenment” that build on their impressive previous releases. Imagine the relentless riff onslaught of Om circa “Conference of the Birds” combined with the wider sonic palette of their later work and blown up to symphonic scale. This will give you a good impression of Zaum’smind-expanding, heavy grandeur.
What makes Zaum’smusic so intoxicating is the sheer density of their sound. Layers of synths, sitars, flutes and who knows what else, build up to create a foundation of all-encompassing drone for the bands epic compositions. Chris Lewis’ drumming provides a solid backbone for these mammoth voyages into the beyond but Kyle McDonald’s bass is the key ingredient to Zaum’s success. From spacious, ghostly chords to crushing distorted riffs, he utilises an arsenal of effects to give the impression of the band being a mighty legion rather than a mere duo. There is a wide spectrum of vocals on display here too, switching from spectral chants to throaty roars and everything in between to meet the demands of these complex journeys.
“Eidolon” is another transcendent release from Zaumthat sees them go further down their singular path into the heavy unknown. Prepare to be transported to a higher realm.
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