VIDEO PREMIERE: "Echo of Souls" by Telepathy

If I have said it before, then I’ll say it again, and once I’ve said it again, then I’ll say it some more, Colchester-based instrumental sludge/post-metal band Telepathy, fucking rule and if you don’t know this band by now, then wtf you dumb dumb.  Having risen through the ranks of the UK underground, this quartet are musical architects, composing music of ambition , depth and distinction,  not so much songs, rather multifaceted  concertos, at times beautifully mellow and then hideously brutal, executed with remarkable intelligence and flair.  Like a rich tapestry Telepathy weave together the  strands of  their musical endeavours into something truly magical.

With each release their raw, voracious and vicious sound has gained more and more clarity, their ideas more expansive and forward thinking. Now, following the release of their sensational new album “Tempest”which will surely propel them to greater, more luxurious stratospheres, the band are set to hit the road for their biggest tour yet, taking them across Europe from 09.09 – 27.09,   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.

So with the tour set to kick off in a few short say, today, we are excited to reveal their brand new video for the track “Echo of Souls” which was directed by Maciej Bakowski and photographed by Sebastian Ziabka.  Check it out below.  “Tempest” is still available to buy here

TELEPATHY 'TEMPEST' EU TOUR 2017

09.09 MUNSTER, Sputnikcafe (DE)

10.09 FREIBURG, White Rabbit Club (DE) 

12.09 VIENNA, Viper Room Vienna (AT)

13.09 DRESDEN, Studentenclub Bärenzwinger (DE)

14.09 WÜRZBURG, Immerhin Würzburg (DE)

15.09 BERLIN, Berlin Swamp Fest 2017 (DE)

16.09 BRAUNSCHWEIG, Nexus (DE)

17.09 MARBURG, Szenario (DE)

19.09 KÖLN, AZ Koln (DE)

20.09 HAMBURG, Hafenklang (DE)

21.09 SIEGEN, Vortex Surfer Musikclub (DE)

22.09 OLTEN, Coq d'Or (CH)

23.09 WINTERTHUR, Gaswerk (CH)

25.09 ANTWERP, Antwerp Music City (BE)

27.09 BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, CAFE HIJACK (FR)

October: 

8.10 BRIGHTON, Mammothfest w/ Amenra, 40 Watt Sun, OHHMS, Vodunetc

20.10 BRUSSELS, Magasin 4 (BE)

21.10 LEEUWARDEN, Into the Void 2017 Festival (NL) 

22.10 UTRECHT, Black Earth Festival @ dB's (NL)

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

11 IS ONE LOUDER: Colchester's musical conjurers Telepathy choose their Top 5 instrumental albums

 

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 Palm Desert 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

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

TOP 16 ALBUMS: The Sour 16 for March 2017

Yes, it is that time again O ye lover of riffs, “The Sour 16” returns.  You know the drill by now, each month, you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal.  Is it not a chart, in which reviewers or contributors extol their opinion about their favourite music.  To put it simply, “The Sour 16” are the records that have been trending the most at The Sludgelord Headquarters.

The results are compiled based on page views alone and calibrated into the list below.  All reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and we have included album streams wherever possible. (Total views since their publication are highlighted in red)

16). Deadwound - "Identity Shapes" (533)

The South-West London quintet deal in a compellingly nasty blend of filthy sludge riffs, jarring discordance and searing bursts of d-beat fury. Tracks like “Crucifixed” and the crushing dirge of “Witch” come out of the blocks like “Remission” era Mastodon locked in a sweaty basement with His Hero Is Gone.  The band deliver twenty minutes of exhilarating noise that is equal parts barbed complexity and raw simplicity.

15). Benighted - "Necrobreed"(556)

Benighted are the equivalent of a gargantuan, hyperactive monstrosity, hybridizing the manic-spastic energy of a joyous slasher rampage with the gurgling insanity of some cthonic abomination. 

14). Power Trip - "Nightmare Logic" (557)

All in all, you would be pressed to find a weak link in “Nightmare Logic”'s sound or mix. It's a pinnacle album for those who need their metal fast, violent, and up in their face like a full scale riot.

13).Stinking Lizaveta - "Journey to the Underworld" (558)

Stinking Lizaveta’s new album “Journey to the Underworld” finds the band in deadly form, crafting music that is seriously weird and complex yet still delivers an addictive riff high.

12). Hey Satan! - "Hey Satan!" (617)

Overall this is a very impressive debut by very talented musicians.  Superb songwriting and extremely catchy rock and roll filled with dueling fuzzed out guitars, loud drums and a dynamic singer.

11). Rezn - "Let It Burn" (630)

REZN relies on hefty passages of music but the key to the band’s sound is how they combine this heft with a droning melody. Imagine Velvet Underground wrapped up in a Mars Red Sky jacket and you’ll understand why these Chicago boys are worth your attention.  This is a gem of a debut and albums of this quality don’t come around very often

10). Ghastly Sound - "Ghastly Sound" (EP) (646)

The Worst” sounds like Torche playing Truckfighters with the ghost of Dio on vocals while “Where The Ghosts Hide” and “Cape Buffalo” bring to mind Big Business indulging in secret stadium rock fantasies with hints of the Deftones in the melodic choruses given free reign with vocalist Tyler Gurwicz doing his best Chino Moreno impression over foundation-shaking riffs.  This EP is a tantalising glimpse of what Ghastly Sound has to offer. Hopefully it won’t be long before they return to show what fist-pumping destruction they are capable of over the course of an LP.

09). Thorr-Axe / Archarus - "The Hobbit" (Split) (678)

From deep within the fires of Mt. Doom comes one of the best releases of 2017 – a Tolkien-themed split from Indiana riff-smiths Archarus and Thorr-Axe.  It spans the whole spectrum that stoner/doom metal has to offer, with each track bringing a fresh sound to the table.

08). Telepathy - "Tempest"(704)

A monsoon 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 it hits you like a drug, freewheeling into your body.

07). In The Company of Serpents - “Ain-Soph Aur” (714)

“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.

06). Hyenas - "Deadweights"(768)

Deadweights” is an exciting opening salvo from Hyenas, it is an exhilarating hit of chaotic hardcore, metal fury and punk’n’roll that takes me back to the early to mid-2000s

05).Obituary - "Obituary"(971)

Obituary haven't sounded this deadly and taut for a long, long time, this is even better than “Inked In Blood”- itself an impressive record, A unique band in the genre.  Obituary have always stood apart from other death metal bands. They now stand above them again, too, because this is a death metal tour de force

04). Fen - "Winter"(987)

When this album is on fire, which is often, it’s absolutely some of the best atmospheric black metal you’ll hear this year. While the build to those big moments can be over-stretched, the payoff is absolutely worth the wait.  But even when accounting for its biggest flaw, I believe that ‘Winter’ will end up as one of the year's best albums. There’s simply too much fantastic material here to be denied.  

03). Dopelord - "Children of the Haze" (1329)

“Children of the Haze” is defined by loose grooves, ghoulish riffing and a very vintage sense of wickedness. Dopelord prove that, unlike many other stoner metal bands, they are not content to just create the same song several times over and call it an album.

02). Hour Of Penance - "Cast the First Stone" (1399)

01). Pallbearer - "Heartless" (1642)

“Heartless” is an incredible achievement from Pallbearer, a set of huge songs that consolidate the best elements of their previous releases while moving into fresh sonic territory. This is the album that should see the band make the transition into stadium-bothering all-time greats, and deservedly so.

A big thank you as always to our amazing writers, your dedication knows no boundaries and for that I am truly grateful.  March’s “Sour 16” features reviews by:  Richard Maw, Theron Moore, Charlie Butler,  Phil Weller, Victor Van Ommen, Jay Keche, Ben Fitts, Daniel Jackson, Michael Pagos,  Hunter Young & Conor O’Dea

ALBUM REVIEW: Telepathy - "Tempest"



By: Phil Weller

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 31/03/2017

Label: Golden Antenna

 

A monsoon 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 it hits you like a drug, freewheeling into your body.

“Tempest” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). First Light

2). Smoke from Distant Fires

3. Celebration of Decay

4). Echo of Souls

5). Apparition

6). Hiraeth

7). Water Divides the Tide

8). Metanoia

The Review:

Telepathy’s sound has always been monstrous. 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, they are a different beast entirely. The producer, who can boast Ghost, Opethand Paradise Lost as notches on his bedpost, is exactly what the band need at this point in time, and it will surely propel them to greater, more luxurious stratospheres.

‘Smoke From Distant Fires’ instantly bombards you with craggy, precipitous guitar work, cascading through the crystal clear mix with a menacing intent. But if those opening explosions come across like ‘Times of Grace’ era Neurosis, then they flaunt their lighter, airier and more celestial side in later passages. This band has always prided itself on their intelligently thought out and diligently executed musical contrasts. So often do their dark, miserable skylines develop overhead only for blinding rays of light to pierce through like faint hope and brighten the landscapes. Throughout the track the contrasts are in constant conflict, a tug of war for aural dominance throwing the song this way then that, and it makes the result nothing short of evocative and spellbinding.

‘Celebration of Decay’ marries dislocated, barbaric rhythms – something akin to post-metal having a seizure, but with perfect timing – huge, mountainous chords that lumber like giants and hypnotic diminuendos that drag you by the feet and pull you deeper into reverie. It is in these quiet, reflective moments that voice recordings of astronauts looking back down on Mother Earth can be heard. It’s apt for a band which has never quite sounded like they were of this planet. The song’s title too, in today’s climate, has an added poignancy to it.

‘Apparition’ flirts with black metal, with warmongering blast beats and the rapidly picked guitars reverberating like they were recorded in a vast, echoic cathedral. The sound is so huge it towers over you, belittles you. ‘Water Divides The Tide’ meanwhile, is more forthright. A monsoon of riffs, from slow, knuckle-dragging doom moments to the calculated chaos of Mastodon, spinning on a huge axis with their long, winding loops, it hits you like a drug, freewheeling into your body.

It is an album, for all intents and purposes, 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, for the best effect I advise you stop reading this review. Just listen.

“Tempest” is available to preorder/buy here



Band info: bandcamp || facebook