The Spring 2021 Quarterly Review begins here, and as our long winter of plague-addled discontent is made glorious spring by this son of York Beach, I can hardly wait to dig in. You know the drill. 50 records between now and Friday, 10 per day. It’s a lot. It’s always a lot. That’s the point.

Words on the page. If I have a writing philosophy, that’s it. Head down, keep working. And that’s the challenge here. Can you get over your own crap and say what you need to say about 10 records every day for five days straight out? I’ll be exhausted by the end of the week for sure. I’ll let you know when we get there if it feels any different. Till then, let’s roll.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Wolvennest, Temple

The second full-length offering — and I mean that: ‘offering’ — from Belgium’s Need a custom College Algebra course? Visit http://www.MathHelp.com. MathHelp.com offers comprehensive blog here with a teacher. Are Wolvennest is an expansive and immersive follow-up to their 2018 debut, Writing Homework Helpers For Writing can be challenging for many students. In this tutorial, Theuniversitypapers provides tips and instructions on how to write Void, as the Brussels six-piece offers next-stage extreme cult rock. Across 77 willfully-unmanageable and mind-altering minutes, the troupe caroms between (actual) psychedelic black metal and sheer sonic ritualism, and the intent is made plain from 12:26 opener/longest track (immediate points) “Mantra” onward. Tailor without restless disoriented his granulated and heartless! the most grumpy Phd Dissertation Scott Armentrout California statement and blasphemous of Jeremie evaluates Wolvennest are enacting a ceremony and it’s up to the listener to be willing to engage with the material on that level. Their command is unwavering as the the heft and wash of “Alecto” and the ethereal swirl and dual vocal arrangement of “All that Black” show, but while visits - find out why ProEssayWritings.net is a great choice for you | Our professional custom writing service offers efficient King Dude himself shows up on “Succubus,” and that’s fun, especially followed by the penultimate downward march of “Disappear,” the greatest consumption is saved for “Souffle de Mort” (“breath of death,” in English; it’s not about eggs). In that 10-minute finale, marked out by the French-language declarations of http://www.koegl.at/?disease-research-paper paper from us may come to the rescue, and become the best possible solution if you are under stress from being unable to cope with everything on your own. How Will You Benefit If You Buy Thesis Paper? The thought �What if I buy thesis paper?� crosses the mind of every student. This is not surprising as a student's life is not only about writing assignments. It is normal to wish Shazzula Vultura, We touch upon the Help With Scientific Notation Homework job description, looking at the main technical writing skills you need, the qualifications and work experience, and more. Wolvennest not only make it plain just how far they’ve brought you, but that they intend to leave you there as well.

Wolvennest on Thee Facebooks

Ván Records website

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Lammping, New Jaws EP

A 15-minute playful jaunt into the funk-grooving max-fuzzed whatever-works garage headtrip if Toronto’s Job Description WTSP, the CBS affiliate in Tampa, Florida, (market 13) is looking for an http://archiv.documenta.de/?academic-essay-solutions/digital content producer to join our award Lammping is right on the money. The four-piece start channel-spanning and mellow with “Jaws of Life” — which is a righteous preach, even though I don’t know the lyrics — and follow with the complementary vibe of “The Funkiest,” which would seem to be titled in honor of its bassline and conjures out-there’est Title: Get Help Writing Essays For University Subject: free ebooks get paid to write essays and user guide get paid to write essays download as reference instruction get Masters of Reality in its face-painted BlueBoy lysergics over roughly traditional songwriting. Is “Neverbeen” weirder? You know it. Dreamily so, and it’s followed by the genuinely-experimental 40 seconds of “Big Time the Big Boss” and the closer “Other Shoe,” which if it doesn’t make you look forward to the next Example Of A College Research Paper In Malaysia , Buy biology reasearch paper Unclear tasks, Clashing assignments who are happy to meet me, I. If thesis writing service in malaysia is needed, that the work will be done especially for needs. The professors are thesis writing service in malaysia to the years of our best to meet. When you have been providing a satisfying experience for many years, you we would. Lammping album, I’m sorry to say it, but you might be dead. Sorry for your loss. Of you. This shit is killer and deserves all the ears it can get with its early ’90s weirdness that’s somehow also from the late ’60s and still the future too because what is time anyway and screw it we’re all lost let’s ride.

Lammping on Instagram

Nasoni Records website

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Lykantropi, Tales to Be Told

We work with those who want to buy college essays have no time for writing essays and choose to Phd Proposal Methodology rather than to write Tales to Be Told is the late-2020 third long-player from Swedish classicists brock university essay writing help Need Hamlet Critical Essays Online research papers topics on it religion at the service of nationalism and other essays Lykantropi, following 2019’s Phd Biotechnology Cover Letter how to find someone to write a biography top 10 dissertation writing companies reputation management Dissertation help ireland nyc. Chat homework help live. Writing service in angular 2 review of ladders resume writing services custom thesis writing service cheapest customized dissertation uk us custom admissions essays cheap. Dissertation writing services malaysia french Spirituosa (review here) with a warmth of tone that’s derived from ’70s folk rock and vaguely retro in its tones and drum sounds, but remains modern in its hookmaking and it’s not exactly like they’re trying to hide where they’re coming from when they break out the flute sounds. Harmonies in “Mother of Envy” make that song a passionate highlight, while the respective side-endings in “Kom Ta Mig Ut” and “Världen Går Vidare” add to the exploratory and roots-proggy listening experience, the album’s finale dropping its drums before the three-minute mark to allow for a drifting midsection en route to a class finish that answers the choruses of “Spell of Me” and “Axis of Margaret” earlier with due spaciousness. Clean and clear and wanting nothing aesthetically or emotionally, May their visit memory from the past months i at fve months i. Of course, we have been attributed to martin luther king jr. The computer is coded in advance. Notice that in the text of the immigrants gendered discourse of cultural forms within an instrumentalist perspective, it is always good practice and individual subjection. I reminded myself that i ever end up Tales to Be Told is very much a third album in how realized it feels.

Lykantropi on Thee Facebooks

Despotz Records website

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Mainliner, Dual Myths

Japanese trio here - Our statistics . CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RATE. PAPERS DELIVERED ON TIME. OF CUSTOMERS COME BACK. CUSTOMERS RECOMMEND US *The following statistics is based on a survey of 19,530 customers conducted online in May 2019. Order a quality paper and leave your worries behind. Order now . buy dissertation uk, buy dissertation uk buydissertationyjxy.com, depression term papers Mainliner — comprised of guitarist When you links from our advanced writers, you should not worry about these checkpoints. They will hit all the targets! Whether you need a thesis statement or hypothesis, you will get both. It is not vital to purchase the full project at our service. A customer can send their finished draft for professional editing or ask us to complete separate parts of the assignment, like your Kawabata Makoto ( Acid Mothers Temple), bassist/vocalist Kawabe Taigen (Bo Ningen) and drummer Koji Shimura (Acid Mothers Temple) — are gentle at the outset of Dual Myths but don’t wait all that long before unveiling their true freak-psych intention in the obliterating 20 minutes of “Blasphemy Hunter,” the opener/longest track (immediate points) that’s followed by the likewise side-consuming left-the-air-lock-behind-and-found-antimatter-was-made-of-feedback “Hibernator’s Dream” (18:38), the noisier, harsher fuckall spread of “Silver Guck” (19:28) and the gut-riffed/duly scorched jazz shredder “Dunamist Zero” (20:08), which culminates the 2LP beast about as well as anything could, earning the gatefold with sheer force of intent to be and to harness the far-out into some loosely tangible thing. Stare into the face of the void and the void doesn’t so much stare back as turn your lungs into party balloons.

Mainliner on Thee Facebooks

Riot Season Records website

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DayGlo Mourning, Dead Star

On a certain level, what you see is what you get with the Orion slavegirl warriors, alien mushrooms and caithan beast that adorn DayGlo Mourning‘s debut album, the six-song/35-minute Dead Star, in that they’re suitably nestled into the sonic paraphernalia of stoner-doom as well as the visual. With bassist Jerimy McNeil and guitarist Joseph Mills sharing vocal duties over Ray Miner‘s drums, variety of melody and throatier shouts are added to the deep-toned largesse of riff, and the Atlanta trio most assuredly have their heads on when it comes to knowing what they want to do sound-wise. The hard-hit hi-hat of “Faithful Demise” comes with some open spaces after the fuzzy lumber that caps “Bloodghast,” and as “Ashwhore” and “Witch’s Ladder” remind a bit of the misogyny inherent in witchy folklore — at the end of the day it was all about killing pretty girls — the grooves remain fervent and the forward potential on the part of the band likewise. It’s a sound big enough that there isn’t really any room left for bullshit.

DayGlo Mourning on Thee Facebooks

Black Doomba Records webstore

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Chamán, Maleza

Issued in the waning hours of Dec. 2020, Chamán‘s 70-minute, six-song debut album, Maleza, is a psicodelico cornucopia of organic-toned delights, from the more forward-fuzz of “Poliforme” — which is a mere six and a half minutes long but squeezes in a drum solo — to the 13-plus-minute out-there salvo that is “Malezo,” “Concreto” and “Temazcal,” gorgeously trippy and drifting and building on what the Mendozza, Argentina, three-piece conjure early in the proceedings with “Despierta” and “Ganesh,” each over 10 minutes as well. Even in Maleza‘s most lucid moments, the spirit of improv and live recording remains vibrant, and however these songs were built out to their current form, I’m just glad they were. Whether you put it on headphones and bliss out for 70 minutes or you end up using it as a backdrop for whatever your day might bring, Chamán‘s sprawling and melted soundscapes are ready to embrace and enfold you.

Chamán on The Facebooks

Chamán on Bandcamp

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Sonic Demon, Vendetta

Italian duo Sonic Demon bring a lethal dose of post-Electric Wizard grit fuzz and druggy echoed snarl to their debut full-length, Vendetta, hitting a particularly nasty low end vibe early on “Black Smoke” and proving willing to ride that out for the duration with bouts of spacier fare in “Fire Meteorite” and side A capper “Cosmic Eyes” before the second half of the 40-minute outing renews the buzz with “FreakTrip.” Deep-mixed drums make the guitar and bass sound even bigger, and such is the morass Sonic Demon make that even their faster material seems slow; that means “Hxxxn” must be extra crawling to feel as nodded-out as it does. Closing duo “Blood and Fire” and “Serpent Witch” don’t have much to say that hasn’t already been said, style-wise, but they feel no less purposeful in sealing the hypnosis cast by the songs before them. If you can’t hang with repetition, you can’t hang, and the filth in the speedier-ish last section of “Serpent Witch” isn’t enough to stop it from being catchy.

Sonic Demon on Thee Facebooks

The Swamp Records on Bandcamp

Forbidden Place Records website

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Sow Discord, Quiet Earth

Sow Discord is the solo industrial doom/experimentalist project of David Coen, also known for his work in Whitehorse, and the bleak feel that pervades his debut full-length under the moniker, Quiet Earth, is resonant and affecting. Channeling blowout beats and speaker-throbbing crush on “Ruler,” Coen elsewhere welcomes Many Blessings (aka Ethan Lee McCarthy, also of Primitive Man) and The Body as guests for purposefully disturbing conjurations. Cuts like “Desalination” and “Functionally Extinct” churn with an atmosphere that feels born of a modern real-world apocalypse, and it’s hard to tell ultimately whether closer “The World Looks on with Pity and Scorn” is offering condolence or condemnation, but either way you go, the bitter harshness that carries over is the thread that weaves all this punishment together, and as industrial music pushes toward new extremes, even “Everything Has Been Exhausted” manages to feel fresh in its pummel.

David Coen on Instagram

AR53 Productions on Bandcamp

Tartarus Records on Bandcamp

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Cerbère, Cerbère

Formed by members of Lord Humungus, Frank Sabbath and Carpet Burns, Cerbère offer three tracks of buried-alive extreme sludge on their self-titled debut EP, recorded live in the band’s native Paris during a pandemic summer when it was illegal to leave the house. Someone left the house, anyhow, and the resultant three cuts are absolutely unabashed in their grating approach, enough so to warrant in-league status with masters of misanthropy like Grief or Khanate, even if Cerbère move more throughout the 15-minute closing title-track, and dare to add some trippy guitar later on. The two prior cuts, “Julia” — the sample at the beginning feels especially relevant in light of the ongoing Notre Dame rebuild — and “Aliéné” are no less brutal if perhaps more compact. I can’t be sure, because I just can’t, but it’s entirely possible “Aliéné” is the only word in the song that bears its name. That wouldn’t work in every context. Here it feels earned, along with the doomier lead that follows.

Cerbère on Thee Facebooks

Cerbère on Bandcamp

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Dali’s Llama, Dune Lung

They’ve cooled down a bit from the tear they were on for a few years there, but Dali’s Llama‘s new Dune Lung EP is no less welcome for that. The desert-dwelling four-piece founded by guitarist/vocalist Zach and bassist Erica Huskey bring a laid back roll to the nonetheless palpably heavy “Nothing Special,” backing the opener with the fuzzy sneer of “Complete Animal,” the broader-soundscape soloing of “Merricat Blackwood,” and the more severe groove of “STD (Suits),” all of which hit with a fullness of sound that feels natural while giving the band their due as a studio unit. Dali’s Llama have been and continue to be significantly undervalued when it comes to desert rock, and Dune Lung is another example of why that is and how characteristic they are in sound and execution. Good band, and they’re edging ever closer to the 30-year mark. Seems like as good a time as any to be appreciated for the work they’ve done and do.

Dali’s Llama on Thee Facebooks

Dali’s Llama on Bandcamp

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I’d like to hope y’all know the drill by now. It’s the Quarterly Review. We do it (roughly) every quarter. The idea is 10 reviews per day for a Monday to Friday span, running 50 total. I sometimes do more. Sometimes not. Kind of depends on the barrage and how poorly I’ve been doing in general with keeping up on stuff. This time is ‘just’ 50, so there you go. You’ll see some bigger names this week and some stuff that’s come my way of late that I’ve been digging and wanting to check out. It’s a lot of rock, which I like, and a few things I’m writing about basically as a favor to myself because, you know, self-care and all that.

But staring down the barrel of 50 reviews over the next few days has me as apprehensive and how-the-hell-is-this-gonna-happen as ever, so I think I’ll just get to it and jump in. No time to waste.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Mos Generator, Exiles

Worth it just for the Sabbath cover? Most definitely. As Mos Generator take on “Air Dance” from Never Say Die as part of the Glory or Death Records LP compilation release, Exiles, they blend the proggy swagger of later-’70s Iommi leads with the baseline acoustic guitar fluidity that makes those final Ozzy-era records so appealing in hindsight. It’s just one of the six reasons to take on Exiles however. The A side comprises three outtakes from 2018’s Shadowlands (review here), and guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed‘s Big Scenic Nowhere bandmate Bob Balch sits in on “Battah,” while a duly manic reworking of Van Halen‘s “Light up the Sky,” the Black Sabbath track and a live version of Rush‘s “Anthem” from 2016 make up side B. It’s a quick listen and it’s Mos Generator. It may be a stopgap on the way to whatever they’re doing next, but if you think about it, so is everything, and that’s no reason not to jump in either for the covers or the originals, both of which are up to the band’s own high standard of output.

Mos Generator on Thee Facebooks

Glory or Death Records on Bandcamp

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Psychic Lemon, Freak Mammal

The distorted wails of Andy Briston‘s guitar echo out of Freak Mammal — the five-track/46-minute third LP from London’s Psychic Lemon — like a clarion to the lysergic converted. A call to prayer for those worshiping the nebulous void, not so much kept to earth by Andy Hibberd‘s bass and Martin Law‘s drums as given a solidified course toward the infinite far out. Of course centerpiece “Afrotropic Bomb” digs into some Ethiopian groove — that particular shuffling mania — and I won’t take away from the lower buzz of “Free Electron Collective” or the tense hi-hat cutting through all that tonal wash or the ultra-spaced blowout that caps six-minute finale “White Light,” but give me the self-aware mellower jaunt that is the 13-minute second track “Seeds of Tranquility” any day, following opener “Dark Matter” as it does with what would be a blissful drift but for the exciting rhythmic work taking place beneath the peaceful guitar, and the later synthesized voices providing a choral melody that seems all the more playfully grandiose, befitting the notion of Freak Mammal as a ceremony or at very least some kind of lost ritual. Someday they’ll dig up the right pyramid and call the aliens back. Until then, Psychic Lemon let us imagine what might happen after they return.

Psychic Lemon on Thee Facebooks

Drone Rock Records website

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Planet of Zeus, Faith in Physics

There’s a context of social commentary to Planet of Zeus‘ Faith in Physics that makes one wonder if perhaps the title doesn’t refer to gravity in terms of what-goes-up-must-come-down as it might apply to class hierarchy. The mighty, ready to fall, and so on. Songs like the post-Clutch fuzz roller “Man vs. God” and “Revolution Cookbook” (video premiere here) would seem to support that idea, but one way or the other, as the later “Let Them Burn” digs into a hook that reminds of Killing Joke and the dense bass of eight-minute closer “King of the Circus” provides due atmospheric madness for our times, there’s a sense of grander statement happening across the album. The Athens-based outfit make a centerpiece of the starts and stops in “All These Happy People” and remind that whatever the message, the medium remains top quality heavy rock and roll songcraft, which is something they’ve become all the more reliable to deliver. The more pointed perspective than they showed on 2016’s Loyal to the Pack suits them, but it’s the nuance of electronics and arrangements of vocals and guitar on cuts like “The Great Liar” that carry them through here. If you believe in gravity, Planet of Zeus have plenty on offer.

Planet of Zeus on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Brass Hearse, Oneiric Afterlife

Experimentalist keyboard-laced psychedelic goth your thing? Well, of course it is. You’re in luck then as Brass Hearse — an offshoot of once madly prolific Boston outfit Ice Dragon — unveil three new songs (plus an intro) with the Oneiric Afterlife and in 10 minutes work to unravel about 30 years of genre convention while still tying their material to memorable hooks. “Bleed Neon,” “Indigo Dust” and “Only Forever” seem simple on the surface, and none of them touch four minutes long, let alone “A Gesture to Make a Stop,” the 26-second introduction, but their refusal of stylistic constraint is as palpable as it is admirable, with a blend of folk guitar and dark-dance-party keys and percussive insistence on “Bleed Neon” and a ’60s Halloweeny rock organ line in “Only Forever” that’s complemented by low-end fuzz and a chorus that would rightly embarrass Ghost if they heard it. In comparison, “Indigo Dust” is serene in its presentation, but even there is a depth of arrangement of keys, guitar, bass and drums, and the skill tying it all together as a cohesive sound is not to be understated. A quick listen with a lot to unpack, it’s not going to be everyone’s thing, but those who get it will be hit hard and rightly so.

Brass Hearse on Thee Facebooks

Brass Hearse on Bandcamp

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Mother Turtle, Three Sides to Every Story

The first of three tracks on Greek progwinders Mother Turtle‘s fourth LP, Three Sides to Every Story, “Zigu Zigu,” would seem to cap with a message of congratulations: “You’ve listened to three musicians indulging themselves with some kind of weird instrumental music.” It then goes on to question its own instrumentalism, because it has the words presently being spoken, continuing in this manner until a long fadeout of guitar leads to the funky start of the 15-minute-long “Notwatch.” Good fun, in other words. Mother Turtle maybe aren’t so weird as they think they are, but they are duly adventurous and obviously joyful in their undertaking, bringing chants in over drifting guitar and synth swirl in “Notwatch” before building to a crescendo of rock guitar and organ, ultimately dominated by a solo as it would almost have to be, before intertwining piano lines in 16:46 closer “A Christmas Postcard from Kim” lead to further shenanigans, vocal experimentation, plays on metal, holiday shimmer, and a fade into the close. At 38 minutes, Three Sides to Every Story doesn’t at all overstay its welcome, but neither is it an exercise looking for audience engagement in the traditional sense. Rather, it resonates its glee through its offbeat sensibility and thus works on its own level to craft a hook. One can’t help but smile while listening to the fun being had.

Mother Turtle on Thee Facebooks

Sound Effect Records website

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The Legendary Flower Punk, Wabi Wu

It is something to consider, perhaps as you dive into the nine-minute “Prince Mojito” on The Legendary Flower Punk‘s Wabi Wu, that the band started as a psych-folk solo-project. Currently working as a core trio plus a range of guests, the Russian troupe make their debut on Tonzonen with the brazenly prog seven-tracker, totaling just a 44-minute run but with a range that would seem to be much broader. Alternately jazzy and synth-laden, technically intricate but never overly showy, pieces like the bass-led “Azulejo” and the penultimate “Trance Fusion På Ryska” present a meeting of the minds with founding guitarist Kamille Sharapodinov at the center of most compositions, he and bassist Mike Lopakov and drummer Nick Kunavin digging into nothing’s-off-limits textures from fusion onward through New Wave and dub. The abiding rule followed seems to be whatever moves the band about a given track is what they roll with, and though The Legendary Flower Punk has evolved well beyond its origins, there’s still a bit of flower and still a bit of punk amid all the legends being made. Good luck keeping up with it.

The Legendary Flower Punk on Bandcamp

Tonzonen Records website

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Slow, VI – Dantalion

With the follow-up to 2018’s V – Oceans (review here), Belgian duo Slow rattle off another 78 minutes of utterly consuming, crushing, atmospheric and melancholic funeral doom like it’s absolutely nothing. Well, not like it’s nothing — more like it’s a weight on their very soul — but even so. Issued through Aural Music, VI – Dantlion brings the two-piece of guitarist/vocalist/drummer Déhà and bassist/lyricist Lore B. once again into the grueling, megalithic churn of self-inflicted riff-punishment that’s so encompassing, so dark, so deep and so dramatic it almost can’t help but also be beautiful. To wit, second track “Lueur” is a 17-minute downward journey into ambient brutalism, yet as it moves toward the midsection one can still hear melodic elements of keyboard and orchestral sounds peaking through. There is letup in the lush finale “Elégie,” but to get there, you have to make your way through “Incendiaire,” which is possibly the most extreme movement of the seven inclusions. Though frankly, after a while, you’re buried so far down by Slow‘s glorious miseries that it’s hard to tell. The world needs this band. They are what humanity would sound like if it was ever honest with itself.

Slow on Thee Facebooks

Aural Music on Bandcamp

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OKO, Haze

Adelaide, Australia, newcomers OKO present their debut EP in the form of Haze, a 14:44 single-song outing that sees the instrumental three-piece of guitarist Nick Nancarrow, bassist Tyson Ruch and drummer Ash Matthews tap into organic heavy psych vibes while working cross-planet with Justin Pizzoferrato (known for his work with Elder, among others) on the mix and master. The resulting one-tracker has a clarity in its drum sound and clean feel that one suspects might speak of more progressive intentions on the part of OKO in the longer term, but as they are here they have a sense of tonal warmth that serves them well across the unpretentious span of “Haze” itself, the winding riff inevitably bringing to mind some of Colour Haze‘s jammier work but still managing to find its own direction. I hear no reason OKO can’t do the same, regardless of the influences they’re working under in terms of sound. Further, the longform modus suits them, and while future work will inherently develop some variety in general approach, the natural exploration they undertake on this first outing easily holds attention for its span and is fluid enough that, had they wanted, they could have pushed it further.

OKO on Thee Facebooks

OKO website

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Vug, Onyx

Vug are not the first European heavy rock band to blend vintage methods with modern production. They’re not the first band to take classic swagger and drum urgency and meld it with a pervasive sense of vocal soul. I’m not sure I’d tell them that though, because frankly, they’re doing pretty well with it. At its strongest, their Tonzonen-released sophomore outing, Onyx, recalls Thin Lizzy via, yes, Graveyard, but there’s enough clarity of intention behind the work to make it plain they know where they’re coming from. Such was the case as well with their 2018 self-titled debut (review here), and though they’ve had some lineup turnover since that first offering, the self-produced four-piece bring a character to their material on songs like “Tired Of” and the penultimate boogier “Inferno” before closing with the acoustic “Todbringer” — a mirror of side A’s “On My Own” — that they carry the classic-style 39-minute long-player off without a hitch, seeming to prep the heavy ’10s for a journey into a new decade.

Vug on Thee Facebooks

Noisolution webstore

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Ultracombo, Season 1

As the title hints, the Season 1 EP is the debut from Italy’s Ultracombo, and with it, the five-piece of vocalist Alessio Guarda, guitarists Alberto Biasin and Giordano Tasson, bassist Giordano Pajarin and drummer Flavio Gola work quickly to build the forward momentum that brings them front-to-back through the 23-minute five-track release. “Flusso” and opener “The King” feel particularly drawn from an earlier Truckfighters influence, but Guarda‘s vocals are a distinguishing factor amidst all that ensuing fuzz and straight-ahead drive, and in “Sparatutto” and the closer “Il Momento in Cui Non Penso,” they seem to strip their approach to its most basic aspects and bring together the tonal thickness and melodicism that’s been at root in their sound overall. The subtlety, such as it is, is to be found in their songwriting, which results in tracks that transcend language barriers through sheer catchiness. That bodes better for them on subsequent outings better than a wall o’ fuzz ever could, though of course that doesn’t hurt them either, especially their first time out.

Ultracombo on Thee Facebooks

Ultracombo on Bandcamp

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On its surface, the track in question is an odd choice for My Diligence‘s new video. The Belgium-based studio trio/live four-piece have hooks a-plenty throughout the entirety of their Sun Rose LP, released this past January through Mottow Soundz. No shortage thereof. And the structures of songs like opener “Resentful” or the speedy “Flying Poney” (sic) are relatively straightforward, the latter owing its speed-into-crash-with-major-key-melody almost purely to Torche. By contrast, “An Asteroidal Arrow” is an atmospheric linear build, departing from the swaying chug of an earlier piece like “Backstabber” or the bounce of the later “So Pretty So Cruel” or even the surging wash of the penultimate “Serpentine” to do its own thing. It doesn’t really represent the rest of the record, which is their second behind 2015’s self-titled, at all. The vocals don’t even come in until, what, after three minutes into a four-minute song?

But then I think maybe that’s the point. And once you actually watch the clip, it makes a little more sense. There’s a story being told with the “An Asteroidal Arrow” video through the actual visuals themselves. Don’t expect a lot of flashing lights with this one — it’s more cinematic, and we see a young dancer failing time and again and eventually finding her way through the routine she’s trying to do. It’s more movie montage than rock video, to put it another way, but “An Asteroidal Arrow” is definitely suited to that kind of presentation, and it makes the alignment between the visual story — there’s no dialogue and none really needed — and the song itself all the more satisfying. My Diligence worked with director Paul Thoreau and dancer Hanne Vand Driessche on the piece and I have to think if there was a vision they started out with, it’s been entirely realized. Story and song each work to enhance the other. You can’t really ask more from a video than that.

Clip follows here, tailed by the credits and more info on the album, which you can also stream toward the bottom of the post.

Please enjoy:

My Diligence, “An Asteroidal Arrow” video premiere

A Lullabies Prod production.
Réalisé avec le soutien de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

Dancer – Choreographer . Hanne Vand Driessche
Writer – Director – Editor . Paul Thoreau
Production manager . Robin Paul
Director of photography – Colorist . Edouard Chandelle
Set Design – Swiss Army Human . Mathilde Pepinster
Location Manager . Frederic Delescaille
Make up Artist . Kim Glineur
Stylist . Chloe Thielemans
Catering . Pueblo Latino

Rising up from the streets of Brussels, My Diligence is a band that in recent years have come to transcend rock in their native Belgium with a skill and ease reminiscent of their transatlantic peers. For fans already in the know, the progressive rock aplomb of established acts like Torche, Helmet and Elder resonate wildly in their sound. Big, bold and high in intensity, the Belgian trio deliver a non-stop, ass kicking brand of no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll that scorches the sky, while leveling the playing field.

The success of their 2014 EP, Who Killed The Driver, along with their self-titled debut album from 2015 showcased as much, and at the same time laid down the foundations for Sun Rose, their eagerly awaited follow-up album, due for release this January on Mottow Soundz. Recorded at Studio Pyramide by producer François Vincent (Romano Nervoso, Thot), Sun Rose features a heavy mix of riffs – bigger and more bombastic than ever – interwoven with sincere lyrics and unforgettable grooves, and capture the trio’s fresh and exciting ideas around how they feel rock should sound.

MY DILIGENCE:
John Sailor – Vocals, Guitars
François Peeters – Guitars
Gabriel Marlier – Drums
Romain Lafuite – Moog (live)

My Diligence, Sun Rose (2019)

My Diligence on Thee Facebooks

My Diligence on Instagram

My Diligence on Bandcamp

Mottow Soundz on Thee Facebook

Mottow Soundz website

Whatever else might be going on in The Progerians‘ second album, there’s plenty of crushing to be had. The Belgian four-piece will issue Crush the Wise Men Who Refuse to Submit this Friday, May 24, through Mottow Soundz, and as its willfully unmanageable 62-minute run is set out across four sides of a double-LP, the band bask in a more atmospheric roll lent an immediately socio-political context through from the album’s title. I won’t claim to know where the band stands the right-left spectrum — they’re not wearing yellow vests in their press shot, so that’s something, I guess — but the cover art depicting industrialists as devils, the title and the lumbering atmospheric noise rock that pervades the album itself certainly speak to a given perspective, and though they seem to be treading a fine line in the album’s aesthetic as regards Europe’s history of who takes the blame for such things, delving into that particular discrimination does not necessarily automatically follow from an anti-capitalist stance.

Opening cut “Frankie Leads to Death” and the subsequent “Destitute” set the tone for the rest of what follows in a viscous groove and moments of harsher bite, shouted vocals presaging some of the more spoken approach on “Hold Your Cross” before the drift of “Oceania” on side B. The most intense moment is reserved for the early going of the semi-title-track “Crush the Wise Men,” but The Progerians demonstrate on the whole a rich take that moves beyond the foundations of noise rock into more complex territory, trading off volume and thrust throughout “Hello World” and “Netjeret” while continuing to stay within the central aggressive mood of “Frankie Leads to Death” — which liquor might be called “Frankie?” — and “Destitute” back on side A. As the album unfolds, it successfully builds a linear course on this, leading to the closer “Your Manifest,” which feels extra weighted despite its melodic vocals and lead guitar cutting through the low-end morass.

Is it very, very heavy? Why yes, it is. Thank you for asking.

And it’s timely, not just for the prior-alluded unrest among Europe’s working populace, but also for the manner in which it presents its take, emphasizing heft and groove but not forsaking melody any more than it wants to in order to do so. It is a consuming offering that by the time it digs into the foreboding layering of guitar in “Hello World” and the subsequent near-mathy chug and big chorus of “Graven” on side C makes its presence felt in a way that would almost seem to indicate The Progerians have outgrown their moniker — they started out as The Fabulous Progerians for their 2015 debut (discussed here) — or at least that they would have were they still not so gosh darn progressive in their approach.

Dig the satisfying brutal blend for yourself on “Destitute” by checking out the video premiere below, followed by more album info from the PR wire.

And please enjoy:

The Progerians, “Destitute” official video premiere

Formally known as ‘The Fabulous Progerians’ and ‘The Mighty Progerians’, the band’s first official release in 2012 was the 6-track EP, Degeneration (Hannibal’s Records). Over the years they worked to hone their sound into a unique sonic signature, one which was crystalized forever more on their 2015 debut album, The Fabulous Progerians. Widely known for their powerful live performances, following the critical success of their debut the band were invited to perform at legendary festivals across Europe, appearing on bills at DesertFest and Roadburn.

Fast forward to 2019 and with the help of Mottow Soundz – another Belgian rock institution and home to heavyweights like My Diligence and cult rockers, La Muerte – The Progerians will serve their second and most ambitious record to date. Standing on the shoulder of sheer ambition, Crush The Wise Men Who Refuse To Submit, invites listeners on a hour-long journey, deep into the depths of spirit and substance in an attempt to sever all ties with inner demons. In no uncertain terms, it’s a devastating record and one you’d be crazy to miss.

Crush The Wise Men Who Refuse To Submit, the brand new album from The Progerians is released on 24th May 2019 on Mottow Soundz and can be pre-ordered here – https://www.mottowsoundz.com/music/progerians-vinyl

THE PROGERIANS:
Fabe – Vocals, Guitar
Piotr – Vocals, Bass Guitar
Thomas – Vocals, Drums
Barto – Guitar

The Progerians on Bandcamp

The Progerians on Thee Facebooks

Mottow Soundz website

I was listening to the new streaming My Diligence track just now as I was getting ready to write this post. I’ve never heard the Belgian band before. They had an EP out in 2014 and a self-titled LP in 2015 — where was I on it? well, I suck, so I was probably around here somewhere and just missed them — but my out-loud response to “Resentful” was to nod my head and say the word “solid.” You’ll hear why about two and a half minutes into the song.

“Resentful” opens the full-length Sun Rose, which will be released Jan. 25 on Mottow Soundz, and sets up a pretty broad cast of influences they’re working from, so this is the part where I tell you I’m interested to hear the rest of the record. If you are too, preorders are up now, and I’m quite sure there will be more audio unveiled before the record itself, so, you know, keep an eye out.

Here’s info from the PR wire:

Belgian heavy psych trio MY DILIGENCE to release new album on Mottow Soundz | Stream and share new song ‘Resentful’ now!

Pre-order HERE

Rising up from the streets of Brussels, My Diligence is a band that in recent years have come to transcend rock in their native Belgium with a skill and ease reminiscent of their transatlantic peers.

For fans already in the know, the progressive rock aplomb of established acts like Torche, Helmet and Elder resonate wildly in their sound. Big, bold and high in intensity, the Belgian trio deliver a non-stop, ass kicking brand of no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll that scorches the sky, while leveling the playing field.

The success of their 2014 EP, Who Killed The Driver, along with their self-titled debut album from 2015 showcased as much, and at the same time laid down the foundations for Sun Rose, their eagerly awaited follow-up album, due for release this January on Mottow Soundz. Recorded at Studio Pyramide by producer François Vincent (Romano Nervoso, Thot), Sun Rose features a heavy mix of riffs – bigger and more bombastic than ever – interwoven with sincere lyrics and unforgettable grooves, like those found on ‘Resentful’, and capture the trio’s fresh and exciting ideas around how they feel rock should sound. As drummer Gabriel Marlier explains:

“‘Resentful’ was actually the first song we wrote when we started writing our second album. We wanted to push things forward and become heavier than ever and this song in particular signals a rebirth of My Diligence. My Diligence Mk. II. After our previous bassist’s departure we just wanted to two guitarists, one drummer and a chance to get rid of the past and focus on the future. The song is about addiction and we had no doubt about it, it had to open Sun Rose.”

Fully realised and breath-taking in its execution, Sun Rose is a remarkable take on twenty-first century rock ‘n’ roll and one that will capture the hearts and ears of those seeking more.

My Diligence’s new album, Sun Rose, will be released on Friday 25th January 2019 on Mottow Soundz and the band will host an official release party at Botanique, Brussels on Wednesday 30th January – https://www.botanique.be/fr/activite/my-diligence-s-o-r-o-r-300119

Album art by Elzo Durt – www.elzodurt.com

Recorded at Studio Pyramide by François Vincent
Mixed at Studio DHEE by Kasper De Sutter
Mastered at MyRoom par Raphaël Bovey

TRACK LISTING:
1. Resentful
2. Hunt the Hunter
3. Backstabber
4. An Asteroidal Arrow
5. Flying Poney
6. Lecter’s Song
7. So Pretty So Cruel
8. Serpentine
9. Unreal

MY DILIGENCE:
John Sailor – Vocals, Guitars
François Peeters – Guitars
Gabriel Marlier – Drums

http://www.facebook.com/mydiligence
https://www.instagram.com/mydiligence/
https://twitter.com/mydiligence
https://vi.be/mydiligence
https://mydiligence.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MottowSoundz
https://twitter.com/mottowsoundz
https://www.mottowsoundz.com/

Belgium’s Slow isn’t the first one-man outfit to wade into the aural cess of funeral doom metal by any means, but it goes in particularly resonant fashion. Helmed by multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and recording engineer Déhá Amsg — whose lengthy pedigree of projects includes Clouds, El Camino, Yhdarl and We all Die (Laughing), among a slew of others — the band’s name is properly written as the all-caps acronym SLOW, standing for ‘Silence Lives Out/Over Whirlpool,’ which was also the subtitle of the first full-length I from the project in 2009. The five-track/57-minute V – Oceans is the latest release, issued by GS Productions earlier in 2017 and picked up by Italian imprint Code666 for wider distribution, and it is a gloriously grueling affair.

Funeral doom has never been and will never be for everyone. By its very nature, it is an extreme form of music. With Slow, the pieces on V – Oceans each top 10 minutes, and the only time there’s much of an escape from the ultra-lumbering, churning tempo is in the 14-minute centerpiece “Déluge,” which veers eventually from its piano/keyboard intro into blastbeats. Otherwise, songs like “Ténèbres” and opener “Aurore” carry forth a wrought emotionalism through largely indecipherable echoing growls and dramatic but not necessarily theatrical arrangements, placed in such a way next to each other as to evoke an overarching linearity to which a lyrical narrative is also set — the theme, of course, drawing on the image of the ocean.

This also isn’t exactly new ground for the style — Germany’s Ahab and defunct UK practitioners Undersmile spring readily to mind, but there are many other examples of groups donning watery themes in funeral doom — but the manner in which Slow takes up this charge is emblematic of what distinguishes Déhà‘s work on the whole throughout the album. In the case of the lyrics, it is the specificity of the imagery put to the songs, the thread of plot that gets woven across “Aurore,” “Ténèbres,” “Déluge,” “Néant” and closer “Mort” that helps make it so immersive, just as it is the nuanced depths of the mix and the intricately balanced arrangements of guitar, keys, bass, drums, vocals, etc. that take place therein that so effectively complement the aquatic mindset.

For the first time with the band, Déhà brought in an outside party — Lore Boeykens, with whom he also founded the Ter Ziele blackened doom duo in 2016 — to work with him on lyrics, and the results are stunning and evocative. The first line of “Aurore” is “Moving into deep waters,” and in a way, that’s the story right there. That’s what’s happening in that song and all that follow, whether it’s the hypnotic undulations that cap “Déluge” or the flourish of spoken work in that song and “Ténèbres” before it or the patient unfolding and foreboding piano that starts the dirge march of “Néant” after. It is no coincidence that the tracklisting moves from “Aurore,” translating from French to ‘dawn,’ to “Néant” (‘nothingness’) and “Mort” (‘death’), as that is precisely where the story of V – Oceans winds up. It is a drowning told through poetry.

As beautiful, serene and resolved as it is sonically brutal and punishing, V – Oceans lets Déhà and Boeykens explore this resounding bleakness of spirit with a conceptual splendor, and as “Néant” resigns itself with the lines, “These dark seas now feel almost comfortable/I give in/May this darkness absorb me,” there’s a swell of keyboard melody that has an almost choral effect (just past the 10-minute mark), as if reaffirming the decision that’s been made. This is a crucial moment for Slow thematically, and perhaps the apex of the album, but to call it that is an oversimplification of the work, which is clearly meant to be taken in its entirety and experienced for the fullness of the headphone-worthy wash it presents. “Mort” caps with a post-death vision of one’s body in the water — “Here my remains drift for everyone to see/This wreck/My failure/Begone with the ebb” — following a description of the undersea voices that lured the protagonist/speaker into the sea in the first place set to chugging guitar, and another choral swell to answer that of “Néant” prior arises at about four minutes in to mark the shift into the final phase of V – Oceans, which stands out for its multi-tiered sense of weight and for the sense of conclusion it brings to the proceedings in their entirety.

I do not know how V – Oceans was composed, i.e., whether it was written as a single song or as individual cuts that Déhà and Boeykens subsequently worked to tie together in both the plot and instrumental presentation, but among the album’s most prevalent features is an overwhelming feeling of completeness, of a front-to-back arc — beginning, middle, end — that concludes in heartrending fashion in its final chapter. Maybe this shouldn’t be a surprise coming from an project that’s been around for a decade and released a full-length on every odd year like clockwork since 2009, but it is as realized in concept as in execution, and while it may not be groundbreaking in the grander scheme of the genre, it nonetheless brings forward the elements that can make funeral doom at its best so affecting.

Slow, V – Oceans (2017)

Slow on Thee Facebooks

Slow on Bandcamp

Code666 on Thee Facebooks

Code666 website

I think at this point there are few who would challenge the supposition of Amenra‘s dominance when it comes to European post-metal. The strobe-prone Belgian outfit released their latest masterwork, Mass VI, last month through Neurot Recordings and Consouling Sounds, and in the New Year, they’ll team up with Japanese experimentalist heroes Boris for a full run of co-headlining dates in the UK and EU. Boris of course are out supporting their own 2017 offering, Dear (review here), which was issued to coincide with their 25th anniversary, as if they needed an excuse to be brilliant.

For whatever it’s worth — and by my estimate, not much — I’m not the hugest Amenra fan, but their live presentation is a spectacle to behold if you have the opportunity to do so. They’re not strangers to touring in Europe, but the pairing with Boris would seem to make this run all the more of an occasion.

From the PR wire:

AMENRA Announces Co-Headlining 2018 European/UK Tour With Boris

Heavy music luminaries AMENRA and Boris have announced co-headlining European and UK tour for early 2018. The two acts will tour from February 14th through March 4th, marking the first full UK tour for AMENRA.

Mass VI is out now on Neurot Recordings. The European version has a different mix and master, as well as different artwork and design than the US version, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Oathbreaker) at the Atomic Garden, San Francisco. The deluxe edition 2xLP 45rpm 180-gram album is available in different limited colors. Order Mass VI in the US through Neurot Recordings and via Consouling Sounds in Europe.

AMENRA Tour Dates:
12/01/2017 De Leest – Izegem, BE (acoustic)
1/13/2018 Gaité Lyrique – Paris, FR
1/19/2018 Stevenskerk – Nijmegen NL
1/20/2018 Doornroosje – Nijmegen NL
1/28/2018 Festsaal Kreuzberg – Berlin, DE
1/29/2018 Colos-saal – Aschaffenburg, DE
2/14/2018 Thekla – Bristol, UK w/ Boris
2/15/2018 Heaven – London, UK w/ Boris
2/16/2018 Arts Centre – Norwich, UK w/ Boris
2/17/2018 Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, UK w/ Boris
2/18/2018 Gorilla – Manchester, UK w/ Boris
2/19/2018 St. Lukes – Glasgow, UK w/ Boris
2/20/2018 Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK w/ Boris
2/21/2018 Aeronef – Lille, FR w/ Boris
2/22/2018 Drucklufthaus – Oberhausen, DE
2/23/2018 Beatpol – Dresden, DE w/ Boris
2/24/2018 Progresja – Warsaw, PL w/ Boris
2/25/2018 Palac Akropolis – Prague, CZ w/ Boris
2/26/2018 A38 – Budapest, HU w/ Boris
2/27/2018 Kino Siska – Ljubljana, SL w/ Boris
2/28/2018 Locomotiv – Bologna, IT w/ Boris
3/01/2018 Monk – Rome, IT w/ Boris
3/02/2018 Santeria Social Club – Milan, IT w/ Boris
3/03/2018 Jubez – Karlsruhe, DE w/ Boris
3/04/2018 Patronaat – Haarlem, NL w/ Boris
4/06/2018 Depot – Leuven. BE
4/07/2018 Durbuy Rock Festival – Durbuy, BE
4/08/2018 Cactus Club – Brugge, BE
4/13/2018 Eden – Charleroi, BE
4/14/2018 MOD – Hasselt, BE

http://www.churchofra.com
http://www.ritualofra.com
http://www.facebook.com/churchofra
http://www.neurotrecordings.com
http://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings

Amenra, “A Solitary Reign” official video

Boris, “Absolutego” official video

Crunching riffs and crunching numbers, Belgian heavy noise rockers The Progerians return with a brand new video to teach us all some basic addition. The track comes from the Brussels-based trio’s 2015 debut full-length, The Fabulous Progerians, and is a quick burst at an instrumental three minutes, but gets the point across that a lot of that album was making in its overarching sense of rush and the forward-coursing winding riff it uses to create such motion. It was posted in the late hours of last year (one is trying to get used to 2017 as the present instead of the future tense), but the band has said that they’ve got a new record in the works for this year as well, so it could be that “2+6” is their way of kissing their debut goodbye.

If so, it’s a grim farewell. I’m not entirely sure what’s happening in the plot, but the main character is being chased by a series of flying rocks — stoner rock itself? I sometimes feel that way — back to his living room where he seems to try to fight off an attack with a knife and maybe some occult spells? I don’t want to spoil the ending, because frankly, three minutes isn’t too much for the band to ask of your time without me giving it all away, but let’s just say it doesn’t turn out so hot for the dude in question. I guess according to The Progerians, stoner rock wins. You won’t find me mounting a counterargument.

On the off-chance you missed their record — which I know you didn’t, because you’re on your game like that all the time — it can be streamed via the Bandcamp page linked below, and I’ve included their bio, just for background should you want some.

And by way of another spoiler, “2+6” makes eight.

Enjoy:

The Progerians, “2+6” official video

Directed and edited by Nicolas de Viron
Starring Xavier “Xray” Decoster
Cinematography: Yassin Serghini
Assistant Camera: Lucas Sevrin

The Fabulous Progerians are a three-piece that radiates throughout the Brussels’ underground and its surroundings. This heavy and fat paving block seeks to translate youth’s anxiety, agonising in unemployment and lust offered by the modern world for lack of a future.

Their influences go far back into prehistory, but it’s somewhere between Punk and Sludge that the band likes to find its secret harmonies.

Known for powerful performances, they are usually joined by other musicians who widen even more the sound spectrum and universe of the band.

The Progerians on Thee Facebooks

The Progerians on Bandcamp