Eye of Nix - Ligeia

By Justin C. A tidy genre tag for Eye of Nix is elusive. We could go with Black/Doom/Avant Garde, from their Bandcamp page, and that’s more or less O.K., but that leaves out the gothic, psychedelic, and sometimes operatic elements. Maybe “post-everything” covers it.

By Justin C.


A tidy genre tag for Eye of Nix is elusive. We could go with Black/Doom/Avant Garde, from their Bandcamp page, and that’s more or less O.K., but that leaves out the gothic, psychedelic, and sometimes operatic elements. Maybe “post-everything” covers it.

Their newest, Ligeia, is that rare album that manages to encapsulate a wide palette of sounds without sounding like an album made by seven different bands. The first track, “Concealing Waters,” is actually a pretty good introduction in more ways than one. It’s a mysterious opener that showcases a lot of the sounds you’re going to hear on the rest of the album. Lush guitars and clean vocals start out, creating a doomy, psychedelic start reminiscent of Ides of Gemini and even a little bit of The Doors. Vocalist Joy Von Spain weaves a spell, but the perspective takes a hard left when the drums start to blast and she adds blackened harshness to her vocals. Sure, the song is almost 7 minutes long, but in a contradictory way, it feels both more immediate and more expansive than that run time suggests.

“Pursued” charges out of the gate with more of a death metal feel, but the proggy, off-kilter touches you heard in the album opener are still there, even if the mood has suddenly turned more vicious. This track also features the first demonstration of Von Spain’s operatic style of vocals. It’s typically not a style I enjoy in metal or its natural habitat--although I appreciate the skill--but Von Spain’s use of it as just one of the styles in her arsenal works for me.

The rest of the album dwells in these dualities--”Stranded” starts in an ethereal plane before moving to churning heaviness--and it’s a sound to behold. All of the band members get a chance to shine here. The intricacy of the drumming, the atmospheric guitar, the bass providing the solid bridge connecting the instrumentals, and the synths and “sound collages” are all showcased at one point or another, but yet this is still very much a band effort, and that band is exploring its own path in a very unique space. Even if one of the many things I mentioned here is usually a turn off for you, I highly recommend you give the whole a chance.

Lotus Thief - Oresteia

By Justin C. I’ve seen a lot of talk about Lotus Thief being post-metal or post-rock or post-whatever, but let’s get something straight: Their latest, Oresteia, is a rock opera, and a damn good one. Remember The Who’s Tommy or Husker Du’s Zen Arcade?

By Justin C.


I’ve seen a lot of talk about Lotus Thief being post-metal or post-rock or post-whatever, but let’s get something straight: Their latest, Oresteia, is a rock opera, and a damn good one. Remember The Who’s Tommy or Husker Du’s Zen Arcade? Yeah, I know, they all happened before you were born, but that’s what we’re looking at here. A concept record telling a story over its length. Except instead of a deaf and blind pinball wizard, the source material comes from three linked tragedies by Aeschylus: Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides, a 2500-year-old trilogy of plays known collectively as Oresteia.

Lotus Thief’s self-designated genre of “text metal” might still be the best way to think of them. Having grown from a one-off contribution to a Botanist album, the band has put out three striking albums inspired by and devoted to books. Oresteia is probably the most ambitious in scope and sound. The project has grown into a full-fledged five-member band, helmed by frontwoman Bezaelith and her otherworldly vocals.

Given the plays used as inspiration are Greek tragedies, you can probably guess the general themes. In "Agamemnon", the titular King of Mycenae returns from The Trojan War only to be murdered by his wife, Clytemenstra. Revenge is called for, of course, so in "Libation Bearers", Agamemnon’s son comes back, as ordered by Apollo, and commits matricide. His son then flees, pursued by "The Furies", seeking justice for his act of...seeking justice.

The music itself walks right up to an intersection of artful rock and musical theater, of all things. Just a step or two further, and Lotus Thief might have gone over the top for my own tastes, but they walk the line between the nerdy sincerity of musical theater and a more natural expression of feeling that you’d expect from such a skilled rock/metal band. Tension builds and flows with the plot of the plays, but even if you knew nothing about them, the vocal and instrumental performances are top flight. There are no searing displays of technicality, but it’s not that kind of music--this is music based on superior songwriting and flawless execution. The interludes between the songs that represent the plays set the appropriate moods (“Banishment”, “Woe”, and “Reverence”) flawlessly, cementing the show-stopper pieces together seamlessly.

And those vocals. Way back in 2014, I was listening to Rervm while recovering from surgery. I missed the release date of Oresteia. because this time my fuzzy buddy, Marshall the Cat, was having surgery while I simultaneously suffered from a turn-your-body-inside-out stomach virus. It’s bad luck, but it’s hard to think of a voice I’d rather have in my ears at these lower times. Bezaelith croons, soars, and even snarls with a little 70s rock swagger in "Libation Bearers". Some may find the harsh vocals too few and far between, but they act as perfect counterpoint to the rest of the bravura performance.

Will some find this all a little too much? Too dramatic, too literary? Sure, maybe. But it’s their loss. If Lotus Thief decides that their next album will be an ode to the phone book or the source code for Microsoft Windows, I’ll be listening.

Khôrada - Salt

By Justin C. Writing about a band like Khôrada is both a joy and, ironically, a truly difficult task. Lots of reviews talk about bands that "defy genre boundaries"--I'm sure I've personally said it before--but Khôrada makes me regret using that phrase

By Justin C.

Artwork by Cedric Wentworth.

Writing about a band like Khôrada is both a joy and, ironically, a truly difficult task. Lots of reviews talk about bands that "defy genre boundaries"--I'm sure I've personally said it before--but Khôrada makes me regret using that phrase to describe any band other than them. It's not that you'll hear some Jute Gyte weirdness or a metal band made up of only tuba players. You'll hear familiar bits of doom, black metal, sludge, and what we olds used to just call "rock and roll," but they're combined and performed so flawlessly that it almost seems like something completely new. Familiar and elusive at the same time.

Most people probably know the headlines on this one: Aaron John Gregory, vocalist and guitarist of Giant Squid, joins three former members of Agalloch: Don Anderson on guitar, Jason Walton on bass, and Aesop Dekker on drums. That will be the marketing pitch, anyway, and it's a smart way to get them a lot of attention. But if fans come looking for a bit of Agalloch Part II, they're going to be much disappointed, because this is not that. What they will find, though, is some truly brilliant, emotionally hefty music. No "new" band should be this good on their first outing, although of course these aren't 18-year-olds making their first record, either.

The debut album, Salt, is unapologetically about environmental collapse and possible extinction-level events for the human race. The opening track, "Edeste," has lyrics like

Nature is convinced
it's time for a sixth extinction event
before man has the chance
to gnaw her to the bone.

Nobody's hiding their lyrical intent here. "Water Rights" is also not coy about being a protest song about the Dakota Access Pipeline and Standing Rock protests:

When word comes down the pipe
from the biggest suit of all
to pillage their water rights
as the snow falls
Disregard their thirst.

Mixed in is a short but devastating portrait of a miscarriage ("Augustus") and a scene of a parent explaining to their child about man-made climate change ("Wave State").

Gregory's vocals are uniquely his own, although I often found myself jotting down comparisons to other singers--maybe a hint of Mark Kozelek at the end of "Edeste"? A little bit of Tom Waits's gruffness in "Water Rights"? But name-checking won't really help me describe his unique voice to you. There are a few snarls, but he mainly sticks to a mid-range clean that veers ever-so-close to over the top without ever actually going there. These lyrics could make for a schmaltz-fest in the wrong hands, but he manages heart-breaking emotional highs and lows in a powerful, straightforward way. The musicians meet him at his level, adding instrumentals that may be a bit cerebral at times, but never emotionally remote. This might be one of the few bands that truly deserves the label "progressive," not in the sense of a weird, technical wankfest or 70s throwback, but music that truly moves us and them forward at the same time.

I don't know what kind of reception this album will get. Some true metalheads might find it not enough, whereas it may still be too heavy for others. The words are topical and current, but on the other hand, this is a bad time (particularly in the U.S.) to express sincere environmental concerns without fact-less hordes shouting you down. But it's a truly special and remarkable album, so I hope it's heard and enjoyed as widely as possible.

Völur - Ancestors

By Justin C. So how do we categorize a trio of drums, violin, and bass with two vocalists? Well, bassist/vocalist Lucas Gadke (also of Blood Ceremony), in an interview with Burning Ambulance, says, "First and foremost, we are a doom band", so let's go with that.

By Justin C.


So how do we categorize a trio of drums, violin, and bass with two vocalists? Well, bassist/vocalist Lucas Gadke (also of Blood Ceremony), in an interview with Burning Ambulance, says, "First and foremost, we are a doom band", so let's go with that. It does fit--the music is slow and deliberate--but as in so many cases, it's far from the full story.

For some metal fans, Völur's Ancestors is going to be a big ask. You'll be pressed to hear anything "metal" in a basic sense until nearly halfway through the 15-minute opener, "Breakers of Silence." But for those open-minded enough, I urge you to stick around. Throughout the album, you're treated to a mix of clean and harsh vocals from Gadke and violinist Laura Bates. Sometimes the vocals harmonize to great effect, even when one is harsh and the other clean. Bates's violin does triple duty, sometimes classical sounding, sometimes folky, and sometimes as a distorted, ripping substitute for a lead guitar. Gadke's bass duties are similarly diverse, switching up between clean and distorted bass guitar as well as double bass, moving between melodic and rhythmic duties, and all anchored by the just-what's-needed drumming of Jimmy Payment (also of Do Make Say Think, who are also excellent).

Völur 2014. Photos by Danielle Griscti.

What's the listening experience like? That's a tough summation. After the more languid opener, the next track, "Breaker of Skulls," has a sound both harsher and more occult. The descending bass line underneath eerie violin is classic, witchy doom. But as you'll find if you read the interview I linked before, the band's drawing from a lot of influences and genres, and your ears should confirm that. The halfway point of "Skulls" sees the violin playing some of the most overtly folky material on the album, but it's a fleeting moment before the song moves into more mournful sounds.

One of the things I like best about this album is that the band pulls so much in and in such a fresh way, there are rarely moments when you can sum them up as just "folk-influenced" or "death-doom" or anything else that tickles your ears. All the influence is pulled into their own, fresh perspective and singular sound, and that's no easy trick. Sure, the songs are long and might seem drone-ish on occasion (although the whole album still clocks in under an hour), but keep those ears open. Themes are stated and reappear. Vocal and instrumental lines twist around each other. There's never a point when the songs repeat themselves for no good reason. The music might be a slow burn, but it will carry you along if you let it.

The band says that this album is the second in a four-album cycle. The first, Disir, dealt with feminine myths, whereas Ancestors deals with Disir's masculine counterparts. The third will apparently turn its attention to gods and goddesses, and in the Burning Ambulance interview, Gadke hints at the possibility of even more diverse instrumentation. Sometimes life interferes with the best-intentioned bands, but I hope they pull off the full four-album concept. I'm definitely in.

Farsot - Fail·lure

By Justin C. German black-metal act Farsot has released their third full-length, Fail·lure. The dot is intentional, not a stray umlaut that's broken and fallen between the cracks. The album name is actually a portmanteau

By Justin C.


German black-metal act Farsot has released their third full-length, Fail·lure. The dot is intentional, not a stray umlaut that's broken and fallen between the cracks. The album name is actually a portmanteau of "failure" and "allure," and according to the description on Bandcamp, the album "addresses the inevitable dilemma between fascination and mania, desire and disgust, power and weakness..." It's a great topic to address with a metal album, and the music matches the concept.

One of my first thoughts when listening to this was that it reminded me a bit of late-period Enslaved. I know that's a bit dangerous to say because some people are angry that Enslaved has, in their view, drifted too far from some sort of black metal purity standard they adhered to in earlier albums like Frost, but I disagree. (In fact, I think "Thoughts Like Hammers" from RIITIIR is one of their best songs. Fight me!) Farsot isn't an Enslaved soundalike by any means, but their combination of different vocal styles, including cleans, and their mixture of heaviness and more sparse interludes find them exploring similar sonic territory.

"Vitriolic" opens the album with what at first sounds like your standard "evil sound effects," but on closer inspection reveals laughing and sobbing mixed together, tying back to the opposing forces in the album's conception. The music itself starts out with a buzzing, droning riff made propulsive by the underlying drumming, and low, croaking vocals in the vein of Abbath. But it's not long before the guitar line thins and some clean, chanting vocals enter. As I hinted at earlier, the music matches the concept by pairing gnarly black metal with more varied and spacious sounds. You'll find similar pairings in other songs, like the simple arpeggiation that opens "With Obsidian Hands." If you think this will be a song without bite, you're soon proven wrong, as the screams that soon kick in are some of the most pained-sounding on the album. This track also shows off some chunky riffs that would sound at home in a regular hard rock tune (if anybody even makes "regular hard rock" anymore). That's not a criticism at all--they're damn good riffs, and they add another layer of contrast, and that’s not even getting into the slick bassline that kicks in later, and probably another dozen layers I could point out to this song alone.

Another strength of this album is that although it's technically "progressive" in nature, it's still a tight listen. It's 48 minutes long, which isn't a record breaking length by any means, but I kept finding that as the instrumental closer, "A Hundred to Nothing," came along, I was still ready for more. The philosophical ideas may be weighty, but that weight doesn't push down on the listeners. Fail·lure is yet another great entry for off-center black metal this year.

Lantlôs - Melting Sun

By Sean Golyer. Uninteresting. Slow. Samey. All words that ran through my mind upon first listen years back, and subsequent listens. I didn’t think much of it back then and sorta wrote it off as a weird little experiment from the band post-Neige, but nothing more. Cherry Quartz had some cool moments, though. I did like that track. I gave it some more listens.

By Sean Golyer.

Artwork by Pascal Hauer.

Uninteresting. Slow. Samey. All words that ran through my mind upon first listen years back, and subsequent listens. I didn’t think much of it back then and sorta wrote it off as a weird little experiment from the band post-Neige, but nothing more.

Cherry Quartz had some cool moments, though.
I did like that track. I gave it some more listens.

Well, I guess Azure Chimes is pretty neat too.
Yet more listens.

Damn, Aquamarine Towers has a really great climax and a pretty catchy line.
Before I knew it, I was giving this album a spin on (at least) a weekly basis for months on end. That continues to this day.

One thing the album always had going for it was its sound. It’s so warm, pleasing, and inviting on just about any set of speakers or headphones I put it through. Not to mention it’s not quite like anything else I have heard before or since, particularly in the context of the type of music Lantlos is writing. There’s moments where the guitar tone has a very “scooped”, almost “djent” sound to it, but not always. This is usually a turn-off for me, but used here it seems pleasant and fitting. The bass sits very nicely and prominently under the guitars, adding further layers of warm distortion. Accenting them are some distorted bass synths that crop up from time to time. The vocals are awash in reverb, but not buried to the point that I can’t understand them. The drum-work rounds everything out, being subtle and just carrying the rhythm and adding cymbal washes when needed, or being the driving force behind the heavier moments on the album.

Photos by Webzine Chuul.

The use of space and atmosphere in the mix is other-worldly. “Ethereal” is an adjective I like to use when describing this album to others. While other related bands in a similar vein such as Alcest or Les Discrets often feel like they’re chasing the sound of childhood nostalgia, bittersweet memories, or just plain melancholy, Melting Sun transports you to another space and time altogether. A saccharine heaven, filled with unending rays of pure, golden sunlight reflecting and refracting against a sea of multi-colored crystalline mountains. A place to depart and reflect on the better parts of your once earthly existence. This is the ultimate escapist album and has a nostalgia all its own when the final moments of closer “Golden Mind” wash over you.

That’s not to say all this “feel good” atmosphere comes without heaviness. To the contrary, the masterful use of space and timing only serves to make the heavier and more energetic movements that much more explosive and massive. If you’re any level of a guitar tone-head, or like me just really enjoy the sound of well-crafted mixes, this album is nothing short of a marvel. A wide variety of clean and distorted timbres and textures are on display at any given time. Nary a sound ever comes across as “thin”, “muddy”, or out of place. Nor does it sound too clean or overproduced, it’s all very organic. A testament to a careful and well thought out recording and mixing process, most of which seems to have been done in-house with the band. Impressive.

Melting Sun is a gorgeous album waiting to reward the patient listener. Its hooks are subtle, but they’re certainly there. It proudly sits among some of my favorite albums of all time, or at the very least one of my most listened to. There’s a sort of unspeakable quality to both the atmospheric songwriting and the huge mix that makes it difficult for me to put into words even after over 2 years of listening to it regularly. If you wrote this one off early on as I once did, I highly recommend giving it another spin. There’s more depth here than what it initially lets on, it just takes a willing listener to take the dive as I have.

Alcest - Kodama

By Justin C. When I first heard a new Alcest album was coming, I was unreservedly excited. Of course, one of my first questions was how the new album would compare to Shelter. Would Alcest continue in a more pop direction, or steer back toward the blackgaze they pioneered?

By Justin C.

Artwork by Førtifem

When I first heard a new Alcest album was coming, I was unreservedly excited. Of course, one of my first questions was how the new album would compare to Shelter. Would Alcest continue in a more pop direction, or steer back toward the blackgaze they pioneered? Then I heard that the new album, Kodama, was Japanese inspired, and I had no idea what to think. Plenty of artists decide to dabble and/or delve into different cultures and music. Done thoughtfully, you get a sublime triumph like Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain. Done carelessly, you get Avril Lavigne's irredeemable piece of garbage, made up of bits and pieces of half-digested Japanese culture barfed up on top of what might have been a decent pop song if anyone had put any effort into it.

I was confident that Alcest would create something closer to Miles than Avril, but even after I first heard Kodama, I was a little mystified. I was pleased, as it’s a fantastic album, but still mystified. There's no mistaking the opening strains of the album for anything other than Alcest, with waves of guitar soaked in melody washing over you. But where was the Japanese influence? I'm no expert--I've played a few classical guitar works from Japanese composers--but I was pretty sure I recognized hints here and there of a Japanese musical sensibility, particularly in the title track. But beyond a few hints and the clearly anime-inspired cover, where was the influence?

Photo by Pedro Roque.

I try to avoid other press about an album before I review it, but I broke my own rule this time to learn more. Kim Kelly interviewed Neige and Winterhalter over at Noisey, and from that, the picture became a little clearer. The duo describe the album as being inspired as much, if not more, by the spirituality and culture of Japan than any particular musical style. Neige mentions an anime film in particular, Princess Mononoke, that deals with themes of environmentalism vs. human progress. The themes of that movie seem to fit well within the themes that Alcest has been about all along--a duality of sorts, feeling a pull between two places but not feeling exactly at home in either.

With a better understanding of that aspect, what about the relative softness or hardness of the album? Well, you don't have to get far into the album to find out. The second track, “Eclosion,” is another melodic gem, but the guitars start to get aggressive early on. There are also those fantastic clean vocals, sometimes with aching harmonies, that appear and then drift off over the horizon. But it turns out this is a build up to a long section of Neige's black metal rasps, mixed with anger, frustration, and sorrow. They play right over the beautiful melodies, and the combination gives me goosebumps. Therein lies Alcest's greatest strength--playing the harsh against the beautiful.

Photo by Pedro Roque.

You'll find even more of this musical-duality-mirroring-lyrical-duality throughout. "Je Suis D'Ailleurs," which translates to "I'm from Somewhere Else," continues with yearning clean vocals and the music gaining in ferocity. It's really part of a multi-song arc of building intensity, peaking with "Oiseaux de Proire" ("Birds of Prey"). The harsh vocals here are some of the most intense you'll hear from Neige, and the instrumental build toward the end of the song is to die for.

Does all this mean a "triumphant return to form," as some will say? I'd actually say no. As I explained in my previous love letter to Alcest, the band has stepped away and back toward the black metal aspect of their sound before, but the core of their musicality is always there. Kodama, while re-emphasizing some elements that weren't present on Shelter, pushes that core sensibility yet another step further in this band's fantastic catalog. No one's infallible, but I haven't seen any signs of fatigue in this band yet.

Lotus Thief - Gramarye

By Justin C. Lotus Thief, perhaps the sole band working in their self-described genre of "text metal," is back with their second full-length, Gramarye. Born from the partnership of Bezaelith and Otrebor, the man behind Botanist, their first full length, Rervm, gave musical form to an epic poem written by Titus Lucretius Carus during the time of the Roman Empire.

By Justin C.


Lotus Thief, perhaps the sole band working in their self-described genre of "text metal," is back with their second full-length, Gramarye. Born from the partnership of Bezaelith and Otrebor, the man behind Botanist, their first full length, Rervm, gave musical form to an epic poem written by Titus Lucretius Carus during the time of the Roman Empire. For the recording of this album, they've added a third member, Iva Toric, who adds synths and another lovely voice joining with Bezaelith's own.** They've also expanded their subject matter--instead of one author, this album covers a veritable library of magic- and belief-based texts, including Homer's Odyssey, the Egyptian funerary text the Book of the Dead, and Aleister Crowley's occult work, The Book of Lies.

I've seen quite a few genre tags attached to Lotus Thief, including space rock, ambient, doom, drone, black metal, post-rock, psychedelic, and more. I looked back to my review of their first album, and I realized I cleverly avoided getting too nitpicky about genres. I'd advise you to do the same, because a full subgenre dissection offers little in the way of insight. At their core, Lotus Thief plays damn good metal, maybe leaning more toward art rock than anything else. There are hints of everything I listed, but everything has been blended so well that you'll never find the seams that join them.

What they continue to do brilliantly with that basic sound is add different touches and textures to match their subject matter without pulling too far away from their core sound. Circe is a goddess from The Odyssey who was fond of turning her enemies into livestock, a fate Odysseus managed to avoid. The chugging riffs and heroic guitar soloing that appear in the song itself puts a vivid image in my mind of Odysseus's galley beating through the waves toward home. "The Book of Lies" has just enough eerie atmosphere built in to conjure Crowley's occultism without going over the top, and the doomy opening riff, which the band revisits as the song progresses, is the perfect topper.

And through it all, there's Bezaelith's siren voice. She has very little competition when it comes to this, and if the music itself is at times cerebral, her singing is the beating heart that keeps the whole thing grounded and compelling. Favorite moments? It's hard to say where to start, but go to around the 4:30 mark in "Salem" and listen to this pure, elevating beauty. Listen to it several dozen times in a row, maybe. (I'm not saying I did that. I'm also not not saying I did that). As good as the entirety of the album is, the emotional crescendo that builds through "Salem" and album closer "Idisi" should provide at least 200% of your recommended daily allowance of feels. I said it in the review of Rervm, and I'll say it again here: If these vocals don't melt your heart, I don't know what to do with you.

We've had a good year of book-ish metal. Gorguts gave us a 33-minute tour of The House of Wisdom, and now Lotus Thief takes us from the library and back into the books themselves. But as unique as the subject matter may be, Lotus Thief continues to build an incredible sound rich enough to match.

**Lotus Thief underwent some personnel changes since the recording of Gramarye, and at the time of this writing, they are performing as a quintet.

Music and Meaning: Revenge - Behold.Total.Rejection. and Amber Asylum - Sin Eater

By Craig Hayes. To my mind, no matter what genre we favour, we’re all aiming to satisfy the exact same desire when we listen to music. And I think you can distill that desire, and the myriad reasons why we love music, into one simple word

By Craig Hayes.

To my mind, no matter what genre we favour, we’re all aiming to satisfy the exact same desire when we listen to music. And I think you can distill that desire, and the myriad reasons why we love music, into one simple word. All any of us really want from music is to be moved.

There’s no question that music moves us and takes us places. And whatever our resulting emotional or physical states, it’s from those experiences that we find and construct meaning in our lives. For many of us, the desire to discover music that moves us often finds us searching the extremes of musical expression. We want the heaviest, most ethereal, most beautiful or bitterest music. And that quest is perfectly represented by recent albums from American neoclassical ensemble Amber Asylum, and Canadian black and death metal berserkers Revenge.

I’ll understand if you think the elegant music Amber Asylum makes doesn’t warrant comparison to the hateful and primitive noise that Revenge conjures. (Except as an example of how polar opposite styles of music appeal to a wide swath of metalheads.) Yet, no matter the stylistic gulf between the two bands, Amber Asylum and Revenge share a clear link that’s inextricably tied to music and meaning. Let me explain.


Back in the late 90s, Canadian band Conqueror released their one and only full-length LP, War Cult Supremacy, which was a defining moment for fans of bestial black and death metal––or war metal, as it’s more commonly known. James “J” Read was the drummer on that LP, and he’s been the driving force in Revenge since the band’s first bloodthirsty EP, Attack.Blood.Revenge, was released in 2001. And if there’s one thing that Revenge have become known for, it’s their obliterating sound and vision.

Like all bands in the war metal axis, Revenge play pitiless and bludgeoning music. It’s metal born from viscera-strewn battlefields, throughout time and space, and on plains of existence both real and imaged. The focus is always on intensity and overwhelming brute force, and Revenge’s latest album, Behold.Total.Rejection., the band’s first for new label Season of Mist, is a perfect example of how 10-tonne, chaotic metal moves us.

I’m fully aware that suggesting a band like Revenge “moves us” in any way sounds like a highfalutin way to describe the band’s intent or impact. But that’s what’s happening, nonetheless. Sure, that sense of being moved is delivered via a razor-storm of nihilistic noise. Which, incidentally, is something all of us need to experience. I mean, even if you’re not a fan of Revenge per se, you still need to hear Behold.Total.Rejection. Folks love to use terms like brutal and merciless to describe metal albums aplenty, and Behold.Total.Rejection. is the very definition of those terms.

Revenge 2014. Photos by Carmelo Española.

Behold.Total.Rejection. has no hooks, no handholds, and definitely no safety nets. Tracks like “Scum Defection (Outsider Neutralized)”, “Wolf Slave Protocol (Choose Your Side)” and “Mobilization Rites”, as well as every other barbaric track on the album, are maelstroms of twisted vocals, distorted guitars and blastbeat drumming. Basically, it’s the equivalent of standing in front of a mine-sweeping tank in the heat of battle. All flailing chains and reinforced armour and tracks, followed by ceaseless and decimating barrages.

Behold.Total.Rejection. does what war metal does best––it destroys. But inherent in all the destruction is that sense of being moved. Sure, it’s not wistful emotionality you’re feeling, but you are swept up in the turmoil, and there’s obvious catharsis in having the endless annoyances that drag you down demolished.

In essence, Behold.Total.Rejection. kills. But not your spirit. The album moves us to feel at one with annihilation. It moves us to embrace chaos. To accept that life is a war of all against all––all the fucking time. It’s the experience of ruthless negation and pitiless cruelty, never to be forgotten.

Now, whether any there’s truth to the particular worldview that Revenge seeks to share on Behold.Total.Rejection. is obviously up to you to judge. But everything that’s feral, ferocious and inhuman about the album is perfectly counterpointed by the haunting elegance of Amber Asylum’s latest album, Sin Eater.

Sin Eater marks the 20th anniversary of the San-francisco-based chamber doom band founded by multi-instrumentalist and soprano vocalist Kris Force. Yet, two decades down the line, Sin Eater happens to feature some of most moving and soul-stirring music from Amber Asylum yet. Tracks such as “Perfect Calm”, “Beast Star” and “Harvester” weave post-rock, dark ambient, and neoclassical influences around lush string arrangements and poignant vocals. All of which is shrouded in Amber Asylum’s gothic elegance.

Amber Asylum 2011. Photos by Taylor Keahey.

Sin Eater evokes the solemnity and ritual of the ‘sin eating’ process itself. But what the album also does is take the gravity of that process and render it into a heartbreakingly beautiful experience. Even at its darkest and most ominous, such as on the grim post-metal landscape of “Executioner”, Sin Eater still feels alive. Where Behold.Total.Rejection. is a barbaric challenge that negates life with a pitch-black wall of noise, Sin Eater opens its arms wide open. Yes, the music therein is often dark. But Sin Eater welcomes all into its darkness.

Behold.Total.Rejection. and Sin Eater vividly illustrate that polar opposite types of music often move us in entirely comparable ways. The two albums are clearly yin and yang, yet both speak to us deeply. The former by means of an uncompromisingly nihilistic vision; the latter by inviting us in to experience the beauty in haunting sadness and ceremony. Our desires are stated by music’s ability to take us to places. Some are utterly grotesque. Others are wholly gorgeous. But always, and forever, music remains our lifeblood. Taking us on journeys so that we can find meaning in our lives.

Sunset in the 12th House - Mozaic

By Kevin Page. Upon hearing that famed guitar duo, Sol Faur and Hupogrammos, formed Sunset in the 12th House, I was all in. How can the original masterminds behind Negura Bunget and (currently) Dordeduh, not get you excited? They are joined by fellow Dordeduh drummer Sergio Ponti and bassist Mihai Moldoveanu

By Kevin Page.


Upon hearing that famed guitar duo, Sol Faur and Hupogrammos, formed Sunset in the 12th House, I was all in. How can the original masterminds behind Negura Bunget and (currently) Dordeduh, not get you excited? They are joined by fellow Dordeduh drummer Sergio Ponti and bassist Mihai Moldoveanu (Beat Bang!, JazzyBIT) here on their debut album, Mozaic, 57 minutes of unmeasurable beauty.

The band describes their sound in a very general sense as psychedelic post rock and traditional oriental music. While I agree you can consider that a starting point, it goes way beyond that. Yes, it has some chuggy driving guitars at times, but nothing too crazy. You'll also hear progressive rock and metal. But what really makes Mozaic shine is the ethereal underlay always omnipresent, whether lurking in background or commanding center stage. The depth it brings to the music cannot be understated. Combine all that with the gentle upbeat picking of the guitars and it really is something to behold.

I know prog rock/metal can be very self indulgent (at least to my ears) and many bands get caught up in guitar wankery. Thankfully, none of that exists here. Everything is done tastefully with no fat to trim anywhere. These songs exist in their own time and space.

At the end of the day, what really makes this album stand out and cement itself as a supreme piece of music are those moments you can point to in each song and say "there, right there, THAT gives me chills". The simple fact that I can pinpoint this in each song is a testament to what an achievement the band has accomplished.

(have a listen for yourself).

• The first 2 1/2 minutes of "Seven Insignia".
• The 2:50 mark of "Arctic Cascades", gentle upbeat picking of the guitar.
• The 6:05 mark of "Paraphernalia of Sublimation" and again at 8:05.
• The 1:30 mark of "Desert's Eschaton".
• The beginning of "Ethereal Consonance".
• The 1:58 mark of "Rejuvenation", the only song to features any vocals (and they happen to be of the harsh variety).

[Also check out Kevin's interview with drummer Sergio Ponti over at No Clean Singing].

Alcest - Écailles de lune & Les voyages de l'âme

By Justin C. It's always cool to see a long-established artist suddenly appear on Bandcamp. You can pick up things missing from your collection, or just get higher-fidelity copies of things you already had.

By Justin C.

It's always cool to see a long-established artist suddenly appear on Bandcamp. You can pick up things missing from your collection, or just get higher-fidelity copies of things you already had. Now, when Prophecy Productions joined Bandcamp, we got a whole slew of new digital goodies, including Alcest. I briefly debated about whether Alcest really needed a write up here--doesn't everybody already know them? But on the other hand, there are always new people getting into metal, and it's easy to miss some gems. Or maybe the often-polarized opinion of this band scared you off, and you didn't have me whispering into your ear about why you should listen.

Photo by Webzine Chuul.

Alcest is primarily the work of Neige (a.k.a., Stéphane Paut). He started Alcest as a pretty standard, raw black metal outfit, but after the 2001 demo, Neige took Alcest into a new direction. A lot of people categorize Alcest as post-black metal, but the favorite genre label I've seen attached to them is "blackgaze." Neige mixes melodic shoegaze and black metal in a way that's simply brilliant. If you really think about it (and ignore the knuckle-headed screams of "sell out!" and "girlfriend metal!" that Internet Tough Guys love to apply to Alcest), the melding of shoegaze and black metal isn't actually that strange. Both genres typically rely on waves of sound washing over the listener, and what are blast beats and tremolo-picked guitars if not (angry) waves of sound? Sure, black metal is typically a bit more aggressive than, say, My Bloody Valentine or Catherine Wheel, but sonically, they have similar aesthetics, if different executions.

Cover art by Fursy Teyssier

It was hard to pick what albums to focus on, but for my money, 2010's Écailles de lune and 2012's Les voyages de l'âme stand as the pinnacle of what Alcest has achieved so far. Aside from the early demo, Écailles is probably one of the heavier albums in Alcest's catalog. "Écailles de lune (Part I)" serves as a melancholy intro to the album, but listen carefully: At around the 8-minute mark (Neige doesn't mind a slow build), we get some blast beats and lovely tremolo guitar, even if they're a bit less frosty than typical for black metal. Hang around for the next track, "Écailles de lune (Part II)", and after a deceptively gentle intro, you hear the first proper black metal shrieks of the album. I love Neige's clean vocals--they're subdued and non-showy while still conveying deep emotion--but I'd also happily listen to an album full of his raw shrieks. "Part II" eventually moves back to shoegazier territory, but it makes the blackened fury seem all the more intense.

Photo by Webzine Chuul.

It pains me to say it, but if you're disappointed by the heaviness level of the first two tracks of Écailles, you're probably not going to like Alcest. The shoegaze parts of the music and Neige's clean vocals aren't brief respites or interludes; they're integral to the sound. But if you're still with me, I have to convince you to also listen to Les voyages de l'âme, because it holds a firm place on my list of favorite albums post-2000, and perhaps on my list of favorite albums ever.

Cover art by Fursy Teyssier

Les voyages de l'âme does move Alcest a bit further away from its black metal roots, although you still get some great blackened fury in "Là où naissent les couleurs nouvelles" and "Faiseurs de mondes". What stands out on Voyages is the maturation of Neige's melodic sensibilities. He was always good, but what he did on Voyages is at a different level. The lush guitars and vocal melodies in the album opener "Autre Temps" immediately take me to another place, which seems appropriate because Neige has explained that Alcest is largely inspired by a dream world from his childhood. This album also sees Neige's blending of the heavy and light become nearly seamless. The gentle intro to "Là où naissent les couleurs nouvelles" is brilliantly revisited in the song's blackened sections. The transition thrills me every time, no matter how often I hear it. And the vocals and guitars in the title track? I don't even know how to put those feelings into words.

Photo by Webzine Chuul.

Alcest's lovely 2014 album Shelter moved firmly into a pop/shoegaze sound, and as with most Alcest albums, the reaction was polarized. However, Neige has changed directions before--Alcest's first proper full-length, Souvenirs d'un autre monde, had nary a black metal scream on it, so it's hard to say where he'll end up next. I'd hate to see Neige completely abandon his black metal roots, but on the other hand, his musicianship will show through no matter what he's doing, and I suspect Alcest albums are going to be an "insta-buy" for me for a long time to come.

Dordeduh - Dar de Duh

Written by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.

Cover art by Costin Chioreanu

After departing from Romanian black metal act Negura Bunget in 2009, Hupogrammos and Sol Faur founded their new project, Dordeduh. Their first full-length album, Dar de Duh (which translates to "gift from the spirit"), contains many of the influences they had previously worked with in Negura Bunget, including soulful, sparkling interpretations of nature-based black metal and elements of Romanian folklore. Dordeduh take a distinctly more ambient approach, however, working less with sheer muscular force in the music and much more with shimmering, ethereal atmospheres. There's still a primal current of danger, as good folk metal often reminds the listener that the natural landscape is as deadly as it is lovely, but the thematic focus of Dar De Duh is definitely the sublime.

Photos by Dvergir

The traditional instruments are deployed deftly and intelligently, deepening the emotional impact of the sound. The complex and beautiful structures of the tracks are often dazzling, such as in the way the various elements of "Calea roților de foc" dovetail seamlessly with each other (i.e., the pleading percussion and the flute-and-guitar countermelodies). When Negura Bunget split in half, it could have been the band's death knell; instead, each half sprung up into a new beast, each a more evolved and refined version.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

This Bandcamp link is for the regular version of Dar de Duh. There's also a (more expensive) version with 3 bonus tracks. And you can check out the Prophecy Productions Bandcamp here.

Falkenbach - Asa

Written by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.


The sixth full-length release from German Viking metal project Falkenbach is a misty, mysterious atmospheric adventure that, for all its subtlety and filmy texture, certainly doesn't lack drive or energy. While many blackened folk metal projects are defined by large and diverse line-ups to cope with the demands of various folk instrumentation and the complex compositions, Falkenbach is a one-man effort — the work of Vratyas Vakyas. His work possesses focus and fire — there's deadly precision to his compositions and an almost preternatural perceptiveness that set Falkenbach apart in an oversaturated genre.

While the black metal riffs swarm like circling carrion birds and the sepulchral coughs of the harsh vocals seem to carry corpse dust with them, it's the trembling vulnerability of the clean singing and urgent, compelling melodies that give Asa its strength. "Stikke Wound" has a stirring, hard driving heathen power behind it, while "Eweroun" is steeped in a deep, restless yearning, drenched in silver moonlight and strings. Asa is not quite as exquisite as 2005's Heralding - The Fireblade, but it most definitely ranks amongst Falkenbach's best.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

This Bandcamp link is for the regular version of Asa. There's also a (more expensive) version with 4 bonus tracks. And you can check out the Prophecy Productions Bandcamp here.

Farsot - Insects

Written by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.


Insects is the first album that German experimental black metal band Farsot have produced in four years, the most recent being their debut, IIII, also released via Prophecy's Lupus Lounge imprint. Farsot provide an excellent example of what's possible for black metal with excellent production.

Defining themselves as "progressive black metal," Farsot choose not to hide behind the obfuscation of corrupted recordings and instead let the skillfulness and subtlety of their work stand for themselves. For example, each trembling note of "7" has its own distinct identity and illumination, like a dust mote in a sunbeam. On "Vermillion Trail," the twisting, coiling nature of the song construction and churning guitars are brought to the forefront, emphasizing the muscular force of the piece while also allowing for the gentler, tremulous instrumental passages to hold their own.

Vocalist 10.XIXt (all the band members are known only by a string of letters and numbers) has a guttural, almost robotic tone that tends to make the songs heavier, sliming the delicate edges. Insects is an apt title for this buzzing swarm of an album, glittering with an alien intelligence and wriggling with uncanny strength.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Check out the Prophecy Productions Bandcamp here.