Ambient Metal

Midnight Odyssey – Biolume Part 2: The Golden Orb Review

By Carcharodon on March 17, 2021 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Drone, Heavy Metal, 70 comments

“In November 2019, I picked up the Midnight Odyssey-reviewing baton from a tired and broken Dr A.N.Grier, who had aged a number of cat years during his time with the 160-minute beast, Shards of Silver Fade. By contrast, I was able to listen to its successor, and first episode in a planned trilogy, Biolume Part 1: In Tartarean Chains, twice through and still have time for a 15-minute power nap, in the time it took poor Grier to labor his way through Shards. For anyone who thought this was a sign that Australian gloomster and one-man Odyssey, Dis Pater, had learned to curb his more expansive tendencies, however, Pater has all 102 minutes of Biolume Part 2: The Golden Orb to tell you otherwise.” Maximum adventures.

Five the Hierophant – Through Aureate Void Review

By Carcharodon on February 24, 2021 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Drone, Post-Metal, 51 comments

“The last time I encountered a hierophant, I 4.5ed it and slotted into the highly respectable – to me, at least – second spot on my 2020 List. While I dared not hope that London’s Five the Hierophant could reach such heights, a small part of me hoped that this band, which has been plying its trade since 2014 and bills itself as a psychedelic fusion of black metal, jazz, post metal and ambient drone, might just share some DNA with my beloved Hierophant Violent.” Holding out for a Hierophant.

Stellar Death – Fragments of Light Review

By Carcharodon on January 11, 2021 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Instrumental Metal, Post-Metal, 23 comments

“Well. Here we are, 2021 at last and I decided to ease myself into this new year of ~~misery~~ musical exploration with a pick that seemed to be safely in my wheelhouse, based on the genre tag at least: a nice slab of safe, comforting post-metal. Fragments of Light is the debut LP from Washington, D.C.-based Stellar Death. The two-piece comprises Scott Loose (also of While Heaven Wept) and Matt Kozar (Witnesses).” Soft landing.

False Gods – No Symmetry… Only Disillusion Review

By Dear Hollow on October 15, 2020 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Hardcore, Sludge Metal, 8 comments

“I’m the biggest Eyehategod fan I know, and sludge gets a bad rap. I get it: much like drone, if you just amp up the distortion to an 11/10 and know how to abuse the blues scale, you’ve got it made. Of course, there’s more nuance, like the need for facial hair, flannel, intoxicating substances, a shotgun, and some dark woods in the Deep South, but that’s just pedantic. My point is, you wouldn’t expect Crowbar-esque sludge from some dudes in New York, New York.” Empire expanding.

Gruppe Planet – Travel to Uncertain Grounds Review

By Doom_et_Al on August 3, 2020 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Post-Metal, 5 comments

“Ambient music and metal, on the surface, appear to have little in common: ambient’s gentle, relaxing melodies are, superficially, a far cry from the furious pummeling and screeches that defines most metal. And yet, the two go frequently hand in hand, possibly because, when you adjust to it, metal, like ambient, can be hypnotic and soothing. It would explain why bands such as Wolves in the Throne Room and Violet Cold have both released ambient records, in the form of Celestite and the Sommermorgen trilogy, respectively. Now we have Gruppe Planet, a German supergroup of sorts.” Travel restrictions.

Pixie Ninja – Colours out of Space Review

By Carcharodon on July 2, 2020 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Electronica, 6 comments

“Having spun Ultrasound a couple of times before hitting Colours, I have to say my interest was not piqued. There was nothing wrong with Pixie Ninja’s debut outing but, as a commenter remarked on a previous instrumental record I reviewed, “yeah, this is nice, I could work to this.” On pressing play on Colours, however, I was immediately struck by the shift in mood and intensity on the band’s latest offering.” Pixie Colour Space Attack.

Eyeless in Gaza – Act I: The Protagonist Review

By Carcharodon on May 28, 2020 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Doom Metal, 19 comments

“Band names are important. They can often tell you a lot about a band or artist. Of course, the music matters most but I will frequently, while plumbing the murkier depths of Bandcamp, stick on a track purely on the strength of a band’s name. That is how I came to find Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, for example. Conversely, a poor name can be a big negative, although, as Gazpacho demonstrate, a stellar band can rise above a terrible moniker. Every now and again though, I stumble across something I want to like simply because of the name. And that is how I feel about Eyeless in Gaza.” What’s in a name?

Forlesen – Hierophant Violent Review

By Carcharodon on April 17, 2020 in 2020, Ambient Metal, American Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Hypnotic Dirge Records, Post-metal, Reviews, Ambient Metal, Drone, Post-Metal, 82 comments

“A hierophant – a word I was dimly aware of but confess that I had to look up – is a person who leads the religious into the presence of that which is deemed holy by the relevant congregation. It also a card in the tarot deck and at least one of its meanings is that of a teacher or counselor who aids the seeker in the acquisition of knowledge. Both of these meanings are wholly appropriate for Bay Area trio Forlesen’s debut, Hierophant Violent. I would estimate that, since beginning my tenure serfdom here at AMG, my musical consumption has increased by upwards of 80% and I was listening to a lot before I started. And yet it’s rare indeed that an album hits me like Hierophan Violent did.” Elephantine Hierophant.

An Evening with Knives – Sense of Gravity Review

By Dear Hollow on March 5, 2020 in 2020, Ambient Metal, Argonauta Records, Doom Metal, Dutch Metal, Groove Metal, Post-metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, Sludge Metal, Ambient Metal, Groove Metal, Post-Metal, 5 comments

“Our latest post-metal loving Dutch trio An Evening with Knives is hoping to take a stab at the scene with their second full-length, Sense of Gravity. They advertise their sound as ‘where the wall of sound falls down into a sea of tranquility’ in a fusion of post-metal and stoner-doom. Does their intriguing premise succeed in a cut above the rest or will it just settle being another post-metal old knives’ tale?” Falling blades.

Unreqvited – Mosaic II: La déteste et la détresse Review

By Carcharodon on January 7, 2020 in 2020, Ambient Metal, Canadian Metal, Post-metal, Prophecy Productions, Reviews, Ambient Metal, Post-Metal, 38 comments

“The more wizened experienced writers on staff say it’s best never to go back and read your early reviews. This is the first occasion I have had to really ponder the wisdom in these words. Unreqvited’s Mosaic I: Mosaic I: L’amour et l’ardeur was just the third n00b review I penned for these venerable pages and it is the first band I am reviewing here for a second time.” Shark teeth and time.