Explosions in the Sky

Velnias – Scion of Aether Review

By Doom_et_Al on March 30, 2020 in 2020, American Metal, Doom Metal, Eisenwald Records, Post-metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, 29 comments

“Oppressive Rocky Mountain Dirge.” That is the descriptor Velnias uses to describe its music. Sounding more like the slop at the bottom of a bucket than something you would want to spend your time listening to, it nevertheless proves that occasionally we all need to update our bios. While “dirge” may have been Velnias‘s original aesthetic when it released its debut, Sovereign Nocturnal, in 2008, the band’s output has evolved considerably since then to incorporate an array of new and different influences. Now it’s back with its third album, Scion of Aether.” Dirge purge.

Juggernaut – Neuroteque Review

By Dear Hollow on October 16, 2019 in 2019, Ambient Metal, Avante Garde, Drone, Folk, Italian Metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, Sludge Metal, Space Metal, Subsound Records, Drone, Folk, Sludge Metal, 14 comments

“When you hear about certain genres, do you have an image that pops into your head? It’s not always fair, but the most obvious one is black metal. You just got an image of a corpsepainted weeboo hanging out in a dark forest. Boom. I’m a fucking magician. What about sludge? Did you see a backwoods redneck with a twelve-gauge and a six-pack? Sporting beards, greasy locks, and enough flannel to challenge Saskatchewan?” Not your hick uncle’s sludge.

Ghosts of Glaciers – The Greatest Burden Review

By GardensTale on September 25, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, Translation Loss, Black Metal, Post-Metal, 21 comments

“Flow is one of the hardest elements of songwriting to capture. It’s a combination of the fluid transition between song sections as well as a product of the interplay between rhythm and melody that creates a cascading feeling, and it often hides in the smallest details. I’d also argue it is one of the most important emergent properties of post-rock and post-metal, particularly the instrumental type. The illusion of being dragged along a river is among the genre’s most significant qualities. Ghosts of Glaciers is an instrumental post-metal band, set to release their third record of the decade, and their first since signing to Translation Loss. They are up against some stiff competition this year, including Russian Circles and Cult of Luna. Have they mastered the art of the flow, or is the river all dammed up with nowhere to go?” When the levee breaks.

Nature Morte – NM1 Review

By GardensTale on November 21, 2018 in 2018, Argonauta Records, Black Metal, French Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, 44 comments

“Ladies and gentleman, today is a milestone. Since joining AMG, I have reviewed everything from stoner to Gothic, thrash to black and back. I’ve dabbled in death metal, slithered through sludge and appraised the avant-garde. But the one genre I never picked up was post-black. My experience with the style starts at A and ends at lcest, and even with them I haven’t paid much attention since Eçailles des Lunes. The genre simply had little allure to me, even though I do enjoy some post-other type of bands, and I figured other writers would be better suited to place those records in the proper context. But as I still enjoy spinning the promo roulette, the little silver ball had to bounce to post-black one day.” Always bet on post-black.

The Living – The Living Review

By GardensTale on September 25, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Not Metal, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Rock, Self-released, Post-Metal, Progressive Rock, 29 comments

“I know some of you, dear readers, feel a pang of annoyance every time we review an album that is barely metal or not at all. “Why are you reviewing this?” you ask. “This is Angry Metal Guy, not Perturbed Rock Person!” And you’re right, of course, but there’s several good reasons to review these cases anyway.” Are The Living out to rustle your jimmies?

Thera Roya – Stone and Skin Review

By GardensTale on February 12, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, Self-released, Sludge, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal, 35 comments

“Between post-rock and post-metal, the former is the only genre I prefer over its metal equivalent. In both cases, the genres are known for their atmospherics, long cyclical instrumental sections and overall floaty dreamy attitude. But where post-rock seems to have mastered the art of supplementing the reverberating guitars with great ebb and flow in the composition, post-metal often seems satisfied with turning up distortion and echo and calling it a day.” Post-it notes.

Unkind – Pelon Juuret Review

By Alex Franquelli on July 7, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Finnish Metal, Hardcore, Relapse, Reviews, Sludge, Hardcore, Sludge, 2 comments

“It’s good. No, really, it’s very good. There is everything you are entitled to expect from a hardcore album. And possibly something more. Unkind’s Pelon Juuret is, according to their label, “as if Mogwai made a record of Tragedy covers or From Ashes Rise were influenced by Explosions In The Sky”. Too far from the truth? Not at all. If its predecessor, Harhakuvat, was a discordant symphony reminiscent of early Neurosis and Wolfbrigade, Unkind’s latest effort is proudly not too far from that somehow controversial album. Crust, kängapunk (ok: Swedish hardcore) and sludge all contribute to making Pelon Juuret (literally: ‘the roots of fear’) yet another small gem of beautifully crafted northern violence.” Alex discusses hardcore, jasmine tea and Finnish squats. Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on either.

Locrian – Return to Annihilation Review

By Alex Franquelli on June 21, 2013 in 2013, 4.5, American Metal, Groove Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Relapse, Reviews, 3 comments

“Have you ever wondered what happens to the music nobody listens to? It implodes. It does not even make any noise. It simply withers unnoticed, forgotten, unwanted. Then there is the music that stays: that particular strain of artistic endeavor that appeals to the masses and (sometimes) the niches and that we are taught not to live without. Locrian are the natural evolution (some may say ‘consequence’) of the Chicago scene of the late 90s where acts like Tortoise, Isotope 217, and Gastr Del Sol flourished and kept the territory safe from the dying throes of grunge.” Alex thinks this album shouldn’t be left to implode into a black hole of apathy. In fact, he seems quite taken with this experimental fusion of drone, blackness and the kitchen sink.

The Fall of Every Season – Amends Review

By Noctus on March 2, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, Doom Metal, Grau Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, 13 comments

“It’s probably best you let go of every possible expectation of this record that you may have had, because this album simply won’t meet them. Stylistically, anyway. The Fall of Every Season,, the moniker of Marius Strand, has decided to change the idea behind the music so far beyond recognition of his dreary, depression-filled beginnings, that Amends sounds like a completely different band, thank goodness.” Noctus would like to explain this album to you in loving detail, but first he requires you to clear your mind. That means stop thinking of food and sex too!

Cult of Luna – Vertikal Review

By Alex Franquelli on January 19, 2013 in 2013, 4.5, Hardcore, Indie Recordings, Reviews, Sludge, Swedish Metal, 10 comments

I started listening to Cult of Luna with The Beyond. The year was 2003, the city was quiet and the light had been swallowed by the sound of an unspecified frequency – an electric wall of sound that made everything glow. And it burned so bright that I remained silent for the following, painful 67 minutes. I stopped listening to Cult Of Luna a year later. It was 2004, the album was Salvation and I couldn’t help but think that everything that had to be told had already been told. I resumed listening to Cult of Luna in 2013. Resistance became futile. And, yes, giving in was the right thing to do.