“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.
“If you haven’t gone back to the band’s humble beginnings, you’re missing a hell of a lot. And, not in the sense of the classic black metal of old. No, no. You’ve missed one LP (Marras) and two EPs (Tuoni and Sarastus) of acoustic beauty. There’re more acoustic guitars, pianos, and strings in that handful of songs than all the liquidated Guitar Centers combined. That said, don’t expect grandiosity and orchestral pretentiousness. October Falls‘s acoustic discs sound like a couple of guys with guitars sitting around a campfire. A couple of musicians playing simple music for the moon, for the woods, for themselves.” Moon music.
“Somehow, a disproportionate number of the promos I selected so far are debut records. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or if I have some kind of n00b magnet in my brain somewhere, but one way or another fresh meat keeps passing through. The latest cut of which comes from Austin, Texas, and he calls himself Scaphoid. That’s right, this is a one-man project, courtesy of Matt Hobart. But it’s not raw atmo-black, no. This guy specializes in a post-rock prog-metal hybrid. With only a short EP under his belt, how fares his new, hour-long debut Absent Passages?” Scap metal.
“B R I Q U E V I L L E. Yes, the promo blurb immediately reassures me, the “spaces between the letters are indeed part of their moniker.” And I roll my eyes and dispense with the spaces. Quelle is the third record from this Flanders, Belgium collective and the first to have a title, following 2014’s self-titled debut and 2017’s II. The title is a linguistic play on Quelle‘s differing meanings in German and French, ‘source’ and ‘which,’ respectively, with the “theme of a ‘source’ and the ‘which’ linking it reflexively to our previous album artwork,” quoth the raven Nazgûl-robed, golden-masked BRIQUEVILLE member.” Another BRIQUE in the wall.
“A Colin Marston produced release featuring Kenny Grohowski of Imperial Triumphant, and Matt Hollenberg of Cleric/John Zorn? What could go wrong? Well, a lot. But, also, there’s potential for some mind-bending magic to be cast through Cactides, the debut release by avant/instrumental trio Titan to Tachyons.” Spikey.
“Narnia is one thing. Try a band whose name says it all. Try GOD. All bold, all caps, almighty. I can see you looking at the genre tags, expecting words like ‘gospel’ and ‘power metal.’ Instead, you see ‘prog,’ ‘instrumental,’ and ‘tech-death.’ Do you believe in revelations? Well, you’re about to.” Get right with the Man.
“DDENT is a French post-metal group from Paris, formed in 2013 and having released two full-lengths and an EP. Sporting a Pelican or Omega Massif vocal-less style, complete with post-rock dynamics, pummeling sludgy riffs, and a stunning sense of beauty within its uncompromising sound.” Post posts.
“It’s nice to have some actual dialogue after my solitary confinement to Shape Without Form. That’s right, tubthumpers: Ghost Toast are an instrumental band! There’s been a lot of that lately, and I’m not really sure why, but I was bound to deal with something of the sort sooner or later, and now here we are, Ghost Toastin’ it up.” Rye revenants abound.
“There’s a menagerie of experimental groups about the borders of the black and death metal scenes, tracing out their own paths without much regard for popular approval or commercial success. On occasion, these groups will sweep into the mainstream, but for the most part, their influence is more subtle, appearing in an adulterated form in the riskier songs of established artists. If your poison is black metal you can choose between the flavors of Krallice (ever bolstered by their lineup’s star power), Jute Gyte, Genevieve, and many others. If your neck is a bit larger in diameter, you might want to choke down Baring Teeth, Coma Cluster Void, or this week’s subject, Thoren.” Buffet of bitters.
![We Are Impala – Visions [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/weareimpalavisions-768x768.jpg)
“It’s a surprisingly fresh combination of psychedelic atmosphere and proper riffs, nestled between the post rock and stoner rock genres. These composite genres are often anything but fresh, comprising musicians who are unable to write riffs and musicians who smoke too much weed respectively, but Visions nails its singular fusion.” Weed out, cotton-candy flavored edibles in.
