“2021 has seen it’s share of terrible band names. Epoch of Chirality does very little to up the ante in this regard. The name is bulky and awkward, and even trying to imagine it with an English accent—seeing as how the one-man instrumental project is based in England—doesn’t improve its sonic aesthetics. But as we’ve also seen quite a few times this year, a bad name a bad album does not make. With an open mind, I dove into this synth heavy dose of instrumental metal.” Is chirlaity dead?
“Believe it or not, it’s been roughly twenty-two years since the band’s last full-length. I know that LTE isn’t for everyone but it’s hard to deny the impressive instrumentation. Bringing acclaimed bassist Tony Levin on board took a potential this-is-just-Dream–Theater-without-James-LaBrie outfit, and made it mostly original. Sure, you can’t take the DT out of John Petrucci but, even then, it’s nice to hear the instruments without LaBrie’s voice.” Do androids dream of Liquid Tension Experiment theater?
“Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.” Grabesfurcht in the morning.
“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.
