Jazz

Kilter/Andromeda Anarchia/Growlers Choir/Seven)Suns – La Suspendida Review

Kilter/Andromeda Anarchia/Growlers Choir/Seven)Suns – La Suspendida Review

By Dear Hollow on March 19, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, 48 comments

“Never before had I met a Promo God-designated genre-tag so perfect: “silliness.” La Suspendida is a wildly experimental Silent Pendulum-backed collaboration of four artists – and I’m not gonna pretend I know each of the act’s respective history or discography. Mostly based in Brooklyn, Kilteris a jazz metal trio featuring Imperial Triumphant drummer Kenny Grohowski, Andromeda Anarchia is an opera soprano and also a member of the opera/black metal Folterkammer project, the Growlers Choir is a Montreal-based group of metal vocalists, and Seven)Suns is a “dystopian” string quartet dedicated to translating metal to strings.” Gang’s all here!!

R.A Sánchez – L’Ottava Sfera Review

R.A Sánchez – L’Ottava Sfera Review

By Dear Hollow on November 30, 2023 in Reviews, Drone, 23 comments

“The trouble with genre-bending avant-garde artists is the line between utter brilliance and foolhardy amateurishness. Like a sleeping bear of sonic putridity, artists poke it with their toes of jazz and ambiance and drone, and it largely is a matter of time before they’re greeted with the teeth, and consequently, our ears are bathed in confusion. R.A Sánchez, proprietor of the ambient weirdness of Black Baptist, offers this odd concoction in solo debut L’Ottava Sfera.” Creativity is madness by another name.

Virta – Horros Review

Virta – Horros Review

By Dear Hollow on October 21, 2023 in Reviews, Electronica, 24 comments

“Horros is not a metal album, in spite of Virta’s signing with the weirder-and-weirder Svart Records. What the Finnish trio does well, however, is conjure a tension between pitch-black darkness and ethereal sanguinity, a balance sure to get metalheads drooling. At its heart an electroacoustic album that blends the synthetic and handmade that tastefully paints landscapes with sound, it’s perhaps not surprising that the act was proclaimed a “cornerstone of Finnish experimental music” by members of Finnish media following the release of their sophomore effort Hurmos. How does third full-length and first album in seven years Horros hold up?” The Horros….

Owdwyr – Receptor Review

Owdwyr – Receptor Review

By Dear Hollow on October 20, 2023 in Reviews, Classical, Death Metal, Deathcore, Groove Metal, Mathcore, Technical Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 18 comments

“The “for fans of” line in any given promo is a true test of character. While most bands crank out their faves, there are intriguing blends that grab attention. Most of these are disappointments, often running the gamut of extreme metal buzzwords only to be the latest act to sound exactly like In Flames, but there are others whose combinations are pretty accurate, like the tantalizing combination that the California-based Owdwyr boasts in its debut Receptor: from Car Bomb, Human Remains, and Fleshgod Apocalypse to composers like Bach, Allan Holdsworth, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. In essence, Owdwyr may be genius or not, but this trio is always batshit crazy.” Owdwyr812.

Essence of Datum – Radikal Rats Review

Essence of Datum – Radikal Rats Review

By Kenstrosity on October 5, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Instrumental Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, Synthwave, Technical Death Metal, 32 comments

“Belarusian instrumental tech death duo Essence of Datum did what many have tried and failed to do: help me enjoy of deep instrumental metal. For me, there’s something missing in metal that lacks a vocal element. Part of that is surely rooted in the fact that I almost never listen to purely instrumental music anymore. Nonetheless, the core problem I encounter is that so little instrumental metal excites me, either because of fluffy songwriting with no real backbone, or because it’s simply an excuse for a solo artist to wank all over me without my consent. Not so with Essence of Datum or their last effort, Spellcrying Machine, which was a thoughtful, detailed, and compelling instrumental piece. Can its follow-up, the strange and wacky Radikal Rats, keep that trend running?” Rats in the tech.

Swami Lateplate – Doom Jazz II Review

Swami Lateplate – Doom Jazz II Review

By Carcharodon on September 16, 2023 in Reviews, Blues, Doom Jazz, 25 comments

“It’s 11 years since New York’s experimental jazz duo, Swami Lateplate, released their debut, Doom Jazz. To be fair, both its members, Bobby Previte and Jamie Saft, are extremely well-respected jazz musicians and they have been busy with other ventures. Drummer Previte, now in his 70s, has been a presence on the NYC jazz scene since the late 1970s, collaborating with the likes of John Zorn and Elliott Sharp.” Swami, salami, doom Jazz bomby.

Oxx – The Primordial Blues Review

Oxx – The Primordial Blues Review

By Dear Hollow on August 23, 2023 in Reviews, Mathcore, Metalcore, Noise Rock, Sludge Metal, 18 comments

“Oxx is a trio from Aarhus, Denmark, having released three full-lengths and an EP since 2012. In spite of easy recollections to mathy insanity, pigeonholing The Primordial Blues is unfair even to the act’s own discography, as the ominous sprawling of 2015 debut Bury the Ones We Love and Burn the Rest differs fundamentally to the frantic Dillinger-core of 2019’s The Skeleton Is Just A Coat Hanger.” Big, not so dumb OXX.

Bunsenburner – Rituals

Bunsenburner – Rituals

By Dear Hollow on August 10, 2023 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Sludge Metal, 27 comments

“After the ruthless shellacking I gave to Bunsenburner’s debut Poise, I didn’t expect to hear from the German revolving-door collective so soon. My critiques of the debut were called out by mastermind Ben Krahl, but a followup determined that “any publicity is good publicity” and he sent in 2023’s Rituals for another round. Stoner doom to the core, with a crystalline ambiance and jazzy overtures to effectively cover its lack of vocals, Poise was ultimately overlong and directionless. Regardless of my feelings of the debut, the show goes on!” Flame on!