Mono

Holy Fawn – Dimensional Bleed Review

By Dear Hollow on September 20, 2022 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Doom Metal, Shoegaze, 22 comments

“Death Spells was something special. Introducing us to the beautiful and devastating world of Holy Fawn, it showcased stunning restraint for an act with everything to prove. While undeniably built upon the foundation of My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive with saturated shoegaze drenching every movement, don’t be surprised if you’re surprised with swaths of electronica, climactic metal crunch, and a knack for heart-wrenching melody. Holy Fawn is undeniably metal, and like good metal, labyrinthine.” What is metal?

So Hideous – None But a Pure Heart Can Sing Review

By Dear Hollow on December 8, 2021 in Reviews, Mathcore, Post-Metal, 96 comments

“You can imagine why New York City’s So Hideous changed its name. Its former moniker, So Hideous, My Love, reflects the sort of melodrama pervades its first offering To Clasp a Fallen Wish with Broken Fingers. It ended up being post-rock/screamo Envy worship – if Envy were more emo. Thereafter, the masterminds behind the project, the Cruz brothers, dropped the second half of the name and amped up the ugly.” Ugly, pretty, hideous.

Morwinyon – Pristine Review

By Dear Hollow on September 10, 2020 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 13 comments

“Italian duo Morwinyon formed in 2019 as a side project of post-black group Falaise, offering three full tracks and an ambient outro for an atmosphere worthy of its debut’s namesake – Pristine. Utilizing a synth-heavy ambient black metal template of Golden Ashes or Midnight Odyssey, there’s little new to be found. However, it revels in its saccharine melodic qualities, liberally serving serene soundscapes for the blackened escapist, even if it might only offer cavities and headaches to the more discerning listener.” Bittersweet.

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.

Lavinia – Sallowed Review

By Dear Hollow on July 22, 2019 in 2019, American Rock, Emo, Pax Aeternum, Post-Rock, Reviews, Rock, Emo, 17 comments

“Lavinia is a four-piece post-rock/emo outfit from New Hampshire with members from Caspian, The Appleseed Cast, and The Burning Paris. How their Pax Aeternum sophomore effort Sallowed ended up on the angriest metal site this side of the planet, I will never know.” Sallow your pride.

Magma Waves – …And Who Will Take Care of You Now Review

By Kronos on September 14, 2017 in 2017, Instrumental Metal, Narshardaa Records, Post-Rock, Reviews, Instrumental Metal, 24 comments

“Not all who wander are lost. In fact, many wanderers know exactly where they are – in the first two-thirds of a post-rock song. Love or hate it, the “crescendo-core” formula has been a successful one, and Magma Waves are not out to challenge it with their debut …And Who Will Take Care of You Now, a record that finds its groove somewhere in roads well-trodden by the likes of If these Trees Could Talk and God Is an Astronaut.” Building it up to tear it down.

MOASE – Vertigo Review

By Zephyrus on October 9, 2016 in 2016, Portuguese Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, Signal Rex, Post-Metal, 24 comments

“Post-metal thrives or dies based on its ability to evoke emotion, imagery and thought. This is doubly true for instrumental acts, where words have been abandoned in favor of ambiance and atmosphere. Enter Memoirs of a Secret Empire (MOASE).” Yes, hmm, hmm, now for the next question: Does emotional music have quite an effect on you?

Boris with Merzbow – Gensho Review

By Roquentin on March 17, 2016 in Avante Garde, Doom Metal, Drone, Japanese Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Noise Metal, Shoegaze, 15 comments

“To write about Gensho, the latest in a 15 years long series of collaborations between illustrious Japanese experimental metal, rock, and everything in-between trio Boris and legendary noise musician Merzbow (alias Masami Akita), is to write about three different records: a Boris shoegaze-cum-drone meditation, a Merzbow harsh noise attack, and a mammothian combination of the two.” What’s with guys who like drone and writing run on sentences, anyway?

Deafheaven – New Bermuda Review

By Kronos on October 7, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Anti Records, Black Metal, Reviews, Shoegaze, Black Metal, Shoegaze, 111 comments

“Longtime readers will recall that Kronos does not like Deafheaven. I suspect nobody does, since I see copies of Sunbather in every record shop I enter, meaning that despite the hype, that vinyl is not getting to consumers. And while I’ll continuously bash the band for being, as it has been said, “The Cure with blastbeats,” on some level I have respect for them trying something different, since Satan himself got fed up with Emperor-worship a decade ago. Is the staff of AMG wired into all the ironic mini-trends of the metal world? Is the Pope wearing a Mayhem shirt?

Mono – The Last Dawn / Rays of Darkness Review

By Kronos on October 20, 2014 in 2014, Japanese Metal, Not Metal, Post-Rock, Reviews, Shoegaze, Shoegaze, 12 comments

“Intensity and drama unify my musical palette. As unalike as Count Bassie and Ulcerate are, they’re both able to serve up a shitton of excitement, albeit in quite different ways. But the differences between dramatic genres are still immense, which makes a Mono record quite the refresher in between this year’s big tech-death releases.” Here’s something a little bit different.