“The French black metal scene has given us some truly great bands and releases through the years, especially of the avant-garde kind. The likes of Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord, Peste Noire, and even Alcest are still pushing out some of the most interesting and innovative metal music. This time around, it’s the French avant-garde black metal one-man project Antagoniste that introduces a début whose mission is to reach and eclipse the sonic standards set by his countrymen.” Trying to out weird the weird is a tough task.
Post-Metal
Izah – Sistere Review
“Do you like post-metal? Do you like sludge? What about Rosetta? Soundclips of men with Scottish accents? Finally, do you have 72 minutes to kill? If, dear reader, you answered yes to three out of those five questions, then you would be obliged to take my hand as I journey through Izah’s gargantuan debut Sistere.” Ach, it’s like Scotchtoberfest around hea!
Pelican – The Cliff Review
“Pelican is no stranger to EP releases and I’m no stranger to Pelican EP releases (I own every one of them). Their choice to do an EP is based solely on (as far as I can tell), mood. Some of their EPs stand alone as original releases (Pelican and Ataraxia/Taraxia), while others carry a song that will appear on an upcoming full-length. However, The Cliff goes in a different direction by kidnapping a song off the preceding full-length and fucking with it three times over with vocal and/or industrial remixing before closing out with the only original track.” An EP of remixes and remashes. Joy.
Sumac – The Deal Review
“One of my favorite things about metal is just how small of a world it can be. Like all metalheads out there, I have my favorite bands and musicians. Many of these musicians have a tendency to venture out into new projects and/or genres and I stalk them from band to band and genre to genre.” And this creepy stalking has led him to a bad case of…Sumac.
Below the Sun – Envoy Review
“Bands enshrouded in mystery have almost become a gimmick, but it’s a gimmick that really works. What we don’t know makes us wonder and look on with morbid curiosity, and as such, I landed myself this obscure number, Envoy.” Noctus loves obscure stuff, so we gave him this gem from the wilds of Russia, where wolves hunt vodka and men drink rocks.
Kraków – Amaran Review
“Winter is being a Mr. Cold Miser and evenings like these cry out for a glowing fire, the dark notes of a glass of Malbec and some post-metal meandering gloom which, as luck has it, is Norwegian based Kraków’s claim to fame.” Cold and snow may be new to Madam X, but not post-metal. Or wine!
Momentum – The Freak Is Alive Review
“Iceland’s Momentum is a bizarre beast. Aside from having a name and logo more suitable for a caffeine-packed energy drink than a metal band, they’ve undergone quite a few changes in style since their debut demo.” With many style shifts under their belt, they did it again here. Tricky stuff.
Wells Valley – Matter As Regent Review
“Matter As Regent. A bold statement indeed, against Platonic tradition which has dictated Western philosophy for millennia. Such a title rejects the notion that form subordinates matter, esteeming matter as the fundamental force and model around which everything revolves. My interest was immediately sparked, and it was with academic fervor that I approached this promo.” To Hume is this philosophical excess aimed, because I certainly Kant tell.
A Swarm of the Sun – The Rifts Review
“As my home gets buried under layers of ice and snow, an album arrives to bring that same bleak midwinter experience to everyone, no matter how sunny and tropical their geo-positioning. A Swarm of the Sun is a deeply depressive post-metal, atmospheric doom duo from Sweden, and their sophomore album The Rifts brings you all the isolation, cold and melancholy of being trapped in a cabin surrounded by nothing but whiteness, death and frozen silence.” Tired of feeling positive and happy? This will fix that, maybe permanently.
Callisto – Secret Youth Review
“Post-metal had something of a heyday in the last decade, with seemingly everyone on the Internet gushing over Isis’ Panopticon, Neurosis’ Given to the Rising, and whatever Cult of Luna and Pelican were up to. While there’s still quality post-metal coming out today (The Ocean’s Pelagial in 2013, Beak’s debut last year), I think it’s safe to say the genre is no longer as in vogue as it once was.” And if you don’t have vogue, what do you have?