“Jim Matheos is not the kind of artist to sit still in one place for long. Best known for his splendid guitar work in amorphous US progressive metal band Fates Warning, he also wields a vast assortment of offshoots and side projects, some closer to his usual style than others. Instrumental solo effort Tuesday the Sky is one of Matheos’ more distant adventures with its ambient post-rock soundscapes and touches of electronica.” Tuesday is a proggy day.
“Blending sludge metal and electronica make for fascinating bedfellows, and that’s exactly what instrumental outfit Modder brings to the table with Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun. I don’t recall encountering this genre combo before, but the unlikely pairing fits together in compelling and novel ways. Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun is one part early Mastodon and one part The Prodigy, and it works better in practice than I’d ever expect it to on paper.” Sun mode.
“-ii- is not a metal band. They play what they seem to call “ghost wave,” which sits somewhere between post-rock, goth, darkwave, trip-hop, and industrial, at times recalling HEALTH or Nine Inch Nails. If this sounds fairly electronics-heavy, it is.” Ghosts in the system.
Genre is a funny thing. Calva Louise is almost certainly called “Crossover.” Their sound is a combination of elements that, if I read each one individually, would make me shrug my shoulders. Maybe I would ask, “How would that even work?” What I wouldn’t expect is an album that excites me.
“When I reviewed Irish duo Fós’ last outing, Rinne mé iarraidh (which translates as “I Tried”), back in 2020, I wanted to be spellbound. And I was, in parts. Combining traditional Irish folk sean-nós singing (courtesy of Orla Cadden Patel) with the drone, electronica and the vaguely post-metal stylings of multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter Fionn Murray, it had a deeply emotional core. It was also rare in offering something genuinely unique. At the same time, the duo were finding their voice on that record, and it showed. Cadden Patel’s voice was stunning but, at times, rather than coalescing with the music, the two felt discordant and disjointed, while the music itself was rarely memorable. Four years later, with a record deal and a new singer—Susan ní Cholmáin—Fós are back with Níl mo chroí in aon rud.” Folking about.
“Being true to yourself as a listener is an essential part of the reviewing process. So, at a very base level, I can say things like “I’m tired of hearing djent riffs” and “pop-infused metal doesn’t do anything for me.” And, at my core, I can know those things are true. Except, every now and again, well-crafted music comes along and bashes upon our truths like a coup de foudre to an unsuspecting heart. Such was the case when I encountered Elyose’s hook-laden, djentrified y2k platter of Déviante. And so too am I again smitten with the chug-ridden, cybergoth stylings of Évidence. The proof, as they say, is in the purple pudding.” Purple is the new sphere.
“Denmark’s VOLA is one of the jewels in the crown of progressive metal from the last ten years. Three successive releases orienting around smart, technical, creative and catchy songs with few real weaknesses means they’re one of my favorite bands around at the moment. A reliable tri-annual release schedule meant that 2024 was due a new record and the band duly delivered. Friend of a Phantom is the output, with a one sheet promising a new approach to song-writing and a newer, more mature VOLA.” Estranged and strange.
“There are bands you want to love and you know—I mean, you just know—have a great album in them, which they … continually fail to deliver. If you could just grab hold of their ankles and shake them upside down, you might even shake it out of them. Witchcraft is one such band. Zeal & Ardor was another. The black-metal-meets-delta-blues-meets-slave-gospel project, led by Swiss-American mastermind Manuel Gagneux, understandably caught a lot of people’s attention with 2016 debut, Devil is Fine. It offered something pretty well unique but it also suffered from bloat, unnecessary interludes and half-finished ideas. Its follow-up, Stranger Fruit, was actually my application to write in this hellhole and I suggested there was an absolutely gold-plated EP in there but, as an album, it failed to hang together.” Zeals in the safe harbor.
“True genius, especially in art, is often not recognized when it first emerges. Van Gogh barely made a penny and garnered little acclaim for paintings that people now travel the world to see. Art may be subjective, but an entirely new world of debate arises when something comes along for which there are very few, if any, analogues. With this in mind, let us turn to Moiii, and their self-titled debut. It’s the fusion of musical minds hardcore and rock-centric—Scott Shellhamer (American Heritage, Ghosts and Vodka)—and electronica, pop, and folk-inclined—Jason Butler (Thee Conductor)—plus an additional healthy helping of aggressive noise rock—Thor Harris (Swans) performs percussion.” Less weird is MOAR.
“Well, goodness. It’s been a while since I last sat my ass down to write a review. Now, there were Important Reasons for some of this (and other, less AMG-related, reasons for the rest). Unlike me, Aaron Turner is not someone you could accuse of having a shabby work ethic. Best known as the frontman of post-metal legends Isis, Turner has numerous current and past bands, as well as having founded Hydra Head Records and more. He has fronted atmospheric sludge trio Sumac for a decade now and, somewhat remarkably, the band’s line-up has stayed consistent for that period too.” Busy, itchy, sludgy.
