Súl Ad Astral - Súl Ad Astral (2012)

Band: Súl Ad Astral
Country: New Zealand
Style: Post-Black Metal/Blackgaze
Label: Independent

It's only been a couple of months since I first found out about and covered Súl Ad Astral's first single and now they've already put together an album's worth of material. Along with that they've gotten Michael Rumple from Desiderium to provide vocals for the album. Although I thought that their first single was alright, I was certainly interested to see how they've evolved within only a couple of months.
From the word go, the band have chosen to lead the album with the evolved form of their single, now titled To Cherish, which I think works as a double sided sword in this case. The only reason I think that is because, while the instrumental song has certainly evolved from its original form, it's length is a little off-putting, due to it being the longest track on the entire album. I don't know if I would have structured the album that way, but hey, that's just me. But aside from that, I guess I'll go into why this track actually does work as an opener. Aside from the fact that it is an instrumental piece, you'll find that it is perhaps the most basic song in style on the album, owing quite a debt to the likes of Alcest and Amesoeurs and the other works of Neige. It's the type of song that is pretty straightforward blackgaze, nothing more, nothing less; and from there the rest of the album only expands with its ideas.
Production wise, this is a major step up from the single, with a much clearer and cleaner sound to it. The drums are no longer buried beneath the layers of guitars and the bass is quite loud in the mix as well, which I actually found to be a rather endearing quality to this album. I don't know if I'd go as far to say that the band have become more progressive, but there are certainly moments on this album that aren't so tried and true to the blackgaze format. Tracks like In Solitude have a nice range of dynamic climbs and falls throughout it's six minutes, while The Clenching Void has a nice doom metal quality to it that for some reason comes across as very violent and hateful for some reason. But it isn't until the two part Persona tracks where things really start to shift into the more progressive areas. While the ideas are certainly still rooted within the whole blackgaze sound, the tracks feature a wider array of interesting features including solos, Nadja-esque shoegaze passages (though they are by no means droning), and more epic sounding doom sections. I know some people have complained about Rumple's vocals on here, but his vocals are actually one of my favorite things about this record. Unlike a lot of other vocalists from this style of music, who tend to, more or less, sound rather similar to each other, Rumple not only makes use of his considerable range but also comes across far more genuine than a lot of other vocalists. His cleans are soft and whispered while his screams and growls sound pained and emotional, hear Amaurosis for a good example. While I do think that his vocals could have been mixed into the music a little bit better, it kind of feels like the vocals were just placed on top of the music in some cases and it just sounds a bit odd, I do think his performance is a real stand-out on here.
It's a solid full-length debut that is certainly a nice change from the rather usual, and by now overdone, blackgaze sound. It's not without its own problems, but as far as I'm concerned originality isn't one of the bigger ones, and I think future releases will definitely have these guys maturing into something special. If you're a fan of more interesting variations on the blackgaze sound, or post-rock influenced black metal, I'd say that this is going to be one of the better albums for that you're going to hear this year.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: In Solitude, The Clenching Void, Persona II: Solar

Nachtvorst - Silence (2012)

Band: Nachtvorst
Country: Rotterdam, Holland
Style: Post-Black Metal/Doom Metal
Label: Code666

I have to be honest when I say that when I first discovered Nachtvorst, I thought they were just another depressive black metal group. Many of the groups that were being compared to them (check last.fm) were in that vein, so I guess I just lumped them off as being just another depressive group. When I heard that they had been signed to Code666 though, I definitely checked them out, knowing that if they had been signed to a label like that, it could not have been just another stereotypical black metal group.
Listening back to the group's debut full-length, 2009's Stills, I guess it's kind of easy to see why the band was lumped into the whole depressive scene. The whole logo made use of a noose, they had a couple of high-pitched cries of anguish, and the music was pretty morose in atmosphere, they weren't exactly distancing themselves from what was getting press at the time. In between that album and this one they released an EP with a single song on it which I have yet to hear, but it's obvious that there's been a reevaluation of the direction of the band since that debut full-length. No longer is the sound of the band in the depressive vein, and to be honest, based on the press release for the album, I was expecting that they had kind of trend-hopped and moved onto being a whole blackgaze or post-rock influenced black metal group, which wouldn't have been bad, necessarily, but it would have been hard to take them seriously, but that's not what happened. The band has decided to take their sound into a new realm that, honestly, if you had asked me if I thought they'd do or pull off, I probably would have told you that I doubted it.
I'm not going to say that the band have totally abandoned their dark and melancholic atmosphere, but instead of raw sounding black metal, what you get on here is a sound that's much more comparable to doom. While musically, it isn't quite as slow as funeral doom, the atmosphere on these songs reminds me more of groups from that sub-genre, so while musically it's more comparable to My Dying Bride, the ambiance surrounding the music reminds me more of Mourning Beloveth, but that's just me. I hear more sorrow and sadness emanating from this. Not to say the band have lost their black metal edge though. Nightwinds is easily the most black metal track on here, and while it never attempts to touch blast-beat territory, the mid-paced grind it achieves early on does recall the genre's more intense moments while the melodic and post-rock inflected conclusion to the track is something that, while showing a glimpse of light in the otherwise pitch-black cellar that is this album, never goes for that Alcest, Fen, etc. sort of blackgaze sound and remains as downtrodden as everything that came before it. That's probably the track with the clearest reference to the whole "post-rock influenced black metal" scene because the other track favor slower builds that are perhaps more comparable to the likes of Neurosis or Isis, in terms of building and structuring songs more than actual sonic resemblances.
Of all the tracks on here, the one that is more than likely going to turn some heads will likely be the track called Gentle Notice of A Final Breath. Unlike the other songs on this album, including the two instrumental piano interludes, this track just is just seething with depression. While there are certainly moments that are more like the depressive realm they were once more commonly associated with, it is by far the least metallic on the entire record. Bringing an eerie sense of desolation and calmness throughout its eleven minute length, the track rarely escalates into more aggressive territory, favoring a more minimalist take on post-rock over the destructive blackened doom exhibited on the rest of the record. I say that it'll likely turn heads because it isn't a heavy song, it isn't a song that has a whole lot going for it actually, but it's just so bleak and restrained that one can't help but be drawn to it.
I thought this was a very good album and one that I was certainly not expecting from this band, but I was very pleasantly surprised with. It's not going to be for everyone, especially those who can't get past the more depressive parts of the band's past and the dark vibe that permeates this record, but if you can deal with that, you're in for a hell of a treat with this. Dark and depressing music has yet to sound so fresh to my ears.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: The Serpent's Tongue, A Way of Silence

Double Review: Tess & Rise and Fall

Nonagon - People Live Everywhere EP (2012)

Band: Nonagon
Country: Chicago, Illinois
Style: Indie Rock/Punk Rock
Label: Indepedent

You know what, I won't claim to be a huge fan of punk music even though I do like quite a bit of hardcore punk. Hey, I like a bit of the old-school, I dig the likes of Crass and Rudimentary Peni along with a handful of others, but straight ahead punk, if that's what you could even call either of the artists I just mentioned, has just never really been my thing. When I was sent this little EP, I figured I'd give it a shot.
I guess I'll just use this opportunity to say that when a band tells me they've been compared to the likes of Fugazi, who even I know are a big band, that means absolutely nothing to me. I'm not trying to be rude, but as someone who likes punk to be aggressive and like a fist-in-my-face, more arty punk groups, unless they were in the vein of post-punk, aren't really my thing. I'm not a Fugazi fan so saying that you've been compared to them isn't really a good thing in my book. But onto this five track EP. Since I just referenced them, you'd be correct in assuming that these guys do indeed take a lot from Fugazi stylistically. Since I have no interest in the band I just spoke about, I'm sure you'd assume that I wouldn't enjoy this, but I actually thought that this band had some good points. Much like the aforementioned Fugazi, they take the idea of using a good bass=line(s) as the foundation of a song and using the guitar less as a riffing instrument. While I don't care for the vocals on here too much because they are done in that shouting way of singing, where it just doesn't feel intense enough for these songs and just ends up feeling contrived to me, which left The Swifts sounding extremely annoying to me, unfortunately, because musically that song is actually really good.
It's by no means a bad release, and maybe someone who digs stuff like the band I went on about throughout the review or other bands similar to that will enjoy this a lot more. Maybe my taste in punk is just really bad (as pointed out by some guy for my Ramlord review two years ago), but I can't help what I like. If you like this sort of funky style of punk definitely check it out because musically it's really good, you'll probably dig the vocals more than I do anyway.
Overall Score: 6.5
Highlights: Fresnel Lens, Fadeout

The Hardest Season - Dawn (2012)

Band: The Hardest Season
Country: Rome, Italy
Style: Hardcore
Label: Enjoyment!

I really feel like a total dick for not covering this earlier, because I've had this thing for a really long time (or what seems like a really long time). I mean, the only reason I agreed to cover this record was because the short clip I listened to before agreeing to it was really good. Anyway, here's the review, which is long overdue.
I've said quite a few times in the past that when I listen to hardcore, I like it to really move and be able to get my blood pumping. I don't need big choruses, gang chants, poppy melodies, or anything like that, just give me a short burst of adrenaline and I'm happy. In my experience with hardcore, while there isn't any place that does it any better than another, Italy never struck me as being a hot bed for bands with this sort of an attitude, not that I should really be surprised by much at this point. When listening to this album all the way though, it really does give me everything I want from a hardcore record, though by means a little different means of achieving it. Since I can't say I'm well versed in the hardcore sounds outside of America and some other countries like Sweden and Norway, I can't say for certain that this is true for the entire Italian scene, but the songs on here, while short, aren't as focused on speed as other groups I've heard. What ends up happening in most of the songs on here instead is that the band, even if a song may start quickly, will slow down into a more sludgy groove that proves to be even heavier. It doesn't ever give me the same feeling that I get from a lot of other hardcore releases in that it doesn't so much make me want to just mosh and headbang but I find it more of a thought provoking sort of record, for one reason or another. I also liked how even though it wasn't a sort of energetic rush of an album, you could hear the energy from all the performers, and they didn't fall back on tried and overdone ideas all that often either (gang chants are fine, but I'm glad these guys didn't use it all that often).
I really don't have a whole lot to say about this record that's bad though. My only gripes lie more in the mixing department, as the musicianship and vocals are all really solidly performed and executed. What kind of brought down my opinion of this was the fact that the drums and vocals kind of just covered everything else. Not to say they aren't good to listen to, but as a guitarist, guitars are generally what my ear is drawn to first, and in a lot of cases they appear to be behind even the bass, hear a track like The Storm. Not to say you won't be able to hear the guitars, it's just an odd choice to have gone for, and one that I don't really quite understand. I think that the vocalist's slur might turn off some because of how pronounced it is when everything else falls away and he's by himself, which honestly doesn't happen beyond like two tracks, but I could see some not really being all that into it, though I found it to be a bit endearing.
I did enjoy this record all the way through and think that it's a nice change of pace from the typical straight ahead from of metallic hardcore I usually prefer. While the band aren't quite unique as of yet, there are certainly a more interesting vibe to this record that does set them apart, and I can only hope they develop their sound even further on future releases. If you're into hardcore or metallic hardcore I think you'll really dig this album, check it out.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Dead Romantic, Desolation In Gb Minor, Twentyeight to Ten

Ithi - wITHIn (2012)

Band: Ithi
Country: New York City, New York
Style: Experimental Noise/Drone
Label: Land of Decay
Ever since I was informed about this release last year I was anxious to hear it. The duo of Luck Krnkr and Joshua Convey definitely hit a goldmine last year with their release The Persistence of Meaning striking a vein that was untapped for the genre. This new mini-album moves even further into a sound unlike that of any other group.
You know, it's kind of weird listening to the original version of Go Forth and Die from the duo's debut album last year, and the version on here. The original version was very much in vein with the rest of the album, it was a very strange mix of drone, gothic industrial, and krautrock, with the latter not really showing through all that clearly. On here, it's almost the entirely other way around, with the krautrock rhythm slowly moving the track forward while hauntingly minimal synth melodies float overhead and the whole thing just swirls together into a strange haze. The track then evolves into a cover of Nico's Roses In The Snow. The distant and far-off vocals provide the only sense of humanity in the otherwise robotic synth wave. The second side of this tape feature the epic noWHere, which features some of the duo's most inspired moments yet. Featuring many delicious layers of noise and drones that cover up some lovely, if rather downtrodden, melodies. Though to say the entire track progresses in a drone fashion would be incorrect, throughout its entire fifteen minutes, you get a variety of ideas, where the track will morph into, more or less, a straightforward piece of droning noise, later on you'll get a section that resemble more of the krautrock side of the duo's sound.
Both sides of this tape exhibit a musical landscape that is wide in scope and features many possibilities for where the duo could go on future recordings. It's one of those projects that is becoming increasingly hard to try and describe to people, though, to me, that only makes them all the more interesting. I look forward to hearing where these guys decide to go next.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: noWHere

Double Review: Eolomea & Kwaidan