• Music

    Linnea Hjertén – Nio Systrar

    January 29, 2024 - By 

    From Linnea Hjertén’s Bandcamp site: “Born from the synthesis of Swedish folk melodies and ritual ambient, Linnea Hjertén’s debut album “Nio systrar” (‘Nine sisters’) is a wordless invocation of primordial energy – a psychoacoustic gateway to altered states of consciousness. Each of the nine tracks brings us deeper into the cycle of spiritual death and rebirth, stripping away the old to make way for the new. With a musical maturity far beyond her years, Hjertén channels the ethereal beauty of Dead Can Dance, the spellbinding chants of Kari Rueslåtten, and the minimalist Nordic atmosphere of Forndom. […] With an expansive…

  • Music

    Allysen Callery & Mother Bear – Witch’s Hand

    October 31, 2023 - By 

    This massively heavy release by Allysen Callery collaborating with doom monsters Mother Bear is appropriate for Halloween.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “”Creep here with me, keep it close and you might see…the little things that glow…and they all have teeth…” Something spooky this way comes! Allysen Callery has joined supernatural forces with Germany’s Doom metal masters Mother Bear , for a delightfully dark offering presented by Gruselthon, sub label of Cosirecords.” If you can imagine Shirley Collins with a slight stoner vibe, you’re coming close to the power of this release.

  • Music

    Dead Gallery – Dead Man’s Theme (Full Album)

    July 31, 2023 - By 

    Stoner rock is a genre that always surprises me (in a good way, mind you).  Dead Gallery, for example, are a heavy stoner/psychedelic blues band out of Austria, and the music they make reminds me of really old rare hard rock albums you would find in collector fairs (think of bands like Black Widow as an example). Musically, the guitar playing is great, the vocals are raw and loud, and the production is surprisingly clean without sacrificing the power of the tracks.

  • Music

    Aravt – Guren (Г​ү​р​э​н)

    December 2, 2022 - By 

    Melodic Death Metal is something I don’t spend a lot of time listening to, but it is not because I don’t like the genre.  It is merely because I don’t have the knowledge base or background, and I’ve relied on a few friends to turn me on to some of the better bands out there.  Mongolia’s Aravt is one of them. The band blend metal riffs with some quieter elements of Mongolian traditional music.  It’s a natural-sounding blend, and worth exploring further.

  • Music

    Duma – Duma

    October 31, 2022 - By 

    Nyege Nyege Tapes out of Kampala, Uganda, is releasing some of the most brutal music in the world these days.  A case in point comes from Nairobi, Kenya, where the band Duma call home.  Within the first few seconds of this release, you get pummeled by a barrage of drumming and screaming that is so heavy that it would have held its own comparing to any industrial band of the genre’s heyday. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Martin Khanja (aka Lord Spike Heart) and Sam Karugu emerge from Nairobi’s flourishing underground metal scene as former members of the bands Lust…

  • Music

    Nechochwen – Algonkian Mythos

    May 12, 2022 - By 

    While reading Bandcamp Daily on my feed, I came across a black metal band out of West Virginia called Nechochwen.  The article is enlightening, but it got me interested in exploring their music a bit deeper.  This particular album, Algonkian Mythos, is technically a ‘metal’ album, but it is so atmospheric that it could almost count as a neofolk album.  The instrumentation is sparse and has a spirit of foreboding.  This, for my ears, is metal done right.

  • Music

    Various Artists – Weedian: Trip To Germany

    April 22, 2022 - By 

    Though I’m not much of a metal guy, I have grown fond of things like desert rock, stoner rock, drone metal and other variants.  The online label Weedian has been releasing free (or pay-what-you-like) compilations of bands in local scenes, and this one covers Germany in 62 tracks.  Most of these bands are surprisingly good, and those of you into things like Saint Vitus or Black Sabbath will find plenty to enjoy in this album.

  • Music

    Antiq – Ilbeltz / Hanternoz / Anceisural Eritance – D’Anjou en Vasconie

    March 24, 2022 - By 

    This was a combination I didn’t expect.  It’s not uncommon for, say, black metal musicians to integrate their music into pagan folk and make a good hybrid, but this is something different.  Antiq combine soaring traditional Basque and Breton vocals with a proper metal backing, and somehow, by some strange miracle, it all comes together very well.  As far as metal goes, this is really quite good.

  • Music

    Autumn Tears / Zeresh – Widowing / Possessing

    January 9, 2022 - By 

    What a strikingly good album this is.  Autumn Tears is a collective of musicians from Billerica, Massachusetts who make an ethereal sound that blends the best of bands who would have fit well on 4AD Records during their 1980s heyday and progressive rock, especially for those who are fans of the Russian symphonic group iamthemorning.  Zeresh are beloved friends whose work has been reviewed on this blog in the past, and Tamar Singer’s vocals sound utterly sublime here.  This crosses neofolk with a restrained but foreboding metal vibe.  Dark, but magically so. Of special note, the mastering on this album…

  • Music

    Azure – Amor Fati

    January 5, 2022 - By 

    Azure are a post-rock band out of Aviles, Spain, who produce an atmospheric instrumental vibe on this EP.  It has a familiar sound to those who like a bit of metal inside of their post-rock, so it’s a worthwhile pickup.  Also, for those of you who love using Bandcamp, this release is free, so it’s most certainly worth sampling.