Composer and producer Sergei Guselnikov is based out of Russia, and he sent me one of his latest releases. As far as the music goes, the first two tracks are strong post-metal / post-rock, but what really intrigued. me was the last one, which was airy, atmospheric, and features the vocals of Daria Shakhova, who also fronts Hale De Mars. Also featured are the contribution of the Brandy Kills vocalist Igor Shapransky on the second track, and as I’m new to his work, it’s great motivation to learn more about all three musicians featured on this EP.
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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.
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Lotus are an instrumental post-rock/post-metal band out of Pune, India. They have a pleasantly heavy groove that has a lot of more modern progressive rock influences. A solid EP.
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Our friends JOHN 3:16 come at us with less an audible listening experience than a sheer sonic pummeling. Take for example Part I, which sounds as though the ghost of Cop/Greed-era Swans was under more control, a more musically apt, and put through the gothic/post-punk music grinder. Part IV goes into something more ethereal, dark, something between a horror movie and spaghetti-western soundtrack, with vocals provided by Caroline O’Neill / Rasplyn. The band always impress, but I wasn’t quite ready for this one. A very pleasant surprise, indeed.
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虚极 (Bliss-Illusion) are a band based in China who have caused quite a sensation all across the world of Black Metal. The music is a combination of the aforementioned Black Metal but adding a twist by mixing post-rock, straight-ahead metal, elements of doom, shoegaze and what they term to be folk-metal. If you’re sensitive to screaming vocals, you might want to sit this one out, but it works rather well with the music.