Wanderlust - The Tradition, The Mural, The Scythe (2013)

Hot on the heels of the debut full-length 'Monolithes entre ruines' and the EP 'The Endurance of Bronze' that were released simultaneously in September of 2012 is another new EP titled, 'The Tradition, The Mural, The Scythe.' Limited to just 50 copies and released in a DVD box with a four page booklet, printed on classic linen stock, which gives it a superb vintage feel. However, more importantly, the music.

I haven't heard the previous mentioned EP, but here on 'The Tradition, The Mural, The Scythe' Der Pestarzt is taking his music in a considerably different direction from the much more speedier and classic black metal sounding approach on the debut. 'Splintered Frames Grasp The Canvas' opens the EP in an ambient manner with the sounds of a violin intermingled with light percussion, chiming bells and distant whispered vocals it slowly seethes with atmosphere and in an odd sort of way reminds me of something Current 93 might have done two decades ago. The title track is however the main attraction, a monolith if I ever did hear one at eighteen minutes. Opening with light acoustics as well as (woodwind?) instrument of some sort pushed into the background, a heavily fuzzed up creeping riff eventually enters the song and for the next several minutes the song gains in momentum and effectively sets a sombre mood soon enough. Vocals also make their way into the mix in a truly grim and serious tone, as Der Pestarzt recites a lengthy and quite interesting message through his lyrics as the music continues to expand to much more epic territories. As the song comes to a close I almost expected a guitar solo to come up, but the various violin textures make their presence felt instead. The final song, 'A Path Through The Ephemeral Hour' bares similarities to the opening song with its overall feel, though it adds the black metal traits of the previous making it quite an effective closer to this EP.

'The Tradition, The Mural, The Scythe' stands as an interesting and new musical direction for Wanderlust, though with it being so limited only a select few will get to hear it. It does however give me hopes for a promising and fascinating full-length for the future.

Blaze of Sorrow - Echi (2012)

'Echi' (or echoes if you prefer an English translation) is my first experience with this Italian band that has been active since 2007. With a few published demos as well as two previous full-length albums, throughout the years Blaze of Sorrow has largely been the solo work of Peter, though drummer N. joined for this latest release, which may mean earlier efforts made use of a drum machine, but I can't say for sure since I haven't heard them.

At any rate, 'Echi' offers up atmospheric post-ish black metal somewhat comparable to bands like Fen, October Falls, Janvs and Alcest, mostly due in part to the frequent use of acoustic passages and melancholic melodies amongst the usual blackened chaos.

The music seems to revolve around those traits often times switching between the acoustics and more melodic sections with speedier bursts of blasting drums and tremolo picked guitars, while Peter occasionally screams and calmly speaks in Italian. Each of the eight songs are a delight, especially the speedier opener, 'All'Ignoto' or the rather melancholic 'Empatia,' which follows it. 'Il Soffio Del Sole' may just stand out as my favorite though, as it has everything that makes Blaze of Sorrow an immense band, but then again the title track is really something to behold too. Either way, I found that it rarely matters if the music is fast or slow, Echi is just so well wrote that just about every moment of this album is pleasing to the ear and quite atmospheric under the right conditions.

I also admire the album cover and the fact that the red and blue colors are continued throughout the booklet and the nature photos within. I'm not sure if nature is a theme discussed through their lyrics, but the bands appreciation is evident through their imagery, and as such this really is a fantastic release to experience while under snowy or autumn conditions.

This being my first taste of Blaze of Sorrow I can only conclude that I am pleased with 'Echi' greatly. The mixture of dissonance with melody and emotion is agreeable and genuine, totally solidifying myself as a new fan of their music.

Closed Room - Closed Room (2012)

I could probably write an effective enough review just discussing the photos and design work within this digipak and how Felicia Simion's beautiful and brilliant photos totally mirrored a lot of the atmosphere within this debut release from, Closed Room. I will however, save you from that rant, and tell you more about the music of this interesting band from Belarus.

Existing within no concrete and definite genre, Closed Room presents a very experimental and atmospheric journey throughout this debut that runs the gamut between melodic metal, trip-hop, ambient, post-rock and a very miniscule amount of black metal, naturally with a serious degree of darkness and melancholy behind it all too. Songs like 'Tempted to Illuminated' sound similar to the French band Amesoeurs with the lead female vocals or even slightly Katatonia-ish at times, while 'Black Hall' is an interesting ambient/trip-hop piece with a female recalling a story to someone that at least to me reminds me of some of Ulver's work or even Akira Yamaoka's work on the Silent Hill games. 'Fly to the Sunrise' is one of the catchier tunes, again with passionate lead female vocals, the song has an odd sort of post metal/indie/shoegaze sort of thing going that's quite admirable, while 'In the Closed Room' is cinematic as all get out and brings back the trip-hop vibes strongly, though with a variety of samples that may or may not be from a movie. 'White Bed Sheet' is absolute Akira Yamaoka worship and I freakin' love it, whereas 'Winter Sun' takes on some weird jazz vibes that are surely different, but relaxing and engaging all the same. 'Blue Velvet' is where things go all awkward and suddenly its total post-black metalness, which completely alters the record, but its not bad. The album concludes with a melodic piano/synth/experimental piece called, 'Slowing Down Breathe (Part II)' and 'The Barrier,' which is more Silent Hill soundtrack-ish sounding stuff at first, but eventually adds some black metal aspects.

Closed Room definitely treads on uneven ground on this release and offers up a meaty amount of diverse music, but if you happen to be an eclectic listener fancying stuff like Amesoeurs, Ulver, Netra, Forgotten Woods and Mr Yamaoka's work then you'll probably want to check this one out.

Vowels - Hooves, Leaves & the Death/As December Nightingales (2012)

Gathering together an earlier EP from '11 titled 'Hooves, Leaves & the Death' with three new songs, this five song thirty three minute recording can be seen as the debut full-length from the Italians in Vowels. But who and what does Vowels do? Well, that's not exactly the easiest subject to report back on. 'Wolves Eating The Sun' begins with a honest melody before a single tremolo picked discordant riff hops in while odd cleanly sung vocals appear alongside. Following the same basic idea for a few minutes the song moves through a few phases of inexplainable weirdness before eventually breaking into more epic ground and then moving through to a final two minutes of dark ambiance and spoken dialogue on this opening twelve minute song.

'Not Unlike A Falling Leaf' furthers the bands need to experiment as it reminds of some of the weirdest aspects of Godspeed you Black Emperor's post rock-whatever genre mixed with a cello, moments of melodic ambiance and random drum bursts that results in a highly atmospheric and avantgarde experience. 'Vespri' is minimalist in style at first, favoring just a cello and piano amongst spoken words, eventually more soundtrack-ish synths enter the song alongside post-rock-ish guitars, while 'At Night' retains a similar calm mood, but offers up some noisier moments near its end. 'Wake' closes out the album on a completely different note, sounding jazzy in its delivery, one can almost picture themselves in a smoky lounge drunk on whiskey while gazing at a gal singing onstage. Vivid, for sure.

This is an interesting and often times challenging release from Vowels, especially since no single song sounds exactly alike, thus making it impossible to categorize properly. Portions of it definitely belong to the post genre, but a lot more of it is simply avantgarde in its delivery, which is good or bad depending on your appreciation for that sort of thing. In any case, it should be interesting to see what these guys come up with next.

Deep-pression - Vegtelen Tenger (2012)

Founded back in 2006 as, I believe, more of a depressive black metal act, Deep-pression has always functioned as an international project with perhaps its most notable members being Jan Šincl of Trist and Vrangsinn of Carpathian Forest, though sixteen members have passed through since the bands birth. All introductions aside, 'Vegtelen Tenger' the bands latest full-length effort is essentially a remastering of an earlier release titled 'An Endless Sea,' though the vocals have been completely re-recorded in Polish, instead of English. Why? I have no idea.

Musically Deep-pression finds themselves more-so within the ambient realm of things on 'Vegtelen Tenger' as the album opens with a simple but quite melancholic piano melody intermingled with spacious ambiance on 'Intro.' 'Syreny' comes next and it does well in characterizing the rest of this album well enough, which is essentially a mixture of dark haunting ambient synth, jangly bass guitar and slowly spoken slightly eerie voices in Polish. They fancy calling their style of music, Deepcreep. The whole vibe of the record is interesting since it has this sort of murky wetness to it, the cover partially made me feel this too, and because the atmosphere sort of reminded me of Procer Veneficus' 'Ghostvoices' album. Although the music isn't especially diverse it does however become increasingly hypnotic as it plays out and drags you under and into the bands own world of gloom. As such, its not really an everyday sort of album, but the emotions are rich and mostly unique in their delivery, thus making it an interesting release to listen to while relaxing or slowly passing into sleep (at least I've enjoyed it this way).

Over the years the band has been rather prolific and I have no idea if this record matches the bands more recent output, but at least here on 'Vegtelen Tenger' they achieve something special.

Koldvoid - Roadside Ghosts (2012)

Dreamy, gorgeous, melancholy and vivid - just a few words I'd quickly toss out to describe this solo project of Rob from Romania on Valse Sinistre Productions. Were dealing with ambient music here on 'Roadside Ghosts,' though hardly the more typical dark droning sort, but rather a much more melodic and cinematic variety reminding me of the best moments of Tor Lundvall, raison d'être, Dahlia's Tear, Ulver, Northaunt and even some of the Ildjarn ambient excursions. The whole vibe of the record is of very despondent character - perhaps a gateway into the artists deepest thoughts and feelings, but at no point sounding cheesy or fake, but rather totally honest and engaging the whole way through. Each song feels like its telling a story, which makes the experience very soundtrack-ish in its delivery. Just before writing this I finished watching a movie called, 'Stay,' which I thought was just fantastic, and I'm finding myself re-imagining the movie with this music behind it now. Stunning.

You'll also find smidgens of piano and guitar making their appearance on 'Roadside Ghosts,' as well as some very minor noisy/experimental tendencies and sampled voices/sounds here and there. Interestingly this fifty three minute record didn't seem as long as it really was. I'd attribute that to the musics ability to just totally absorb me and take me into its own little world where I lose myself for its duration.

Notably a lot of other reviews have suggested that this sounds similar to David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti's work on the 'Twin Peaks' series, though I've never watched it and can't confirm this comparison, but its probably safe to say that similarities are there.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with this debut record and look forward to what Rob comes up with next. Additionally Koldvoid has two EPs and two splits available, which I hope to hear someday too.