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    Smohalla – Résilience (2011)

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    Every month we get a few bands claiming to play Avant-garde whatever-genre and usually end up sucking majestically. This month’s great surprise is France’s Smohalla, a band that plays pretty solid and standard Avant-garde Black Metal in the vein of Arcturus, Vulture Industries, etc, but focusing more on deranged atmospheres rather than crazy catchy sections. This two person outfit does a great job in delivering eight tracks (around 45 minutes of music) of pure atmospheric craziness.

    Setting up the albums atmosphere with “Quasar”, the band gives a very similar vibe to Arcturus greatest opus “La Masquerade Infernale”. Immediately after, “As sol les toges vides” follows with some deranges vocals, psychotic atmospheric elements and trippy guitars. These songs are very well crafted and help Smohalla establish a truly excellent opening for this album. “Les repos du Lezard” and “Oracle rouge” continue with a Doom-ish edge and very interesting choir arrangements.

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    Nychts / Mortualia – “Nebelstern Des Nichts” (2010)

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    Featuring one monolithic track of 40 minutes of pure depressive (and ‘kozmik’) Black Metal, today we have Nychts and Mortualia’s split CD “Nebelstern Des Nichts”. Combining the two bands in a very unconventional way, Sun and Moon records has release this behemoth of emotional music that is not for the faint of heart.

    Providing 13 minutes of music, we have Finland’s own Mortualia, a side project band from the one and only Shatraug of Horna, etc., etc. fame. The remaining 27 minutes of music (and instrumental section) is provided by Switzerland’s Nychts, a band that is excellent at creating atmosphere, but should get a better singer or replace him with a cat getting hit by a car.

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    Ordo Obsidium – Orbis Tertius (2011)

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    During our reviewing sessions it is very interesting to find bands that make us wonder where they come from and why we haven’t heard from them before. Ordo Obsidium is one of those bands that after listening to their devastating debut album “Orbis Tertius made us wonder where they come from since they have a very interesting Scandinavian/European sound. However, to our surprise the band comes out from the Bay Area in the USA.

    Delivering five aural assaults of Doom-influenced Black Metal, this band means serious business since they can keep the kvlt side of things alive while bringing the tempo down a bit and not sounding dull or repetitive. The crushing opener “Nequaquam Vacuum” delivers the first 11 minute attack of powerful riffing and bestial drumming all surrounded by a melodic and nicely paced atmosphere. The vocals are as hellish as they can get, but they never get in the way of enjoying the underlying melody behind this track. The dreamy passages (i.e around the 6:45 mark) create excellent contrast with the high paced section.

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    Dystopia Nå! – Syklus (2011)

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    Presenting their first full-length release “Syklus”, today we have Dystopia Nå!. In this very interesting release, the band mixes influences of Doom Metal, Shoegaze and Black Metal to create a very unique and excellent sounding album. For eight tracks the band will surely grab your attention whether you like doom-ish distorted guitars, Black Metal assaults, or beautiful Shoegaze passages that will hyptonize you.

    Immediately after the mood setting (and momentum gainer) “Vemod”, the band delivers “Piller”, a very diverse song that shows a hefty amount of Doom Metal influences. After some BM assaults, the song nicely transforms around the 4 minute mark to a full-on Doom Metal tuned down guitar opus. However, just before finishing we have another BM onslaught and some very cool ‘alarm clock’ like sample allowing the listener to wake up from the hypnotic trance of this song.

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    Alternative 4 – The Brink (2011)

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    Super talented multi-instrumentalist Duncan Patterson gives us his latest project Alternative 4. In this band, Duncan produces a very interesting and cinematic experience that merges some of the old elements of Anathema (from back in the day) and Antimatter (before he left obviously). This combination produces a very interesting and organic sound that we have missed since he started doing his last projects Íon and The Aftermath.

    With a very mysterious opening track titled “The Brink”, this album nicely generates some expectation before “False Light” sets the tone of how (most) of this release is going to go. With nice distorted guitars and a very somber atmosphere, this song nicely delivers a very experimental yet familiar sound. Having recorded the album in several parts of the world including Ireland and Mexico, the overall product is very well integrated and full of atmospheric surprises. For the Anathema fans, the bass guitar line near the end of the song will nicely bring you back to the band’s old albums for sure.

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    Grey Waters – Below the Ever Setting Sun (2010)

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    Coming highly recommended by some of our friends, we finally had time to check out Grey Water’s EP from 2010 titled “Below the Ever Setting Sun” and we were pretty impressed with what we heard. Playing highly emotional Depressive Rock, Grey Waters blow the listener away with soaring vocals and powerful guitars that deliver a very melancholic feeling all through the five songs presented in this release.

    After the intro track, “Say Goodbye” immediately reminded us of a modern sounding Decorayah, since the band creates a very powerful atmosphere and the vocals are a bit similar to Decorayah’s dramatic singing. The atmospheric passage in this song that leads to some harsh vocals is perfectly crafted, allowing the song to nicely flow. Next up we have “Below the Ever Setting Sun”, another very effective and melancholic track. This track has some nice Post-Rock/Metal hints that enrich the sound nicely, adding to the overall atmosphere created by the band.

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    Haken – Visions (2011)

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    Riding on the success of their impressive 2010 release “Aquarius”, Haken returns with yet another excellent Progressive Metal release with “Visions”, this clearly shows that their debut album was not a fluke and that the band means business. For over 71 minutes of brilliantly composed music, the band makes it clear that they are ready to take a protagonist role in the crowded Progressive Metal scene.

    With a very Dream Theater-like approach, Haken opens this release with the instrumental “Premonition”. In this track you can hear brilliant keyboards and the futuristic edge that made “Aquarius” such an appealing release last year. After the soothing effect of the opening track, the 13 minute “Nocturnal Conspiracy” delivers the first appearance of Ross Jennings, the band’s charismatic vocalist. His pipes are very emotional and never as whiny as other singers such as James LaBrie. This track features a few sections that remind us of Ayreon and Star One in terms of the music, but Haken still manages to pull away with their own characteristic sound.

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    White Willow – Terminal Twilight (2011)

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    As one of the most beautifully composed and yet perplexingly complex albums of 2011, today we have White Willow’s release “Terminal Twilight”. In this release, the band takes us on a journey lasting nine tracks of trippy synths, enchanting vocals, and a King Crimson-like atmosphere unlike anything we have heard before. After the excellent release by Leprous this year, we can’t help but wonder what is in the Norwegian water that drives musician’s creativity to this level of awesomeness.

    Opening with “Hawks Circle”, this album starts in a very trippy and ethereal way. The vocals in this song sound like a mixture of Agnete M. Kirkevaag of Madder Mortem and Ann-Mari Edvardsen (ex The 3rd and the Mortal). The flutes nicely creep into the music making this song very dynamic and engaging. In an even more hypnotic way, “Snowswept” delivers a haunting atmosphere that will suck you right into the band’s own musical universe.

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    Mord'A'Stigmata – Antimatter (2011)

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    Hailing from Poland, today we have Mord’A’Stigmata and their monumental Avant-garde Black Metal release “Antimatter”. In this album the band delivers 52 minutes of pure chaotic Black Metal that will blow you away and make you scratch your head at the same time. We are huge fans of Avant-garde BM and “Antimatter” is one of the finest examples we have heard this 2011.

    Opening with a weird intro, the album fully kicks in with “Kinetic Dogma” and “De Magnum Opus Solis”, two very hellish and powerful straight-up Black Metal tracks that feature some interesting elements here and there, but mostly devastating vocals, dissonant guitars and a powerful and tornado-like atmosphere. The devastation continues with “Antimatter”, but here is where things start turning somewhat melodic leading up to the ‘weirder’ things in this release.

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    Fyrnask – Bluostar (2011)

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    Beautifully packed in a lush digisleeve, today we have Fyrnask’s debut full-length release “Bluostar”. Mixing some pretty bone-chilling ambient/atmospheric elements with harsh and devastating Black Metal, Fyrnask delivers over 55 minutes of brilliant music that while not everybody’s cup of tea, it did affected us in a positive way.

    The mastermind behind the band, Fyrnd, delivers flawless performances in all instruments making them all come together in a brilliant way to capture the raw essence of Black Metal and incorporate the hypnotic feeling of the ambient sections. While most BM tracks are over 7 minutes, the brilliantly placed interludes and intros of song songs nicely shake things up and allow the listener to be always guessing what’s coming next.

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