Atmospheric Rock

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    Amiral! – Persona Non Grata (2012)

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    As the perfect break from listening to countless hours of Metal every day, today we have Amiral!’s debut full-length release “Persona Non Grata”. With very few Metal influences this ambient/instrumental rock release delivers 11 tracks of eerie atmospheres and beautifully crafted melodic passages. Being a one-man project, this release is extremely well produced and perfectly executed, showcasing the superb musical abilities of the mystery man behind Amiral!.

    Opening with some audio from George Romero’s “Diary of the Dead”, “Chi Kung” sets the mood for an ethereal musical experience. “Petites frappes en enfer” creates a very eerie atmosphere with dreamy guitar work and a hypnotic pace. Things get a bit weirder with the Trip-hop infused “Timisoara”. This track reminds us of Ulver and their current experimental phase, but with some sweet guitar leads.

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    The Gathering – Disclosure (2012)

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    Today we have “Disclosure”, the long-awaited full-length release of the legendary Dutch band The Gathering. Keeping on their element of experimentation, this release contains eight tracks of beautifully crafted music that expands on the band’s melancholic Atmospheric Rock soundscape with hauntingly beautiful melodies and ethereal guitar work.

    After wowing the non-believers with Silje’s vocals on “The West Pole”, the band’s ‘new’ singer seems more in her element and sounds even more comfortable on the tracks of “Disclosure”. Opening with the catchy “Paper Waves”, the band quickly establishes their trademark dreamy mood via melancholic vocals and delicate guitar work. The bass guitar line in this track nicely accompanies the serenity of the music and marks its way into your subconscious very easily.

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    Jess and the Ancient Ones – Jess and the Ancient Ones (2012)

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    With the current boom of Psychedelic Occult Rock/Metal bands like Ghost, Year of the Goat and The Devil’s Blood, it is not surprising that the next excellent band we listen to in this genre has to be from Finland. Jess and the Ancient Ones are finally delivering their debut full-length self-titled release this May and it features seven tracks spanning around 53 minutes of pure musical greatness.

    Jess and the Ancient Ones sound is timeless and it evokes countless greats like Merciful Fate, Black Sabbath, Yes, and the more contemporary Jex Thoth and Sabbath Assembly. Opening with the extra catchy “Prayer for Death and Fire”, this release is off to a great start thanks to the band’s playfulness and excellent abilities to craft old-school sounding music but not sounding like a re-hash of any other band.

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    Vertigo Steps – Surface / Light (2012)

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    Thanks to the Internet and the current advances in technology, releases like “Surface / Light” from Vertigo Steps are now possible with collaborating parts from two different countries. This two man project from Portugal and Finland deliver what is probably one the best Atmospheric Rock / Post-Rock releases of 2012. Combining elements of bands like Katatonia, Anathema (newer stuff), Porcupine Tree with some more ‘mainstream’ Post-Rock/Atmospheric Rock influences, Vertigo Steps manages to create a lush and ethereal sounding tracks unlike any other band we’ve heard recently.

    Opening with the atmospheric “Vertigo Dawn”, you can really feel the overall peacefulness and calmness that the album’s atmosphere is going to bring to your hectic day. With very firm guitar work and a nice Rock-ish vibe, “The Hollow” delivers the first introduction into the band’s combination of mainstream rock elements with brilliant atmospheres. The clean vocals of Niko Mankinen are outstanding and very soothing. There are some very nice female backing vocals in this track that nicely add to the atmosphere of this song. The guitar work is quite catchy and keeps things running smooth and heavy without overpowering the atmospheric content of the track.

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    Case in Theory – Cinematic (2011)

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    With a very well defined Progressive Rock sound, Case in Theory really makes an impact with the 11compositions presented in this very professionally crafted release. “Cinematic” marks the full-length debut of this band and its atmospheric/melodic approach to music, very similar to 3’s “The Ghost you gave to me”. Funded through kickstarter.com, this release packs a lot of punch and hopefully lands the band a label deal.

    Opening with the emotional “Mavericks”, the band showcases very ethereal and well crafted atmospheric elements. The guitar work is very engaging and the backing vocals nicely build up momentum, culminating in the hypnotic song “The Night”. In the second song of the release, the vocals of Jonathan Posadas add an extra dimension to the melodic aspect of this album. Paired with the atmospheric rock guitars and some progressive elements, this song is the perfect indicator of things to come.

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    Dies Irae – Secret Veils of Passion (2012)

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    As one of the first band’s that got me into more ‘melodic’ and ‘different’ sounding music back in 1998 with their excellent album “Etherial”, Dies Irae returns after a 10 year hiatus with “Secret Veils of Passion”. In this very interesting release the band goes all over the place with so many musical influences that seem a bit disconnected at times, but that in fact create a very solid release with a wide palette of textures and very high-creativity.

    While many band’s in Mexico are clones from European ones, Dies Irae crafted two of the most interesting releases of Mexican metal in the late 90’s and the disappeared. With a hint of an European sound, “Etherial” was a landmark release with its hefty Jazz/Fusion influences that puzzled many. With “Secret Veils of Passion” they continue through their exploratory musical journey and have produces 10 unique tracks that have some memorable moments.

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    Svarti Loghin – Sea of Green (2011)

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    Blowing past the boundaries of Depressive Black Metal and ending up on the Alternative Rock side of things, today we have Svarti Loghin and their latest skillful release “Sea of Green”. The band since their last release “Drifting Through the Void” was showing extreme signs of moving away from BM, and on this latest release they complete the transition.

    Evoking elements from Alternative Rock to Grunge, “Sea of Green” features five very interesting tracks that need your complete open-mindedness or you will completely hate this release. The depressive vibe of the band is totally present in this release; this is excellent since the band has a very unique sound. However, you will have to deal with almost no Metal elements, and a very mellow and ‘alternative’ approach to things.

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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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    3 – The Ghost You Gave to Me (2011)

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    After four years since the band’s last release (“The End Is Begun”), 3 returns with a more consolidated but equally excellent release under the title “The Ghost You Gave to Me”. With a very eclectic mixture of styles in each of the band’s previous releases, it feels that they have now unified their style and deliver a very well crafted mixture of Progressive Rock elements with a modern alternative music edge, and a few surprises here and there.

    Before you go running out the door after reading ‘alternative music’, 3 delivers plenty of powerful guitar melodies and well crafted riffs to satisfy any Progressive music fan. The vocals are very well crafted into the overall structure of the songs, allowing “The Ghost You Gave to Me” to have a very rich sound and never get dull (like many prog releases tend to get).

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    What Mad Universe – A Cosmic Chapter with Gaia (2010)

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    Featuring a very ethereal and fresh sound, today we have What Mad Universe, a two man band from France that plays a particular combination of Atmospheric Rock with Sludge and Post-Rock elements. For over 50 minutes we are treated with very enchanting compositions that will transport the listener to unknown realms of consciousness.

    With a hefty mix of distorted guitars, atmospheric elements, some electronic ones, and the use of a banjo (Deliverance, anybody?), “A Cosmic Chapter with Gaia” nicely stands aside from the rest of atmospheric releases due to the intricacy and effectiveness of its songs. The masterminds behind this project PEP and RK do a great job in executing all these elements to perfection in order to create very engaging and interesting tracks.

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