Experimental

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Visthia - In Aeternum Deleti (2011)

    cover

    Mixing things up when combining traditional Black Metal with some industrial/drone elements, today we have Italy’s Visthia and their latest release “In Aeternum Deleti”. As one of the most complicated albums we have received in quite a while, this release posed a great challenge to sit through and finally make up our minds about a review of it. The band combines some elements of experimental bands like DHG, Aborym and others that are pushing the edges of Black Metal, but still fails to achieve anything more than shock value with their very disturbing and dissonant sound. Calling their new ‘style’ Black Powernoise, we can’t stop feeling that they might be a bit ahead of their time.

    Switching back and forth between spoken Latin sections, some beats and drone elements and a mid-tempo Black Metal, Visthia does achieve a very cavernous and disturbing atmosphere, but nothing more. The vocals are excellent and very creepy indeed, but the slow tempo of things and the samples kind of kill the mood of the BM guitars.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Chasma – Declarations of the Grand Artificer (2011)

    cover

    Featuring members of Nanda Devil, today we have the American band called Chasma and their experimental Black Metal sounds. With a very experimental European sound, it is nice to hear that some bands in the USA are not getting stuck with the typical USBM approach to things and are crafting some very interesting releases with foreign influences.

    With three monolithic tracks each clocking on average around 10 minutes, the band creates very emotionally charged music that flows from instrumental sections to harsh-scream filled passages that will rattle your ears and soul. Mixing some Doom Metal influences with Black Metal, the band creates a less pretentious ‘Depressive Black Metal’ sound that only a handful of European bands can achieve.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Dystopia Nå! – Syklus (2011)

    cover

    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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Alternative 4 – The Brink (2011)

    cover

    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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Heirs – Fowl (2011)

    cover

    Featuring one of the weirdest covers ever, Heirs delivers their sophomore released titled “Fowl”. In this album the band explores many different genres, manages to stitch them all together and create a truly disturbing and very complex listening experience.

    We have been putting out writing this review for quite a while due to the complexity and intricacies of this very dense release. The band creates very thick layers of guitars that are nicely maneuvered to shape seven songs that are very complex and multi-layered, leaving the listener baffled at first glance.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Thomas Giles – Pulse (2011)

    cover

    After not liking any of Between the Buried and Me’s stuff, I was about to hurl when I got this promo in my review queue. However, something magical will happen to you when you listen to this album since you will end-up loving it for its originality and freshness.

    I believe since I was expecting some crap like Between the Buried and Me I was less critical about this release, but many listens to this album you will still find yourself appreciating it and finding new details about the music. Thomas Giles crafts 11 songs that are very rich sounding and that have the perfect amounts of electronic elements, rock guitars, melancholic vocals and piano sections.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Lifelover – Sjukdom (2011)

    cover

    After their brilliant “Konkurs”, it seems like the band ended their life and sent over some cheap copycats with “Sjukdom”. As you all might know, Lifelover is one of the most interesting bands when it comes to playing depressing experimental Metal. But with “Sjukdom” the band succumbs to mediocrity by playing the same things as on “Konkurs” and using cliché elements for shock value.

    The brilliant guitar driven atmosphere is missing for most of the album, and on songs like “Expandera”, it sounds like a carbon copy of what they did on “Konkurs”. The band’s consistency is also put to question with uninspired filler songs like “Homicidal Tendencies”, where the band leads off with basic guitar riffs and the cliché samples of little kids in the middle of the song.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Earth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 (2011)

    cover

    Since their 2005 return with “HEX: Or Printing in the Infernal Method”, Earth has been morphing into a shapeless entity that transfers emotions through magical musical compositions. With “The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull” the band dabbled into some Jazzy realms with some hints of Americana and psychedelic elements. But with “Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1”, the band pushes the envelope once more with a darker side to things then in their previous releases.

    “Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1” is an album that features 5 tracks of sheer brilliance, the mood, the space, the tones, everything sounds just right and creates a very dark and depressive atmosphere. With the use of the cello, the band further elevates their sonic exploration into very dark territories that will fill you up with emotions and free you from your everyday worries, allowing you to fully experience the 60 minutes of music the band has laid down on this release.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Deep-pression - 4: Void of a Morning (2009)

    cover

    Finalized before their 2009 split, Polish Deep-pression treat us (or torment us, however you want to see it) with their fourth full-length release “4: Void of a Morning”. With a very experimental style, “Void of a Morning” feels like a soundtrack to acid trips gone wrong and has a very hypnotic feel to it, almost rending us into a catatonic state.

    After a very traditional intro, with “Night Struggle” sets a very disturbing atmosphere with dissonant guitar licks, creepy spoken vocals, and a mind numbing (in a good way) droning feeling. While the interludes between tracks don’t help much to continue the atmosphere and flow of the album, they do provide a nice (and very short) breather between the longer 9+ minutes tracks. The rest of the tracks follow a similar atmospheric elements and spoken lyrics approach, but each one has their own creepiness to them.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Tribute to H.P. Lovecraft - Gate 1: Yogsothery - Chaosmogonic Rituals of Fear (2010)

    cover

    As one of the most dense and intriguing releases we have received in the last few months, today we have a tribute album to H.P. Lovecraft titled “Gate 1: Yogsothery - Chaosmogonic Rituals of Fear”. In this release we have over 77 minutes of music divided into 4 crushing tracks performed by Jaaportit (Finland), Umbra Nihil (Finland), Aarni (Finland) and Caput LVIIIm (Italy).

    With a very tense atmosphere that is composed by the Experimental Doom, Ambient, Drone and overall progressive thinking, this release takes the listener into a very trippy voyage through Lovecrat’s inspired atmospheric pieces that will haunt your dreams. With such a rich backdrop of works to focus their tracks on, the four bands that participate in this release do an excellent job in creating truly disturbing and dissonant tracks that nicely represent the Lovecraftian feeling.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries