Post-Metal

  • Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas – Mariner (2016)

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    Completely catching us by surprise, today we have a very interesting collaboration between Sweden’s Cult of Luna and USA’s Julie Christmas. If you ever wondered how Cult of Luna would sound with a layer of female vocals on top, this is the perfect time to discover such a combination. Featuring five tracks filled with the band’s traditional atmospheric oppression, this release is a force to be reckoned with.

    Opening with the momentum building piece “A Greater Call”, the band wastes no time to introduce the listener to the dreamy combination of Julie’s sweet vocals and the harsh screams, both flanked by an intricate atmospheric backdrop. Leaving the listener no time to really adjust, the band pummels through “Chevron”, sparkling some pop-like influences along the way.

  • Deathkings – All that is Beautiful (2016)

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    Delivering brilliant waves of Doom/Sludge/Post-Metal misery, today we have Deathkings and their sophomore release “All that is Beautiful”. Clocking in at 62 minutes, this four song release is both punishing and extremely melancholic. We are quite surprised that the band is unsigned due to the quality of their material and how the North American scene is eating up bands that play this style of music.

    Opening with the bleakness of “Sol Invictus”, the band slowly builds up from some spacious Post-Metal momentum-building passages (a la Neurosis) to more hectic Doom/Sludge inspired riffing onslaughts. The pairing of the combination of multiple styles of vocals with the brilliant atmosphere crafted by the roaring guitars fits perfectly with the intricate drum patterns and overall pace of the music. Reminding us of bands like Fall of Empyrean and Mournful Congregation, “The Storm” delivers a very precise Doom message with some solid Post-Metal influences, making it one of our favorite tracks in this release.

  • Wall of Water - Promo (2015)

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    Delivering a furious 2-track promo, today we have newcomers Wall of Water from the USA. As the brainchild of Cullen Toner (ex-Abazagorath) and Shawn Eldridge (Disma), this band aims to merge the good old Black/Death Metal style with more modern and crafty Post-Metal/Rock influences. Not for the faint of heart, this is a release that brilliantly achieves their goals and delivers 13 minutes of very solid music.

    Opening with the mysterious “Exposure”, the band starts very mellow, setting a very atmospheric mood in the first few seconds. The first outburst of brutality is similar to a more Post-Metal version of Anaal Nathrakh filled with multiple vocal styles and crushing riffs. Perfectly blending old-school elements with more edgier and modern influences, this track sounds familiar, but yet fresh and different.

  • O Graceful Musing’s Burden - im draußen bricht sich das drinnen (2015)

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    Arriving in a beautifully hand-crafted package, today we have “im draußen bricht sich das drinnen” from the German band O Graceful Musing’s Burden (OGMB). In this very atmospheric release, we are treated to around 50 minutes of very emotional and magical music. Perfectly blending Post-Rock soundscapes with some Folk and Post-Metal/Post-Black Metal outburst, the band continues to refine their very unique sound with the powerful release.

    Opening with the expansive “Nuboeiro Acrarante”, the band slowly builds tension with very sparse drums and playful guitar licks. With some parts in this track having Post-Black Metal levels of viciousness, the band manages to perfectly carve a unique listening experience through all their musical influences in under 16 minutes.

  • Minsk – The Crash & The Draw (2015)

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    Having recently returned from a hiatus, Minsk delivers one of the early candidates for top 10 albums of 2015 with “The Crash & The Draw”. Following the same footsteps of bands like Neurosis, Year of No Light, and The Ocean, we get 11-tracks of brilliant Atmospheric Post-Metal/Sludge music that is both complex and crushing. Returning with a 75 minute opus is an ambitious task that Minsk manages to pull off flawlessly.

    Instantly making their mark with the 12-minute opener “To The Initiate”, we have a very playful track that changes moods and delivers a good amount of intricate percussions and powerful riffs to keep you listening to it on repeat for at least a day. Slowly building with “Within and Without”, the band crafts a very tight short piece to hold the listener over until the unleash their four piece behemoth of “Onward Procession”. In part I and II the band invokes their inner Neurosis with heavy and dense tracks that nicely evolve into the trippy atmospherics of part III and IV. This four-piece track showcases the band’s ambitions and excellent execution of a multi-faceted song that nicely evolves and dances around all the genres the band has influences from.

  • Dynfari - Vegferð tímans (2015)

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    Hailing from Iceland, today we have yet another outstanding Atmospheric Black Metal band named Dynfari. In the band’s third full-length release we get eight melancholic tracks of mournful music with just the right amount of brutality and external influences to make them quite unique and enjoyable.

    Leading the album we have the Post-Metal /The Ocean-esque intro “Ljósið”. “Óreiða” paves the way for more melodic and depressive territories with the weeping guitars in this track. The vocals are your very traditional screams that don’t sound too aggressive to be typical BM or to mellow for the hyper fast drumming. The band is not afraid of experimenting enriching their sound with some hypnotic melodic passages and droning headbanging moments.

  • An Autumn for Crippled Children – The Long Goodbye (2015)

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    Greatly anticipated for 2015, An Autumn for Crippled Children’s fifth full-length release delivers in all possible levels and takes the band’s sound even further into the depths of depressive Post-Black Metal / Blackgaze. In “The Long Goodbye” the band hones in their skills to produce nine of the bleakest tracks they have ever written clocking in at 41 minutes of pure emotional rawness.

    The opening track, “The Long Goodbye” starts off with a hectic level of intensity with Shoegazy dreamy guitars and brilliant harsh vocals. The overall tone is quite melancholic, making this track a perfect mood setting piece for what is to come. On “Converging towards the Light” we jump into a bigger atmospheric vibe with very dramatic ambiance perfectly capped by the punishing vocals of Mchl. As “A New Form of Stillness” rolls by, we get a certain Synth-pop vibe going with a very interesting melodic passage.

  • Abstracter – Wound Empire (2015)

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    Hailing from Oakland, CA, today we have the Abstracter and their 2nd punishing aural assault titled “Wound Empire”. Featuring over 40 minutes of crushing Blackened Sludge/Crust/Doom music with some Post-Metal elements, this is one hell of a punishing release that will subdue the listener from start to finish.

    The opener “Lightless” slowly builds up with pummeling riffs and a nice progression as the nearly 11-minutes of music go by. The vocals are quite strong and nicely fit the equally crushing guitar riffs. Abstracter goes into further exploration of their dark sound in the atmospheric “Open Veins”. This song provides us with some more typical Sludge/Doom riffs arranged in a very precise manner to fit their atmospheric passages and massive drumming.

  • Ashen Waves – Premonitions (2015)

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    With a very engaging sense of experimentation and lush Post-Metal/Prog influences, today we have Ashen Waves and their debut album “Premonitions”. Being from the USA, the band brings some of that European ingenuity into their music with a very diverse blend of musical genres cohesively put together to deliver 10 tracks of solid music.

    Opening with the Amorphis/Vintersorg influenced “Whispers”, we are treated to a very promising opener that perfectly blends multiple genres. We particularly enjoyed the upbeat keyboards and crafty mixture of clean and harsh vocals. The band’s next musical exploration is the surprising “Enmity” that delivers a healthy mix of Doom/Sludge riffs with dreamy Post-Metal/Proggy passages. While this style might sound odd, the band gracefully pulls it off.

  • Lotus Thief – Rervm (2014)

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    As soon as we received this release with the association of featuring members of Botanist, we braced ourselves for the worst. In return, we actually are quite surprised and pleased on how Lotus Thief’s “Rervm” has turned out, featuring a truly unique and engaging sound that is very structured and free-flowing, unlike Botanist. Delivering six very solid tracks, this is probably at the top of our “Best surprises of 2014” list.

    The album kicks off with the heavy riffing of “Aeternvm” creating a very hypnotic passage that is later complemented with brilliant atmospheric elements and female vocals. The drumming still has that Botanist edge to it, but it is far less chaotic and fits the music perfectly. There are some trippy atmospheric sounds here and there that nicely complement the atmosphere of this track. Things pick up with “Miseras” and its Sludge/Alt-Rock vibe, showing a different side of the band while retaining its atmospheric uniqueness.

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