Post-Metal

  • Regarde Les Hommes Tomber - Regarde Les Hommes Tomber (2013)

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    Rounding up our promo package from LADLO productions, today we have another exciting new outfit from France under the moniker Regarde Les Hommes Tomber. With their self-titled debut release, this band manages to blend elements of Neurosis and Amenra and create a very tight and devastating Sludgy Post-Black Metal. If you like heavy and powerful guitars that create a huge wall of sound, Regarde Les Hommes Tomber is the band for you.

    With the hypnotic droning of the bands opening track, “Prelude”, we immediately feel their wrath with punishing riffs and skillful drumming. The Post-Rock/Metal elements thrown into the mix really shake things up and keep their sound very fresh. In full Neurosis/Amenra worship mode, “Wanderer of Eternity” delivers a full blast of power in the shape of harsh vocals and solid guitar work, never letting go of their heaviness and brutality.

  • Todtgelichter – Apnoe (2013)

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    After breaking the mold with their outstanding 2010 release “Angst”, today we have Todtgelichter back with an even more impressive release titled “Apnoe”. Continuing to push their Avant-garde Black Metal boundaries into more Post Rock/Black Metal territories, this German band manages to deliver 10 captivating songs that if you are a fan of their previous release, you will be in musical paradise for hours on end.

    Featuring a new bass guitarist and vocalist, the band opens very energetically with “Embers”. The band’s excellent songwriting skills are immediately present in how this track weaves back and forth from aggressive harsh vocals sections to more dreamy parts with female vocals. The band’s female singer, Marta, has that very natural voice that we love from singers like Agnete Madder Mortem and Marjan of Autumn. The very organic dreaminess of this song makes it quite magical indeed.

  • Ov Hollowness – The World End (2013)

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    The Epic Post Black Metal Canadian outfit Ov Hollowness brings today a hefty dosage of piercing riffs and crushing vocals with “The World End”. For the duration of the 10 tracks in this release, this one-man band manages to socially abuse the listener with punishing guitar work surrounded by an excellent atmosphere and very well paced melodic headbanging sections. If you are a fan of guitar driven Black Metal, this is one release you don’t want to miss.

    Immediately blasting away with “Abstractive”, the band immediately reminded us of bands like Agrypnie that push the boundaries of the genre by taking it to different directions. The guitar work is not your typical tremolo-picking abuse festival; it is more centered and melodic allowing the melodies to flow better while maintaining a very brutal and crushing sound. There are also tracks that are quite aggressive for the more purist fans of the genre, and they can be nicely sampled with “Grey”.

  • When Icarus Falls – Aegean (2012)

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    In a truly epic and devastating manner, today we have Swiss Post-Hardcore moshers When Icarus Falls and their sophomore full-length release “Aegean”. In this seven-track release the band delivers punishing anthems that remind us of a mixture of The Ocean with Neurosis and Amenra with a few hints of the Post-Metal elements of Cult of Luna. With the recording in charge of Julien Felhman, the band taps into their inner demons and unleashes one hell of a release.

    The riffing onslaught beings with the soul crushing “A Step Further”, a track that delivers crystal clear guitars and super harsh vocals. With a similar production sound to Neurosis and The Ocean, the band’s powerful guitar/vocal attacks are perfectly delivered. As the tracks bleeds into the album title track, subtle drums are very well used to bridge the two songs. “Aegean” delivers 9-minutes of intensity that constantly keeps growing over time. The vocals again take center stage as they are very powerful and greatly contrast the Post-Metal / Sludgy music laid out.

  • Dacast – Dédale (2012)

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    Delivering a punishing aural assault of 35 minutes, today we have Dacast and their sophomore release “Dédale”. This French experimental band combines almost everything you can imagine in a ‘heavy as fuck’ package that is truly genius and totally deranged at the same time. With parts of Deathcore to brilliant Math Metal and Progressive sections, this monolithic release has something for everybody.

    With a very bizarre retro cover that pretty much describes how the music sounds, this release is totally unique and quite disturbing. The band’s in your face style is quite brutal, but what makes us even more uneasy is how amazing the band is a going from a proggy section to a balls-to-the-wall Deathcore passage and back into some Jazzy stuff. This release is split into two sides, each one as crazy and chaotic as the other, but with an underlying technical brilliance that is unrivaled.

  • Eclectika – Lure of Ephemeral Beauty (2012)

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    After pushing the boundaries of Black Metal with their 2010 release “Dazzling Dawn”, today we have Eclectika and their latest opus “Lure of Ephemeral Beauty”. In this album the band shows that they have settled with a very sharp and aggressive brand of Black Metal with brilliant melodic incursions that greatly set them apart from the rest. For over 10 tracks the band demonstrates that with a bit of creativity, all Post-Black Metal does not have to sound the same.

    Opening with a lush symphonic instrumental track, the band sets the expectations really high for their third full-length release. Immediately blasting away with album’s title track, we get a typical Black Metal vibe but with a completely different guitar distortion of what one would expect. This allows the band’s sound to be quite different and very engaging indeed. The harsh vocals make their appearance, but it is the female vocals of Noemie Sirandre that really make this song shine in a very dramatic and operatic way.

  • Closed Room – Closed Room (2012)

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    After their impressive EP “White Bed Sheet”, we were thrilled to know that Closed Room signed with Sun & Moon Records to release their self-titled debut album. As many of the band’s in this label, Closed Room is a very unique ensemble that mixes Trip-Hop with Post-Metal and some Shoegaze elements brilliantly and in their previous work has delivered very interesting and engaging tracks drawing comparisons to Amesoeurs and such bands.

    Setting the mood with the Post-Metal influenced “Behind the Locked Door”, the band nicely established very high expectations for a very unique sounding release. This track reminds us a bit of the experimental side of bands like Sigh and Ephel Duath. Things turn dark with the Blackgaze riffing of “Tempted to Illuminated”, then the ethereal vocals of Morena kick in and the whole atmosphere suddenly feels a bit different. This track is very well crafted and the contrast between the music and the vocals is just outstanding and works very well.

  • Neurosis – Honor Found In Decay (2012)

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    As one of the most versatile and influential bands in Metal, Neurosis returns with yet another amazing release that tests the sonic limits of Metal (and all the other influences they merge) for over 60 minutes of brilliantly crafted music. With their creativity intact, “Honor Found In Decay” marks another outstanding release by Neurosis that even after a five-year absence (since their last record that is) they sound as fresh and as current as ever.

    Opening with the excellent “We All Rage in Gold”, the band delivers their characteristic Sludge-infused guitar riffs but with an interesting Post-Metal/Rock-ish guitar layers. The bass guitar is very present and nicely guiding alongside the perfectly crafted drumming. After setting the mood brilliantly, Neurosis continues with the mysterious “At The Well”. In this track we have a slower start to things that is greatly carried by the combination of vocals from Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till. The riffing erupts and when combined with tribal-esque drumming we get the traditional Neurosis sonic brutality in full swing. Constantly changing tempos really make this song quite a delightful experience.

  • Freitod – Regenjahre (2012)

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    Delivering a very interesting combination of Black Metal with some Gothic/Dark Metal elements, today we have Germany’s Freitod and their sophomore release “Regenjahre”. This journey through seven tracks and 52 minutes of brilliantly crafted music is a very unique one since the band keeps a perfect balance between harsh and aggressive Black Metal brush strokes and highly melancholic overtones creating a lush Post-Black Metal experience.

    The album start with the title track and the band immediately sets the mood with excellent guitar work and a very catchy pace. The melodic aspect of Freitod is excellent and on tracks like this one they use it perfectly. Combining crushing harsh vocals with dreamy Gothic Metal/Rock clean vocal sections the band creates a very unique and melancholic atmosphere. The band further uses these tools to contrast the brutality of their Black Metal roots with their lush melancholic side, and tracks like “Der Traumsturm” and “Neue Wege” are clear examples of this.

  • An Autumn For Crippled Children – Only The Ocean Knows (2012)

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    The highly mysterious and anonymous Dutch outfit An Autumn For Crippled Children (AAFCC for short) returns with another dreamy journey into the depths of Post Black/Shoegaze music. “
    Only The Ocean Knows” delivers eight magical tracks of very aggressive and ethereal sounding music. This release is by far the band’s best effort to day, and you should definitely check it out.

    “Past Tense” delivers a very cool intro that made us believe the band was going to bust out an electro track, but it nicely shifts into fuzzy distorted guitars and very rhythmical drumming. The Post-Black influences are very evident and propel this song into atmospheric brilliance. Continuing the band’s atmospheric efforts, “Yes I Know… Love And Death… Always” delivers a bit of a change of pace with some excellent ‘melodic’ passages, but the majority of the time we have the guitars pounding away, keeping the album’s atmosphere flowing.

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