Avant-garde Metal

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    Zeal & Ardor - GREIF (2024)

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    Returning with another very interesting and totally intoxicating release, today we have Manuel Gagneux and Zeal & Ardor with their latest opus “GREIF”. Featuring fourteen tracks of pure genius, this release feels more chaotic and yet more raw than their previous ones, thanks to the full incorporation of the band’s live members into songwriting and recording roles. With a very unique and hard to pin down style, the band presents a very diverse and dynamic palette of sound, ranging from completely wild experimental pieces to your ‘standard’ Black Metal-infused heaviness.

    Opening with the solemn “the Bird, the Lion and the Wildkin”, we get a nice warm-up featuring crafty atmospherics and Manuel’s Signature vocals, preparing us for the madness that is to come. With a more epic feel, “Fend You Off” we get the band’s multi layered vocal approach that creates such epic soaring melodies, alongside a hefty dose of heaviness. With a great knack for catchiness, “Kilonova” creates a very lively and engaging atmosphere, with an excellent chorus section and highly addictive percussions.

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    Hail Spirit Noir - Fossil Gardens (2024)

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    Masters of Progressive/Avant-garde Black Metal weirdness Hail Spirit Noir are back with one of the most unique and engaging releases of 2024. With “Fossil Gardens”, the band further expands their sound into weirder territories with seven tracks and nearly 44 minutes of pure madness. With some familiar elements from outfits like Arcturus and more modern Dødheimsgard, this Greek outfit has managed to carve a totally unique style to themselves and continue to push the boundaries of Metal music.

    Opening with the trippy “Starfront Promenade”, the vibe is instantly set to weird, but highly melodic and always unexpected. Clean vocalist, Dimitris Dimitrakopoulos, provides a very interesting counterpart to the harsh vocal and the wide palette of sounds this band unleashes. Things gradually get weird, with the Psychedelically magical “The Temple of Curved Space” and its superb melodic catchiness.

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    Nebelkrähe - Ephemer (2023)

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    Hailing from Germany, today we have the strange but quite awesome Nebelkrähe and their first release in ten years “Ephemer”. Combining elements from bands like Eisregen, Pensées Nocturnes, Devil Doll, The Vision Bleak, User Ne, etc., this outfit delivers seven tracks and over 50 minutes of catchy, melodic, and yet odd music. Full of blistering onslaughts alongside a wide range of different instruments like saxophone, harp, dulcimer, the band creates a very melancholic atmosphere that is quite bleak and exciting.

    Opening with “Tumult auf Claim Abendland”, the band sets a dissonant mood thanks to its lush acoustic opening that suddenly tours dark and sour with the distorted guitars and harsh snarls. With the band singing exclusively in German, the vocals sound harsher than average, reminding us of Eisregen. While not being soft or too melodic, tracks like “Nielandsmann” and “Ephemer” have a very theatrical vibe, with lush melodic passages alongside creepy clean vocals creating a doomy atmosphere.

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    Bolt Gun - The Tower (2023)

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    Continuing the tradition of uncovering and promoting some truly unique artists around the world, Avantgarde Music is set to unleash Bolt Gun and their latest release “The Tower”. With five tracks and over 50-minutes of music, this release is quite intoxicating and mysterious, brilliantly covering everything from Doom Metal to Post-Rock to Ambient. Recommended for fans of bands like The Ocean, Cult of Luna, and Neurosis.

    Slowly setting a very unnerving mood with “The Tower”, the band patiently unravels their layers as they transition from Ambient territories into heavier Sludgy/Doomy land alongside jazzy Saxophones and harsh vocals. The band excels at creating magical tempo changes that could go into dark territories or just all-out aggression, perfectly weaving together long masterfully crafted tracks with many angles and dynamic shifts like the brilliant “The Vulture”.

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    Dødheimsgard - Black Medium Current (2023)

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    Delivering a complete ‘holy shit’ moment, today we have the legendary Dødheimsgard returning with their first full-length release in eight years with “Black Medium Current”. While the band has continued to play live and deliver some truly enthralling performances, this release shows that the years of waiting were not in vain as it is their best release to date. Featuring nine tracks and nearly 70 minutes of masterful Avantgarde Black Metal music, this release will blow you away from the first couple of minutes.

    The madness commences with the mellow opening to “Et smelter”, a slow momentum building couple of minutes until the relentless waves of BM riffs make their way. With Vicotnik and Tommy Guns handling the guitars, this opener oozes melancholy and intensity, perfectly paired with unique vocal arrangements and a very oppressive atmosphere. This unique and chaotic vibe is nicely continued with the ravaging and temperamental “Tankespinnerens Smerte”, a track that nicely leverages dreamy vocals and brilliant melodic interludes.

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    Project 34 - Project 34 (2022)

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    Unleashing a whole musical experience on its own, Project 34 is set to release their eponymous third release in December of 2022. Led by Chris & Renee Lahoud from Australia, this project combines over 30 musicians from over 13 countries, creating one of the most distributed collaborations we have heard in the dark corners of Metal music. Clocking in at 64 minutes, this album is composed of three different chapters divided in 19 songs that cover many genres of Metal and non-Metal styles.

    Instead of reviewing track by track, we will focus more on each of the three chapters, the first one is comprised of tracks 1 to 5 and it kicks off with Middle-Eastern instrumentation and it quickly leads into heavy distorted guitars and a certain Ihshan-esque proggy vibe as the saxophone comes into play. The guitar leads are quite intoxicating and perfectly blended between moments of aggression and great melody, particularly in the third song of this chapter which sounds a bit like if Opeth would play both their old stuff with some of their groovier newer elements.

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    In The Woods… - Diversum (2022)

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    Just when you think a band that you really like will be heading downhill after replacing their vocalist, the band comes back with one epic release easing all concerns. Luckily for us, this is the case for In the Woods… and their latest opus “Diversum”. Blowing people's minds back in the mid to late 90’s with the evolution of their Black Metal roots to Avant-garde Metal territories, the band came back to life in 2014 with three of the band’s original members and a new vocalist which was quickly replaced by the super talented James Fogarty of Ewigkeit/Old Forest fame.

    The band’s clean vocals have always been one of their staple elements and luckily on the band’s return ‘Mr Fog’ was able to hold his own and added to the band’s sound with his own unique style. Replacing him was a tall order however, with Bernt Fjellestad the band’s sound is even more epic than before. From the opener “The Coward’s Way” to the majestic “Moment”, we are quickly impressed with the soaring clean vocals and their transition to harsh screams. The music greatly adds to the overall feeling of elation thanks to its crafty proggy and yet heavy nature, with some piercing Black Metal-ish riffs that weirdly fit perfectly.

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    Disillusion - Ayam (2022)

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    Unleashing a very unique release that has a certain retro Death Metal vibe paired with some crafty proggy and dreamy passages, Disillusion delivers their 4th full length release with “Ayam”. Originally founded back in the 90’s, this band has slowly evolved into more avant-garde territories, but still manages to keep some of that old-school vibe in their highly elaborate music. For fans of early 90’s Melodic/Doom Metal to fans of Opeth, Anathema, and Devin Townsend, this release has something for nearly everybody.

    Opening strong with “Am Abgrund”, we get a very unique old-school Benediction meets Ihshan vibe thanks to the contrast of growls, clean vocals, proggy guitars and crafty trumpets. The band brilliantly balances their more experimental and proggy edge in tracks like “Tormento”, “Driftwood”, with this last track dazzling users with soaring vocal melodies and waves of melancholy, giving those Anathema vibes

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    Sigh - Shiki (2022)

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    As one of those bands that is always innovating and creating something weirdly unique, Sigh returns with more of their Avant-garde/Black Metal with “Shiki”. Featuring over 45 minutes of hypnotic, chaotic, and completely weird music, this album is enjoyable for more than a few spins as the listener will constantly discover new details with each listen. Highly recommended for fans of the band, or music connoisseurs that like odd, chaotic, and yet highly engaging Metal music.

    The album kicks off with a short atmospheric intro and the pummeling Doomy riffs of “Kuroi Kage”, a track that is heavy and punishing as it transitions to even weirder territories. The band’s vocals are quite fitting for such a diverse and engaging musical foundation, particularly for the heavier and more experimental tracks like the previously mentioned one and the playful “Shoujahitsumetsu”. One thing to note is the band’s old-school Heavy Metal musical core that clearly shines on tracks like “Shikabane”, and its funky atmospherics and percussions.

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    Am Himmel - As Eternal (2022)

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    Unleashing some creepy and aurally dominating release, today we have Dutch outfit Am Himmel and their opus “As Eternal”. With a ‘weirder’ approach to Post-Black Metal, this band creates roughly 37 minutes of captivating music with the magic of bands like An Autumn for Crippled Children and Lustre mixed in with a darker and drone-ish edge. Not recommended for close-minded people, this album is more of an aural exploration than your typical cookie-cutter BM.

    Opening with the piercing “Bleared By The Infinite Wings”, the listener instantly knows this is a completely different release. The fuzzy and yet dreamy atmospherics are nicely flanked by harsh screams, delivered in a very monotonic way, creating a unique and engaging atmosphere. Things get dreamier and a bit shoegazy on “The Patience and Silence of a Saint’s Death”, a piece that slowly builds up momentum and creates plenty of tension.

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