Mono make beautiful music, the Japanese quartet, have long been established as one of the most endearing, soul stirring bands on the planet with their instrumental post rock encapsulating why music is a universal language, a way for all people, no matter what they speak to connect to the core rhythms of the world.
Sorry if that sounds cheesy or perhaps a little pretentious but with a band such as Mono you have to describe how the music makes you feel, not necessarily the skill (of which there’s plenty) and definitely not the lyrics as there are none but their music touches something deep down leading to a wonderful sense of karmic ease with the universe. Mono pair shoegaze/post rock build and release with orchestral swells in a hybrid way no other band does better.
Their 12th album Oath, there is no sign of that changing, just from the parping brass parts of Us, Then and Then, Us that bookend the title track there’s a delicateness but a sense of warmth to the record. Perhaps it’s because the brass reminds me of Collier bands and Christmas but I found myself welling up a little, similarly Holy Winter keeps the spirit of the season despite it being June.
Their 12th album Oath, there is no sign of that changing, just from the parping brass parts of Us, Then and Then, Us that bookend the title track there’s a delicateness but a sense of warmth to the record. Perhaps it’s because the brass reminds me of Collier bands and Christmas but I found myself welling up a little, similarly Holy Winter keeps the spirit of the season despite it being June.
Recorded and mixed by the late Steve Albini, there’s a rawness to Oath but one wrapped in a lush expressive builds, 7 minute to 9 minute songs that slowly crawl from their reserved openings into full spectrum pieces of pure audio bliss. Takaakira 'Taka' Goto and Yoda’s guitars gets the Albini fuzz while Tamaki’s bass throbs beside the electronic drumming and the orchestral brilliance of tracks such as the propulsive Run On.
Oath strives to answer the question of “What Are We Doing Here?” what is our purpose? How do we make the most of the time we have. It’s existential which explains my pontificating at the beginning of this review, but while being existential the band intended focus on joy, that we are all one with the universe and that should inspire and comfort us, much like how this music does. As Hear The Wind Sing uses silence and space to create beauty a song such as Hourglass keeps the state of transcendence high with the shortest runtime moving into Moonlight Drawing another tearjerker which comes from the orchestral beginnings into post rock ambience, layering towards release at the climax.
Oath strives to answer the question of “What Are We Doing Here?” what is our purpose? How do we make the most of the time we have. It’s existential which explains my pontificating at the beginning of this review, but while being existential the band intended focus on joy, that we are all one with the universe and that should inspire and comfort us, much like how this music does. As Hear The Wind Sing uses silence and space to create beauty a song such as Hourglass keeps the state of transcendence high with the shortest runtime moving into Moonlight Drawing another tearjerker which comes from the orchestral beginnings into post rock ambience, layering towards release at the climax.
As Time Goes By closed out Oath, I have to admit an record hasn’t affected me like this in a long time, the beginning damn near broke me but the rest of the record was a tonic for the soul. Mono continue to be more than just a band, they’re an entire movement. 10/10
Horseburner - Voice Of Storms (Blues Funeral Recordings)
Think that Mastodon peaked with Blood Mountain or that Baroness lost their way after Blue Record? Then let me introduce to you Horseburner, having been around since 2009, they play that conceptual style of progressive sludge, steeped in Americana, linking them to both the bands I mentioned. 2019 was their last album The Thief and this saw them improve exponentially as a band, adding the expansive progressive flavours to their stoner/sludge.
After a long time in gestation, Voice Of Storms is their newest chapter, and again they have built an album that is prime period Mastodon or Baroness, dual vocals from Jack Thomas (guitar/keys) and Adam Noble (drums), are strong and used brilliantly like their Atlanta influence, the riffs are gutsy with Thomas and Matt Strobel counterpointing each other with start stop playing, the fuzz is heavy but then so are the melodic cleans. Ryan Aliff’s bass grumbles and gurns beneath the duelling guitars of The Gift. As the first track on the record it tells you a lot about what to expect from Horseburner, educating the uninitiated and for those of us who have heard them before, welcoming you back into the heavy psychedelic world of epic music.
Horseburner lean much more heavily on their progressive side with Voice Of Storms, Nohe and Aliff keeping the sludge/stoner grooves coming on Heaven’s Eye but the harmonised guitars do their thing again. It’s ambitious and accomplished, but while Mastodon and Baroness have perhaps mellowed, or become a bit more accessible, Horseburner aren’t afraid to be obtuse and angular in their delivery on Palisades for instance. That said there is a touch of the anthemic on Hidden Bridges where there’s a rhythmic psych rock grooves and more Allman Brothers-like harmonies. Voice Of Storms carries the torch for the era they were formed in but keeps them marching forward towards more epic circles with tracks such as Window. Crushing progressive stoner/sludge with southern styled melodies. 8/10
Kvaen - The Formless Fires (Metal Blade Records)
Swedish melodic black metal band Kvaen is the creative work of one man, Jacob Björnfot, yes he has a live band but on record it is just Jacob (and drummer Frederik Andersson) that brings the full force extreme metal of Kvaen to life. From the Northernmost part of Sweden, on the Baltic sea, Kvaen is a record dedicated to the frigid waters, icy tundra’s and transitional heritage of this area.
Horseburner - Voice Of Storms (Blues Funeral Recordings)
Think that Mastodon peaked with Blood Mountain or that Baroness lost their way after Blue Record? Then let me introduce to you Horseburner, having been around since 2009, they play that conceptual style of progressive sludge, steeped in Americana, linking them to both the bands I mentioned. 2019 was their last album The Thief and this saw them improve exponentially as a band, adding the expansive progressive flavours to their stoner/sludge.
After a long time in gestation, Voice Of Storms is their newest chapter, and again they have built an album that is prime period Mastodon or Baroness, dual vocals from Jack Thomas (guitar/keys) and Adam Noble (drums), are strong and used brilliantly like their Atlanta influence, the riffs are gutsy with Thomas and Matt Strobel counterpointing each other with start stop playing, the fuzz is heavy but then so are the melodic cleans. Ryan Aliff’s bass grumbles and gurns beneath the duelling guitars of The Gift. As the first track on the record it tells you a lot about what to expect from Horseburner, educating the uninitiated and for those of us who have heard them before, welcoming you back into the heavy psychedelic world of epic music.
Horseburner lean much more heavily on their progressive side with Voice Of Storms, Nohe and Aliff keeping the sludge/stoner grooves coming on Heaven’s Eye but the harmonised guitars do their thing again. It’s ambitious and accomplished, but while Mastodon and Baroness have perhaps mellowed, or become a bit more accessible, Horseburner aren’t afraid to be obtuse and angular in their delivery on Palisades for instance. That said there is a touch of the anthemic on Hidden Bridges where there’s a rhythmic psych rock grooves and more Allman Brothers-like harmonies. Voice Of Storms carries the torch for the era they were formed in but keeps them marching forward towards more epic circles with tracks such as Window. Crushing progressive stoner/sludge with southern styled melodies. 8/10
Kvaen - The Formless Fires (Metal Blade Records)
Swedish melodic black metal band Kvaen is the creative work of one man, Jacob Björnfot, yes he has a live band but on record it is just Jacob (and drummer Frederik Andersson) that brings the full force extreme metal of Kvaen to life. From the Northernmost part of Sweden, on the Baltic sea, Kvaen is a record dedicated to the frigid waters, icy tundra’s and transitional heritage of this area.
Immersed in Viking culture and weather phenomena, this is record for winter released in the summer. Icy blasts of black metal riffs, glacial double kicks and frostbitten vocal shouts make for all the hallmarks of the black metal bands from further North but Jacob also adds the melodic, technical guitar playing of his countries death metal scene. Sebastian Ramstedt (Necrophobic) and Chaq Mol (Dark Funeral) playing some guest solos on the album too.
The Formless Fires is the third record from Kvaen and its another set of songs that are an ode to the natural world and shun the big city in favour of the introverted and peaceful agricultural existence. His fascination with mythology, ancient rituals are all explored through the eight songs on this album. Björnfot praising his recent touring with Insomnium as the catalyst for a lot of the intense guitar playing on this album, making for a black metal sound that is intense and bitter on tracks such as Basilisk, but has clean guitars shredding on The Ancient Gods, gloomy atmospheres on The Perpetual Darkness and more death metal chugs on De Dödas Sång. The Formless Fires consists of tuneful tracks, rich in Scandi mythos and mayhem, it’s a melodic black metal feast. 7/10
The Formless Fires is the third record from Kvaen and its another set of songs that are an ode to the natural world and shun the big city in favour of the introverted and peaceful agricultural existence. His fascination with mythology, ancient rituals are all explored through the eight songs on this album. Björnfot praising his recent touring with Insomnium as the catalyst for a lot of the intense guitar playing on this album, making for a black metal sound that is intense and bitter on tracks such as Basilisk, but has clean guitars shredding on The Ancient Gods, gloomy atmospheres on The Perpetual Darkness and more death metal chugs on De Dödas Sång. The Formless Fires consists of tuneful tracks, rich in Scandi mythos and mayhem, it’s a melodic black metal feast. 7/10
Zu – The Lost Demo (Subsound Records)
What the heck is jazzcore? Well from what I surmise, it’s Primus with saxophone. Well at least that’s what Zu are. Italian musicians that have collaborated with everyone from Mike Patton to Thurston Moore, The Melvins, to Dälek, Fugazi to Steve McKay of The Stooges and theatre director Romeo Castellucci. Their avantgarde sound is firmly in a genre of one.
What the heck is jazzcore? Well from what I surmise, it’s Primus with saxophone. Well at least that’s what Zu are. Italian musicians that have collaborated with everyone from Mike Patton to Thurston Moore, The Melvins, to Dälek, Fugazi to Steve McKay of The Stooges and theatre director Romeo Castellucci. Their avantgarde sound is firmly in a genre of one.
Having released 15 albums since 1995, they have teamed with Subsound records to re-release their 1996 demo. These are the earliest explorations for Luca Mai (alto sax), Massimo Pupillo (bass) and Jacopo Battaglia (drums) as a trio, roughly produced but weird as all hell, defiantly going against the grain with a musical concoction that only the creative types I mentioned earlier would know what to do with.
Their demo tape was circulated so much that even the band didn’t have a copy of it but, when one was found, intact it was digitalized and mastered by Andrea Secchi at Forward Studios, though originally recorded r and mastered by Giampaolo Felici, it retains the D.I.Y sound of the cassette but now is much more accessible.
So after 25 years is it listenable, well that depends if you like jazzcore? If crashing drums, thick rolling basslines and paring sax thrown together with progressive time signatures and plenty of audio shenanigans, gives you a warm fuzzy feeling then go right back to the beginning with Zu. 6/10
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