Reviews: Marjana Semika, Tri State Corner, Toom, Zeromancer (Reviews By Matt Bladen & Paul Hutchings)

Marjana Semika - Disillusioned (Kscope) [Matt Bladen]

iamthemorning vocalist Marjana Semkina, returns with her second solo release Disillusioned. Much like her first solo effort and indeed her band, there is a cauldron of chamber music, electronica, ambient and baroque influences throughout as acts like Kate Bush, Bjork and even Enya are all brought to mind. Disillusioned opens with the lilting Friend which is one of three new tracks on this album all of which display Semika's penchant for emotive, haunting layered vocals over some introspective musical soundscapes provided by musicians, Grigoriy Losenkov (piano, keyboards, bass guitar), Vlad Avy (guitar) and Svetlana Shumkova (drums, percussion). 

On the title they bring a feel of bands like The Reasoning and Mostly Autumn which are traditional, arty prog songs. The three of her own songs are all quite similar soundwise, very much in Mariana's signature style her band's playing  accompanied by a the wonderfully deft string quartet who imbue this EP with magic. The two other songs on the album are both covers, Ne Hagyj Itt is originally by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók and is sung in Hungarian while the ethereal Land Míns Föður is a poem written by Jóhannes úr Kötlum with music by Þórarins Guðmundsson. This isn't metal, it's not rock but it is beautifully evocative music. 7/10  

Tri State Corner - Stereotype (Drakkar Entertainment) [Paul Hutchings]

With a wealth of experience including over 600 live shows in 22 Countries on three continents and five releases, the Bouzouki rock of Tri State Corner should possibly be more well-known than they are. The main reason they may not be is because their music is a rather acquired taste, although don’t take that as my dismissal of the band because one listen to their latest release hits plenty of buttons. I admit that given my marital history, the Bouzouki is hardly my favoured musical instrument, but I’m certainly prepared to give this plenty of airtime. The fusion of cultures, including Greek, German and Polish is evident although there is a real melodic rock feel throughout the album that transcends nations. 

The mixture of hard rock with melancholic themes and the utilisation of such a distinctive instrument as the Bouzouki is strangely something that shouldn’t work as well as it does on this release. It’s a serious fusion of cultures, and the quality of the musicianship is what really impresses. With a social commentary on today’s society, Tri State Corner also do the emotional track with Green Eyed Monster, one of the weaker songs on this release. Elsewhere there’s plenty if you like the melodic rock side of things, with songs including Run Away, Pride Before A Fall and the slightly Mordred flavoured Another Man’s Fall all worth a listen. This won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it’s certainly an album which is enjoyable from start to finish. 7/10

Toom – Behold the Basilisk (APF Records) [Paul Hutchings]

This is quite the unusual release. A four-track EP, recorded back in 2010 in SAE studios in London on one evening, by three-piece Toom, who were only temporarily in existence. Never released, for some reason APF Records have taken a punt and now produced a copy which demonstrates the doom and stoner that influences the trio of Teddy-James Driscoll, Jus Smith, and Jack Newnham when they formed Toom in 2007. (They are now members of meadows/Telepathy, Purson/Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Old Man Lizard/Slabdragger - Ed)

Raw, naïve but with slabs of heavy riffs, the band were clearly influenced by the likes of Mastodon, High On Fire, Sleep and Sabbath. The introductory track, Snake Chalmers leads to the first of three sludgy, concrete heavy songs, There’s Nothing Cute About Cobras. Who the hell said there was? Anyway, the track lumbers along, and whilst its okay, there’s nothing that really grabs the attention. The same can be said of the following two songs, the seven-minute Mandark and the slightly more gripping and grittier Decapodiformes. The latter has wave after wave of punishing riffing, some rather jarring and harrowing breakdowns and a galloping finale that at least ends the EP on a high.

I can’t say that I was captivated by it in any great measure; in fact, my attention was wandering at times whilst it roared away. As I said, raw stuff, and as the band describe it, a time capsule back to a long weekend. I’m not sure who will be lured into picking up a copy, but it’s got some minor charm. 6/10

Zeromancer - Orchestra Of Knives (Trisol Music Group) [Matt Bladen]

For 20 years Norwegian band Zeromancer have been pumping out electronic rock. Primed with hatfuls of synths and pulsating drumbeats, they have been getting a groove growing long before the current synthwave revival placing them firmly in the industrial sound of Gary Numan, KMFDM or Depeche Mode along with a few touches of Steven Wilson or the Krautrock sound of Neu! Damned La Monde has a hooky chorus coming from a darkly driven verse, the darkness of this record a big feature as it lyrically and thematically with life death, darkness and hope. 

Relying on just drums, bass guitar and programming for the instrumentals Zeromancer manage to create a record where no two tracks sound the same, each individually showing how experienced this band are. The bass is primarily a lead instrumental driving a lot of the rhythms with the drums in accompaniment. It's a persistent mechanical sound that is augmented by the electronic elements, the throbbing Birthday setting the band up for a party to cry at, it's followed by anthemic Terminal Love and the relentless march of Worth Less Than Deutsche Marks To Me. A brooding, razor sharp slice of electronic/industrial rock from these Norwegian scene stalwarts. Get gothed up and throw some sad shapes. 7/10