Pijn - From Low Beams Of Hope (Floodlit Recordings)
Instrumental band Pijn are at the turning point of their career, eight years in they have seen their stock rise due to their creative brilliance and by being unafraid to experiment, be it the re-imagining of their debut album Loss from 2020, expanding on their 2018 debut or the Curse These Metal Hands collaboration with Conjurer, they have become known as an innovative, perception altering unit who try to live up to the heady sounds pioneered by bands such as Mono, Pelican, Russian Circles and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.The work on this four track, 45 minute opus began in 2019, the record having to be recorded twice due to line up changes but this ability to re-work, rewrite and replay the songs with different members has led to a level of refinement many bands cannot achieve, it’s also meant they have produced and accompanying ambient EP which takes themes from the record and uses them in a more minimalist, stripped back way. It’s this level of detail, this attention to how music should be interpreted that makes From Low Beams Of Hope such a beguiling all-consuming listen.
Despite there being no vocals this album, other than the poem on the first track and some voice recordings and snippets of a band in more vulnerable, human moments. Their music says more than words ever could and while Floodlit and Loss were about grief and how to deal with that, here its’ a focus on life in all its unique, often confusing, beauty and how even in the darkest times there’s hope, melancholy is good, and strewn throughout the album, but only if it’s focussed onto something that will improve the state of mind.
From Low Beams Of Hope will improve any state of mind, it’s audio catharsis and to me stands alongside the new Mono record as one of the most impressive post-rock record of 2024. Musically taken to a more widescreen approach, especially on A Thousand Tired Lives, where the guitars, bass, cello and violin intertwine in wondrous unison, keys glisten beneath the wall of sound, sax slinks and the drums bind it all together with a sense of urgency and a heartbeat. Self-written, recorded, produced and released, Pijn ascend From The Low Beams Of Hope to the highest reaches of majesty on this third album. 9/10
Rob Harrison - Explode My Head (Self Released)
Influenced by The Groundhogs, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Syd Barrett, King Crimson and many more from the weird and wonderful fringes of experimental rock music. Explode My Head is a solo record from Rob Harrison, known to anyone in the local scene as a member of Attercopus and Z Machine he's also a regular of bands such as Mascot Moth and The Felix Subway Band.
Rob is a guitar player first and foremost inspired by Tony McPhee he also provides vocals alongside playing flute and saxophone. Those two influenced by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull and Ian East of Gong. Under the tutelage of East during the pandemic he improved his sax life enough to attempt a solo album. Explode My Head is that debut album, Rob leaning on his inspirations to write an album that is first and foremost for him. Paying homage to his favourite bands, more Syd Barrett worship, Harrison plays all the guitars, saxophones, flutes, bass on the record as well as vocals and sound effects of which there are many.
A deeply personal record, it is hard work if you're not a fan of the crossover, fusion sound of a virtuoso going wherever his mind takes him but if you stick with it you'll get an intimate look at the weird world of Rob Harrison. With him playing most of the music there's a lot of guest who join, there are two violinists; Julia from Who Knows Sound and Jess Townsend, two cellists; Polina Faustova and Tom McCluskey, and a choir. The drums are mainly handled by Eliseo Salaverri, though Lloyd Stratford plays on A Fragile Harmony Of Desires. Pedro Vieira supplies the piano and Ian East himself joins to give flute and bass clarinet. Accompanying the album is a series of brilliantly animated videos all by Rob, again using Avant Garde art and more than a whiff of Peter Gabriel.
Explode My Head will do just that, progressive rock fusion that will surprise and excite. 8/10
Dactyl Terra - Fee Fi Fo Fum (Self Released)
Fee Fi Fo Fum is the debut album from retro psych rockers Dactyl Terra. Self recorded and released this D.I.Y Cardiff outfit fly their freak flag proudly with 10 tracks that dig themselves into a some heavy 60's grooves. Jangly guitars, buzzing riffs, odd synth patterns, harmony vocals and instrumental jam sections where the foursome lock in to some tight grooves.
Influences stem from leaders of that scene such as Syd Barrett (Intergalactic Eyeballs) and The Pretty Things, alongside Caravan and Soft Machine of that touted Canterbury scene. These Welsh youngsters paying homage in the best possible way they can on their full length debut.
As well as these throwbacks to a time well before they were born there's also a well mined seam of 90's indie psych (I mean probably also before they were born), the time where bands such as Primal Scream, The Stone Roses and Wales own Super Furry Animals ruled the world, these can be heard on a tracks such as Floating Island and Cheeseburger.
Fee Fi Fo Fum is tribute to a by gone age, music from two eras with a 30 year span, recorded and played another 30 years later. If all that makes you feel extremely old, don't worry as you can just get lost in the paisley and patchouli of Dactyl Terra and their modern retro moods. 8/10
Sarmates - Sarmates (Self Released)
Sarmates are a French(?) band who play metal alongside some traditional musical influences, much like Breed 77, Alien Weaponry, The Hu, VIC and even Soulfly/Sepultura they have blended a few different styles and use an instrument called a Sarmata, which is a hybrid instrument tuned in quarter tones, which allows them to add Oriental and Persian music.
They travel the The Silk Road with their music, calling them a Steppes metal band. For those uninitiated the Steppes is the region between what is modern day Ukraine and China. The songs and music are inspired by the people and ancient stories from Central Asia (Scythians, Huns, Mongols). As well as their collective travel experiences, the Persian poet Rumi and a poem by Maria Tsvetaeva. Singing in English, Slavic, Turkish and Persian they also use Jew's harp, the sax and throat singing alongside the Sarmatas and the normal metal band instruments.
So what does this all mean? What does the album actually sound like? Well kind of like Metallica on Another Way and Wherever You Are, a bit like Breed 77 on Zatmenia Gorad but mainly it's thrash-like heavy metal (Fallen Angels) that's augmented by the other instruments to broaden the sound. Gün (lead guitar), Antonio Xenfeild (bass) and Jeremy Marie (drums) take the bulk of the riffs, as Davoriin Sirok plays that Sarmata alongside Laurent Broda who also brings some great vocals. This debut album takes a little while to fully connect but when it does, it's an interesting, innovative metal album. 7/10
Fee Fi Fo Fum is the debut album from retro psych rockers Dactyl Terra. Self recorded and released this D.I.Y Cardiff outfit fly their freak flag proudly with 10 tracks that dig themselves into a some heavy 60's grooves. Jangly guitars, buzzing riffs, odd synth patterns, harmony vocals and instrumental jam sections where the foursome lock in to some tight grooves.
Influences stem from leaders of that scene such as Syd Barrett (Intergalactic Eyeballs) and The Pretty Things, alongside Caravan and Soft Machine of that touted Canterbury scene. These Welsh youngsters paying homage in the best possible way they can on their full length debut.
As well as these throwbacks to a time well before they were born there's also a well mined seam of 90's indie psych (I mean probably also before they were born), the time where bands such as Primal Scream, The Stone Roses and Wales own Super Furry Animals ruled the world, these can be heard on a tracks such as Floating Island and Cheeseburger.
Fee Fi Fo Fum is tribute to a by gone age, music from two eras with a 30 year span, recorded and played another 30 years later. If all that makes you feel extremely old, don't worry as you can just get lost in the paisley and patchouli of Dactyl Terra and their modern retro moods. 8/10
Sarmates - Sarmates (Self Released)
Sarmates are a French(?) band who play metal alongside some traditional musical influences, much like Breed 77, Alien Weaponry, The Hu, VIC and even Soulfly/Sepultura they have blended a few different styles and use an instrument called a Sarmata, which is a hybrid instrument tuned in quarter tones, which allows them to add Oriental and Persian music.
They travel the The Silk Road with their music, calling them a Steppes metal band. For those uninitiated the Steppes is the region between what is modern day Ukraine and China. The songs and music are inspired by the people and ancient stories from Central Asia (Scythians, Huns, Mongols). As well as their collective travel experiences, the Persian poet Rumi and a poem by Maria Tsvetaeva. Singing in English, Slavic, Turkish and Persian they also use Jew's harp, the sax and throat singing alongside the Sarmatas and the normal metal band instruments.
So what does this all mean? What does the album actually sound like? Well kind of like Metallica on Another Way and Wherever You Are, a bit like Breed 77 on Zatmenia Gorad but mainly it's thrash-like heavy metal (Fallen Angels) that's augmented by the other instruments to broaden the sound. Gün (lead guitar), Antonio Xenfeild (bass) and Jeremy Marie (drums) take the bulk of the riffs, as Davoriin Sirok plays that Sarmata alongside Laurent Broda who also brings some great vocals. This debut album takes a little while to fully connect but when it does, it's an interesting, innovative metal album. 7/10
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