Still - A Theft (Floodlit Recordings) [Mark Young]
A Theft is the second album from Still and I’ll be honest I wasn’t prepared for how it was going to turn out. The accompanying notes made mention of it landing in different genres whilst bringing a blackened pall to proceedings and you think, well we’ve read this before etc. The opening strings to Yearn tell you its going to be different.
Very different as it just detonates with this expanse of rage. It sounds huge and it continually shifts, not allowing the listener to become comfortable with it or to be able to anticipate and second guess what they will do next. The closing strings bring a tension, an audible stretching of the nerves and it reminds me of the best Horror films where something like this normally announces that an incredible amount of blood is about to spilt. The only clue you have is the song titles. Each one suggests that we are about to enter a dark space with no light to guide us.
Only Time Will Tell brings their own take on what dark music should sound like, there is a jarring approach to their guitar lines that keep you on edge whilst those tortured vocals claw through. Its brilliant and sounds like nobody else, at least to what I am used to. And I’m not used to this at all.
Only Time Will Tell brings their own take on what dark music should sound like, there is a jarring approach to their guitar lines that keep you on edge whilst those tortured vocals claw through. Its brilliant and sounds like nobody else, at least to what I am used to. And I’m not used to this at all.
The way that they use conventional methods of attack i.e. the propulsive drumming on Light that acts as the primary instrument instead of guitar, constantly moving everything forward whilst the guitar is employed to provide base embellishment is something to behold. Everything that their press notes said is true. Their guitar lines do not follow convention, they just are what they are and somehow, they make the whole thing fit together when it shouldn’t.
Oscillate is brief, thankfully so and leads us into the void as Life Eclipses Living starts its painfully slow movement as the guitar rings out, degrading into feedback and then it begins. The early manic feel is replaced by a glacial arrangement, equally measured and furious at the same time. This is a difficult thing to review as I have no real frame of reference to compare against. There is no change in mood, its colour is black.
Oscillate is brief, thankfully so and leads us into the void as Life Eclipses Living starts its painfully slow movement as the guitar rings out, degrading into feedback and then it begins. The early manic feel is replaced by a glacial arrangement, equally measured and furious at the same time. This is a difficult thing to review as I have no real frame of reference to compare against. There is no change in mood, its colour is black.
Small Mercies Of Falling Apart continues that descent into darkness, and its so hard to put into words what it is like to sit and listen to it in much the same way as every other song on here except that you are being let into an inner sanctum where their most private fears and experiences are being aired for your entertainment. Unresolved is the final act, and to its credit does nothing to lighten the mood. Every guitar strike, every drum hit is the audio equivalent of pulling diseased layers of skin back from a wound.
In all honesty this has been one of the hardest reviews I’ve done. That blackened pall that descends at the beginning doesn’t shift an inch. In trying to review it as I would normally do, well that failed really. This is something that you will either get from the start or not at all.
All I can say is that there are bands out there who when describing their sound as coming from a dark space should listen to this and then think again. It is a piece of art that comes from a place that I don’t want to visit, and Still should be rightfully applauded for committing those feelings to tape. 9/10
Wizard Must Die - L'Or Des Fous (Klonosphere Records) [Rich Piva]
There is a lot happening on the new record, L'Or Des Fous, from the French prog/psych/stoner band Wizard Must Die. There are a number of instruments, a bunch of styles, all sorts of tempo changes, and an abundance of vibes on the six tracks. Most of this is really good stuff, where some of it can make the record drag a bit, giving the feeling the record is a lot longer than its 47 or so minutes. The good mostly outweighs the band, so dive in and see where this murderous plot takes you. Proggy stoner is where we go first with The Breach, as we get some chunky and killer riffs along side a quite-loud-quiet dynamic and some Hum inspired post rock vibes too to give us what is my favourite track on the record right off the bat.
In all honesty this has been one of the hardest reviews I’ve done. That blackened pall that descends at the beginning doesn’t shift an inch. In trying to review it as I would normally do, well that failed really. This is something that you will either get from the start or not at all.
All I can say is that there are bands out there who when describing their sound as coming from a dark space should listen to this and then think again. It is a piece of art that comes from a place that I don’t want to visit, and Still should be rightfully applauded for committing those feelings to tape. 9/10
Wizard Must Die - L'Or Des Fous (Klonosphere Records) [Rich Piva]
There is a lot happening on the new record, L'Or Des Fous, from the French prog/psych/stoner band Wizard Must Die. There are a number of instruments, a bunch of styles, all sorts of tempo changes, and an abundance of vibes on the six tracks. Most of this is really good stuff, where some of it can make the record drag a bit, giving the feeling the record is a lot longer than its 47 or so minutes. The good mostly outweighs the band, so dive in and see where this murderous plot takes you. Proggy stoner is where we go first with The Breach, as we get some chunky and killer riffs along side a quite-loud-quiet dynamic and some Hum inspired post rock vibes too to give us what is my favourite track on the record right off the bat.
The twelve-minute The Disappearance Of Camille Saint-Saëns is where we start to bring the length and complexity, as the song starts off as some straight ahead heavy stoner goodness with more riffs in the first seven or so minutes than you think you can fit in that time until the breaks are slammed down in the form of some minimalist piano to grind us to a halt, transitioning to a final four minutes of part jangly guitar and voice and some more crunch, creating a sort of multiple movement arrangement over the length of the track.
Flight 19 has some amazing drum work and some more great riffs. Is it too on the nose to mention Gojira when reviewing another band from France? Well, I did it anyway. That is until the echoey and layered vocals come at you when all slows a bit, but then builds to more of those monster (ha ha) riffs. Good stuff. Closer To The Edge is a sparce guitar and voice interlude that does rock a bit towards the back half (long interlude at four minutes, but to me still an interlude, given the other compositions on the record) that leads to the title track with a Cantrell inspired riff and more post rock Hum and maybe Failure vibes too that works extremely well.
The closer, Clouds Are Not Spheres, continues this vibe to start until the back end goes almost Krautrock until the band looks at each other and decides to rip it up as they take it home, even though I would have left off the last three minutes or so that brings the sax to the party. Wizard Must Die don’t take any shortcuts on L'Or Des Fous. Yeah, it probably could be five minutes or so shorter to eliminate any ideas of dragging, and I didn’t need the saxophone part, but that really doesn’t take too much away from the fact that L'Or Des Fous is a heavy and complex record that will challenge you and rock you at the same time. 8/10
Septaria - Astar (Klonosphere Records) [Liam Williams]
Here we have the debut album Astar from post-progressive metal quartet Septaria. I have to say, considering this is the bands first full length studio album, they’ve done a pretty damn good job! They combine some nice heavy progressive metal sounds with some more ambient post-hardcore sections. The songs flow from one track to the next almost effortlessly and considering it’s over an hour long in total length, it certainly doesn’t feel like it when you are listening to it.
The album starts with a 7 and a half minute track, Moment Presént, which opens with some nice acoustic guitars which is joined by a bit of bass. When the full band comes in, things kick off and there’s some great screaming along with some chuggy prog riffs. Halfway through there’s a calmer section with a nice bassline which is joined by some clean guitars which then builds up for the final chorus and outro. Track 2, Centaure, starts off very heavy. Some nice guitar harmonics and some truly epic drumming. There’s a calmer section with some nice clean vocals which builds up to a much heavier part with some really chaotic drumming and some nice use of an octave effect for the guitars for the outro.
Psyché is up next, this track jumps from calm to heavy back and forth and has a really cool bridge section with some more epic scream vocals with a choir doing some backing vocals. Then we get to Abyss, a shorter instrumental track with some ambient background noises like waves, synth and some sort of droning noise. This track starts and ends with some nice clean guitars but the middle section with the full band features some really great playing from everyone. After that little instrumental break we’re back for another epic track, Sagittarius.
Here we have the debut album Astar from post-progressive metal quartet Septaria. I have to say, considering this is the bands first full length studio album, they’ve done a pretty damn good job! They combine some nice heavy progressive metal sounds with some more ambient post-hardcore sections. The songs flow from one track to the next almost effortlessly and considering it’s over an hour long in total length, it certainly doesn’t feel like it when you are listening to it.
The album starts with a 7 and a half minute track, Moment Presént, which opens with some nice acoustic guitars which is joined by a bit of bass. When the full band comes in, things kick off and there’s some great screaming along with some chuggy prog riffs. Halfway through there’s a calmer section with a nice bassline which is joined by some clean guitars which then builds up for the final chorus and outro. Track 2, Centaure, starts off very heavy. Some nice guitar harmonics and some truly epic drumming. There’s a calmer section with some nice clean vocals which builds up to a much heavier part with some really chaotic drumming and some nice use of an octave effect for the guitars for the outro.
Psyché is up next, this track jumps from calm to heavy back and forth and has a really cool bridge section with some more epic scream vocals with a choir doing some backing vocals. Then we get to Abyss, a shorter instrumental track with some ambient background noises like waves, synth and some sort of droning noise. This track starts and ends with some nice clean guitars but the middle section with the full band features some really great playing from everyone. After that little instrumental break we’re back for another epic track, Sagittarius.
This track starts with a very sci-fi sounding clean guitar intro before the band comes in and things get proper heavy! The cool clean guitar from the intro comes back for the outro, although slightly different, but then continues for the following track, the title track of the album, Astar. This track is shorter than it’s predecessor but doesn’t slow things down at all. There’s some nice low clean singing before it builds up and gets heavy for the mid section before a clean riff once again comes in to calm things down a bit.
We have another instrumental song with yet another nice sci-fi sounding clean guitar intro for the next track, Persephone. Another shorter track. Some acoustic guitars and bass come in with the main riff and there’s a clear absence of drums, with the acoustic guitars kind of taking a percussive role for this song. Even when the track does get a bit heavier there is still no drums. The intro riff comes in with some synth to calm things down once again. But things pick up again with the next track, Being.
We have another instrumental song with yet another nice sci-fi sounding clean guitar intro for the next track, Persephone. Another shorter track. Some acoustic guitars and bass come in with the main riff and there’s a clear absence of drums, with the acoustic guitars kind of taking a percussive role for this song. Even when the track does get a bit heavier there is still no drums. The intro riff comes in with some synth to calm things down once again. But things pick up again with the next track, Being.
This is a long one, lasting just under 10 minutes. But wow, again some great playing. Some ominous droning vocals. There’s a calmer bridge section but things get heavy again for the outro. The next track, Nocturne is a continuation of Being, really heavy an some nice duel guitar action before ending with the sound of a crackling fire leading into Embers. This track has a really cool intro, some great vocal parts broken up by some more excellent instrumental sections with more duel guitars and a marching band sound towards the end before another calmer outro comes in to end the track.
Skys Words starts with the same outro riff from Embers. This track is another chaotic prog masterpiece. It switches up so much that it keeps you guessing what’s coming next and when you think you know what’s coming it switches again. Really great track, great vocals, great playing, just epic in general! Finally we come to the last track of the album, Psithurism. A really nice acoustic instrumental track which has a similar vibe to Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath. A nice calmer song to end the album on.
It still blows my mind that this is the bands first album. It’s well written, well performed, well mixed. A great first effort from these guys. I cannot wait to see how they evolve with whatever comes next! A truly talented bunch. I can’t think of a single criticism for this whole album. An absolute masterpiece! 10/10
Hollowkin - Confessions & Failures (Self Released) [GC]
Having formed back in 2023, UK based Hollowkin have decided to do the decent thing and release EP Confession & Failures as their first release, I always feel an EP is the perfect way to introduce yourself to the world, a short sharp shock to the system and if its good you look forward to the album, if not then you haven’t wasted much of your time on it! So, with that in mind, let’s see what Hollowkin has to offer.
Tomorrow At Dawn is something that no EP or album, needs an intro, just get on with it or include it as part of your song, pointless and annoying start, thankfully A Pilgrimage does burst into life and has a whiff of tech/djent and then drops into a melodic sparse section but unfortunately they decide to add some singing in and I am sorry to say this but it’s just awful and the track has now fallen back into the more echoey parts and then when another melodic section rears its head, the promising start is forgotten and I’m glad when its over, Leech is a better track and has a groove working its way through the track but for seriously, can we please stop with the singing on these tracks, its awful and just ruins everything, if you need to do it then get someone who can actually sing please? when they actually concentrate on what they are good at they are capable of some decent enough stuff but it seems they don’t concentrate on their sound enough.
Skys Words starts with the same outro riff from Embers. This track is another chaotic prog masterpiece. It switches up so much that it keeps you guessing what’s coming next and when you think you know what’s coming it switches again. Really great track, great vocals, great playing, just epic in general! Finally we come to the last track of the album, Psithurism. A really nice acoustic instrumental track which has a similar vibe to Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath. A nice calmer song to end the album on.
It still blows my mind that this is the bands first album. It’s well written, well performed, well mixed. A great first effort from these guys. I cannot wait to see how they evolve with whatever comes next! A truly talented bunch. I can’t think of a single criticism for this whole album. An absolute masterpiece! 10/10
Hollowkin - Confessions & Failures (Self Released) [GC]
Having formed back in 2023, UK based Hollowkin have decided to do the decent thing and release EP Confession & Failures as their first release, I always feel an EP is the perfect way to introduce yourself to the world, a short sharp shock to the system and if its good you look forward to the album, if not then you haven’t wasted much of your time on it! So, with that in mind, let’s see what Hollowkin has to offer.
Tomorrow At Dawn is something that no EP or album, needs an intro, just get on with it or include it as part of your song, pointless and annoying start, thankfully A Pilgrimage does burst into life and has a whiff of tech/djent and then drops into a melodic sparse section but unfortunately they decide to add some singing in and I am sorry to say this but it’s just awful and the track has now fallen back into the more echoey parts and then when another melodic section rears its head, the promising start is forgotten and I’m glad when its over, Leech is a better track and has a groove working its way through the track but for seriously, can we please stop with the singing on these tracks, its awful and just ruins everything, if you need to do it then get someone who can actually sing please? when they actually concentrate on what they are good at they are capable of some decent enough stuff but it seems they don’t concentrate on their sound enough.
The Devil In Your Garden takes a while to get going and when it does its an ok groove metal track that has the staccato riffing and solid drum work you would expect but it doesn’t really blow you away or stand out from the crowd in any way, it’s like you have heard it all before and you just feel yourself waiting for the inevitable singing that will ruin the song and of course it’s there and is a massive part of this track, Thankfully In Heresy is the last track as I’m quickly getting bored of Confession & Failures and this track doesn’t really do anything to convince me otherwise, its more of the same middle of the road groove metal that follows the same path all the songs on this EP have so far, so it is an overall underwhelming ending.
Some of Confessions & Failures was good and most of it was just ok and some parts of it made me want to cut my ears off. I think they may need re-think on their style as for me it just does not work or make me want to listen to anything else they may release as the overall feeling I had was that I just wanted to turn it off, nothing really inspired or made me think there was something decent there and I don’t want to bang on about it but, those clean vocals need to be binned off or someone else needs to do them because as harsh as it sounds they ruined all of the songs for me. It all added up to an uninspired and bland listen that needs a lot of work going forward. 3/10
Some of Confessions & Failures was good and most of it was just ok and some parts of it made me want to cut my ears off. I think they may need re-think on their style as for me it just does not work or make me want to listen to anything else they may release as the overall feeling I had was that I just wanted to turn it off, nothing really inspired or made me think there was something decent there and I don’t want to bang on about it but, those clean vocals need to be binned off or someone else needs to do them because as harsh as it sounds they ruined all of the songs for me. It all added up to an uninspired and bland listen that needs a lot of work going forward. 3/10
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