Connor Selby is a British singer/songwriter who plays American music. The style born and raised in the Mississippi Delta is captured by the rootsy vocals of Selby and a band full of slinky guitar, Fender Rhodes/Hammond B3, a brass section and soulful backing vocal.
Someone sets out the stall early with a breezy blues vibe, Selby's vocal stealing the show as the band roll out the changes, shifting towards more soul on All Out Of Luck. However things get really deep on The Truth Comes Out Eventually, on this new record Connor gets more personal than ever, the idea of living in a world you don't understand and having to translate that through music, which he does with some dreamy guitar and parping brass on smoky, lovelorn ballad.
The establishment seems to think Selby is worthy of carrying the legacy of the blues having collaborated with Mark Knoffler, toured with Beth Hart, Robert Cray, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and even The Who, and on the back of this record it's very hard to argue as Connor really sets things alight with this new record. Like with one Mr Bonamassa, Selby handles vocals and guitar, his voice and fretwork both impressive but he, like Joey Bones has transformed into a band leader here.
Like so many bluesmen of old, there's a certain a level of respect you curate when you have full suite of musicians surrounding you, a brass section, the backing singers and of course a traditional 'band', this is Selby claiming his place in that pantheon, if this record is him trying to fight that "feeling of not necessarily being able to live up to people's expectations" then he's doing so as a master of his craft.
His battles with mental health are discussed here, his lost loves, his feelings of isolation, all superbly sighted through some of the best roots, blues, R&B, soul and folk this side of The Atlantic. From Clarksdale to Chelmsford, the impact of this music can be felt worldwide and Connor Selby is the newest vessel for the belly of the blues. 9/10
Trudger - Void Quest (Floodlit Recordings)
Something's stirring in Barnsley, something that hasn't stirred for a long time, after an absence of 11 years the death sludge of Trudger emerge from slumber to steamroll everyone again.
Having been cult heroes on the underground scene back then, they never officially disbanded but ended up in other bands, (they share members with Dvne) and doing people things but time changes things and now Trudger are back to reclaim the underground with the second album Void Quest.
So what is an album eleven years in the making actually like? Well the band describe it as "neo-crust sci-fi death sludge" and that's a pretty decent way to refer to it, maybe they should go into this journalism lark. This is sludge that bends and shapes itself into other forms, the blend of hardcore with prog and gutsy, gnarly riffage that is all wrapped up in 35 minutes.
After waiting so long you may think the band will have been wanted to flex their muscles a little but they have opted brevity and brutality over long winded expressionism. With nods to Mastodon, Baroness and Red Fang, Trudger threaten and corale you into listening to their noises, the production of Joe Clayton and mastering from Brad Boatright giving it their trademark rawness.
Also the band decided to record the record backwards, i.e drums last they focus on the guitars being the main driver of the rhythms not the drums. Lyrically inspired by humans being penchant for self destruction and fantasy hack-n-slash video games, Void Quest announces the loud return of this four piece, rather than pick out individual songs, I'll let you experience Trudger for yourself. 8/10
Asymmetric Universe - A Memory And What Came After (InsideOut Music)
Signing to InsideOut Music in 2024, A Memory And What Came After is the debut from prog fusion duo Asymmetric Universe. The band is formed of the brothers Vese; Federico (guitars, vocals, synthesizers, drums & winds arrangement) and Nicolò (bass, piano, synthesizers, strings & winds arrangement) as you can see they are both multi-instrumentalists and as such their music is extremely complex.
Mixing Djenty influenced prog metal, jazz, ambient and classical music, but they are no newbies having been prolific both with recordings and live shows however this is their first full length record and they are looking to fully realise their sound on a record which is purely instrumental and features some guests from the prog scene who have played their support.
It's Richard Henshall of Haken who appears first giving a guest solo to Coquelicot while Jared Yee is Sungazer supplies some sax to Reaction - Overthrow. Despite them being a two piece, the brothers have a studio band featuring a drummer, sax player, trumpet player and a string section too, so they have a rich expressive sound that fans of Dirty Loops, Snarky Puppy, Sungazer and The Aristocrats will happily jam too.
If instrumental progressive jazz fusion is not your go to music of choice you may find A Memory And What Came After to be a little too hard to access, however if you're down with off kilter grooves and plenty of virtuosity you'll love it. 7/10
Ash Magick - Rituals Of Anathematic East (Apocalyptic Witchcraft Records)
Raw black metal now from Istanbul as Ash Magick bring nine rituals based on their own occult experiences, the 'main' songs separated by an intro, interlude and outro to keep it like a sonic journey through Eastern mysticism that's suffocating and ritualistic.
Rituals Of Anathematic East is their third album and is inspired by Mardin a place of Mesopotamian sorcery and Syriac mysticism, and this whole record features invocation rites inspired be Mardin's history and infamy. Their raw black metal assault perfectly suits Apocalyptic Witchcraft, who delve into the unknown underground to find the most intense examples of extreme metal around.
Bands who may be overlooked or ignored by the majority labels but have their own rich history. The music is ferocious from the start, limited production, that makes for a distorted, hallucinogenic feel. Throat shredding screams, delivering theses pagan sermons as the relentless tremolo riffs and blast beats never cease.
We often talk about various black metal scenes but any band who plays songs of pre-historical belief and comes from a dogmatic society such as the Middle East needs to be recognised, more so that Ash Magick are an exclusively female band, using their music to reclaim much of the feminine representation of history and the importance witchcraft played.
Fierce and ferocious, Ash Magick again invoke savage rituals with album number 3. 7/10
Someone sets out the stall early with a breezy blues vibe, Selby's vocal stealing the show as the band roll out the changes, shifting towards more soul on All Out Of Luck. However things get really deep on The Truth Comes Out Eventually, on this new record Connor gets more personal than ever, the idea of living in a world you don't understand and having to translate that through music, which he does with some dreamy guitar and parping brass on smoky, lovelorn ballad.
The establishment seems to think Selby is worthy of carrying the legacy of the blues having collaborated with Mark Knoffler, toured with Beth Hart, Robert Cray, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and even The Who, and on the back of this record it's very hard to argue as Connor really sets things alight with this new record. Like with one Mr Bonamassa, Selby handles vocals and guitar, his voice and fretwork both impressive but he, like Joey Bones has transformed into a band leader here.
Like so many bluesmen of old, there's a certain a level of respect you curate when you have full suite of musicians surrounding you, a brass section, the backing singers and of course a traditional 'band', this is Selby claiming his place in that pantheon, if this record is him trying to fight that "feeling of not necessarily being able to live up to people's expectations" then he's doing so as a master of his craft.
His battles with mental health are discussed here, his lost loves, his feelings of isolation, all superbly sighted through some of the best roots, blues, R&B, soul and folk this side of The Atlantic. From Clarksdale to Chelmsford, the impact of this music can be felt worldwide and Connor Selby is the newest vessel for the belly of the blues. 9/10
Trudger - Void Quest (Floodlit Recordings)
Something's stirring in Barnsley, something that hasn't stirred for a long time, after an absence of 11 years the death sludge of Trudger emerge from slumber to steamroll everyone again.
Having been cult heroes on the underground scene back then, they never officially disbanded but ended up in other bands, (they share members with Dvne) and doing people things but time changes things and now Trudger are back to reclaim the underground with the second album Void Quest.
So what is an album eleven years in the making actually like? Well the band describe it as "neo-crust sci-fi death sludge" and that's a pretty decent way to refer to it, maybe they should go into this journalism lark. This is sludge that bends and shapes itself into other forms, the blend of hardcore with prog and gutsy, gnarly riffage that is all wrapped up in 35 minutes.
After waiting so long you may think the band will have been wanted to flex their muscles a little but they have opted brevity and brutality over long winded expressionism. With nods to Mastodon, Baroness and Red Fang, Trudger threaten and corale you into listening to their noises, the production of Joe Clayton and mastering from Brad Boatright giving it their trademark rawness.
Also the band decided to record the record backwards, i.e drums last they focus on the guitars being the main driver of the rhythms not the drums. Lyrically inspired by humans being penchant for self destruction and fantasy hack-n-slash video games, Void Quest announces the loud return of this four piece, rather than pick out individual songs, I'll let you experience Trudger for yourself. 8/10
Asymmetric Universe - A Memory And What Came After (InsideOut Music)
Signing to InsideOut Music in 2024, A Memory And What Came After is the debut from prog fusion duo Asymmetric Universe. The band is formed of the brothers Vese; Federico (guitars, vocals, synthesizers, drums & winds arrangement) and Nicolò (bass, piano, synthesizers, strings & winds arrangement) as you can see they are both multi-instrumentalists and as such their music is extremely complex.
Mixing Djenty influenced prog metal, jazz, ambient and classical music, but they are no newbies having been prolific both with recordings and live shows however this is their first full length record and they are looking to fully realise their sound on a record which is purely instrumental and features some guests from the prog scene who have played their support.
It's Richard Henshall of Haken who appears first giving a guest solo to Coquelicot while Jared Yee is Sungazer supplies some sax to Reaction - Overthrow. Despite them being a two piece, the brothers have a studio band featuring a drummer, sax player, trumpet player and a string section too, so they have a rich expressive sound that fans of Dirty Loops, Snarky Puppy, Sungazer and The Aristocrats will happily jam too.
If instrumental progressive jazz fusion is not your go to music of choice you may find A Memory And What Came After to be a little too hard to access, however if you're down with off kilter grooves and plenty of virtuosity you'll love it. 7/10
Ash Magick - Rituals Of Anathematic East (Apocalyptic Witchcraft Records)
Raw black metal now from Istanbul as Ash Magick bring nine rituals based on their own occult experiences, the 'main' songs separated by an intro, interlude and outro to keep it like a sonic journey through Eastern mysticism that's suffocating and ritualistic.
Rituals Of Anathematic East is their third album and is inspired by Mardin a place of Mesopotamian sorcery and Syriac mysticism, and this whole record features invocation rites inspired be Mardin's history and infamy. Their raw black metal assault perfectly suits Apocalyptic Witchcraft, who delve into the unknown underground to find the most intense examples of extreme metal around.
Bands who may be overlooked or ignored by the majority labels but have their own rich history. The music is ferocious from the start, limited production, that makes for a distorted, hallucinogenic feel. Throat shredding screams, delivering theses pagan sermons as the relentless tremolo riffs and blast beats never cease.
We often talk about various black metal scenes but any band who plays songs of pre-historical belief and comes from a dogmatic society such as the Middle East needs to be recognised, more so that Ash Magick are an exclusively female band, using their music to reclaim much of the feminine representation of history and the importance witchcraft played.
Fierce and ferocious, Ash Magick again invoke savage rituals with album number 3. 7/10
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