There aren't too many instances when you come across a properly psychedelic record but my, my if you want some, mind expanding, transcendental, exploration look no further than the new record from Serbian band. Much like Greek band Villagers Of Ioannina City, The Cyclist Conspiracy put out repeating psych rock that features Balkan instruments and World Music influences.
Subsound Records has become a bit of home for the more mystical reaches of the stoner/doom/psych spectrum and The Cyclist Conspiracy do a lot to keep their place out on the fringes in the rarefied air of musical enlightenment. A band that expands from four members to ten, there's a loose collaborative feeling to this whole record, desert rock that expands from the Balkan mountains to the dunes of North Africa and the scorched lands of the Middle East.
Each track on Back To Hermetics And Martial Arts Vol 1 is an album of musically dense, spiritually esoteric, movie themes inspired by composer's such as Morricone (Estrella Mariana), Vangelis (Calice Dei Fantasmi), John Barry (Penga) and Lalo Schifrin (Soften Our Evil Hearts) but also Greek Rebetiko (The Verdant One) and Tibetan chanting (The Throat Ancestors).
Nine instrumental journeys through world music driven by one man's creative vision and a host of musical companions. Back To Hermetics And Martial Arts Vol 1 by The Cyclist Conspiracy is one of the most interesting records I've heard this year. 9/10
male//gaze - Too Late Now (Self Released)
From the Pacific Northwest, Too Late Now is the new EP from 'extreme pop' band male//gaze. This EP they say is about “coming to terms" lyrics exploring memory, loss and self-acceptance, six songs that are about coming to terms with last trauma and coming out the other side.
Fusing hardcore with synth pop, Too Late Now builds from the haunting Falling then explodes into Get Well, the propulsive electronics driving the emotion, as the vocals scream for catharsis. The band have released a full length album, an EP and singles, touring across their region with a unique sound that provides moments of aggressive clarity and melodic vulnerability.
Slaymaxxing for instance sees throttling hardcore spiked with bubblegum pop, it's furious but shifts into the woozy shoegazing of Speak (For Me), Ash's dreamy vocals often joined by Hank's for a harmonious unity. Hank is joined on guitars by Ray, their reverbed chords and fits of distortion make for the duality felt in this record.
The rhythm section of Gavin (bass) and Spencer (drums), control the constant shifts of motion on the EP, the closing impetus of Returning giving you that last gut punch of frenzied brand of extreme pop. male//gaze are a band formed to deal with a breakdown of a relationship but have gone on to inspire recovery and rediscovery of oneself. Too Late Now? Hardly, there's plenty more to come from male//gaze. 8/10
Godeater - Alvorecer EP (Self Released)
From their destructive deathcore debut, through their more progressive introspective second album, Scottish band Godeater have been redefining themselves since 2016. With songs about ecology and nature their extreme metal soundtrack pushes boundaries with what deathcore is, adding melodeath, prog and symphonics to it. Check out the atmospheric Soil And Steel for something different.
Adding ambient atmospheres that bring emotion and melody to counteract the bludgeoning riffs and harsh vocals. The recent addition of Jamie Harrison as a vocalist gives them and new lease of life on this EP. From his aggressive growls and strong cleans, meaning that Alvorecer EP is an almost restart which will reintroduce their musical force to audiences.
Godeater ship out the mix and master to Studio Friedman to make the sonics razor sharp, meaning that Ross Began and Andrew Macdonald's guitars have all the harmonic melodies, ferocious riffs and technical solos of the Gothenburg scene. They don't escape their deathcore roots though on breakdowns heard on The Enveloping Grey.
Alvorecer is Godeater reclaiming their place in the UK metal scene, visceral, technical and anthemic, this is the future of heavy music. 8/10
Devilhusk - Sleep Like The Dead (Self Released)
Brighton based Devilhusk play something called Nu-Metalcore comprised of Joe Lyndon (Vocals), James "Kino" Boon (Guitar/Production), Joshua Hutchings (Guitar/Bass), and Kieron Durrant (Drums), they've been creating a bulldozing noise fusion since 2023. This a place without rules, where Djent, hardcore, DnB, dubstep all collide into glorious loudness.
A track such as Sycophant is the first to properly showcase this schizophrenic approach to songwriting with throat shredding screams and guttural growls over angular riff driven beatdowns. The atmospherics and electronic thumps cutting through the metal as the genres get twisted more on Vitriol. They've drawn comparisons to Deftones and Loathe and are intent on creating music that "simply does not exist yet."
Well I'd say it does as I hear a lot of Slipknot in Devilhusk's music, along with the likes of Korn, Coal Chamber and Static-X but also Pendulum and The Prodigy with dance heavy beats of Mach Breaker and IRUKANDJI. This is wild audio experience, slamming all these style together like atoms in the Large Hadron Collider, Devilhusk are as modern as metal music gets. 8/10
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