Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Atomic Bomb Audition - Light Will Remain


Artist: The Atomic Bomb Audition
Album: Light Will Remain
Label: Self Released
Year: 2008







Tracklist:

01. Tracing The Ecliptic
02. Copernicus Apogee
03. Copernicus Perigee
04. The Fifth Wizard
05. We Speak To The Revelator
06. You Are The Sun & The Moon
07. Reseda Books Of Blood

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With roots set in the convergent space between doom metal. film music, and apocalyptic comedy, The Atomic Bomb Audution has fashioned its own expansive voice. The Bay Area quartet consructs deafeningly loud yet meticulously detailed sound worlds using a film director's sense of scene, each element chosen to serve the whole. The sound is 21st Century post-metal amalgam of myriad elements: excoriating guitars, haunting bowed contrabass, Moog synth trickery, thunderous percussion mosaics, feedback melodicisms, dulcet gamelan, and moon-governed anthemic crescendos among much else. With pieces clocking from ten to twenty minutes, the band elaborates a wide arc of deliberate sonic architecture through theme and variation rather than indulging in explanatory jams. Sounding at times like Neurosis interpreting the Cure's Disintegration, their artistic touchstones include The Melvins, Mullholland Dr. Bohren und der Club of Gore, Jerry Goldsmith, Bill Hicks, Brian Eno and Pink Floyd's Animals; artists who know how to navigate a wide field of influences with originality and aplomb.

Their 2nd full lenght album, Light Will Remain, is an immense work that represents the band at their creative apex. The album is an evocative document of the art of memory and the evolving significance of events through time. The desire to illuminate and darken aspects of our psychic apparatus based on the indeterminate verity of belief and sense drives this collection of narratives. Peaks of crushing psychedelic metal are buried under ebbs of seasick chords and gently whirring vibraphone. A stoic black hole guitar and bass maw repels celestial debris of processed percussion and voice towards the horizon. The band forges sound like aural filmmakers evoking wavws of synaesthetic images.

Formed in 2004, The Atomic Bomb Audition has performed in clubs, warehouses, galleries, co-ops, and colleges in the Bay Area and throughout the Western Seaboard. They have shared stages with host of ungodly talents including Sir Richard Bishop (Sun City Girls), GIRTH, Gregg Kowalsky, Barn Owl, Lesbian, Wah Wah Exit Wound, Jesse Quattro (Secret Chiefs 3), Dysrhythmia, Aspects of Physics, New Thrill Parade and diminished Men among others. They have collaborated live and on record with Braden Diotte (Tarantula Hawk), Jesse Quattro, avant-garde percussionist Shayna Dunkelman and folk singer Erika Pipkin. The band has completed several tours of the West Coast, and continues to perform live in support of Light Will Remain. (-taken from the band's press report)

The Atomic Bomb Audition are:
Alee Karim - guitar/vox
Brian Gleeson - drums/vox
Jason Hoopes - bass/vox
The Norman Conquest - electronics/vox

Bird From The Abyss - II


Artist: Bird From the Abyss
Album: II
Label: Starlight Temple Society
Year: 2009 







01. Crawling Monuments
02. Travelling With The Bird - Part 1
03. Kyyn Laulu
04. From The Altars Of Fire To The Kingdom Of Ereskigal
05. Travelling With The Bird - Part 2 - Back To The Abyss


<a href="http://birdfromtheabyss.bandcamp.com/album/ii">Crawling Monuments by Bird From The Abyss</a>

Finland's Bird From The Abyss takes flight with their debut album "II",
a 40 minute sinister working of doom rock and folk music that will take you on a journey to explore the inner
mysteries of the ancient Mediterranean underworld and then send you straight into the heart of the creeping muskeg pits and forests of Finland's
mythological past. "II" utilizes a series of authentic classical instruments like the baglama,
zither and flute and more modern ones to create a link between our world and one which still dwells in the nexus of time.
Bird from the Abyss is the music of Pharaohs and ancient Sumerian kings!
Limited to 100 copies on gold CD, with 11"x17" poster, 8 page earth flecked paper booklet and matching 6"x9" printed envelope.

Official site
MySpace
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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Canyons - The Rufus EP



Artist: Canyons
Album: The Rufus EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009







Tracklist:

01. Are You There God? It's Me Rufus
02. Dirt For Sale
03. Milwaukee Talkie
04. Backslider
05. A Question Of Ethics

It didn't take too long to spot this shoutbox message on our blog. I don't like the name Rufus at all so I tried to ignore it. I don't know what made me download it! The only thing I know is that this "Motorhead meets Cult of Luna meets Sex Pistols" Monster knows what it is doing... Check 'em out!!

And as they say themselves:
Canyons is four guys Loud amps and ooh that smell.
Rufus is the party.
Since day one of the CanyonsHouse house shows, Rufus has mingled with touring bands from all over and we've all had a blast.
We wanted to immortalize Rufus in song. So we did. We are in the middle of some projects and realized we had songs we still play live that never saw a real release.
If anything we've written so far deserves a single... it's Rufus.
That being decided we picked two songs to cover to throw with the old and new songs then visited UTG studios on Halloween.
The purpose of this ep is to raise Rufus Robinson awareness. That and to let people know Canyons wants to party.

Official site
MySpace

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Silver Booster - Bunker


Artist: My Silver Booster
Album: Bunker
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009








Tracklist:
01. Orfei
02. Taci
03. Ciao
04. Grafica Bambaataa

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My Silver Booster are an experimental/ambient/post-rock band that create cold and slow minimal electronic tracks, straight from Italy. They formed in 2006, and released their first LP ‘Pane e Paranoie’ in 2007, and followed it up with Ambient Punk in 2008.
They are a 3 piece, with a 4th member enrolled only to make the visuals and videos for their live shows.

MySpace
Last.fm

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Rosa Parks - Rosa Parks EP



Artist: Rosa Parks
Album: Rosa Parks EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009







Tracklist:

01. Fanum
02. XX
03. God Spent The Weekend On Earth

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Rosa Park is a four-piece group hailing from
Győr, Hungary. They took their name from Rosa Lee Parks, a civil rights activist who was born and lived in the U.S.
Rosa Park were formed in 2007 and this EP is "celebrating", in a way,  their first two years of being together. I found the music wonderful and easy to listen to. It creates a nice atmosphere similar to "Explosions In The Sky", "Caspian", Scraps Of Tape and the likes...

As Gergő wrote in his message, the band is inspired by underground clubs, friends, hunger, history of injustice, melancholic moments.

Band Members Are:

Gergő – Guitar
Flo – Bass
Laci – Drums
Ádám – Guitar


Well done Gergő, well done Rosa Parks!!

Official site
MySpace

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A Cold Dead Body - Promo


Artist: A Cold Dead Body
Album: Promo
Label: EARTHACHE ArtLab
Year: 2009







Tracklist:

01. Collapse
02. The Chosen Ones
03. Divinity Pt.1

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A Cold Dead Body is a band from the North-east of Italy. Everything started in 2005 as a one-man-band of lead singer Sten (ex-singer of the Metal-hardcore band Zune). After Zune's dissolution, this project finally became a real band starting the activity in 2007.

In 2009, they released a Promo EP of 3 tracks – the preview of the forthcoming debut album (spring 2010) – which is the very first publication of Earthache ArtLab - an art collective founded byLorenzo Cercelletta, Lucia Violetta Gasti and Cristiano Perin(members of the band).
Being realised in a limited number of copies (#150), each piece is handmade and hand-numbered, thus unique, and almost entirely made of natural and recycled materials.
The 100 Promo copies issued for the sale went sold out in about 48 hours.

Their first release promise big things to come, it remains to see them fulfilling our expectations.


MySpace

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Kylesa - Static Tensions


Artist: Kylesa
Album: Static Tensions
Label: Prosthetic Records
Year: 2009








Tracklist:
01. Scapegoat
02. Insomnia for Months
03. Said and Done
04. Unknown Awareness
05. Running Red
06. Nature's Predators
07. Almost Lost
08. Only One
09. Perception
10. To Walk Alone

Download
pass: lateralnoise.blogspot.com

While always holding down the fort as a doom metal band, Kylesa has been a great story of maturity in evolution. On their 2002 self titled debut Kylesa was a rough around the edges sludgy doom metal band heavily influenced by the hardcore scene which was becoming the center of the heavy music world’s attention. However, unlike many of their counterparts (Bleeding Through being a good example of a group who has remained static for most of their career), Kylesa has gone from a youthful band adopting the sounds of their peers, to coming into their own as a band best amplified on their latest release, 2009’s Static Tensions. This isn’t hardcore tinged doom anymore, this is a full on psychodelic sludgefest.

Now instead of echoing images of their hardcore brethren, the metal fan will probably liken Static Tensions to the breakout stoner artists The Sword, more than any other group. I don’t know what long time Kylesa fans think of this their latest album, but the crisp guitar tone, laid back drum technique, and well produced vocals leave me, as a newer fan, smiling from ear to ear because I tend to eat this stuff up. Older Kylesa was much more heavier and raw, especially off of their self titled debut, and really brought the aggression, but I think the band has shown true gusto by going in a much more atmospheric/psychodelic direction. Don’t get me wrong, the heavy “sludge” factor is there still which Kylesa should never lose in my opinion, but it’s much, much more refined with far superior production values.

Essentially, Static Tensions represents the band’s transition from the pecking order, into a fully grown outfit. I hope that doesn’t sound derogatory because as a listener, this is about as big of a comment as I could give these guys. Kylesa, despite being a metal band, is one that does not need to rely on heavy, pulse pounding aggression to get people to buy their record, instead, they can interlace quality songwriting with excellent production. Of course, knowing when to turn up the heat and blow people’s faces off is always good too, and thank God that Kylesa still knows how to make eyeballs pop out of people’s heads like Arnold in Total Recall. Oh yeah! - by CODY @ allmetalresource.com

Official site
MySpace
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Saturday, January 2, 2010

East Of The Wall, Year Of No Light & Rosetta - Split


Artist: East Of The Wall, Year Of No Light & Rosetta
Album: Split
Label: Translation Lost
Year: 2009








Tracklist:
01. East Of The Wall - Scumbrella (Mud Button)
02. East Of The Wall - Scumbrella (Silt)
03. East Of The Wall - Scumbrella (Dirt Merchant)
04. Year Of No Light - Cimmeria
05. Year Of No Light - Metanoia
06. Rosetta - Homesick


Download
pass: lateralnoise.blogspot.com

Post-Metal is a sparse genre. Bands like Neurosis and ISIS have pioneered the genre nearly singlehandedly , then explored every nook the genre has to offer, almost exhausting the genre by themselves. There is not much left to do in the post-metal genre except try to perfect a sound or attempt to find a new one. Three of the most respected names in the underground post-metal scene today are New Jersey based East of the Wall (formed out of the ashes of progressive band The Postman Syndrome), France's Year of No Light and Rosetta hailing from Philly. Each of these bands have high credentials in the underground post-metal scene, but have yet to burst into the mainstream. None of them are fighting to break free from the chains the big guys have tied them down to, but each of them are unique in their own way. Bringing them all together for a split (or should it be called a tri...?) to showcase what they have to offer is a logical decision, and one that proves to be a very enjoyable listening experience.

First up to the plate is East of the Wall with their three part mega song 'Scumbrella'. Starting off with a melody that sounds like a Russian folk tune, 'Mud Button' is a song you have to hear to believe. The song is short and sweet at only a minute long, but it packs in enough substance to stay interesting. A thrashy riff rolls through out of the Russian melody, followed by a down tempo section that segues the song right into the next. 'Silt' is a quiet interlude that acts like the gatekeeper to the main even that is 'Dirt Merchant.' At nearly 8 minutes long 'Dirt Merchant' is classic East of The Wall; progressive and heavy. A slight melody change lets you know that the previous track has ended and the next has begun. The track flows perfectly, bringing together many ideas into one tight package. A fuzzy intro leads into a bass and guitar jam which leads into a galloping rhythm part. The bass is very prominent in East of the Wall's songs, which is nice to hear from a post-metal band. The band dabbles in some post-rock influenced sections before coming together for a balls to the wall metal climax at the end. A delayed guitar rings out waving goodbye, leaving the listener with a great final impression of East to The Wall.

French act Year of No Light starts off the second side of the split with 'Cimmeria.' Right from the start Year's distinct sludgy guitars enter, followed by their Steve Von Till (Neurosis) like vocals. Similar to their full length, the vocals are pushed back in the mix, letting the band take the foreground. Even if one is fluent in French the lyrics are still inaudible as they are purposefully fuzzy, however this is not a bad thing. Unlike their previous work, the songs on this split are a lot more sludge influenced, heavily recalling early Neurosis. As mentioned earlier, bands in this genre typically do not try to innovate, but improve, and Year of No Light have almost succeeded at that task. The songs here do not live up to those on the full length, which is unfortunate. Those looking for the raw aggression found on Nord will be disappointed to hear the new Year of No Light. However, this approach works to some degree. One of the most interesting aspects of the two songs are that they are in major. At points they sound very uplifting and almost happy, but the downtuned guitars and thick bass drown out those emotions. Synth strings and keys can be heard in the background further adding to the feel of the songs. Although the two songs Year of No Light contributed to the split may be their weakest, they are still worth a listen for fans of the band.

Last, but certainly not least is Rosetta. Rosetta have chosen to contribute a cover of post-punk legends The Cure's 'Homesick'; an interesting choice for a post-metal band to say the least (funny enough, Year of No Light has been quoted by critics as "The Cure playing sludge.") Surprisingly, Rosetta pull it off incredibly well, making for the best song on the split. The band sticks very closely to the original song, but add their own Rosetta flair to the tune. Delay drenched guitars smoothly play the dual guitar melody that begins the song instead of acoustic like the original. Clean vocals enter, but it seems as though the entire split was produced and mixed by the same person, sadly pushing the vocals too far back like on Year of No Light's songs. Rosetta adds layered vocals to the mix, pilling up crisp growls over the clean vocals. The track flows just as well as the original, coming to a steady jam near the end with entirely growled vocals. Rosetta could not have done a better job on this cover, they stay close enough to the original while still adding their own twists, making it a must-hear for fans of either band.

Three of the best bands in underground post-metal converge for an excellent split. While none of them are reinventing the post-metal wheel, they are each doing something new to spice up the old recipes of the genre. East of The Wall pulls no punches with their three part epic 'Scumbrella'. Year of No Light decided to go Through Silver and Blood era Neurosis and cover us in sludge, but unfortunately not pulling it off as well as one would hope. Finally Rosetta delivers one of the strangest, but best, cover of The Cure's 'Homesick.' All in all this triple split is worth the cost of admission; there is something for every fan of the genre to be found here. by Alex C. Soothsayer @ sputnikmusic.com


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