Paragraphs - Come Nap with Us

Artist:Paragraphs
Album: Come Nap With Us
Label:  Self released
Year: 2010 

Tracklist:

01. Once I'm a Doctor, I''ll Think of Great Titles
02. Believeverything
03. We Talk About Enemies More Than We Used To
04. Donna Martin Graduates!
05. The Dead of Night Has Never Felt More Alive

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Minneapolis trio's sophomore release after January 2010's You Can't Make A Ghost Without Its Sheet. Track #1 features Jacob Grun of Me & My Arrow on vocals. Released the same day as Paragraphs' guitarist's solo release Little Slips under the name The Alaska Tile. Hear it at thealaskatile.bandcamp.com. Find PRGRPHS elsewhere at myspace.com/paragraphsband, facebook.com/prgrphs, and twitter.com/prgrphs.

credits

released 26 October 2010 

Paragraphs are Dan Vogel (drums/keys), Brigitte Mussack (keys/melodica), and Chris Polley (guitars). Recorded by Jacob Grun, Ryan Maier, & Amy Daml. Mixed by Jacob Grun & Ryan Maier. Mastered by Arun Antonyraj.

prgrphs.com
facebook.com/prgrphs
twitter.com/prgrphs
myspace.com/paragraphsband

Ruined Machines - Pressure & Obsession Press Kit + Sampler

Artist: Ruined Machines
Album: Pressure & Obsession (Press Kit + Sampler)
Label: Rain Music Group
Year: 2010








Tracklist:

01. The Extremist Hear
02. The Decade's Had Its Run
03. Graceful Pins & Needles
04. ...Waiting Here At Home
05. Endless, Empty Days

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(This is a sampler. Support the artist by buying the album)

“An album doesn’t start from the exact time you lay down the first track of the first song the first time. It starts way beforehand. It takes a lot of mental power, a lot of brainstorming, preparing… pressing and obsessing. It takes gathering all of the emotions you’ve gone through, all the experiences you’ve had, all the love and hate you felt up until the time that that album is completed.

This album, as each one before it, is a product of my heart and soul; it’s the creation of a mind and its pair of hands. It’s the aural representation of sadness and happiness and everything in between. Loneliness, pain, pleasure, shock, fear, worry, anxiety, hunger, despair, boredom, regret, wonder, disappointment, pride… It’s all in there.

An album is a journal entry as well as its creator’s masterpiece at its time of completion.

I work with the tools I have to paint on an infinite canvas. I am an artist. I am a musician. Each album i’ve written reflects the changes i’ve gone through, and in turn the album changes me once it’s complete.

The new album, “Pressure & Obsession”, tells a fictional story through music, but at the same time, largely reflects exactly what’s been through my head, in my heart and in front of my eyes this whole time. It’s as heartfelt as can be. It is my vent, it is my release. It is what I haven’t expressed through words. It is an extension of my self. It is everything about me.” -by Joseph Kenyon @Ruined Machines.

Official Site
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Merkabah - Merkabah (EP)

Artist: Merkabah
Album: Merkabah EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009







Tracklist:
01. Looks, Sounds - Like Stale Time And Space
02. Narwhals
03. Still Water
04. Fields Of Shipwrecks Pointing South

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Merkabah was founded at the end of 2007 in Warsaw, Poland. Their music can be described as psychedelic metal combining improvised, noisy soundscapes with more precise, aggressive riffs and post-rock melodies. It often includes electronic influences, as well as tribal rhythms, all mixed with a feel of freedom and experimentation.

MySpace

Collapse Under The Empire - Find A Place To Be Safe

Artist: Collapse Under The Empire
Album: Find A Place To Be Safe
Label:  Sister Jack Records
Year: 2009

Tracklist:
01. Capture Moments
02. Crawling
03. Find A Place To Be Safe
04. Tranquillity
05. Angle Of Incidence
06. Decay
07. Far To The Past

08. A Smell Of Boiled Greens

09. Intelligence
10. Conscious Of Thirty-Nine
11. Take A Shot On Me


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New album Find A Place To Be Safe provided me with my first listen to German instrumentalists Collapse Under The Empire, so I had absolutely no idea what sort of thing to expect. Not to put too fine a point on it, I was pleasantly surprised. Collapse Under The Empire are an essential listen for fans of post-rock, and in fact something more, instilling their music with the sort of passion and contemplation I would have thought impossible without lyrics.

Find A Place To Be Safe opens strongly with Captured Moments and Crawling, before really hitting its stride with tracks like Angle of Incidence and Decay. Perfectly paced, well performed and deeply contemplative, Find A Place To Be Safe is fantastic, with other highlights including the title track, Tranquility... well, pretty much the whole thing.

To conclude (somewhat superfluously), Find A Place To Be Safe is a fantastic work, essential listening for fans of post rock. People who are really into their music owe it to themselves to check Collapse Under The Empire out. (-by Chris Render @ nsrcdrebiews.blogspot.com)

Official site
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Concentric - Immeasurable

Artist: Concentric
Album: Immeasurable
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009

Tracklist:
01. Sedatephobia
02. Balance
03. Counterbalance
04. Ghosts
05. Familiarity
06. Sleep Therapy
07. The Colossus
08. Verdiend
09. Immeasurable
10. Inspiration
11. Rock Island, 1931
12. Monument
13. Opaque

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If you think about it, for gruff metal heads a lot of us are accepting of some pretty mellow non metal acts: Tenhi, Nuen Welten, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, old Mortiis, Summoning, Dornenreich just to name a few, seem to get a free pass with metal heads and as artistically brilliant as many non metal acts are , they are not metal, yet get mentioned and reviewed on sites like this. And I’m not here to dispute that or dissect why, I’m just here to introduce you to a pretty stunning Milwaukee instrumental acoustic trio called Concentric.
Featuring former Deadtide.com writer Jerry Hauppa (who I actually owe no favors to for this review since he once publicly called me and digitalmetal.com out), Concentric play a form of technical avant-garde instrumental music that’s largely acoustic and somewhat flamenco-ish and sometimes folky (in an organic, medieval kind of way), has some violin and cello, and some occasional metal leanings, but is superbly performed and a nice break from all the breakdowns and blastbeats.
What Concentric manage to do is be delicate, laid back and relaxing, while retaining some metallic complexity. While certainly most of the album is languid yet intricate string/acoustic (with percussion) busy flourishes that bring to mind some of the great Flamenco/Acoustic soloists (“Familiarity”, “Opaque”, “Counterbalance”, the delightful duo of “Sleep Therapy” and closer “Verdiend”-complete with acoustic blast beat), its obvious that Hauppa’s metal background is still a little on display for the likes of the moody “The Colossus”, end of “Inspiration” and the 9-minute title track which delivers electric guitar riffs, solos and even a surprise blast beat.
Jim Becker adds some enchanting cello (particularly the haunting “Monument” and “Sedatophobia”) and violin work to the mix, while newly added drummer Brad O’ Malley give the acoustics dexterity some backbone- and it comes together for a rather breath taking but definitely non metal, 60 minute experience that, on headphones, just unravels, and envelops with each unique and beautiful chord and note.
A simply breath taking exercise in skillfull, dexterous acoustics, Concentric have to be one of the most talented and enthralling instrumental, non metal acts Ive been exposed too. I hope some of you guys feel the same way. (-by Erik Thomas @ teethofthedivine.com)

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Ruined Machines

Artist: Ruined Machines
Album: The Grasping Hands Of Possibility
Label: Self Released
Year: 2007





Tracklist:
01. Hardly a Place of Honor
02. Earth's Best Kept Secret
03. The Grasping Hands of Possibility
04. Of Aries & Aquarius
05. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
06. Hidden Paths to the Core
07. Your Morphing Mindset
08. Deep Thought & Deep Space
09. Miss Television Intelligence

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Ruined Machines are an experimental, instrumental rock band out of Linden, New Jersey, formed July 21, 2006. With influences ranging from post- and space-rock bands such as Red Sparowes and Explosions in the Sky, hard rock and metal acts like CKY and Hopesfall, and even classic rock outfits like Queen and Pink Floyd, Ruined Machines make use of mellow, atmospheric sounds as well as heavy rock guitar solos to make their sound more creative and enjoyable to listen to.


Artist: Ruined Machines
Album: Paths to a Digital Dawn
Label: Self Released
Year: 2008






Tracklist:
01. Good Morning
02. Her Eyes Hold Poison
03. Paths to a Digital Dawn
04. A Milestone, Your Every Step
05. You Can't Tell Time in the Dark
06. Cathedrals Underground
07. The Broken Lullaby
08. Barriers

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"An album doesn't start from the exact time you lay down the first track of the first song the first time. It starts way beforehand. It takes a lot of mental power, a lot of brainstorming, preparing... pressing and obsessing. It takes gathering all of the emotions you've gone through, all the experiences you've had, all the love and hate you felt up until the time that that album is completed.

This album, as each one before it, is a product of my heart and soul; it's the creation of a mind and its pair of hands. It's the aural representation of sadness and happiness and everything in between. Loneliness, pain, pleasure, shock, fear, worry, anxiety, hunger, despair, boredom, regret, wonder, disappointment, pride... It's all in there.

An album is a journal entry as well as its creator's masterpiece at its time of completion.
I work with the tools I have to paint on an infinite canvas. I am an artist. I am a musician. Each album i've written reflects the changes i've gone through, and in turn the album changes me once it's complete.
The new album, "Pressure & Obsession", tells a fictional story through music, but at the same time, largely reflects exactly what's been through my head, in my heart and in front of my eyes this whole time. It's as heartfelt as can be. It is my vent, it is my release. It is what i haven't expressed through words. It is an extension of my self. It is everything about me."

-Joseph Kenyon, Ruined Machines.

Official site
MySpace

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

Old World Vulture - How The West Was Lost

Artist: Old World Vulture
Album: How The West Was Lost
Label: Audiolab Recording
Year: 2009








Tracklist:
01. How the West Was Lost
02. How Was the West Lost (Valiise remix)

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After the successful digital release of their debut single "Benny," Toronto instrumental noisemakers Old World Vulture will release a second single, "How the West Was Lost," as a free digital download on November 1, 2009, followed by the release of "Bastard Engine" on December 1, 2009.

The songs will only be available as a free download for 30 days from the date of release. All three songs will appear on the band's forthcoming debut EP, slated for release later this year.

Drawing comparisons to Holy Fuck, Do Make Say Think and Mogwai, the band — Mike Costanzo (guitar), Devin Hughes (synthesizer), Jamie Hunter (drums) and Anthony Perri (bass) — are releasing the singles exclusively through their website (www.OldWorldVulture.ca).

The three songs were recorded between May-July, 2009 in Toronto at Audiolab Recording Company with Chris Hegge (Career Suicide, Fucked Up, The Meligrove Band). Also included with each single is an exclusive remix by electronic composer Valiise.

Official Site
MySpace

Collapse Under The Empire - Crawling

Artist: Collapse Under The Empire
Album: Crawling
Label: Believe Digital
Year: 2009







Tracklist:
01. Crawling
02. Captured Moments

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Collapse Under The Empire is an instrumental/post-rock duo from Hamburg / Germany. They formed 2007, when Chris Burda and Matthew Jason got together to develop their own music under the name of Collapse Under The Empire. They both released the first four songs for the EP Paintball in summer 2008.
After that they came up with their self-produced debut album, Systembreakdown, which was recorded in their own studio and saw the light as a digital album of day in spring 2009. The songs were praised by critics and audience alike and brought the young band a lot of attention on the scene.
For the second album the band were signed by the indie label Sister Jack. The new album Find A Place To Be Safe will be out over Cargo Records on Nov. 27th 2009. It was mastered by Michael Schwabe (Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Toten Hosen, Beatsteaks) at Monoposto Studio. The appropriate single Crawling was pre--publicized on Sept. 25th 2009 over Believe Digital.

Official Site
MySpace

Paneye - Along The Way To The Bigtop, My Life Just Dissolved

Artist: Paneye

Album: Along The Way To The Bigtop, My Life Just Dissolved

Label: Secret Station

Year: 2009






Tracklist:
01. Along The Way To The Bigtop, My Life Just Dissolved
02. Brain Forests
03. The Sallow Flesh Of The Sky
04. Tidal Breeze
05. Caravans Of Moss Are Camped In The Woods
06. Tents Hide Creatures
07. Balloon Skin Suits Of Rainbow Gimps
08. The Elephant Keeper
09. Headfogmindsmog
10. He Found Scales On His Chest
11. Sick Faeries
12. The Clearing Where She Once Stood

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Sad Breakfast - Sad Breakfast

Artist: Sad Breakfast

Album: Sad Breakfast

Label: Because You Rock Records

Year: 2009







Tracklist:
01. Atahualpa Yuyeti
02. Antlia
03. Aldeano
04. Camaleon & Andromeda
05. Enloquece Rabino, Enloquece
06. Munaf
07. Rompiendo Cosas

Download

Official Site
MySpace

My Beloved - Force Feeding Love

Artist: My Beloved

Album: Force Feeding Love

Label: Voices Records

Year: 2008








Tracklist:
01. Backworld Blues
02. Hell's Kitchen
03. Disabled Butterfly
04. Dirty Pearl
05. Lunatic Rising
06. Retracing Steps
07. In Vitro
08. Aware Of Thorns

Download (Link removed after request from the artist)

pass: lateralnoise.blogspot.com

Since 1997 it didn't take long for MY BELOVED to peak out in the Copenhagen musical underground scene as a pioneer band that with their unique, aesthetic and emotional music where telling dramatic, painful and sinister stories through instrumental surfaces that in the late 90's most of all were compared as a detour of the, at that time, almost dead post-rock genre. Since then MY BELOVED has gone ways of their own and are now in total unspoiled music dimensions which the band themselves are calling Instrumental Music Noir.

MY BELOVED aligned their success debut "Servant Of Secret Places" (2003) with "On Happiness Hill" (2005) and cemented with their sinister, dark and incredibly well reviewed 2nd album, that MY BELOVED are an extremely innovative, imaginative and acknowledged band with a growing fan crowd in both US, Europe and Asia.

November 2008 MY BELOVED released their 3rd official album FORCE FEEDING LOVE. This album was the result of 3 turbulent years for each band member and was enhanced with collaborations with John Contreras "Current 93 + Baby Dee" playing cello and Zef Noi$e "Psychic TV + Flesh Test" on viola. The music kept the band together through rough times and the result was released on cd and double vinyl.

MY BELOVED are playing magnificent capturing instrumental music noir that in basis consist of guitar, synths, piano, drums and bass. The music is a mood creating and emotional maelstrom that with storming crescendoes and beautiful passages creates a lively and organic feeling of existence and will. The experimenting sound-surfaces clarify the presence of the art and especially of the passion, and the use of noise makes MY BELOVED appear as a totally unique band, which with new thinking and in a different way produce yet another fearless album. Yet an atmospheric journey in time and mood.

Live, MY BELOVED shows their true strength. With great performance and energy they drag the audience deep into their universe and leave non behind. MY BELOVED is a live band. An artwork where the magic is created in the moment and where the listener becomes a part of the work. -by (cdbaby.com)

Official Site

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Bird From The Abyss - I

Artist: Bird From The Abyss

Album: I

Label: self released

Year: 2009

Tracklist:

01. Intro - Beginning At Center Of The Chaos Azathoth And Flute
02. Song To The Great Black Fox
03. Ways Of Slaughter
04. Abdul Alhazred's Anxiety

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Plug "Bird From The Abyss - I" to your headphones, take a trip to the darkness of your local forbidden forest and experience the unreal. Hailing from Finland, Bird From The Abyss is playing music from the unknown depths, according toancient Gods long forgotten. Primitive instrumental / fuzz doom folk / heavy psych.

Official site

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Long Distance Calling - Avoid The Light

Artist: Long Distance Calling

Album: Avoid The Light

Label: Superball Music

Year: 2009

Tracklist:

01. Apparitions
02. Black Paper Planes
03. 359
04. I Know You, Stanley Milgram!
05. The Nearing Grave (Ft. Jonas Renkse)
06. Sundown Highway

Download

pass: lateralnoise.blogspot.com

Although we'd almost given up hope, there seems to be a parallel universe away from anaemic supermarket muzak, restless radio formats and short-lived trends after all. There still is music which allows its listeners enough space for unlimited enjoyment, unfolds all its glory on top of lavish arrangements and takes the liberty of celebrating sounds and harmonic sequences in the elaborateness they deserve. This music is available here and now, thanks to Long Distance Calling, a five-piece from Germany's Münster region. Their second album, Avoid The Light, will be out on 24 April 2009 on Superball Music and promises everything you find yourself looking for without avail in most contemporary bands: an immediate coexistence of depth and exaltation, melancholia and joie de vivre, great gestures and small peculiarities. And somehow there's so much more to discover in Long Distance Calling's music: Avoid The Light opens a big gate which you step through to find a great diversity of moods and atmospheres. The basics consist of instrumental guitar rock with an ambient flavour, an oscillation of psychedelic and progressive rock elements. At the same time, Avoid The Light is an album which requires few words to communicate a lot. Should we call it post rock? Or perhaps new art rock? The label is irrelevant, it's the content that matters. Reactions to Long Distance Calling's debut, Satellite Bay (2007), were unanimously positive: "Off the beaten track, away from the hype fostered by bumptious music publications, away from all fashionable trends and the maundering zeitgeist, without a 3-minute corset but a with a lot of persistence," commented a reviewer in the magazine, Schallgrenzen, by all appearances covering all important benchmark data that mark Avoid The Light. At the same time, the five band members, David Jordan (guitar), Janosch Rathmer (drums), Florian Füntmann (guitar), Jan Hoffmann (bass) and Reimut van Bonn (ambience), impress with an even more open-minded and progressive approach on Avoid The Light. According to the musicians, the six new tracks present "an even wider stylistic range than our debut and are – as a direct consequence of our numerous gigs in 2008, with Dredg, at the Rock am Ring and Roadburn festivals, among others – faster, more haunting and more dynamic. Thanks to the thoroughly positive reactions to our first release, we have generally become much keener on experimentation." In view of the whole album's atmospheric density, there seems to be little point in highlighting individual tracks, yet the impressive opener, 'Apparitions', with its hypnotic flair, 'I Know You, Stanley Milgram!', an expansive number in terms of playing time and style (coincidentally, Stanley Milgram happens to be an interesting character who is definitely worth googling), and the closing track, 'Sundown Highway' with its sophisticated guitar work should not be left unmentioned. As its predecessor, Avoid The Light features – along with the five instrumental tracks – a number with a renowned guest vocalist. While Satellite Bay presented The Haunted's Peter Dolving, Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) recorded the vocal number 'The Nearing Grave' on the latest Long Distance Calling release. "We're all great Katatonia fans, so it seemed the obvious thing to do to ask Jonas." Avoid The Light was produced by Kurt Ebelhäuser (Blackmail, Donots, among others), a true master of his art. "The collaboration with him had a thoroughly positive effect on our sound," observe the band members and can be confident that the transparent production does justice to their fascinating compositional parameters at all times. What a band, what an album …"

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If These Trees Could Talk - Above The Earth, Below The Sky

Artist: If Thees Trees Could Talk

Album: Above The Earth, Below The Sky

Label: Indie

Year: 2009






Tracklist:
01. From Roots to Needles
02. What's in the Ground Belongs to You
03. Terra Incognita
04. Above the Earth
05. Below the Sky
06. The Sun is in the North
07. Thirty-Six Silos
08. The Flames of Herostratus
09. Rebuilding the Temple of Artemis
10. Deus Ex Machina

Download

pass: lateralnoise.blogspot.com

If These Trees Could Talk return with their long awaited full length album “Above the Earth, Below the Sky.” Recorded during the summer of 2008 under the watchful eye of Tim Gerak (6P7), the album is a dark emotional journey that picks up where the debut E.P. left off. With the roots of the album firmly planted within the industrial boomtown of Akron, Ohio, the Trees have made every effort to evoke the desperation and triumph felt by a city in despair and rebirth. Utilizing a dynamic range of auditory explorations fluctuating from delicate to deafening the Trees have once again provided their listeners a primed and ready canvas upon which they may paint their own visions of chaos and serenity. The types of images only seen when our eyes are closed or when the true nature of a world operating under insanity and irrationality is exposed. -by (cdbaby.com)

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Ghaust - Ghaust

Artist: Ghaust

Album: Ghaust

Label: Purbaharuan Recordings

Year: 2008








Tracklist:
01. Day After (Entering Into Peace)
02. Sleep And Release
03. Torchlight
04. Akasia
05. The Wolf And The Boar
06. At Sea (We Are Nothing)

Download

pass: lateralnoise.blogspot.com

Post-rock, in case you're a neophyte, is a genre of alternative rock defined by the use of common rock instruments for non-rock purposes. Guitars and drums are standard, but the rhythms, harmonies, melodies, timbre, and chord progressions used are not found in the rock tradition.

Basically, your typical post-rock song will consists of long guitar jams that explore layers of sound in order to create a certain mood. It is a genre that requires not only great technical skill, but a strong melodic imagination.

There is quite a considerable number of bands out there in our local scene that dabble in post-rock. Most of them border on only just decent, simply because they lack imagination. There are even fewer bands here that play hardcore post-rock, the darker side of this musical dream-weaving, as this subgenre requires technical mastery and a lucid imagination; which narrows the field of play tremendously.

South Jakarta-based GHAUST is one band, however, that manges to thrive beautifully in this dimly lit alley of post-rock. The nightmares constructed by this collective (comprised of Uri A. Putra (guitar) and M. Edward (drums)) are built with the utmost precision. The layering of instruments, the slow but steady progression of hard chords, the grinding distortions and the calculated drums are dispersed in careful doses that guide the listener through each space of the somber realm of their musical machinations.

After a few online releases, as well as participation in various compilations, this year saw the release of GHAUST's self-titled full length debut LP, available nationwide through Purbaharuan Recordings. This powerhouse of an album is guaranteed to take you to corners of your imagination previously untouched by other bands. This record is truly mind-blowing; as you read, I'm still picking up the pieces of my brain that were scattered across the floor upon my first listen. It immediately gets a place on my list of 2008's Top Five Local Releases.

GHAUST is an experience the listener would never want to, or be able to forget. Their music will seep into the nooks and crannies of your mind and build little grim empires in your subconscious. I am truly curious as to how their sound will evolve in the future. I will definitely keep my eyes on these guys.

Enough of the grand descriptions, you can learn more about GHAUST firsthand and give a listen to their brilliant pieces at www.myspace.com/soundofghaust. Be sure to leave them some nice comments. Their self-titled debut LP is now available. For a complete listing of record stores that sell the CD, check their myspace page. Be sure to buy it! -by (thejakartapost.com)

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East Of The Wall - Farmer's Almanac

Artist: East Of The Wall
Album: Farmer's Almanac
Label: Forgotten Empire Records
Year: 2008






Tracklist:
01. Meat Pendulum
02. Winter Breath
03. Century Of Excellence
04. Switchblade Knife
05. Clowning Achievement
06. Unwanted Guest I
07. Unwanted Guest II
08. I Am Crying Non Stop Hysterically

Download
pass: lateralnoise.blogspot.com

Think of your favorite hole-in-the-wall venue. Most likely you have one in mind, usually a place you have to access by way of a dirt parking lot in the rear of some dilapidated building. If you’re really lucky you know of a nearly-collapsed house or something that needed condemning years ago. Graffiti splashes the walls indiscriminately and musty sagging couches are placed randomly in case someone needs to pass out in the midst of the chaos typical of the place. This is the type of establishment where I imagine New Jersey’s East of the Wall thrives while attempting to do damage with sound waves.

Based on my experience with the band’s debut LP Farmer’s Almanac, I love to imagine the experience of seeing them live. For a band this newly established, there is no doubt a small hometown crowd of close friends and fellow rock hooligans whom they can count on to raise hell at local gigs. Elsewhere though, they’ll be booked at the type of scumbag den of iniquity described above. The beauty of these places is that everyone who shows up might not know who the band is that night, but regardless, they’re ready to throw down. Small groups of friends trickle in prepared for anything, tall boys have been ordered in advance for people after phone calls to confirm their arrival. East of the Wall sneaks equipment in through the back door, deceivingly quiet given the army of guitars they will soon unleash on the increasingly drunk crowd of rabble that has shown up that night.

The band makes very loud and very skilled instrumental noise. The immediate comparison I would make is a mix of Les Savy Fav with '90s math rock extraordinaire Faraquet. There might be some confusion here, as it’s an odd marriage. The two don’t share much in common, but they do both have a very skilled and fast paced style; the only difference (which Farmer’s Almanac very aptly picks up) is LSF’s ability to spit fire and brimstone while maintaining a catchy style. Every track on the album is simply "Track [Number]" in title, which doesn’t detract from the album’s punch somehow. East of the Wall makes a talented brand of throaty spit-and-scream metal, a fast paced rush of very talented high-speed guitars over thundering drums and a crunching baseline. I can picture the moment the lights go out and the band slaps their strings to create the album-opening wave of ambient noise, hinting at the mayhem to come.

As Track Two thunders in, the band’s intentions become clearer. The wall of sound lasts a few seconds before the Faraquet comparisons become obvious. For several tracks the band alternates epic clashes of guitars and drums with sudden changes of pace into math-rock styled guitar solos. There is no central structure, no "chorus" or "verse." The band charges through transition after transition with a method that implies madness but screams of practice and talent. At times the sound is very much like the more instrumental aspects of mid-'90s dischord bands. Several tracks into the album, the group finds its footing, trading in some of the more capable and calculating guitar/drum riffs for a more adrenaline-based ferocity. At these points I picture the crowd at any given show getting restless. They’ve heard the intro and loved the punctuated fast-paced guitar exchanges. Track Three introduces a mood shift, and with bottom-shelf tequila and that-night’s-special-beer, any below-ground venue would start seething. Even on first listen, anyone will notice that Track Three is a standout, a blister-paced and draconian-sounding mash of dark energy. This is the track with the explosive parts during which people would start to lose their shit as the drinks get caught up with the raw energy of the band. People begin hurling themselves around with eyes closed and arms flailing, beers start hitting the roof after being haphazardly thrown in a fit of emotion. East of the Wall are best suited for this exact moment, they excel at drawing out that peak-of-a-solo mood and transitioning into something even angrier rather than downshifting.

The only downside of the album is exactly what would make it great to see played live. So talented and ferocious are some of the sounds on the album that the listener sometimes feels out of place while walking along or driving down the road. This is music meant to be experienced in a drunken fit, sweat and spit flying everywhere. You want to see the two friends everyone calls Thing 1 and Thing 2 dramatically heaving their empty Mickey’s Malt Liquor ‘grenades’ at the wall as people are slammed into the stage at the feet of so much energy. You can’t replicate this in your home, however, and that’s the weakness of the album. It’s the kind of weakness East of the Wall should be proud of. - by Brendan Kraft (thesilentballet.com)

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