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A marriage of Buddhist practice and amplifier worship that never feels the need to differentiate between the two, applying the opposing/complementing forces of yin and yang to create works that are genuinely transformative.
Rather than simply repackaging old sounds and calling it a day, this feels like Ulver entering a period of stately reflection, digging out old snapshots from across their extensive past and piecing together a collage that remains remarkably cohesive when viewed as a whole.
It’s just a colossal record that nonetheless manages to temper its aggression with enough melody and drama that it warrants one listen after another, and another, and another.
The furious percussion and the rich, sweeping riffs all feel geared towards the epic, a desire to depict something momentous using earthly tools, and if that description seems a bit lofty then it’s only in keeping with the ambition that the band demonstrate.
King Dunn’s presence here was billed as a ‘once in a lifetime’ kind of deal and it was in almost all aspect. . . For super-fans, this was a momentous occasion; but even for more casual observers, no one walked away from this set with anything less than respect.
It really is better just to experience the album over and over, piecing together the fragments and crafting your own perplexing, fascinating story.
Pitch black, draped in gloom but with a knack for melodies as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, these four songs strip back a lot of the polish of Charnel Noir and instead deliver something cold and starkly alluring.
The Body and Dis Fig brought their striking collaboration Orchards Of A Futile heaven to an appreciative Wednesday night assembly in a set that delivered on everything it promised.
David Bowes was at Glasgow’s recent Core. Festival and gives his overview of the bands he watched during the long weekend.
Following on from last year’s successful launch, Core. Festival has returned to make Glasgow Great Again. David Bowes looks at the line-up of next weekend’s second edition.
David Bowes spoke to Siobhan and Douglas of Scottish doomsters Cwfen to discuss their first year as a band and what comes next.
With ‘II: Aging & Formless’ on the horizon, David Bowes spoke to Scott Taylor of post-metal quintet Vnder A Crvmbling Moon to discuss the band’s evolution and future.
As they release their 12th full-length Fall, David Bowes spoke to Borknagar’s founding guitarist Øystein Garnes Brun about nature and the lasting power of art.
David Bowes spoke to Zombi’s Steve Moore and Anthony E Paterra about their genre-spanning new record ‘Direct Inject’.
David Bowes spoke to Void of Ershetu to discuss their unique blend of cinematic black metal and Mayan ritual.
Polar Veil feels like a summary of McNerney’s output to date, an album that transports black metal’s hostile chill and the slick, effortless cool of post-punk into Hexvessel’s world of magic, nature, and timeless storytelling.
One that eschews genre tropes while providing everything that lovers of death metal, doom and outsider heaviness could ever ask for.
David Bowes spoke to Gendo Ikari’s Gerald Chau about the band’s beginnings and the creation of their brilliant debut LP Rokobungi.
This is breakneck black metal, an adrenalised take on the second wave’s coldest, bleakest melodicism that never gives the listener time to catch their breath.
So was the first instalment of Core. Festival a success? In almost every respect, yes.
