Is the UK scene in the best health it’s ever been or are great and interesting bands just easier to find because of streaming websites like Bandcamp? Hailing from Wigan we have Boss Keloid throw their hat into ring by presenting their debut album proper The Calming Influence Of Teeth. They certainly have an interesting mix of styles, combining southern rock riffs, obtuse time signatures and clean bellowed vocals to a deeply satisfying affect.

Whilst their initial EP Angular Beef Lesson had a more rock n roll vibe (as well as funnier song titles) the intervening three years has seen this replaced with a heavier slower 90’s groove which added to the aforementioned elements bring to mind a combination of the finer points of Mastodon and Pantera.

Their formula has enough subtle elements for Boss Keloid to be able to claim a distinct sound of their own as the opening track ‘Winehorse’ will testify.

Admittedly this chosen formula is a furrow they plough relentlessly throughout the albums ten track running order, and it is to the credit of the individual performances and the variance of the riffs that each song retains a strong sense of individuality and at no point begins to become tiresome.

The main reason for this is the bass, normal operating procedure for a groove driven metal band is for the bass to simply be a foundation block for the guitarist(s) to work their magic over, but here it is on equal footing and allowed to roam with (relatively) comparable freedom, ‘Locking Stumps’ and ‘One For The Floor Boards’ are perfect examples of this.

Also this means that as well as having enough immediate grooves to enjoy on first experience it also reveals surprising little details on repeated listens.

"Slumber, savage beasts
In lonesome winter forest
Breath deep your chorus"

If you pick the songs 1, 3 and 5 from Slumber, Savage Beasts and you read the track titles you realize the beauty of the hidden haiku that gives you the idea of the conceptual framework of the new album from Aural Method.

The sublime ambient post rock music that Matt Kidd from Houston, Texas, makes under the name of Aural Method is itself a superb escape into dreaming landscapes and the chosen titles put in poetry what Matt expresses through music.

Slumber, Savage Beasts arrives just a few months after the melodic and orchestral début album When I Drifted I Heard a Faint Melody. The new work from the Texan artist weaves ambient textures recorded live in a room on guitar, bass, and drums with no isolation and the outcome sounds amazing from the first spin.

Listening to When I Drifted I Heard a Faint Melody and the sequel Slumber, Savage Beasts the association with Hammock's sound is immediate, especially when the sound becomes more ambient, and in some places it makes me think of Explosions In The Sky when it's more cinematic. The overall atmosphere of both albums from Aural Method is together joyful and deep with a unique blend of music and poetry where you don't understand what inspired first, music or poetry, or if they both come from a vision of life expressed through art.

Slumber, Savage Beasts is a lovely record of 5 songs that in about 45 minutes tells a beautiful story set in imaginative landscapes of ambient music that are both warm and captivating.

The first line of the haiku opens the album with a notable slide guitar and a soft drum. It's not simply ambient music, it's not simply post rock. It's very good music and I'm sure you'll appreciate the amazing crescendo of this song towards the second half of the song. Why wait when you can burn soon? This is what Matt does at the fifth minute of album. Stunning.

The second track, 'In a lonesome strike winter forest', starts with a chorus of ethereal voices before becoming melodic where guitar, drum, violin and cello accompany you walking into a forest where the sun is strong enough to across the thick threes. Should you be in a bad mood, press play and this song will change your day.

My favorite from the album is the last line of the haiku, 'Breathe deep your chorus', where Matt, together with the bass of Zach Hendricks, the drum of Cody Smith, the cello of Aimee Norris and the magistral violin of Andy Shelton create a beautifully crafted melody and a sober, elegant acoustic landscape. It has the same mood of the other two track but the style is different and all together the three songs are a well combined mix of sounds.

Being a haiku composed by only three lines, the other two tracks work as caesuras as their eloquent titles, 'Caesura 1' and 'Caesura 2', demonstrate. The two poetic pauses that remind one of the debut album of Aural method are more ambient and, with the aim to create a soft link between the main album moments, they represent a nice floating in blue ocean or a walk on soft clouds.

Slumber, Savage Beasts is really an enjoyable experience from the beginning to the end. Positive and joyful, has the power to change your mood. And Aural Method is another brilliant gem that shines in the post rock, ambient sky of Texas.

‘Tis the season to be jolly once again and in that ever growing tradition of Christmas songs and albums comes a psych special which only feels fitting after the success of the genre this year. Even us at Echoes and Dust can’t fail to feel some merriment when faced with such a crazy cash-in idea as this and here you will find a bunch of artists reaching out to the North Pole to capture some of that seasonal magic.

So what do we have here? Well, it’s a rather mixed bag of songs which, as all Christmas albums do, portray the many facets of the end of year party. You will recognise some of the songs, others you won’t, but ultimately there is fervour and joy at every corner. Buckle up for a psyched out sleigh ride as Rudolph and chums take a lysergic trip to the outer reaches.

After a rather strange introduction from Len Maxwell (and you’ll be best advised not to let your children listen), Elephant Stone kick proceedings off with a wonderful ‘Christmas Time (is here again)’ which summons up a droning yet bubblegum feel which stays throughout the album. There is a peculiar ‘Silent Night’ played by Quintron & Miss Pussycat which sounds almost like elevator music and then you have the brilliant Sleepy Sun with their version of ‘What Child Is This’.

In between artists such as Cosmonauts, Dead Meadow and Psychic Ills play alongside lesser known psych luminaries such as The Fuzztones, Sons of Hippies and Eli Cook each with mixed results. Let’s not be churlish though and remember that this is all for fun so in keeping with the spirit, a merry time is had by all.

This isn’t really a Christmas album for the masses. Indeed, a lot of it is plain scary, but then that is why we love psych so much. If you want something a bit different this year from Santa then this is the place to come and if anything shows the sense of humour inherent in a lot of these bands. Besides, any Christmas album that has the balls to end with Iggy Pop singing ‘White Christmas’ has got to be the ultimate stocking filler. Celebrate the end of year party with some of your psych favourites, probably best served with lashings of mulled wine and mince pies.

Who?

Widdershins is a three-piece band from Rolle, a small town in Switzerland. Steve Navid, Mathieu Cacheux and Jérôme Poletti found the way to inject energy to the quiet and lovely Swiss landscapes with their music that mixes diverse psychedelic textures. Amor, their debut album, has a psychedelic and hypnotic playground for the senses, a liberating vibe and a good vibration.

How is it?

Amor is a six tracks album – or 50 minute - ride across Swiss valley - that is going to blow your mind and with no doubt will keep you on the move. The album starts with 'Heliopolis' and there's no soft start. The title meaning lead me to think about peaceful places where light and sun are the key players but from the first note it soon takes the flight pursuing the listener along the way with relentless power. This track exemplifies the psychedelic sounds and vocal harmonies that define the band.

Complex drum patterns and melodic guitar riffs dominate the whole album but in the following track, 'Persona', are louder, darker and more atmospheric. We are definitely in Amor's mood here.

'Dark Desires' shows the most atmospheric and dark side of the band. It flows very well with the melodic vocal before going into something that Widdershins demonstrates to be able to do: awesome wall of sounds, very spacey. This song stays stuck in your head, it has a great tune.

The following 'Seven Sister' continues pretty much in the same way as the previous tracks and somewhere the song become postrocky with layered guitars as the vocal's background.

The real gem of the album is 'Amor'. It starts with a weird sound and the first time I listened to it I felt like I accidentally was on another album. You are in your car and you have clear the road ahead. Music is everywhere and the pursuing guitar riffs give the rhythm to your ride. You cannot go out from that labyrinth of roads and the vocals are absolutely amazing and for me comparable to the epic voice of David Gahan. The repetitive rhythm will induce you to a trance. The closing is clear-cut. Great track.

Amor ends with the 15-minutes track 'Kingdom of Night'. Is this a track for the nighttime? If your idea of night is to have a long ride among incredible and psychedelic sounds, yes, you definitely have to wear your best headphones and keep this track with you. Although this song doesn't really stick out to me – I'm stuck on the previous track - but it's a good space rock song nonetheless.

Amor is a vertigo of sounds that traps you and keeps you alive and kicking with songs that changes tempos, rhythms, and dynamics quickly. In the end what do you expect from a band whose name means counterclockwise?

There are two camps in the world of black metal right now. One camp is a product of the “mashup generation”, gleeful mad scientists crossbreeding genres to see what they can shape from it. The other camp, decorated with two severed goat heads on stakes, houses your black leather revisionists who want nothing more than to keep the beats blasting and the guitar-picking tremolo’d. Each of these camps has something to offer when done well, and neither can objectively said to be “better” than the other one. One camp swears allegiance to the sound of black metal, the other to the drive to create something new from the structures black metal provides. I use this sort of “black metal theory” to describe the current state of the genre, and it fits everything into neat categories which are easy to discuss. Then a band like Australia’s Moon comes along that accomplishes something so singular and with such a pure intent that it totally destroys my model and makes me have to remember that this is black metal we’re talking about: it’s not going to be easy, and the pieces aren’t always going to fit nicely.

At first blush The Nine Gates seems to check all the boxes of a Moribund Records’ release and fits alongside the label’s former staples Leviathan and Xasthur. You can hear that same type of atmosphere at work right out of the gate, as opener ‘The Rejection of Flesh’ drones and chimes to lead you, dread-filled, into the churning and cavernous ‘Inhale Darkness’. The instrumentation is familiar in its form and arrangement. A consistent simple drum beat leads the march through the song as layers of guitar and keyboard create a dizzying cloud of sound through which you can barely discern the vocals of Miasmyr - Moon’s sole creator and instrumentalist on the album. The effect is not something unfamiliar in this type of music, something akin to being lowered into the grave. This image is reinforced as keyboards create an almost choral effect as arpeggios descend at a funereal pace. This is just a snapshot of one song among eight others, though, and this is not an album that can be taken in a track at a time.

In a world that’s increasingly reverent of “singles”, even when that word becomes more useless in describing how music is distributed and consumed, an album that rewards the listener for taking in the work as a whole stands out. There is certainly emotion and expression, but there’s also an ideology at work from the opening notes to the final fading echo. Moon describes its lyrical themes as based on the occult and the symbolism of lunar cycles, themes that clearly do inspire and inform Miasmyr’s creative output. For the listener, however, those lyrics are hidden by vocals that are intentionally washed out to surround the music itself and they in fact become another facet of the mist-like atmosphere that pervades the album. The ideology Miasmyr propagates is therefore one communicated through sound and presentation alone. The Nine Gates takes on several forms then: as a collection of songs, as one piece with a consistent through-line of sound and philosophy, and at times as a structured piece of theater.

The climax of this drama seems to be reached, a “false ending”, in the second-to-last track ‘Spiritless Winds’. It could easily be the final track of a similar album as it creates a complimentary book end to the droning ambiance found in opener ‘The Rejection of Flesh’. With stunning album closer ‘Gate of the Moon’, however, Miasmyr makes it clear that ‘The Rejection of Flesh’ is just one last return to some sort of familiar structure before a complete take off into the album’s longest and most successful track. ‘Gate of the Moon’ is a crystallization of the tracks before it, and it is given more punch when juxtaposed with the trudging moment of eerie calm before it. The send-off track fully showcases another element that is hinted at throughout the rest of the album, especially the organ-heavy ‘Sabbat’. There is, amongst the muck and mire of the oppressive gravity of these songs, a feeling of triumph that is merely hinted at until the bombast of the final track. At the end of an album that has felt like a consistent, inevitable downward journey, the end is an ascension that is sudden and propulsive. What could be the final act of a long march sounds more like being granted entry into the full cosmic potential of Moon’s sound, and it is a moment made all the more ecstatic by the path which precedes it.

Having originally formed back in 1986 and legend has it that Dutch death metal machine Pestilence were considered too far ahead of their time with their brand of “progressive” death metal, gaining critical but not commercial acclaim with third album Spheres before disbanding in 1994.

My initial encounter with them came on the back of their reunion tour in 2008 (with Norwegian black n rollers Vreid) They turned in a very accomplished performance and followed this up with the the rather impressive Resurrection Macabre as a result, however they seemed to drop back of the radar very soon afterwards.

So it was a nice surprise to find a press release from Candlelight Records proclaiming the release of a brand new studio album.

According to said release Obsideo is Latin for “To Besiege” which for once is a very apt title for an album as the opening heartbeat monitor creates tension as it begins to flat line leading into the outright ferocity of opening track it definitely feels that yours ears are under siege.

This is predominantly down to the awkward time signatures throughout that never gives the listener a chance to settle into any one groove, As the relentless staccato riffs, harmonics, growled vocals, flat bass lines, rattling drums and out of place guitar solo’s are amplified by high quality musicianship and an impressively loud production causing each track to bleed into the next giving the 30-odd minute run time the atmosphere of a long grinding rollercoaster rather than merely a collection of songs.

And this is how it should be experienced as it provides the thrillingly uncomfortable listening experience that only extreme metal can provide which leaves a sense of satisfaction for reaching the end in one hit. The short-ish run time also ensures that Obsideo does not outstay its welcome and veer from the intense to the merely boring.

2013 has been a good year for evil, filthy death metal. I gave glowing marks to Lantern’s Below earlier in the year, and we’ve seen very well-regarded releases from Krypts, Vorum, and Tyrant Goatgaldrakona, plus a couple of very good under-the-radar EPs from Ruin Lust and Crypt Lurker, who I hope to see rise to bigger heights in the future.

Obliteration’s entry came a little later than most of those, but it’s easily near the top of the list in quality. Black Death Horizon, the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2009’s Nekropsalms, is just dripping with raw, demonic riffs and horrific atmosphere. Wimps need not apply, because the hordes of hell will merely devour them without mercy.

Lantern’s Below is a very good point of comparison for Obliteration’s newest effort. The dark, disgusting atmosphere on Black Death Horizon is very similar, though Obliteration are focused more on neckbreaking riffs. And make no mistake: you WILL be headbanging during this album, whether it’s the frantic pace of ‘Goat Skull Crown’ and ‘Sepulchral Rites’ or the doomier tones of ‘Transient Passage’. There are some truly monolithic moments on this album, and every song has at least one.

In fact, one of the best things about this album is just how massive it feels. Part of the credit certainly goes to the recording and production job (done entirely by the band in their own DIY studio), which makes the band sound plenty raw and dirty, but still meaty and big. The songwriting, though, is what really makes Black Death Horizon so gigantic, because when your riffs are this big, there’s not much you can do in the production process to make them sound small – not that you’d want to anyway.

I’ve always been of the opinion that heaviness comes primarily from songwriting rather than tone or tuning (something a lot of “heavy” bands today don’t seem to understand), and Black Death Horizon is heavy because it is uncompromisingly evil. You can’t go wrong with raw, vile, filthy riffs, and Obliteration know of nothing else.

Bands will often use all kinds of creative writing in press releases to gain your attention; in this instance we have Leeds new comers Unwave who described their style as:

“Post-Math / Hardcore”

Is post-math even a thing? Well it worked as my curiosity has been piqued enough as to hear what this would entail, so join me dear readers and let’s see what their debut EP Exhale has to offer.

Well upon first listen the opening salvo of ‘Flicker’ and ‘FPS’ appear to other nothing more than very competent mid 2000’s angular post-hardcore (Think Rival Schools, Hundred Reasons etc).

It is third track ‘Continuation Off Course’ that shows first impressions can count for little as it’s here when the intricacies in the music itself become far more noticeable with its melodic and upbeat math rock persuasions reminding me a little of instrumental rockers Axes, after which listening back to the first two tracks again you start picking up on these little flourishes, whether it be a mini post-rock crescendo or an inspired bass line.

This along with the impassioned clean vocals make for some pleasantly catchy rock songs which are slightly undermined by final track ‘Sixtieth Mile’ which is a somewhat underwhelming seven minute drifter but this shouldn’t distract from the promise displayed on offer. They’re a band to keep an eye on if they can reach their full potential.

Just as we are all concentrated in compiling the lists about all the great music released this year, This Patch Of Sky surprise fans with a new album forcing me to modify that difficult ranking at the end of a year full of remarkable releases. And they surprise us more when you realize that no song from the album crosses the six-minute mark, apart from one exception.  This, from a genre where anything under eight minutes feels short, is really surprising.

This Patch of Sky is an instrumental/cinematic rock group from Eugene, Oregon, and Heroes and Ghosts is their third release. Kit, Nate, Joel, Chris and Joshua say that they play with their heart and soul. I just cannot disagree because this new album shows a particular tension within the confines of each riff and melody, not just  in a song as a whole. Each song is emotion packed and it doesn't need 15 minutes per song to develop its mood. The album is beautiful for the most of its 54 minutes with its multiple melodies layered upon one another and the pretty stings that add a lot of loveliness to the overall sound.

'And Death Shall Have No Dominion' opens the album with soft and quiet notes with a lone guitar, cinematic synth and strings that soon will be accompanied with the full orchestra following a pattern that is repeated in each song. The intro, the explosion of energy and the decline happen all in less than six minutes. In the end, why waiting when you can burn right away? The following 'Ten Thousand Hours' is a stand-out moment; after a quiet un-settling intro the song explodes into a great wall of sound and I think it's one of my favorite from the album.

'Building with Sand' is a clean guitar melody combined with flawless and gentle drumming. The drums are effectively one of the highlights of this album. The beats placed throughout Heroes and Ghosts are catchy and the drumming really helps make the album what it is. 'Frozen Hands, Frozen Feet' is four minutes over an immense panorama. The song has a strong sense of space where the changes of melodies give movement to the whole track and the suspended notes give it more power. This song sounds like something in between This Will Destroy You and Explosions In The Sky's styles. It's not original but it's a great song. Passing through the soft and atmospheric pause of 'Memorial Of Lights' it's the moment of the nine-minute epic 'Heroes and Ghosts' that is an outstanding achievement and a good proof that tranquil moments are just as powerful as deafening ones. I really love it.

Heroes and Ghosts is a gorgeous experience and for sure it deserves to be mentioned among the best releases of the year.

The only bad note is that the label Oxide Tones has just announced an indefinite hiatus. We'll cannot thank Adam Homfray enough for the big effort demonstrated in supporting music.

Big Guns hail from Ireland and play straightforward, no-nonsense hard rock. You’ll not find any experimental, progressive meanderings, 30 minute doom laden behemoths or ventures into the more obscure sub-genres on their debut release, Down But Not Out. All songs are between three and five minutes long. All tracks pick a riff, stick to it and then add some guitar solos, normally towards the latter half of the track. Most songs have the sort of chorus which you could easily imagine everyone in the room singing along to while punching the air and sloshing their beer all over the people in front. Even the name of the band “Big Guns” evokes groups of yesteryear: Priest, Lizzy, AC/DC, UFO, etc. As for members, Kieran McArdle leads from the front on guitar and vocals with Daniel O’Toole on lead, Tony Drumm on bass duty and Lisa Howe bashing out solid rhythms on the drums.

It’s almost irrelevant to review each track as there’s little variation on a well-worn and popular theme. All songs kick ass with one exception: ‘Forever and Always’, which is a mellow instrumental that uses keyboards and effects to excellent effect. It threatens to erupt into heaviness but never quite does so. Compared to the other tracks on offer here it’s almost anthemic in nature. You’ll detect familiar influences as you listen to each track, for example the song ‘Remember Me’ has strands of Maiden running through it (listen to and see if you can hear ‘Wrathchild’). There’s also a cover of Neil Young’s ‘Keep on Rockin in the Free World’.

Personally, I would’ve preferred the vocals to be more prominent in the mix. Extensive fiddling with my graphic equaliser was needed to get a balance I was happy with, but this is a minor criticism as the overall production values are punchy enough and suited to the material.

Down But Not Out clearly shows that this band has worked hard to perfect a sound which is instantly accessible by the target audience. The grooves and timeless riffs on offer will ensure multiple eargasms for the classic rock fan. A fine hard rock album and an assured debut by the band which they will surely build upon in subsequent releases.

With the 70’s retro rock revival in full steam it was always a matter of time before the scene moved on to the 80’s.

So here we have Fenriz approved Beastmilk from Finland leading the way, playing a self-styled brand of “apocalyptic post-punk” which lovingly reveres/rips of (delete as see fit) the 1980’s new wave and post-punk sounds of Sisters Of Mercy, Joy Division, The Cure et al.

Now seeing as they wear their influences on their sleeve so blatantly and my own dalliance with this style of music never really got any further than Fields Of Nephilim, why am I surprised to find myself enjoying this so much?

Songwriting.

Pure and simply great songwriting with perfect pacing as the urgent jagged guitars and clean dramatic vocal delivery of opening track ‘Death Reflects Us’ testifies with a performance that buries in your head with its fantastical poetic imagery, and there’s no letup in momentum with the following ‘The Wind Blows Through Their Skulls’ and ‘Genocidal Crush’ possibly being two of my favourite songs this year with their more danceable grooves and big infectious choruses.

Eight out of ten tracks last no longer than 3 minutes keeping the high tempo dancefloor groove and mixing up the various reference points so that they hook you in to the theme but ensure they don’t linger too long for the familiarity to outstay their welcome, the two longer tracks are slower paced ballads suitably positioned in the middle and end with the latter ‘Strange Attractors’ providing an interesting sucker punch of an emotionally charged ending.

One other reference point that cropped up for me was defunct punk rockers Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster especially during ‘Surf The Apocalypse’. I was also pretty much convinced that ‘Love In A Cold World’ was a cover but apparently it’s not, make of that what you will.

If you are of a certain age you may wonder what the fuss is having heard it all before but if you’re a fan of great songwriting in rock music Climax will definitely be worth your time.

There are a few things I listen for in a new record. Near the top of the list is whether the band knows how to finish a song. Most don't. Seriously. Have a good listen to the next ten records you play. Do the songs just stop, fade, fizzle out, run into the next song, or do they provide a genuine conclusion? I'm not just talking about the last two beats; do the last few bars take the themes home? Is it predictable, does it provide relief or does it create unresolved tension - tension that carries through to the next song or leaves you feeling uneasy? There's no right or wrong ending, but it needs to actually have one. All too often even the very best in all other departments will get to a point in the song where they go; “OK, this has gone on long enough, let's just stop playing”.

So when I get to the last minute of 'Pilgrim Roads', the opening track of The Inner Traveller by Dutch metal band SiMÓN, I'm treated to all the threads of the song being pulled together before the elements drop off like a discarded Apollo booster rocket leaving a stumbling, staggering, sludgy riff over some white noise, with the white noise eventually taking us out. You are released from the tension but you are primed, waiting for more. This is the shit. This is how you end a fucking song, particularly an opening song.

What else does The Inner Traveller have? Big fat meaty riffs – lots of 'em. I'm not sure of the tuning but it doesn't feel quite as dropped as some other doomy sludge, although this crashes its way along close to the ground much of the time. What gives the record such life though are those contrasting moments like the middle of the title track, where the pace quickens and those riffs launch themselves into the atmosphere and take on that proggy Dream Theater feel before dropping lightly like volcanic ash after the eruption. And yep, there's glock in there, before once again they finish perfectly by starting to fade out but punctuating it with gentle resolution instead.

Then there's the softer straight singing juxtaposed with the screamed, harsher-but-not-quite-hardcore vocals, not always in synch with the emotion from the instruments. Progressive/post-metal really has developed the perfect relationship between instrument and voice. Neither is more important despite the fact vocals do command attention when present. SiMÓN use dynamics and a wide net of emotion, colour, texture and depth to create an album that could so easily have been a big doomy, sludgy riff-fest rather than the wondrous musical journey that it is.

In the end though, when I hear a record like this that works so well as a whole, that plunges the dirty, dark depths and ascends to uplifting highs, that reaches in and grabs my emotions and paints such a beautiful portrait, there's really just one simple thing I can say. Thanks guys.

I have come across a bunch of bands lately basically demonstrating one single thing: you don’t need a lot of members to make a huge pile of noise. Two members, usually a drummer and a bassist or guitarist with lots of pedals and big amps, will be sufficient to throw walls of heavy sound, huge riffs and loud drumming out of the speakers. I’m thinking of Sweden’s Galvano, Australia’s DEAD, Edinburgh’s Ultimate Slaymaster and Black International, instrumentalists That Fucking Tank, Glasgow noise-rockers Bronto Skylift and death metal duo Geryon and there are many more examples out there. From Lyon in France comes another loud two-piece, namely Carne, who describe themselves as a sludge, noise and hardcore outfit. “We are 2 and we play loud…” they proudly state on their Facebook page.

They released an EP back in 2010 called Metropolis but it is through their new full-length debut that I became aware of these noisemakers. They recently released Ville Morgue on Solar Flare Records, which is also the home of fellow French noise-rockers Sofy Major, and it is a great mix of sludge inspired noise-rock, but with the addition of a huge post-hardcore influence. The vocals are very shouty/screamo and a couple of the songs have nice up tempo hardcore-like drumming.

There are 10 tracks on the album, but three of these, the ‘Elegy’ trio of Δ, Ɣ and ʡ, are instrumental soundscapes/intermezzos, so we’re left with seven proper songs. After the first ‘Elegy in Δ’ intro track Ville Morgue kicks off ferociously with an almost black metal sounding guitar intro, but quickly into the track the post-hardcore influence comes to the foreground, followed soon after that by the sludgier down-tuned guitar riffs.

And riffing is what these guys manage to pull off extremely well. There is a certain level of aggressiveness in the guitar playing, due to the use of the heavy riffs and also the vocalist sounds very aggressive in a nice manner. It’s all accompanied by big sounding pounding drums. And don’t forget the heavy bass, which I’m not sure off how they managed this as I couldn’t find any specifics on the band members and instruments they use, so I’m thinking this thick dirty sounding bass intro of ‘Crown Of Porns’ is actually a down-tuned guitar played through both guitar and bass amps. Either that or recorded separately in the studio.

The band loves beer, which becomes very apparent in the track ‘1000 Beers’ and I love beer too so I sympathise deeply with this track. Which is a bit of a heavy headbanger at the same time, so it’s all good. After the second ‘Elegy in Ɣ’, Carne takes a bit of a breather and the following two tracks ‘Slave / Her’ and ‘Chien Noir’ are a bit longer and a bit slower, with ‘Slave / Her’ being a near instrumental heavy sludge-noise song, except for the few lines of spoken word and screamo shouting by guest vocalist Marion (of Overmars and Abronzius) towards the end. After the second intermezzo ‘Elegy in ʡ’, the album finishes with the title track ‘Ville Morgue’, which demonstrates some nice drumming skills and is one of the album’s highlights hurtling along like a heavy express train.

Carne is another two-piece to take notice of, especially if you like the sludgier, noisier music with plenty of post-hardcore influences. Another two-piece playing louder than your average loud band. Ville Morgue is out now and is available on nice shiny vinyl besides the digital download.

It’s not hyperbolic to describe Daniel Bejar, the man behind Destroyer, as one of the greatest songwriters of the modern age. He may not have garnered the success he deserves, but one senses that success has never been high on Bejar’s agenda. Destroyer feels less like a ‘project’ than it does a necessary extension of his personality, which is one reason the announcement of Five Spanish Songs didn’t exactly come as a surprise.

For, whilst Bejar is Canadian, it somehow felt perfectly natural to hear that Five Spanish Songs would be a literal title. One wouldn’t be wholly surprised to hear Bejar burst into Spanish in conversation so why should one be shocked to hear him getting through an entire EP in that language? That’s what he does here, presenting five songs written by Antonio Luque (of Seville based Sr. Chinarro) in a style musically reminiscent of that he adopted on classic mid-period Destroyer records like Streethawk: A Seduction and Destroyer’s Rubies.

The first track, ‘Maria de las nieves’ is the most successful. It’s classic Bejar in many a sense. The arrangement is uncomplicated but ever so slightly askew, as if designed to capture the sound of a band nearing the end of a long rehearsal session, a few drinks downed along the way. Vocally is where it really hits home though. Bejar’s distinctive voice is to credit for many of his finest moments. Here his enunciation of the song’s title during the chorus is to die for. It perfectly captures the effortlessly wistful laziness that has always marked out his delivery from his contemporaries.

Bejar’s distinctive vocals are, in fact, what carries this EP. There’s nothing ostensibly wrong with any of the tracks here, but it’s a shame that we’ve been robbed of Bejar’s wordplay for this release. His lyrics have always been so multi-dimensionally cathartic that to hear his voice singing in a foreign tongue feels, if not wrong, then inevitably disappointing. Furthermore, given that Kaputt achieved the perfect synthesis between the musical and lyrical potentials of Destroyer’s sound, it’s hard not to see Five Spanish Songs as a slightly contradictory next step.

Thus, whilst this is essential for Destroyer fans on the basis of the novelty value of its direction alone, it’s hard not to feel like Five Spanish Songs is just a sidestep on Bejar’s journey towards ever greater heights on his next original full-length.

With all the psych that has been released this year there are been a distinct lack of a certain ingredient…that of the California sound. Yes, we are in new waters now and Spacemen 3 are the new year zero but lest we forget it was the sunshine coast that started the whole ball rolling. In opportune time it is down to a bunch of San Diegans called Harsh Toke to bring back some of the blues in one of the most fulfilling début offerings ever.

A rich claim but Light Up and Live is really rather good. Situated somewhere between the freak outs of early Grateful Dead with a hefty dose of Hendrix for good measure, they also serve up a fair amount of modern day classic garage (think Fuzz) whilst staying true to the freeform work outs.

It’s a fascinating mix and one that portrays a new band keen to push at the boundaries whilst paying homage to the past. The musicians already have pedigree with their respective other bands, here they head for the lysergic stars in a one stop psych workout which makes a refreshing change from the continuous drone of a lot of offerings these days

Not that you would think that from the first track 'Rest in Prince' which is a short flurry into classic rock land. The blues is high on the agenda as is a willingness to betray some howling singing. This doesn’t last though as second track 'Weight of the Sun' begins its ominous journey into the outer reaches. Starting with a backdrop of flutes (as you do) it soon takes on Hendrix at his most out there as it searches round in all its freeform glory. It’s breathtakingly good and this is only the start.

Title track 'Light up and Live' begins with a rumbling bass sound which takes an age to build up, in true psych style the drone is there but there is also a jazz element which takes this to newer places. 'Plug Into The Moon' continues this vein as Harsh Toke take their music further and further out.

At only four tracks long don’t be fooled into thinking there isn’t a lot going on. In fact at times there are more ideas here than a dozen psych albums have and the great thing about it is that although this is new music it is also refreshingly honest about its influences.

For those of you yearning a return to the birth days of the psych revolution then you are in for a treat with this album. A stunning debut that gets better with every listen.