Here is what is completely obvious as soon as you hit play on the new Accuser album Diabolic: the goal of this album is to be a fast aggressive aural assault that will grip you by the throat and not let go until the very last note has faded from the speakers! This is a thrash album that is a non-stop, punishing journey through the nightmares and dreamscapes of a band. Not just any band mind you but one that knows how to write powerful music with the right amount of melody and amplitude while not holding back on the in your face aggression that solid thrash is built on.

Anchored firmly into the thrash scene of the late 80’s to early 90’s Accuser create an album of finely crafted songs that build from the opening song 'Apocalyptic Decay' with its mellow yet anticipatory rhythm and groove intro that flows into the earth shattering blast beats and primal screams of the song. The flow of the album is top-notch with the excellent title track following and allowing the band to open up and become even more free with the music as each songs seems to build on the pace and speed of the last. Accuser has definitely not left anything on the table in this release they have finely tuned their sound and actually separated themselves, style-wise, from what we know of the greats of the German thrash scene.

With a feel more relatable to Sepultura or early Testament, Accuser have sprinkled in a bit more melody to allow the music to sound and feel more accessible and less constricted to the thrash mold. The songs are built on strong foundations of power, aggression and mood and each one feels independent of the next without feeling foreign to the overall album. When one listens to this album they feel drawn into the unique visions of songs like 'Cannibal Insanity', 'Beyond The Blackness', and 'Remains of Chaos'. One thing that is an absolute certainty about this album is Accuser has been working toward an album this good for years and has finally found a place where the fear, hate, loathing and tormenting nightmares can reside to build a solid, neck breaking album. If you are looking for fast, body and mind crushing thrash-til-you collapse on the floor music, then this album is for you!

Before starting this review, I feel it’s important to note that this is my first experience with Akron/Family, and therefore confess to being completely unfamiliar with the group’s core sound and past works. The reason I mention this is because Sub Verses is so unlike anything else I’ve heard before that comparisons to anything other than the band’s back catalogue are extremely hard to make.

Sure, serving as Michael Gira’s backing band for the final few Angels of Light albums has certainly resulted in similarities between the two groups, and the psychedelic pop overtones hint at inspiration from Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion-era, but there is just so much more going on here. The production on this record is simply huge, evidenced by opener ‘No-Room’, and there is something almost spiritual happening in the closing stages of the song. It’s loud, hypnotic, and transcendent all at once; an excellent introduction to the album.

Sub Verses is glued together at its core by the combination of ‘Sometimes I’ and ‘Holy Boredom’ and it is at this point that the album truly begins to take shape. ‘Sometimes I’ is really quite terrifying, utilising unsettling ambience and vocals, whereas ‘Holy Boredom’ is nothing short of bizarre with its ever-changing structure and form. The songs work well together and change the pace of the album at just the right time.

Other highlights include the math-rock of ‘Sand Talk’, perhaps the most easily enjoyable track on the album, and standout ‘When I Was Young’. The latter is a slow, bluesy number that superbly winds the record down to its natural conclusion in ‘Samurai’, another slow and hypnotic slice of psychedelia.

While it is certainly difficult to understand Akron/Family, it is clear that their music goes well beyond your standard rock and pop compositions. However, Sub Verses only ever briefly achieves the transcendence they aim for, during ‘No-Room’ and ‘Sand Talk’ for example, and it sounds as though they can do a lot more. Perhaps perfection lies somewhere in their previous releases, but if not they definitely possess the potential to achieve it in future.

Often with release sent to our fine site here, in the accompanying press release we are directed to a particular track that is either going to be the lead single of the album or (perhaps) the track that the PR /management believe is the standout track, or the most accessible. In the case of Purson's debut album The Circle And The Blue Door this track is ‘Leaning On A Bear’, a organ heavy track that evokes Deep Purple in its structure and staccato riff. Certainly a great track. But there is more to this album. Much more…..

This is an album that desperately wants to be part of the mid-70s folk/rock scene. To throw out a stereotype, it positively reeks of incense, young men with beards and turntables. But it’s a GOOD thing that it wasn’t, it is a GOOD thing that it is a product of this decade because it would have got lost in a sea of dross instead of being able to (as it does in 2013) shine brightly as a beacon of hope against the plasticised manufacture X Factor generation. /soapboxrant

I could make some lazy comparisons about the English pastoral scenes created on this album, much akin to those of the Gabriel-era Genesis but that would be doing a massive disservice to the band and the album. What Purson do (and do so well) is take the heritage of folk and rock in Britain and turn it on it’s head. By combining it with psychedelia and some fat guitars it gives the music some balls, some guts. It adds aggression and passion and an emotional heart that breaks the so called “stiff upper lip” ideals. And it is this emotional heart, best conveyed through singer Rosie Cunningham’s powerful and (at times) heart wrenching vocal delivery that gives a healing quality to the album. No matter how dark things get there is a way to redemption. A way to heal and let go.

This is an evocative and emotive album that uses a broad palette of light and shade to achieve maximum musical impact. A touch or organ here, a dash of flute there, some jagged buzz guitars, a shimmer of folk, a grain of hard rock.... all of these things combine in the cake tin to provide a glorious and satisfying album that will stay with you long after you’ve pressed stop. That is the mark of a great album: how much does it resonate in the silence?

The symbol of a lighthouse is used to stunning effect in the particularly touching Sailor’s Wife’s Lament. This is an appropriate image to evoke as it is also a metaphor for this album as a whole. It is a beacon of light, a guiding path amongst the rocks and darkness of life. It shines when you need it most.

Considering this is the debut album from Purson, I’d say they’ve got a pretty bloody bright future ahead of them.

As a band you’d like to have a good band name. A name that stands out from the crowd. A name that draws attention. A name that people will remember. In my life I have played in a bunch of bands and I was involved in starting some of these bands. I can tell you that thinking of a name ticking all of the above boxes is not easy. So, I like to imagine that these guys were walking down a random road somewhere in New South Wales in Australia and they saw this fat guy walking towards them wearing a mystic wolf shirt. And voila, name found: Fat Guy Wears Mystic Wolf Shirt. Please let this be true!

Ok, let’s talk about the band and the music a bit more. This new album Dys/Closure is their second release (as far as I know) after their 2011 released album Counter/Transference. FGWMWS are K on vocals, P on guitars and backing vocals and C on drums, keyboards and backing vocals.  Their style hits upon a variety of loud and noisy genres, with a huge grindcore and punk influence (grindpunk?), and also hitting on guitar noise, powerviolence and hardcore. The band themselves mentions early Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, Ed Gein, Orchid and Pig Destroyer among their influences. Yes, I definitely hear these back on Dys/Closure, but there is a lot more to it on this album, which consists of 15 blistering tracks.

Basically Dys/Closure can be split in a couple of chunks: a very grindpunk first bit, then it hits the 2 longer tracks ‘N Equals’ and ‘Instrumental’ right in the middle, which sound a lot more Fugazi-like noise/post-hardcore and then it jumps straight back in those short grinding hardcore punk songs, before finishing the album off nicely with another long and slower track ‘Within’.

Being true to the grindcore philosophy, 12 out of the 15 songs are under or around 1 minute long (in the case of 'Voir Dire' even 11 seconds long/short) and before you know it you’ve finished listening and you wonder to yourself what the fuck's just happened.  That’s how good this release is. It’s energetic, frenetic and extremely well produced. A bonus is K’s clear and shouty vocals making it easy to follow the lyrics.

FGWMWS again demonstrates that there’s so much happening at the moment in Australia, besides bands like Battle Pope, Jesus Christ Posse and Reverend Jesse Custer putting a huge stamp on the grindcore/punk/hardcore scene.

Go and buy this album through the brilliant Art As Catharsis label. The CD comes in a beautiful looking digipack, which includes a “glossy as shit” 12 page booklet with all the lyrics and short song explanations, plus a NOFX cover ('Desperation's Gone'). Or buy the digital download for only 5 Australian dollars, which is around 3,5 quid in British money, a bit less than the average price of a pint nowadays, so DO IT!

Ok, this is it. I’m off buying myself a new FGWMWS t-shirt, which shows a picture of a cut through grapefruit. Which makes sense of course.

‘This is the Dawn of a New Day’ people!

Start playing Until The End Of The World by Arsiesys and you’ll be literally carried away into a post rock world.
“Through its ethereal sounds, borrowing from some post-rock and ambient melodies, sometimes with retro touch, Arsiesys depicts a world full of pessimism, where the main theme orbits around the end of the world for man, or even the universe”: that’s how Guillaume Apoc Dessery, aka Arsiesys, describes his music.

For the uninitiated Arsiesys is a solo project created in Paris in 2010 by Guillaume Apoc Dessery, also founding member of Exilym. Until The End Of The World is the first EP of the band released by Swarm of Nails Record and the physical EP will be available for all the post rock lovers from April 2013 and he is currently working on a future LP and a soundtrack for a short-movie.

‘This Is The Down Of A New Day’ opens the 6 tracks EP with a guitar party that is constant throughout the EP. The outcome is a clear sound characterized by the abandonment of obsolete structures of compositions. This is the post rock world where musicians are free to mix techniques of different styles.

‘Why Do You Wake Up So Soon’, with its upbeat guitar riffs, is enough to get the listener’s heart pumping. The ending is soft like the calm after the storm. Our heart can rest and relax!

It’s time to celebrate with the third track. ‘We Will Celebrate Happiness’ is soft and powerful. The emotion in this song is indeterminate. You can read whatever you want in it; so it could be the soundtrack to your rainy day or soundtrack to your happiest day. There’s a lot in it, it’s really a celebration of freedom , of emotions and happiness!

The relaxing first part of ‘The Last Flight Of The TWA-800’ features a dramatic and intense explosions of guitars that is really mind blowing. The last chord decays transforming the song in something more soft and melodic, a great intro to the next track ‘At The End Of All Life’. Very quickly this track beats triumphantly into a persistent rhythm that, at high volume, doesn’t allow you to rest.

The longest track, ‘Why Do You Leave Me So Soon’, closes the EP. If your appetite for both loud and soft instrumental post rock is boundless you’ll enjoy this song as also the entire EP. You might recognize a certain influence from the sound of Mono of Japan and The Evpatoria Report on Arsiesys but it’s rare we’ll find post rockers that don’t love those bands!

The 5 tracks of Until The End Of The World seem like the steps of a dramatic instrumental journey.
Dive into it and you’ll celebrate happiness!

Well, here we go again. Australia has another band that blasting from down under. I still don’t understand the country’s output of great bands, but I’m still hoping for the all expense paid trip to the Land of Oz to find out. If you, dear reader, would request our lovely editors to get on that ASAP, we will figure this phenomenon out.

Eternal Rest is a younger band. But you’d never guess that Prophetic is their first full-length album. Songs that wind and carry underlining riffs such as ‘Infernal Reign’ and ‘Last Gate’ are smooth and have parts that return to build emotion and anticipation. The straight out assault of ‘Preaching the Decimation of Spheres’ is vicious, and when the band breaks into a stop-start bridge, well, the onslaught is just dynamic. The gravely vocals are in a good rhythm with the music, the stay in sync and don’t wander off. ‘Acts of The Unspoken’ is a climb and descent of bashing your brains out, taking a breather now and then.

Prophetic is an album that’s worth checking out. The guitars and drums have a chaotic mix, but I say that as a compliment. Some mixes on album just sound like an entire blur and that is not the case here. The dynamics in the music are not lost, but have a claustrophobic feel now and then that adds to the feeling of the album overall. The musicianship is strong, as are the actual songs. There are hooks to bring you back into the songs. Being that this is Eternal Rest’s first full length, I’m impressed, and see a bright future for the band. So long as they keep drinking the water from Oz, Satan only knows what’s in it.

You can grab Prophetic from Deepsend Records now. I would say it’s a just purchase for a band that will continue to deliver.

Support artists and musician that you enjoy. Go grab this record!

HAIL!!!

Man Your Horse are from Toronto and declare that they “are a two piece that play loud and fast instrumental rock music that is generally loop based”. That’s all we have to go on folks, in terms of biography, the rest of the Press Release consists of quotations from random reviewers. A long list of gigs only provides us with the knowledge that Man Your Horse have played lots of gigs. Bandcamp advises us that ‘Click/Clacks’ are provided by Scott Petrie and ‘Squiggly Do’s’ are performed by Julian Marrs. So, marks off for the unhelpful PR, I’m also thinking about docking kudos for the plethora of awful song titles they’re forcing on us (examples- ‘Donkey Hotey’, ‘May The Horse Be With You’ and album title ‘Marrel of Bonkeys’). Probably for the best that they’re an instrumental act, lyrics might have been messy.

Aside from the obvious horse reference I was drawn to the band by the aforementioned declaration, I do like a bit of fast instrumental rock music that is generally loop based. It’s a very accurate description of their sound, over the course of the 8 tracks here (a snappy 26 minutes), we get short sharp shocks of spiky math rock.

Initially my interest is high, opener ‘Jamma Ray’ is a tight groovy little number that has some excellent drumming that ably keeps up with the quickfire guitar work. ‘Babes’ follows with a nice little bouncy melody, all fairly enjoyable if you’re into this sort of thing. ‘Salt Licks’ has a slowed down intro, perhaps a shift in the dynamic? Only momentarily as the track soon gets back into the familiar groove.

This is one of the problems I have with Man Your Horse. Every track on this 8 track album sounds like the other, right down to the high pitched guitar noodle that must make an obligatory appearance. It really starts to get on your nerves on repeated plays of this album resulting in an overriding urge to avoid said repeated plays.

The other issue I have with Marrel of Bonkeys is the fact that everything sounds so damn treble-y. With no bass guitar involvement and a clear refusal to acknowledge certain strings/frets on the guitar the album suffers from a lack of low end. This is unfortunate because the drum sound is tremendous. Should have gone the whole hog boys and recorded the guitars in a studio too, instead of at home and your “shitty jam space”.

I suspect these guys put on quite a spectacle live, I also think once they get their studio heads on there’s more to come from them. A wise investment might be in some additional effects pedals as the Tom Morello noodling requires a little more imagination to avoid being earache. There’s clearly technical ability and potential in the guitar playing and assuming ‘Click/Clacks’ are drums, Scott Petrie is a more than capable drummer. I know exactly where these guys are coming from and I think I know where they would like to be. One thing’s for sure, they’re having a blast doing it.

The importance of Neurosis to modern music cannot be overstated. They are arguably the most influential heavy band of the last two decades with their gigantic, epic and powerfully emotional music. They bring a level of honesty and sincerity that is often imitated but never equaled. At the heart of all of these ponderous descriptors (epic, crushing, etc) is their often unmentioned song writing abilities. Neurosis is the sum of its parts and on their own the parts are stellar. Steve Von Till’s 2000 debut As The Crow Flies that is being reissued by Neurot Recordings, strips down all of the grandiose layers and delivers a somber, reflective experience. It is a quiet, haunting record just as emotionally engaging and all consuming as Neurosis at its most mighty.

‘Stained Glass’ begins the record with a simple acoustic guitar and Von Till’s trademark gravelly whisper, setting up the subdued atmosphere of the record. Subtle piano chords and a single droning cello add texture to the music and are most effective because of their restraint. ‘We All Fall’ follows and continues further down the path of beautiful folk-inspired music. It serves as both a woeful lament and a dire warning. It is a gorgeous song that manages to sound both ancient and immediate.

By the time the delay-drenched electric guitar of ‘Remember’ begins hypnotically snaking around the repetitive, mantra-esque vocals the timelessness and weight of the music has begun to get more pronounced. This is music written from a place of honest introspection and it demands the same response from listeners. This is the soundtrack for a rainy night when you want to turn inward or for a hike in the woods when the leaves are changing. ‘Warning Of A Storm’ is one of the finest songs I have heard in years. The electronic textures and rich cello serving as a perfect melancholic accompaniment to Von Till’s elegy for the relentless passing of time. Not one-second of its considerable, almost 9 minute length feels out of place or over welcome.

‘Twice Born’ follows and opens the sound up a bit with bright, chiming acoustics guitars and a few additional strings. Some wonderful female backing vocals (supplied by Kris Force of Amber Asylum) accent Von Till’s baritone and are used with the same meticulous restraint as the other instrumentation on the record. The ominous ‘Midheaven’ is the darkest song on the record. It crawls and drags itself along with drudging, brooding intensity until it abruptly stops to give way to the ‘Shadows in Stone.’ The album closer is also the only one to feature any percussion. Subtle use of bass and snare drums underneath the anguished vocal harmonies concludes As The Crow Flies like a funereal lullaby.

As with Neurosis the strength of these songs lies in the undercurrent of pride and self awareness. An album this painstakingly crafted it is hard to look at it as seven distinct songs when they all function as a part of a larger piece of art. If this is a listeners first encounter with Steve Von Till’s solo work the good news is there are two more outstanding albums to immerse yourself in. If you already have this album this is the perfect chance to discover it again. Ten years on it is still as powerful as it was when it was released and will be for decades to come.

I cannot vouch for whatever Craig Scott was on when he wrote his new single, ‘Technicolour Yawn’. In fact, listening to it again now, I’m not sure I even want to know what gave him the crazed thoughts that make up this song.

What’s most appealing (the suitability of that word depends entirely on your own sanity / musical preferences) about ‘Technicolour Yawn’ is the hints of standardised instrumentation that are present throughout the track. In another life, one senses that Craig Scott might have made his Lobotomy project sound almost normal...but not here. ‘Technicolour Yawn’ may start off innocently enough but it isn’t long before Scott starts mangling instrumental sounds beyond recognition and the melodic elements of the track begin to dissolve into a haywire succession of dissonant scrapes and squeals.

That isn’t to say that ‘Technicolour Yawn’ is unlistenable. In fact, despite the rabid deconstruction that occurs throughout much of the duration, this is a fine example of the phenomenon of defiantly experimental and difficult music that remains highly enjoyable. Despite its somewhat avant-garde rationale, ‘Technicolour Yawn’ is curiously human in execution. The fine balance between creating interesting music that intrigues both fervent experimentalists and ordinary listeners may be pretty near where ‘Technicolour Yawn’ ends up.

Even if not, trying to identify which instruments have resulted in which odd noises is a game for the whole family surely? No, oh...

'Technicolour Yawn' is yours to own from 31st May, although you can actually listen to it here now so why wait? Craig is also running a remix competition to go with the single release so if you want to make a version even more batshit crazy than his check out his site for details. 

A siren call followed by a quick-paced synth beat gets feet tapping on ‘Remembering Better Times’, the opening track on this sophomore album by Barcelona-based The Suicide of Western Culture. It continues longer than it needs to but once a secondary melody and shimmering background are fed into the track, it almost melts into itself. It’s almost two minutes before drums appear and the starkness this creates works wonders as an introduction. When the beat does arrive it doesn’t thrash, it simply joins in, adding another layer instead of taking over.

TSOWC’s instrumental post-electro sound owes a lot to everything from Kraftwerk and Neu!, to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and pretty much anything that’s ever been plugged into the grid. There’s a flavour of so much in these 10 tracks, but it rarely overpowers - the flow of the record never becoming disjointed as it moves from one style to the next. To control such a range of styles in this way is commendable. Almost every track is dominated by an uplifting melody pitched higher than the multitude of background distortions and drums. It’s a stirring album for that, never better exemplified than on ‘Love your Friends, Hate Politicians,’ one of the few drum-driven tracks. It builds in swathes, each one attaching itself to you and gripping tighter as the track progresses.

With an explosive start reminiscent to Primal Scream’s Accelerator, ‘El Cristo de la Buena Muerte’ settles in with an industrial beat that clatters and chimes throughout. Drive would have been a very different film with this as its soundtrack - and one well worth watching.

Throughout, Hope Only Brings Pain avoids the dangers of over-egging tracks (for the most part), knowing when to change gear. By avoiding the four-minute codas that can loosen focus on electronica, the listener’s attention never flounders. 

Spain is not in a good place at the moment; embroiled in the Eurozone crisis its unemployment rate stands at a record high of 27.2%. It’s within this context that TSOWC have released this album. It could be angry, but it’s not. It’s optimistic, life affirming, hopeful and not painful in the slightest.

I know Dog Knights Productions has been working on this record for a while now, and heck, it's well worth the wait. Admittedly, I know fuck all about screamo (apologies to any connoisseurs reading this) and the little of it I've encountered over the years hasn't really got on with my ears too well, which is probably how I've missed out on Orchid up until this point. However, from an initial listen I know I'm going to be working on correcting that ASAP. I've been going through each track listening to the Orchid version then the cover version and everyone seems to be doing a fantastic justice to the original and their own sound to boot. I tend to find covers sacrifice one thing or the other- the integrity of the primary song or the style of said band's music, but not one of these disappoints.

Opening with Coma Regalia's take on 'Aesthetic Dialect' you're thrown immediately into the chaos synonymous with screamo, which may be hard to deal with if you're relatively new to the genre, but you would be hard pushed to to be somewhat won over by the end of it. Whilst chaotic and compelling, every song brings about a strong sense of emotion and wide cultural references in a relatively short time. The next real milestone lies in the initially more melodic title track 'Epilogue Of A Car Crash' which Voyage In Coma add a fresh tilt to with a slightly more cogent touch and bold, solid vocal style. I could run through each song comparing the old to the new, but you can put your time to better use by just listening to this record and appreciating the vigour and spirit put into playing, recording and assembling these tracks in a crucial tribute to such a fundamental band within the screamo genre. For any skim listeners, or those even more unfamiliar with scream than I am, I'd recommend checking out the aforementioned tracks alongside 'Lights Out' (Carrion Spring), '...And The Cat Turned To Smoke' (Foxes), 'New Ideas In Mathematics' (Questionable Youth) and 'Anais Nin By Numbers' (Utarid).

Amid the dissonance there is a real power, a raw energy that goes to show how influential Orchid were and evidently still are over a decade later. Not only is this a good introduction to the band, but showcases a variety of styles from power-violence to emo to post-rock and rosters a ton of new and established bands to look into further. Either way, you're not walking away from this empty handed. Dog Knights Productions still have copies of the LP in their store, so go snap one up!

FFO: Is it too obvious to say Orchid?, Saetia, Pg. 99, Neil Perry

After a particularly rough week, I awoke to this album in my inbox. I was told to enjoy it, and relax. Ha. Relax…. I did enjoy this album, so much in fact that I listened to it four times in one day. Something about it drew me back again and again. Prior to even typing any of these words I would say I've listened to it at least 10 times. And even now, as I write this, my ears are receiving vibrations that are calming my soul.

There are two tracks on this album. There are drums, and there is bass. Aidan Baker of Nadja (and a bunch of other bands) helms the drums, and Dorian Williamson (Northumbria, Holoscene) picks away on the bass. I’m fairly familiar with the former, and have never heard of the later, which is something I look to amend, soon. Some may call this a sludge or doom album, but to me it’s all drone.

'Careful With That Death Machine’ is a stark 28 minutes of rhythmic patterns. Drums that occasionally stray from the steady drone sound gorgeous mixed with a bass that is pulsing, not in notes, but in volume. Swells of it. It all starts out very light and simple and does indeed retain that throughout the song. A familiar chord progress in the bass and drum pattern returns a few times to assure that this isn't just noise for the sake of it. In those times the drums move from standard patterns to a minor jam session. While this song does move up in tempo, it still possesses the ability to freeze you where you’re at, forcing you to listen and pay attention.

‘The Aviator’ is a test of patience in the best way possible at 31 minutes. Starting out with a simple drumbeat on repeat (sue me) and the bass once again swelling back and forth, ‘The Aviator’ is the more aggressive of the two tracks on Adoran. Although it comes across as more of a journey as there are more quiet to loud moments present. The bass during those quiet times is plays with a very soothing hand, and backed up by a chime of cymbals galore. It brings to mind many memories of beautiful days I spent in the sun. As for the heavy parts, they are still played with beauty and finesse. It’s only towards the later 10 minutes or so, do things get very rough. And in a sense, the song itself is flying off the hinges, being played until the very last bits of noise can be brought out. The journey there is where entirely worth the payoff though. For once the rumbles have settled, you’ll find yourself ready to do it all over again.

An album for any of you that enjoy a nice session “relaxation” or a walk through the streets during days where a sweatshirt is all you need. Adoran is available to pre-order until its release on May 14th through ConSouling Sounds. If this album does find you satisfied, I recommend you check out both Adrian’s and Dorian’s other musical endeavors. Support true artists and musicians, go out and buy this record.

DRONE

It’s always interesting when you are asked to review music from a band you really don’t know much about. No preconceptions, no axe to grind – a blank sheet of paper and a clean mind.

The Monroe Transfer and Her Name is Calla already work closely together and have toured with each other and contributed to each other’s music, but no official collaboration has ever been done until now.

A coming together of two ‘Post Rock’ outfits would generally suggest a huge, over the top, Mogwai-meets-GYBE-meets Explosions in the Sky down a dark pub and battle it out to see who can be the most post-rock !

Thankfully, this couldn’t be further from the case and this EP turns out to be a bit of a charmer.

A lot of this charm may stem from the way the EP was recorded over a four day spell which, by all accounts, includes camping out, roughing it and freezing their asses off.

Sometime the words ‘home spun’ and ‘kitchen sink’ can be the kiss of death for music, when what was intended to be intimate and urgent can come across as annoying, irritating and up itself. Again, this isn’t the case here.

From the acapella opening of the first track (#5) to the closing ambient sounds of the last track (#7), we are treated to a lovely, mournful ocean of sonic tragedy.

There are five tracks, no titles, just numbers, and not even in sequence, but it doesn’t really matter as there is a flow to the whole thing which goes with the urgency of the recording I guess. No time for overdubs, re-recordings, second takes or any such luxury – often the first thing you hear is the best and they’ve done pretty well with this approach I’d say. Sure there are something’s that might be improved with a bit more time but that’s part of its charm.

The album opener is a mournful sea-shanty with a background drone so typical of this style and it sets the tone with an air of sad misfortune. This morphs beautifully into the second track as the same refrain continues with a lone cello which gently builds up with violins, guitars and more vocals until we have a swelling tide of folk-tinged post-rock beauty.

There are echoes of GYBE here, a touch of Radiohead there, but this is just a hint of the overall sound and nowhere does anything feel contrived or borrowed. Indeed, the fourth track has a rawness and edge to it that jolts you out any reverie that might have been setting in. This is an angry, percussive led piece with group chanting and a lead vocal almost shouting :

          “the path to righteousness is always out of reach….”

          “I screamed and I shouted … I demanded to be heard”

Guitars start to scream in the background and we have a fantastic cacophony of demented anger, home-spun charm and a feeling that great fun must have been had recording this.

A gentle ambient closing track calms things down again and with a running time of 21 minutes, there is not a moment wasted.

A super little EP. A little different, a little rough round the edges but well worthy of your time.

The Sun Behind The Sun is a collaboration from Dead Sea Apes, a three piece drone, post rock, instrumental band from Manchester and Black Tempest the creation of Stephen Bradbury a space, Kraut, synth master from Surrey.

Together they have made an instrumental album that shows off their obvious musical talents.

The album kicks off with ‘Grey Alphabets’; a simple tune. Essentially four notes that have been wrapped in haunting distorted peacefulness. Despite the simplicity, there is a lot going on in this song. The bass holds it together with rolling cymbals and some very nice guitar work. Add in the electronics and you are on a space drone journey that you won't want to stop.

‘Wilder Penfield’ is a great track that could fit into a lot of genres. Heavy wailing guitar, nice drums and a syth that is straight out of the mid seventies Kraut scene. This song is in your head to stay and that is where it should be. If a film maker is looking for a soundtrack for their latest zombie Sci-fi move, this is it.

By the time you get to track three you will have an idea of what to expect and you won’t be disappointed. ‘Heliopause’ is a 25 minute journey through the fabric of time and space itself. Well put together and would be great to hear live.

I would recommend good head phones and a comfy chair then let all the creative sounds envelope your brain. Enough said.

I don't always agree with comparing bands because they should be merited on their own sound and talents but when that similarity is with the very successful American band White Hills it can't be a bad thing; and that is what this reminds me of.

If you are looking to part with some hard earned cash and you enjoy tags such as Drone, Post Rock, Experimental, Space, Instrumental and Krautrock then this collaboration is most definitely for you.

The moment this gig got announced a few months ago, it was instantly the best gig of the year for me. How often do you get to see Conan and Bongripper, arguably two of the heaviest bands currently on the planet, on the same bill at one of Edinburgh’s “small” venues? If Humanfly had managed to get to Edinburgh as well, it would have made this gig even more unforgettable. Unfortunately the van they were sharing with Bongripper broke down somewhere in between Bristol and Edinburgh. Apparently this was after they already had a punctured tire earlier that day after leaving Bristol. Sometimes all bad luck just comes at once.  Since Conan got all the gear up in Edinburgh already (as they have their own van), it was decided to fork out £220 and drive Bongripper up in a taxi from where ever they were stranded. Humanfly on the other hand went back to their homebase in Leeds to get the broken van fixed. It was a shame they couldn’t make it as their new album Awesome Science is one of my personal highlights of this year so far and after seeing them support Cult of Luna earlier in the year (see review of that gig here) I was looking forward seeing their blend of heavy prog metal live on stage again.

Anyway, the other bands made up for it though, starting with local doomers Atragon. Now, anyone who has been going to the heavier doom/sludge gigs in Edinburgh over the last couple of months would have seen Atragon at least once, maybe even 5, or 10 times. They play a lot of support slots for the heavy touring bands who hit upon Edinburgh, which makes sense when your bass player Ewen Cameron actually runs Pisschrist Promotions and gets all these bands to Edinburgh. Atragon, a relatively young band both in age and existence, have already been on a UK tour and playing all those support slots in Edinburgh definitely pay off. When I saw them supporting Monarch not to long ago the band looked more nervous and not always very confident, now there was a band that stood on stage with a very confident attitude and they played one of their best sets to date. It certainly helped that they were able to use Conan’s backline as they were the loudest I’ve ever seen them! Unfortunately, Jan Gardner’s vocals were lost a bit in the huge wall of solo-ing and riffing guitar noise produced by Ruaridh Daunton and Victor Vicart. But Jan played the crowd greatly spending more time of their set actually among the crowd than on the stage. Drummer Duncan McLaren has never been in such a zoned out state before as far as I know, with his eyes rolling in his head throughout most of the set. I was happy to see so many people already there and actually watching Atragon as these guys totally deserved it and if they continue like this I expect big things to happen to them.

After a short break it was time for Jon Davis, Paul O’Neil and Phil Coumbe to step on the stage and do their thing. Now, I don’t think I need to go into much detail about what this thing is.  If you like your music heavy and doom then you would have heard of Conan, if not then you’ve done something wrong. These boys from Liverpool have been building a huge reputation over the last couple of years to be one of the loudest live bands in the genre. I actually would argue that Conan is heavier than any band from any particular metal subgenre. There aren’t many bands that produce a wall of fuzzy noise so huge and heavy making the trousers on your legs slightly flow and vibrate. I was standing right in front of the stage and I think my insides were doing rollercoasters at one point. I think I actually pooped my pants, but miraculously there was nothing in my boxers when I checked on the toilet later. I must have imagined it all. When I saw them last time in Glasgow at the 13th Note they were the loudest thing I’d ever experienced, but in the meantime they have upgraded their amp stacks to even heavier ones to be even louder! What I always love though is that even though it’s loud and very heavy and fuzzy, you’ll still here the details in this heavy mix. It’s a miracle you can even hear Paul’s drums, but he’s a hard hitter and he manages to work his way through the heavy doom wall. Can you imagine sitting in front of 6 huge amp stacks with your drum kit? I am a drummer myself, so I can. I’d probable poop myself again, imaginary or not. As always both Jon and Phil do the vocal duties, with guitarist Jon providing the high ear penetrating screams and bass player Phil the more lower bowel moving grunts. It all adds to their heavy sound. How many times have I said heavy now? Answers on a postcard to our editorial address please. Conan played 2 brand new songs, Foehammer and one of which I didn’t catch the title as I was way too zoned out, and these were absolutely brilliant. Their whole set was on the slight “uptempo” side as they wanted to provide a bit of contrast with Bongripper’s heavy and more slower doom.

By the time Conan was finished it was nearly 11pm and people were wondering if Bongripper managed to get up to Edinburgh in their taxi. Well, they did. They literally walked in the venue 10 minutes before they had to get on stage and by the time they did you could see their instruments condensing instantly from being in the cold boot of a taxi for many hours. Jon from Conan told me they drove up from Bristol to Edinburgh in around 6 hours; Bongripper did the same journey in 14 hours. You can imagine how pissed off they were! Bass player Ron was even more pissed off after he jumped on stage banging his head against a speaker hanging of the ceiling (even though it was clearly labelled with a sticker saying “Heids!”), and having to deal with a broken lead on his bass guitar in the first song. It didn’t prevent all of this for them to throw a heavy set of doom and fuzz into the crowd. When you’re thinking how can you get any heavier and louder than Conan, well, you add a second guitar player and you got it. Bongripper played a solid set, which consisted of only 4 or maybe 5 songs, but I’m not so sure anymore as by this stage I was on my 7th pint of Guinness and there wasn’t a set list for me to take home. Don’t read this and think this was a short set though as anybody who’s familiar with these guys’ back catalogue knows that 4 Bongripper songs can easily last an hour. Again standing right in front of the stage made me realise that if you’d ever suffer from kidney stones there’s an alternative therapy for you here. Instead of undergoing lithotripsy just go to a Bongripper show, stand at the front and I guarantee you that by the end of their set you’ll be pissing out tiny bits of broken down kidney stones when you’re on the toilet next. I only realised on the night that this was Bongripper’s first UK tour and therefore their first visit to Edinburgh and with this night being their only Scottish date of the tour the big crowd made them feel at home and more than welcome. Hopefully the whole state of affairs on the day didn’t put a downer on the band and they will come back to Edinburgh or Scotland soon!

Maybe it was the Guinness making the decision for me or the fact Bongripper had spent over 200 quid in a taxi to get to Edinburgh, but I was 40 quid poorer after visiting the merchandise table. But worth every penny as you should support touring bands especially when they come over all the way from Chicago!

Lots of great CDs were bought!

Read my interview with Dennis from Bongripper if you're interested to read more about this awesome band here.

Thanks to Simon at iLIKEPRESS for getting me on the guestlist. Thanks to Bruce Cowie for providing the videos and some of the pictures.