Kristin Hayter has already made her statement. With her 2017 self-released debut, the one-woman powerhouse behind Lingua Ignota parlayed her church choir roots and classical vocal training into a monolith of monstrous noise. A year later and the excellently-titled ‘All Bitches Die’ might have needed a rerelease on Profound Lore to get the attention it deserved but it was a […]
Read moreBenjamin Power pushes buttons. I mean that literally of course- he writes experimental electronic music and performs live behind an array of machines – but figuratively too. Since establishing the Blanck Mass moniker almost a decade ago, Power has navigated from experimental alien ambience into increasingly challenging sonic territory and taken what feels like every opportunity to engross, but also […]
Read moreSurprise! It’s been nearly five years since the last Cloudkicker release and while that may not seem a long time for some, Ben Sharp had produced something new every year between his first full-length under the moniker in 2008 and most recent record, 2015’s ‘Woum’. And while Sharp never declared an end to his one-man band, he was certainly, and […]
Read moreThree years since it first emerged to passionate praise and perplexed head-scratching and seemingly nothing in between, Bon Iver’s last album, the enigmatic ’22, a Million’, still rewards repeat listens. From its abstract artwork and song titles, ‘i,i’ initially promises more of the same. There’s even a grand concept in play- this is apparently the final ‘season’ of Bon Iver, […]
Read moreTime is a funny thing. Over 20 years ago Jeromes Dream were another fiery screamo outfit with wild ideas and a weird sense of humor. Depending on who you asked, their biggest achievement was either recording a split with Orchid or pissing everybody off with a change in sound on their second and final record. In the years following their […]
Read moreThere’s a distinctly unfashionable whiff to Junro’s debut album. The New England outfit’s chunky, melodic rock is reminiscent of early Incubus, latter-day Taproot, and even Alien Ant Farm. Despite that, or perhaps even because of it, ‘From Hell’ is an engaging and addictive listen. The title track is a bouncy, surprisingly technical slice of punk, ‘Invincible’ feels like the best […]
Read moreSome music works as background listening. And that’s fine. But some music refuses to exist anywhere but in the closest foreground. So damn close. The latest album from Bristol doom crew Sonance is firmly in the latter category. Oh, you can try and ignore the opening, ambient movement here but when ‘Manipulation Domination Control’ finally explodes it will stop you […]
Read moreThere was little clue in Tengil’s first album, the admittedly epic ‘Six’, that they were capable of anything like this. Sure, the Swedish quartet proved that they could play- mixing dark hardcore and post-rock with aplomb- but from long, sinister stanzas and eerie spoken word passages to cover art of a grey face crying black blood, they seemed like a […]
Read moreBlanket have named their band all wrong. The sound of this, the Blackpool quartet’s debut, is not something small and cosy, it’s enormous and epic. It is slow-swelling waves of lush, cinematic post-rock, sweeping instrumental drama, and widescreen ambience. The best bits are excellent- ‘Our Tired Hearts’ successfully incorporates alt-rock riffing and choral vocal blips, ‘Words Collide’ adds acapella, digitally-altered […]
Read moreIf you thought the news of Turnstile’s leap to a major label was a curveball, you ain’t heard nothing yet. The Baltimore outfit’s second record features lounge jazz licks, rippling blips of R&B, vocals from a former Lauryn Hill backing singer, and “added production” by Diplo of all people. I guess that’s what you can buy with Nickelback money! Now, […]
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