Written by:	RaduP, musclassia, Auntie Sahar, Abattoir
Published:	April 10, 2019

Wait A Minute! This Isn't Metal! - March 2019
Metal Storm's outlet for nonmetal album reviews



We here at Metal Storm pride ourselves on our thousands of metal reviews and interviews and article; metal is our collective soul and passion, which is why we bother with this junk. That being said, we'd be lying if we stuck to our trve-kvlt guns and claimed that metal is the only thing we ever listen to. Whether we want to admit it or not, we do check out some other stuff from time to time; some of us are more poptimistic than others, but there's a whole world out there aside from Satan-worshiping black metal and dragon-slaying power metal. We do already feature some nonmetal artists on our website and have a few reviews to back them up, but we prefer to limit that aspect of the site to those artists who have been a strong influence on the metal scene or who are in some way connected to it. This article series is the place for those artists who don't matter to metal in the slightest but still warrant some conversation - after all, good music, is good music, and we all know metal isn't the only thing on this planet for any of us.

Down below, you might find some obscure Bandcamp bedroom projects or some Billboard-topping superstar; as long as it ain't metal and the album itself isn't a best-of compilation, it fits. Obviously, we're certain that not everything will be for everybody (you guys can be viciously territorial even when metal is the only thing on the menu, and we're all supposed to like the same things), but we do hope you find at least one thing that you can enjoy, instead of just pointing and screaming in horror "Not metal!" as if that would be an insult.

Here's a big chart of everything you'll find in this article, and even at full resolution here. Every image below this will look like shit in comparison.


Here are our previous features:

February 2019
January 2019

And now to the music...

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American Football - LP3
[Midwest Emo / Post-Rock]

Yes, emo is still quite a taboo word here even though the mall goth phenomenon has thankfully been out of modern culture for the past decade. Midwest emo is a lot closer to indie rock and math rock with its clean vocals and twangly guitars. American Football are pretty much the most popular band of its kind and they were a one-album wonder for quite a while, until their reunion gave us somewhat of a lackluster comeback album. So now we are 20 years away from their debut classic record and onwards to their third self-titled record. Which is thankfully better than their second but still suffers from some of its drawbacks like sterile production and reduced number of math rock-ier moments; although in lesser quantity.

LP3 is really really cozy and foreboding. These are clearly not the same young kids who released those genre defining but chained in time albums all those years ago. I mean, they are, but they've clearly matured and are looking to be more than just a legacy band. They're still emotional, but more nostalgic and with a broader perspective. Instrumentally there are still obviously a lot of math rock-ish moments, less than on their debut, but most of them sound a lot closer to minimalist and blissful post-rock or slowcore. Most of the songs don't really tell stories that directly, but lines such as "I blamed my father in my youth / Now as a father, I blame the booze" or "Oh, the muscle memories / Continue to haunt me" are quite heavy hitters, and there's a pleasant contrast added by guests from Paramore, Slowdive and Land Of Talk.

by RaduP

Google Play Music / Spotify

La Dispute - Panorama
[Emo / Post-Hardcore]

La Dispute were part of a very fruitful wave of emo post-hardcore bands like Touché Amoré or mewithoutYou, but they were clearly the most polarizing as well as popular of those. You'd have die-hard fans as well as people who find their overly literary and poetic lyrics pretentious. Things are a bit less tumultuous now, since their last album from five years ago was kind of lackluster and mellow compared to their exuberantly passionate and vitriolic first few release. Panorama is kind of them going back but not really. It sounds a lot like La Dispute subdued, closer to post-rock than post-hardcore. I was never a La Dispute fan when I should have been, but listening to them now I feel like I really should have when I cared more about lyrics than I do now, because not only does their music hit hard on itself, a lot of the impact comes more from the very vivid and emotionally impactful narratives.

And speaking of narratives, while it's not the first time that their narratives have stretched into more than one song, it is the first La Dispute record where songs flow seamlessly into one another and there's a clear red thread between the songs, with all the narratives coming to a close in the last track. Having first listened to the band only recently, I'd like to think that I'm not biased towards their old records, yet I can't help but feel that Panorama doesn't hit as hard, neither musically nor lyrically. I would absolutely love this record on its own, but knowing full well how great they can be, it feels a bit anticlimatic and somewhat self-limiting. It's quite unlikely that at this point in their career they can reach the same heights by going back, yet it doesn't feel as engaging when they don't. Though Panorama isn't really a bad starting point for listening to the band and their overly narrative style. Just know that it gets even better.

Bandcamp / Google Play Music / Spotify

by RaduP

Elizabeth Colour Wheel - Nocebo
[Noise Rock]

This is one of those albums that almost feels quite poppy a fair amount of the time, but is passed through too twisted a filter to have any real mass appeal. Probably the most clear example is "23", which begins and ends as a fairly accessible-sounding alt rock track with soulful vocals (it's a completely inaccurate comparison, but the only person I know who sounds vaguely similar is Amy Winehouse), albeit with a noisy edge to the guitars and production that would probably turn a fair few of. In the middle, however, it collapses into a melancholy dirge and subsequently a seemingly black metal-inspired storm of chaos. As much as this eclectic approach may limit their wider appeal, it keeps Elizabeth Colour Wheel sounding fresh and inspired throughout this bleak, claustrophobic venture.

In the previous paragraph, I described the vocals as soulful, but at other times they can sound incredible delicate, distorted or even somewhat demented on occasion. Coupled with that, you have an instrumental approach that varies from upbeat punk rock, to murky noise rock, to subdued melancholia. For another good example of how the whole approach on this album can flip in the blink of an eye, try "Hide Behind (Emmett's Song)" which dissolves from an up-tempo punk opening into an unstructured midsection, before a bloodcurdling distorted shriek transitions the song into a crunching, heavy climax.

If you're looking for something to make you feel morose and misanthropic, Nocebo will get you there in ten different ways.

Bandcamp / Google Play Music / Spotify

by musclassia

Brutus - Nest
[Post-Hardcore / Post-Rock]

I could almost mistake this for a post-metal album, and honestly it could quite pass as one. Brutus, not to be mistaken with the death metal Brutus or the stoner rock Brutus, are a female-fronted post-hardcore band from Belgium and this is their second record, where their blend of energetic post-everything (less post-punk and post-bop though) still has its fair share of catchiness and memorability due to how passionate the clean vocals are. Clearly the passion (in the vocal performance especially) is more in line with the post-hardcore part of their sound but the vocals don't feel hardcore all of the time. Instead they feel like they could pass on some classic 90s alt rock, as well as even pop in some moments. Which might explain that memorability thing.

But Stefanie Mannaerts isn't solely responsible for the vocals here, as her duties also extend beyond the drum kit, where she feels just as passionate. The bass and the guitar that complete the trio jump between walls of post-metal, vitriolic post-hardcore and that specific post-rock tremolo-picking to create one of the most dynamic and memorable rock records that I've heard maybe all year. Each member of the power trio does all the heavy lifting needed to deliver their instrument in the forefront. It seems like they found that sweet spot inbetween heavy, grandiose, vitriolic and catchy that so many other bands get close to but never really reach.

Bandcamp / Google Play Music / Spotify

by RaduP

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Yves Jarvis - The Same But By Different Means
[Neo-Soul / Psychedelic Folk]

There's something very charming about Yves Jarvis' DIY aesthetic. The Canadian singer/songwriter/whatever has been making his own music by himself for the past five years in true black metal fashion, except that instead of kvlt black metal he does kvlt neo-soul doused in indie folk and heavy lo-fi experimentation to create a moderately psychedelic experience. With three albums under his belt and a bunch of EPs and this is the first one to be released on a major label and under the name Yves Jarvis instead of Un Blonde, so one would have expected a more commercial approach instead of a doubling down the lo-fi rabbit hole.

The Same But By Different Means has 22 songs, but most don't make it past the 2 minutes mark, making the album feel even more like a collection of vignettes from dreams, further enhanced by how unnaturally dreamy the whole thing sounds, with the vocals sounding both sultry soulful but extremely lo-fi in a way that makes them feel intimate and vulnerable. The ambiance of this record seems often taken out of some experimental music from the late 60s, with ounces of psychedelia, folk and field recordings, but also often going into 90s R&B territories as well, making the album feel both extremely nostalgic as well as feel like emotions from a different dimension. Another one of those after sunset albums.

Bandcamp / Google Play Music / Spotify

by RaduP

Maja S. K. Ratkje - Sult
[Avant-Folk / Minimalism]

Also like Matmos, Norwegian composer Maja S. K. Ratkje really likes making music based on a sole concept. For example: her debut album, Voice, featured just that, the voice, but not just the sung one; gasps, grunts, tongue clicks all manipulated to make music. She has since dabbled in chamber music, free improvisation and performance art. Here on Sult, there is just her voice and an instrument crafted by none other than herself. Taking what once was a pump-organ and appending all the machines and strings she could possibly need to conjure every non-vocal sound on this record.

This obviously makes for some very weird minimalistic music with a very olden feel. The organ that has been enhanced was a very old one, and you can feel that through the cracks and dirt it emits and the whole sound of it feels very Frankenstein's monster-like. But even with the olden mood and the quite ethereal vocal performance, I can't really say that it feels otherworldly or dreamy in a conventional sense. But it is weird and avant-garde beyond belief, with a strong folk aura, as if it was all made by avant-garde composers in a village in Norway in the 17th century, and while her voice is too old to feel fairy-like, it would be half as interesting of an album without it.

Google Play Music / Spotify

by RaduP

The Caretaker - Everywhere, An Empty Bliss
[Ambient / Plunderphonics]

This is it, the last The Caretaker album. Sort of. It was released on the same day as the sixth and final part of the Everywhere At The End Of Time series, which made me debate whether I should review that instead, but that would make less sense take out of its context and I doubt our readers would really want to listen to six and a half hours of ambient music, something which I haven't (yet) done myself. So instead we have Everywhere, An Empty Bliss, a parting gift of a project that had been going on for twenty years. But who is The Caretaker, you ask? Someone who takes archives of sounds and distorts and degrades them until they sound akin to the acoustic experience of having a mental illness. Quite a much more serious and darker version of vaporwave.

The process obviously makes for some very haunting plunderphonics. The pieces of music feel like memories that have been distorted by passing time and a less than healthy mind giving it a strange feeling in between a dream and suddenly remembering something because you feel something that you remember feeling before. And the dream isn't always pleasant. Not really as challenging and dark as most of the stuff in the Everywhere At The End Of Time series, but with a strong feeling of unease and frustration at the passing of time, as it clearly takes inspiration from both the former and the An Empty Bliss Beyond The World's decaying ballroom sounds.

Bandcamp

by RaduP

Matmos - Plastic Anniversary
[IDM / Musique Concrete]

Matmos love concept albums. No, not the cheesy following-a-story rock opera type of concept albums. Like albums made around or only with certain sounds. Their last album, Ultimate Care II was made out of sounds from a washing machine's cycle. Yes, they took a washing machine's cycle and made a goddamn IDM record out of that. And that's just one example, it gets weirder, like telepathy, surgeries and finally, on Plastic Anniversary, we have music made from plastic. As crazy as it sounds, Matmos make it work, and despite it not being that hard to tell the non-musical origin of each sound, it's still so musical that it begs the question about how musical each of those actually were beforehand.

Squeaky and poignant, Plastic Anniversary makes a material whose usual connotation in the music work (and not only) means fake, artificial and inauthentic; into something so lively and colorful. It's honestly so fascinating and awe-inspiring how some sounds can be taken from nature and be distorted and rearranged into something that makes sense. And Matmos have been doing this for 25 years, hence the "anniversary" part of the album's title. Obviously the record goes through a lot of moods, from playful to imposing to dark. It's like plastic is such a huge component of our modern lives that it has invaded even our most abstract arts.

Bandcamp / Google Play Music / Spotify

by RaduP

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Solange - When I Get Home
[R&B / Neo-Soul]

For the longest time Solange was only known because she was Beyoncé's sister. Yes, that Beyoncé. Yes, she was also part of Destiny's Child in a way, so she goes back a long way and she did music ever since, but she was still largely ignored. All that changed when 2016's A Seat At The Table dropped and suddenly all eyes were on her. So obviously following up the album that gave an artist so much attention is a very risky task. But she took what made A Seat At The Table, precisely the abstract production and the blending of modern hip-hop sounds of both jazz and trap orientations into a R&B mold; and took them further, or rather back to Houston, her homeplace, hence the album title.

And the album is a diverse experience just due to that blend in sound, but also due to having contributions from producers like Pharrell, Metro Boomin, Blood Orange, Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt or Panda Bear among others. Make no mistake as it meaning Solange did nothing on the record, as there are more songs with only her mentioned as the songwriters than ones where there are other people as well. And the vast number of producers still managed to create a fairly cohesive abstract, entrancing and almost elegant sound, making it so weird to hear Gucci Mane and Playboi Carti dropping verses of jazzy instrumentals. And while she is a fairly good R&B singer, it's quite clear that she doesn't really have the range and power of a lot of her peers, and a lot of the record may come off as a bit pretentious, though it so masterfully uses the instrumentals to support her voice and her songwriting for this is so exploratory that it makes the "Solange is just Bandcamp Beyoncé" meme feel almost accurate. Ironic, since there is no Solange Bandcamp.

Google Play Music / Spotify

by RaduP

Hozier - Wasteland, Baby!
[Pop Soul / Blue Eyed Soul]

Remember that "Take Me To Church" song from a few years ago? Yeah, that was five years ago and it took it this long for Hozier to follow up his self-titled debut. He's had a few other songs that charted, but none of them reached the accolades that "Take Me To Church" did, but considering how popular that song was, I was expecting a lot more buzz about his upcoming second record, but I hadn't heard the leading single anywhere, neither on the radio nor mentioned anywhere online. It also barely charted. Which is quite a shame since I can say that I liked "Nina Cried Power" more. And there's so many songs on both records that are absolute hit material, yet for some reason the media is constantly fixated on solely one of his songs, admittedly a great one. Ok, so commercial success aside, how's Wasteland, Baby!?

The album starts with "Nina Cried Power" which is such a powerful and soulful track, that admittedly tries to do a lot with all the references to great musicians and had all the red flags of being too pretentious and falling flat and it didn't. Sadly, afterwards none of the tracks really hit the same heights despite how enjoyable they are. There's a lot of folky bluesy vibes on the record, but this is still mostly a pop record and you can clearly feel that in some songs more than others, ones which feel almost taken out of some American Idol performance, but even at it's most commercial, there's something so powerful and soulful about Hozier's voice. There's a pretty big variety of moods all throughout the album and not all the tracks are that commercial, with gospel choirs, faint guitars and excellent production. Stuff that I really wouldn't mind hearing more of on the radio.

Google Play Music / Spotify

by RaduP

Chong Wizard - The Space Stone
[Comics Hip Hop (Part 3 of 6)]

A thorough dig through Bandcamp earlier in the year for the "underground hip hop" tag ended in me crossing paths with what's quite likely been my best discovery of 2019 for the genre: the absolute powerhouse of Canada's Chong Wizard, residing deep within the forests of Vancouver (or so I hear). This hip hop juggernaut has been on a particularly hot streak lately with an ongoing series of six EPs inspired by (if the title and that badass Rob Israel cover didn't give it away) the Marvel universe's Infinity Gems. The Space Stone is the third and most recent in this series, with The Power Stone and The Reality Stone having been released last year.

With these EPs, Chong Wizard takes on something of an anthology approach in that different underground rappers and producers from all across the international hip hop community are called upon to combine their skills for each track, with the eponymous DJ Chong Wizard serving as a curating executive producer responsible for pairing both groups together. The Space Stone, much like its two preceding EPs, thus showcases an intimidating amount of talent in its mere 16 minutes, as funky, synth heavy beats merge with comic inspired lyricism that, while slightly cheesy, comes off as highly memorable and satisfying considering the skill of the rappers involved as well as the overall grittiness of the subject matter. UK producer Hobgoblin as well as rappers Heem Stogied and Codenine draw particular attention here. There's even one track produced by Crabskull here as well, mentioned in our previous article.

Bandcamp

by Apothecary

Billy Woods - Hiding Places
[Next Level Hip Hop]

You read the above genre descriptor correctly, and there's no point in hiding my bias: Billy Woods is easily one of the best rappers currently active in contemporary hip hop. With a reputation for elusiveness and bleak, hyper realistic lyricism, I've been a huge Woods fan ever since coming across his History Will Absolve Me album several years ago and, glancing at its cover with a portrait of Robert Mugabe adorning it, rightly guessed that I was in for some hip hop of a particularly intense, unrestrained variety. From a certain angle, Billy Woods could probably be labeled as a socio-political rapper, but his delivery of this style is fairly unorthodox: less of the preachy, call to action approach and of a much darker, more cryptic, and nihilistic variety.

Hiding Places pairs Woods with producer Kenny Segal, a well respected veteran of the Los Angeles hip hop scene who's been involved with various projects therein for close to 20 years. Here Segal's beats, quite atmospheric and melancholic, serve as the ideal complement to Woods' rapping, as the latter gets possibly more personal than ever with his takes on personal isolation, mental illness, and music as a coping mechanism. As usual, there is also something of a spoken word influence to Woods' rapping, sure to appeal to those who enjoy hip hop's historical roots in the older performance poetry traditions of America's black community. While certainly not the easiest of listens for hip hop, Hiding Places is definitely poised to become one of this year's most sophisticated.

Bandcamp

by Apothecary

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The Comet Is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery
[Jazz Fusion / Nu Jazz]

I saw someone jokingly describe them as "jazz Death Grips" and that doesn't make that much sense but it isn't that far off. The Comet Is Coming is also a trio with a similar structure and their music is also highly creative and energetic and with a huge emphasis on electronics and large sound palettes, but that's about where the similarities end. Death Grips are more out-there and noisy, meanwhile The Comet Is Coming take those similarities and give them more of a grounded approach, full of saxophones and grooves. The saxophonist is none other than Shabaka Hutchings, who you man know from Sons Of Kemet and Shabaka And The Ancestors.

The whole record has an electronic and cosmic edge to it, but less of the cold desolate kind of cosmic and more of the futuristic sci-fi kind of spacey. A lot of it is due to Dan Leavers, electronics, in which the saxophone and Max Hallett's drums and often tribal percussion blend seamlessly. There's thus a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and sound palettes, with instrumentals only sans the one track with a poem recited by Kate Tempest. And even so, the instrumentals manage to almost tell a story on their own, one of being trapped in an alien world and having to adapt to it, and the contrast between the classic spiritual jazz and the modern electronics echo all throughout without feeling cheesy like some other blends of jazz and electronics can be.

Google Play Music / Spotify

Tim Bowness - Flowers At The Scene
[Art Rock / Progressive Rock]

You may remember Tim Bowness as one half of the No-Man duo with Steven Wilson (who, by the way, are finally working on a new record). He's been putting out artsy subdued prog quite constantly since 2014's Abandoned Dancehall Dreams. And Flowers At The Scene marks a bit of a turning point, first of all due to Steven Wilson's involvement both in the productions and bits of music as well. Though, the collaborations don't end there, as most of the bass on the record is performed by Porcupine Tree's Colin Edwin as well as some guest vocals from Van Der Graaf Generator's Peter Hammill and guitars from Fates Warning Jim Matheos.

Often times the music sounds quite similar to something you'd find on a Porcupine Tree record, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but Tim Bowness's distinguishably monotone vocals somehow felt a much better fit for the dreamy synthpop of No-Man, and here, where the prog factor has been amplified, they do feel way too similar to Wilson's approach, so it's either a love it or think it's just an inferior version of something else thing. Thankfully, this isn't that much of an issue as it isn't that hard to get used to and the subdued art rock with its rich layers and immaculate performances. A bit closer to the prog rock of olden days than the art rock of earlier Bowness albums, but still leaning way more on the more layered and atmospheric side rather than the technically intricate one.

Google Play Music / Spotify

A​.​ A​.​ Williams - A​. ​A​.​ Williams
[Dream Pop / Alternative Rock]

Following the footsteps of a many female artists in the last few-month period, such as: Anna Von Hausswolf, Marissa Nadler, Emma Ruth Rundle, Louise Lémon, Ruelle, Fleurie, etc., brought me to the young newcomer force on the scene, A.A. Williams. Although, not get carried away or confused, I'm not aiming to compare all these artists onto the same music level, though some similarities are unquestionable. A.A. Williams debuts with self-titled EP, consisting of four new tracks and 20-minute in total. And from what I've heard, implying on the whole package, I can easily conclude that she is a very talented vocalist/musician with much potential to offer.

Her vocalization and music can be related to many artists mentioned above, her tunes do not possess such oppressive, darkened, "drony" sound as, for example, Anna Von Hausswolf presents, or experimental and "heavy" (as much as this style of music can be) as Chelsea Wolfe or Emma Ruth Rundle for instance. A.A. Williams brings to the table as well dark atmosphere and mere dose of pessimism, though not that deepened, but with more dreamy, floating sound. It creates some sort of mesmerizing ambient all over the place, making the whole sound a bit more accessible to some degree. A.A. Williams and her debut will take you onto the intimate, emotional ride, surrounded with deep, spacious sound and soulful vocals. Every song has its own approach and intricate story behind, sticking to the red line of the whole product.

Bandcamp / YouTube

by Abattoir

Alice Phoebe Lou - Paper Castles
[Art Pop / Indie Folk]

Looking for an indie folk album that can somehow give similar vibes to a fun psychedelic rock record without having much in common other than how dreamy they both sound? Well, good luck with that, but here's something pretty close to that. South African singer/songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou has been traveling through Europe for the past few years before settling in Berlin to give us Paper Castles. 10 songs, almost 40 minutes, dreamy female voice, the usual deal. There isn't much more background or irrelevant info to give so let's get into it.

Obviously it being mostly an indie folk record, a lot of the driving force of it are the vocals and the lyrics, but due to how dreamy and how interesting some of the synths were on this record, I admittedly didn't pay enough attention to the lyrics and a complete listen is still very enjoyable even as such. The vocals are, as already stated, dreamy due to the echoey reverb that makes Alice feel like that fairy that does soundtracks for indie flicks, with some fairly good blues and electronic soundscapes that contrast the folkier ones. Not all of the songs are as great and the record feels like it could have done a bit more with those interesting elements that I mentioned, but there's no part that feels bad or boring, and at 40 minutes, there's not much to complain about. It's cute and I don't wanna hurt it.

Google Play Music / Spotify

by RaduP

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And that was it. You've made it through still alive. Congrats. See ya next month.