Written by:	RaduP, musclassia, AndyMetalFreak, Roman Doez, BitterCOld, nikarg, X-Ray Rod
Published:	14.04.2023

Wait A Minute! This Isn't Metal! - March 2023
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 are our previous features:

February 2023
January 2023
December 2022

And now to the music...

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Yossi Sassi’s ‘solo’ career was already under way while he was still in Orphaned Land, but it’s certainly been full steam ahead since he left that group in 2014. Prediluvian is now the sixth record by the multi-instrumentalist, and the third released under the ‘Yossi Sassi & The Oriental Rock Orchestra’ title. Musically, what you can expect is something very comparable to Orphaned Land, just of a rock rather than metal variety. A litany of stringed instruments, including a leading role for the bouzouki, are accompanied by additional instrumentation for some mellow, enchanting rock.

The music is predominantly instrumental, with the exception of “Armaros Fall”, whose guest appearance from Haken’s Ross Jennings makes it clear that my ambivalence over his vocals are not solely due to Haken’s music. Outside of that, tracks such as “Uriel Machine” and “Atlantis” are very much in line with Orphaned Land’s softer instrumental tracks, with some rock heaviness but no more. There’s also some lovely guitar solos, with the main one in “Atlantis” particularly compelling. The music here isn’t particularly memorable; Prediluvian feels more suited for use as charming background music rather than one to dig too deeply into.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia




I II III is both the first full-length album from Surrey’s Wild Tales and effectively a compilation of their previous musical offerings to date; I II III contains the contents of their 2020 self-titled EP, and all subsequent songs bar closer “Making Waves” were brought out as singles in the interim. It’s not a huge amount of time, but it’s still an opportunity to observe the early progression of a band over their first few years in one singular package.

While some variation can be heard on the album, it’s not been a dramatic musical evolution; Wild Tales play math rock with an indie lightness and pop-punk ear for hooks. They’re certainly not a band who will sacrifice catchiness for technicality, but it’s in their locker; “Hourglass” is a fairly straightforward catchy cut, right until it unleashes some staggering guitar noodling in its second half. While never going truly heavy, there’s definitely some riffs here that push them towards post-hardcore territory, and having those fun riffs and flashy instrumental bits is a nice yin to the yang of the hooky verses and choruses.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Whenever Deftonescore comes around, I'm usually the person to jump on it. Not only is Deftones in my top 10 bands, having already reviewed them, but a lot of bands have been taking a lot of inspiration from them, and I covered them again, and again, and again. Now it's obvious that Narrow Head wear their influences on their sleeves, but they're quite a lot more than Deftones, with plenty of Hum, The Smashing Pumpkins, Helmet, Failure, Quicksand, which are all technically bands that Deftones were surely influenced by. So... preDeftonescore?

The reason why Narrow Head are not (yet) added to our website is that they sit more on the side of alt rock rather than alt metal in the aforementioned altgaze sound. Or at least up until now their heavier tendencies left them towards something closer to post-hardcore, but Moments Of Clarity does lean more towards alt metal in its heaviest moments while not jumping over to the metal side, like in "Trepanation" for example. The album does take a couple of left turns, but for the most part keeps to its reverb heavy wall of guitars, sultry vocals, and a drum performance that goes harder than expected.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





How much do you love Rush? Specifically 1970s Rush? However much you think you love them, it won’t be as much as Crown Lands do; there’s a line at which inspiration spills over into mimicry, and Crown Lands have gone so far beyond that line on Fearless, the line is effectively a dot in the rear view mirror. Opening with the 18-minute “Starlifter: Fearless Pt. II”, this song replicates the sound of Rush epics like “2112” and “Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres” pretty much immacutately, from the Geddy Lee vocals and punchy bass through to the Lifeson-esque guitar and Peartish drumming.

It's very impressive that the skillset of prog’s greatest power trio is being covered by only 2 individuals in Crown Lands, but there is absolutely a question that can be asked over whether being so blatantly imitative of another band devalues the quality of an album such as Fearless. On the other hand, there’s only 8 albums that Rush released before going in an electronic/new wave direction, and even the newest of these (Moving Pictures) is over 40 years old, so there is a place for an album like Fearless in the world of anyone who has listened to those early Rush records to death, and is willing to pretend that this is a lost recording from the glory days. It’s not just the epics that channel Rush so strongly; shorter songs such as “Dreamer Of The Dawn” and “Reflections” could easily have slotted in seamlessly on the likes of Fly By Night or A Farewell To Kings. There are songs that go slightly outside the box, such as the more up-tempo and rocking “Right Way Back”, which has some faint Southern rock moments, and “Lady Of The Lake”, which perhaps owes as much to Led Zeppelin as anyone else. On the whole, though, this is an album that is 100% transparent about who influenced it; if you want to listen to new Rush music, this is absolutely the closest you will get.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia







One of several albums covered in this month’s article with a questionably long title, The Empty Space Between A Seamount And Shock-Headed Julia is the debut effort from Frankfurt’s The Black Cat’s Eye, a new voice approaching progressive rock from a decidedly beautiful direction. Over half the record is taken up by 20-minute opener “Kill The Sun And The Moon And The Stars”, a bold approach, but one justified by the sumptuous range of this song, from the tranquil clean guitar opening and the “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”-esque gentle solo through to a belated venture into heavier, yet still mellow, distorted jamming.

“Kill The Sun...” is such a gorgeous track, it sets an exceptionally high bar for the remaining quintet of shorter songs; The Black Cat’s Eye sidestep the question of whether they can write such lovely music over a more compact window by going in a completely different direction with the brash, noisy rocker “Katla”. The remaining songs span a spectrum from more driven psychedelic rock through to classic prog rock balladry, the latter (“Winter Song”) giving bandleader Christian Blaser the chance to show off his vocal abilities. The standout of the shorter songs is “In My Dreams The Wind Chases Away The Clouds”, which has both bright, loud riffs and slick, mellow guitar jams; as much as they’re very capable at riffing, The Black Cat’s Eye shine more during sprawling instrumental passages. Still, overall, The Empty Space... made a far greater impact on me than I would expect a new (mostly) instrumental progressive/psychedelic rock debut to deliver, with that mostly coming down to the epic opening track.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Finnish psychedelic rockers Polymoon are back after their impressive critically acclaimed debut Caterpillars of Creation, released back 2020, this time it's their second release Chrysalis that gives us a real spacey psychedelic delight, one of which will send the listener on a dreamy cosmic journey through the outer realms of his/hers warped mind. The soothing mellowness from the pleasantly trippy vocals, and cosmic themed synth and keyboard work, along with the engaging sweeping guitar melodies, and hypnotic rhythmic drumming, will send you on a pleasant and joyous trip for sure.

Then again, it's not all as smooth of a ride as it's cracked up to be, as later on the album you will be met by some heavier jamming sections, like on the track "A Day In The Air", which gives you a real sense of being uncontrollably lost in the depths of space. There are some flattering moments throughout this album, however, I can't highlight enough the sheer majesty of the closing track "Viper At The Gates Of Dawn", it's a stunning work of musical brilliance that shows great diversity from the dreamy echoing vocals, to the rolling rhythmic drum patterns, and phenomenal solos, the track is a real assault on the senses for sure. Chrysalis is certainly one for psychedelic rock fans not to miss.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by AndyMetalFreak







There’s not all that many bands that sound like Om, and the ones that do more typically sound like the fuzzier stoner doom of early albums such as Pilgrimage; fewer still are exploring the weird mix of drone, folk and subtle heaviness that Advaitic Songs featured. One band adventuring in this musical sphere are Smote from the north of England. Their second record Genog is not a metal album, despite featuring an increasing presence of droning guitar distortion as the album progresses, but it would still fit naturally into our annual awards’ drone category, possessing just the right amount of heaviness and ritualistic repetition.

As much as “Lof” has a density to it, Genog isn’t necessarily dominated by such weight. A key aspect of this album is the band’s appreciation for folk music; “Hlaf” is far closer to earlier psychedelic rock than anything metal, with jangling clean guitar folk motifs joined by whimsical flutes and traditional percussion. There’s clearly a psychedelic element to the record too, particularly in the layered and eerie closer “Banhus”, and the combination of the folk melodies and instruments, the droning textures, and the band’s rock/metal inclinations is a compelling one.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Aidan Baker is well known for his explorations of the dronier side of music from his time in Nadja; in forming a band with the work ‘drone’ in their title, he really stepped outside of his comfort zone with Hypnodrone Ensemble. Like Nadja, Hypnodrone Ensemble is principally a duo, this time with thisquietarmy, although they also have regular involvement from a number of other musicians. While their first two records have featured songs of more typical length, The Signal In The Signal is comprised solely of two 30-minute colossi, aptly named “The Signal” and “In The Signal”.

This album isn’t just Nadja under a different name; in some ways it feels like some kind of experimental jazz effort, that is if you ignore the static drum beat throughout the entire half-hour of “The Signal”. Around this drumbeat, increasingly cacophonic layers of saxophones, droning or otherwise, and other instruments cluster the mix, until the mix turns noisy and abrasive by the end of this journey. “In The Signal” pushes that chaotic feel even further; as the volume expands almost incessantly, the drums also slowly begin to evolve beyond that initial constant rhythm. In some ways, The Signal In The Signal reminds me of the timelapse vibe I get from Nadja’s Sv (my favourite release by that group), just with a greater saxophone presence. It’s a pretty hypnotic release overall, so the Hypnodrone Ensemble have achieved their titular goal here.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





It’s been a busy year or so for Matt Schmitz (but when is it not); it’s only been 9 months since the release of Harbinger, the latest Sleestak record, and he’s both taken his dark ambient Illuminated Void project in a more metallic direction and dropped the latest entry in the Psyclopean discography, Nostalgiamancer. A new Psyclopean record is not a rare occurrence though, with this their 19th release (albums and EPs included) according to the Bandcamp page, an impressive feat considering The King In Yellow only marked the arrival of the band in 2017. Like Illuminated Void, Psyclopean began life as a predominantly ambient endeavour, but unlike Illuminated Void, Schmitz has remained relatively true to that initial vision.

Schmitz references Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd on Bandcamp (hardly an unsurprising influence, given Sleestak’s cover of “Set Controls For The Heart Of The Sun” on 2020’s Aeon), and there is a spacey psychedelic rock component to Nostalgiamancer, but it is rendered almost exclusively through electronics and synths, in a manner not too dissimilar to dungeon synth. It is over a third of the way into 16-minute opener “Hypnosynchromystical Transfiguration” before a guitar of any kind is heard, and even then it’s a single acoustic sedately accompanying spacey ambient synth layers. After a celestial opener, the record becomes a tad more directional with pounding timpanis opening “The Uncanny Valley”, and later on “Noble Sons Of Celephais” has more obvious melodies, but there is never quite a moment when Psyclopean expands beyond those ambient and dungeon synth roots. There is a tonal brightness to Nostalgiamancer that distinguishes it somewhat from previous Psyclopean records, not to mention an extraordinary cover art, but overall this probably won’t be the standout release from the various records in the recent Matt Schmitz pipeline.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





A collaboration between a French avant-prog trio and a traditional Japanese singer is not something you encounter every day. Or any day at all. That was until Poil and Junko Ueda decided to release the bluntly titled Poil / Ueda, and maybe that decision is for the best as Poil / Ueda is a release generous in experimentation and interesting musical ideas.

While I am at the very least familiar with avant-prog through some of the genre's most important artists (Magma, Area, The Mothers Of Invention...), traditional Japanese music is not something I have delved into. Yet, this incredibly unique blend of both styles managed to keep me entertained and invested for the whole duration of the album. Through Ueda's mesmerizing vocals and Poil's intricate instrumentation, what this collaboration manages to create is an impressive blend of ideas that never leaves the listener bored or uninterested and that somehow successfully blends two genres that were never intended to meet. The album is very varied, with some tracks more focused on the avant-prog and some more on the Japanese folk music, but both styles are present in each track and they never cancel each other out. It is a real tour de force that Poil and Ueda have carefully crafted. And while its highs might not be the highest of either of the genres it blends, they are still very enjoyable and successful in making this short, 31 minutes long release worth listening to.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by doez





First off, yes, that album title is ridiculous; I’m sure there’s some intelligent meaning behind Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds), but without context, it’s a grammatically questionable mouthful. With that acknowledged, let’s discuss the contents of Praise A Lord.... My first introduction to Yves Tumor was 2020’s Heaven To A Tortured Mind, a record that represented an intentional shift towards rock on the part of Tumor, albeit not a vision of rock that was obviously aligned with many existing interpretations of rock, what with the mix of hip-hop, soul and electronic elements. Since then, both the 2021 The Asymptotical World EP and now Praise A Lord... feel a bit more conventional in their approach to rock.

Tumor doesn’t necessarily have the most obvious rockstar voice, with a tone that can range from quasi-spoken word (“God Is A Circle”) to more rapped (“Operator”) or high-pitched sung styles (“In Spite Of War”). Musically, though, Praise A Lord... touches upon a few different sounds associated with the alt rock umbrella, whether it’s the post-punk/new wave bass on “Operator”, the Gary Numan - “Cars” intro to “Lovely Sewer” and the subtle clean guitar later on in this track, or the very 90s alt rock ending to “Meteora Blues”. While the rock influences on this album are easy to pick up, they’re varied and assimilated into a distinctly modern vision.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Now here's a band with a long history that I didn't get to until recently. The Church go back to 1980, having been part of the initial post-punk/new wave explosion, albeit with more of a jangle pop sound. What was interesting about was the psychedelic undertone it all had, something that became a lot more prominent with their mid-to-late 80s heyday albums that blended that sound with the emerging neo-psychedelia sound. From the looks of things, The Church never really fell off, but even so they remain a somewhat obscure band despite how well-received their music is. It's not like Australia is devoid of bands receiving acclaim, but that evaded The Church.

I have no delusions about there every being an album to put The Church on the map for people that don't have them on a map already. The Hypnogogue might've convinced me, though I'm not sure how much that is to the merits of the album itself and how much it is that it just was what lead me to the rest of The Church's catalogue. And granted, there's something about it that does sound like a mature late-career album, but one that benefits from inheriting such a great blend of sounds, even if the jangle pop turned more into dream pop as time went on. It's clear that the folks in The Church are fantastic songwriters that have written their fair share of songs. And that's quite a back catalog to explore.

Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





Once a mystery, the personnel behind Unknown Mortal Orchestra are no longer unknown; bandleader Ruban Nielson has put plenty of his own personality and experience into the music released by the band. The New Zealander has moved to Portland, but spent significant periods of time in Palm Springs and Hawaii while tackling health issues within his family. The time spent reconnecting with his Polynesian roots ultimately had a heavy influence on V, the fifth record from Unknown Mortal Orchestra and their first double album.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s music on this album takes the form of some kind of psychedelic pop, one that takes inspiration from the likes of psychedelic rock, indie, soul and other styles, such as the 70s disco feel of “Weekend Run”. The whole album is produced with a retro-sounding lo-fi touch, the mellow singing and guitar intricacies sounding as if coming through a haze. “The Garden” has an easy-going yet persistent nature that is contrasted by a lively guitar solo; “The Widow” is slacker and funkier, the keyboards taking centre stage on an instrumental that seems to be crying out for vocals. Perhaps the most unique song of the bunch is the one that takes obvious cues from Polynesian history, “I Killed Captain Cook”, a loose Hapa-haole acoustic ballad that draws from traditional Hawaiian melodies performed with slack-key guitar. V is a curious album, one that’s slightly too unengaging to justify its runtime, but which offers and interesting take on modern psychedelic music.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Derived from a quote from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Loneliness Will Sit Over Our Roofs With Brooding Wings isn’t quite the longest album title featured this month, but it’s still a bit of a mouthful, particularly for an album that is technically under 20 minutes long (depending on whether the 15-minute “Endless Circles / Pathways To Emotional Arrest” is considered part of the main tracklist despite being listed as a bonus track). To Be Gentle, originally a three-piece but seemingly now a solo project, considering all album performances, recording and production on Loneliness Will Sit... are credited to Eve Beeker, are a staggeringly prolific band from looking at their Bandcamp and Spotify; they’ve both covered songs from and appeared on splits with the similarly prolific Sadness (USA), so may have acquired the habit from them.

Musically, Loneliness Will Sit... is mostly tethered to the screamo scene, with lots of short, frenetic songs dominated by pained screamed vocals and bruising percussion. In moments, To Be Gentle do veer more towards the kind of blackgaze that one might hear on a Sadness (USA) record, most notably with the track “Immolating”, but the likes of “All Of My Friends Live Inside My Head” and “Love Letter” linger between post-hardcore and actual hardcore, the former in particular having some hefty riffs. One reason that one may not consider the bonus track to be a part of the record is that it represents a drastic stylistic change, what with it being entirely ambient synth; it’s a bit redundant, particularly as it undergoes no notable development across its runtime, so perhaps skip it and concentrate on those preceding 20 minutes of anguished chaos.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





East Asia has been a pretty great hotbed for post-rock and shoegaze and blends of the two, and especially recently South Korea has been getting some attention due to acts like Parannoul, Asian Glow, and Della Zyr. Though the former two are part of a sort of collective that resembles the sound of How To Sink Slowly so much that I had to check whether there was any over connection between the two (none I could find), the latter is also a good point of reference even for the mere fact that she appears on one of the tracks here. Having already came out with 편지 (The Letters) back in 2021, BrokenTeeth make an even bigger impact upon this regional scene now.

One thing that I have to warn about How To Sink Slowly is that it's very lethargic and the production is pretty unpolished. That's a vibe that works for me, but I find that the album is a bit too dependent on how impactful said vibe is, the melancholic vocals, fuzzy guitars, and slowcore structures all work to create a sense of comfortable melancholia, something more bittersweet and lethargic. There's obviously stuff happening behind the wall of sound, with a lot of the melodies underneath it creating a stronger post-rock presence compared to the more straight-forward debut, but I wish it had a little bit more meat on its bones.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





On Ison’s last outing, Daniel Änghede (ex-Crippled Black Phoenix) opted against finding a permanent replacement for Heike Langhans, instead inviting a range of vocalists he admired; obviously, he determined one of those guests to be a particularly good fit, as Lisa Cuthbert is now fully involved with Ison. There are still guests here, both returning from last time (circle&wind) and new (Dimming and Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Stanne), but Cuthbert’s hushed, tranquil voice endures throughout, its gentleness aptly matching the serenity of the accompanying music.

Stars & Embers does get loud at times, but it is a gazey post-rock appetite that revels in the quiet times, at times bordering on the point of ambience. The presence of a melodeath vocalist doesn’t affect that; Stanne is very much in baritone crooner mode on “Peregrination” and “Beings Of Light”, offering added tenderness to backdrops of sustained synths, featherlight tremolos and retro keyboard motifs. One could perhaps argue that the record is slightly one-dimensional in terms of tone given its whopping 72-minute runtime, but if you just want something delicate and uplifting to populate the background, it will do the job.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Hailing from so close to O Apartamento de COld they can probably hear me yelling when the wifi goes out again, Terraplana play some beautiful shoegaze highly reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine and a lot of other music I listened to back in the 90s. The Curitibanos (Curitiba, Brazil) combine jangling clean chords with some furiously fuzzed power chords and lilting female vocals to make Olhar Pra Tras a positively dreamy and ephemeral affair. Clocking in at a Ramones-like 28 minutes, the album drifts in and out of your head like a glorious mid-Sunday afternoon cat nap. Like waking up from a dream, a lot of the specifics of the songs fade after the listen is over, but a pleasant experience you'll gladly partake in again. And again.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify


by BitterCOld




I don't cover a lot of R&B here, for a lot of various reasons. For one, I know my audience. Most of you wouldn't touch an R&B song with a ten meter stick. Your loss. But also I don't really go searching for new R&B myself. Usually in a genre as big as this, you kinda get to hear it whether you want it or not. So unless a name gets really big that you get to hear it eventually without searching for it, I don't search for R&B. Eventually Kali Uchis became too big to avoid, but thankfully internet nerds turned me unto her 2018 debut Isolation before her big hit "Telepatia" from Sin miedo made her too big to avoid. So I'm stroking my internet cred at knowing a mainsteam artist before they were mainsteam.

That said, I like Kali Uchis, and I think both of her previous two albums were pretty good R&B albums, even if I still have a preference for her debut. Purists will be delighted to know that the reggaeton and latin electropop leanings of Sin miedo are absent here, Red Moon In Venus instead aiming for a more soulful and dreamlike vibe, switching back towards a more neo-soul sound. The production here is smoother than melted butter, there's enough funky bass in it too, vocals being as seductive as can be, basically ticking a lot of boxes that such a smooth soulish R&B record should sound like. Though there's not much interesting going on in terms of guests or producers, it's a pretty uniform listen at a very neat 40 minutes runtime, so you pretty much know what you're gonna get with it.

Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





Can't believe there used to be a time when Lust For Life was the new Lana Del Rey album for me. Feeling the passage of time through having it contextualized by album releases isn't new to me, but this one isn't really that much about the passage of time, since six years isn't that big of a time span, but nevertheless Lana has released four albums since, three of which I covered for this series (and another that was taken by another writer). And with her releasing two albums in one year back in 2021, and now coming with a nearly 80 minutes of material, I can say that there's been plenty of Lana lately. I started writing at just the right time with 2019's Normal Fucking Rockwell, which continues to be my favorite of hers, but there's just something in it that hasn't really been recaptured since.

With the huge runtime in this, you'd expect that there would be some filler, but that also the album would attempt to do something to feel engaging. But as a whole Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd is the kind of thing that's nice while it's on but hasn't really stuck much with me in the same way older songs have. There's a neat baroque feeling to some songs, and there are certainly moments in it that feel like more than Lana's voice plus some pianos and just enough extra instrumentation to not feel too bare, but as a whole it feels like the focus is more on the lyricism. Which is understandable for a singer/songwriter record, and Lana trying to explain her person has always been a fruitful topic, but it doesn't leave for a very memorable record when extended to such lengths, and the guest spots do provide some nice moments, but the decision to have an interlude by a controversial megachurch pastor is pretty baffling. It's quite telling that that's the moment I remember the most from it and not in a good way.

Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP







Isolde Lasoen may be known by some users due to her position as drummer in the band Daan, although it appears she has had numerous other musical pursuits. With Oh Dear, she strikes out as an artist performing under her own name, and explores a range of styles that hint at her pedigree. Oh Dear is the kind of ambitious effort prone to labels such as ‘art pop’ due to the lack of terms more suitable for encompassing the musical breadth and ingenuity on display here. At times dreamy, at times jazzy, and even in rare moments pushing into rockier territory, it’s a very succinctly and craftily assembled record with a lot to enjoy.

The title track is one of the dreamier songs, with floating singing, dulcet vibraphone, and whimsical brass; “Douce Mélancolie” (with guest vocalist Bertrand Burgalat) is more sultry, Lasoen and Brugalat trading off from one another against a moody backdrop elevated by dramatic string arrangements. Assuming that Lasoen is the main drummer on her record, she gets to flex with the up-tempo “Capricorn Avenue” and jazzy “Bed & Breakfast” (which has a very memorable whistled hook), but Oh Dear offers just as much in the subdued, Portishead-esque “Lune Noire” and “Something French”. There’s also time on the record for ventures into electronica (“Tigra”) and rock, as the upbeat “Ghosting” goes all out in a pounding climax. An encapsulation of Lasoen’s inspirations and artistic intuitions, Oh Dear is a very strong solo outing.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Floor Jansen has had quite a past 6 months; diagnosed and successfully treated for breast cancer, she also delivered one of the more memorable national anthems before an F1 race at the Dutch Grand Prix (and, unlike the Saudi national anthem this year, memorable for the right reasons), and now she’s released her long-awaited debut solo album. This isn’t the first musical project that she’s been the primary driving force of, as she founded and was the primary songwriter in ReVamp, but this is the first record fully under her own name. In contrast to a career in metal bands, Paragon shows a softer side of Jansen, falling somewhere between pop and rock with a nice portion of ballads.

Unsurprisingly, Jansen’s vocal performance is impressive in its delivery and range; the opening title track has a nicely belted out chorus (although the ‘woah’s in the verse are somewhat cheesy). As for the songwriting, it’s a bit middling; like “My Paragon”, the otherwise forgettable piano ballad “Daydream” is very much saved by a powerful chorus. “Invincible” is more consistently impressive, climaxing with a triumphant vocal/strings combination, while the tenderness of “Fire” is captivating. The instrumental side is most frequently covered by piano and drums, but strings are quite often incorporated, generally to good effect, and occasional guitar cameos typically perk up the songs in which they’re featured. Paragon is generally a successful first bold step for Floor as a solo artist, with songwriting that, without quite measuring up to the potential of her voice, offers some charming moments.

Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





UK Hip Hop isn't getting as much attention as its US counterpart, but one of the names that has gathered quite some attention lately has been Slowthai. It gathered the attention of yours truly as well, since I covered each of the albums he released so far, which only makes me realize for how long I've been keeping this feature running. 2019's Nothing Great About Britain was a raunchy hyper-political album whose anger still gave way to some emotion outside of it, something that manifested even more in 2021's TYRON, an album named after Slowthai's first name, and one that was split in a more aggressive side akin to the debut, and one softer and more introspective that built upon the emotions already showcased.

And now comes Ugly, something caught aesthetically between the two sides but also branching boldly into new sounds for Slowthai. Lyrically introspective but sitting more of an aggressive side, while also jumping more towards live instrumentation that blends the post-punk revolution of the past decade with some more noisy industrial hip-hop stylings. There's less hip-hop on this record as a result, and that also showcases in Slowthai tackling more vocal styles other than rapping even more here, making his sound often sound closer to something like Fontaines D.C. than the UK Hip Hop scene he came from. Lyrically, I'm pretty sure you don't need to be a therapist to figure out that he may not be in the best place mentally.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





In the latest curious coincidence of 2023, this month features reviews of two albums from bands that are in our database despite having, at best, very loose connections to metal; like Autumn Tears, Dark Sanctuary are classed as neoclassical darkwave, although, unlike Autumn Tears, I don’t know whether this categorization is controversial. Cernunnos is the band’s first record of new music since their 2009 self-titled, although they did cement some kind of actual connection with the metal world in 2017 by doing metal re-recordings of previous songs of theirs and releasing the aptly named Metal. Cernunnos is not a continuation of that experiment; Dark Sanctuary are again creating melancholic music using piano, strings and operatic/choral vocals.

Cernunnos is my first exposure to Dark Sanctuary, so like with Autumn Tears, I feel limited in how much I can describe their journey to this point, but with early Dead Can Dance as my main reference point for neoclassical darkwave, this does feel much closer to an album like The Serpent’s Egg than Guardian Of The Pale does. The vocals of Dame Pandora take centre stage, fluctuating from more operatic sounds to a performance on the title track that would fit right into a Nordic neofolk act. Behind her, strings, pianos and choirs take turns in dictating the musical tone; “Les Dernières Gouttes De Pluie” has some extravagant piano work brightening up the background, “Yksin” is a delicate choral chamber piece with sombre backing strings, and “Cernunnos” has sorrowful folksy violin working in synergy with the aforementioned vocals (this song also has one of the relatively infrequent appearances of percussion to further add to that folksy vibe). Despite being slightly shorter, Cernunnos is more varied than Guardian Of The Pale, and that variety keeps this album feeling fresh throughout, no one type of dark atmospheric music dominating above all others.

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by musclassia





Autumn Tears have a profile on Metal Storm, but by no means are they a metal band; presumably there’s some prior overlap with the metal scene in their history (the presence of members/ex-members of Ataraxia, Madder Mortem and The 3rd And The Mortal as guests here seems to indicate this), although when looking through their history on our site, all I can find is a review calling them gothic neoclassical darkwave, and an album discussion furiously debating whether it is either darkwave or neoclassical. As for what Autumn Tears are, I only have this album to go on as my first introduction to them, but it sounds mostly like choir-focused classical music; the ensemble of over 70 musicians covers composers, arrangers and instrumentalists, but the vocalists are arguably the stars of the show.

“Of Winter, Water And Sand” feels entirely classical, the lead male vocalist and chanting choirs adding plenty of gravitas to a soaring backdrop of strings and marching drums (while this isn’t metal, I could absolutely imagine this as the backdrop of a symphonic metal song). Percussion is a key element on Guardian Of The Pale, adding a drive and depth to most of these often otherwise delicate songs; the moments in which the drums join the action regularly give me the feeling of an explorer preparing to venture into a new frontier. While the album is consistently beautiful, the tone can vary to an extent, from the slightly sombre edge of “The Pulse In The Sky” through to the angelic beauty of “Sublimity” and soaring grandeur of “Radiant Blood”. At 72 minutes, this isn’t a lightweight listen, particularly with how consistently rousing the strings/choir/percussion combo ends up being, so it might not function perfectly as background listening, but a playthrough of the album is a pretty stirring experience.

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by musclassia





Little by little, I’m gaining appreciation of the British modern jazz scene; I’ve already become quite fond of Portico Quartet and GoGo Penguin, and now I’ve discovered Norwich’s Mammal Hands. It’s probably not all that surprising that the latter would appeal to someone who enjoys the former 2 acts; Mammal Hands are on the same label as both of them (Gondwana Records), and are an instrumental trio, just like GoGo Penguin. However, while they have a pianist and drummer just like GoGo Penguin, they have a saxophonist in place of the double bass; this does place the rhythmic responsibility predominantly on the drums, as the saxophone and piano compete for the leading role.

That competition isn’t a show-off, however; Mammal Hands have the same mellow vibe as the other two groups I mentioned, and even though what each member is doing is technically impressive, it’s not flamboyant. “The Spinner” has the piano of Nick Smart powering away throughout, but serving more as an energetic foundation layer above which saxophonist Jordan Smart can carry the lead melodies. “Riser” functions similarly, but with a more sedate approach at first that gradually picks up steam as it progresses. The piano does get to take the melodic lead as well, most notably on the delicate “Dimu”, but the saxophone still finds its way into the lead role eventually; most of the songs do feature some kind of intensification at one point or another (with “Deep Within Mountains” a notably subdued exception), but the saxophone never spills over into gratuity. All in all, this is just a really solid modern jazz record that works equally nicely as foreground and background music, and one that has moments that inspire real emotion, such as the rousing climax of “Labyrinth”.

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by musclassia





Reminiscence is the debut album from Ellereve, the project of Elisa Giulia Teschner, who is the latest name set to win over fans of ‘moody female-fronted singer-songwriter’ artists such as Emma Ruth Rundle and A.A. Williams. However, while there is a subdued vibe to Reminiscence, it is arguably a more uplifting album than most others in the aforementioned category; taking “Cosmos” as an example, the delicate post-rock tremolos add further brightness to an already hopeful tone in Teschner’s vocals.

“Levitate” has a tad more gloominess to it, with heavier drumming, sad vocal harmonies and a subdued guitar chug; there’s also dabblings with more industrial-sounding percussion on this track. There is a slight huskiness to Teschner’s singing voice (Rundle feels like a suitable comparison, particular with the subtle vibratos both occasionally incorporate) that is very suited to the mellow, lowkey energy of the record, whether in more upbeat or soporific mode; there’s relatively few moments where it feels like she is pushing, with one being the build before the dramatic climax of “The Empty Chair”, a loud post-rock outburst that stands in stark contrast to the volume range of most of Reminiscence. It comes at a pivotal moment of the album, which, while relatively short, has a satisfying tonal journey, pulling back after “The Empty Chair” before once more bringing the volume on the rocky closer “But Nowhere”.

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by musclassia







Katie Gately’s Loom was perhaps my non-metal highlight of 2020, and that was a year that also included Messages From The Resonator by Globular & Geoglyph. High hopes then for Gately’s next album, Fawn / Brute; however, Loom had represented a significant musical departure from her debut album Color, taking on a much darker art pop form influenced by the declining health of her mother at the time. In place of death, Fawn / Brute is instead influenced by life, specifically that of her daughter, born in 2021, so one might expect another sharp shift in songwriting style, but while the album doesn’t dive into the sinister industrial bleakness of a song like “Bracer” from the last record, Fawn / Brute is stylistically closer to its predecessor than Loom was to Color.

The bouncy electronic pop of Color remains overlooked in favour of a more insidious art pop approach, with “Howl” a prime example; Gately’s understated, layered vocals are surrounded by slightly insidious collages of sounds and percussion, which layers and distorts as the song progresses. The album is not only inspired by Gately’s experiences in pregnancy and early motherhood, but is intended by her to reflect the turbulence of growing up, as she incorporates influences from post-punk bands she obsessed over in her teenage years into the later songs to capture that teenage angst. Even though the early songs on the record are intended to reflect the upbeat nature of childlike optimism, there is still a subtle disorienting energy to them, with the possible exception of the reggae-influenced “Peeve”. There is nevertheless a sense of unease that appears midway through the record on “Scale” and pervades the following songs, such as thedark guitar in “Brute” and manic cacophonic dark techno vibe of "Chaw". Across this tonal journal that runs throughout Fawn / Brute, Gately delivers song after song of outstanding music; I’d say odds are good that this repeats the feat of Loom and becomes my favourite non-metal record of 2023.

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by musclassia





For an album created in and inspired by bleak times, Ax Ox is surprisingly serene and uplifting. Russia’s Gnoomes have had a challenging few years, tackling the pandemic, illness, imprisonment, and the threat of conscription; Ax Ox is an album coming from a band now effectively exiled from their homeland. Inspired by acts such as Stereolab, Ax Ox is self-described as a psychedelic musical depicting the experience of growing up and living in post-Soviet Russia, and is the first Gnoomes record performed in their native tongue. The band’s dissatisfaction with the situation in their home country is made evident by songs like “Eternal Trans Siberian”, which acts as a metaphor for the country rolling on through time like a rusty train, with the same problems persistent across decades.

Some tracks here capture these darker emotions, most obviously the noisy, industrial “Salted Caramel” and voidlike dark ambient interlude “Les Funérailles”. There’s also a slight eeriness to the trippy instrumental closer “NST”; however, it’s not an album that is persistently disconcerting. The title track is a floating cut with dreamy vocals, an upbeat tempo and soothing guitar arrangements, and the more post-punk “The Neighbor” still radiates positivity with its pounding underlying beat and layered distortion. Perhaps the standout song here is “Loops”, a track unsurprisingly built on layered instrumental loops, with dizzying pulsating electronics above a serene ambient soundscape and lively central rhythm. It’s a jubilant cacophony of sound reminiscent of acts such as W.H. Lung, and acts as a glorious centrepiece to an engaging album.

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by musclassia







There's been few acts that have been as big of a creative force in electronic music, especially in its 2000s branch, the way The Knife did, being more critics' darlings and eluding mainstream popularity. Silent Shout's title track just might be my favorite electronica track of all time, so that's saying a lot. One half of The Knife, Karin Dreijer started their own solo project Fever Ray with a self-titled solo album that also entered the canon as one of the best electronica albums, one that actually served as my gateway into this whole branch of electronica due to "If I Had A Heart" acting as the opening soundtrack for the Vikings TV show. It took almost a decade for the project to come back with another record, but 2017's Plunge kinda plunged by me and I barely have any memory of it, and giving it another listen I can see why it didn't really manage to live up to the huge expectations of the original.

So obviously huge expectations would be abound for Radical Romantics, not only due to the high standard that one would hope for Fever Ray even in the face of the middling previous album, but also because of the provocative aesthetics of this record and it's music videos and visualizers. The album is a lot more interesting on the production front, managing to recapture some of the oddball mesmerizing vibe of the earlier work, partly because the other half of The Knife also has production credits on some tracks, as well as other names like Nine Inch Nails' Reznor and Ross, which is a vibe that consistently works with Karin's androgynous vocals with all their weird inflexions. Weirdly enough I was more enamored with the deeper cuts on this thing, the ones that have official visualizers rather than official videos.

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by RaduP





You most likely know France’s M83 for the song “Midnight City” (or otherwise the soundtrack to the 2013 movie Oblivion); sole constant member Anthony Gonzalez is acutely aware of this, as he has spent the subsequent decade since the release of the “Midnight City”-containing Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming trying to evade the mainstream that the song propelled him into. Junk and DSVII received mixed receptions; Gonzalez has acknowledged dissatisfaction with Junk, as well as a desire to channel the vibes found on his 2005 release Before The Dawn Heals Us.

Considering Gonzalez is overtly disinterested in commercial appeal, Fantasy is still a very accessible record, a dreamy, mellow experience that continues to hark back to 80s/90s nostalgia, drawing from the likes of shoegaze, dream pop and synth-pop, as well as ambient music. It’s quite a protracted experience despite the persistently light tone of the album, clocking in at over an hour, but there are various different sounds to be heard during that hour, between the synth-poppy title track, the ambient-heavy “Deceiver” and “Sunny Boy Part 2”, the indietronica charm of “Oceans Niagara” or the upbeat dream pop sensibilities of “Earth To Sea”. Those primarily acquainted with M83 through “Midnight City” may find Fantasy to be less interested in providing immediately memorable hooks, but a number of songs emerge as highlights with repeated listens.

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by musclassia





The unmistakable sound of Depeche Mode, the familiar tone of Dave Gahan, the dark atmosphere that Martin Gore creates, and somewhere in the background the loss of Fletch. Depeche Mode's new album, titled Memento Mori, is the band's first work since the sudden death of their founding member, Andy Fletcher, who passed away in 2022. The phrase "memento mori" roughly means "remember that you are mortal", and the theme of mortality is central throughout the album, along with the other frequently used subjects, such as madness, addiction, sadness, joy, despair, and catharsis. It isn’t a memorial album, since work began long before Fletcher’s death; it was created in the early stages of the pandemic, and many of the songs' stories draw inspiration from that period.

Arguably the best synthpop band in history, Depeche Mode haven’t released a great album since 1997’s Ultra (with Playing The Angel being maybe the only fully enjoyable album in these last 25 years). Memento Mori is not great either, but it is arguably the band’s best since Ultra. “Ghosts” alone is a song that they will be proud to play live until they are no more, “Don’t Say You Love Me”, “Soul With Me”, and “Always You” are relying on Gahan’s unique voice that -at the same time- embraces and lights up the darkness, and songs like “People Are Good” and “Never Let Me Go” not only borrow the first half of their titles from two of DM’s biggest hits, but also capture a bit of their catchiness. Memento Mori is not going to win new fans for Depeche Mode, but it is a satisfying effort for the many existing ones.

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by nikarg





I briefly caught Die Wilde Jagd at Roadburn Festival in 2022; in our summary article covering the festival, I stated that their set was the performance I had the weakest memory of, but what I did remember of their performance was of a colourful psychedelic sound elevated by intriguing use of cello. When I first started listening to Ophio, I was wondering if I had completely misremembered their set, as the first 10 minutes of this record are effectively ambient. Eventually, something of a bit more substance materializes, and a revisit listen to last year’s Atem, which was the basis of the Roadburn performance, made it clear that such subtlety was very much present there as well, but this is not a hectic or vibrant listen.

It is near the end of the second song, the title track, where almost still ambience is interrupted by the faintest of acoustic guitar and the first vocal utterances of the record; subsequently, electronic percussion and cello flesh out the soundscape, setting a platform for future songs. It’s not a platform that is immediately jumped upon, as several more minutes of borderline silence open up the 10-minute “Perseveranz”; again, cello and electronica are gradually layered, almost imperceptibly evolving into a darkly atmospheric mesh of sound, the cello adding ominous texture to the downtempo backdrop. It’s a masterclass in pacing and composition, and one that is matched in vibe only by the equally subtle “In Wonnenhieben”. Other notable features here include the slightly more voluminous “Kelch”, the folksy acoustic-based “Ouroboros”, and “The Hearth”, which features Lihla as a guest vocalist, adding evocative spoken word interjections and ominous ethereal clean vocal layers to a haunting composition.

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by musclassia







Klara Andersson is a Swedish artist who currently resides in Berlin and Den Svenska Vreden is her second album under the moniker Fågelle. The album is an intriguing mix of genres like electronica, glitch, ambient, noise, dark folk and minimalistic pop. I know that sounds like a lot but let me begin by saying that this is one of the most contrast-filled albums I’ve heard in a while.

The title alone is a marvel. Den Svenska Vreden means "The Swedish Rage". For outsiders this might be an odd choice because of the subtle, quiet and subdued nature of the music. Yet it perfectly matches Swedish culture and the themes of quiet desperation and anxieties that are bottled up and never truly explode. This is a pretty cerebral listen for the album doesn’t allow you to despair too easily. It sucks you in with moody and bleak landscapes that are oddly bright, poppy, innocent and captivating. It could be compared to Sigur Rós if they dived deeper into dark ambient territories. But there is also a cloak of dark nordic folk that covers the whole album and stands as a perfect match to the industrial, harsher moments.

Klara Andersson’s voice is delicate yet most powerful. She seems to be on the verge of breaking. A defeated voice that stands with defiance as the introspective poetry is delivered. One could compare her with Björk but there is a darkness and anguish hidden in her voice that is in a completely different level of bittersweetness. The level of introspection is high on this album. It is highlighted by the moving lyrics which unfortunately are only in Swedish. But don’t let the language barrier stop you from checking this out. This Swedish rage is very palpable. It’ll take your frustrations and put them under the rug for them to sulk and simmer. Only for them to grow larger and take over you with their dark claws. Fågelle leaves no room for conventional, violent catharsis as you silently drown among the calm notes. There is a whole world inside this album. A dark, melancholic, ethereal word, yet oh so inviting.

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by X-Ray Rod





Music can be really weird, and that's something that Xiu Xiu set out to prove time and time again. It's been more than two decades since the band's debut with Knife Play. Though it can mostly be described as experimental rock, or even just experimental, the band varied in how accessible or off-the-rails their sound was, incorporating everything from art pop, synth punk, avant-folk, post-industrial, and everything in between. The past decade saw albums of reinterpretations of other artists, an album of duets, a collaboration with Merzbow, and in general it left the feeling that a new Xiu Xiu record will be wildly experimental and possibly conceptual.

Ignore Grief is quite a dual album, with the vocal side being more evenly split between Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart, making it one of the most Seo-centric of their albums. The album is also more evenly split between more industrial tracks and more modern classical ones, each focused on a horrific vibe, something present as well in the lyrical aspect. To call a Xiu Xiu album shocking is to call the sky blue, but here the tackling of violent sex work and suicide still make this one especially dark, and while most of the album musically can sink to that level, there's still a lot of it that feels a bit too loosely held together by its atmosphere.

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by RaduP





Few bands can awaken in me feelings as confusing as what I feel when listening to 100 gecs. While I mostly disliked 1000 gecs, it had some weird attractive power that had me coming back to tracks like "Stupid Horse" and "Money Machine". Maybe it was morbid curiosity, or maybe it was Stockholm syndrome. Nevertheless, 10,000 gecs changes the formula up a bit for the band currently spearheading hyperpop into the mainstream.

While the title might imply 1000 gecs on steroids, 10,000 gecs is actually pretty different from what came prior. The abrasiveness and craziness of 1000 gecs is still there, though it is most definitely toned down. The "Alvin and the Chimpmunks"-esque vocals that were at the heart of the debut have now almost completely disappeared. But all of that might have been for the better, as this release feels much more focused and maybe even more mature than its predecessor, not going for the all-out hyperpop chaos that was 1000 gecs but instead blending different genres to their songs and mostly sticking to a few core ideas. This works both with and against them, as some tracks completely break the mood and pace of the album while some others fit right in. And yet, 10,000 gecs is so unabashedly fun and unpredictable that it's hard to not at least drop a smile once when listening to it, be it for an out of left field shift in the music or for the openly stupid lyrics. And maybe that's what matters most. So while I cannot say for sure that I enjoy 10,000 gecs, I definitely think that I will listen to it again. Let yourself be tempted by the stupid craziness that Dylan Brady and Laura Les have crafted. You might hate it but you will most definitely not be able to forget it.

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by doez

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And that was it. You've made it through still alive. Congrats. See ya next month. Here's a Spotify playlist we compiled out of stuff featured here: