It is when browsing through a boatload of year’s end lists that I begin to suffer from a strange form of FOMO. It is not so much the fear of going to miss something, but the fear of having missed something. Although I enjoy browsing those lists a bit too much to actually call it a fear. It is perhaps that it makes me check so much new music in a very short period. Let’s be honest with ourselves here, there is too much music coming out to be able to check it all out. But here are the lists of fellow music enthusiasts. What did they pick up that I missed? Besides a couple of great releases I completely missed last year, there are also a couple releases from the end of the year that I really want to talk about. The kind of releases that could have easily made it to my yearly list had I only spent a bit more time with them, or had gotten to know them a bit sooner.
Let’s start slow
Let me introduce you to two bands who are not exactly newcomers, but who were new to me. Both are masters in build-ups and creating tension. First up is Gloson. These Swedes had one album and an EP under their belts before releasing last year's album, The Rift. With minimal means and slow shifts the band creates a tension that only the very best post-metal bands know to conjure. The real star of the show is the drummer. Why you ask? Well, his playing is very understated, yet at the same time his fills are very interesting. On top of that he lays down a foundation so solid it could hold up a massive building. Of course we need more than just a drummer to end up with interesting music. The rest of the band delivers. They play a solid set by keeping the song (structure) front and center. They play exactly what they need to, not one note too much or too little. Like a bunch of wizards. In doing so they focus on the tension building in the song and on the whole album. The end result is magical and in my opinion the best post-metal album of last year. Which should mean something, because there were a couple other contenders for that title.
Enough about post-metal, the other band taking it easy (or slowly, I should say) doesn´t focus on tension building, but rather on creating a suffocating atmosphere. In my book this puts them in doom and sludge territory. I am talking about Onhou here. I found this band because of their links with Ortega and Grinding Halt. I admit, I have been sleeping on this, as this is Onhou’s third release. The previous two are just as great as this one, but have passed by unnoticed (by me at least). If you know these two bands I mentioned, you will know this has nothing to do with the Grinding Halt sound. And Ortega is also not a very good reference point, as this is much more sludgy, at times almost funeral doom. The band raises a wall of massive guitars. It is as if a mountain is slowly moving and crushing you under its weight. Synths pierce through the thick walls of guitar. These synths are kind of eerie and only add to the suffocating feeling of Monument.
Monument is more or less the equivalent of a horror movie. Not kind that focuses on gore or jump scares. No, it is like one of those slow moving films that create a haunting atmosphere by leaving everything scary to your imagination; it only suggests, never shows. You know the kind, right? When the movie ends you find yourself relaxing your shoulder muscles a bit and your breath is unusually fast and shallow. That kind of movie. At times that is just what you want, just what you need. Well, Onhou offers you the sonic equivalent of that.
Let’s pick up the pace!
I think I mentioned before that I follow a couple of labels because so much of what they release is top notch music. One of these labels is Through Love Records. And then something strange happened: they just fell off my radar somewhere last year. The first release I missed, but decided to check back to is Gestalt by Nessel. What caught my attention is the fact that this band is fronted by the singer from Amber, Thurm and Archivist. She is a strong vocalist with a knack for fronting strong bands in different genres. I was curious to see where she ended up this time; the description on the Bandcamp page gave me little to work with. The tags applied tell me it is: black metal, metal, shoegaze, blackgaze, post-hardcore, post-metal, post-rock and screamo. Having spent some time with the record I can scrap a couple of those tags that don’t really apply. I would say this is screamo-oriented post-hardcore with some black metal shining through. It sounds less dark than that description would suggest, but I cannot do much better either. This band is onto something, and have clearly found their own niche. The post-metal part is not so much the tension building (that I think is kind of a genre defining part of the genre), but the fact that the band is not afraid to slow down to emo territory. After which they drag you back in before you can get too relaxed. In doing so they created a very engaging record.
The next release I want to talk about is a record I had been waiting for. The release came too late for the record to be included in my year’s end list, but here we are talking about it. And for good reason. I do not hear enough people talking about this record. I am talking about Pus of course! At the end of the year they released their first full-length album. When listening to the album the first time I thought: “this sounds very familiar, I mean really, really familiar.” That’s when I found out that this release is six new tracks plus the four tracks from their split with SxFxCx. Although I have to admit this was a bit disappointing, I am more than happy with six new songs. On the split they covered "Negative Creep" (Nirvana, remember?) and it is the best cover of that song I have heard so far. They really made it their own. The original was already kind of aggressive, but this version is violently aggressive. What makes me happy is that Pus is sticking to what they do best: play a violent, crusty punk and black metal hybrid. The songs are brilliant, the guitar sound is addictive and the amount of echoes on the vocals is something that I can only love. In the past I said I thought this band was a crusty punk version of Devil Master. I would say that no longer applies, this band has found its own niche and is not a derivative of someone else. If you hadn’t figured it out by now, this is highly recommended stuff!
Let’s go the classic route
Don’t worry I am not going to spam you with Beethoven or another classical composer. I want to talk about classic heavy metal. This next release came on my path because I am a bit of a Blaze Bayley fanboy. This man has released a lot of music I thoroughly enjoy. For one EP (as far as I know) he fronts Master Spy, a Canadian heavy metal band. I can understand why the band asked Blaze to sing as the band is heavily influenced by Iron Maiden. It is very old school with twin guitars, a fitting environment for Blaze. Blaze, in turn, brings in a certain enthusiasm that makes most of his work so enjoyable. The build ups are catchy, the choruses are epic -- it is what I love about heavy metal. What is less old school is the use of synths. The keys do add another layer and pull the sound more into the current day and age. I have not listened closely to the lyrics, but it appears the band is telling a tale (about the Ghost Agent the EP is named after, who might just be the same person as the Master Spy the band is named after. We are talking about spies here though, so we will never know for sure...). A band that wants to tell stories has to be careful to not write overly long songs (looking at you, Iron Maiden!). Unfortunately, that is just the pitfall Master Spy falls into. Especially the last two songs are too long. Shaving a couple of minutes of those songs would have made this EP even better. I am looking forward to the next release by Master Spy and wonder who will be fronting the band then!
Another classic band that comes to mind is The Wipers. Mainly because Third Ego released their debut late last year. This band came to my attention because of the beautiful artwork of their first single, but really caught my attention when I found out this band has ties with NRA, Need and Brat Pack. Third Ego must have decided it was time to upgrade the sound of The Wipers to this century, hell, to this decade. And they more than succeeded. This record is brilliant in its catchy songwriting. This is not an overly aggressive record, this is a mature band that knows their worth and delivers their music with a certain swag. The end result is a very addictive record that will get a lot of spins. There are two things I do not really understand though. Firstly, although I really do like the artwork for the album, it is so very different from the single. I love seeing bands work with one theme throughout related releases. Secondly, I don’t really get why this is released during winter time -- I get a real summer vibe from this album. Oh well, some things will remain a mystery to me.
Let’s end our chat with something poppy
Did you also notice the trend of me checking out records because of ties to other bands? Time to break that pattern. The next two releases I want to bring to your attention were recommended in another sites year’s end list. On a metal site no less. Not the usual place to discover pop music. With that sites origin in mind I would not blame you if you expected this to be some kind of moody, broody pop music. It is not. It could not be farther from the truth, really. Telenova’s Stained Glass Love is a very sunny, dreamy sounding pop EP with a big sound. The songwriting is incredible, these songs take their own spot in your mind after the first spin. Who would say no to five full and warm sounding, simply irresistible songs. I don’t. But wait, things get even better! A couple of months after releasing Stained Glass Love the band released the accompanying Telenoir version of the EP. I was skeptical about this release, as I am not a fan of remixes. The fact that these songs remain as strong in their remixed trip-hoppy version is a testament to the work the band must have put into these songs.
Of course there is more. There is always more. Still, I am leaving it at this. There must be something left for you to discover, right? And we need to have something left to chat about next time. See you then!
