Thursday, December 28, 2017 0 Engineers

Streaming: Johnnytwentythree - The Bridge



Band: johnnytwentythree
Album: The Bridge
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017







Tracklist
01. Shipwreck
02. Night Of War
03. Dark Of The Sun
04. The Bridge
05. Keys To Freedom
06. To The Fortress
07. In The Master's Throne Room
08. After the End
09. A Good Childhood
10. Last Breath
11. Silent Lord Of Chaos
Streaming / Buy

It has been just over 5 years since Joe's death. Before that, we had been slowly chipping away at a new Johnnytwentythree album. That album is called The Bridge, and it is now done. 

I feel like Joe would be pretty happy with it. 

The beginnings of the album started out with a song that was written as a reaction to all of us watching a documentary called “The Bridge”. It was a song inspired by the idea of suicide, but also of finding reasons to hold on. 

The album instead has become a memorial to the reality of the life and suicide of our bassist/brother/husband/friend, and father of two little girls. 

It was released on December 23rd. 

You can order it on our bandcamp or iTunes/Amazon Music.

Stephen’s video for the first song of the album, Shipwreck, can be viewed here, with more to come.

Proceeds from the album will be going to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI - https://www.nami.org/). 

The Bridge is intended to be a candle lit for those who are gone, a light for those left. - Michael J23

official site
facebook
bandcamp
merch

Thursday, December 21, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Teller - Strive Recess Echo



Band: Teller
Album: Strive Recess Echo
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017







Tracklist
01. Baton Rouge
02. The Wary And Watchful
03. Floods
04. Tell-tale White
05. Ridge And Furrow
06. Of, By And For
Streaming | Mirror

Teller is a five-piece band from Gothenburg, Sweden. Gustav K. used to play the drums in the Swedish indie band The Gentle Act Incident and pop rock band The Shiloh, Emanuel O. normally plays the bass guitar in the Swedish post-rock act EF and Erik B. used to hit the keys of The Shiloh. But all in all, Teller is a band of five friends who needed an outlet to create music and to socialize.

Each member is a keystone for a certain type of element: wavy ambient tones, strong melodies, and dynamic passages. Some parts of their songs have existed as ideas as far back as 15 years. For them, it has been a journey that was necessary before they could complete their ideas into songs. 

To mention some of their influences: Caspian, Sigur Rós, and Kashmir.

Strive Recess Echo is the result of hard work and devotion from all five members, and not only have they written the music but they also created the artwork, recorded it and self financed it without any label involved. 

All additional musicians that appear on the album, or people that were a part of the process, are all included in a network of friends inside of the Gothenburg music scene.

facebook
bandcamp 
soundcloud
spotify
Monday, December 18, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Pillars - Of Salt And Sea



Band: Pillars
Album: Of Salt And Sea
Label: In Storre Recordings
Year: 2017







Tracklist
01. Signal
02. Harbinger
03. Finalita
04. Of Salt And Sea
05. Subtract/Submerge
06. Revelation
07. Residuum
08. SEQII
09. Equinox
Streaming / Buy

Pillars is an American four piece, primarily instrumental, post-rock band from Indianapolis, Indiana formed in 2015. The band consists of Marc Ertel (guitar), Justin Williams (guitar), Nason Frizzell (bass), and Zach Frizzell (drums). Each member comes from various musical pasts and this diversity has fostered a unique sound that blends indie-rock and post-rock.

Pillars independently released their first self-titled collection of three songs on June 9, 2015 [Pillars EP] both in digital and CD formats. The CD's were limited to 100 copies and quickly sold out. The album jackets were screenprinted by Bob Peele at Long Live Design Labs and the songs were recorded, mixed, and mastered by Carl Byers at Clandestine Arts Recording.

The band was signed to Indianapolis indie label, In Store Recordings in February 2017 and released "The Great Divide" on March 31, 2017; A two song opus inspired by the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty that plague many. "The Great Divide" is a journey that explores the current treacherous social landscape, using history as a light to guide us through the darkness. "The Great Divide" is available for digital download, in addition to a limited edition pressing on cassette and CD. "The Great Divide" was recorded at the Pop Machine and Clandestine Arts in Indianapolis. It was mixed and mastered by Carl Byers. The album cover and inserts were designed by Marc Ertel.

Pillars released their first full-length album through the In Store Recordings label, titled "Of Salt and Sea" on December 15th, 2017. “Of Salt and Sea" marks the band’s most complete release to date, while also marking their first entirely instrumental collection of songs. "Of Salt and Sea" exhibits a distinct mesh of musical colors on full display, as the band takes listeners on a aural voyage full of thoughtfully crafted peaks and plunges. From the towering movement, that shares the name of the album, “Of Salt and Sea” to the succinct yet stunning piece “Subtract/Submerge,” the album delivers a rejuvenated post-rock sound that pushes the boundaries of the genre to stratospheric new levels.
 
 "Of Salt and Sea" is available for digital download, in addition to a limited edition pressing on vinyl, which was mastered by Adam Gonsalves (has also mastered albums for Pelican, Elliott Smith, Neurot Recordings, Epitaph Records). "Of Salt and Sea" was recorded and mixed by Cortland Foxworth at Melt Audio Studio. Digital mastering was done by Gordan Wantuch. The album cover and inserts were designed by Marc Ertel.

Pillars has played alongside established instrumental bands such as Pelican, and indie juggernauts, The Appleseed Cast, The Get Up Kids, The World Is A Beautiful Place And I am No Longer Afraid to Die, We Are Scientists and more.

official site
facebook
twitter
instagram
bandcamp
spotify
soundcloud
merch band | label
Friday, December 15, 2017 0 Engineers

Album: Saligia - The New Innocence


Band: Saligia
Album: The New Innocence
Label: Zegema Beach Records
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Loud Speaker
02. La Nausée
03. Ulcer
04. Obscuritas Aeterna
05. Metropolis
06. The War Is Over
Download | Mirror

Saligia is an emo violence, chaotic hardcore band from Münster, Germany.

facebook
bandcamp
buy vinyl
Wednesday, December 13, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: In Lights - This is How We Exist


Band: In Lights
Album: This is How We Exist
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Forward 06:00
02. Search 05:34
03. Before 06:21
04. Memory 06:08
05. Dream 07:58
06. Spring 04:28
07. Om Namah Shivaya
Streaming / Buy

In Lights is a five-piece post-rock / instrumental band based out of San Jose, CA, started playing together during the summer of 2014.

 I cannot express how much I liked this album! Its structure with a strong opening and closing track and of course the melodies give the listeners a great musical experience and atmosphere. Also the use of violin , pipa and a choir gives a different touch that stands this album out!

facebook
bandcamp
soundcloud
merch 
Tuesday, December 12, 2017 0 Engineers

The Inquisition: 093.Spook The Horses (answered by Callum Gay)

1. How did you came up with the name of the band?

Ben and I grew up playing in metal bands together, and when we started Spook we wanted a name that didn't suggest anything too specific or aggressive like a lot of the bands we were used to. Spook The Horses was the name was hated the least, in the end we just chose it because it sounded like a band name.

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it?

There's a general process we have, but usually each record is very different. Most of the time one or more people will work on the bulk of a song at home or together, and then we'll digest and reshape and mould it as a band. About half of People Used to Live Here started as an improvised piece. Lurch, Crude Shrines and Blessed Veins all just kind of fell out of us in one go.

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home?

For me personally its a lot of extreme metal. Ugly, dissonant aggressive music. The rest of the band have really varied tastes, anything from Jon Hopkins to Neil Young to Protomartyr. I don't think we especially sound like anything we listen to, really. Maybe a bizarre mix of all of it. Lately I've had the new Arkhon Infaustus EP on repeat. Evil as fuck.

4. Which is the one album you can't live without?

Most of us have agreed that Cult of Luna's 'Somewhere Along the Highway' was a bit of turning point in our musical thinking. The production is unique, real, powerful and the songs blow open so much wider than their earlier stuff. It's also the last Luna record before they started getting really conceptual so I think it covers a bit more ground without feeling unfocused. Donnie got an original pressing not long ago- no small feat when you live on the wrong side of the planet.

5. What's the first record you've ever bought?

Black Boned Angel- Eternal Love / Eternal Hunger. BBA are a now defunct transcendent drone band from Campbell Kneale (Birchville Cat Motel, Our Love Will Destroy The World). You're doing yourself a massive disservice if you haven't checked out his music and paintings.

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?

The Drones. Gareth Liddiard makes me need to take my headphones off and bang my head against the desk. Fuck that guy, what a songwriter.

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to?

Oh absolutely. Our first album Brighter was a super limited release, we just printed a few jewel cases and sold them at the release show. Within two days it was up on several dicey looking Russian torrent sites. A few days later we mailed a CD to Lithuania. I have no idea how it was up so quickly, but it's crazy to see how your music kind of gets a global release whether you want it to or not.

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify?

In general, putting more power in the hands of the artist is a good thing. Spotify is a bit dark, as an artist the revenue is so small as to be effectively pointless. In saying that however it's still my primary way of listening to music. I'll always preferentially buy merch and vinyl from Bandcamp where possible because there's no screwing around with Paypal or those diabolical labels that make you sign up for a specific account for their page. PLEASE don't make me verify a fucking email address just to buy your record.

9. Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?

Hopefully with another three albums or so under our belt having toured extensively around Europe and North America. By that stage we'll probably sound like Kraftwerk or something.

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era?

In niche and independent music, definitely. In pop and mainstream, I have no idea. It's not in my wheelhouse. The art is a huge focus for us and we spend a huge amount of time and conversation on it. It's especially important when you play visually evocative music. You're robbing yourself of a lot of creative fulfilment if you don't take it seriously.

11. What is your favorite album cover?

Fuck, so many. Abyssal's "Antikatastaesis" stands out from recent memory. More album covers that look like the album sounds, please.

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format?

Vinyl is the only format that doesn't seem like cheap, throwaway garbage in my view. CDs get scuffed and broken in the footwells of cars, digital is nothing, cassettes are small and unimpressive. Vinyl is huge, heavy, sounds unique and gives you more options to be creative with the art, inserts, etchings and colour. My daily music listening is of course digital. When it's time for ritual and worship its vinyl.

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band?

Zach accidentally killed a hawk with the van on tour one time. It was eating roadkill and took off too late. The price you pay for living without honour, bird. There's also countless blown amps, cracked cymbals and busted drum heads at the most inopportune times possible. My least favourite memory is Zach's kick pedal beater coming off while we were playing this festival showcase and I tried to fix it with him still playing, my head under his snare drum just eating rimshots. I wince just thinking about it.

Spook The Horses' latest album "People Used To Live Here" out now on Pelagic Records.

More info:
facebook
twitter
bandcamp
Monday, December 11, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Stereocilia - Hive Mind


Band: Stereocilia
Album: Hive Mind
Label: Drone Rock Records
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. The Water Has No Darkness
02. Static
03. Aurora Borealis
04. Another Sleepless Dream
Streaming / Buy

'Hive Mind' is the 3rd full length album from Stereocilia, and heaviest to date. This 4 track album spanning over 40 minutes takes you on a journey exploring the boundaries of drone and psych. ‘Hive Mind’ also sees Stereocilia collaborating with another musician for the first time, with a guest appearance from Thought Forms drummer, Guy Metcalfe. Guy brings his unique drumming style to the 20+ minute sonic exploration, ‘Another Sleepless Dream’ and adds a new dimension to ever evolving project that is Stereocilia.

official site
facebook
twitter
instagram
bandcamp
buy bandcamp | label
Sunday, December 10, 2017 0 Engineers

Video: Harakiri For The Sky - You Are The Scars (Official Lyric Video)

Thursday, December 07, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Jack Maniak - Code 403


Band: Jack Maniak
Album: Code 403
Label: JST Records
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Stripe Is Back
02. No Fate
03. Code 403
04. Final Departure
05. Tribal Mob
06. The Guardian
07. Space Invaders
08. Dangerous Night
09. Sky Demons
10. Glory
Streaming / Buy

Jack Maniak is a new one-man project created in 2016 by French musician Jean-Philippe. Living in Paris and also playing in a number of bands, Jean-Philippe felt the need to delve deeper in the electronic music sounds. Born in the 70’s and having experienced the 80’s as a teenager his love of that era didn’t take long to manifest in his music giving birth to his synthwave alter ego, Jack Maniak.

For a melodist, exploring this genre is a great opportunity and for Jean-Philippe the idea of writing music inspired by the 80’s but with a modern approach and twist soon turned out to be irresistible. Combining melodic synth leads, hard-rock/heavy rhythm guitars, guitar solos (when needed), big distorted basslines and groovy drum/bass patterns Jack Maniak debuts on JST with “Code 403”.

Filled with hidden references to the decade Jack Maniak grew up into (“Stripe Is Back” – Gremlins, “No Fate” – Terminator 2 and so on) “Code 403” is the story of a human teenager with special abilities who is called to face an alien invasion. Will he emerge victorious? 

official site
facebook
bandcamp
soundcloud
spotify
Monday, December 04, 2017 0 Engineers

Video: Meniscus - Head Rush

Sunday, December 03, 2017 0 Engineers

Album: Necrodancer - Void


Band: Necrodancer
Album: Void
Label: Throatruiner Records
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. The Necrodancer
02. The Seizure
03. The Hunter
04. The Turning
05. The Crusade
06. The Divide
07. The Inquisition
08. The Calling
09. The Trial
10. The Battlefield
Download | Mirror

Franco-belgian squad Necrodancer doesn't waste time with warning shots and directly introduce themselves to the world with "Void", their debut album. Formed in 2016 between Paris and Liège by members hailing from various corners of the heavy music realm (Verdun, Daggers, Death Mercedes, Radio Maquis…) the band establishes with "Void" an already personal, hard-to pin sound. Drawing as much from swampy noise rock as from the punkier edge of later-era Darkthrone, these self-proclaimed funeral grungers are as comfortable with surprisingly catchy melodic hooks as with remorseless crust assaults. Recorded and mixed by Amaury Sauvé (Birds In Row, Plebeian Grandstand, Death Engine) then mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege (Okkultokrati, Nails, Full Of Hell) for maximum damages, Necrodancer's firepower will be hard to ignore.

facebook
bandcamp
Buy Throatruiner Records (EU) | Lost Pilgrims Records (EU) | Deathwish Inc. (US)
Tuesday, November 28, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Përl - Luminance


Band: Përl
Album: Luminance
Label: Apathia Records
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Himalaya (Deval, Part. 1)
02. Ka
03. Séléné
04. L'homme à l'éléphant blanc (feat. F. Berardo)
05. Jhomo Langma (Deval, Part. 2)
Streaming / Buy

Përl is a post-metal band from France which  juggles with the feelings and invites you to an internal journey where confusion, violence, pondering and poetry mix.

Their latest release "Luminance" slipped under the radar of lots of post-metal fans, which is really a shame, because it's an amazing album from start to finish! Do not let the language barrier prevent you from hearing this masterpiece!

Once under spotlights, the trio delivers its music with energy and retained fury. Be prepared to rediscover catharsis in a concert of metal...

For fans of Obscure Sphinx, Eths.

facebook
twitter
bandcamp
soundcloud
Saturday, November 25, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: We All Die! What A Circus! - Somnium Effugium


Band: We All Die! What A Circus!
Album: Somnium Effugium
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Somnium I
02. Effugium I
03. Effugium II
04. Somnium II
05. Effugium III
06. Effugium IV
07. Somnium III
Download

We All Die! What A Circus! is an one man post-rock band from Portugal and has returned with a haunting album!

"A metaphysical shelter from corporate society. An ascetic journey towards death but celebrating life itself."

Somnium Effugium recorded between March and September, 2017. The album is about the dream of escaping ("Somnium") and the escape itself ("Effugium"). In this world of borders and ruins, both on the inside and the outside, the need to escape is inevitable.

facebook
bandcamp
soundcloud
Saturday, November 18, 2017 0 Engineers

Streaming: Slow Meadow - Costero


Band: Slow Meadow
Album: Costero
Label: Hammock Music
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Ships Along The Harbor
02. Boy In A Water Globe
03. Borderland Sorrows
04. Cielo Rojo
05. Brazos Fantasmas
06. Viejo Carrusel
07. Lamellophone And The Gulf Of Mexico
08. Quintana
09. Hurricane
10. Palo Volador
11. The Tragedy Of The Commons - Live Version (Bonus Track)
Streaming / Buy

The Houston multi-instrumentalist Matt Kidd, who writes pastoral, deeply felt compositions as Slow Meadow, will release the 43-minute LP Costero on November 17. The 10-song effort is Kidd’s second as Slow Meadow, arriving two years after the 33-year-old’s debut on the Hammock Music label, a relationship that bloomed when Hammock’s Marc Byrd and Kidd forged an online bond over tastes and ideas from their respective homes in Tennessee and Texas.

Despite initially having minor recognition outside Houston — where glacial, melancholic, piano-centered sound experiments aren’t the city’s chief concern — Kidd’s 2015 debut was still eagerly received by critics like Echoes’ John Diliberto, who elevated Slow Meadow on the same storied Public Radio International show that’s featured Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, John Cage, and other lions of experimental music. The record also garnered him an entrenched and growing following on Spotify and Bandcamp, where Slow Meadow listeners were treated to several two-song “singles” between Kidd’s full-length ruminations — setting the stage for Costero to be greatly anticipated in ambient, modern composition, and experimental music circles.

Costero, Spanish for “coastal,” is a spare and wistful collection of sketches for piano and string quartet — yet it’s also immutably lush. This is largely due to the crater-deep wells of feeling Kidd draws from a small roster of players, but the composer’s skill with programming embellishments also augurs a sense of spaciousness and wonder. Satie and Debussy alight on the mind as, say, “Ships Along the Harbor,” “Borderland Sorrows,” and “Lamellophone and the Gulf of Mexico” issue their felt, poignant tidings. One also hears in Kidd’s soft focus motifs connections to contemporary minimalists such as Rachel’s, Balmorhea, Goldmund, or Berlin’s Nils Frahm.

Kidd’s 2015 debut utilized a similar palette, except its mellifluous, textured sheen more readily evoked traditional guitar- and piano-centered ambient music. Stars of the Lid and Benoît Pioulard came to mind, as were gorgeous, bare bones scores by Coen Brothers-favorite Carter Burwell. Squint your eyes when listening to Costero, however, and you’re just as likely to set aloft in a smoky, blue-souled, war-torn parlor of 19th-century vintage as you are anywhere in 21st century America. The record is far more “classic” in that sense, blurring our sense of era and location: The Romantics of Chopin’s Paris would’ve liked Costero’s tiny majesties as much as the heavy-minded aesthetes of today’s self-serious experimental music scenes.

Still, the record does have a loose geographic fixation. Kidd tracked a pristine string quartet at Sonic Ranch, a palatial Texas studio on the border of the Rio Grande and Mexico that’s surrounded by pecan orchards. Among others, the 2300-acre complex has also been utilized for records by Beach House, Swans, and Explosions in the Sky. And Costero’s song titles — many of which are in Spanish, nodding to the influence of Kidd’s bilingual Houston, his Puerto Rican grandfather, and the influence on Kidd of myriad Latin American musicians — evoke in both word and feeling images of the Southwest.

“Brazos Fantasmas,” for instance, refers to the mighty Brazos River, an iconic body of water that slithers through east and west Texas and which has served a mythic function since early Spanish settlers coined it Rio de los Brazos de Dios, or "The River of the Arms of God." The final track, “Palo Valodor,” refers to an ancient ritual that takes place at Mexico’s Teotihuacan pyramids and other historic locations in Latin America. By chance, Kidd witnessed the Danza de los Voladores at the pyramids in 2016, and the twinkling flute sounds we hear at the end of Costero were sourced from that moment: A separate culture recalling a long gone civilization, yet mirroring a universal searching and celebration of the unknown.

Then, In Kidd’s native tongue, there’s “Hurricane” and “Lamellophone and the Gulf of Mexico,” evoking a retinue of coastal images and metaphors, as well as specific memories and methods of remembering in Kidd. As philosophical concerns, Costero, Slow Meadow, and Kidd’s litany of singles often wrestle with disillusion, with breaking from distorted ways of perceiving that which one might have once held most dear.

These ideas, and Kidd’s sense of literal and figurative place, were gorgeously rendered in Costero’s layout by the French illustrator Jan Garet. Kidd was inspired by the work Garrett did for the album Summerhouse by the Paris band Concorde, and, on Costero, Garrett masterfully distilled Kidd’s philosophical concerns in miniature, all fine black ink fizzling atop sand-hued blankets. The effect — permeating 10 separate images — further instills a clear-eyed yet tangled vision of youth, love, power, and beauty.

“What does it mean to remember one’s favorite coastlines, when my memory wants me to forget the chemical plants, the fluorescent lights, the stench?” Kidd wondered in a recent conversation. “Many of the beaches I grew up visiting are at the center of a gross, capitalist trade-off, so a song like ‘Ships Along the Harbor’ is about reckoning with your memory of a place and the reality of it. Maybe it’s not as beautiful as you recall. I’m not interested in conveying a literal activist stance through my work, but that's where my head was at.”

This tension between what we know and what we think we know — as scientific, philosophical, spiritual, and humanistic concerns — pervades conversation with Kidd. He’s just as primed to digress on the writer Alan Watts and the physicist Leonard Susskind as he is on musical influences, and Kidd says he found scientific lectures and travel more clarifying than anything else while making Costero.

Kidd also shares that two trips to a friend’s home outside Birmingham, Alabama, also brought Costero into focus. The first was incidental: During the spring of 2016, while navigating northeast on a short tour to New York, he spent the evening toying with an upright piano that lay largely unplayed in a corner of the remote Southern home. Costero was an unnamed, distant fixture at that point, but the solitary experience — removed from the pressure of tracking on deadline at a studio with the pedigree of Sonic Ranch — stuck with Kidd. So much so that he returned there with two of his favorite Coles microphones later to capture the piano movements that would accompany the strings he’d captured in Texas.

“By nature, I'm a solitary person,” Kidd says. “Before Birmingham, I hadn't given myself enough of that writing space. The upright felt so intimate., and it has such gorgeous voice. Playing it put me in the right space to think about Costero.”

These 10 songs — wordless, sighing, hopeful — will inevitably create their own meaning for listeners, outside that which stuck with Kidd over the past two years. They’re meditations on the smear of inner feeling, the magnificent and tortured ways in which our bodies and minds interact in a dance that’s both heartbreakingly limited and wondrously limitless. They are earthy, noiseless, focused gestures for a world that’s suffocating from the lack of them.

Slow Meadow’s Costero was produced, arranged, and mixed by Matt Kidd, with additional production help from Hammock. Maxine Kuo and Joanna Becker played violin; Yvonne Smith played viola; and Aimee Norris played cello. (Cello on “Palo Volador” was performed by Katie Ferrell.) Jay Snider contributed drums to “Cielo Rojo.” Costero was mastered by James Plotkin. The record will be released on vinyl and digitally, with one additional song, on November 17.

official site
facebook
twitter
instagram
bandcamp
buy
Friday, November 17, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Outlander - Downtime b​/​w Plans EP


Band: Outlander
Album: Downtime b​/​w Plans EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Downtime
02. Six
03. Plans
Download

Outlander is an instrumental post-rock band from Birmingham, UK.

facebook
instagram
bandcamp
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Grandbrothers - Open


Band: Grandbrothers
Album: Open
Label: City Slang
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. 1202
02. Bloodflow
03. From A Distance
04. Long Forgotten Future
05. Honey
06. Alice
07. White Nights
08. Circonflexe
09. Sonic Riots
10. London Bridges
Streaming / Buy

Grandbrothers are Erol Sarp and Lukas Vogel. After meeting at university in Dusseldorf, Erol and Lukas formed Grandbrothers to tie together their respective musical backgrounds and disciplines: Erol is a trained jazz pianist, while Lukas constructs synthesizers at Access Music. Together, they create a sound that combines classical composition with modern, experimental production and sound design.

For fans of Ólafur Arnalds, Ben Lukas Boysen.

official site
facebook
twitter
instagram
bandcamp
Monday, November 13, 2017 0 Engineers

Video: Amenra - A Solitary Reign

Thursday, November 09, 2017 0 Engineers

Album: Pettersson - Rift And Seam


Band: Pettersson
Album: Rift And Seam
Label: I.corrupt Records, (We Built The World And) Miss The Stars Records, Hardcore For The Losers, Structures // Agony Records, Samegrey Records, My Name Is Jonas Diy & Co., Time As A Color, One Wild Collective, Krimskramz, Upwind Productions, Longrail Records
Year: 2016


Tracklist
01. Ben
02. Infirm
03. White Birch
04. Interlude
05. Spiro, Spero
06. Helicobacter
07. All Is Lost
08. Kalk
Download

Pettersson play very emotional post-hardcore/screamo. The mix of singing and screaming vocals reminds me of bands like Suis La Lune, Pianos Become The Teeth, Funeral Diner or Envy while the instrumental is worked out so well that you couldn't believe that this is recorded by only three people. Rift And Seam is Pettersson's first release.

facebook
bandcamp
Sunday, November 05, 2017 0 Engineers

Streaming: VVilderness - Devour The Sun + Instrumental Version


Band: VVilderness
Album: Devour The Sun
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Starless Dark
02. Sól
03. Devour The Sun
04. Life
05. New Earth
06. Aftershine
Streaming / Buy | Mirror


Band: VVilderness
Album: Devour The Sun (Instrumental)
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017







Tracklist
01. Starless Dark_
02. Sól_
03. Devour The Sun_
04. Life_
05. New Earth_
06. Aftershine_
Download

VVilderness is the black metal alter ego of the man behind Release The Long Ships. With a minimal studio equipment, a guitar, a microphone and a computer, he managed to release a great black metal album that doens't lack anything.

If on the other hand growling vocals aren't your thing, you can still listen to the instrumental version of it.

facebook vvilderness | release the long ships
instagram
bandcamp vvilderness | release the long ships
soundcloud
Wednesday, November 01, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Afformance - Music For Imaginary Film #1 / Pop Nihilism


Band: Afformance
Album: Music For Imaginary Film #1
Label: United We Fly
Year: 2017







Tracklist
01. Intro
02. Sol In The Woods
03. Sol In The Battlefield
04. Anapaest
05. Aftermath
06. Sailor's Abandoned Ship
07. ...Or Maybe It's Not
08. 619
Streaming / Buy


Band: Afformance
Album: Pop Nihilism
Label: United We Fly
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Perspectivism
02. Youth Corrupter
03. Here, Now, A Million Years
04. Open Mind
05. Past Forward
06. Auto Reject / Self Validate
07. No Point Return
Streaming / Buy

Afformance have formed back in 2005. Since then, they have appeared in numerous live shows in Greece, but also in Switzerland and Turkey (often supporting bands such as Grails, Jenniferever, Maybeshewill etc), they have done a mini tour with fellow Nechayevschina to promote their debut full-length “A Glimpse To The Days That Pass”. Giving an end to their short break that followed, the alt./post-rockers Afformance celebrated the release of their new single-sided 12" EP "The Place" (including the score of the same-titled dance/theater performance) with a tour in the Balkans and Europe which found them to share the stage of Dunk! Festival in Belgium with important bands as iLikeTrains, pg.lost, Balmorhea, Maserati, Kokomo, Kwoon and many others. They released a digital EP release including remixes on released and unreleased songs by close friends and themselves, which is available through their bandcamp page. Their second full length album "Through Walls" was released in 2015.

With a strong attention to the harmonic musical content and the rich ambience of their previous material, with a new more straight-forward musical approach and with a fresh apettite to present their brand new material to old and new friends, Afformance have finally returned more creative and more active than ever with their double release!

“Music For Imaginary Film #1” is the perfect description for the album’s content itself. “ A story of a man who's trying to escape from a big forest he is trapped in and in his way out solves out many mysteries about his self and an unexplored world that surrounded him. This is a metaphorical story about a person who is deserted in his micro-world unable to understand or think what is really happening in real life. These 8 songs unfold the mental and physical stages the main character passes through from the state of oblivion till the realization of his illness.”

“Pop Nihilism” is –just like the title itself states- an ode to darkness and introversion, embraced by a pop texture, and this is no surprise, given the fact that Afformance was always intrigued by the expression of such feelings and mental states. Being multi-faceted, darkling and mellow, “Pop Nihilism” is influenced and driven by post rock, indie, ambient, modern and classic pop music, and can easily be considered as the most mature release to date by this impressively talented collective, from Athens, Greece.

facebook
twitter
bandcamp
soundcloud
buy
Tuesday, October 31, 2017 0 Engineers

Video: Our Ceasing Voice - Delusion Of Love

Monday, October 30, 2017 0 Engineers

The Inquisition: 092.To Destroy A City


1. How did you come up with the name of the band?

It came from a chapter title of a WWII book we were using as inspiration for the first record.

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it?

We’ll get together, crack some beers, throw on a weird movie, and play with different melodies and rhythms, jam them out a bit. We loop a lot of parts, record the sessions, and then comp down the good bits and give it a framework. Then we just refine the tracks over time to tell the story we wanna tell.

3. How did you decide to add vocals to your new album?

It’s actually something we has explored a little during the writing for SUNLESS but ultimately didn’t fit. Vocals worked better with the material this time around. There were some songs that were written with vocals in mind from the start, and others were we added them later in the process where we thought they might add some new dimension to the track. Vocals to us are just another element, another instrument, another layer.

4. What is "Go Mirage" about?

Michael: Andy came up with the idea as a song title. When I heard it, it really intrigued me, and I suggested it for the album title. “Go Mirage” is the idea that you’re telling something/someone, that you know isn’t there, to leave. We all have events in our lives that we wish didn’t happen. Or we look back to a time where our life was perhaps a bit more at peace, but know we can’t have that time back or undo what has been done. It’s only human to be taunted by those mirages… those memories. “Go Mirage” is taking a stand and telling them to leave.
Andrew: Memories are a Mirage. “Go Mirage” is getting stuck in that moment where memory and reality cross, and the inability to discern what is real and what is not. Thematically, it’s kind of a harsh, broken reality vs. dream concept with a dose of nostalgia.

5. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home?

Michael: My influences come from a lot of places—past experiences, the seasons, work, stress, really any emotion. The music I usually listen to at home is ambient and shoegaze. Lately it has been She Past Away, Kyle Bobby Dunn, and Stars Of The Lid.
Jeff: For me it’s books, films, art, winter, the universe, a lot of times it’s nothing in particular. We usually have a film playing as we write, which can influence the direction the writing takes. As far as listening at home, lately I’ve been into Ben Frost, Sinoia Caves, The Abbasi Brothers, and Esmerine.
Andrew: Memories and dreams. Film and art. Music I’ve been into recently would include The Radio Dept., LORN, Black Marble, Teargas and Plateglass. We also curated a Spotify playlist with some of what we were listening to during creation of Go Mirage. You can check that out here: https://open.spotify.com/user/_n5md_/playlist/5p2PvJyUfU8GT7AvdEQE5k

6. Which is the one album you can’t live without?

Michael: Slowdive - Just For A Day
Jeff: The Dead Texan - S/T
Andrew: Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase

7. What’s the first record you’ve ever bought?

Michael: Green Day - Dookie
Jeff: Green Day here, too.
Andrew: AC/DC - Blow Up Your Video. Gotta love that cover.

8. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?

Slowdive or Boards Of Canada. We’d also love to get a tour together with God Is An Astronaut.

9. Did the Internet and especially the blogs help to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached?

The Internet definitely helped us get there. After we finished up the first record we upped it to bandcamp and emailed a number of blogs concerning its release. From there, and through some word-of-mouth, we made contact with n5MD. I don’t know if we’re surprised by any country in particular that’s into us, but I guess we have a decent presence in Russia and in Taiwan, which is pretty cool.

10. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price, or services like Spotify?

We definitely support Bandcamp. It’s a great platform for letting the artists decide on how to value their music. For the self-titled, we initially used the name-your-price model because we were just getting out there. Then, when n5MD came into the picture, we pressed CDs and vinyl. So there are costs there for those releases and we/n5 can set the price accordingly. It’s a very flexible platform and the money goes to the artist. Spotify is pretty much the opposite. We’re not fans of the ad-driven, freemium type model that makes up the majority of its users. You don’t want people listening to your track, getting in the zone, and then immediately getting blasted by a Home Depot commercial or some shit. It, and similar services like Pandora, are cool from a “radio” standpoint where we’re gaining exposure via similar artists, but there is no compensation. I guess that’s the trade-off? Exposure vs. compensation. At the end of the day we work hard to make a quality product that we believe in. The physical component is an important element to the experience.

11. Where to you see yourselves in 5 years?

Hopefully doing what we’re doing now just with a couple more albums under our belts. It’s exciting to see how the writing and the sound evolves over time. We’ll have a new studio up within the next few months and we’re interested in how the new environment will influence us. Hopefully, we’ll get to play some shows in the spring of 2018.

12. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era?

Artwork has been and always will be important. It’s a visualization of what you’re hearing, and gives the artist an opportunity to color how you experience the album. The focus has shifted a lot as digital delivery has taken over though.

13. What is your favourite album cover?

Michael: Cocteau Twins - Treasure


Jeff: Tame Impala - “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” single, or really anything Leif Podhajsky has done.


Andrew: Ministry - Filth Pig

14. It seems that a lot of people are turning to vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format?

With a physical release in general, you get more of a sensory experience. You don’t just hear the music. An album is an object you can see and hold in your hand. Some people get more out of that experience, especially when the album is something that has made a large impact on their life. Some people don’t. For those that do, I think a lot of them are finding that vinyl specifically is preferable to CD in some ways. You get a larger format, bigger artwork, and being analog brings a certain life and color to the record. There are way more options now as far as colors and vinyl design, which adds a new element too.

15. What’s the most vivid story or moment as a band?

Finalizing the mixing process of the first album was pretty powerful. Especially as we were finishing up Goodbye, Dear Friend, everything just sort of clicked. We all had a lot of going on in our lives at that point and we needed that. Opening for Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra in Chicago was awesome too. It was a great shot at one of our favorite venues, surrounded by a lot of our favorite people.

More info:
facebook
twitter
bandcamp
soundcloud
shop
Sunday, October 29, 2017 0 Engineers

Streaming: Hubris. - Apocryphal Gravity


Band: Hubris.
Album: Apocryphal Gravity
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Intro
02. Beyond Styx Pt 1
03. Beyond Styx Pt 2
04. Aphrodite Terra
05. Doom Mons
06. Deimos To Phobos Pt 1
07. Deimos To Phobos Pt 2
Streaming / Buy

Hubris.” is a Swiss post-rock band originating in Fribourg. Formed in 2014, the instrumental quartet is characterised by their original style which blends an experimental touch of post-rock, electronica atmosphere and some elements of the metal scene. They draw their inspiration from bands like Jakob, This Will Destroy You, Tides of Man or Jon Hopkins amongst others. With their introspection-evoking style, hubris. reveal themselves with the length of their compositions, permitting an evolution encompassing softness as well as intensity.

Sometimes compared with other artists like Sigur Rós or Long Distance Calling (Daily-Rock), the band calls forth emotions of its audience due to a heterogeneous musical landscape mixing poetic ambiance and raw energy. The band is comprised of a guitar and synthesisers (Jonathan Hohl and Martin Volanthen), a bass-guitar (Julien Vonlanthen) and the drums (Nathan Gros).

On the 2nd of May 2015, hubris. released their first opus “Emersion” along-side Jakob (New Zealand). The album was well-received by various medias outlets, obtaining several reviews from webzines and newspaper (La Liberté, La Gruyère) as well as being aired on two radio stations (Radio Fribourg and FarPastPost radio). Furthermore, the album was chosen as the soundtrack of the international museum exposition of Bucarest “Insight”.

In 2016, hubris. entered the walls of the studio “La Fonderie” (Fribourg) in order to compose their second album. Their musical approach took a new turn with the arrival of member Martin Vonlanthen (synthesisers). By drastically changing their method of composing, the band embodies a musical style rarely explored to this day, breaching pre-established post-rock conventions by incorporating electronica influences.

Offcial Site
facebook
instagram
bandcamp
Merch
Thursday, October 26, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Nordic Giants - Amplify Human Vibration


Band: Nordic Giants
Album: Amplify Human Vibration
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Taxonomy Of Illusions
02. First Light Of Dawn
03. Spirit
04. Dystopia
05. Reawake (feat. Freyja)
06. Immortal Elements
07. Autonomous
Streaming / Buy

For Nordic Giants the performance is the thing, and as those who have seen the live show will attest, it is a visceral experience that goes beyond the normal descriptors. Each mind-blowing performance involves a chosen few short films, which are soundtracked live with atmospheric soundscapes.Two mythical creatures create an experience with bowed guitar, piano that is both haunting and rousing, and climactic and thunderous drums.

Nordic Giants have spent the last couple of years bringing their own formula of claustrophobic cinema clatter to a selection of unusual locations across the country; from disused Victorian music halls to converted seaside bandstands. Dressed in feathers and shrouded in a ubiquitous fog the pair look more like residents of Middle Earth.

The award-winning short films that accompany the live performance are each one a work of art; by turn poignant and powerful, dark and uplifting. Whether live action or animation, experimental or narrative, each resonates and will stay with you in its own way.

Seeing Nordic Giants has been described as akin to a religious experience: the multi-screen visuals, powerful strobes and exquisitely timed accompaniment create a whole that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

official site
facebook
twitter
bandcamp
buy
Saturday, October 21, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Collapse Under The Empire - The Fallen Ones


Band: Collapse Under The Empire
Album: The Fallen Ones
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Prelude
02. The Fallen Ones
03. Dark Water
04. A Place Beyond
05. Blissful
06. The Forbidden Spark
07. The Holy Mountain
08. Flowers From Exile
09. The End Falls
Streaming (Spotify)

Collapse Under The Empire released their new album "The Fallen Ones" and they seem more mature (maybe influnced by synthwave as well) and I dare to say that it's their best album so far!

The Post Rock History of Collapse Under The Empire

The Collaborative Efforts of Martin Grimm And Chris Burda

In the summer of 2008, we met while looking for bands to collaborate with to keep our creative juices flowing. We had both relocated to Hamburg, Germany for work and because of the move we had to give up our former bands from home. We both found working with several band members at a time in a traditional band setup restricted our vision and creativity, we both needed the space to explore creatively, we seemed to have a unified creativity and vision and a year later Collapse Under the Empire was born.

Our Soundscapes

At first, we didn’t know exactly where we were going musically, but we started with a sort of deconstruction of Post Rock fundamentals and reconstructed them into our unique sound and conceptualisation. In the beginning, we used traditional vocal accompaniment but soon realised that the focus of a song centred on the vocals. We wanted the focus to be on the music itself. Creating a story through sound and connecting with epic and expansive concepts that describe the human condition were important to us. We wanted the music to tell the story and to leave our music open to the interpretation of our listeners. Some of our tracks have some choir vocals, but they are added to enhance the experience of the music rather than as a focal point of the song. There are times when vocals aid in the feelings of hope and progressiveness within our songs.

Our unique soundscapes come from evoking the tension and release of human emotional experience through resonating bass lines, electronic music, dark, despairing guitar chords and dystopian industrial drum beats. We often experiment with and express feelings of isolation, abandonment, and death but offset those expressions with uplifting joy and hope. These concepts encapsulate the enduring human experience and are relatable to so many different listeners by enabling a personal connection to the work we do. Our work is often described as soundtrack music, and that makes a lot of sense because soundtracks within films encourage the viewer’s emotions to help them experience what the characters in a movie are going through and that is exactly what our music aspires to, telling a story that all of us can relate to. We create music that gives an outlet and a musical description of these emotions we all feel.

Our Style and Influences as Post Rock band

With our melancholic melody constructions, we resemble Post Rock, but our style goes way beyond the usual Post Rock instrumental band. Drawing influences from Trip Hop, Shoe Gazing, Synthpop and Progressive Hard Rock we are really about pushing the boundaries of Post Rock by creating interpretive soundscapes that inspire listeners and fans to construct a personal narrative. We use aspects of film music, instrumental rock, dark and electronic rock to produce tracks that tell a story and tie into an overall larger concept. These concepts are relatable to fans because they speak of the trials of human existence.

The origin of our band name

We get a lot of questions about our name Collapse Under the Empire, and we love how fans interpret the name in ways we never thought of as it gives listeners another narrative to personalise along with our sounds. The name Collapse Under the Empire was born from the acronym C.U.T.E. Post rock bands aren’t exactly synonymous with the word cute, Post Rock is hard, and the word cute is soft. We loved the irony. We set about giving the group a title that used the irony of C.U.T.E. In 2008, the world was in a financial crisis affecting millions of ordinary people and Collapse Under the Empire just fell into place and felt right. The name Collapse Under the Empire conjured up dystopian imagery and felt prophetic about the fate of the world and our place in it.

Every Album Has a Story

We find inspiration from many sources and all of the albums tell a story of the human condition. Orwellian in nature, the sounds of Find a Place to Be Safe connect to feelings of the weight of oppression and paint a future under authoritarianism. The intense keyboard and string instrumentals inspire you to look deep within and explore perceptions of isolation and fear. All of our albums delve deeply into the extremes of human emotion. Shoulders and Giants envelopes you in feelings of isolation, fear, and death but with an underlying enduring hopefulness. These concepts are given life through our combination of dissonant sounds and uplifting crescendos.

The 9 Tracks on The Fallen Ones conjures a dystopian journey through societal negativity and will inspire fans to travel through and explore the landscapes of a dark, pessimistic future. Highly interpretive, The Fallen Ones will take listeners into the depths of their inner struggles. Dark and emotional charged The Fallen Ones evoke images of desolation and fear and give fans an opportunity to explore these emotions and relate them to their own lives.

Our Fans

We get so many emails from people from around the world from so many cultures telling us about how our music has acted as a soundtrack to their struggles and about how our Post Rock sound touches and profoundly affects their lives. We frequently hear fans stories and how our music helps them explore what is happening in their lives. Some of our fans describe climbing mountains and feeling a great sense of freedom through our music and how in times of illness our music helped them feel better emotionally and mentally. In the midst of self- exploration or crisis fans tell us that Collapse Under the Empire has inspired them and helped them through the most difficult times and some of the best of times. These stories and our fans connection and interpretation of our music speak to what we try to accomplish with every album release. We also see many fans using our music for their artistic expression. It is hugely gratifying to know that we inspire so many people in such diverse ways.

Music Videos

Our music videos are a collaboration of some incredible talent from around the world. These artists, producers, and directors help us give a powerful visual element to our Post Rock soundscapes. Each music video brings to life the concepts we deal with in our music such as isolation, desolation, fear and death. Some of the videos are film vignettes, and others are entirely animated, and while they all tell a unique story, they all have an underlying connection to the larger concepts that we explore in all of our albums

official site
facebook
bandcamp
buy
0 Engineers

Recommendation: Thot - Fleuve


Band: Thot
Album: Fleuve
Label: Weyrd Son Records
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Icauna
02. Odra
03. Vltava
04. Rhone
05. Rhein
06. Duna
07. Volga
08. Samara
09. Bosphore
10. Now's The Only Time I Know (Fever Ray Cover - Bonus track)
Streaming / Buy

“The river that everything drags is known as violent, but nobody calls violent the margins that arrest her.”

This quote from Bertolt Brecht is the best way to portray "Fleuve", the devastating new album of belgian outfit Thot. After a decade of challenging its music across several albums, EPs, videos, alternative versions, remixes and european tours, the gang lead by Grégoire Fray is going to bring a breath of fresh air in the industrial-rock and post-rock genres. Produced by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna) and engineered in live circumstances, "Fleuve" features 9 songs built around a powerful drums/bass/guitar trio, on which passionate vocals, heavy synths, clarinet laments and bulgarian choirs melt together perfectly. Thereby, "Fleuve" is a luminous ode to the european continent and its cultural history, to nature’s immuable inspiration, to women and transcendance.

official site
facebook
twitter
instagram
bandcamp
buy
0 Engineers

Video: Echotide - Her Back To The Sun

Friday, October 20, 2017 0 Engineers

Recommendation: Amenra - Mass VI


Band: Amenra
Album: Mass VI
Label: Neurot Recordings, Consouling Sounds
Year: 2017







Tracklist
01. Children Of The Eye
02. Edelkroone
03. Plus Près De Toi
04. Spijt
05. A Solitary Reign
06. Diaken
Streaming / Buy

Amenra was formed in 1999 in the West Flanders city of Kortrijk. The band was founded by vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout and lead guitarist Mathieu Vandekerckhove. The two had been in the hardcore punk band Spineless and wanted to create music with more "heart and soul".The group released their debut studio album Mass I in 2003. Van Eeckhout suggested in 2017 that each Mass is created out of necessity to reflect on a certain experience or phase in the band members' lives and thus they never know which album will be their last. He also described 2005's Mass III as a "keystone moment of [Amenra's] existence" at which they "found direction". The band's next "turning point" came when they joined Neurot Records along side Consouling Sounds to release Mass VI. The label was founded by Neurosis; a band that has been influential in Amenra's style and career.

official site
facebook
twitter
bandcamp
soundcloud
buy EU | USA
0 Engineers

Recommendation: To Destroy A City - Go Mirage


Band: To Destroy A City
Album: Go Mirage
Label: n5md
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. Final Kiss
02. Never To Return
03. Beholder
04. Glance
05. Wavelength
06. She Knows
07. Go Mirage
08. Don't Be Afraid
09. Vanishing Point
Streaming / Buy

"Go Mirage" is the 3rd full-length album from Chicago cinematic-rock trio To Destroy A City. This follow-up to 2014's post-rock paragon "Sunless" has an added immediacy due to the soaring nature of guitarist Michael Marshall's step toward the mic. Yes... There are vocals! Post-rock for the most part, has mainly utilized vocals as a texture or afterthought. Yet, To Destroy A City have adeptly included vocals into their cinematic tapestries with ease, and in the process added another layer of melody, modesty, and a surprising sense of hope to their already affecting guitar-driven compositions. There is an air of instant gratification with "Go Mirage". It seems to push you forward to the next horizon, much as its title might suggest. Idealists might bark that To Destroy A City can't continue to fly the post-rock flag with such a vocalic album. The enlightened will find that the addition of vocals places the band as contemporaries to artists such as Caspian, Mogwai, and Album Leaf which have effectively used vocals as key components in their music.

facebook
twitter
bandcamp
soundcloud
buy
Thursday, October 19, 2017 0 Engineers

Album: Barren Plains - Adrift


Band: Barren Plains
Album: Adrift
Label: Self Released
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. I
02. II
03. III
04. IV
Download

Barren Plains is an instrumental post-metal band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

facebook
bandcamp
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 0 Engineers

The Inquisition: 091.GlerAkur

1. How did you came up with the name of the band?

In 2008 I unexpectedly had the whole month of December off from work. The darkness and cold really leaves you no options but to find something fun to do at home. I decided to record a piece of music which was my Christmas present to everyone. I just sat down and started multitracking. The result was some sort of a Mike Oldfield/Philip Glass mashup. My girlfriend called the track GlerAkur because “Gler” means glass and “akur” means field. Simple as that. 7 years later when Prophecy offered me a contract this felt like the right name for the project.

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it?

I guess it’s all of the above and more. Pretty much anything can inspire a song. When working in sound design you start listening to the world around you with much more depth. You’d be surprised how many harmonies there are around us all the time. A distant traffic jam mixing with crashing waves and seagulls, echoing against a harbor wall. That's music.

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home?

Oh, I can’t start naming musicians or bands, the list would be too long. Music is my passion and I can honestly say that I listen to all types of music. There is not a genre out there I don’t like. There are of course artists I don’t enjoy, don’t get me wrong. As an artist I think it’s important to explore your influences and role models. When it comes to writing and arranging music I’m not afraid to try and replicate a sound or to replicate a creative method developed by an artist I love. This is a way of exploring and honoring your influences. To me that adds depth to your art and subsequently to the whole realm of my existence. I have been doing that for a long time and have hopefully found a method of my own.

4. Which is the one album you can't live without?

There are two albums I listen to from start to finish at least once a year. Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield and Gothic by Paradise Lost.

5. What's the first record you've ever bought?

“Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” by Iron Maiden. It’s an epic masterpiece.

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?

I think the act of touring is a fragile thing. It involves artists who are trying to promote their art, but at the same time it is tiresome and hard work. It is more important what kind of people you travel with, than what kind of music they play. Genuinely nice people that play decent rock would be the best combination for me.

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to?

The internet, definitely. Honestly I’m surprised every time I see a review from blogs, magazines and zines from all over the world. This is our reality right now. If you have an online presence, you have a global presence. It’s exciting and chilling at the same time.  If I had to name one country in particular I would say Italy. The response from there has been extremely positive and I have no idea why.

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify?

I support the idea of people paying for music and it seems the only way to get even the smallest amount is to cater to the spoiled public. Bands are still generating some revenue through touring but the costs of tours leaves little behind these days. Just enough to get by, to stay fed and clothed until you go on the road again. In my case I’m not planing to make money from touring. My financial goal is to break even when I travel with my music. I make a living by producing and making music like a plumber or an electrician. It’s a trade, and I get payed by the hour. The music I write that does not end up in plays or scores anywhere else I use for my own and release under my own name, in my other band projects or as GlerAkur. It’s pretty bleak actually when I put it like that, but at least I’m making a living as an artist and I celebrate that fact every day.

9. Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?

I will probably be scavenging for food in a post-nuclear wasteland somewhere in Africa. That is if I make it out of Europe during the firestorm. Until that happens I’ll be writing and/or producing music for stage, plays and movies.

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era?

Sure. There is always going to be logos and some sort of designed imagery for artists. Perhaps the classic “album-cover artwork” will become a thing of the past, or at least less important since physical copies are slowly disappearing.

11. What is you favorite album cover?

“Into the Pandemonium” by Celtic Frost. It’s horrifying. The whole gatefold sends chills through my spine.

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format?

I think it’s a nostalgia thing with a certain generation. At this time this generation has money and is willing to spend it on music, but I guess we'll find out soon enough if it will survive. Rock music is slowly being pushed to edge of the industry and in some ways it’s turning into a novelty act. It’s gonna bounce back though but whether it will save the vinyl from extinction depends on the next generation of novelty rockers. I definitely enjoy the vinyl format because it kind of forces you to listen to whole albums, and that holds on to the ritualistic aspect of the musical experience. For digital formats I stream, mostly on YouTube, occasionally Spotify, but there is something about Spotify that bugs me. I don’t like to be fed options and recommendations through an algorithm. That sort of thing undermines the illusion of free will and it’s not a good feeling.

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band?

15 years ago I was a member of a cover band. We did weddings and other events and we usually treated our customers with accepting requests beforehand. If you sent us a list of songs within a certain timeframe we would learn the songs requested and usually everyone was happy with the result. This was easy money, most of the time. One night we’d been asked to do a lot of old time schlagers and pretty mainstream pop songs but there was this one girl at the company that booked us constantly complaining about the lack of rock music in our program. We decided to throw in one special request from her and we started playing Rock And Roll by Led Zeppelin. Immediately the people on the dancefloor disappeared, they all ran for cover, most of them holding their ears. Except for the girl whom we were playing the song for, and this old guy, and he was furious. We just focused on the girl though and she was having a blast. The guy came up on stage a few times screaming some unpleasantries but we always managed to push him off with our instruments as weapons. This made him even angrier. Then, during the solo, and I was nailing it, I saw him coming towards the stage again, the girl was headbanging and we were tight as hell. I was doing a one hand solo with my right hand throwing the devil's horns at the girl. Next thing I knew I was covered in beer. The old guy had gone to the bar, bought a large beer and he just ran back to the stage and threw it at me. Our drummer stopped playing and screamed into the snare mic: “THANK YOU GOOD NIGHT!” We left, the guy wanted to kick our asses and his friends had to hold him back. He was obviously wasted. The next day I took my guitar to a luthier to have it cleaned. I billed the old guy for the cleaning. The luthier charged the guy to much for the cleaning and we split the difference between our selves. I probably spent it on beer. It so happened that the gig took place at the basement bar of The National Theatre in Iceland, the very same place we recorded “The Mountains Are Beautiful Now”.

More info:
facebook
twitter
bandcamp

Also check

 
;