2010

The post-engineering crew wishes to everyone and their families Happy New year and 2010 to be far better from 2009. Go eat and drink now!

Album: Triple Smash - When The Light Goes Off (EP)

Band: Triple Smash

Album: When The Light Goes Off

Label: Self-released

Year: 2009

Tracklist

01.Untitled 2

02.Intro

03.Three Bands

04.Untitled 1

Download

Triple Smash are an instrumental rock band, formed about a year ago after Li Xin (Guitar), who had just left the Mushrooms, met up with Jiang Ruo-ho (Bass) and decided to work together, very soon joined by Dan Cao (Drums). Their common interests and musical tastes, led to the formation of the band and they have started to generate a strong following, with an EP released on October 2009.

Having played extensively as a backing band to Chung Chi, Triple Smash are striking out on their own. They manage to avoid the pitfall many instrumental bands find themselves falling in to, of creating instrumentation which end up leading nowhere, they keep a tight reign on their material. Their influences of bands are not reflected heavily in their music, which has strong melody, creatively balancing the three musicians skills.

MySpace

Album: I Hear Sirens - Beyond The Sea, Beneath The Sky

Band: I Hear Sirens

Album: Beyond The Sea, Beneath The Sky

Label: Self Released

Year: 2009

Tracklist
01. O Failing Vessel, Brave The Violent Sea
02. Pale Moon, Guide Us Ashore
03. Drowning City Skyline
04. From The Clocktower
05. The March
06. Deception Has A Way With Words
07. The Faint Reflection Of Stars
08. Breath On Glass

Download

I Hear Sirens is an instrumental post-rock band from Salt Lake City, Utah. The band was formed in the Fall of 2005 by Daved Harris (guitar) and David Qualls (drums). I Hear Sirens were in the studio in September 2009 to record the new album. The album was released in December 15th 2009!

Official Site
Myspace
Buy

Album: Eno - Must Correspond In Pattern (EP)

Band: Eno

Album: Must Correspond In Pattern (EP)

Label: Synalgie Records

Year: 2009

Tracklist

01. Intro

02. Archaic Pattern

03. Evolve, Unfold

04. Outro

Download

Eno is a swiss two-man-band with some loop stations, an intuitive sense for melancholic melodies and an meticulous timing. They create landscapes of sounds that have depth and beauty and which are dificult to escape.

Their music can be namend in the same sentence with the big ones of the genre like Mono, Gregor Samsa, Mogwai. The songs are based on live loopings, all overdubs are recorded live andput on the record. eno have played more than 50 concerts in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and France in the last three years.

Must Correspond In Pattern is the band's second album, after last year's Stea/Alto.

MySpace

Buy

Album: Nice Wings, Icarus! - S/t

Band: Nice Wings, Icarus!

Album: S/t

Label: Self-released

Year: 2009

Tracklist
01. Morning Glory
02. Those, Who Built The Pyramids
03. I’ve Not Seen Any Angels, Just Emptiness
04. Birth
05. Across The Seas
06. Journey Back Home
07. Eagle
Download

Nice Wings Icarus! is a five-piece Ukranian band formed in February 2008 in Kiev. They combine heavy guitar riffs with melodic violin play. After some changes in the band line-up Nice Wings Icarus! recorded their first two-track demo in December 2008. One year later, they released their first, full length self-titled album.

Official Site (in Ukranian)
MySpace
For buy infos please contact the band.

Album: Locomotora - Locomotora

Band: Locomotora
Album: Locomotora
Label: Sordo Recordings
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Shopping Music For Bloody Wallets
02. Anarchophobia
03. Teignmouth Electron
04. Minipax
05. Older Than Dreams
Download

Locomotora’s self titled debut album contains one hour of instrumental music filled with multi-layered melodies. The five-track album is engrossing, dark, at times minimal, occasionally noisy, building up delicately from vast silence to a stormy wall of sound.

Myspace

Album: Year Of No LIght & Machu Picchu Mother Future - Split

Band: Year Of No Light
Machu Picchu Mother Future
Album: Split
Label: Music Fear Satan
Year: 2009






Tracklist

01. Year Of No Light With Fear Falls Burning - The Golden Horn Of The Moon (Studio Version)
02. Year Of No Light With Nadja - Les Mains De Nadja
03. Machu Picchu Mother Future - Space Mountain Forever

Download

Year Of No Light

Yet one more band started after too many Belgian beers under the sun of the ending summer of 2001, Year of No Light slightly but undoubtly started to slide down to gloomier atmospheres as the inherent chaos of Bordeaux’s caves and harshness of winter made their common work.

Official Site
Myspace

Fear Falls Burning

With all the power, noise, aggression and subtlety that comes from a single man performing real-time on the electric guitar through a maze of pedal effects, notes and chords shifting and multiplying over time into dense and trance-inducing walls of sound. Fear Falls Burning (also known as Vidna Obmana) succeeds in uncovering a new language that stretches time and brings the listener to the edge multiple times, entrancing with the repetitive yet pure sonic presence of the electric guitar.

Official Site
Myspace

Nadja

Nadja is a Canadian duo featuring multi-instrumentalist Aidan Baker and bassist/vocalist Leah Buckareff. Originally formed in 2003 in Toronto, Canada as a Baker solo project, Buckareff joined in 2005 to bring the project out of the studio and into live settings. The now-duo creates music that has been variously called ambient doom, drone metal.

Official Site
Myspace

Machu Picchu Mother Future

While on an east coast tour in November of 2007, Conifer and Lesbian drove to Richmond, Virginia arriving at 5a.m. and ended up crashing at the Sound Of Music recording studio for two nights. There to play a show with Souvenir’s Young America at the Nara Sushi, all three bands (11 members total in one live room) entered the studio on very little sleep and recorded roughly two hours of improvised music… very loosely structured and minds somewhat altered… These sessions birthed what will be known as “Space Mountain Forever.”

Myspace

Buy the vinyl here.

Album: The American Dollar / Arms And Sleepers - From The Inland Sea EP

Band: The American Dollar
Arms And Sleepers
Album: From The Inland Sea EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009




Tracklist
The American Dollar
01. Landing
02. Schipol
03. Where We Are

Arms & Sleepers
04. The Catcher Elsewhere
05. Van Buren
06. The Inland Sea
Download

The American Dollar

Using drums, keyboards, guitars, and various other percussion instruments, John Emanuele and Rich Cupolo weave richly textured melodies in between cascades of drums, synths, and sparse organ notes, creating a sound that puts them on par with bands like The Album Leaf or Explosions in the Sky. Whether a track contains a lush, ambient-interlude feel or a sweeping explosion of chords, emotion runs high on this disc.

Myspace

Arms And Sleepers

Arms and Sleepers are a duo of comprised of Max Lewis (Boston, MA) and Mirza Ramic (Portland, ME). Formed in 2006, they have produced multiple albums, EPs and hand-made releases, most notably the Bliss Was It In That Dawn To Be Alive EP (Fake Chapter, 2006) and the well-received Black Paris 86 (Expect Candy, 2008). Following an intense touring schedule in 2008 and 2009 that included appearances in the UK, Europe, and North America and saw the band opening for the likes of Asobi Seksu, The Books, Her Space Holiday, Cass McCombs, Lymbyc Systym, This Will Destroy You and Caspian, Max and Mirza took a break to focus on a new proper full-length in the summer of 2009

Myspace

You can buy this split here or here.

Album: Loss Of A Child - Carry Me Home

Band: Loss Of A Child
Album: Carry Me Home
Label: Archive.org
Year: 2009






Tracklist
01. Dream
02. Black Snow
03. Saturday Night Star
04. Float Down Amongst Us
05. Trains
06. Beauty Is Truth, Youth Beauty
07. Destiny
08. Are You Watching Closely?
09. All The While
10. Mike Waters
11. Death
Download from Archive.org / Torrent

"Carry Me Home" is the 5th Loss of a Child release and is their most expansive yet, a deeply layered album with flowing and interwoven melodies; contrasting instruments supporting, offsetting, and harmonizing with each other and mixed for each to be heard though not necessarily under every listening environment, and certainly not on first listen; experimental through its strict structure and detailed song writing as opposed to the freedom and improvisation of many instrumental acts.

Complex instrumentation hidden beneath simple ideas, dynamism created within the melodies in addition to volume, and the standard multi-instrumental Loss of a Child approach providing many hidden melodic passages requiring repeat listening to find and understand, but each proving that the obvious is not necessarily the best when it comes to musical depth.

Official Site
Myspace

Tracks: Rosetta, Moving Mountains & There Will Be Fireworks

There are three tracks stuck in my head the last few weeks and I can't stop listen to them. These tracks are not in any release yet, so I will post them separately.

Rosetta - Untitled (Demo)
This is a new track recorded by Rosetta, hopefully for some of their new releases.
Download

Moving Mountains - Lights And Shapes (RAC Maury Mix)
This is a remix of the track "Light And Shapes" for the LP release of the "Foreword" EP
Download

There Will Be Fireworks - In Excelsis Deo
A Christmas song recorded by There Will Be Fireworks
Download

I hope you're going to like these songs as much as I did. Enjoy!

Album: East Of The Wall, Year Of No Light & Rosetta - Split

Band: East Of The Wall
Year Of No Light
Rosetta
Album: Split
Label: Translation Loss Records
Year: 2009




Tracklist
East Of The Wall
01. Scumbrella (Mud Button)
02. Scumbrella (Silt)
03. Scumbrella (DirtMerchant)

Year Of No Light
04. Cimmeria
05. Metanoia

Rosetta
06. Homesick (Cure Cover)
Download

East Of The Wall

Born from the dissolution of the Postman Syndrome, East of the Wall formed as Brett Bamberger (bass, Biclops/ex-Day without Dawn/ex-Postman Syndrome) and Mike Somers (drums, ex-Postman Syndrome) joining forces with guitarist Jeff Speidell (Delft). The self-titled EP that followed was noteworthy for its duplicitous nature, straddling the line between an engulfing ambience and crushing force. Shortly after the release of the EP, the band added guitarist Matt Lupo (ex-Postman Syndrome) to its ranks and began working on the material that would eventually become its latest release, Farmer’s Almanac. In the spring of 2007, Speidell left the band to pursue other musical interests and was replaced by Kevin Conway (Biclops).

Official Site
Myspace

Year Of No Light

Yet one more band started after too many Belgian beers under the sun of the ending summer of 2001, Year of No Light slightly but undoubtedly started to slide down to gloomier atmospheres as the inherent chaos of Bordeaux’s caves and harshness of winter made their common work.

As the line-up solidified around the 5 actual members escaped from acts such as Metronome Charisma, Deja Mort and Nexus Sun, the band clarified their intentions and started to build the basis of what would be their first demo recorded in 2004. More and more shows were played with bands such as Isis, Cult of Luna, High on Fire or Unsane.

The rather general critical acclaim of the demo quoting them as being “The Cure playing sludge” combined with live reviews becoming more and more encouraging compelled the band into the writing of new tracks that finally ended up being recorded at Playrec studio under the direction of Serge Morratel in the fall of 2005. The debut “Nord” has been released in 2006.

Official Site
Myspace

Rosetta

Philadelphia quartet Rosetta push the boundaries between metal, progressive, post-rock, space rock, and hardcore, providing an experimental songwriting technique filled with chaos and atmospherics. A band whose sounds range from Pink Floydian / progressive rock sonic layering to walls of pure static ambience to crushing, sweeping sludgey riffage. Their first album (The Galilean Satellites) was an especially ambitious project: the goal was to record two albums of equal length (one a metal album, the other a noise/ambient/drone album), each of which could stand on its own two feet, but together would create a richer, more rewarding experience. The band recorded the album in quadrophonic sound which lends itself well to the bands unique experiments in noise, sampling, feedback and power. The sheer amount of aural input means every listen becomes a new experience, allowing you to pick up on more and more layers within the sounds.

Their next album (Wake/Lift) was a bit more restrained but for this reason, really allows the band’s cohesion to solidify and prove themselves worthy of the (mainstream of the) artsier metal world.

Official Site
Myspace

You can buy the three-way split here.

Video: Ólafur Arnalds

Ólafur Arnalds - 3055



Ólafur Arnalds - Ljósið

Album: Upcdowncleftcrightcabc+start - Firewolf

Band: Upcdownc leftcrightcabc+start
Album: Firewolf
Label: Self-released
Year: 2009





Tracklist
01. The Tavern
02. Black Lodge
03. Smiling Bag
04. Agent Cooper
05. Def Zeppelin
06. Dad Rock
07. Firewolf
08. Grandead
Download

Upcdownc ... are an instrumental Rock, Delay, Riff, Kick and Moog 4-piece from Medway, Kent who also indulge in a bit of singing and screeeeaaaming.

Upcdownc have progressed.They have taken their ideas from the previous album and given them an injection of steroids, highlighting the influence of rock music and making it hard to ignore the heavier sound they are creating... An outstanding creation and prove that plenty of emotion can be released in a short span of time. Firewolf is an album that offers something different. - the Sillent Ballet


Dad Rock


Black Lodge


Official Site
Myspace
Buy

Album: Amenra - Afterlife

Band: Amenra
Album: Afterlife
Label: Self-released
Year: 2009





Tracklist
01. The Dying Of Light
02. Wear My Crown
03. To Go On.: And Live With. Out.
04. :.No Og Ot .Htiw Evil Dna .Tuo
05. Nworc Ym Raew
06. Thgil Fo Gniyd Eht
Download

Afterlife is an EP, in which, Amenra, are experimenting with acoustic guitars, clean voices and ambient sounds.

Official Site
Myspace
Buy

Album: Képzelt Város - Mit Nekem

Band: Képzelt Város
Album: Mit Nekem
Label: Self-released
Year: 2009








Tracklist
01. Sol
02. D2
03. Papírhajó
04. Zuhanó
05. Sergei6
06. White Noise
07. Hercules
Download

Képzelt Város is a hungarian alternative, experimental, indie, post-rock band, which formed in Budapest in 2005 by four architects. Current members: Gyöngyi Barta, Gergely Oláh, Márton Miskolczi, Szabolcs Kóródi, Máté Győrffy, Dávid Galbicsek. Mit Nekem is the band's first full release. Last year Képzelt Város had released an ep called Csend Utca.

Official Site
MySpace
Last.fm

Compilation: Neurosounds Vol.II: Clouds From The Earth

Neurosounds Vol.II: Cloudss From The Earth is the second online compilation about the italian post scene made by neuroprison.blogspot.com.

CD A:
01. The Orange Man Theory “On The Dartboard” (3:36)
02. Incoming Cerebral Overdrive “Magic” (6:32)
03. Bleed Someone Dry “Subject” (3:59)
04. Beyond The Storm “Dark Sun Dawn” (4:39)
05. Inferno “The Year Of The Dingo” (3:07)
06. Slaiver “Lover Tell Me It’s Over” (4:34)
07. Vibratacore “Behind This Rapture” (4:38)
08. Cubre “Half Man” (4:07)
09. Psychofagist “Nouvelle De Spasticitè & èpilepsie” (3:15)
10.Tears|Before “Thousand Dog Days” (3:32)
11. Hungry Like Rakovitz “Why?” (1:00)
12. Slowdown “People’s Widespread Grief” (2:27)
13. Bleeding Eyes “33 Papers Left” (2:41)
14. Stalker “Pollyanna” (7:16)
15. Last Minute To Jaffna “Chapter X” (12:07)
16. Amia Venera Landscape “Nicholas” (8:45)
17. A Cold Dead Body “Loss” (3:03)
Download

CD B:
01. Three Steps To The Ocean “Remember Lynne Cox” (8:57)
02. One Starving Day “An Evil Light” (7:10)
03. Marnero “Trebisonda” (6:59)
04. Lucertulas “Roulette” (1:50)
05. Putiferio “Aristocatastrophism” (2:08)
06. Lleroy “Debbie Suicide” (3:02)
07. Donkey Breeder “Five Quarter Collapse” (5:16)
08. L’Alba di Morrigan “Snowstorm” (4:28)
09. Zippo “Ask Yourself A Question” (5:31)
10. At The Soundawn “Slight Variations” (4:46)
11. Mondrian Oak “Monolith” (5:29)
12. Dyskinesia “Dalla Nascita” (7:10)
13. Up There: The Clouds “The Last Glimpse Of Hope In My Eyes" (6:00)
14. A New Silent Corporation “Wotgg” (9:50)
Download

Full artwork for the compilation here.

Once again thanx to Edvard from Neurosounds.
Special thanks to all the bands involved in this project and to all the relative record labels for giving their permission.

Check Neurosounds Vol.1: Stones From The Sky here.

Album: Satory - The Japanese Beast EP

Band: Satory
Album: The Japanese Beast EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009






Tracklist
01. The Heliums Edge
02. Dorsal Fin
03. The Japanese Beast
04. 786 (Part 1)
Download multiupload | bandcamp

Satory is a Japanese term for "enlightenment." The word literally means "understanding." Satory translates as a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment, and enlightenment can be simultaneously considered "the first step" or embarkation toward nirvana. Satory is considered to be a deeper spiritual experience. Satory is as well an intuitive experience and has been described as being similar to awakening one day with an additional pair of arms, and only later learning how to use them.
Satory is used to refer to a "deep" or lasting realization of the nature of existence. Satory does not actually happen to an individual, rather it is a realization out of all concepts including the individual.

Myspace
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Album: Mountains Among Us - True North

Band: Mountains Among Us
Album: True North
Label: A Clearer Sky
Year: 2009






Tracklist
01. Weight Of One
02. Polaris
03. Magnetic North
04. Dissonance
05. Maker
06. Celestial North (Reach)
07. True North (Event Horizon)
Download

Mountains Among Us (formerly From Oceans To Autumn) was formed in 2006. Featuring current and ex-members of Bled For Days, Equanimity and Beneath Shattered Skies. Previously releasing a full length "Calmed By The Tide" in 2007 and a split w/ Fire On The Horizon in mid 2008, Mountains Among Us will release their new full length do out in mid 2009 on A Clearer Sky Recrdings.

The long awaited 3rd release from sludge metal giants Mountains Among Us. Atmospheric, sludge metal at it's best! 8 tracks of celestial, atmospheric, majestic heaviness.

On "True North" Mountains Among Us showcases their unique ability to blend celestial atmospheres with doom laden sludge metal. 8 brand new songs in an album that peaks at almost 70 minutes! Heavy layered guitars over a washed out seabed of distorted guitar tones alongside pounding drums and thick bass.

Myspace
Order

Album: Jodis - Secret House

Band: Jodis
Album: Secret House
Label: Hydrahead
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Ascent
02. Continents
03. Secret House
04. Follow The Dogs
05. Little Beast
06. Waning
07. Slivers
Download

Jodis, an entirely new outfit involving James Plotkin, Aaron Turner and Tim Wyskida, is a modern exploration of restrained sonic minimalism and tonal/textural density.
What might you expect from a band made up of two parts Khanate, and one part Isis / Grey Machine / House Of Low Culture? Probably nothing as pretty and haunting as this. That's right, we said pretty. We were definitely expecting some crushing slo-mo heaviness, figured if that much of Khanate was involved it would have to be screechy and torturous.
And while Jodis is doomy, it's also moody, and atmospheric, slow and spare, spacious and strangely lovely. Occasionally the guitars rev up and get way louder, and it sounds like the band might explode into some sort of bellowing dirge, but instead, they sprawl into an ominous creep, the guitars shimmery, the notes spaced way out, as much about the decay and overtones as the initial note or the overall melody. The vocals are weary and washed out, reverbed and down in the mix. If anything this reminds us of some classic slowcore, maybe Codeine or Seam, albeit a little more abstract, a little less indie rock, but the same sort of moody drift, the same kind of minimal melody, emotional and dark and haunting and dreamlike.
Surprisingly, the drums are super restrained, in fact, the first few tracks sound almost drumless, minus a few cymbal shimmers, some flares and accents here and there. On "Secret House" the drums are active, flurries of fills all over the kit, but not for bombast, again for texture, almost like playing chords on the drums, there are some harsh vox on "Secret House", and they almost sound out of place, disrupting the strange slow tranquility. But once we move on to the next track, we're back to that gauzy melodic drift, the drums again super skeletal, the guitar drifting in the ether, the vocals choral, almost monk-like, super meditative and ethereal.
And the rest of the record plays out in a similar fashion, long drawn out slow burning epics writ small, the three exploring the space around the notes, finishing off with the gorgeous 9 minute "Slivers", the guitar unfurling a fuzzy blurry drone, the drums more active, a bit tribal, but still muted, and the vocals a falsetto off in the distance, the track, heaving and pulsing and shimmering, before slipping into a more abstract drone and then blinking out.
Some seriously gorgeous stuff, a surprise new favorite for sure, getting lots of play late at night, lights turned low, consciousness at rest, on the cusp of some other plane...

Official Site
Buy

Album: Adolf Plays The Jazz - Dirty Waters

Band: Adolf Plays The Jazz
Album: Dirty Water
Label: InTakt
Year: 2009






Tracklist
01. Dirty Water
02. Ad Funk
03. False Trail
04. Matter Of Fact
05. Mos[cow]
06. Black Flags
07. Lush
08. Ungdomshuset
09. No Return
10. Trap
11. Drive
Download

Adolf Plays the Jazz is a Greek post rock band formed in Athens in the year of 2002. They started creating music for soundtracks of films their friends made. All their music can be downloaded for free from their homepage. Their musics aim is to combine the art rock of the 70's (head music) with todays post rock feeling (heart music) through a punk//do it yourself//lo-fi - attitude.

Myspace

Video: Goddamn Electric Bill - Ten Thousand Years

Goddamn Electric Bill - Ten Thousand Years from Goddamn Electric Bill on Vimeo.

Album: Álfheimr - These Songs We Sing Will Fade To Silence

Band: Álfheimr
Album: These Songs We Sing Will Fade To Silence
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009








Tracklist
01. Wasted Time, Part One- The Moon Says 'I Love You'
02. Each Day We Pass is Borrowed Time
03. It Shouldn't Have Mattered
04. The Remnants of Our Shattered Lives Collide Like Glass on Glass
05. Hypnos & Thanatos (Breathing In, Breathing Out)
06. The Slow Approach to Midnight
07. Asleep and Falling There; Dead and Dying
08. Wasted Time, Part Two- You Will Look Back On Every Second You Have Wasted. You Will Never Be Prepared to Face This
Download

"I'm Madison from Álfheimr, and this is where I put my music.

The name of this project is explained simply enough. I wanted a name that came from mythology; if I had made a power metal band it would have been called Valhalla, because that's totally badass. But it's not metal, it's softer and calmer. Heaven was kind of lame, I think, and so it's Álfheimr.

At the expense of sounding like a loser, I wanted to do something a little different from normal post-rock. I wanted a different sound, and different themes; I've made explicitly sure to not mention the ocean or snow in any of my song titles thus far.

And now the first album is done. It's called "These Songs We Sing Shall Fade to Silence", and I'm quite happy with it. I just hope you all like it too :) Details about the next album coming soon..." -myspace

Myspace
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Album: Carambolage - CRBLG EP

Band: Carambolage
Album: CRBLG EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. C'est La Vie // Loving Hell
02. 6x9mm Sind Schneller Als Du
Download

Carambolage is a new band from Germany& Belgium - Aachen, Siegen, Kettenis, Liège. Started in February 2008. Carambolage consits of ex-members of Nago-Tiger In The Woods-Engine-Straight From The Shoulder-Lavalanche-Wallace-Jernigan. They do some kind of melodic doom. At march 2009 they did a recording session in Oldenburg at "die Tonmeisterei".

Official Site
Myspace
Buy

Album: Glaciers - And The Sea Won The Battle

Band: Glaciers
Album: And The Sea Won The Battle
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009






Tracklist
01. Southern Passage
02. Blood For The King
03. Give My Regards To Hope And Prosperity
04. Latitudes
05. Twelve Miles Of Fiction
06. Providence
Download

And The Sea Won The Battle, Glaciers 6 song debut LP, born out of several 1am Wednesday night sessions across a cold foggy bay, this record represents nearly two years of writing and creativity. This record has been released on 29/09/09.

Official Site
Myspace
Buy

Album: Monkey3 - Undercover

Band: Monkey3
Album: Undercover
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Numb
02. Watching You (feat. John Garcia)
03. One of These Days
04. Kashmir (feat. Tony Jelencovich)
05. Burn
06. Once Upon a Time In the West
Download

Monkey3 release a rare and unique jewel for their fans; "Undercover" is a mini album loaded with covers from Archive, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.

3 tracks are instrumentals and, for the first time, Monkey3 goes...vocal ! The band shares two songs with two awesome singers: the Legend himself, John Garcia (Kyuss, Hermano) and Tony Jelencovich (Transport League, M.A.N.) !

Official Site
Myspace
Buy

Video: Isis - 20 Minutes/ 40 Years

Album: Magdalene - Magdalene

Band: Magdalene
Album: Magdalene
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Elegia
02. Twain
03. Coup De Foudre, Coup De Hache
04. Giochi Attimi Ricordi Macerie
Download

Magdalene are a band from Italy who incorporate elements of epic post-rock and ferocious screamo into their sound. They have released one self-titled 4 track EP and a two track demo.

Album: Three Steps To The Ocean - Until Today Becomes Yesterday

Band: Three Steps To The Ocean
Album: Until Today Becomes Yesterday
Label: Frohike Records
Year: 2009



Tracklist
1. 31st December 1844
2. It's a day, maybe more, since I saw you
3. Diomede
4. Remember Lynne Cox
5. It's a minute, maybe more, since I could see
6. Il Quinto Giorno
Download

Three Steps to the Ocean is an Italian instrumental outfit. Like their counterparts in Vanessa Van Basten, Three Steps to the Ocean dabbles in the world of post-rock. The project was born in January 2006 in Italy,
A four-piece assembled a mixture of post-rock and instrumental metal. Influenced by Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, ISIS, Pelican. Moulding their musical intentions, results of their expression and experiences.


MySpace
Order

Album: Eaststrikewest - Wolvves

Band: Eaststrikewest
Album: Wolvves
Label: Thirty Days Of Night Records
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. God Can't Take His Eyes Off Me
02. Stumble
03. Welcoming The Ghosts
04. Chu!
05. The Architect
06. Every Whisper And Word Said
07. Electricity
08. From Here You Can See Everything
Download

If anyone knows of or remembers bands such as Rosa or Threemovements then welcome to the latest incarnation from those bands in Eaststrikewest who come equipped with their debut 'mini album' in their words. (To me 5 tracks is an EP, any more is an album hence the album billing at the top) In recent weeks Eaststrikewest have managed to garner praise from people such as Zane Lowe for their shoegazing, progressive crossover style and I have to say I'm going to agree with him in this instance.

"Wolvves" kicks off with 'God Can't Take His Eyes Off Me,' an instrumental that is very similar to work I have heard from Russian Circles, Pelican and Explosions From The Sky (which I gather are influences of the band also), granted I didn't expect an instrumental opener either, normally the music I get jumps in and kicks into 88 mph (same as a time traveling Delorean) without stopping so it felt like a welcome, yet suspenseful change.

For 'Stumble' and 'Welcoming The Ghosts' we get a true insight into Eaststrikewest as the haunting vocals (which to me combine the sounds of Thom Yorke [Radiohead] with the messages sent by the vocals of Yourcodenameis:Milo) kick in along with the foot stomping drums and guitar. This all nicely kicks off the anthemic style songs that follow and that Eaststrikewest are very capable of poducing. We then again get a small interlude in 'Chu!' which to me could have been left off I'm afraid, it just didn't click.

The rest of the album show more of the anthemic rock that I feel could get them high slots with bands such as Editors in the next year. 'Electricity' was the greatest of the three as it mixes the progressive structure along with the epicness that is usually always brought on by strings.

Bands like Eaststrikewest seem to have been hiding recently and hopefully this "mini" album and the praise it surely deserves will bring in an era of music not seen since the days of Hell Is For Heroes as well as underrated bands such as Brigade.

A band well worth listening to if you like epic songs.
-Altsounds.com

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*Previous posts here and here

Video: Moving Mountains - Lights And Shapes

Album: Bye Horus - Locomotive-Histoire Marine

Band: Bye Horus
Album: Locomotive-Histoire Marine
Label:  Self Released
Year: 2008









Tracklist
01. Océan
02. Mous­saillons [nous étions]
03. Ban­quise
04. FL 86400s 1,62m M
05. Lo­co­mo­tive
06. Océan, Bois Dense, Hiver
07. Ber­mudes
08. Coma D'une Vague
09. L'exil
10. Le Phare
11. Re­ve­nir en Gare
12. Océan (Prin­Temps)
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Bye Horus is a young Post-Rock trio from the French Northern Alps. Formed in 2006 by 3 college fellows, the band definitely found its own sound at the crossroad of instrumental Rock and imaginary poetry. Bye Horus writes melodic and expressive soundscapes. Highly human and personnal, its music sometimes includes French lyrics.

Highly human and personnal, its music, inspired by Mogwaï and This Will Destroy You.

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Album: Planning For Burial - Leaving

Band: Planning For Burial
Album: Leaving
Year: 2009










Tracklist
01. Wearing Sadness and Regret Upon Our Faces
02. Memories You'll Never Feel Again
03. Oh Pennsylvania, Your Black Clouds Hang Low
04. Humming Quietly
05. We Left Our Bodies with the Earth
06. Being a Teenager and the Awkwardness of Backseat Sex
07. Seasons Change So Slowly
08. Verse/Chorus/Verse
09. Leaving
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Planning For Burial is influenced by nearly 2 decades of constant music consumption. The outcome at times contains elements of slowcore, shoegaze, doom, drone, 90s alt rock, 80s goth, black metal, though never being defined by any one of those genres.

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Album: Cylon - Resonanz

Band: Cylon
Album: Resonanz
Label: Dead Pilot Records
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. I
02. II
03. III
04. IV
05. V
06. VI
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Cylon is danish musician and net label co-founder Jannick Schou. I first heard his music through Ian who runs Heat Death, who sent me a copy of a demo Jannick had sent him. I was instantly in love with what I heard; 6 tracks of totally amazing subtle ambiance. I'm pretty lost for words when I think about this release, but I can say that it is totally ethereal and mesmerizing. I have lost my self in this album several times and each time I discovered new depths to it. It sounds like floating in clouds, it really does. Magical, elegant and uplifting; Jannick has created something really wonderful here and it gives me great pleasure to release it.

Limited to just 250 copies, packaged in a hand numbered and hand stamped 4 panel recycled card digipak with inserts. - Dead Pilot Records

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Album: Amia Venera Landscape - Self Titled EP

Band: Amia Venera Landscape
Album: S/T EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009






Tracklist
01. My Hands Will Burn First
02. Nicholas
03. Glances
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A sludgy post-hardcore from an Italian band. Brutal vocals rotate with clean and give to the atmosphere an alternative color.
Technical play of instruments, acceleration and high speed guitars. This EP is a great piece of the work about what this band can do.
Three well enough tracks with a heavy attitude, a hardcore sound and a technical approach. This is the first ever work of this band, but out of the blue is really well structured, great from the composition point of view and very good as a sound. No more to say, give it a try and enjoy their inspiration. Modern metal with alternative strokes of the brush. -noiz.wordpress.com

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Album: Shelving - Imhs

Band: Shelving
Album: Imhs
Label: Division Records
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. I
02. II
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Shelving is a band from Delémont, Jura (Switzerland) and their style is like Shora. So if you like Shora, you'll definitely love this one.

Dimitri | drums
Vincent | bass
Yan | guitars
Laurent | keyboards
Lorain | rhodes

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Album: Nic Bommarito - Taciturn

Band: Nic Bommarito
Album: Taciturn
Label: 12rec
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Once A Freak, Always A Freak
02. Taciturn II
03. Arvo Pärt
04. The Academic (Life & Afterlife)
05. Badly Asbestos-Covered
06. Taciturn I
07. Continental Drift
08. I Never Listen
Download from archive.org or the official site

Taciturn has been a long time in the making. Recording finished in late 2004 after nearly two years of recording in different locations. In 2007, it was released by 12rec with new artwork by iambored and a modified tracklist. You can purchase a copy of the album here, or if you'd rather make your own there are pdfs for both inside artwork and outside artwork. From the 12rec website :

"Nic Bommarito comes off like the all-American college boy. He's from a small city in the near distance to Detroit, Michigan. He studied philosophy in Ann Harbor and changed to Albuquerque, New Mexico to expand his Sanskrit-studies. This trip took him across 2/3 of the US, but the next relocation was even more thoroughgoing . In 2006, Nic moved to Lhasa in Tibet, Republic of China. Nic is the unresting type. Due to his studies, he runs several websites, draws small comic strips, releases philosophical prose and documents his travels via a nice photo-blog. What's interesting for you: Nic Bommarito is a talented musician, too. He got in contact with us in late 2006, and we spontaneously decided to release his Taciturn LP at 12rec.

The Taciturn LP fuses instrumental rock music with moments of alt. Country and epic indie pop, keeping an eye on melody and structure. Imagine a mixture of Canadian GY!BE, the Americana avant-garde of Chicago's Brokeback and the huge melodies of Italian post-rockers Giardini di Mirò. Nic might not be the perfect musician, but he knows how to build up a song. For example, Taciturn I lasts nearly 10 minutes but you won't regret any single second. There's a strong sense of yearning throughout the whole LP that invokes a lot of pictures. Badly Asbestos-Covered sounds like desert and sea at the same time, bringing together slide guitar and accordion. The heavy string-arrangement for the final track I Never Listen is among the most touching I've ever heard."

*Take a listen to "Taciturn I". It's an amazing track , which make your heart get tight.

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Album: Finneyerkes - Bastard

Band: Finneyerkes
Album: Bastard
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009







Tracklist:
01. Cobain - (featuring Yawning)
02. Mountain Lion
03. Keely
04. Lins
05. Chicago
06. Lark
07. DisMIX
08. Honeymoon at the Holocaust Museum
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Read the words of Finneyerkes to the development of Bastard:

"This album was born when we were halfway through recording Without End. We had a few songs that we really liked and we didn't know what we were going to do with them. Those tracks were "Cobain featuring Yawning", "Lark", "Honeymoon at the Holocaust Museum" and "DisMIX featuring Cylon". we had no idea what we were going to do with them but we knew we didn't want to throw them away. none of them fit the style of Without End. we tried tacking a few of them on Without End but they stuck out like sore thumbs. we held onto them and when we were about 99 percent done, Randy said "why don't we just release 2 albums?" it sounded like a good enough idea. we weren't sure if anyone would want to hear 2 new full lengths from us but maybe a couple would. so we stalled a little longer and finished up some of the tracks we had kept locked away. we re-worked some parts and changed whole songs around and here we are. this is probably our most varied album. there are hints of classical, acoustic, electronic, a little bit of blues guitar playing, and a lot of spacey things going through the headphones. this is the album where words couldn't say what we were feeling. we became a better band and better friends trying to communicate by just playing. we're really proud of this album and we hope all of you enjoy it. thanks so much for listening. it means more than anything to us."

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Album: Jesu - Opiate Sun (EP)

Band: Jesu
Album: Opiate Sun (EP)
Label: Capo Verde Records
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Losing Streak
02. Opiate Sun
03. Deflated
04. Morning Light
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With bands like the Angelic Process, Alcest, and now Phil Elverum (aka Mount Eerie), a whole new world has opened up for heavy music, large in part because of Jesu mastermind Justin Broadrick’s tireless effort to not settle for the conventional sounds of metal. The effort has become to make this loud, abrasive music become melodic and sentimental—something Jesu’s latest track, “Deflated” is somewhat the pinnacle of. Its drop-tuned doom riffage is buried into a swarm of melodic guitar melodies and quite possibly one of the best vocal performances of Broadrick’s career. The track builds beautifully behind slightly atonal sustained chords into a stoner shoegaze haze while Broadrick chants, “You give me reason.” How’s that for hardcore.

Oddly enough, it somehow makes sense that Opiate Sun, the EP on which this track is contained, will be released on Caldo Verde Records, Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon songsmith Mark Kozelek’s imprint. Hands down, this is the heaviest thing Kozelek has ever released (and he is doing so after being duly impressed by a Jesu show in 2007), but he is no stranger to spastic guitar passages –- something he experimented with earlier in his career. Opiate Sun is due out October 27th...
-Popmatters

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Album: Aarktica - In Sea

Band: Aarktica
Album: In Sea
Label: Silber Records
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. I Am (The Ice)
02. Lyzm
03. Hollow Earth Theory
04. A Plague Of Frost (In The Guise Of Diamonds)
05. In Sea
06. Onward
07. Young Light
08. Autumnal
09. Corpse Reviver No. 2
10. Instill
11. When We're Ghosts
12. Am I Demon
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Aarktica was conceived in the winter of 1998 with Jon DeRosa’s permanent loss of hearing in one ear as a distraction from his other musical interests. As his hearing loss became less of a distraction and more of a new way of listening, Aarktica became a means to execute the soundtrack of the life in mono now thrust upon him. One of audio distortions, aural hallucinations and a reliance on painkillers. The first album No Solace in Sleep was recorded on a dying 4-track cassette recorder in various NYU dorm rooms and released on Silber Records in 2000.

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Album: Collapse Under The Empire - Crawling 7"

Band: Collapse Under The Empire
Album: Crawling (Single)
Label: Self Released
Year: 2009






Tracklist
01. Crawling
02. Captured Moments
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Collapse Under The Empire is an instrumental/post-rock band from Hamburg/Germany. They formed 2007 and released their debut album „Systembreakdown“ (2009) on their own.

Most of the songs are alternating between electro-bleeps and powerful guitar explosions; it’s both disturbing and seductive. As with Collapse Under The Empire’s debut EP „Paintball“ they’ve succeeded their specific post rock sound, combining epic guitars with chilled electronic elements and a portion melancholic mood.

In one year’s time they have self-released their debut LP “Systembreakdown”, it displays acute instrumental sensibility, using pianos and synths with guitar-battering crescendos. “Systembreakdown” may only be about 40 minutes long with no nine-minute epic, but it packs a lot of beauty and emotion.

Nevertheless Collapse Under The Empire stick to their own style and do not want to emerge as a knock-off. With their mixture of instrumental post-rock they are trying to make a cut above the uniform pulp and put their own stamp on it.

"Crawling" is their new single with two tracks of their forthcoming (Nov. 27th) album " Find A Place to Safe".

Official Site
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Album: Pelican - What We All Come To Need

Band: Pelican
Album: What We All Come To Need
Label: Southern Lord
Year: 2009






Tracklist
01. Glimmer
02. The Creeper
03. Ephemeral
04. Specks Of Light
05. Strung Up From The Sky
06. An Inch Above Sand
07. What We All Come To Need
08. Final Breath
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Fourth studio album from this Chicago instrumental metal band and first for Southern Lord. Features appearances from members of Isis, Sunn O))), Harkonen, and the Life & Times.

Official Site
Myspace
Preorder from Play.com and Blue Collar Distro or Southern Lord (sometime in the future).

Album: Dvalà - If These Waves Were To Stay

Band: Dvalà
Album: If These Waves Were To Stay (EP)
Label: Self-released
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Intro/interlude
02. Like doves we fly
03. If these waves were to stay
04. You will always be alone
05. Time...
06. You will always be alone (first version)
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Dvalà is a Swedish ambient/post-rock band, who began in late 2008 with Rickard Markström (guitars, melodica & vocals), Gustav Eriksson (guitars), Filip Mijatovic (Guitars & glockenspeil), Joakim Weisner (Bass) and Jimmy Eriksson (Drums & percussion), together they recorded the debut demo "You will always be alone". Later the same year Joakim Weisner left the band and was replaced by Erik Sturén (bass). In may 2009 Filip Mijatovic, Jimmy Eriksson and Erik Sturén left the band and Peter Lundgren ( bass & reeds) and Tobias Gerefalk joined (drums). They started to record the debut EP wich was delayed until august 2009. The band is since April 2009 on hiatus while some members attend other projects (And they say, Ike), but are to begin again sometime in 2010 with new gigs and new records. The band has played as opening act to Pg. lost and Immanu el.

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Album: Dextro - Winded

Band: Dextro
Album: Winded
Label: 16k Records
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Closer
02. The Pacifist
03. Momentary
04. The Unknown
05. Ilm
06. Sanna
07. Ring Cycle
08. Pillar
09. Distance
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Dextro is the music production alias of Scottish artist Ewan Mackenzie. Under the Dextro moniker he has released a number of works, most notably to date the album Consequence Music and the 12” single Do You Need Help. The new album, entitled ‘Winded’, has now been released on 16K records.

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Album: Latitudes - Agonist

Band: Latitudes
Album: Agonist
Label: Shelsmusic
Year: 2009







Tracklist
01. Myth Cathexis
02. Antechamber
03. Fluxes Of The Womb
04. Steppe & Veld
05. Braille
06. Hunting Dance
07. Agonist
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If you’re not already familiar with UK post-metal five piece Latitudes, then the only question should be, why not? Their tunes are dark, dreamy, beautiful and monumentally heavy, a combination that leaves you haunted but joyous at the same time and like label mates *shels the ear battering might be awe inspiring but it is not relentless and overpowering, instead it leaves you gagging for more.

They’ve only previously had one EP released, but it’s hard to believe based on this record that they are such a young band. “Agonist” only takes moments to show you that Latitudes can seduce you slowly with gentle, swirling eddies of melody and distortion before blowing you away with wave after wave of intense noise, the crescendos are built so skilfully that you can’t stop listening even though you know where it will end.

The record begins in suitably doom-laden style with ‘Myth Cathexis’ a low, dirty grind fest of a track, instrumental but not lacking in emotional punch and seriously heavy, with several moments of spine tingling chord changes and quirky, quiet interludes where the guitars are given time to pick out and show off nice little riffs. And that’s just the opening track. The album isn’t lacking great tracks but if you have to pick, ‘Antechamber’ is a real gem, with almost ethereal guest vocals from Adam Symonds (Eden Maine), it soars and pounds in equal measure and is just brilliant. Also up there as an immediate favourite is ‘Braille’ which has some fantastic and really memorable riffs and it’s impossible to leave out a mention of ‘Hunting Dance’ which has a dreamy start, a main riff so catchy you can’t forget it without having your memory erased and more of those lovely vocals from Symonds.

A brilliant debut full-length from Latitudes and well worth waiting for, we can’t recommend it enough, easily a contender for post-metal album of the year. -R13

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