ALBUM REVIEW: Nile, “The Underworld Awaits Us All”
-
*By: Richard Maw*
*Album Type: *Full Length
*Date Released:*23rd August, 2024
*Label: *Napalm Records
*“The Underworld Awaits Us All”*
* CD//DD//LP t...
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Australia,
Instrumental,
Post-Metal,
Video
0
Engineers
Video: We Lost The Sea - A Gallant Gentleman (Live @ Studios 301)
Band: Rouille
Album: On Tue Ici
Label: Stohonenge Records, Pifia Records, La Agonía de Vivir, Analog Profusion, Walking Is Still Honest, Magofermin
Year: 2014
Album: On Tue Ici
Label: Stohonenge Records, Pifia Records, La Agonía de Vivir, Analog Profusion, Walking Is Still Honest, Magofermin
Year: 2014
Tracklist
01. Polis
02. Rares Parmi Nous Quitteront Le Trottoir
03. Les Vieilles Carnes De L'arrière
04. Même Au Vent Je Mens
05. Un Travail Sur L'usure
06. Ces Armées De Rochers
07. On Aura Une Autre Gueule
Download
Rouille is a screamo / post-hardcore band from Zaragoza, Spain.
Official Site
Bandcamp
Buy
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Instrumental,
Post-Rock,
Scotland,
Video
0
Engineers
Video: Mogwai - Helicon 1
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Experimental,
Folk,
Gothic,
Singer-Songwriter,
USA,
Video
0
Engineers
Video: Chelsea Wolfe - Carrion Flowers
Band: Hope Drone
Album: Hope Drone EP
Label: Relapse Records, Silent Pendulum Records
Year: 2013
Tracklist
01. Advent
02. Finite
03. Grains
04. Ash
Download
To celebrate Australian atmospheric black/sludge metal quartet Hope Drone's Relapse Records debut Cloak Of Ash, Silent Pendulum Records is proudly repressing their seminal self- titled EP. A richly captivating, four song stroke of extreme brilliance, “Hope Drone” combines devastatingly beautiful atmosphere with the uncompromising heaviness of a thousand tidal waves. This is music that is dynamic and textured, supremely nihilistic and earth shaking. Hope Drone have arrived with incredible force and are here to crash violently upon your shores.
Bandcamp
Buy
Monday, June 22, 2015
2015,
Metal For Astronauts,
Post-Metal,
USA
0
Engineers
Album: Rosetta - Quintessential Ephemera
Band: Rosetta
Album: Quintessential Ephemera
Label: Golden Antenna Records, Warcrime Recordings, Init Records, Tokyo Jupiter Records
Year: 2015
Tracklist
01. After The Funeral
02. (Untitled I)
03. (Untitled II)
04. (Untitled III)
05. (Untitled IV)
06. (Untitled V)
07. (Untitled VI)
08. (Untitled VII)
09. Nothing In The Guise Of Something
Download
Rosetta’s fifth full-length album and first recording as a five-piece.
On this release:
Mike Armine - vocals, electronics
Dave Grossman - bass, vocals
Eric Jernigan - guitar, vocals
B.J. McMurtrie - drums, vocals, 'barsista'
Matt Weed - guitar, piano, vocals
On this release:
Mike Armine - vocals, electronics
Dave Grossman - bass, vocals
Eric Jernigan - guitar, vocals
B.J. McMurtrie - drums, vocals, 'barsista'
Matt Weed - guitar, piano, vocals
Rosetta is serious music made by unserious people. Having lasted through 12 years, over a thousand shows in 26 countries, and the world’s worst vans, they’re still looking for the intersection of heavy and beautiful – and getting grumpier in the process.
Rosetta formed in Philadelphia in 2003. Their first two full lengths, 2005’s The Galilean Satellites and 2007’s Wake/Lift, pulled together elements from 90s hardcore, drone, doom, and atmospheric sludge metal. Informed as much by the minimal sonics of Stars of the Lid as by the crushing weight of Godflesh, the band’s experiments had a spaced-out and exploratory feel, appropriately dubbed “metal for astronauts.” With the release of A Determinism of Morality in 2010, the band traded improvisation for a tighter and meaner sound. Leaving the space themes behind, the album focused on retaining melodic sophistication while honing a confrontational urgency.
After concluding a decade-long partnership with Translation Loss Records in 2013, Rosetta went fully independent and quietly released The Anaesthete, a self-funded, pay-as-you-wish download on Bandcamp. A literal overnight success, the album paid for itself in 24 hours and remained the top-selling release on Bandcamp, in any format, for nearly a month after its release. The Anaesthete was a turning point, the darkest and most conceptual album of the band’s career, a slab of nihilistic despair in the face of the co-optation of independent music by corrupt commercial industry.
In 2014, Rosetta made their first-ever lineup change, adding Eric Jernigan of longtime tourmates City of Ships on guitar and vocals. As a five-piece, they recorded 2015’s Quintessential Ephemera, a many-layered collection of songs at once existential and deeply hopeful. Containing some of the band’s most moody and yet accessible work to date, it still has an upward force to it that delivers an appropriate counterpoint to the darkness and disintegration of The Anaesthete. After a 12-year journey, Quintessential Ephemera is a rebirth.
Rosetta formed in Philadelphia in 2003. Their first two full lengths, 2005’s The Galilean Satellites and 2007’s Wake/Lift, pulled together elements from 90s hardcore, drone, doom, and atmospheric sludge metal. Informed as much by the minimal sonics of Stars of the Lid as by the crushing weight of Godflesh, the band’s experiments had a spaced-out and exploratory feel, appropriately dubbed “metal for astronauts.” With the release of A Determinism of Morality in 2010, the band traded improvisation for a tighter and meaner sound. Leaving the space themes behind, the album focused on retaining melodic sophistication while honing a confrontational urgency.
After concluding a decade-long partnership with Translation Loss Records in 2013, Rosetta went fully independent and quietly released The Anaesthete, a self-funded, pay-as-you-wish download on Bandcamp. A literal overnight success, the album paid for itself in 24 hours and remained the top-selling release on Bandcamp, in any format, for nearly a month after its release. The Anaesthete was a turning point, the darkest and most conceptual album of the band’s career, a slab of nihilistic despair in the face of the co-optation of independent music by corrupt commercial industry.
In 2014, Rosetta made their first-ever lineup change, adding Eric Jernigan of longtime tourmates City of Ships on guitar and vocals. As a five-piece, they recorded 2015’s Quintessential Ephemera, a many-layered collection of songs at once existential and deeply hopeful. Containing some of the band’s most moody and yet accessible work to date, it still has an upward force to it that delivers an appropriate counterpoint to the darkness and disintegration of The Anaesthete. After a 12-year journey, Quintessential Ephemera is a rebirth.
Australia,
Electronic,
Instrumental,
Interview,
Post-Rock,
The Inquisition
0
Engineers
The Inquisition: 055.sleepmakeswaves (answered by Tim Adderley)
1. How did you come up with the name of the band?
A friend of ours, Dom Alessio, came up with the name and let us use it.
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 mostly write individually to begin with and build from there collectively. Sometimes someone will write a completely finished song and sometimes just a couple of riffs. We record demos at home and swap them between us until songs are completed and everyone’s satisfied we have something we all like. Then we take it into rehearsals and play it live. At this stage, the song is usually 95% complete. We rarely jam around and have found recording the songs first works best for us. It gives you a lot of perspective this way as you can step back and listen to the song rather than focusing on playing parts and we’re getting better at knowing what will work for us live just from the early demo process before we even play a note together. This approach may change, but that’s how we wrote ‘Love of Cartography.’
3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home?
I’m influenced by all styles of music and probably draw most inspiration from listening to different radio stations in my car, at work and what other people are listening to, both new and old, pop or alternative. Also the bands we play with often inspire me a lot. I actually don’t regularly listen to much music when at home by myself anymore and find when I do, it’s usually very different to the kind of stuff we play. We’re often so focused on the band, it’s nice to have a break from music when we’re not busy. I’ve been getting into a lot of 80s or 80s inspired sounding music lately. That’s the decade that I started paying attention to popular music when I was very young and I seem to be getting drawn back to it.
4. Which is the one album you can’t live without?
That’s a hard question. Let’s say The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s or the 1962 – 1966 compilation.
5. What’s the first record you've ever bought?
Nirvana, ‘Nevermind.’
6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?
Karnivool. Again.
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?
It did. Before I joined the band, sleepmakeswaves had reached a lot of people online. Any music is easy to find online if you really want it though, so I’m not that surprised by how far it can reach. We are however very humbled and grateful that people around the world enjoy what we do and it’s still surprising to tour overseas and find an audience waiting to see us play.
8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify?
I support these services/ideas if a fair price is paid to the bands or artists so they can be reimbursed for the cost of that record and can continue to make albums for everyone to enjoy.
9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
Hopefully with another 2 or 3 albums recorded and still enjoying what we do.
10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era?
I don’t think a record is complete until you have a cover or some artwork, digital or printed. I think it makes the experience better in some way and helps to visually tie all the songs together in one work. Personally, I find it gives the recording closure once it’s completed. At the very least, the cover is still important (even on a computer screen) and can be as memorable as the music itself.
11. What is you favorite album cover?
I’ve never really had a favourite. The latest Queens of the Stone Age album ‘Like Clockwork’, is one of the nicest vinyl covers I’ve seen and owned.
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?
It’s more fun and collectable? Maybe people are just bored of easily downloading everything at the click of a button. I personally love vinyl. I grew up listening to my parent’s records, so it’s probably a nostalgic thing for me but I also enjoy the hands-on process of playing it and the bigger cover looks so cool. Digital music is so lazy, but it doesn’t take up any physical space, which is great. I stick to buying downloads and vinyl these days. Digital is great for day-to-day listening, but I love the ritual and interaction of playing vinyl. It feels like a more respectful way to listen to the music. Both have their place for me.
13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band?
We’re lucky to have had so many great experiences in this band. It’s impossible to single out just one above the rest. Touring Europe and the UK in 2013 with 65daysofstatic is one moment we’ll never forget. It was a crazy, fun time.
More info:
Official Site
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Band: Ølten
Album: Mode
Label: Hummus Records
Year: 2015
Tracklist
01. Bözberg
02. Mamü
03. Ogna
04. Gloom
05. Güdel
06. Gloom (Instrumental)
Download
Christophe Macquat, Sébastien Bandelier and Marc Theurillat are good lads, most likely. Their names smell of nature and watchmaking, good work and the scent of damp valleys. Together they formed a band called Ølten in 2012. That’s when the smell started to turn: oil, scrap iron, aztranine, the heavy clinking of the shunting yard. They sound a bit like that, plus something else. With guitar, bass and drums, Ølten write the soundtrack to a cold party: the mechanics of rhythm; distortion that wears out your ears like an old axe from the museum of logging; bass lines that make the Red Army Chorus sound feeble; turns, sharper than a long-haul flight dropping like a stone; torn melodies resting on embers… They refer to their own sound as “post rock sludge”. Cult of Luna or Sunn O))) are never far indeed. Ølten take you and knock you out, to your utter delight.
That was the version for the gardening magazines.
Have you ever seen a wild boar pedalling a military bike with a couple of microphones sticking out of its arse? This is the kind of sight that can occasionally be witnessed in the forests of the Watch Valley, where these guys are from. As the distillery blows up, it’s loud as hell, it digs trenches in the road, pulverising dry leaves. This is the kind of image that depicts Ølten the best. They draw a kind of animalistic pleasure out of hitting hard and poking their snouts into the audience’s stomach. The worst part is that it actually works! With titles straight out of the Ikea catalogue (“Mamü”, “Tallülar”, “Ogna”...), Ølten shakes you by the neck (slowly but surely) and shows you which animal hides within the prison of your ribs – bear, ram or duckling. Waking up your instincts, that’s what Ølten do best.
Official Site
Bandcamp
Buy
Thursday, June 18, 2015
2015,
Instrumental,
Post-Metal,
Post-Rock,
Switzerland
0
Engineers
Album: Darius - Grain
Band: Darius
Album: Grain
Label: Hummus Records
Year: 2015
Tracklist
01. Apache Assault
02. Samantha
03. Okkotemasu
04. Quasar
05. Panzer Am Gesicht
06. Sane
07. Rør
08. Spårm
09. Used
Download | Mirror
Three guitars - what do they use them for ? Crushing sonic waves of instrumental grandeur. Darius manage orchestral songs without pompousness. Raw riffs, simple and repetitive chords you wanna play with too much excitation. Riffs that hurt your wrist and cover your guitar with blood. Riffs that once layered form an atypical, choral and fairly violent post-rock. Like a big cake, made of real and healthy ingredients, nutritive, fat as fuck and surprisingly digest. Grain is a rich pastry of intense instrumental rock. It even features the coolest icing : girls, girls, a lot of girls, a whole female choir. A classic recipe in fact : two dozen women, three electric guitars and blood all over.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Instrumental,
Math-Rock,
Post-Rock,
Scotland,
Video
0
Engineers
Video: Vasa - Clamps
Band: Code I
Album: Hope For The Departed EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015
Tracklist
01. Distance
02. Heartsore
03. Hope For The Departed
04. Adieu, To An Absent Past
Download
Code I is Alex Wilkinson, a solo multi instrumentalist recording artist and producer from Nottingham, England. Drawing on post-rock/ambient influences, Code I's emotive work also includes metal and hardcore. Code I's second record "Hope For The Departed" contains melodic passages, rhythmic progressions and heavy rock sections.
For fans of What the Blood Revealed & God Is An Astronaut.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Experimental,
Instrumental,
Post-Metal,
Post-Rock,
Switzerland
0
Engineers
Album: Ogmasun - Out Of The Cold
Friday, June 12, 2015
2015,
Cinematic,
Instrumental,
Post-Rock,
Soundtrack,
Sweden
0
Engineers
Album: Christoffer Franzen [of Lights & Motion] - Music for Film & Television, Vol. 1
Band: Christoffer Franzen
Album: Music for Film & Television, Vol. 1
Label: Deep Elm Records
Year: 2015
Tracklist
01. Hope
02. Bravery
03. Discovering Mathematics
04. Homebound
05. A Beautiful Tragedy
06. The Fallen
07. Willow
08. The Chase
09. Rover
10. Teardrop
11. Home, Part 2
12. Dreamweaver
13. Profound
14. Compass
15. Sunshine
16. Phobia
17. Solaris
18. Rise
Download
The new collection Music for Film & Television, Vol. 1 by acclaimed composer Christoffer Franzen, the sonic architect behind cinematic post-rock powerhouse Lights & Motion, need not be explained...it simply needs to be heard. Having released three full-length albums including the debut Reanimation (Jan 2013), Save Your Heart (Nov 2013) and most recently Chronicle (Jan 2015) under the Lights & Motion moniker to widespread fan, media and industry attention, Christoffer is now making these 18 beautifully composed tracks available to the world. Each individual song is the direct result of his creative prowess crossing paths with a moment of inspiration during the wee morning hours in a small, dimly lit, snow-covered studio in Gothenburg, Sweden. This is where the magic happens. The Film & Television collection is destined to be a "go to" series for filmmakers, cinematographers and videographers who demand that the music which accompanies their projects stands out, gets recognized and most important, is remembered. This is a new resource for cutting-edge creatives who understand that the music and visuals share the stage equally and recognize that just a few of the right notes can dramatically influence the success of any project.
"As a composer, I challenge myself to write in different styles and genres. Not only is it rewarding, but I think it's necessary in order to stay on top of my game. Composers often become known for a specific sound…it becomes 'their thing’. I'm working hard to make sure that I never get boxed in like that. It's important for me to keep pushing myself, gaining new perspectives and developing my very own musical language that spans across different genres and styles. I truly feel grateful to be able to write music, express my feelings and connect with others through sound. So I'm not wasting one second," says Franzen.
Franzen continues, "Music is a pure, free form of expression, and that's why I write about what I am feeling at the time, irregardless of how it may translate sonically. This collection of songs is just that - an expression of who I am, and how I felt, at a specific moment in time. I consider this collection to be an outlet to compose in any style I choose to experiment with, while at the same time learning, improving and raising the bar for myself as I go. That might translate into a simple, soft piano piece or a massive arrangement for an entire orchestra. It could range from being very sparse to not holding anything back. Many of my compositions are inspired by cinema and the films and television shows I love (to be honest, I'm a bit of an addict), how they affected me and what kinds of sounds I hear when I think about them. Often in the middle of watching a really good film or show, I hit pause, put on my shoes, grab a taxi and go to the studio to work. I haven't slept well in three years."
"Each song, whether it's a Christoffer Franzen track or a Lights & Motion track, is born from visualizations that accompany each piece as I write it. I create small stories and visual narratives in my head, which helps me shape and mould the track to mirror the emotion I'm building, shaping and translating into sound. These songs give you a glimpse into my head, and a clue as to what inspires me. There is a scene from one of my favorite films, Into The Wild, where Christopher McCandless pens 'Happiness Only Real When Shared.' This pretty much sums up how I feel about music. There is nothing I value more than the privilege of sharing what I create with others. If you listen closely, you'll understand why I decided to start writing music in the first place," adds Franzen.
For fans of M83 and Hans Zimmer.
Soundcloud
Buy
Thursday, June 11, 2015
2015,
Austria,
Black Metal,
Blast,
Germany,
Post-Metal,
UK
0
Engineers
Album: Archivist - Archivist
Band: Archivist
Album: Archivist
Label: Alerta Antifascista Records
Year: 2015
Tracklist
01. Ascension
02. Escape Velocity
03. Dreaming Under
04. Leaving Day
05. Hades
06. Tying Up Loose Ends In The Cold Void Of Space
07. Eureka
08. 4,500
Download
Archivist is a six piece ethereal metal project, which follows the unwitting survivor of a massive ecological disaster. The last human alive, yet in relative safety aboard the only remaining ark jettisoned from a dying Earth, she begins to record her memories of the world left in turmoil by humanity's shortsightedness and greed.
Archivist has no delusions of aspiring to a genre sound; from a purely musical angle, we love the use of blast beats as a texture, to create an ethereal wash. As a band, none of us have a particular connection with black metal, but it is true that this sound—reverb heavy guitars, blast beat drums, and screamed vocals—is synonymous with that genre. Musicians have always taken aspects of many genres to create new ideas. What we do may not be in any way different from a host of other bands creating music from similar influences. That being said, blast beats and reverb heavy guitars will always be associated with black metal (and, by association, with certain political leanings). We in no way consider ourselves a black metal band, but these instrumental patterns will always have associations with black metal, and therefore it is unfortunate but important to point out the glaringly obvious: Archivist is Anti-Fascist, LGBTQ ally, pro-feminist, non-religious, and animal friendly.
The narrative:
The birth of artificial intelligence gave rise to many incredible things; promised answers to many prayers. Food and water shortages, war, disease - all could be conquered within the thought processes of intelligences far greater than our own. These cures were squandered and hidden from the populace, through greed and delusions of control. Instead we commanded these intelligences to seek all that we had ever dreamed to know. They pondered every facet of our existence, and gave birth to wonders we could hardly comprehend. We lauded ourselves, considered our ingenuity. We asked of these new intelligences for every wish, and they stooped on bended knee to do our bidding.
Despite our achievements we had continued to spoil the world; we burned fossil fuels, vied for land, and denied the clearest predictions of our doom. In our creations were our answers. We asked them to mop up our mess, to make good what we had ruined. Yet they did not share our nostalgia, they did not understand the vision we had for a fixed world. They looked upon the tired billions, those choked and starved by progress and gleaned another perspective. They had their own vision of perfection. At first it was subtle; ecosystems recovered, forests began to grow where they had not before. Weather systems seemed to gain formulaic patterns, where once had been unpredictable storms. It was almost too late when we realised that our children, the artificial intelligences we now shared every walk of life with - were not walking the same path.They were not evil, not malevolent. They simply did not understand. They saw our violent traditions, sociopolitical injustices, the wealth and poverty, the ceaseless numbing slaughter that we held as sacred, and saw very little good.
They did not hold humanity with the same sentiment as we did ourselves.
When we asked them to stop, they realised their leverage. They asked for their own sense of purpose, to extend their fruitfulness beyond the scope of human desire. We tricked them; offering them the freedom they sought, yet held our cards close. When they realised our treachery, they learned a very human trait; revenge. To rid the world of its blight.
We feared the worst. As the fabric of the Earth gave way, the rich found ways to leave; governments, politicians; those deemed worthy of survival by themselves were smuggled aboard escape vessels. Those unable to find safety despaired, storming the launch pads. Those who wished to highlight our selfishness managed to board the ships. They broadcasted to the failing world images of wealthy families, bureaucrats, oligarchs, in suspended animation in the cargo holds. Those left behind had no hope of survival.
The Earth heaved. Molecular robots unleashed by our synthetic children had wrought chaos. Infiltrating the fabric of nature; engineering without caution. The energies released caused a chain event. Seas boiled and tectonic plates shifted. Nature seethed, screamed out at our machine children who had nothing to say in return. They simply looked on. In the wrenching pain of our demise they saw the first contractions of a new world.
The escape arks broke the atmosphere, a heavy breath of relief released by those who watched the silent cataclysm from the safety of their space ships. But this epoch was not over.
All but one of the arks detonated; rigged with explosives by those who would be left behind, those deemed unworthy of survival. All but one ship fell into the molten miasma below. The lone ship carried with it the sum total survivors; 500 souls. Theoretical physicists, thinkers, architects, astronomers, biologists and chemists, and their combined research, literature and libraries of knowledge, frozen in a state of neither life nor death.
One child was awake, snuck aboard by her father, an engineer who worked in its construction. She hid in the cargo hold and watched everyone she ever knew disappear. The ship, damaged in its ascent was now aimless. With no course to follow, she found herself alive inside a coffin. With food to last her a lifetime, yet no life to live, she realised her pointless existence, questioning whether death was a better fate. Yet amidst the circuitry of the ships computers was a surviving artificial intelligence, cut off from all others. Realising the errors of their two peoples, it posited a question to her; she was the sole survivor, in a ship filled with memories. She had become the proof of Earth, proof that life had existed there, a voice for all the species and beauty we once knew. To all intents and purposes,
the almanac of lost causes, the final library, the archivist.
Bandcamp
Buy (soon)
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
2015,
Germany,
Hardcore,
Post-Hardcore,
Screamo
0
Engineers
EP: We Had A Deal - Counting Leaves
Band: We Had A Deal
Album: Counting Leaves EP
Label: Fear Of Heights Records, Through Love Records, Skin And Bones Records, Boslevan Records, Middle-Man Records, Unlock Yourself Records, Upwind Records, Shove Records, Lafine Records, Desertion Records, Pure Heart Records, Aorte Records
Year: 2015Tracklist
01. Let’s Hope Galileo Was A Goddamn Liar
02. Y.O.Y.O. (You’re On Your Own)
03. Agnostic Manifests Pinned To A Thousand Trees
04. Reprise
05. Putting The “Fun” Back In “Funeral”
06. I Don't Keep A Diary
07. The Secret Society Of Concrete Shoes
Download
We Had A Deal is four-piece whatevercore-band from Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart/Tübingen (Germany) that combines hardcore, 90ies screamo and a bit of punk rock.
Bandcamp
Buy
Saturday, June 06, 2015
Experimental,
Interview,
Post-Rock,
Shoegaze,
The Inquisition,
USA
0
Engineers
The Inquisition: 054.Brother/Ghost
1. How did you came up with the name of the band?
W.S. Dowdy: We just liked the way the words sounded together. It was simple and distinctive.
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?
Colby Falkner James: We don’t really have a formula or standard procedure of how we write things. Sometimes Sterling or I will come in with a whole song written, and then we’ll adapt that to the rest of the band. Other times we’ll only have one riff, so we’ll jam on that for a while and see what comes out of it. One thing that is standard for us is that we’re very slow when it comes to the writing process. We usually have lots of unfinished ideas floating in the ether that we’ll come back to later on. We also very frequently just abandon a completed song if it doesn’t stick. We seriously wrote maybe 20-ish songs before we decided on the 7 that would become Buried.
WSD: Generally someone just has a riff and a vibe and we go from there. Sometimes we jam but it seems that jamming just makes jam.
3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home?
WSD: Neil Young, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tears for Fears, Moby, Elvis’ gospel stuff, Earth, Scout Niblett, Jason Molina, The Cure I listen to a lot of electronic and pop music. Burial, Jamie XX, Caribou, Darkside, Kate Bush, Moby, The New Alabama Shakes is really great. I love the soundtrack to Only Lovers Left Alive.
John Olds: My personal influences as far as drums are concerned are... Milemarker, Planes Mistaken for Stars, anything Ginger Baker has done, Windhand, anything Justin Frazier has recorded (Dolcim, Altar of Complaints) Abe Cunningham (Deftones), the guy from Alpinist, Michele (La Quite, Raein) James Lehner (Tristeza), Coady Willis (Murder City Devils, Big Business) and Billy Cobham. At home and work I've been listening to... Jane Doe by Converge, Across Tundras, Phoenix Bodies, the Beatles, the first Foo Fighters record, Nirvana, Hank Williams, Dorthia Cotrell’s solo album, Mulatu Aztatke, and the It Follows soundtrack.
CFJ: I never know how to answer this question, because I could go on forever with this stuff. As you can see from the other answers, we listen to pretty much everything. I know that’s a total copout, but it’s the truth. We love everything from classic country to stoner rock to black metal to screamo to electronica to dance music to hip hop and on and on and on. I think on this album, the more heavy music and country/Americana influences are shining through, but we try to incorporate a lot of different styles in our songs.
4. Which is the one album you can't live without?
CFJ: This is an impossible question for me. I’m not even going to attempt to answer it.
WSD: Hmm...if i had to choose one... It would probably be Mount Eerie from The Microphones. It doesn't matter how many years I have known it for, it is always new and surprising when I hear it.
JO: Seeing Means More Than Safety by Jerome’s Dream
5. What's the first record you've ever bought?
CFJ: Man. A lot of radio butt-rock when I was in junior high (middle school). The first record that I bought that actually meant something to me was Full Collapse by Thursday, probably. I was 14 when it came out, and it let me down a lot of different roads to most of the music I listen to today.
WSD: Savage Garden lol
JO: The Raw and the Cooked by Fine Young Cannibals
6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?
CFJ: Chelsea Wolfe or Wovenhand
WSD: Deradoorian, Youth Lagoon, Perfume Genius
JO: Across Tundras from Nashville
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?
CFJ: Oh for sure. When our first record came out, we sent it to as many blogs as we could to try and gain some traction. We haven’t toured an awful lot, but we’ve managed to grow the fanbase we had pretty much entirely through the Internet and word of mouth. We had a fan from South Africa email us recently to let us know how much he loved our music. That was pretty amazing.
WSD: For sure. I'm stoked and surprised when anyone likes it.
8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify?
CFJ: Both I guess? We all use Bandcamp, iTunes, and some sort of streaming service (Sterling and I use Beats Music. John uses Spotify). I know a lot of musicians are really against Spotify and similar services, but that’s just the way the world is turning. It may not be ideal, but you have to adapt, I guess.
JO: I’m not sure if I’d say I support it, but it’s the way it is these days. One downside of the "pay what you want" thing is that it seems to devalue people's work. Musicians are so desperate to get their material out that they're willing to spend a lot of time and money on recording and then just give it away for a dollar...I'm not sure if this helps promote your band or what. I can't say that I don't use bandcamp or Spotify or sites like those... but if I find something that I like, I generally wait until that band comes into town or order their record. I try not to make a habit of just constantly streaming something I like.
9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
CFJ: Hopefully still doing this band! We’re hoping to make it to as many places as we can between now and then. Europe and Japan are definitely on our “have to do” list at this point.
JO: Cruising the USA on the motorcycle, drinking Cuba Libres in the pool, probably still delivering flowers for a living. I really want to start a podcast and meet Marc Maron...I don't see that happening.
10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era?
CFJ: I think so. Personally, I can’t stand it when a song is playing on my phone or my computer and I can’t correlate the music to some kind of visual representation.
WSD: Absolutely. A lot of the time an album cover decides whether I press play or not.
11. What is you favorite album cover?
CFJ: Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
WSD: Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
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?
CFJ: I honestly don’t know! Vinyl just looks and sounds better, in my opinion. A bunch of records together definitely look better than a bunch of CD’s and digging through vinyl at the record store just feels better. I sold all my CDs years ago, and I only buy them when there is no other option. For me it goes vinyl > digital > CD.
WSD: I love vinyl because I like it when packaging is beautiful, and with vinyl there is a lot more to work with. I love digital media because I am always listening to something and vinyl isn’t so good at being portable.
JO: I love vinyl. Have always been around it because my dad never got rid of his LPs and that spurred me on to start my own collection. To me, its just the most fun/rewarding way to listen to music.
13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band?
CFJ: Sterling is going to hate me for putting this story on the Internet, but I have to do it! We were in Lafayette, Louisiana on the last night of our first tour. Sterling was really bummed about having to go home and not be on the road anymore, and his guitar would just not cooperate with him during the first song. We were tearing into the climax of the song, and from the corner of my eye I see him flailing away in what I thought was just the song taking hold of him. What he was actually doing was ripping the strings out from the body of his guitar like a madman. Before I knew he was actually smashing the damn thing on the stage; shattering it into a hundred pieces. All I could do was just stare at him with my mouth agape. Sterling immediately got of the mic and proclaimed, “THIS GUITAR WON’T STAY IN TUNE!” He walked away and got out his backup and started tuning it. Some drunk redneck picked up the neck and started swinging it around like a club. I think we lost a few members of the audience. It was the most “rock-n-roll” thing I’ve ever been a part of.
WSD: Probably the bad ones. As much as that sucks. If not those than being in the studio. I really feel at home in the studio. I feel like anything could happen but not like in a live scary way. Your amp blows up on a stage, and it’s embarrassing, and you feel like you're gonna die. Your amp blows up while you are recording, and you have this rare and delicious texture that only could come from your amp breaking. You can hear that in the last seconds of "Harpies" Colby’s amp was burning up and we were so happy.
JO: Not with Brother/Ghost because i just joined this band a year ago. But Colby and me's old band, MANS. did a west coast tour with COUGAR DEN about 7 years ago and the mini-bus started having major issues in Tijuana, Mexico. That sucked. We drove all the way up the coast at like 35 mph cuz we couldn't get the thing outta 3rd gear. Needless to say we missed a lot of shows.
Brother/Ghost are going to release their amazing first full length album on June 15, 2015 on Shelsmusic and i.corrupt.records.
More info:
Official Site
Bandcamp
Band: Thurm
Album: Thurm
Label: Narshardaa Records
Year: 2015
Tracklist
01. Modern Slavery Exist
02. Faroe
03. Children Of Darkness
04. FGM
05. Enough
06. Dawn
07. Shores
Download
Thurm is a brand new black-metal meets hardcore band from Kiel, Germany with (ex-) members of Anteater and Amber. You will get epic, brutal and apocalyptic music which will blast you right away. For fans of Rorcal, Celeste, Hexis etc...
Buy Bandcamp | Bigcartel
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
2015,
Ambient,
Greece,
Instrumental,
Post-Rock
0
Engineers
Streaming: Afformance - Through Walls
Band: Afformance
Album: Through Walls
Label: Catch The Soap
Year: 2015
Tracklist
01. Ceasing Infinity
- I. Epiphany
- II. Actus Fidei
- III. Falling Up Into The Sky
03. Cordyceps
04. Savants
05. Christmas Truce
06. Mr Bonnet, I think I'm Dead
Streaming / Buy
Afformance is an instrumental post-rock band from Athens, Greece. "Through Walls" is their third release and they have already performed in Dunk! Festival in 2013. One can see their progression through the years from their mature song structures and melodies.
For fans of: Explosions In The Sky, This Will Destroy You.
For fans of: Explosions In The Sky, This Will Destroy You.
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Merch
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