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
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“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.

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The Inquisition: 090.Nevborn

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

The name of the band is older than the actual line-up. Nevborn actually started more than 10 years ago and the band had a lot of different members before the first album. The sound of Nevborn never ceased to change and evolve. At the same time, the name is a contraction from newborn and never born as the reflect of Nevborn’s journey.

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?

It normally starts when someone shows a draft to the others and we start jamming different riffs around it. We try to enhance different parts of the song and when we are happy with the skeleton, we add some breaks to give punch and dimension to the track.

3. How this collaboration with Loïc of The Ocean on the new EP  came up?

The idea of the song was to create a discussion between father and son. We we just reached Loïc and asked him if he wanted to be part of this concept EP.He accepted and we were able to blend his amazing voice with Matthieu’s melodies !

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

Our influences are quite broad. We want our music to be a mix of all the style we individually like and that’s why we have difficulty to put ourselves into a specific music style.

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

• Matthieu: Perdition City - Ulver

• Alan: Polaris - Tesseract

• Brice: From Parts Unknown - Every Time I Die

• Mathieu: Precambrian - The Ocean

• Nicolas: Vertikal - Cult Of Luna

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

• Matthieu: Take a Look In The Mirror - Korn

• Alan: Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses - Slipknot

• Brice: System of a Down - System of a Down

• Mathieu: Smells Like Them Spirit - Nirvana

• Nicolas: 220km/h in the Wrong Lane - T.a.t.u

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

That is a tough question.. We would like to play with a lot of bands. For exemple Arcane Roots, Ulver, Cult of Luna, Toska, The Ocean just to name a few...

8. 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 is the magic from our generation of musicians ! The internet allows a lot of young bands to project their music abroad. Without this tool, it was a lot more difficult in the past for people to reach a certain level of recognition. To answer the question, I’d say that the internet and blogs really helps to promote bands and give them more ‘’views’’ and ‘’followers’’. Fans can also easily discover more music form the same genre and develop their own criticism and musical tastes. None of us thought that our next vinyl would be available in Japan…

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

We really appreciate bandcamp. The online platform managed to bring the public closer to the artist. We also have our songs on Spotify and other music streaming platforms and it generates no income but at least we gain some views.

10. Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?

In 10 years, we’ll be all mid-30s… It is really difficult to think of the future of the band, especially if the Nevborn’s ‘’curse’’ strikes again… We hope we’ll be recording some new tunes or in the middle of a European tour. We hope to reach these new goals, but 10 years is a long way to go...

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

Absolutely ! This is the thing that makes an album interesting. That’s why we try to always associate the concept of the music to the artwork. The goal is to create something that we are happy to show to our listeners. We want the people that buy our albums to see the package as a precious object more than a common CD.

12. What is you favorite album cover?

• Matthieu: Challenger - Knut

• Alan: In Waves - Trivium

• Brice: New Junk Aesthetic - Every Time I Die

• Mathieu: S/T - Closet Disco Queen

• Nicolas: Vertikal - Cult Of Luna

13. 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?

You cannot illegally download a vinyl because behind the music lies a philosophy and an art that is not convertible to be sent on ‘’the pirate bay’’. The object is even more important that just the music itself.

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

When we played for the first time at the ‘’Rockaltitude festival’’ at Le Locle in Switzerland. When had the pleasure to play amongst some big names in the music industry and we had a blast !

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Recommendation: When Icarus Falls - Resilience

Band: When Icarus Falls
Album: Resilience
Label: Czar Of Bullets
Year: 2017








Tracklist
01. One Last Stand
02. Into The Storm
03. The Lighthouse
04. Resilience
05. A Blue Light
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Formed in 2007 in Lausanne, When Icarus Falls materializes the exploration of dark musical universes, oscillating between hazy atmospheres and heavy riffs. When Icarus Falls' musicians are well known for their intense stage performances, which brought them many times on the roads throughout Europe and China.

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Album: NevBorn - Five Horizons

Band: NevBorn
Album: Five Horizons
Label: Hummus Records
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Sending A Message
02. From The Edge Of The Universe
03. For Seven Days
04. Beyond The Five Horizons
05. Between The Skies
06. For The King Of Kings
07. Ozymandias
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NevBorn has a message to send, way beyond their five mysterious horizons. Could it be that post-hardcore still has a beating heart ? How do these 5 swiss youngsters dare to pretend to bring anything new to the table ? Heavy drums, massive simplistic riffs and screamed vocals interrupting melancholic spatial ambiances. We all heard this 20 years ago already - but this also means they're born with it ! This sad, violent and introspective music flows naturally through their veins and poisons matthieu hinderer's urgent and touching vocals. What could have been a well-educated stylistic homework reveals itself as a true physical journey. Sincere emotions transcripted in guitar distortion that are about to blast the last depressive remains of your adolescents frustrations.

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Album: Ø L T E N - Mode

Band: Ølten
Album: Mode
Label: Hummus Records
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Bözberg
02. Mamü
03. Ogna
04. Gloom
05. Güdel
06. Gloom (Instrumental)
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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.

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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
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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.

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Album: Ogmasun - Out Of The Cold

Band: Ogmasun
Album: Out Of The Cold
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Mammoth
02. Square
03. Cutty Sark, Pt. 1
04. Cutty Sark, Pt. 2
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Ogmasun is a post-rock/metal band from Fribourg, Switzerland.

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The Inquisition: 053.Maïak

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

We've been trying to come up with a name for ages. « Maïak » was one of the first ideas and with time, we decided to adopt the name. It means « lighthouse » or « beacon » in Russian, but we choose it for it is the name of a nuclear plant that was the site of one of the worst accident in history. It’s morbid, but we like to associate our music with symbols of disasters in a mixture of tragedy and irony. You can see that in our tracks titles as well…

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? 

A bit of both, usually someone -usually Marc- comes with a melody or a riff and we jam around it. We spend quite some time improvising when we compose and there have been many moments of pure harmony that we have lost forever for not having recorded them. 

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

Antoine: I think we all are influenced by progressive and independant rock from the nineties, bands like The God Machine and Sonic Youth. I listen to all lot of post-rock these days (from Slint to Russian Circles), but I am also a big fan of John Coltrane! 

Stéphane: The Notwist, Mogwai, GY!BE… 

Marc: Impure Wilhelmina, Noir Désir, Ennio Morricone, Neurosis… 

David: The Evpatoria Report 

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

Marc: « Remué » (Dominique A) 

Antoine: « Spirit Of Eden » (Talk Talk) 

Stéphane: Chopin’s « Nocturnes » and « La Polonaise », by Martha Argerich or Sviatoslav Richter David: « Golevka » (The Evpatoria Report) 

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

Stéphane: « Breakfast in America » (Supertramp) 

Marc: « Music for the Masses » (Depeche Mode) 

Antoine: « Diesel and Dust » (Midnight Oil) 

David: « The Evpatoria Report EP » (The Evpatoria Report)... no seriously it’s « Outlandos D’amour » (The Police) 

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

Marc: Any band, as long as they are cool people doing interesting stuff… The thing is more to find one that would like to share it with us ;) 

David: The Evpatoria Report 

Antoine: We have recently discovered another post-rock band from Switzerland, Darius, it would be great to share the stage with them. 

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?

Definitely! Our album has been shared by bloggers throughout the world. We suspect it to be the fruit of Taner Torun’s work, the founder of our label Fluttery Records. Bloggers from Russia and the Netherlands have been very positive about us and 3 internet radios have us on their playlist now. But the most surprising was to have a review in a printed media: The New Zealand Herald, which is the first daily paper in New Zealand!! 

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

Yes, it’s cool 

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

Still on stage and enjoying it… 

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

Yes, it still is the best way to catch someone’s interest. What has changed with the internet is that only the front page matters now. A pity, because for our new album, the cover picture (a beautiful photograph by our friend Raphael Weber) that we chose continues on the back of the sleeve also… 

11. What is your favorite album cover? 

Antoine: « Fixed Water » (Sophia)

Marc: « Hail to the Thief » (Radiohead)

Stéphane: « Rage against the Machine » (RATM) 

David: « Maar » (The Evpatoria Report)

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 remains the purest and warmest support, but it is also a beautiful and tangible object that one can touch and won’t disappear with your hard drives. We are working with Urgence Disk records, a Geneva based label, to issue a vinyl version of the album soon. 

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

A few weeks ago, a guy asked our label to get a signed photo of the band! The guy seems to have already gathered quite a collection of autographs from French pop and movie stars, including Brigitte Bardot. Or maybe the fact that we struggled for so long to find a name we all agree upon. When we came in the studio to record our first album (in 2011), the sound engineer asked us for our name and we couldn’t give him any answer….

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The Inquisition: 050.Ø L T E N

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

Chris: Just a joke, we thought about a big dark city and we add Ø to have a Nordic touch 

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? 

Chris: It's just a mix of that, but I often have a lot of guitar and Moog riffs. Then we work and try to build something. Each musician gives his personal touch, and we try a lot of solutions. Sometimes we can make a new track in one month or for certain tracks we need few months ... 

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

Chris: A lot of influences. We love some bands like Bongripper , Russian Circles, Neurosis , Mogwaï, Sunn O)))... At home I listen to a lot of different bands and musical styles, from the most extreme bands like Converge, Terra Tenebrosa, The Swans to a simple and good folk album like Rue Royale or electro music like Boards Of Canada. I think when music is good, we listen to it , no matter what style it is. 

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

Chris: Cult of Luna - The Beyond and Music Has The Right To children - Boards of Canada. 

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

Chris: Seriously, Live After Death by Iron maiden and Oxygen by Jean-Michel Jarre. I was ten years old. 

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

Chris: Bongripper. 

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? 

Chris: Definitely yes, but I think without the good work of our labels Hummus Records & Division Records our music would never be out of Switzerland. I was really surprised when some people of Greece and Russia send me an e-mail to congratulate about our first EP. 

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

Chris: Yes , I think it's a great support for some little bands like ours. 

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

Chris: At the same place, working on new tracks or a new album, with some new gear like pedals, amp, old synth and we would still be as stupid as we are. 

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

Chris: Oh yes , I think it is a good proof of the quality you get inside your download. If a musician gives a beautiful artwork for iTunes, I think that means he makes music with his guts and wants everything to be perfect. 

11. What is you favorite album cover? 

Chris: Swans - The Seer

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? 

Chris: Because you get a beautiful object in your hands. So when you listen to a vinyl at home first you are happy because you open a beautiful object, second you take the time to listen to the music, then nothing around you is really important .... 

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

Chris: One of our gigs is especially a good story. We had to play a festival. 100 meters away from the place we broke a wheel of our van. The stage was on an old truck and we could access only by a ladder (Imagine when we had to move our 4x12 boxes). Finally the amp of our bassist burnt on stage during our show...

After releasing their amazing EP in 2013, Ø L T E N released yesterday their first album "Mode".

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Streaming: Maïak - A Very Pleasant Way To Die

Band: Maïak
Album: A Very Pleasant Way To Die
Label: Fluttery Records
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Nutributter Green Is People
02. I Am Not a Man, I Am a Free Number
03. A Fond Poster Girl For Tatmadaw
04. Sometimes You've Got To Take the Hardest Line
05. We All Live In a Yellow Kursk
Streaming

Created in 2010 in Lausanne, Switzerland, Maïak is composed of four musicians influenced by wide dynamics of post-rock soundscapes and fearless to experiment sudden shifts of atmospheres. 

The group was named after Maïak, a nuclear plant in the Soviet Union, where one of the worst nuclear disasters of all times took place and despite its dramatic consequences, stayed hidden for decades. 

Filled with the symbolic weight of a catastrophe that arose as the punishment of man’s guilty arrogance in an outburst remained silent, Maïak delivers a dark and powerful instrumental rock that evolves between tenuous melancholy and chaotic blast. 

"A Very Pleasant Way to Die" is the pure post-rock at its best.” says Taner Torun, Fluttery Recods label founder.

Recorded with a certain sense of urgency (three days session for forty two minutes of pure post-rock music), "A Very Pleasant Way to Die" wanders through the different colours of the band's aural palette. The album seethes with raw energy. 

The five tracks share complex constructions, blending murky soothing melodies with outbursts of powerful clamour and noiseful explorations. You would at times crave to lie down and gaze at the stars, but you would soon feel the urge to bounce back on your feet and bang your head until you break your neck.

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The Inquisition: 025.When Icarus Falls

This is the first video interview we have ever posted and we are glad it's by When Icarus Falls, because the band and our blog has a special connection, as post-engineering was the first blog to feature their debut release. Thank you guys!

P.S.: If you never have listened to this band and you like post-metal, you should definitely check them out!

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News: Ølten's Crowdfunding

What is Ølten? Isn’t it a town? 

Ølten is made up of 3 guys who love Werner Günthör, beards, checked shirts and old amplifiers. It’s basically a guitarist playing the bass, a bassist playing the guitar and a drummer playing the moog... After the success of their 1st EP in June 2013, the band is now keen to release a full album, which will be produced and recorded at the Studio Mécanique in La Chaux-de-Fonds. 

Where is my money going? 

It’s very simple, you pre-order our album in the format of your choice to help us finance the costs of vinyl and CD pressing,mixing, mastering and graphic design. As well as receiving a beautiful object, you can also choose to spend some time with us or just look sexy in your new underwear and socks!

What happens next? 

After being recorded and mixed by Julien Fehlmann at the Studio Mécanique in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, the album will spend some quality time in the skilled hands of Magnus Lindberg (sound engineer and Cult of Luna’s drummer) for mastering. Mr Tomas Liljedahl from The Old Wind and Breach will be lending us his voice for one track. The packaging will be crafted by talented graphic designer Laurent Güdel. Release planned in March 2015 by Hummus Records and Division Records.

Support the crowdfunding project here!

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Album: Rorcal - Vilagvege

Band: Rorcal
Album: Vilagvege
Label: Self Released
Year: 2013








Tracklist
01. I
02. D
03. II
04. V
05. IV
06. VII
07. VI
08. VIII
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Rorcal sees the light in Geneva (Switzerland) in 2006.  

After four efforts between 2007 and 2008 and more than 100 shows all over Europe, 2010 is marked by the band’s fifth block: Heliogabalus. Highly acclaimed by the public and the critics, this one marks a radical change in the band’s music. Obsessively dark and heavy, this 70 minutes monolithic piece sees Rorcal sink deeper into the abysses of sound.  

After touring all over Europe and working on a couple of collaborative releases, Rorcal is now ready with a brand new set entitled Vilagvege. You have no idea what to expect.  Somewhere between drone, doom and black metal, let yourself go into the bowels of the whale.

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Album: Six Months Of The Sun - And Water Flows

Band: Six Months Of The Sun
Album: And Water Flows
Label: Self Released
Year: 2013








Tracklist
01. Electric Bones
02. Bearded Thunder
03. Lightning Bird
04. Coyote Paranoia
05. Unstoppable Wheel
06. Mountain Drop
07. El Barbathor
08. Desert Whispers
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The Six Months Of Sun are based in Geneva, Switzerland and the band served on stoner rock sound and offers us instrumental compositions with strong influences from bands such as Karma To Burn, Black Sabbath, Goatsnake, Orange Goblin, Graveyard and Clutch. 

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