Some time ago, Swiss folk-metal superstars Eluveitie announced a planned two-part series of “acoustic” albums, which instantly got my mouth watering. Being a huge fan of their folk instrumental side, I could only imagine the possibilities of such a project. After a series of delays, the band has released a video for what I presume to be their first single, titled “Omnos” - check it out.
Not exactly what I was expecting, but certainly stays true to their promised acoustic approach. Plus, Anna and Meri are as easy on the eyes as ever, which is certainly a plus! If this song is anything to go by, Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion will follow more of a folk-rock path than what I was expecting in a traditional or neo folk album. I’m greatly looking forward to hearing more of this baby, I can say that much. Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion is released on April 11th, so mark your calendars.
On a bit of a side note, it was recently announced that Eluveitie won’t be appearing at this year’s Paganfest, for reasons beyond their decision - certainly disappointing news, as I greatly enjoyed the event last year and especially enjoyed meeting members of the band. Additionally, no Texas tour dates have even yet been announced - bah! So much for that.
…you’re cited on Wikipedia. Cited, no less, on Wiki’s A Sense of Purpose page, linking to my silly, scathing review from last year as a source claiming the album as melodic death metal. I guess this makes me an authority on the subject of metal subgenre labeling. Sweet!
I got a good chuckle out of reading the discussion section of said article, which seems to be packed to the brim with arguments over what genre(s) the album falls over. Oh, Wiki. You so crazy!
My opinion is, honestly, a big fat “who cares.” After cleaning up this blog’s tags and categories last week, I made it a point not to stress over the surgical process of systematically sorting genre, and things are lot more organized as a result. Stressing over whether X album falls under the umbrella of salsa death crunkcore simply feels like a waste of time and energy to me. Time and energy would could be spent doing far more productive things, such as… perhaps… listening to music. A Sense of Purpose most conveniently falls under melodeath to my ears, so there ya go.
But that’s just me. Whether the Wiki gods grant this citation in the long run is questionable, but then, so is the accuracy of Wikipedia by its very nature. I sure got a laugh out of it, though!
Band: Mono
Album: Hymn To The Immortal Wind
Genre: Instrumental Post-rock
Label: Temporary Residence Limited
Year of Release: 2009
Country of Origin: Japan Mono official website Mono on Myspace
I usually try and refrain from writing much about an album before it’s officially released, but alas, Mono’s masterpiece demands attention, and attention it shall receive. Read on… »
Undoubtedly the biggest surprise I happened upon last year was this diamond of a shoegaze album by a little known Peruvian band known as Resplandor. Read on… »
Band: Envy
Album: Insomnia Doze
Genre: Post-hardcore/Post-rock/Screamo
Label: Temporary Residence Limited
Year of Release: 2006
Country of Origin: Japan Envy official website Envy on Myspace
As I previously mentioned, my first exposure to Envy was just last year with their Envy/Jesu split, wherein I was very impressed with their powerful, emotionally charged music which seemed to take all the best worlds of delicate, melodic post-rock and intense, poetic hardcore to form some of the finest screamo I had ever heard. I had only just scratched the surface. Read on… »
Well now, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? But since no music blog is complete without a year-end list, let us usher in the New Year by reflecting on 2008’s most notable and excellent albums, and perhaps… just maybe… we can get things back to how they used to be around these parts.
Thanks in no small part to this year’s immense catalogue of exceptional musical releases, it was harder than ever to limit this list to only ten. 2008 wasn’t necessarily a year of big surprises - from the start, I expected big things from a handful of my very favorite bands, such as Cynic, Boris, Ataraxie, Melvins, Those Poor Bastards and Mourning Beloveth, to name only a few, and predictably, I was quite pleased with the results more often than not. That having been said, I was lucky enough to discover, or become introduced to, some incredibly talented bands and musicians I had never before heard whose material seriously blew me away. I regret not having written anything on most of these bands recently, as they deserve exposure and success, but hey - better late than never, right?
Without further ado, let’s look back on what 2008 had to offer. Read on… »
Frankly, I’m a little surprised that these guys haven’t gotten more publicity. UK based progressive rock/metal band Illuminatus released their full length debut earlier this year, to mostly quiet reception. Considering their clean, accessible and perhaps somewhat (gulp) radio friendly sound that could be compared to the likes of Anathema and even Deftones, this is a wonder to me… but then, there are many things I can’t claim to understand about modern music and its popularity, so perhaps I’ll leave it at that.
Regardless, The Wrath of the Lambs marks the true beginning of this young band’s foray into the music world, and is well worth checking out.
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This little puppy has been making quite a splash in the music scene lately, and for good reason.
This split was my first exposure to Japanese post-rock/screamo band Envy, a group with whom I really had no idea what to expect. I’m glad to say that my initial impression was a very positive one, as they come off as extremely talented noise makers in their three featured tracks. I’ve since become a huge fan of the band, and can now fully recommend them to anyone interested in the harder side of post-rock or hardcore — and don’t let that “screamo” tag frighten you; these guys are all about powerful music on a deeply personal level.
Jesu is, as usual, a highly pleasant and enjoyable listening experience, despite only having two tracks featured — short, but sweet. Actually, these two tracks make up roughly twenty-one minutes of Jesu’s trademark wall of noise “metalgaze” style, more than enough to hold most Jesu fans over until the band’s next proper release.
A split of surprising quality, to say the least.
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With bands like Insomnium and In Mourning around, there’s still hope for melodic death metal, indeed.
After a long string of demo releases since 2000, Shrouded Divine marks In Mourning’s first proper album, and what a debut album indeed. Something of a progressive melodic death metal offering with a delicate sprinkling of melancholy, In Mourning comes off as refreshing, exciting and quite pleasing to the ears.
