Maruja : "Connla's Well"

This British band ventures out to Godspeedyoublackemperor! lands of weird wandering. They are also capable of locking into a groove and telling a story.  "The Invisible Man" moves with a jazz-influenced cadence as a saxophone tempers the ambiance and sets the mood. The vocals range from a spoken word that is almost rapped to moaning croons. There is no denying this is both interesting an pretty original when it comes to the sounds they allow to collide here. There is a tension here that is not quite dark enough for me to consider it post-punk, but these guys are not shoe-gaze, either so post-jazz might be a thing? 

They pick up the pace on "Zeitgeist" which heads in an almost more of a Rage Against the Machine direction, but with none of the proto-nu metal guitars, In their place is a great deal of aggressive jazz chaos. The almost rapped vocals continue their flow on "One Hand Behind the Devil", there is a taunt syncopation , that gives this more of a punch. I can hear where they might admire Idles, but there is a great deal of other sounds being added to the mix giving them their own sound. The melody the sax lays down in the middle of this song is nice. 

The last song is more of an all-out jazz jam. It is glazed over with post-rock ambiance, to create a spacious, but surreal swathe of sound. Was not expecting them to end with an instrumental, but it works. These guys are onto something, would like to hear where they go from here on a full length, everything is very cohesive, and while they cover a great deal of musical ground it is never jarring and always smooth sailing even on the higher energy in your face moments. 

pst362

Black Metal History Month : Caiina's "Setter of Unseen Snares"

After another "True Detective " sample which is what all the cool kids are going to be sampling this year, the project finds it's self kicking into some of the more harder hitting metal than has touched upon in some time, after dabbling in many other elements the past few releases. The bass carries a denser and more powerful punch than what's been put out from the sole sonic conspirator Andrew Curtis- Brignell previous to this. This seems to be just the right blend of the sounds they have been playing with over the past few years. It carries a deep echo that might remind you of Nachtmystium as it charges forward.

The title track carries a similar delving into the deep dissonance. The vocals low and throaty against blast beats, this one is a little more death metal in feel along the lines of Ulcerate. "Vow Bound" picks up where the blast from the previous song left off and continues to mutilate it. There are so cool punchy of time accents that creep up into this.There is much more ebb and flow with dynamics for this song to play off of than the previous song offered which seemed boring in comparison. The vocals take on more of a choked croak that gives "Applicant Supplicant" more of a black metal feel. There is a single note melody the guitar plays that carries a little bit of a punk edge to the chant of "We are the damned..." which precedes the blast fest. The you hear of clean vocals which have been predominant in some of this projects other releases doesn't surface until the cool break down around the three and a half minute mark and  then it's a single not chant.

The actual sung vocal return on the final song "Orphan", they are oddly mixed in, falling out of the first three minutes of feedback and noise. The song takes a more doom turn and the vocals have goth like pleading that reminds me of My Dying Bride. Right before the six minute mark the croaky growls come back to scare the singing away. There is a dreary feel that works of the disjointed nature of the chord progression. You can hear a little Pallbearer in the angular nature the chords are worked against one another. I am most impressed by the final fifteen minutes of "Orphan" and thinks this is a much more accessible take on metal than Brigell has taken on previous albums. I will give it a 9. The influences are worn on his sleeve a little more , but he continues to grow as a song writer.