HOLISSSTIK : "Chapter 1: This Endless Solitude"

 

This project emerged from Norway's Manes, which was pretty experimental to begin with, so this is not a huge leap. Stepping away from metal, but not forgetting to pack the guitars, there are some organic rock elements still in place. Female vocals that remind me of the Gathering sail along the opening track. Anna Murphy of Cellar Darling sings on this album, but there is a wide range of collaborators who contribute to a very expansive Massive Attack-like feel. It is not metal but aggressive for electronic music, though not industrial either, as it is too layered with atmosphere and not the kind of staccato stomp that genre works off.

"Projections" is even more dream-laden. It feels like if you took a nap while tripping and could not tell if you were asleep or still dreaming. This sounds cool, but it is more about the surreal sound than a song that hooks you in and gets stuck in your head. "Obsession Six" simmers in its ambiance a bit; it reminds me a little of Psychic TV. , Though the guitars have more of a metallic sheen. Then the patter of some manner of percussion resembles a blast beat bubbling under it. Hey, it's Norway. Hard to avoid all black metal influence, the more experimental years of Ulver could be a fair point of comparison. 

The cool robot vocals make up for the fact it's an atmospheric song; they are just kind of jamming out. I was also obsessed with the song "Mr Roboto." There is more form and function to "Would You Take This Heart" before they drift off into the abstract again for "Behind Me". There is a heavier element that is raging from within the song but does not have the sonic heft to get hte point fully across. They close the album with "This Endless Solitude". The song opens in a more introspective floating that finds layers of vocals creeping in along with a hypnotic electronic pulse. This vibe summarizes the album well as it displays a very fluid mix of electronic elements and organic rock instruments. I will give this a 9 as it excels at capturing the mood here. It drops on Season of Mist on August 14th. 

pst365

Høstsol : 'Länge Leve Döden'

 

This black metal super group of sorts caught my eye as it features the singer of one of my all-time favorite black metal bands Shining. Niklas Kvarforth brings his trademark scowls of agony to some icy Scandinavian black metal, that also finds Tor-Helge Skei on guitar. The result is something that uses atmosphere as a lubricant to dominate you with its commanding charge. For Kvarforth this is a rather straight forward approach to song writing when compared to the depressive sounds of Shining. Over the years Shining has refined their sound into at times something with a more dynamic rock n roll swagger than what is thought of as black metal so this will appeal to fans of their earlier and heavier work. 

The raw energy that possesses the second song which can be roughly translated as "That Which Once Was". I think the keyboards really add a great deal to the song and remind you of the classic days of European Black Metal. Normally I like black metal to be a dark nuanced beast of sonic depth, where this has a slightly rawer edge to it, but I think it works well for what they are doing here. It is not all just blast beast and tremolo picked guitars though there is plenty of both. The songs are book ended with ambiance, which might be trimmed slightly to streamline the song lengths if you were edited this like a book. Does their ten-and-a-half-minute epic need the minute long lead in?  It is explosive when it does kick in and at times runs the risk of playing it almost too safe when comparing it to the status quo for black metal. Though the more atmospheric passage employs a really cool melodic element halfway into the song, which is one of the album's high points. 

The second half of the album keeps a similar balance of old school second wave rough edged throttling that is tempered with a majestic sense of atmosphere. Not as personal in its anguish as the more introspective loathing that Shining summoned. Manes is also a more experimental act when it comes to black metal, so things fall more along those lines, by the book in that it is paying homage to an era or tradition. There is a darker more deliberate menace to the last song that I prefer over them just raging like the fire of a burning church, not that I have anything against churches burning as that is something I support. I will give this one a 9. it drops the 13th of this month.

    

the Top 10 Prog Albums of 2018

It is that time again. If you showed up for wanking and frilly pirate shirts then look elsewhere, so no Dream Theater clones or really anything close.It has to go somewhere not the same noodling album after album. The score from my reviews to help determine the ranking , but also how many times Last FM told me I listened to each album.An album can have all the critical acclaim in the world but if it does not inspire multiple listens then how good can it actually be ?

This year it leans more heavily on the side of between new blood being spilled and  more well established acts .  Rather than posting media of a track from each band I am leaving a link to the review, which will contain Bandcamp or Full Album Streams. Ok enough talking about it, the time has come to dig into the top 10 Prog albums of 2018.

10- Arabrot- "Who Do You Love"

 This album finds the project taking on more more conventional rock slant, even their tendency to drone and the odd touch of quirk to the vocals on the first song, you can also hear traces of Led Zeppelin. The sonic oddities and genre jerking that have been reigned in for the sake of songwriting and are not missed as long as they are keeping this heading in a darker direction. I think this album is such it's own thing that it becomes most endearing over time.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/07/arabrot-who-do-you-love.html

9-Megaton Leviathan - "Mage"

 Another band that has changed this year. When I heard the first track off this album, I thought "Oh My God , they have turned into Jesu" . I am fine with this as I miss Jesu . In other words there is more of a dreamy  shoe gaze haze over this album and it barely touches upon metal, yet it does have rock in it's veins to the point that I am not putting this on an indie rock or post-punk list. It gets a lot of props for the surreal adventure it takes you on.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/11/megaton-leviathan-mage.html

8- Crippled Black Phoenix - "Great Escape"

 This project of Justin Greaves the drummer for Iron Monkey and Electric Wizard, typically embarks on a more psychedelic rock vein. This is still the case with ample doses of progressive rock which is still in the 70s rock zip code. Melodic vocals and a bong laden mood, allow the opening song to coast with the relaxed Pink Floyd like vibe. When it comes to prog rock these guys do it smoother than most.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/12/crippled-black-phoenix-great-escape.html






7-Ihsahn -"Amr"

 The ex Emperor master mind's last few album's drifted further into progressive rock. There are plenty of moments that are not only metal but closer to even black metal,with his choked croak almost picking up where his first solo album left off. Synths are more to the forefront. Not just any synths , but very retro synths that sound like they are from an 80s horror movie. Its a shade better than what most other artists in progressive metal are doing, though the progressive side is what breaks up the dark aggression that we came to know and love him by. The bar is set pretty high and my threshold for darkness is at the level of soul sucking so if you like darker progressive metal it might be your album so far year. I am a step away from being vampiric in my lust for darkness never be quenched by the metal of mere mortals, so take that into consideration

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/04/ihsahn-amr.html


.

6-Sigh- "Heir to Despair"

    This band really defines progressive rock. There shit is not a bunch of notes it goes somewhere and actually makes progress. While I was surprised that it sounded like a space age take on Jethro Tull as a metal band, it makes perfect sense. Yes , I know they used to be a black metal band. They are still heavy,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/11/sigh-heir-to-despair.html

5- Lychgate" The Contagion in Nine Steps" 

 Fans of the band who showed up for black metal might have found this to be jarring. It's also really dark and interesting so if you don't recognize that and want just blast beats so eat more glue and chase it with a bullet. This is not to say I approve of every movement in this shifting landscape of angular chaos. I do approve of the sense of adventure and rebellion against the black metal status quo even at risk of not being black metal anymore.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/05/lychgate-contagion-in-nine-steps.html

4-Vanishing Kids " Heavy Dreamer" 


This band features former members of Jex Thoth and draws influences from a wider web. The over driven guitar waking sluggishly from the hazy murk of occult rock while bathing with lusher atmosphere. Despite the occasional rock god guitar solo that puts it's foot upon on the monitor to remind you where they came from, both the title track and "Without a Sun" both sound like they could have come from 4AD's catalog in the late 80s.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/09/vanishing-kids-heavy-dreamer.html

3- Manes - "Slow Motion Death Sequence" 


 This album finds the band going further in a direction that is more electronic than metal. I like the vocals right from the jump. They are moody and the female vocals remind me of Bjork. While this might not be metal, there are rock elements t with distorted power chords creating a driving pulse. The male vocals continue to get weirder reminding me of Peter Gabriel.


https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/06/manes-slow-motion-death-sequence.html

2-Voivod- "the Wake" 

 The 14th album from these legends finds them embracing all of their sides. The album takes you through a wide array of dark and melodic places, with more of a proggy "Nothing Face" like drive rather than the thrash aggression of their earlier work.In terms of heavy it's more like "Dimension Hatross" than "War& Pain". Snake's voice sounds great on this album, where many of his peers feel the effects of time. I think while it only comes close to the very peak of the Piggy years , you are talking about the best albums by one of the very best metal bands, so that is a high fucking bat. It does however holds ground against their body of work as a whole and is clear they are not content to fall back into rehashing the past , but continuing to progress.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/08/voivod-wake.html

1-Voices- "Frightened" 


 Former members of Akercocke formed this progressive metal band. The dark sense of melody further into this album with each listen . It has a wide array of vocal colors. The metal core of what these musicians creates from doesn't hamper it from bringing other elements ranging from post-punk to post- hardcore, though I guess these post-men aren't just ringing twice as any other post-sub genre can also be found. This album is very impressive, when I got it back in April it was what I thought to be one of the first contenders for album of the year as I could not imagine someone bringing it in the dark and aggressive fashion these guys do.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/04/voices-frightened.html

The Weekly Playlist Vol 7 Where is My Mind ?

In terms of readership / views these have gotten too popular for me to stop now as Vol 6 -the Cure Edition, beat out most albums reviews this week. Granted the Cure is in the wheelhouse of most of my readers here.We are breaking from the focus on an artist or genre theme this week. There is still a theme, this is not my most personal blog, it the blog where I am the last word so I get to do what I want. It is however Cvlt Nation that I touch on subjects like kink, mental illness and drugs that goes deeper than what I think about the new Interpol album. While I can have some emotional connections to the music at the end of the day life will still go on if Nick Cave puts out a shitty album, not to say he would. In the event he did, I have learned even most of my favorite artists will at some point let me down. Just because I don’t see eye to eye with Converge about the direction they are headed in, it is not enough to make me want to go have a drink. Where is My Mind is the name of the column I write for Cvlt Nation on mental health...yes it’s also the name of a Pixies song. It’s been a mental health week for me and to be honest I think I never truly got balanced back out post Dragon Con, so it’s made me more anxious and reactive than normal and when I came off a panicked high swing there was the wouldn’t I be doing everyone a favor style suicidal idealization. Now my meds are regulated and I’m screwing my head back on so you guys are stuck with me for a while. So this is the sound track to my crazy. Rather than posting a bunch of songs about being crazy I forced myself to pick only from albums that have come out this year. Some are as new as Pale Waves and Slothrust, others like Iceage and Voices have been out for awhile. So you might find some new music along the way, though I didn’t feel like putting the links to the full album reviews on here, I am sure you are adults that can internet very well, so Here you go..

Manes : " Slow Motion Death Sequence"

This album finds the band going further in a direction that is more electronic than metal. I like the vocals right from the jump. They are moody and the female vocals remind me of Bjork. While this might not be metal, there are rock elements to this song with distorted power chords creating a driving pulse. The male vocals continue to get weirder on "Scion" . In some ways it reminds me of Peter Gabriel. I like how this song cruises along in a very smooth futuristic manner. "Chemical Heritage" is darker and a little more dramatic. The electronics are moving this one more than guitars. The drums give it a little more rock kick. Everything eventually converges into more of a solid groove.

They take "Therapism" into a really weird and wonderful direction, it has pretty much anything I could ask for from these guys. "Last Resort" takes a more tender approach, feeling more psychedelic than a ballad, the vocals go up into more of a falsetto. The guitar explores Pink Floyd like places. "Poison Enough For Everyone" returns to the darker more dramatic rock style that largely dominates this album. "Building the Ship of Theseus" is the first song that doesn't connect with me as solidly as the rest of the album has up to this point. There is nothing wrong with it, to my ears the focus is not as unique or crystal clear.

"Night Vision" finds the electronic atmosphere coming on much thicker. The soulful head placement of the vocals remind me of the band Satchel from the 90s. The vocals become even more androgynous, ok more feminine with the lilted falsetto of " Ater". The beat to this one drones in a more acid jazz manner before the guitars come in. I'll round this album up to a 10, I guess I'll see how long this stays in rotation, but I have a feeling some of the weirder moments would only grow on me over time. The dark coat draped over this album is great.