I really appreciate that Mother of the Forest has a well-defined and instantly recognizable sonic palette. Which is not to say that all his songs sound the same per se, but there's never any doubt as to the artist's identity. The new album "Drunk forever" continues exploring much of the same dark paths as his earlier EPs and then some, beginning with "Condor" and ending with the surprising howling black metal outro of "Owl", each tune taking on the title of a different bird. I can only speculate as to his influences, but there's a freshness to his approach that makes he believe he's not some sort of minimal synth revivalist, but rather someone who stumbled across his own sound in a far more organic fashion. Not that it matters just as long as he never stoops to trodding out the same tired pseudo-fascist tropes as so many others -- the re-contextualization of black metal is far more interesting anyhow, along with whatever else he's bringing to the table. Very recommended!
The 4th volume of Iceland Music Export's "Made in Iceland" compilation series is out and, as always, it features a wide selection of artists including a few you may know (FM Belfast, Sin Fang, Ólöf Arnalds, Rökkurró, etc.) plus at least a couple you may not. All have released albums recently and are touring at home and abroad and, who knows? Maybe even a few will surprise you by not conforming to your usual expectations of Icelandic music -- I can tell you that this Dikta track certainly defies my prejudices. No ambient soundscapes, no other-worldly vocal swoops, no precious tweeness -- just straight-up solid, friendly pop/rock. Nothing wrong with that at all.
For more info, check out the comp's official microsite where they have the whole thing available for streaming: http://www.icelandmusic.is/Media/Made-in-Iceland-4/
In case you didn't read the song notes, in case it wasn't painfully obvious, yes -- "Nowhere in time" is a direct nod to Iron Maiden. Like the band says themselves, "I think this song pushes Victims boundaries about as far as they can go" in terms mixing trad metal moves with the band's signature d-beat attack, but what a mix it is! The rest of the band's new record "A dissident" is killer too and well worth checking out.
It's finally bright/warm/dry enough here in the PacNW for me to head out the door at 5:30am and take a good, long run through the woods, so today that's exactly what I did. It was absolutely perfect out and when this tune came up on my mp3 player I was in bliss as it just fit so well into my morning/routine/life. Since I am no techno head by any stretch of the imagination, I only checked Skudge out after they walked away with the P3 Guld over the much more obviously well-known Swedish House Mafia and, on doing so, fully understood that the jury made the right decision. Maybe it's just me, but I love the sort of stuff like this that sounds so simple on the surface, yet is so incredibly engrossing.
Of the many things I love about this tune, one of the more subtle and killer aspects is the absolute lack of drum fills. The Psyke Project started life as an intensely mathy metalcore act, but over the years they've evolved steadily into a lean, mean, no-frills machine. The other thing I love about it: that ridiculously heavy breakdown at the end. It starts off so slow and empty and then only manages to get even more brutal as they hold notes and let them bend into feedback. The rest of their new split release "Ebola" with fellow Danes As We Fight is all just as good too, that is, aside from the other band's material. The less I say about them, the better.
Arrow Meet Francis is a new solo project from Dick Pettersson of the excellent indie act In These Woods and, while I'm not sure if he'd consider "Arrows" a "mere" demo recording or what, it's a great tune and incredibly promising for what's to come. If he gets time to work on it, that is... ITW are currently busy working on their debut full-length and if the sample track they sent me is any indication, it's gonna be fantastic.
I've recently spent a lot of time revisiting Strip Music these past couple weeks, so I find myself listening to The Kick's new single "Rubicon" and wishing the beat was heavier. But then I come to my senses and realize that it's more than fine as-is and that my prejudiced preconceived notions about what this sort of music ought to sound like are plain foolish. It is what it is and it's good!
Electronic acts have been trying their best to emulate machines, long since the early days of Kraftwerk and beyond, but Swedish electro act System takes it to the logical next level by actually employing speech synthesis to replace human vocals. The result is surprisingly effective in context, especially when the lyrics are sung from the chilling perspective of the machine -- "We will be here long after you are gone". Advanced synthesis balanced by analog synths, maintained by two human slaves. Or something like that; it's a dystopian ideal put to sound if ever there was one. "Inheritance" is System's latest single off the album "Circle of infinite radius", officially released on April 27 in a slightly different version with "more punch" along with the b-side "Against me".
Much in the same way that "The explorer" takes its time to fully flower, On Volcano's latest release took its time making a lasting impression, but once it did, it stuck with me. If you still haven't downloaded the "New blood EP", you're missing out: http://www.onvolcano.com/
As is so often the case, the best things in life are free.
This is Swedish death 101. Aside from the blastbeat (please see exhibit "Screams of the mutilated"), "Morbid desecration" demonstrates each of the essential riff styles, from the mid-tempo heaviness of the intro, to the straight-up ripping main riff (complete with some choice start/stop breaks) to the doomy breakdown/solo and then finally the bridge, which takes on a shuffle pattern in 3. All totally crucial, all executed with the correct balance of precision and filth by Maim. Once again, these dudes prove they know what's up and deliver a solid slab with a crooked smile. Class dismissed.
Mary-Anne och Kalla Handen is a new project from ex-The Kid vocalist Mary-Anne Norberg and David Sundqviist of The Kick and "Genom fingrarna" is their first publically-available track. Unlike their other bands, it's not electro at all, but that's not a bad thing, especially if they're still delivering strong hooks like this. Expect a new single and video to surface soon.
I am proud to present to you the premiere of the video for Principe Valiente's brand new single "In my arms", but that's not all -- I've also managed to get the band to answer a few questions as well. Read on!
So how'd you guys hook up with [video director] Henning Cronheim? I know he's worked on the Millennium trilogy, but is there any other work of his I should be aware of, aside from the previous video he did with you?
He actually found us through our myspace. We were just in the process of recording the album and he loved the songs we had done already at that time, "The night" was one of them. He mostly works with commercial films, but he has also been involved in other movies here in Sweden like "Änglavakt" and "Snabba Cash".
What's the concept for this new clip? Did you pick out the song and idea ahead of time or is it something you and Henning collaborated on?
This video is about a married couple who are trying to find each other again after a long time, on their silver wedding anniversary. They try with love and affection but also with imagination and fantasies, but still care for each other. The idea fits quite good with the song, which is both contestant and a bit frustrated, but still full of hope .
Of course, it can also be interpreted in different ways as well. Like the video for "The night".
We picked the song ourselves and the concept was Henning's idea, but we collaborated very well with the details and we are very satisfied with the result. Henning, his photographer Adrian Levander and the whole film team were very professional and great to work with.
How do you feel about the "goth" descriptor being applied to your music? Do you feel a kinship with the goth scene? How do you feel about other gothic-style bands like Zola Jesus and Cold Cave getting major hype in the indie world?
We are fine with those associations, but I think we have much more influences to connect with too.
We really are into some gothic acts from the 80's like The Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie & The Banshees and early Cocteau Twins, but we are very fond of other styles too, like the shoegazer scene in the beginning of the 90's with My Bloody Valentine and Ride and even earlier with The Jesus & Mary Chain, so we think we have a good mixture.
Anyway, I think it's great that good underground bands are getting more listeners, I actually didn’t hear Zola Jesus until now and I really liked some of it...
Ok, so you have this new single... what's next?
Well, our next step is to promote the new album as much as we can, and do some more shows here in Sweden before we go to Germany for a small tour in the middle of June. There's also plans for London and Moscow, but not scheduled yet. We hope for some summer festivals too.
It seems like the album has been very well received, but we still do the booking ourselves, so actually we are looking for a booking agency as well.
I've heard a bunch of Miasmal stuff over the years and even shelled out for the ultra-limited/sought-after 12" version of the demo on , but I never felt like they lived up to the hype. Solid Swedish death, sure, but we're pretty much drowning in B-grade versions of the stuff right now. This new tune, however, totally changed my mind. If the rest of the album is as good as this, it's gonna be sick. The US tour can't happen soon enough, I just hope the boneheads in Bone Sickness don't screw things up.
The Skull Defekts and Daniel Higgs are like chocolate and peanut butter. They both taste great separately, but put them together and oh man, is it magical. I just wish they'd tour out west at some point.