Dusted reviews Vladislav Delay Quartet
Dusted reviews the new album from the Vladislav Delay Quartet: https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6503
Tag: Reviews
Pitchfork reviews Shine 2009
Pitchfork reviews Finnish retro pop act Shine 2009: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15548-realism/
Dusted reviews BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa
Dusted reviews the BJ Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa collaboration "Big shadow Montana": https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6495
Desultory
Counting our scars
Pulverised Records
Fourteen years is a long time to be out of the recording game, but these days reunion albums seem to be par for the death metal course. It's not really a surprise, then, that Sweden's Desultory arrived back on the scene with a new disc that, unlike a great many bands in the same position, is a hell of a lot better than their sign-off album back in 1996. How does it fair in today's overcrowded market, though? Well, despite the fact that it's far from groundbreaking, "Counting our scars" is a decent slab of semi-tech death metal that blends modern-day production values with a nostalgic glance at the band's past, including their melodic Paradise Lost leanings of the '90s. Though it is decent, that's not to say that I would go out and buy this. There's a hell of a lot of other stuff out there at the minute that deserves your hard-earned cash first. If you were a fan of the band back in the day, then it's a no-brainer; go out and buy the thing and you'll love it. If you haven't heard of them before, all I can do is warn you to tread with caution. It's one of those -- you might love it or you might wish you'd passed and handed over all those crinkly bits of paper for the latest Morbid Angel opus [doubtful, few things are worse than the latest Morbid Angel -- ed.].
- John Norby
The Silent Ballet reviews Circle
The Silent Ballet reviews the latest Circle album "Infektio": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/4201/Default.aspx
Bullet
Highway pirates
Black Lodge
Up until now, Sweden's answer to AC/DC have been just that -- a Scandinavian version of Angus Young and co. that at times sounded more like the Aussie quintet than they did themselves. Bullet did it with such class, however, that there were rarely cries of 'rip-off'; rather, the majority of people who found their way to the band raved about their similarities in a positive light. Three albums in and we still have that unquestionable 'DC style, but "Highway pirates" shows that the band have this time found a voice more unique to themselves. There's more of a hair metal vibe on here, particularly in the guitar leads and the sung-in-unison chorus parts and this, in itself, marks an essential development in the band's output. Let's face it, "Bite the bullet" and "Heading for the top" were killer releases in their own right, but one more AC/DC-meets-Accept overloaded album may well have found Bullet fall on the wrong side of favour. Songs such as "Fire and dynamite" and "Down and out" display the classic Bullet style and waver little from that formula, while others -- the title track and "Knuckleduster" as prime examples -- show Bullet at their hard rockin' best. More of this and they'll be unstoppable.
- John Norby
Cut City
Where's the harm in dreams disarmed?
self-released
When I first heard "The sound and the sore", my first exposure to Cut City's final chapter, it was immediately evident that the band had continued the evolution evident between their first full-length, "Exit decades", and the phenomenal "Narcissus can wait" EP. Still, this was little preparation for "Where's the harm in dreams disarmed?" While it saddens me considerably that this will be the last we'll hear from the band, the album is a fitting farewell. There is not a weak song on the album, and the ground covered -- in terms of the songwriting, the instrumentation, and the emotional landscapes explored -- is more than I could have expected: opener "Void" resonates with all of the passion found on "Narcissus...", its nervous energy emerging from whispers of instrumentation; "Future tears today" is dark and anthemic, unnerving yet beautiful, confidently moving toward its end; "The kids of Masochism High" with its crushing waves of distortion and screaming lead guitar has become one of my favorite songs penned by Cut City; and "Left of denial" would not feel out of place on a John Hughes film soundtrack. And that only briefly covers less than half of the songs; I could easily write as long a post as I did for "The sound and the sore" for most of the tracks on here.
This may be their last battle cry, but I have little doubt that Cut City's final album will echo long into the future, and deservedly so.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
theartsdesk reports from SPOT
theartsdesk reports on this year's SPOT Festival: https://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3797:the-arts-desk-in-aarhus-spot-festival&Itemid=29
Highlights for the UK-based author include Our Broken Garden, Oh Land, 4 Guys From the Future, Helsinki Poetry and one artist I particularly like, Hymns From Nineveh.
The Silent Ballet reviews Jeniferever
The Silent Ballet is not too impressed with Jeniferever's new album "Silesia": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/657/ItemID/4189/Default.aspx
Atoi
Waves of past relations
Fake Diamond
Now on their second full-length, Danish quartet Atoi have built upon the success of debut "Youth machine" and created an album of electropop elegance that spans over three decades of the genre. Musical references to the likes of Gary Numan, Kraftwerk and A-ha sit together in perfect harmony as singer Ida Cæcilie Rasmussen provides a sublime layer of her own authenticity, serving to add a peculiar dimension to the material. While "Waves of past relations" certainly adheres to an '80s electro aesthetic, there's something very Mazzy Star about the work as well. It's not that it sounds the same; rather it has a level of enigmatic virtue that's utterly compelling and deeply satisfying. There's also an ever-so-slight touch of Genghis Tron on here, although that's not to say that this is in any way heavy. It's simply that, sonically, some of the music is quite reminiscent of GT's soft electronic moments. If there's one criticism though, it's that "Waves..." can get a bit tedious after a while, which points to the conclusion that this is music to be in the mood for rather than a disc for all seasons.
- John Norby
Dusted reviews Elonkorjuu, Phaedra
Dusted reviews the reissue of Finnish heavy rockers Elonkorjuu and their album "Harvest time": https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6420
Also reviewed, the new Phaedra album "The sea" from : https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6348
Pitchfork reviews Johan Agebjörn
Pitchfork reviews Johan Agebjörn's new album "Casablanca nights": https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15394-casablanca-nights/
Don't forget to check out our interview with Johan here.
Riff Knives
Ape flip
self-released
A Swedish Limp Bizkit is the best way to describe this Stockholm crew, although it's more the Fred Durst-ian vocals than the music that finds Riff Knives out limpin' with the Bizkit. The title track here is actually pretty killer and is probably the most Bizkity in terms of the music itself, with a damn fine chorus riff and a cool vocal style to match. From there things kinda go downhill a little, with the remainder of the tunes sounding off like it's the red capped fool himself behind the mic. If that's your bag, you'll probably be in rap metal heaven. For me, however, it just sounds like they worship Durst and aspire to sound exactly like him. In places this harks back to the early '90s output of funk metal icons Mordred, but offer nothing near the creative excitement output by the San Fran thrashers back in the day. "Ape flip" is a fine effort, but it's going to take a lot more than this to detonate an explosive resurgence in the rap metal genre.
- John Norby
The Silent Ballet reviews Ulver
The Silent Ballet covers Ulver's latest work "War of the roses": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/4158/Default.aspx
Rising
Legacy of wolves 7"
Red Tape
Two tracks of burly metal delivered with hardcore-level intensity, buoyed even further by a clean and powerful recording. I know I should've covered this ages ago when it first came out, but I've been too busy spinning the mp3s on repeat while pumping iron at the gym. Seriously though, if you want modern heaviness that delivers on the false promises of bands like Mastodon and High on Fire (face it, neither of those bands are all that hot), then you need Rising. The band gets better with every release and the fact that they manage to sound so tough without resorting to any sort of lunkheaded machismo is commendable as well. Can't wait to hear what they do next.
- Avi Roig