Ariettes oubliées… is the second full-length from Les Discrets, a French shoegaze/post-rock project spearheaded by Fursy Teyssier (ex-Amesoeurs). Les Discrets was originally conceived as a side-project, wherein Teyssier could express the images that inspired his visual art in a musical context. Since they have signed to Prophecy in 2009, the band have been extremely productive, with two split EPs (with Alcest and Arctic Plateau respectively) in addition to their two full-length records.
Naglfar are a Swedish black metal band who have been active since 1992. Téras is their sixth studio album and their first in five years. The band draws their name from that of a ship that figures in Norse mythology, a ship made of the nails of the dead that will carry the hordes that will do battle with the gods during Ragnarok. As might be expected, Naglfardraw a great deal of their influences from the Poetic Edda …
I interview a wide range of women who work in the music industry forGirls Don’t Like Metal, from music journalists and publicists to academics and, of course, musicians. This week, I had the opportunity to talk to the lovely and talented Rae Amitay, a unique interview subject, in that she embodies several of the roles women take on in the industry. In addition to a career in music writing (she is a full-time staff writer and social …
Lisa Christiansen is another brilliant woman who has dedicated her career to celebrating the music she loves. She serves as the host of the CBC Radio 3 show Appetite for Distraction, where she combines exciting independent music with plenty of chat, often veering into one of her favourite topics: heavy metal. She’s also the host of two innovative CBC Radio 3 podcasts: Extended Play, featuring in-depth discussions and interviews with Canadian musicians, and Full Metal Podcast, which focuses …
Bless Them That Curse You is a collaboration between Chicago-based experimental noise group Locrian and Seattle’s Mamiffer (composer and pianist Faith Coloccia and Aaron Turner of Isisfame). Both groups bring a pedigree of intelligence and strangeness to their joint project, and the final result is an complex and simmering sum of these intense parts.The six songs on this album swoop and swirl through a series of elliptical patterns, transforming the sound and surprising the listener with …
New York City’s noise rockers Unsane have been making metallic, hardcore tinged punk since 1988, and Wreck is their seventh full-length album. Unsane are devoted to an angry, seething filthiness in their sound that evokes the merciless and danger of old New York City. Wreck is no different, all rage and bloody concrete, the voice of a city that is ready to swallow you whole.
The production quality has just the right amount of griminess to suit the alternating brooding …
Uncle Touchy are abrasive and chaotic post-hardcore/noise rock from Chatanooga, TN and Atlanta, GA. Formed in 2010, these relative newcomers hope to appeal to fans of Unsane and Jesus Lizard. While they are geographically inclined towards sludge, Uncle Touchy bely their Southern roots ― there is no sludge in these musical gears. With Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Violence, they make it clear that they prefer their lube to be of the sweat and spit variety. Openly …
Sigh are an extreme metal band from Tokyo, Japan, formed in 1990. They began as a black metal act, and in fact were briefly involved with Euronymous’s Deathlike Silence label in Norway, but over time have evolved a more avant-garde approach. In Somniphobia is their ninth full-length studio album, and features guest appearances from Kam Lee (Massacre), as well as Metatron from Meads of Asphodel. The record winds its strange and staggering way through a series of grotesque soundscapes, many …
After two years of making strange sounds together, Portland, OR’s Wizard Rifle have released their debut album, Speak Loud Say Nothing. An example of a successful hybrid that’s much greater than the sum of its parts, the record combines nimble, noodling math rock guitar playing and songwriting with comfortably fuzzy, broken-in sludge tones. Wizard Rifle utilize the best from both of these influences. The guitar playing is supple and sophisticated, falling over itself with the swooping, precise grace …
Eternal Turn of the Wheel is the ninth studio album from black-and-folk, Ukrainian metal band Drudkh. The band have always been deeply inspired by Ukrainian poetry, both in their lyrics and music, defined by a deep appreciation of the natural landscape and a tendency towards solemn introspection. Over the years, Drudkh have softened considerably from their rawer, more aggressive black metal roots, leaving some fans disappointed. 2010′s Handful of Stars received a particularly lukewarm response, and the band announced they would …
Finnish power metal band Amberian Dawn attempt to stretch their wings a bit with their fourth album, Circus Black. In the past, they have been inspired by Finnish folk tales and history and Norse mythology. Now, the band seems to have made a shift in inspiration with Circus Black, which seems to draw much more from Insane Clown Posse than it does the Kalevala. I have to admit on first glance the horrific cover art did not exactly inspire …
Requiem For The Indifferent is the fifth studio album (amid numerous singles, EPs and instrumental projects) from Dutch symphonic metallers Epica. Talented and sophisticated, they have inspired an entire generation of imitators. Epica’s sophisticated classical instrumentation, Simone Simons’ rich, supple mezzo-soprano voice and sumptuous gothic aesthetic place them well above most of their peers
Requiem For The Indifferent is definitely a transitional album for the band. Epica seem to be in the process of expanding their musical range, …
Leticia Supple is an outspoken and inexhaustible presence in the heavy metal scene. She has her fingers in all sorts of different pies, from music journalism and blogging to PR and promotion. Her blog,Biodagar, is an invaluable resource for musicians and writers alike, as she’s always willing to share advice gleaned from her many years writing about heavy metal. Leticia has even designed an online course for aspiring music writers to follow, and hosts a series …
Based in Ottawa, ON, Biipiigwan‘s new EP, Nibaak, follows up their full-length, God’s Hooks, released in March 2010. Nibaak was recorded, mixed and mastered by Topon Das, of Juno-nominated Canadian grindcore act Fuck The Facts, and is composed of three five-minute songs. The EP serves as a kind of tapas menu for noisy Canadian metal: toothsome, flavourful dishes that are too spare to constitute a full meal, but make up for their brevity with powerful flavours and a heady kick of spice. Lots of words …
Halifax, Nov Scotia-based extreme metal band Pith unleash four-song EP Fore. Much like “cleave,” “pith” is a dual-pronged word that refers to the central, elemental part of something, particularly in a botanical context; it is also a term than means to destroy the spinal chord. So, this band’s moniker refers to something generative and life sustaining ― the marrow of a thing ― and also a type of destruction. This paradox neatly sums up Fore, which is …
This is the third full-length from Finnish black metal act Förgjord. The album title, Sielunvihollinen, means “enemy of the soul,” and it certainly does its best to become the listener’s nemesis. The first track on this combative record is a somewhat subdued, eerie intro featuring cello and pipes layered over an echo-heavy voiceover. Then with “Ei Kuoleman Arvoine,” it leaps into raw, harsh black metal. The production values are almost impenetrably low: the drums are muffled, heard as if through …
Hailing from Tampere, Finland, funereal doom metal band Profetus deliver a crushing blow with their second full-length release, …To Open The Passages In Dusk. The four songs on this record add up to nearly an hour of haunting, viscerally grim music that plays out precisely like a pagan requiem mass. The swelling, ominous chords from an organ produce a solemn, ritual-like mood that casts a pall over the entire record. Profoundly down tempo, time telescopes in on itself when listening to …
Shroud of Despondency are a black metal act from Wisconsin, which isn’t something you hear terribly often. Their second album, Pine, opens to the sound of rainfall and the occasional growl of rolling thunder, accompanied by dark, lingering keyboard chords, uncertain, warbling violin notes and lightly plucked guitar. These elements gradually coalesce and melt, resolving into a disembodied voice. Then, Pine shifts into hissing, venomous black metal, as bleak and dry as the buzz of papery insect wings, giving off …
I resisted the urge to swear and turned around. The security guard shining her light into Dani Couture‘s bag was shaking her head. My ticket had already been scanned, but I turned and walked back to the doors. Despite the pleasant fog of four glasses of pinot grigio, which I’d downed during Prohibition’s “hooch hour” earlier in the evening, I accepted my responsibility for the trouble Dani was having getting in. It was at least half my fault.
“They’re chocolate chips. I was going to make cookies later.” Dani was trying to appeal to reason.
