Avant-garde music isn’t really my forte. While I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to discover new music that is both challenging and different, it normally comes by way of recommendation. It’s not something I actively seek out, namely because I don’t have the know-how to find anything super cool or interesting. However, we happen to have a writer here named Dave Tremblay who is a wizard when it comes to avant-garde stuff. He also happens to have a band named Melopœia that plays a very cool mix of microtonal music and black metal, and it kicks ass. Today, we have a special treat, as we’re hosting one of the tracks from his band’s upcoming record, a track titled “Melkor’s Thoughts”. Check it out!
This stuff is definitely not for the faint of heart. It’s extremely difficult listening, not in the sense that it’s literally hard to listen to, but in the sense that your musical brain might take some time to adjust. It’s different than what you’ll normally hear when listening to any type of music. The stuff doesn’t appear to make sense musically at times, and things will sound off to you. This is largely due to the fact that his band includes microtones in their music, which are notes between notes, in the simplest description I can give. The music is worth the effort that comes with listening to it, however, because the stuff is super heavy and different. It’ll take some times, but once you begin to get accustomed to how the music is supposed to sound, I promise you’ll be playing this stuff on repeat.
Be sure to check out the band’s Bandcamp and Facebook to preorder the new album, Tolkien Ainulindalë, and to keep up with all things microtonal!