By now, you’ve probably seen us rant and rave about the new wave of “post-math rock”; more specifically, the trend of bands blending the traditional bouncy melodies of math rock with post-rock structures, jazz-influenced technicality, and generally progressive and experimental ideas. As I’ve outlined before, Art As Catharsis and Small…
At its core, jazz has always been about innovation and collaboration, which explains why different scenes have popped up over the years. From NOLA big band to West Coast cool jazz, likeminded players have constantly worked to establish and nurture key movements within the genre. Several of these scenes exist…
Sixty years after Ornette Coleman released The Shape of Jazz to Come, contemporary musicians continue to challenge and expand upon the core tenets of the genre. Besides its notable anniversary, I mention Coleman’s breakthrough specifically due to its embodiment of disruption. The reception for his playing style has softened considerably…
Covering music for the blog provides both an avenue for curation as well as a means of tracking stylistic movements in various scenes. We’ve used our platform to chronicle the evolution of dissonant death metal, the new wave of traditional heavy metal, progressive stoner/sludge/doom, and a myriad of other subgenres…
Last we told you about Sydney post-math-rock behemoths SEIMS, it was in the wake of their most recent full-length, 3. That album was an absolute monster of classic math rock chunkiness and propulsion, jazzy technicality, beautiful atmosphere, and catchy-as-all-hell melodies and riffs. We completely loved it. It was easily one…
As with many genres, there are a number of elements that can define a truly great jazz album. While things like melody, technicality and innovation come to mind, something nearly all of my all-time favorite jazz albums have is a captivating first moment to initiate the proceedings, particularly with piano-driven…
Another day, another excellent release from Art as Catharsis. We’ve already spoken about Bear the Mammoth’s Years Under Glass when we premiered “Known Unknowns”, one of the brighter tracks from the album. But now it’s time for the full thing, streaming exclusively here ahead of its release on October 5th. In…
Given that its impetus came with the sinister riff opening “Black Sabbath,” doom metal has arguably had the longest evolutionary stretch of any metal subgenre. Of course, just how much any given subgenre has evolved is difficult to pin down, especially considering the disparate directions and offshoots are present within each…
If you’ve followed Heavy Blog over the last few years, you’ve likely noticed how much we adore the output of Art As Catharsis. This year alone, we’ve seen phenomenal albums ranging from the nu-jazz-fusion of COAST to the artsy chamber pop of Lack the Low to the blackened, deathly metalcore of Bridge Burner. I’ve long…
Anyone who followed metalcore in the mid-to-late-2000s and early 2010s (e.g. me) remembers the movement of bands who declared in unison “we’ve heard some extreme metal and want to be like Converge and Entombed.” Whether their persuasion lied with the black metal, sludge or elsewhere, the key for bands who succeeded (Gaza, Trap Them, etc.)…
