Obsession can be an ugly beast; consuming something over and over again, whether it be just through observation or through a more “active” kind of consumption, can be detrimental to your health. But, like many things, when enjoyed moderately, it can also be a great deal of fun. Musical obsession…
Few “programming” notes to kick things off here. First, apologies in general for this coming out later than it should. Life and stuff and stuff and life and more life and more stuff etc. Second concerns our friends at Post. Festival, which we hear was a resounding success! We plan…
A quick scroll through this month’s picks will tell you that this is probably the most diverse edition of Editors’ Picks in a while. There’s no grand narrative at operation here; we didn’t go out of our way to include albums from as many genres as possible. It’s just a…
Each month, we always seem to come to the same conclusion when it comes to our Editors’ Picks column: Friday release days open the floodgates and unleash a seemingly endless stream of quality new music. But while some of our Editors and Contributors sit down gleefully each week to dive into this newly stocked treasure…
God, I’m such a sucker for hopefully named post-rock tracks. The genre, with its over the top crescendos and stark contrast, already makes me introspective and filled with wonder so the track names are like the cherry on top, a final twist of the emotional knife. It also helps when the music itself is brilliant, as is the case here. ISLES, based in California’s Bay Area, have been around for a while now but have yet to garner widespread attention in the post-rock genre. Perhaps now, with the resurgence of amazing music being made in the post-rock spaces that are mostly centered in the US, they can get the attention they deserve. Their groove filled sound certainly draws from the same wellsprings as band like Man Mountain, This Patch of Sky or set and setting do.
When will the bad premiere post titles stop, you ask? Never! Honestly, naming these posts is a nightmare so falling back on puns and silly double entendres is all we have, give us a break. OK, on to the matter at hand which is Cavern’s excellent brand of stoner-tinged post metal. This Oakland based duo seems to have learned the adage of “less is more” since their release in 2015, stripping back their sound to the bare necessities. The result is a type of post metal that seeps urgency and immediacy, no note out of place and no transition unnecessary. This lends them a kind of instrumental flow which lends them in the category of bands like Russian Circles and set and setting but also with Elder and their ilk. How so? Check out “Eater” below, the title track from their upcoming EP!
It’s been a little over 4 years since both Eden and I joined Heavy Blog as fresh-faced, innocent souls who had not been completely tarnished by the world, and in that time the two of us have bonded over many things (understatement of the day). Although we share a lot…
Even when it’s 2018, 2017 keeps delivering. Delving into the dog ends of the year is proving to be an exercise in regret, as the number of releases I missed continues to grow. Luckily, I still have a blog on which to write about them so let’s get to it! Nordsind are…
It’s hard to translate the meme of the Golden Age to post rock because post-rock’s Golden Age has come and gone. During my (Eden’s) end of year review, I’ll be exploring what 2017 has done to the narrative of the Golden Age in depth but suffice it to say, even…
A few years ago, long time Heavy Blog friend/staff member, Geoff Smith, turned me on to Secrets of the Sky. I immediately fell in love with their super dark version of post metal, spliced with plenty of doom and other stuff I am generally known to enjoy. I got to listen to their sophomore album, Pathway, and review it for the blog, further deepening my connection with them. Thus, when I had heard that Clayton Bartholomew (who’s also ex-Lycus by the way) had left the band, I was crushed and very fearful of the future for that niche brand of sound that I had gotten used to. Luckily, my fears were short lived as Bartholomew began gathering musicians around him again in the form of Mountaineer. The project promised to scratch all those places that I needed scratch with Secrets of the Sky’s demise. Finally, only a few weeks ago, their first album dropped and lo and behold, the promise has been kept.
