EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Let Zaius Be Your Sheepdog

Eden Kupermintz
Premieres
We've sung the praises of the Chicago metal scene for a while now; there appears to be a current of energy running through that part of the States and it's bringing us plenty of great music. It seems to be specifically fertile in the areas of instrumental post rock/metal and interesting experimentation within those genres, with bands like Outrun the Sunlight and Sioum released their fair share of evocative music. It appears there's now another name to be ended to the roster, Zaius. These guys are getting to release their debut album, Of Adoration, via Prosthetic Records on October 6, 2017 and let me tell you, it's damn good. But why take my word on it? Head on below to hear a track from the very same album!

Post Rock Post: A Thousand Arms Are Back With “Open Language Vol.II”

Eden Kupermintz
News
A while ago on the blog, we were acquainted with a label/printer/collective called A Thousand Arms. We heard of them via a compilation they released, containing post rock tracks from all over the world. That was then; this is now. Since that time, they've released another compilation, much heavier and more oriented towards post and black metal, collaborated with us to create our first run of blog t-shirts (more on that, hopefully, very soon) and geared up work with this year's Dunk! Festival. Now, never seeming to rest for too long, A Thousand Arms have released Open Language Vol.II. The first part focuses on post-rock bands exclusively from the US, while the second brings you tracks and bands from all over the world. We thought we'd give you a little primer for this insane amount of free music. Oh yeah, didn't we mention? It's all completely free!

Heavy Blog’s Editors’ Picks: May 2016

Eden Kupermintz
Editors' Picks
So, April has come and gone and now spring is here in earnest. While there was definitely a slow down in the SHEER VOLUME of releases from April, there definitely wasn't a decline in quality. May brought us some of our favorite albums from 2016 so far and some which are certain to feature on high spots in our end of year lists. Speaking of which, next month we won't be doing an Editors' Picks or rather, we will but it will be a special, Worth Your Time in 2016 so far edition. In the meantime, let's dig in to this month's selection, featuring some heavy, some sad and, mainly, a whole lot of excellent.

Love Of Cartography: A Taxonomy Of Post Rock

Eden Kupermintz
Deep Dive
The goal of these taxonomy posts is not to provide an exhaustive and accurate list or definition of a certain genre or genres. Quite the opposite in fact: attempting to make such a complete list would only replace one stagnated image-object with another, creating an equally irrelevant definition, whether it can be considered currently accurate or not. Therefore, we want to keep some of that fuzz, to leave ends untied and room for further articles and discussion among our readers. We're not saying that this is going to be a series; these posts take far too much time and energy to commit to something like that. We are saying however that there's plenty more to discuss, within and without the progressive metal genre and we'll try and do that when we can. So, post rock. Post rock is a perfect candidate for such an examination. On the one hand, there's a very strong and often negative image of what post rock is. Seminal bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, God Is An Astronaut and Explosions In The Sky have enjoyed widespread, cultural popularity, solidifying the image of post rock in the eyes of the public. Pretentious, long-winded, dreamy, beautiful, cinematic, instrumental and rarified are all adjectives which were born from this image. Post rock was, and still is, perceived as a genre for the few, starry eyed and sentimental. Perhaps owing to just how good the afore-mentioned bands really are, their music also overpowered the conceptual space for the genre, leading people to expect certain things from the music that fell under the moniker.

Sioum – Yet Further

Eden Kupermintz
Reviews
Strictly speaking, you’d be hard pressed to identify a sub-genre that’s harder or more complicated to review. All styles and mannerisms have their own challenges, whether those be intricate vocal lines, absurdly lo-fi production or expansive, mind-bending track lengths. However, within these irregularities, one might perhaps do well to leave a place of honor for instrumental music. Something about the lack of vocals denies the reviewer, and the listener, a focal point, an anchoring which is essential to grasp location within music. And yet, of course, instrumental music can be amazing; there’s a wild freedom to it, a conviction that’s hard to resist. So too with Sioum, a name that has been on the lips of blog members for a long time but has yet to properly grace the pages of its digital manifestation. Well, no more. Yet Further is their next offering and if any justice exists in this god-forsaken abyss we call a planet, this will be the one that finally balances their levels of skill with their levels of recognition.