The Load-In In the gig calendar, summertime means one thing: Festivals. Those of you who are paying attention may have noticed that there was no Disco Loadout last month, for various non-disclosable reasons. Subsequently, my ability to attend many shows in July has also been rather limited as well. But…
It’s almost impossible to keep up with all the geographical scenes which exist around the world. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise when you consider that music is one of the most widespread and “universal” occupations that humans do. However, the fact that it’s natural doesn’t make…
What is it exactly about instrumental, progressive music that seems to appeal to us more when we’re younger? Everywhere I look, I see people who used to be really into progressive metal and, specifically, the instrumental kind but no longer are. Personally, I can say that something about the flamboyance and narcissism…
It’s rare that I feel the need to Google a song’s title in order to have any idea what in the world it might mean. In the case of Manchester, NH post-metal band Girih and their latest single, “Sinneslöschen,” my Googling honestly only raised more questions than provided answers. All of…
In recent years, bands like Latitudes, Telepathy, Cult of Luna and more have shown us that when dynamics are added back into the mix, post metal still has a lot to offer. If you vary things up, whether by introducing new blood into your band or by stretching the spider-chart of your influences into new vectors and shapes, there’s still plenty to be said within the spheres of post metal. Besra seem to have taken these lessons to heart; their debut album, Anhedonia, does a brilliant job of blending its post metal core with plenty of off-kilter vocals, dynamic track structures and mood that’s more than just the sensation of drowning in so much ink. This makes their album an impressive debut, able to scrap the foundations of post metal for what it needs, while dragging those basics into higher planes of composition and experimentation.
Telepathy have recently released live footage of “Celebration of Decay” from one of these said festivals, Dunk!Festival. You might recognize the name from our seemingly endless coverage of bands which operate in the sphere of Dunk!’s influence, seeing as they are one of the lodestones of post-rock and metal today. Their presence immediately sparked our fascination and once again pointed to their rising popularity, drawing us towards the performance and how it was received. It also helps that this is one of the best tracks on Tempest and that the performance is top notch. Put all of these things together and you get this post, which, beyond including the clip from the performance itself, also has a brief chat with Richard Powley of the band about this show, the future of the band, what comes next and how they feel about what’s happened for them so far. Read on below for excellent post metal and an interesting peek into its European scene!
But lo and behold, here we face the Post Rock Post for May and there’s not a lot of meat on them bones. Previous months have been pretty stacked, so what’s to explain this sudden scarcity? Perhaps it’s a desire by introspective bands to hit peoples’ ears when they know they crave “inside music”, when Winter is in full force and keeping you aside. Maybe it’s just coincidence and I’m reading way too much into this. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because Nick has been away doing Life Things™ and I’m flying solo again. Who knows? What a mystery.
In any case, the lack of quantity should by no means imply a lack of quality; the albums listed below are as excellent as they are varied. And varied they are: running from a type of dark post rock that flirts constantly with post metal, through forest dreams and ambient sojourns in pastel lands, all the way to nu-prog influenced guitar lines and the saccharine joy they bring with them, this months’s post rock post brings with it a mood to suit all colors.
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…
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…
What better format to study the interesting duality between morality and knowledge than a massive post rock album, filled with nuance and subtlety? This is exactly what Ravena did in 2016 when they released Laocoön, an impressive foray into the realms of cinematic post rock and post metal. We spoke about them recently on the blog when I covered the Open Language post rock compilation (second part coming soon!). I had extolled their virtues there but I felt that their music warrants a post of its own and so, here we are!
