For those who’ve followed the musical progress of New York shoegazers A Place To Bury Strangers since their early days, the band’s gradual, and very natural shift into more commercial sounds has likely formed a very interesting journey. For those who discovered the band a little later, these “commercial sounds” could still feel cold and confronting, but somewhere beneath their distortion and darkness, it should’ve become increasing clear that these Jesus & Mary Chain obsessives were capable of wielding a great tune.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
EMBER BELLADONNA – The Grove
The flute has often been a pivotal instrument within prog rock – Jethro Tull have much to answer for, but other bands like Focus and Tempest were never shy of making the instrument a core part of their arrangements – but its gentle sounds aren’t always associated with metal. In that regard, flautist Ember Belladonna’s debut album fills an important gap in the market. Its eight songs dart between different styles – from flawless new age sounds, to deep gothic grooves, to riff driven jigs – but Ember’s deft playing holds everything together with ease, and presents a classic tone that would be just as home on more of a classical oriented outing.
HAWKESTREL – Chaos Rocks
Another branch of the complex and ever evolving Hawkwind family tree, Hawkestrel is a space rock project masterminded by ex-Hawks man Alan Davey. His vision to create an ever shifting line up to bring his music to life has previously involved other Hawkwind alum Nik Turner, Bridget Wishart, Simon House, Huw Lloyd-Langton, Ginger Baker and the mighty Lemmy. The fact that the ex-Hawkwind and Motorhead bassist managed to appear on the debut album three years after his passing flags up the potential problem with the band’s recordings, in that – much like Cleopatra Records’ other “all star projects” – they’re very much cut ‘n’ paste affairs, and don’t always hang together as well as you might hope. However, when they’re good, they’re very good.
VANDEN PLAS – The Empyrean Equation of Long Lost Things
When it comes to prog metal, there are few bands as consistent as Vanden Plas. Like many of their peers, the band are able to deliver the expected heaviness and complexity, but marking them out from others on the scene, these German musicians often display a strong sense of melody. That doesn’t necessarily make their work entirely accessible or commercial – prog metal is always a marginal subgenre on that front – but an on form VP feels so much more streamlined than most. Even when approaching massive concept works like ‘Chronicles of The Immortals’ or the excellent ‘Ghost Xperiment’, their decision to split these epic works into separate volumes made their bombastic traits far more digestible. The likes of the ego driven Dream Theater would’ve likely released each one as a double CD and added more material to create one of their preferred full three hour borefests each time.
SAHAJI – Future In The Sky EP
Sahaji first came to relative prominence due to a music competition staged by Yamaha, but these recordings are set to take the Japanese brothers to the next level. The three tracks that make up the very enjoyable ‘Future In The Sky’ EP draw from some classic influences; with hints of a 60s love colliding with a huge debt to the bigger players from the Britpop scene, the material comes with a hugely nostalgic bent, but the arrangements sometimes play for something much grander than an easy throwback. Working with renowned producer engineer Nick Brine – a man whose previous credits include working with The Stone Roses, Ash and Teenage Fanclub – has certainly helped create a great sound on this first UK release.