From Belarus comes Golohor, a death metal band that’s so underground that at the time of release for their 2016 EP, the only mention of them on the internet comes from the web page of the Russian record label distributing their CD/download. It’s almost as if the band members never previously existed; there’s no bio, no photos, no social media presence. That’s odd; even guys with black and white facepaint and pseudonyms usually have some kind of online presence, but for Golohor, there’s this EP…and that’s it.
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MANON MEURT – Manon Meurt EP
Originally self-released, this debut EP from Manon Meurt finally gained a bigger distribution after being picked up for vinyl release via Label Obscura, a Canadian based label in 2016. It’s great that these Czech dream poppers are given the opportunity to branch out and reach new ears, since in terms of style, things don’t often come much finer. Their six track wax takes in so many great dream pop and shoegazy moods over the course of approximately half and hour; their pensive and droning sounds appear wholly nostalgic and (mostly) quite brilliant.
MAMMOTH SPIRIT – Mammoth Spirit EP
Throughout 2014, Brooklyn based garage rockers Greasy Hearts were phenomenally busy. Between May and December that year, they issued three cassettes and played a number of live shows. There was talk of another release in 2015, but nothing materialised and then at the very end of the year, three Greasy Hearts members resurfaced as part of Mammoth Spirit, a more complex band trading in the much of their straight up garage stance for an unpolished hybrid of blues, funk and retro psych sounds with an old soul.
SAD BLOOD – Legion Of Gloom EP
London-based emo outfit Sad Blood knew they had to follow their ‘Ultimate Warrior’ release with something special; a release that improved on their core sound and didn’t just feel like a retread of previous work. The resulting five tracks are somewhat special – hearing ‘Legion of Gloom’ (especially for the first time) is akin to taking a trip back two decades. A couple of chords is all that’s required before opening track ‘Heavy Petting Zoo’ – a tune absolutely drenched in a feeling of revivalism – is set to impress listeners who once found themselves enamoured with nineties emo.
AMARYLLIS – Nova Initium
Following two EP releases and their own headline shows in London, UK alternative rockers Amaryllis (not to be confused with the female fronted Polish prog rock band) set to work on a full length which, in the bands own words, had to be better than anything they’d recorded before. It’s always good to encounter a band with a clear sense of drive, looking to push themselves. While that debut – 2016’s ‘Nova Initium’ – often relies on being the sum of its influences over any obvious originality, it’s hard to argue against it being well constructed and well played, especially in the guitar department, since Alex Whiteford so obviously knows how to work some solid riffs.