Elicit and enigmatic, it was the group’s third LP and first international release Mythographer that pulled the ever enigmatic band into the collective eye of the scene in which they inhabit. It’s been roughly one year since that record dropped, and in celebration, the trio have returned with a follow up release modestly titled the Mythographer B Sides.
In terms of it’s actual contents, Mythographer B-Sides essentially lives up to it’s respective namesake. Contained within are two new tracks in the form of ‘Scope’ and ‘Nothing’ and four remixes – one of ‘Frontier’ by Pijn, one of ‘I Glow’ by Pressor and two of ‘Haoma’ by Eurodeath and fellow St. Petersburg residents Wowod. However, with this in consideration, one would be forgiven in presuming this is nothing more than a collection of rarities reserved for the devoted. This is far from the case however. The remixes are far more than the vapid tag implies and with the record clocking in at over forty minutes, this in itself is a full length record for the masses as opposed to the selected few genre connoisseurs.
The first original track, ‘Scope’, fully leans into the introspective and enigmatical nature of last year’s Mythographer. Harkening thoughts of artists not unlike Boards Of Canada, Burial and even 65dayosfstatic at their most illusive, mesmeric and progressive, the track see’s distant interloping synths beckoning forth a pulsating beat that slowly unfurls across it’s sub-six minute run time. It’s a track of meditative minimalism composed of a pulsating rhythm and that’s suspenseful and engaging but albeit a touch predictable in it’s quivering progression.
The second new song, ‘Nothing’, is anything like it’s given title. A sprawling ten minute electronic labyrinth of a track, ‘Nothing’ see’s Antethic taking their introspectively contemplative sound before shuffling it entirely in atmosphere and tone. Granulating synths almost stoic in tone both coil and entangle to form a trance beat that’s essentially danceable and almost hedonistic in character. Despite it’s marathon run time, this track never outstays it’s welcome. Instead it draws one in haplessly with it’s progressive take on trance and see’s Antethic’s take on the genre in a whole new neon clad light; the band’s aesthetic and atmosphere is unchanged and the same, but yet whole new emotions and directions are presented.
We’ve realised that the monotony and routine of our daily lives can in fact be quite mundane when our freedom is suddenly swept out from beneath our feet. State Actors, the debut five track EP by Southsea based Young Pretorians harnesses these thoughts and emotions whilst turning them into something toe-tappingly beautiful.
Born from a misspent youth and fuelled by “cheap tequila and Ken’s fried chicken” the Portsmouth quartet formed in 2019, setting out to turn their coming of age struggles and twenty-somethings apathy into a creative art form. Their jaunty, gruff-punk / emo / rock /whatever you want to call it, blurs the lines and defies any one singular genre, effortlessly flowing back and forth between them.
Whilst tracks ‘Desperation Party Scene’ and “No One’s The Saint That They Want To Be” wear their influences on their sleeves – think Hot Water Music, The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers and those of their ilk – and prove to be brimming with catchy sing-a-longs and bouncy riffs, ‘Average Conversations, Between Average People’ shows a much more melancholic side to the band. A sudden change in pace when compared with the rest of the EP, ‘Average People…’ slows things down considerably, hammering home the song’s theme that much harder. “Find something that you’ll fight hard for, that makes you question what came before” croons frontman Pete Darwent, a line written with the intention of inspiring the listener to get up, get out and break free from that aforementioned monotony, a call to arms if you will, against life’s humdrum tediums.
Global pollution levels dropped, less fossil fuels where burned and we all saw an embracement of community spirit. Most importantly of all however, it led to the creation of the latest record from Cognitive.
Forming over a decade ago in New Jersey, the tech-death quintet have longed been a reliable and constant component within the modern death metal machine. But despite travelling the world performing with artists such as Lorna Shore, Fit For An Autopsy, Waking The Cadaver and essentially every other name within the genre, the band are yet to summit the tech-death pile and receive the acclaim and praise they’ve evidently worked so diligently for. There’s numerous reasons for this, but the most apparent one is the fact that the genre they inhabit is has simply been too oversaturated since their inception. With so many names forming the global scene, Cognitive have – rather unfairly – been lost within the noise and overshadowed by some of the more unremarkable names currently at the pulpit of the genre. It’s a shame, especially considering their adept approach to the genre showcased within their work thus far.
However, their latest full length Malevolent Thoughts Of A Hastened Extinction is poised to rectify their standing within the tech-death hierarchy through sheer force and finesse. Whilst it’s preliminary records where fairly proficient executions of technical extremity, Cognitive’s fourth effort is simply a cut above the rest. As with most releases crafted during the global quarantine, this record was written remotely, with the band sharing snippets, clips and ideas whilst isolated from one another. However, it allowed Cognitive the time to finely review, harshly critique and intricately pour over their work totally free of distraction. This excessive level to detail has led to what is inarguably the band’s strongest, fieriest and most dexterous work to date. Everything that composes this band is here, but finely tuned to a near immaculate degree.
The unanimously celebrated record came following a year or two of detectable seismic activity from the London trio, and with the record itself towering above the UK post-metal scene, many are now waiting for the next move from the band. It may be prose at it’s most flowery indeed, but with Chronicle I: The Truthseeker, Mountain Caller established themselves as one of the most important and unique bands with the post-metal game. As opposed to standard genre conventions, Mountain Caller serve to explore the issues that face women in modern society via a fantastical and metaphorical running narration that focuses on the odyssean journey of an anonymous Protagonist in a world of magic and mystery. Now with their new three track EP – titled Chronicle: Prologue – Mountain Caller trace not just the origins of their tale, but their sound as a whole.
Recorded during the Chronicle I sessions, the contents of this EP are the earliest material the band dedicated to tape and explores the origin story of the characters enlivened within their debut. Opener ‘Something Stirred From Beneath The Rubble’ introduces the not just the embarkation of the aforementioned protagonist, but the band’s fervently dynamic and expressively emotive take on the post-metal genre as a whole. From a granulating start, the track swings into a subtle stoner swagger that breaks into a full doom tinged frenzy that’s anchored by a concrete riff that ebbs and flows with fluidity. There’s a profound and real tangible sense of discovery, adventurism and determinism to be found here and as the protagonist awakens to find herself amongst the ruins of a crestfallen and forsaken city, we get an a visceral understanding of the musical influences that birthed this band.
The Illinois quintet have delivered technical and talented records since their debut A Higher Place, and during that era, they made a name for themselves with a hyper focus on incorporating and spotlighting synths and electronics in their metalcore sound. That, mixed with a knack for condensing the sounds and textures of progressive metal into condensed three to four minute hooky and structured tracks raised their profile at the end of the last decade. Since then, they’ve remained a steady presence, releasing consistently good records but yet never really reaching the heights of contemporaries in the scene.
With their sixth record, Angel Or Alien, the band delivers another consistent album with some bouncing bangers and elements that pop, but in today’s era of seeming ever evolving creativity and melodic play with metalcore, the band’s latest release blends in more than it stands out and feels a bit more of the same. In other words, for metalcore fans, it’s all of those adjectives at the top of this paragraph, but it’s nothing that really stands apart amongst today’s crop.
There are definitely high points on the record, with the booming and massive production adding an element of live power to the runtime. The opening of the record is strong, with ‘Poster Child’ and ‘White Nile’ showcasing the band’s trademark electronics in pulsing and pounding fashion, adding a huge sense of hype to these tracks. The staccato guitars and sprinkled vocal melody all sounds great, but ultimately feels standard and par for the course with Born Of Osiris. What can be said is that there really is great care taken with the level of melodic attention with the synths and electronics that back these songs up. The saw wave tones used on the title track are a perfect example of the hyper melodic sensibility they bring to each track. The guitar stands out as well, with a spacey, glitchy, and uplifting solo on ‘White Nile’. The standout tracks continue into the middle of the record.
The Gothenburg legends’ three reunion albums – 2014’s At War With Reality, 2018’s To Drink From The Night Itself and new release The Nightmare Of Being each feature concepts constructed around some intriguingly highbrow ideas and themes. At War With Reality is a concept album based on the magical realist literature genre, while To Drink From The Night Itself provides an elegant analysis of the history of art and aesthetics. The Nightmare Of Being tackles philosophical pessimism, in apt service of one of At The Gates’ darkest, heaviest and all-round weirdest works.
To clarify – philosophical pessimism is a worldview that challenges optimism and the notion of progress, and one that views human existence as fundamentally absurd. Its Western roots can be found in the works of, amongst others, Schopenhauer and Rousseau, however the perspective that The Nightmare Of Being is most aligned with and inspired by is that of modern thinkers Eugene Thacker and Thomas Ligotti. At The Gates vocalist and lyricist Tomas Lindberg has cited Ligotti’s seminal text The Conspiracy Against The Human Race as a key influence on the album, and the track ‘Cosmic Pessimism’ features lyrics taken from Thacker’s writings.
