Our Solar System - In Time (2016)

In Time is the third album from the Swedish prog/fusion/psych rock band Our Solar System, and I'd say it's their best. Two 20 minutes long tracks, mostly instrumental, different each from the other and both good. The first one, my favourite, is mostly sax and piano driven for the melodies, the sax playing a leading role, not just solos here and there. In the second track the guitar is the main melodic element. The album is of the quiet psychedelic kind, not buried under cosmic effects allover, but trippy anyway and the atmosphere created and the melodies are really enjoyable and not already heard countless times.  Good stuff.

The Bandcamp page 

Earthgrave - The Verge of Human Abyss (2017)

Seems this one went largely unnoticed bu i's a pity because his first album, The Verge of Human Abyss, from he German band Earthgrave is an excellent one. No originality to be found here but they do very well all that we like in sludge. They remind Crowbar but I'd say rawer and dirtier, less polished, wih the hardcore parts more hardcore and vocals closer to death metal. They master the sludge groove and flow from dirty doom to crushing hardcore nicely, making it a very enjoyable album. Ah the simple pleasures of life!

The Bandcamp page.

Broken English Club - The English Beach (2017)

Broken English Club's English Beach is not about holiday in Brighton, no, i's about Dungeness, a desertic place and the site of nuclear power stations. Knowing that it's no surprise he music is not made for beach parties and dancefloors. It's somewhere beetween EBM and industrial techno and it's a great exemple of how industrial music can blur the line beetween groovy and grim with it's bleak atmospheres with dark synth melodies and the cold heavy industrial beats. Very good stuff.

The Bandcamp page.

Agathocles - Commence to Mince (2016)

If you know a bit about grind or crust you probably know Agathocles, the Belgian band formed in the eighties having done an incredible number of releases, especially splits, and more than a dozen of albums (they released nearly thirty releases in 2016 for exemple), but they're also well known because they're among the best grind / punk band, or mincecore as they say. Commence to mince is the album they released in 2016 (with Selfmadegod records) and it showcases perfectly the ability of the band to deliver all you want from a grind / punk band. Of course a discography so immense have some highs and lows, Commence to Mince is among the highs. Good stuff, keep going Agathocles!

The BC page. 

Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect - Canticle Bound in Spirit - The Faith in Vampyric Blood (demo 2017)

This new Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect demo (Canticle Bound in Spirit - The Faith in Vampyric Blood, released by Perverse Homage) is an interesting and exciting mix of traditionnal and raw black metal elements (the very low-fi production, the bestial vocals, the guitar sound, the creepy instrumentals) with some industrial beats that are at times bordering hardcore techno! The result is surprising and brutal. Could reminds a bit early Anaal Nathrakh but more lo-fi, raw and harsh.

The Bandcamp page.

Dead Neanderthals / Sly & The Family Drone - Molar Wrench (2017)

Dead Neanderthals on one hand and Sly & The Family Drone on the other are two excellent bands of experimenting noisefreaks that likes collaborating with other musicians, so it's no big surprise to hear them doing this album, called Molar Wrench, together. And in my opinion what they created is good beyond expectations. The reunited two bands forms a double drums / sax duo complemented with a guy from S&TFD adding more noise (effects). You could expect something going in all directions but in the end they makes a quite focused and condensed chaos. For the best results (something that could reminds both Peter Brotzmann and Aluk Todolo). The association of the screaming and thundering free jazz sax with the somewhat krautrock rhythm part in the first track is a good exemple of this and an exciting start for the album. The middle of the albums goes slower, heavier and noisier, and the last tracks end the album on a more quiet and subtle note. If you're into free / noise music this is an album you absolutely have to listen too. Heavily recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

Unaussprechllichen Kulten - Keziah LIlih Medea (2017)

Another excellent album by Chilean Unaussprechllichen Kulten, their fourth one Keziah Lilith Medea is a masterpiece in US style old school death metal, reminding a bit Morbid Angel for the evil and bizarre atmosphere and the way the brutaliy helps building a strong epic and grandiose feel. On this one maybe what they perfected is the guitar leads and solos that are really fine while never at the expense of the heaviness and cohesion of the whole. I'll enjoy listening to this one many times, and I suppose anyone into US OSDM would do the same. 

The Bandcamp page.