T'ien Lai - RHTHM (2015)

T'ien Lai is a polish duo comprised of Kuba Ziolek (Stara Rzeka, Alameda 5, etc.) and Łukasz Jędrzejczak (also part of the Milieu l'Acéphale collective). RHTHM is their second album (for a review of their first one read HERE). A krautrock mixtures of samples, drones, tribal rhythms, electronic beats, saxophones, a lot of vintage synths, loops, effects, etc. The result is really strong and trippy, full of surprises and wonders. The trip takes you to new-age / psychedelic territories to darker stuff, more noise based and slightly disturbing. It's a very rich and complex album and there would be a lot more to say. But just discover this unique piece of awesome music by yourself, you won't regret.

The Bandcamp page.

Gadget - The great destroyer (2016)

The Great Destroyer is Gadget third album and their first album in ten years (latest release was a spit with Phobia six years ago). From the intensely explosive Remote to the more subtle new school hardcore like melodies in The funeral march Gadget was a grind band that brought their own way of playing grind, taking their own part in the Nasum / Relapse led wave of breathing new life and modernity in grind at the turn of the new century. With their new album (also with Relapse records) we can still relate them to that movement but this time they're not really bringing something new. In fact The Great Destroyer is maybe their more straightforward album. One one hand it is disappointing. On the other hand, as a back to the basics of old school grind (but with a powerfull modern production) album, it is a damn good one, displaying the excellency Gadget always had when it comes to grinding.  This sure is as fast, relentless and intense as grind should be and The Great Destroyer will probably stay as one of the best and more enjoyable grind album for 2016. I also have to mention that Gadget kept their few slow paced moments (it's trendy nowadays but that was already a part of the Gadget mix fifteen years ago or more). apart from that this is just pure unadultered grind. those slower paced parts are not my favourite, but well...  maybe they're needed on the album to let the listener breath a bit sometimes! 

The BC page.

Khtoniiks cerviiks - SeroLogiikal Scars (Vertex of Dementiia) (2016)

SeroLogiikal Scars (Vertex of Dementiia) is the first album of the german trio Khtoniiks cerviiks. Their excellent demo Heptaedrone (that I reviewed HERE) set the expectations on a high level and, even if I miss the raw, barbaric and chaotic feel more present on the demo, I can say I'm not disappointed by the album. Their old school death metal kept it's weird and original character, putting a bit the brutality aside (while staying clearly on the black / death side of metal) helped them pushing their weird sound forward, with a clear techno-thrash flavour (reminding bands like Voivod and Coroner) combined with a bit of more contemporary dissonant elements (evoking the "occult" death metal scene and avant-garde french black metal). We need more bands like them, taking the old school death / thrash metal further onto paths less travelled.

The Bandcamp page.

Blackbird Raum - Destroying (2015)

Destroying, released last year, is the fifth album from the american folk-punk band Blackbird Raum. Like the fourth previous albums it is really good, strenghtening my opinion that Blackbird Raum is the best band in the "folk-punk scene". Entirely acoustic the main instruments are the accordion and the guitars, with also percussions and strings and dual male / female vocals that are excellent. The lyrics are really good ("All that praises heaven slanders earth", "adder", and the other songs as well actually...) and the singing sounds really heartfelt. That and the really good songwriting makes their music feel really intense and passionnate (as much as any "loud" band can).

Their Website

Their BC page.

Hadak Ura / Voice of Crows split (2016)

After their promising first release last year (read HERE my review ) this split with Voice of Crows is Hadak Ura new release. Hadak Ura's side of the split starts really well with an exiting short first song bringing together hardcore, black metal and Slayer (a scream "à la Tom Araya", the drumming and the wild guitar soloing), then we have a good black / d-beat grind song, then the noise component of the band appears on the slower third song.  And the fourth song is a good sup up of  what we heard before. The "blackened hardcore" mix is not new and we get used to it but Hadak Ura manages to do it in a sharper style than what most bands are doing.

The Voice of Crows side offer more traditionnal 90' style hardcore. Not bad, but more generic.

The Hadak Ura side BC page.

The Voice of Crows side BC page.

The Body - No One Deserves Happiness (2016)

No One Deserves Happiness is the new The Body album, their "pop" album. Ok it's more melodic and especially with more melodic female singing, but it sounds more like an "industrial doom meets trip-hop" thing  than really "pop". We find all the usual The Body elements : slow paced drumming, inustrial beats, heavy doomy guitars, drone / noise elements, tortured shrieks. Even the inclusion of female melodic singing is not really a new element since they collaborated a few time with The Assembly of light choir. Here it is Maralie Armstrong who does this melodic singing. We already knew it coould work well with their music, And No one deserves happiness is another proof. I'd say it's a record that offer more a deeper exploration of one element of their sound than a radical change. Is the album good? It is, it respects The Body very high standard of excellency. Maybe I prefer their, more extreme, recent collaboration with Krieg, but I also really enjoy this one, and as usual some songs are awesome, really inspired. Now that they already have done many different collaborations what would be interesting would be to hear how they could propose something different and surprise us without collaborating with someone outside the band.

The Bandcamp page.

Magrudergrind - II (2016)

This new Magrudergrind album, called II, has its fine moments. The grindcore part of it, when it's fast and relentless. But when it slows down it often comes too close to average and boring hardcore. The "modern", too "fat" and "clean" production also does not help to instill into the songs the wild feel that is often missing. I enjoy this album more than most hardcore albums, but the grind freak in me can't embrace it fully. 

The BC page.

Wolf eyes - I am a problem ; Mind in pieces (2015)

I am a problem ; Mind in pieces released in 2015 is the new Wolf eyes album. Wolf eyes is a major band in experimental noise music circles. To be honest I'm not very familiar with their previous releases (they are extremely prolific) but what I know is that I really like this album. It's experimental enough to be really interesting and surprising while never going into too extreme or too minimalistic "unlistenable" boring territories. There sure is a noise / drone element but in fact it is more melodic than I expected, with some good brass parts and keyboards and some "ritualistic / asleep / stoned" vocals. It's quiet and very trippy (thet call their music "trip metal" I'm not sure it is that much "metal" but it sure is really trippy indeed), with some repetitive / hypnotic beats and psyched and noisy guitar leads. Quiet but with an insecure and uneasy feel as well. Not really a happy smiling trip. We could say this album is on the free / psychedelic / kraut side of noise, and is really good at it.

Their website.