Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire (2015)

It took me some time to make up my mind about the bass/drum duo Lightning Bolt and their latest album, Fantasy Empire. Maybe it was because I had the idea Lightning Bolt is a mathcore band. Yes some elements of their music could be described as mathcore, but it's a much more complex animal. The raw power and energy they carry evokes hardcore but of course they don't have the straightforward side of hardcore. The fuzzy bass sound reminds noise rock or sometimes heavy psych rock when it gets a bit melodic and trippy. And the rhythmic complexity  could evoke math rock / mathcore but it sounds more loose and improvised, more live, so it's often more free rock than math rock. Well call it what you want to me it's a very dynamic and powerful album with a unique approach and sound, very cool stuff.

The BC page.

GALL - EP 2017

GALL is a noisegrind (they say powerviolence / noise) trio from Germany and they recently released this excellent EP with Nerve Altar. twelve tracks in ten minutes, vocals, drums, bass and noise. Simplicity for maximum impact. I really like the drumming and the fast parts, but the slower feedback drenched moments are good as well. I love discovering new bands like this one. Great stuff. I can't help listening to it several times in a row, and I suppose it could do the same to you. you've been warned...

The BC page.

Tricky - Ununiform (2017)

Tricky is a very versatile artist, touching and mixing different styles, different beats, blending rock and electro, using many different vocalist on his albums. On the same album you have tracks that can be very different and it's also different from one album to the other. The overall quality is very high but his career has many ups and downs. Lately it was about one good for one mediocre. Mixed race in 2010 was good, False Idols in 2013 is maybe its weakest, Adrian Thaws in 2014 is a good one, whereas Skilled Mechanics in 2016 wasn't very inspired. IS the new one Ununiform following the pattern? Yes hopefully it is and it is indeed a really good albums with few average tracks and some really strong ones. With his trademark dark and melancholic mood, the melodic female singing (the usuals Francesca Belmonte, Asia Argento, and even Martina Topley-Bird), the rappers (Scriptonite from Kazakhstan and Smoky Mo from Russia), well, it's another classic Tricky album, possibly the best since Blowback?

The Bandcamp page.

Leng Tch'e - Razor Grind (2017)

Razor Grind is the sixth album from Belgian band Leng Tch'e. They play a modern kind of grindcore, with a bit of death/grind and elements from modern hardcore and even a bit of beatdown / slam. But their major specificity is the inclusion of more melodic parts, especially with the vocals (although the majority of it is typical grind screaming), making it remind sometimes Cattle Decapitation, or even Vision of Disorder. I don't like every part in this album, but the diversity is a good thing and overall it's an interesting and enjoyable album with some surprises.

The BC page.

Ingurgitating Oblivion - Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light (2017)

I'm usually not that much in this kind of stuff and that's why I'm only now discovering Ingurgitating Oblivion, from Germany, with their third album Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light (on Willotip records). But I'm really glad I discovered it since this album is surprising and very enjoyable. We could say they play some kind of "progressive" death metal, with the more death metal elements, like on the first track, reminding a bit Ulcerate but with less density, more breathing space and melody, while they also includes some fusion jazz guitar playing, vibraphones and piano parts on their more progressive moments. And they do it without sounding ever cheesy, nor boring, it really adds another dimension to the music, an uncanny feel and epicness. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page.     

Unsane - Sterilize (2017)

Unsane's 8th album, Sterilize sounds like a continuation of their previous ones, and is maybe even slightly better, which means it's really good and worthy of many many listen. All the typical Unsane elements are here and used to full effects, the very strong rhythmic section with heavy bass sound, those crawling serpentine riffs, and the anguished vocals. Don't really know what to add, it's Unsane... enough said...

Howls of Ebb / Khtoniiks Cerviiks (split 2017)

Howls of Ebb and Khtoniiks Cerviiks are easily among the best, more interesting and innovative recent death metal bands (their latest albums were on my favourite albums list for last year). So obviously this split beetween the two of them is more than welcome. It had to be done. and it does not disappoint. It brings the expected amount of chaotic free Deiphago meets Voivoid death metal madness highs. Excellency in expectedly unexpected forms. It's not just higly recommended it's mandatory.

The Bandcamp page.