Labyrinth of Stars - Spectrum Xenomorph (2022)

Spectrum Xenomorph, released in 2002, was the first album from German band Labyrinth of Stars (with guys from Lantlos and Valborg / Owl). I really recommend it if you're into both death-metal and more industrial and dissonant sound, with also a spacey element. They create atmospheres that could remind bands like The Amenta, Meshuggah and Godflesh. And, except the long ambient track closing the album, which isn't so bad, but not really memorable either, not really a problem but more like a lost opportunity, the songs are all very solid. I really wish they will release another one.

 

The BC page. 

 

Easy Prey - Unrest (2022)

Unrest, released three years ago and Easy Prey first album, is an excellent piece of noise-rock, with a hardcore somewhat emo feel. Let's hope they come up with new music soon!

 

The BC page. 

 

Emulsified - Apocalypse (2022)

Released three years ago, Apocalyse, from US band Emulsified concentrates nearly every side of modern death metal (except pure slam). It definitely is brutal, but also quite technical, and there are even a few more progressive moments. It's very intense but not at the expense of diversity and the band is mastering everything they do. Maybe they would need something a bit different to distinguish themselves to be among the very best, but they sure know how to craft a strong death metal album, Apocalypse won't stay as the most memorable from these years, but it's a really a good enjoyable album, I recommend it.

 

The BC page. 

 

Eunoia - Psyop Of The Year (2022)

Since two of them have been sent to different states, Psyop Of The Year probably was Eunoia's last operation. Which is a pity because it was an excellent album, from an interesting band. They played a nice blend of noise rock and screamo, with also elements of math rock and extreme metal thrown in. Nicely surprising at the first listen, and even better when you knew the songs more. 

 

The BC page. 

 

Al Cisneros vs The Bug - Rosin (2022)

From this unexpected collaboration (resulting from a tour Om did with Kevin Martin's King Midas Sound) between Al Cisneros (who was the drummer in Sleep and then Om) and The Bug aka Kevin Martin we have a near perfect instrumental dub album (4 tracks, around 20 minutes). Especially recommended if you like it with a slightly dark feel. 

The BC page.

 

 

Blind Guardian - The God Machine (2022)

Obviously, anyone into heavy metal knows about Blind Guardian, but maybe not everyone knows The God Machine (released in 2022) is a break from the symphonic direction they had for a long time and a return to a lot more aggressive and heavier music. And it turns out to be a totally awesome album, keeping the excellent singing and lead guitar playing, but putting aside any cheesiness, keeping only the best you can have in a heavy metal album.

The BC page.

 

Bitter Branches - Your Neighbors Are Failures (2022)

I just discovered with their Bandcamp bio that "Bitter Branches consists of veterans from the 90’s punk hardcore scene, having served time in Calvary, Deadguy, Lifetime, Lighten Up, Kiss It Goodbye, No Escape, Paint It Black and Walleye." Well, I'm not surprised, this band sounds like the musicians knows what they are doing, for sure. On their first album Your Neighbors Are Failures they are excellent at doing their Am Rep noise flavoured noise rock thing. And the more ambient parts with somewhat spoken words reminding strongly Oxbow are nice as well. Good stuff.

The BC page.

 

 

Work, Money, Death - Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction (2022)

Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction is the second album of British jazz crew Work, Money, Death around tenor sax player Tony Burkil and with musicians from sorcerers and the Nate Birchall band. The band confirms how good they are in the spiritual jazz area, lyrical and melodic, following the footsteps of Pharoah Sanders, and Alice and John Coltrane (especially reminding A Love Supreme), with also a slight hint of afro-beat.

The Bandcamp page.

 

Ultra Razzia - Jusqu'au bout de la nuit (2022)

I'm not usually interested a lot in the street/oi! side of punk, but Jusqu'au bout de la nuit from Ultra Razzia grabbed my attention and I really like it. The band from Montréal (they sing in French) manage to bring extra dimensions to oi!/street punk by mixing it with speed rock/metal (Motörhead comes to mind, especially with the powerfull and catchy basslines) and a post-punk feel (the darker atmosphere and, again, the basslines). Give it a try!

 

The BC page. 

 

Shannon Rowley - The King Departs (2022)

You can always count on Svart Records for delivering something unusual, and of quality. The first album from Shannon Rowley, released in 2022 and called The King Departs could be described as an unusual take on dark americana, but it's also rocking, there's a haunted intensity and epicness that evokes heavy metal (there's a Hallowed Be Thy Name something in the first track, Says The Dead Sailor). I suppose Son House covering Birthday Party and Iron Maiden would have produced a similar vibe.  Yes, it's that good. 

The BC page.

 

Goat - Oh Death (2022)

Goat might not be the greatest band of all time, but they definitely are a strange and intriguing beast. The music of this Swedish band is mixing heavy rock psychedelia with elements of afrobeat, folk, free jazz and whatnot. And each of their albums have a different twist. They release "Medicine" in 2023, one of their more traditional psych/folk album, a good album, nicely trippy, but more classical than the rest of their discography. That's why I prefer reviewing the previous album Oh Death, my favourite Goat album. Oh Death could be described as their "Voodoo bayou funk rock" album, an addictive mix of Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane, Dr John and The Meters. Shorter song, more rocking, funky and nervous than their usually more progressive stuff, but with a dark and mystic feel. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

 

Fausten - Mercenary (2022)

Fausten is Julian Caraz and Derek Szeto, and what they do toghether is what we could call industrial bass music (with elements of illbient, dark industrial, dubstep, etc.). They are back with a second release called Mercenary, nearly ten years after their first album, and they prove they still have it.And closing with a Fret (Mick Harris) remix can't be wrong either... Recommended for anyone into dark and heavy industrial/electronic music.

The BC page.

 

Not a lot of reasons to sing, but enough, by Kyle Tran Myhre, Button Poetry (2022)

Kyle Tran Myhre first book was mostly a poetry collection (with also essays and songs), but at the time of writing Not a lot of reasons to sing, but enough he felt the situation (Covid, Trump, police brutality, etc.) was calling for something else, so he went for something different. But poetry definitely didn’t leave him, you still feel it everywhere in his writing, it’s in the flow, the word crafting and evocative power, it permeates the whole book, but fused into something formally different, it’s poetry without poems, with pages about poetry and creative writing, but among a wider array of subjects.

Indeed, it is also science fiction. But, again, not of the usual kind. Don’t expect a lot of action. And it’s fine, we already have more books filled with action than we can read in our lifetime, whereas we have no other book like Not a lot of reasons to sing, but enough. Actually, the sci fi/post-apoc/fantasy elements mostly help the author to shed a different light on things we know well, to bring some distance that helps to see it from a new perspective. And the way he combines dystopian sci-fi with the age-old oral art of telling stories is really interesting. Stories told at gathering are indeed a big part of what’s happening in the book. Through their road journal, we follow two wandering poets (one human and a robot) on the moon, after it has been turned into a penitentiary colony before being abandoned. We learn about people they met going from village to village, and about the troubles communities are facing (mostly related to a slow rise of tyranny) and how they deal with it. The two poets often can’t do much more, but despite their own doubts, they never fail to deliver some good down to earth wisdom. No simple answers, but a lot of food for thought.

We could describe those stories as futuristic fairy tales. But for now. Tales about resilience in troubled times, but also about finding hope and joy in the darkness. The title of the book reflects the main theme of the role of arts and artists in times of crisis. Demystifying art and not buying the clichés about the  “out of reach geniuses leading the way”, Kyle Tran Myhre reflects on how artists (and everyone!) can engage in the everyday life of a community, how they can bring not only joy, relief or critical thoughts but also bonding, healthier relations between people, being catalysts and connectors for the whole community every day, not just focused on crafting possible masterpieces, but on strengthening connections between people and between people and their own experiences.

Kyle Tran Myhre is a poet, and a writer, but also an activist. And Not a lot of reasons to sing, but enough has a strong political dimension. But not of the boring and ugly kind. No dogmatism, tedious seriousness or moralizing. Even when about heavy subjects, it stays fun and most of the time faces it with satire and irony. Never about pushing forward a party, program or ideology, it’s all about grass root organizing, acting in your local community to strengthen solidarity and confront the power. And about how the authoritarian relations, their failures and miseries, could be replaced by the action of associated, free and responsible individuals acting together for the good of the community. Questioning the narrative of power and building counter-narratives challenging it, it borrows from the basics of anti-authoritarian politics (which can’t be bad in my opinion) and draws inspiration and understanding from social struggle of the past and present. But it also brings a different take on the subject by drawing as well from hip-hop culture (the chapter about how to organize an open mic is a good one). Yes, the author is not only a writer, poet, and activist, but is also involved in the spoken words / hip-hop scene and has released six albums as an MC (under the name Guante). The book is an occasion for him to share all those experiences with the reader. Through the voices of his characters, but also directly in the concluding pages where he explains the genesis of the book and its specificities, and also gives a few prompts and writing tips.

You’ll find all that in Not a lot of reasons to sing, but enough, and even more (including nice illustrations by Casper Pham). It’s really a book like no other, and a very refreshing, thought-provoking, and inspiring read.

 

Not a lot of reasons to sing, but enough on the Button Poetry website. 

 

 Kyle Tran Myhre website

 

 

Skull Fist - Paid in Full (2022)

Paid in Full is the fourth album from Canadian heavy metallers Skull Fist. Discovered them with this one, but if the previous ones share the same level of mastery, I should check it, and so do you if you're into traditionnal heavy metal. Good vocals, good leads, and above all strong riffing and songwriting. Nothing new under the sun, but definitely well crafted and enjoyable!

Seax - Speed Infermo (2022)

This fifth album from Seax, called Speed Inferno is, guess what, pure speed metal. Excellent speed metal. Fast riffing and soloing, relentless drumming and high-pitched screams. In a vein similar to the first Metallica album or more recently the excellent Belgian band Evil Invaders. If you're into that kind of stuff you sure will enjoy it. I definitely do!

The BC page.

 

Fleshrot - Unburied Corpse (2022)

Fleshrot is an old-school death metal band from Texas, Unburied Corpse is their first album (but the band started more than a decade ago), they play it raw and mostly slow, sometimes bordering death-doom but definitely not of a polished and melodic kind, we're closer to Obituary or Autopsy territory here. In any case it's excellent OSDM. A strong first album. Keep going!

 

The BC page. 

 

 

 

 

The Body & OAA - Enemy of Love (2022)

At first I've been disappointed by this album, we can distinguish the somewhat glitch/jungle electronic of OAA in the music, but overall Enemy of Love sounds very close to the bleak industrial doom The Body are doing on their own. But after a few listen the tracks get into my head, and even if it's less different than some of their other collaborations, I have to admit that it produced a good album, and I enjoy it as such. Not their most interesting release but a good one nevertheless.

The BC page.

 

Siberian Meat Grinder - Join the Bear Cult (2022)

Like any crossover hardcore/thrash band, Siberian Meat Grinder is mostly a live band (saw they on their tour with Napalm Death and Dropdead and they were excellent). But the albums, like Join the Bear Cult released last year, are good enough to be also enjoyable, they know to write plenty of catchy and highly dynamic songs and their vocalist have a very effective flow.

Civilian Thrower - Trebuchet Showroom (2022)

Trebuchet Showroom is the first album (after a demo and splits (with Vile Species, Grotesquerie, Global Horror, Proudhon, etc.) from Civilian Thrower (a French trio with the singer of Whoresnation and members of Hordur, Lovgun and Morbid scum). What they do is on the more old-school and punkier side of grind (vocals and drumming are totally grind, but the riffs are mostly crust) and they do it well. No bullshit, raw and intense old-school grind! If you're into that kind of stuff, Civilian Thrower is definitely a band you need to follow. Also, I saw them play and I can testify they're also a good live band (go to the shows guys!). 

The BC page.

 

Dead Neanderthals - Click (2022)

Click is the fourth albumin a raw as a drums/synth duo for Dead Neanderthals. Seems Otto Kokke is not inspired by his sax any more these days, at least with DN. But that's OK since they keep on releasing good albums. Click is a long and hypnotic piece of kraut/noise/drone with a dark/disturbing feel (their previous album Metal with its drums/synth atmospheric black metal was interesting as well). Good stuff as usual from Dead Neanderthals. 

The BC page.