Archive for September 2024

Einsatzgruppen (sigh) has some promise to it. Think Vothana meets Signeur Volund (if I’ve spelt that wrong that I’m sorry but I cannot be fucking bothered to look it up) but they are mixed together by the same dude who does all of Lymphatic Phlegm’s studio albums. TLDR: some great stuff, buried in muck and shitty drum machines. I’m being harsh though, the material is pretty good. Shadowgate are well, just not that great. Some…

Interesting vibes and songwriting, ranging from folk to the slower, more “traditional” elements of “pagan black metal” stripped down to its very core. This is another project of Alexey from M8l8th, but the star of the show here is his wife Ekaterina, who’s vocals breathe life into these tracks. Not my usual type of thing, but a pensive and enjoyable listen all the same.

Great warm sound and a smooth analogue production overall (at least it sounds that way – the way it should!). Vocals remind me somewhat of wolves yapping away in the woods but the guitar riffs and drumming are more than enough to keep my attention throughout. A solid side-project from M8l8th’s Alexey. So far, I’m far preferring KoenigsGrab to any M8l8th release.

The AI cover art probably sums up the state of this thing more than the band ever intended it to: yes, it’s not so bad, but the longer you spend with it the more you realise that it’s just a generic pile of nothing that goes absolutely nowhere. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but it seems oddly stifled and confined, even with a fairly big modern production and soundstage that allows the…

Solid riffs in all fairness, above average for sure, but that’s it. Vocals are not great, and the stock drum sounds used in the programming drag this thing down massively.

I will always welcome the release of more archival Aphex Twin material. Between the themes in the art and the dulcet tones of the soundscape itself, this takes me right back to the days of Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2. The only trouble here is that it is so unbearably short that by the time you are into it, its all over. Repeat listens don’t really do it here, ambient stuff needs to be long…

Not at all like how I expected M8l8th to sound, not that this pointless piece of information has any bearing on whether others would enjoy them or not. The sound is oddly both a little thin as well as overcompressed, especially when compared to other MZ-affiliated artists such as My Skin is Multicam or Koenigsgrab, both of which excel when compared back-to-back with Reconquista. The art is dead cool, though.

An interesting mix of stuff. Anything djent-related usually is an instant turn-off for me but there is something about Multicam’s dissonant mix of super-downtuned chuggy riffs and electronic-led black metal. There is a lot of atmospheric work between the main “bulk” of the songs (being either in a black metal or djent style) which is also very nicely done and weaves the whole album together into a coherent whole.