Sometimes German, sometimes English. • The title of this blog used to change from time to time. • Interested in me reviewing your music? Please read this! • I'm also a writer for VeilOfSound.com. • Please like and follow Audiovisual Ohlsen Overkill on Facebook!

2025-02-08

AVATARIUM - Between You, God, The Devil and The Dead

Mit Sigmund Freud kenne ich mich ja nicht so super aus. Und so war ich tatsächlich Ich-lese-zum-ersten-Mal-die-Texte-von-Avatariums-neuem-Album Jahre alt, als ich die deutsche Vokabel "Nachträglichkeit" lernte. (Möglicherweise kannte ich sie auch schon einmal, habe sie aber zwischenzeitlich wieder vergessen.)

Reim dich oder ich schlag dich ist Jennie-Ann Smiths poetischer Imperativ, womit die Schwedin erfahrungsgemäß auch gut fährt. Berücksichtigt man zusätzlich noch, dass sie einen beruflichen Hintergrund als psychosoziale Beraterin hat, überrascht es bereits  weniger, dass sie inmitten sprachlich sehr klar gehaltener englischer Texte auf einmal diesen Fachterminus als Reim auf "black and white" raushaut.

Und was habe ich durch "Between You, God, The Devil and The Dead" sonst noch gelernt?


AVATARIUM - Between You, God, The Devil and The Dead (Silver vinyl LP) (2025)

Zunächst einmal bekräftigt sich für mich die jüngst bereits mit Oceans Of Slumber aufgefrischte Lektion, eine großartige Band nicht ohne zweimaliges Nachhören from Radar ziehen zu lassen.
Ich weiß gar nicht woran es lag, vielleicht war es die vergleichsweise geringe sozialmediale Reichweite des Labels AFM Records, vielleicht hatte ich 2022 nur die ein, zwei mir tatsächlich etwas zu süßlichen Songs von "Death, Where Is Your Sting" gehört und die Beschäftigung mit dem insgesamt durchaus lohnenswerten Album auf irgendwann später verschoben.

Wie auch immer, nun habe ich mir beide Alben gleichzeitig zugelegt - eines als 2CD-Earbook, dieses auf silbernem Vinyl mit Textblatt, signiertem Fotokärtchen und schickem, aber schwer abbildbarem, weil stark reflektierendem Stanzcover. Sehr schön!

Musikalisch ist festzustellen, dass es zwar durchaus balladeskes Material gibt, diesmal aber das kritische Maß an Kitsch nicht überschritten wird. Tatsächlich sind z.B. "Lovers Give A Kingdom To Each Other" und der Titeltrack sogar echte Highlights einer Sammlung von acht Stücken ohne Ausfälle. Avatarium spielen alle ihre Stärken aus - und das sind eine ganze Menge.

Wie gewohnt lässt sich die Band stilistisch leicht in der Mitte des schwedischen Dreiecks aus Lucifer, Blues Pills und Candlemass verorten. Das ist sicherlich kein vollständiger Vergleich, deckt im Prinzip aber sicherlich achtzig Prozent der Musik ab. Für Lucifer gibt es mit dem flott rockenden "I See You Better In The Dark" sogar einen sehr eindeutigen Referenzsong, während der klassische stampfende Doom Metal vor allem in "Being With The Dead", gekrönt von einem feinen heavy Orgelsolo, oder auch dem längsten, nachträglichen Track "Until Forever And Again" zelebriert wird. Und die bluesige, sich zuweilen sogar emotional zum Soul steigernde Note zieht sich in Smiths unverkennbarem Gesang, der nur im Instrumentalstück "Notes From Underground" pausiert, natürlich durch das gesamte Album.

Avatarium haben sich aus zutiefst vertrauten traditionellen Rocksounds einen frischen, ihnen ureigenen Sound zusammengestellt, und von dieser etablierten Formel wird auf "Between You, God, The Devil and The Dead" nicht abgewichen. Diese Band weiß, dass sie sich nicht neu erfinden muss, reizt ihre bekannten Parameter aber voll aus, dehnt sie vielleicht sogar hier und da, und setzt - simpel gesagt, aber nicht selbstverständlich umzusetzen - einfach auf durchgehend erstklassige Qualität.

Das Songwriting, die majestätisch großen Melodien, das perfekte Aufeinandertreffen von überraschend grober, schwerer Gitarre mit sehnsuchtsvollem Klavier und epochalen Gefühlen in düsterer Musik und charismatischem Gesang... die Schweden liefern all dies auf selbst für ihre Verhältnisse beachtlichem Niveau. Ob man dies nun insgesamt noch den Wurzeln der Band enstsprechend als Doom Metal kategorisiert oder die Schublade zeitloser Hard Rock aufmacht, ist da letztendlich vollkommen nebensächlich. Was zählt ist, dass die Band auf ihrem sechsten Longplayer kein Zeichen von kreativer Erschöpfung zeigt - ganz im Gegenteil!
Vor allem bewirkt das Album, dass ich Avatarium unbedingt mal wieder live sehen möchte. Es ist schon viel zu lange her... 

Bleibt nur noch eine Frage zu klären: Was bedeutet "Nachträglichkeit" denn nun? Hier wird es sehr aufschlussreich erklärt! 






2025-02-07

cassette craze chronicles XXXIX feat. DAVID WALLRAF, 大鬼众 GHOSTMASS and WILLIAM FOWLER COLLINS


Ready to dance, clap and sing along? Well sorry, the latest three additions to my tape collection certainly aren't. Or actually... at least the first one might actually be down for a crazy rabid mosh pit.








大鬼众 GHOSTMASS - 大抱散 Improvisation for Dusty Ballz (2025)

Not long ago I reviewed Ghostmass' album "Ghost Meditation", collaboratively released by WV Sorcerer Productions and Dusty Ballz Records. The latter hopefully explains the weird title for this second joint release: It simply is a live session the Chinese group played for that label.

Even though the instrumentation on this recording - with bass, drums and lots of electronics - is the same, the band shows us a pretty different face. The slow Drone, traditional Chinese/Mongolian undertones, the meditative vibes - you have to look way harder for all those here.
Instead chaotically fast and aggressive sounds dominate most of these forty minutes. At first it seems mainly like a wild explosion of Noise and Grindcore, with all the sick screams, shouts and screeches. A demolishing fun party - with some surprisingly satisfying sounds mixed with the raw in-your-face brutality.

But somehow there is more... a Heavy Free Jazz element that keeps getting more prominent until on side B the album turns into an unexpected mass of John Coltrane worship in the most brute outlandish, but strangely enough not in he least disrespectful way, with throat singing emulating the ecstatic saxophone of Trane's later works and the two long tracks even being called "Ascension" and "Om". Purists may get one or two heart attacks on the way, but what else is the finale of this album if not Free Drone Jazz? Just the appropriate manner of coming down after this wild whatthefuckery.

Do I have to mention that the punk-ish artwork rules? That's how you design a tape!








WILLIAM FOWLER COLLINS - The Devil And The River, Volume One (2024)

New Mexican solo performer William Fowler Collins brushes his electric guitar. With a calligraphy brush. While holding one chord. For half an hour. And that's all this is.

Shouldn't there be more? No, this is absoluty fine. Excellent minimalism that sounds indefinitely more cinematic than anything you're imagining right now. Trust me!

The subtle artwork and violet/clear tape shell don't try to direct too much attention away from the beautifully rich simplicity of the music. Thank you Karlrecords for bringing this super slo-mo soundwave to my ears!








DAVID WALLRAF - Crudeltá Necessaria (2025)

Coming with a lot more explanation in liner notes about the necessity of cruelty in art as "a last line of defense in the political and artistic struggle against societal and political pressure" the noises on this second Karlrecords mini album are a lot more antagonistic than Fowler's meditation. However it's not a completely abrasive Harsh assault, but a very controlled, meticulously fine-tuned recording.

David Wallraf, Noise artist and theorist from Hamburg, who actually regularly gives lectures on the subject, approaches his work from a very academic angle. But fear not, the music here is still enjoyable without a degree in theoretical musicology!

With a firm stance in Electro-Acoustic Avantgarde, in conceptual connection to the cinematic works of Pier Paolo Pasolini and using sound design fragments of his movies from the 1960's on tape loops, Walraff creates intriguing Experimental soundscapes of Ambient, Drone and Noise which get more and more imaginative and narrational as the thirty-four minute running time of "Crudeltá Necessaria" go on.

The closing long track "Petrolio" alone justifies listening to this album, as it combines the vibrations of cosmic Berlin school Electronics with The Bug style Dub and the majestic organ Drone of Anna von Hausswolff in a timelessly evocative way.

And while you should never misplace the anonymously clear shell, the artwork of this hand-numbered tape is a classy beauty.
  





2025-02-02

February forecast with DÉLIRANT, POTHAMUS, RITUAL ASCENSION and THE ORPHANED BEE


Well, I just swiped through my inbox ,and even though I delete most promo mails due to lack of time I found that there were still enough great albums with a release date this month left to justify a quadruple review!

So here we go:




POTHAMUS - Abur (release: February 14th 2025)

Many thoughts arise while being flooded by the monumental sound of Pothamus. That the Belgian band actually is only a trio however certainly isn't the first one, given how huge their combination of Sludge Metal with mystic, spiritual, Psychedelic elements appears. Other Post Rock bands seem to recruite half an army of members to achieve a sonic scale like this.

Speaking of huge ensembles: Even though a lot of the monolithic bombast in Pothamus' sound can probably be attributed to groups like The Ocean or Cult of Luna, the tribal drumming and additional Drone (achieved by a Shruti box) bring their impact closer to the rituals of modern shamans Heilung. Overall however the meditative, hypnotic yet also crushing vibe of "Abur" reminds me a lot of another trio, Swiss Post Doom escapists E-L-R, without ever feeling like a copy.

And while the towering finale of the fifteen minute title track closes the album it's safe to say that this surely is among Pelagic Records finest releases in recent years.

Set the controls for the heart of... ehm... whatever flame is depicted in the center of the cover artwork!







DÉLIRANT - Thoughteater (release: February 14th 2025)

Sentient Ruin Laboratories unleashes an unhinged Dissonant Black Metal beast upon us. What else is new? - Well, despite Délirant's sophomore album not exactly being a deviation from their label's shtick at all, it still just took me seconds to decide that I love this sick shit.

Deliriously spiraling Blut Aus Nord non-chords and washed-out screams of anguish are mercilessly pushed forward by the raw ferocity of Mispyrming in an uninterrupted nightmare in seven hellish chapters, all simply titled "Thoughteater" with the respective Roman numeral.
Even though the assault sometimes halts or moves into a marching stomp - the delightfully harrowing atmosphere constantly persists.

"Thoughteater" feels like the horrific freeze frame of the moment Saturn's son realizes that Francisco Goya is making his father fucking eat him alive.
What a dickhead! And what a brain-levelling blast!





RITUAL ASCENSION - Profanation of the Adamic Covenant (release: February 28th 2025)

That wasn't yet enough Sentient Ruin filth for you yet?

Ok, then let's switch from Black to Death Metal and add a good portion of miasmic Doom! Maybe get a little bit more conventional with the riffs - stay inside the realm of torturous dissonance though -, and then drown in the ghoulish reverb of a mouldy mausoleum!

Where other disharmonic Extreme Metal bands often utilize means of staggering sensory overstimulation to melt the listeners' brains and burn their souls, Ritual Ascension rather keep their ideas more minimalist. Seeping with old-school Death Doom atmosphere akin to Autopsy's "Mental Funeral" their debut is crawling, crushing and maiming in all the good primitive ways.

"Profanation of the Adamic Covenant" locks you inside a rotting coffin, pushes the thing down mountain slopes and drags it through swamps in a full moon night. Suffer the bruises, breathe in the scent and enjoy the ride!





THE ORPHANED BEE - Thinking Without Language (release: February 28th 2025)

On the last release of this bunch we're changing gears complety as we turn towards something more light and shiny - in neon and chrome -, entering the world of Synth Rock!

However the Australian project Orphaned Bee doesn't fully rely on Electronic sounds, but establishes rhythmic dynamics with acoustic drumming and also juxtaposes its Eighties' keyboards with surprisingly heavy guitars and the vocoder vocals with harsh screams. And there are several more unexpected little digressions from what the opener "Rain" would make you expect.. 

I might have lied above, at the beginning of this post when I spoke of albums, since "Thinking Without Language" only consists of five tracks with a total playing time of under twenty-five minutes. So this is just an EP, but one which - despite the synth work always being boldly at the forefront - goes through a lot of different moods and sounds.

Through "Rain", "Water" and "Fire", between the achingly yearning melodies in cinematic bombast, the Prog side of Krautrock and the straightforward energetic uptempo of Carpenter Brut producer / multi-instrumentalist Brett Tollis and his collaborators are taking us on quite a colourful short-distance passenger bee flight. Best board with headphones!









2025-01-31

TUSKS - Gold In Synths And Strings

Isn't it neat when the review almost writes itself?


TUSKS - Gold In Synths And Strings (Download) (2024)

The title of this digital EP Electronic Alternative Pop artist Tusks released back in November couldn't be more self-explanatory:
"Gold" was her previous release, hands-down one of the best - at least one of my personal favorite albums - of 2024. The songs and sounds on it will mercilessly stick in your ears; just deep but catchy amazing stuff.

And now - just as the title says - four of its tracks got the stripping down treatment without beats and bass, just reduced to her vocals on top of beautiful floating synths and strings.

No, it's not a new idea. Countless artist from B (as in Björk) to Z (Zola Jesus) have done it. Just as people have slimmed down their songs to only acoustic guitar or piano or transferred their material into other genres... The idea is not the point here, but the quality. Because if the songs are great and the artist lives up to them, these concepts will always work.

So that's what this is: Just four achingly beautiful songs which should work with or without prior knowledge of "Gold". If you love the album, there's no way you won't appreciate this EP.  And if this is the first thing you hear from Tusks, it will surely be a powerful invitation to also experience her in her "full form". (And I can assure you it will be worth it!)






2025-01-27

SWANS - Live Rope

What? This is Roadburn Festival preview content yet again? Well, not directly, since it certainly won't get as loud, but Michael Gira and Kristof Hahn actually will be playing a show there. So I guess it counts.

But do I even need to write about the latest Swans live album - again?

SWANS - Live Rope (2CD) (2024)

I have already featured this two and a half hour coloss before, and not just anywhere, but as my number one favorite live album of 2024. But I hadn't taken pictures of the double CD then. And it simply would feel amiss not to give it some more love.

Over fifty minutes strong the album's rendition of "The Beggar" alone would already make a fantastic live release on its own, as  does the at least in parts of its thirty-seven minutes remarkably ethereal "Birthing".

The twenty-five minute opener "Rope" is mostly just an incredibly patentiently rolled out crescendo. And even though the rest of the six tracks are significantly shorter in comparison - Swans love taking their time to milk their ideas to maximal effect. The dramatic craftsmanship and dynamic intensity they are creating on the spot to achieve that is bordering on the inconceivable.

Swans live 2023
Of course that's nothing new. Since the reunion in 2010 the band has constantly escalated the sheer scale of their operation while also improving on the musicality.
In consequence Swans have become an entity whose very existence is hard to believe. And there have been multiple occasion - like the 2017 live album "Deliquescence" - where I called the ultimate culmination of what they were striving for, only to be proven wrong later.

And here we go again: How could any aspect of this possibly enhanced? With the new textures of acoustic guitar and more lap steel guitar and bass instead of regular guitar Swans reach a new clarity and even greater dynamics between the wall of unfathomably mighty Noise and the brittle breaks from it, while sustaining all their monolithic impact. It's an uncompromising, overwhelming, just marvellous experience.

Swans live in 2023/2024 is just music at its best. It's as simple as that.

The only thing which could have been improved here is the presentation of drummer Phil Puleo's hilarious animal caricatures of the band. In the vinyl version this surely works, but all six pictures on one CD-format cardboard is just a little too tiny. The swirly cover artwork may not be among the most exciting of Michael Gira's creations so far, but in context with the familiar established design of the digipak it works.

All in all - and maybe even more so than some of the latest studio albums - this is a vital release for all Swans fans old and new.








2025-01-26

HARVESTMAN - Triptych (Parts 1-3)

Two Audiotree Live session EPs and now this. So is every second review going to be some kind of Roadburn preview from now on?

Steve von Till will be Artist in Residence this year, and one of his shows will consist of material from his Harvestman project. There's enough to chose from, since he brought us a whole "Triptych" of albums:

HARVESTMAN
Triptych Part One
(Bone White Opaque + Black Galaxy vinyl) (2024)
Triptych Part Two (Ruby Red + Transparent Galaxy vinyl) (2024)
Triptych Part Three (Cloudy Clear & Black Galaxy vinyl) (2024)

Pink Moon, Buck Moon, Hunter Moon... I thought Earth just had the one regular satellite, but what do I know? Released on three specific full moons on April 23rd, July 21st and October 17th this trinity of releases should rather be understood as one connected work. I personally even waited until they were all available to experience them together. And seriously: With that strong emphasis on how much this is a trilogy in title and artwork - who would want to be content with just sticking to one or two parts?

The albums are even all structured in a similar way with three songs on the first and four on the second side, and the fourth track always being an alternative Dub version of the opener. For those and more reasons I'm writing this as one overarching review instead of three.

The music certainly is a constant in its anachronist nature between mystical Electronic Ambient, Folk, Tribal, Drone, Psychedelic Rock, oriental influences, other 4AD sounds I might have forgotten and even Industrial.

Steve von Till
always is the major contributor playing guitar, bass, synths, stock tank and percussions plus all kinds of Electronic manipulation.
Then there are three main guest musicians appearing on selected tracks throughout the whole series: Sleep's Al Cisneros provides bass (on all the aforementioned openers and Dub mixes), Dave French adds various percussive elements and John Goff plays bagpipes / Northumbrian smallpipes, always on the last track of each album.

Apart from that there are three different narrators, each speaking over one track from each record, and a couple of further instrumentalists. Especially Part Three goes big with more synths, organs, flutes and bouzouki.
And of course the Dub mix of "Clouds Are relatives" on Part Three is accounted for by none other than specialist Kevin The Bug Martin!

Over a playing time of overall around two hours "Triptych" takes you through worlds and spheres of many shades and colours. They all have in common that they feel meditative, are produced spectacularly and almost burst with otherworldly atmosphere. Just don't expect Von Till's outstanding sonorously deep voice, which is present on most of his solo albums under his name, to appear! Because apart from the occasional spoken words (all not from him either) this is a strictly instrumental affair - and absolutely perfect this way.

The presentation of the trilogy - with the distinct graphic artwork, a round cut-out being part of the cover and the beautiful different vinyl colours - is worthy of its truly magical content.

Yes, in and out this release is threefold special. And now I really hope that Harvestman won't fall prey to harsh clashes with other phenomenal stuff on Good Friday in Tilburg... The experienced Roadburner knows: Never get too enthusiastic about a specific show before you know the complete timetable! 





2025-01-25

UNLEASHED COOPERATION - Trust

I'm getting closer to the goal of finishing it in January (at least as far as that's possible, since some physical copies haven't arrived yet), and I absolutely cannot wrap up my 2024 to-review-list without covering a stunning highlight from the excellent Polish Jazz label Multikulti Project:


UNLEASHED COOPERATION - Trust (CD) (2024)

The line-up of saxophone, trumpet, piano, double bass and drums couldn't be more classic for a Jazz quintet. Unleashed Cooperation however are not a period band solely focussing on Bebop, Spiritual, Free Jazz or any other specific predominant or niche sound of a certain era.

Instead the band, which purposefully isn't named after a leader, but prides itself in incorporating all its members' creative input equally, achieves a very wide stylistic range, utilizing multiple influences from the last eight decades of Jazz. Smooth Swing, fast flight-of-the-bumblebeeish runs, clear sublime melodies, controlled chaos, playfully eery Doomjazz vibes... this album does it all in a coherent flow without ever losing the plot.

On four of eight tracks "Trust" also features adventurous guest singer Anna Gadt, who brings wispy soulfulness and dramatic Avant-Garde into the mix.
And even with this addition the album never goes to places where it's not supposed to be, while still feeling like a timeless parade of almost everything great about Jazz.

No matter if we're in the 1950's, 1970's or close to The End, you can always "Trust" this album to deliver grandiose performances, arrangements and engulfing atmosphere.

Kamasi, Jaubi, Spinifex, Work Money Death... Last year made it pretty hard to pick my genre favorites. Of course somehow I made my decisions, but honestly Unleashed Cooperation can look eye to eye with any of my choices. Real great stuff!

[Just a reminder to myself: Stephan, next time you order from Multikulti please ask them not to send the package as registered mail, because that always means a pain in the a** extra drive to the post office. Tanks for the attention!]







2025-01-24

MONG TONG - Audiotree Live

Is Audiotree sneakily doing a Roadburn preview series?

Shortly after The Body & Dis Fig the high quality live session channel now presents the Taiwanese duo Mong Tong, who haven't been officially announced for this this year's line-up yet by the festival - but it's in their tour dates, where they surely wouldn't just make the appearance up. So I'm pretty confident to share this information here.

MONG TONG - Audiotree Live (Download) (2025)

Since I have already seen them live in Berlin in 2022 I know that watching Jiun Chi (guitar, synth) and Hom Yu (bass), who always perform with traditional blindfolds, is a worthwhile experience. It's of course still cool to have that impression be underlined by this six-track EP.

Their relaxed, but also a little spooky and mysterious mixture of Psychedelic Rock elements, sample-based experimental Electronics, Eastern Asian melodies and cultural referencese is a fascinating anachronistic balancing act between tradition and modernism, resulting in a unique, accessible but not shallow sound. This is an just a beautifully stimulating soundtrack to unwind, presented in an intriguing manner.

Naturally very, very different than that aforementioned Audiotree session, but just as great!




OCEANS OF SLUMBER - Where Gods Fear To Speak

Tja, so schnell verliert man manchmal den Anschluss. Da ist man generell gerade nicht so ganz heiß an einem Musikgenre interessiert, findet man eine Single nicht so prickelnd oder hört sie einfach in der falschen Stimmung... und schon haben Oceans Of Slumber nicht nur ein selbstbetiteltes (2020) Album veröffentlich, sondern auch noch 2022 "Starlight and Ash" nachgelegt.

Bevor die texanischen Progmetaller nun im seit "Winter" (2016) etablierten Zweijahresrhythmus ihr neuestes Album herausbrachten, habe ich - begünstigt durch Labelwechsel und Aktionspreise - aber meine Versäumnisse nachgeholt und natürlich festgestellt, dass beide Werke natürlich viel stärker sind, als ich es ohne aufmerksam nachzuhören angenommen hatte.

Und nun läutet das Quintett erneut die Glocken... 


OCEANS OF SLUMBER - Where Gods Fear To Speak (transparent orange/blue vinyl 2LP) (2024)

Was sofort im titelgebenden Opener auffällt ist die Heaviness. War die Band zwischendurch mal mehr in Richtung Southern Gothic Rock orientiert, wird hier definitiv wieder das volle Brett hervorgeholt. Und das schließt auch eine neue Superwaffe der ohnehin schon irre flexiblen und ausdrucksstarken Sängerin Cammie Beverly (vormals Gilbert und nun mit Drummer Dobber verheiratet) mit ein; zwar hat die Band trotz wechselnder Besetzung immer kompetente Growler in ihren Reihen gehabt, doch nun reiht sich auch die Leadsängerin ein - und das mit einer exzellenten, unmenschlich tiefen Performance, die klar macht, dass die Dame die Technik wahrscheinlich schon lange fleißig bis zur Vollendung geübt hat, um ja kein halbstarkes Biest auf die Welt loszulassen.

Die meiste Zeit wird allerdings nach wie vor melodisch gesungen, mal mit voller Soulstimme, mal sanft säuselnd, mal rockröhrig, mal beinahe opernhaft... Cammie schafft es nach wie vor, einem ständig an unterschiedliche großartige Sängerinnen zu erinnern, ohne dabei einen Zweifel an ihrer eigenen unverwechselbaren Identität aufkommen zu lassen. Ganz klar, die Frontfrau ist und bleibt die Hauptattraktion - und das ist bei einer Band wie Oceans Of Slumber natürlich eine durchaus imposante Leistung.

Musikalisch ist die Basis der meisten Stücke neben dramatischem Doom vor allem moderner Prog Metal mit der DNA von Gruppen wie Dream Theater oder eine Generation später Opeth, inklusive der Furchtlosigkeit der ehemaligen Death Metaller, wenn es darum geht auch mal in extreme Sphären durchzustarten. Und so bleibt natürlich das Trademark bestehen, dass der mit Insect Warfare reichlich grindcore-erfahrene Drummer jederzeit eine songschreiberisch sinnvolle Gelgenheit erkennen kann, einen epochalen Blastbeat rauszuscheppern. Ein anderes direkt mit ihm verbundenes Markenzeichen sind - komplett auf der anderen Seite des Brutalitätsspektrums -, die von ihm gespielten klassischen Klavierpassagen.

Ja, eigentlich bleibt beinahe alles irgendwie wie immer und Oceans of Slumber greifen zwischen popaffinen Melodien und irrwitzigen Genresprüngen alles auf, was bereits in der Vergangenheit gut funktioniert hat. Auf "Where Gods Fear To Speak" zelebrieren sie die Dynamik ihrer Bandbreite allerdings selbst für ihre Verhältnisse besonders hingebungsvoll und mit beeindruckender Hitdichte.

Vor allem jedoch muss ich der Band, die rein stilistisch ja viel in der polierten, ernsthaften, theoretisch "uncoolen" Seite des Progmetalmeters zu Hause ist, zu Gute halten, dass bei aller klinischen Reinheit der Produktion nicht nur stets der korrekte Wumms gewahrt bleibt, sondern auch die Spielfreude immer herauszuhören ist. Diese Band hat unzweifelhaft Bock - und dies auf technisch und kompositorisch schwindelerrgendem Niveau.

Es gibt eigentlich nur eine Übung, in der Oceans of Slumber eine Amateurband vom Dorf zu sein scheinen: die Auswahl ihrer Coverstücke. Deep Cuts und Geheimtipps kommen dafür nämlich selten in Frage. Stattdessen fragt man, was die TOP40-Coverband tun würde. Und so endet dieses Album nach der vielleicht wildesten Tour de Force "The Impermanence of Fate" mit einem bereits tausendfach (selbst von mir als Unpluggedmusiker auf einer Weihnachtsfeier) interpretierten Allerwelts-Hit.

Trotzdem ist Chris Isaaks "Wicked Game" natürlich eine unsterblich gute Nummer. Meistens sagen mir hier ja die reduzierten Versionen eher zu. Die Texaner gehen sie allerdings hart an der Schwelle zum Kitsch mit viel Klavier und Bombast an - und fahren das Ding bombensicher heim. Einfach wunderbar!

Die Doppel-LP, ob schwarz oder - wie hier zu sehen  - -in der zweifarbig transparanten Limited Edition, präsentiert die knappe Stunde in 45 Umdrehungen per Minute, also Vorsicht bei der Tempowahl!

Es sei denn, man möchte dieses hervorragende Album einfach tiefer und länger genießen natürlich. Das muss jeder für sich entscheiden.







2025-01-23

KANAAN & ÆVESTADEN live auf der MS Stubnitz, Hamburg (21. Januar 2025)


Mein zweites Konzert des Jahres führte mich Dienstag wieder einmal an Bord der diesmal eisig im Nebel unterhalb der Elbbrücken liegenden MS Stubnitz. Es rief die Kollaboration des exzellenten norwegischen Instrumentalrocktrios Kanaan mit der popaffinen und dennoch eigenwillig experimentierfreudigen Folkgruppe Ævestaden.

Genau wie Ni vorletzte Woche im Hafenklang war dies sicherlich eine (unverdient) randgruppenorientierte Veranstaltung, bei der man unter der Woche keine brechend volle Bude erwarten konnte. Von daher war ich in beiden Fällen durchaus positiv von der zwar noch überschaubaren, aber doch respektablen Publikumsmenge  überrascht.

Und wer sich von nah und fern (Grüße an Dave "Sula Bassana" Schmidt!) eingefunden hatte, um der Liveumsetzung des Albums "Langt, langt vekk" beizuwohnen, der wurde reichlich für seine Entscheidung belohnt.

Die ersten paar Stücke des Crossovers aus Krautrock, norwegischer Volksmusik und frommen Mittelaltertönen waren sowohl für das Sextett als auch Fans noch Warmmacher, ehe die Stücke sich stilistisch wie spielerisch immer weiter öffneten und man sich gemeinsam in einen ungewöhnlichen Rausch begab. Das Aufeinandertreffen von Lyra und Fiedel mit elektrischer Gitarre, Mellotron und Modularsynthesizer in zahlreichen Konstellationen erschuf in jedem Song neue Spannungsfelder. Himmlische Harmoniegesänge paarten sich mit jazzigen Bassläufen und der für Drummer Ingvald typischen wild-dynamischen Rhythmik. Todesballaden schwebten wie Nebelschwaden durch das Schiff und hin und wieder wurde auch das hart fuzzrockende Stoner-Riff ausgepackt.

Wie schon auf dem Album ging jedes Stück in eine etwas andere Richtung - und über die Studioversion hinaus, da - wie Bassist Eskild mir nachher erzählte - viele Kompositionen im Laufe dieser Tour ein Eigenleben entwickelt hatten. Zusätzlich zum kompletten Albummaterial, inklusive den gewachsenen, länger gejammten Liedern gab es auch noch etwas neue Musik, sowie den zuvor nie zu dritt live gespielten Kanaan-Song "Softly Through Sunshine", der bei der Gelegenheit natürlich reichlich - inklusive Gesang - gepimpt wurde.

Nein, weder über zu kurze Spielzeit noch über mangelnde Qualität durfte sich hier beschwert werden. Und tatsächlich waren nach dieser Feier am imaginären Feuer des schwimmenden Langhauses MS Stubnitz nur zufriedene Gesichter zu sehen. Ungewöhnlich. Und ungewöhnlich gut!

(Selbst der einzige Kritikpunkt des Abends löste sich in Wohlgefallen auf. Die Bar hatte nämlich nicht genügend Zero-Getränk am Start. Da ich aber gerade eine rädernde 24-Stunden-Blutdruckmessung hinter mir hatte, konnte ich den ungewohnten Zuckerschub allerdings gut für eine wache Heimfahrt mit Beschallung durch Ævestadens wunderbares 2023er Album "Solen Var Bättre Där"gebrauchen.)







2025-01-19

cassette craze chronicles XXXVII feat. PONTE DEL DIAVOLO, 夢遊病者 and THISQUIETARMY


Rediscovering forgotten problems of the the medium and being gifted a release so rare, noone but me will ever enter it into the Discogs database. Read all about it - and maybe also discover some great music you have missed so far - here in the thirty-seventh edition of my cassette craze chronicles:





THISQUIETARMY - Les Entampes (2024)

I bought this album back in November, when Aidan Baker's and Eric Quach's Hypnodrone Ensemble played onboard the MS Stubnitz in Hamburg. Thisquietarmy is Quach's solo moniker and "Les Entampes" shows us how he spent his time during the pandemic, creating a beautful soundtrack to the void of uncertainty.

Drips of Ambient, layering on top of each other until they become swooshing cascades. There may or may not be some other Electronic elements here and there, but most of this album seems to be built on guitars. Looped and manipulated with effects, clean and clear, mystically nebulous and atmospheric, huge and droning...

There's no need to beat around the bush: Quach really shows off his mastery in his Experimental style here as the album invites you to bathe in its deep sonic splendour. Thisisthisquietarmy at its best.

The cassette has a simple effective design, all about showcasing the artful cover and backcover photography, also done by Quach himself. making "Les Entampes" an all around wonderful release.









PONTE DEL DIAVOLO - TRE - The EP Collection (2024)

Not so wonderful was my first time listening to this compilation of three EPs, which the Italians Ponte Del Diavolo recorded before they released their great debut album "Fire Blades From The Tomb", which I will hopefully be able to experience live in full at Roadburn this year, on Seasons of Mist.

I was not disappointed by the music, quite the opposite. But after side A had finished the tape ripped! So there I had challenge: Opening the shell, which wasn't screwed but glued together without damaging it, fixing the tear, which was unfortunately close to the reel and then of course putting it all back together.
Did it work? Well, there are still some seconds of terrible noise and I accidentily switched the sides, so that A and B are now labeled wrong. Apart from that repair seems to have been a success and stood the test of a couple of spins. Yet honestly I don't really trust my craftmanship in the long term, so I'll probably won't put this into my player too often, just for safety.

It's a shame, because while they don't leave as big of an exclamation mark as the full album yet, the songs here already display the bands boundless exploration of Goth Rock, Post Punk and various forms of Metal between Doom, Drone, Post and Black, which should speak to any fan of Dool, Healythyliving or Messa.

The remastered production is sometimes still a bit raw - but in the best way! The drumming is powerful, the riffs are catchy and fresh and the partly Italian female lead vocals provide even more recognizability to this awesome Post Everything mix. Most of all Ponte Del Diavolo are just sparking with a fearless addictive energy.

The tape's artwork is what it is, fine and simple. It's a great compilation/album, so just don't let my anectdotic grievances with my personal copy scare you from missing out on it! 









夢遊病者 - Delirium Pathomutageno Adductum (2024)

This package came as a huge surprise and it took me a moment to realize what it even was. I have positively reviewed the previous two releases by the international project also known as Sleepwalker, "Noč Na Krayu Sveta" (2012) and "Skopofoexoskelett" (2023). And due to this very column I was probably certainly the only writer specifically targeting the tape versions, which both were quiet different from other formats with a completely alternative artwork.

This most recent EP (with four tracks of exactly 05:40 minutes length each) however was not released on cassette. Well, actually, as you can see it obviously was released. It's just a very limited edition of - this is no typo - 1 (one) copy! Of course with a J-card with a different artwork from vinyl and CD - and with a lovely hand-drawn postcard. How cool is that? Getting attentions like that for this little (still time-consuming) hobby here is just awesome. Thank you very much, dear anonymous Sleepwalkers!

Admittedly this gift feels a little undeserved, because in all honesty "Delirium Pathomutageno Adductum" doesn't appeal to me as much as its predecessors, which had a more accessible atmosphere and were easier to grasp. Or to put it different: This one dials up the chaotic everything is possible at the time time philosophy of the band and condenses it to a point, which effectively makes it a much harder and longer work to adjust and dechiffre what's going on here.

There are a lot of vocals from Black Metal screech to Power Metal siren, instrumentals from all kinds of Metal, Rock, Americana, "World Music" and Classical, including many "exotic" sounds from vibraphone, oboe, french horn, accordion and many more tools. So no, that's not a radical conceptual change. But boy this is just very much stuff presented with a very low-fi approach.

Imagine chosing Pan.Thy.Monium's "Khaooohs", Amorphis' "Tales From The Thousand Lakes", some random Death and John Zorn from your record collection - don't forget to also throw some Eastern European and Asian Folk into the mix - and then recording it all over each other on an old 4 track tape machine! It doesn't work that way, I know. You don't have enough tracks after all, so you need to combine them and feed them into the process again. And after all that downmixing the end result feels kind of blurry and demanding to listen to. Phew...

No, this is not bad music. In fact these tracks are all still growing on me. But boy, it took (and still takes) quite some work to make this click! So this time I'm actually content with the short playing time, because more of this would frankly be too intimidating.

And in case you're feeling complety different and think this is an instantly enjoyable motherfucker like the two longtracks of  "Noč Na Krayu Sveta" - maybe I'm just downplaying the release so noone steals my no. 1/1 cassette? 








LUCIFER / SISTER MIDNIGHT - Split

The Swedish-German Heavy Rockers Lucifer have once again a released a non-album-related standalone single. And since those are always cool I ordered a copy via elk mail as soon as I was made aware of it.


LUCIFER / SISTER MIDNIGHT - Split (golden vinyl 7") (2025*)

The golden 7" is a split release of cover versions with featured guest singers, so ultimately it almost takes longer to list all relevant names than to listen to the whole thing.

On the first side Lucifer are playing the Leonard Cohen song "Who By Fire" as a duet of Johanna Platow and the thousand-year-old oak of Doom, Pentagram's Bobby Liebling. Am I the biggest fan of his voice? Nah, it's a bit crusty in a weird way. But the combination with Johanna's Heart timbre makes an interesting contrast - and in comparison to the singer/songwriter performance of Cohen it actually works as a rawer approach to the song, which also instrumentally is turned into a very compelling Hard Rock hymn with phenomal guitar solos.

The superior vocal performance of the single however can be heard on the other side - and it comes from Johanna too, who is the featured guest here. Sister Midnight is a cover project with rotating vocalists, and since the original of the song - Nazareth's "Sold My Soul" - is much closer to their own style, this very much feels like a Mark III of Lucifer with a different line-up and a sound closer to the Doom roots of Mark I.
Anyway, it's a great rendition and especially with the "I soooold my soooouul to the Deviiiiil!" belts at the end Johanna really goes all in on this one. Love it! 

So please decode the implied message of the Sister Midnight side's artwork, shut up and give Lucifer your money (and soul)!





* I know, I know. Officially this probably counts as a 2024 release, but I tend to go with the availibility of the actual record. And already planning forward twelve months I also want to enable this thing to have a fair chance at the next best of the year season.