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!)

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.

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! 

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!]

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.

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.)

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.





 

THE BODY & DIS FIG - Audiotree live

I'll leave it to you if you read this post as an actual review or just an appreciation of anticipation. Because almost everytime Roadburn posts anything about one of the shows and artists of the upcoming edition of the festival, I'm like: Wow, this looks way too interesting! It will be a hell of cruel clashes...

And this new Audiotree live session / digital EP just falls right into that sentiment as a preview of one of the many amazing experiences to chose from come April.

THE BODY & DIS FIG - Audiotree live (Download) (2025)

Holy cow! No, actually "Holy Lance" is the first track of this live performance. The American duo The Body provides eery textures of Ambient and noises, which soon develop into a slow and super heavy clod of Sludge, which Berlin-based singer / Electronic artist Felicia Chen aka Dis Fig uses as a pedestal for an intensly powerful and emotional vocal performance. While her voice is distinct from both of them, the fearless mindset of her singing reminds me a lot of Big|Brave's Robin Wattie and fellow Experimental artist Otay:onii.

The longest track "Coils of Kaa" amps up all qualities of the opener, adds more effects and Noise both from The Body and Dis Fig, while her voice gets more daring and extreme and is aided by Chip King's infamous weird shrill shrieks (which arguably chip away at many listeners' attraction to The Body). 

Even with a different, more synthetic sound palette the slow atmospheric and majestic Drone of "Back To The Water" finally feels very akin to - again - Big|Brave. And it's fucking incredible - what a beautiful brutal Doom Noise masterpiece! Yeah, I always dig a great Audiotree session. And these twenty-three minutes very certainly aren't the exception. Quite the opposite.

So I guess I should really check out that studio album from last year, which they made together, right? And of course hope hope hope with twenty fingers crossed, that their Roadburn show will be attendable for me without major crashes.

Weiße Kreise und goldene Elemente mit ASTRAL KOMPAKT, TFNRSH, THE BARREN ROOM und WIZRD

Ob ich's im Januar noch schaffe, alle 2024er Alben von meiner To-Do-Liste hier abzufrühstücken? Vielleicht. Dieser vierfache Rezensionsknoppers sollte zumindest helfen dieses Ziel zu erreichen:

ASTRAL KOMPAKT - Goldader (2024)

Die Kölner Astral Kompakt spielen - ganz unrheinisch - instrumentalen Wüstenrock, der zwar stets sehr eingängig und vertraut klingt, aber zwischen wuchtigem riffzentrischen Stoner Doom, Orientalismen und Krautspuren irgendwie das gewisse Etwas hat, welches spezieller zündet als bei vielen anderen Vertretern des Genres.

Dass das Trio, dessen Grundatmosphäre vieles mit Causa Sui gemein hat, seinen Sound immer mal wieder durch unerwartete Überraschungen zwischen sommerlicher Leichtigkeit und scheppernden Blastbeats auflockert, trägt dazu bei, ist hier aber nicht der entscheidende Kern. Jenen sehe ich eher in der vermeintlichen Lässigkeit des Ganzen; Astral Kompakt lassen alles was sie tun gleich simpel wirken. Man wird auch mal proggier, spielt ungerade Takte und durchaus komplexe Arrangements... aber als Hörer kann man dennoch immer schön mitnicken und grooven, ohne sich einen Kopf machen zu müssen, was zum Henker gerade passiert.

Diese Jungs haben auf "Goldader" ein perfektes Gleichgewicht aus Anspruch und Eingängigkeit gefunden und dabei ein kleines, aber feines saucooles Album rausgehauen.

TFNRSH - Book of Circles (2025)

Huch, das ist ja noch gar nicht verjährt, sondern noch ganz frisch, Release heute, am 17. Januar 2025!

Wir bleiben in Deutschland und im gesangslosen Trio-Format. Doch wie das Cover schon zeigt, steigern wir uns farblich von gold auf bunt, ist die stilistische Vielfalt in den Longtracks der Tübinger TFNRSH doch trotz vieler Gemeinsamkeiten mit Astral Kompakt ein wenig schillernder. Macht dies "Book of Circles" automatisch zu einem besseren Album? Nein, beide Alben sind auf ihre Weise auf Augenhöhe klasse.

In ihren ebenfalls vierzig Minuten wird uns von TFNRSH hier eine Menge geboten, ein stets in gelungenes Songwriting eingebundenes Potpourrie aus Psychedelic Rock, Prog, postrockigen und doomenden Elementen. Ein besonderer Höhepunkt ist der Ausflug ins Theater mit den deutschen Spoken Words im fürwahr hochdramatischen "Zorn". Und so aufwühlend dieser Track ist, so wunderschön endet das Album mit "Ammoglÿd".

*hach*

WIZRD - Elements (2024)

Yupp, wir werden anscheinend immer progressiver!

Das norwegische Quartett Wizrd, dessen Mitglieder u.a. in Soft Ffog, Spidergawd und Krokofant aktiv sind, haben den Nachfolger zu ihrem Debüt "Seasons" von 2022 abgeliefert.

Klar als Teil der vitalen Szene, welcher Künstler wie Seven Impale, Kanaan, Wobbler, Hedvig Mollestad Trio und so viele weitere großartige Hüter des Geistes der Siebziger Jahre entstiegen sind, erkennbar, orgeln, fuzzen, harmonisieren und virtuosieren sich Wizrd durch eine dynamische, immer wieder den Jazzrock streifende Retro-Prog-Tour de Force, die keinen Stillstand kennt. Der kürzeste Track des Albums heißt einfach "!!!" und das ist schon irgendwie programmatisch angesichts des kreativen Dauerfeuers mit nimmermüder Gute-Laune-Frickelmusik auf "Elements". Und besonders zu den Gesängen darf man auch gerne mal episch die Arme ausbreiten.

Prog mag ja durchaus manchmal uncool sein, aber garantiert nicht wenn er aus Oslo kommt und von diesen Herren zelebriert wird.

THE BARREN ROOM - White Clouds (2024)

Zurück in Deutschland lauschen wir zu guter Letzt noch dem Debüt von The Barren Room, einem Worst Bassist Records-Haustrio, welches neben Sänger/Gitarrist Oli Hilse noch aus Lulu Neudeck (Electric Moon) am Viersaiter, sowie dem Drummer von Sarkh besteht.

Wie zu erwarten spielt hier Psych eine Rolle, mehr noch allerdings geradeaus gespielter Rock'n'Roll, der sich irgendwo zwischen Alternative, Grunge und Noise verorten lässt. Tendenziell eine Richtung, in der ich nicht vieles nicht allzu häufig höre, doch The Barren Room haben den Dreh raus, nur ein bisschen anders gespielt wahrscheinlich ziemlich uninteressante Parts gerade so feinzujustieren, dass sie genau das richtige Maß an Coolness haben.

"White Clouds" hat oftmals was von einer weniger wilden und heavyen, aber dafür doch irgendwie mit punkigerer Attitüde daherkommenden Variante von Bone Man. In Stücken wie z.B. "Button Man" hat man so ein bisschen das Gefühl der Antwort auf die Frage zu lauschen, wie die White Stripes wohl als "normale" Band geklungen hätten.
Außerdem ist es sehr nett, Lulus den ganzen Sound hier sehr prägnant erdendes Bassspiel einmal in einem ungewohnten musikalischen Umfeld außerhalb langer Moon-Jams zu hören.

Fazit: Hört sich gut weg, dieses Zeugs. Mag ich.

大鬼眾 GHOSTMASS - 鬼​之​冥​想 Ghost Meditation

I will admit this: If you told me that there was an album you could hardly imagine being released on another label than WV Sorcerer Productions, I'd already be ninety percent sold.

But that's just a theory. In practise I'm of course the one telling you about an album right now, which couldn't be more WV Sorcery sauce - even though it's actually being co-released by the British-Chinese label Dusty Ballz.

大鬼眾 GHOSTMASS - 鬼​之​冥​想 Ghost Meditation (Sanguine vinyl LP) (2024)

Ghostmass is a Chinese quartet, consisting of Li Quing and Li Weisi from the duo Soviet Pop on drums and bass and both Yan Jun and Yang Kuku from Carsick Cars on electronics and vocals. If you're as unfamiliar with those names as I am, but you have some experience with releases from this label and took a look at the tracklist of "Ghost Meditation", you might very well be able to guesstimate their sound.

Yes, the two twenty minute long tracks "嗚 Wu" and "呼 Hu" are a combination of super slow minimalist Drone Doom with exhausting Harsh Noise. The crunching creeping bass and often rather textural drumming on one side and the shrieking, scratching, glitching, buzzing and feedbacking Electronic bursts crash into each other like a temple being demolished by a wrecking ball.

I'm not quite sure which is which in this pretty picture of destruction, but at least I know that like the band on the Titanic the monks keep chanting until the end. If there is a glue holding this rubble mountain of noises together, then this role goes to the vocals, which are mostly variations of throat singing, and seem to ground the music in a vague Chinese / Mongolian spirituality. At least until they turn from the booming deep inward to the shrill outward with high Grindcore-ish screeches.

An easy formula to descrive all this would be Sunn O))) meets Merzbow meets Marc Urselli's Steppendoom, but with a more improvisational character like Acid Lumo, if that reference finally is obscure enough for you. And if you're a fan of Javanese experimentalists Senyawa, as I advise everyone to be, the eerie, but also strangely comforting nature of this raw yet impactfully layered record should also speak to you.

Excellent Avant-garde music, as usual rounded off by a nice (dis)harmonious packaging. I have no open wishes. Let there be Ghostmass!

LAIBACH - Opus Dei Revisited

Two new versions of a decades old album in one year - is that overkill?

After the remastered version of their 1987 classic "Opus Dei", which also included remastered remixes of the time plus sixteen live versions of songs from the album, in December Laibach also released another double album with actually newly recorded versions plus new remixes - "Opus Dei Revisited".

The obvious question: Is this even really necessary?

LAIBACH - Opus Dei Revisited (2LP) (2024)

Since the Slovenes appearantly are in the process of rehashing their whole discography phase by phase, let me extend this question accordingly!

As I have thouroughly discussed in my most-read review of this whole blog, the revisited versions of tracks from Laibach's self-titled debut and "Nova Akropola" are among the best and most laibach things, the band has ever done.

In my humble opinion everything the band has done afterwards however hardly needs to be reworked into completely new arrangements, at least as far as new studio recordings are concerned. Live Laibach have always been adapting their own material according to their recent sound anyway. And what we're hearing on the first half of this release is exactly that: the "Opus Dei" interpretations as the current line-up of the band with Milan Fras and Marina Mårtensson on shared lead vocal duty is performing it.

Laibach live 2024

Like I've reported from Copenhagen and Hanover I'm certainly happy with those new versions. But given that the original studio versions barely cried for improvements, Laibach may have changed the sound and instrumentation of the tracks, which sound less brute and more electronic now, but largely refrained from touching their structure or melodies. So this is far from the deconstruction and complete reshaping of their older material we heard on "Laibach Revisited".
It's still interesting, especially on the B-side with its really exciting take on "Transnational", but ultimately this whole endeavour mostly falls under the category of welcome but unnecessary luxury.

So what does that mean going forward? While I'd love to see long-abandoned songs from any album return to Laibach's setlist, I doubt that any further release needs the revisited treatment. "Opus Dei" really feels as far as one should go and is already balancing on the edge of necessity.

Regarding remasters there's certainly more potential, but not that much too. As I have mentioned before "Let It Be" would be the one album, which I would really love to have remastered, since the original production just isn't that great. "Kapital" obviously asks for a huge box reissue, since the original LP, CD and cassette releases all had those different mixes, versions, even tracklists. So even though I have all three variants, I would wholeheartedly understand a special reissue in that case.
Everything afterwards however should better be left untouched. From "N.A.T.O." on the productions all still hold up, while the need for any radical re-evaluation of the arrangements dwindles.

But back to the album at hand:

You might have noticed that I didn't say anything about the meaning and importance of "Opus Dei" yet. I didn't do so, because there had already been so many opportunities to write about "Leben heißt Leben", "Geburt einer Nation" and so on during the past year, that I just don't see the need to wring out more thoughts about the topic out of my head again. Laibach feel the same. They already had extensive liner notes accompanying the remastered release, so why do it once more?
In consequence this is a slimmer package than the remasters of both "Opus Dei" and "Nova Akropola" (from 2023): no gatefold or booklet, just the once again updated cover artwork with the two records inside plus a little fridge magnet with the artwork. Which is nice, but hey Mute Records, I would have actually prefered a free download of the album instead! Why do more and more labels keep punishing buyers of vinyl versions this way?

Laibach live 2024

Apart from that at least the vinyl version doesn't miss any content compared to the CD this time. There are no bonus tracks, no full extra discs of music missing, which had been an issue with various Laibach albums before.

And speaking of bonus material: Sides C and D are actually just as important for "Opus Dei Revisited" as the first record - and if you're already content with having experienced the new band arrangements live they might even be the main reason to consider purchasing this album. Not the group, but original "Opus Dei" producer Rico Conning revisits the album's master tapes here to build new remixes, which explore the material in a variety of different ways, sometimes closer to Pop or Ambient, in other instances jumping wildly between moods and sounds between aggressive guitar noise and danceable beats. Again "Transnational" is a highlight, this time with obvious references to Kraftwerk's "Autobahn". But also "F.I.A.T.", the mighty finale of "How The West Was Won" or the fantastic Electronic transformation of "The Great Seal", which closes the album after a slightly altered running order, stand out.

So all in all, yes, it's hard to resist this release as a fan. Even though naught of this update was needed and it expectedly fails in clearing the high mark of similar predecessors, after all this still is a very worthwhile album based on an undeniable classic.

In hindsight it might have been more impressive to put all the material - remaster, remixes, revisited and live versions - into one big box. Yet given how it took to make "Laibach Revisited" and how expensive that box got, this 2-album-solution probably was for the best.