cuttooth - Elements

 

My friend and fellow music writer, Racer, forwarded an email from Nick Cooke who records under the name cuttooth.  Nick had submitted his new album, Elements, for review by The Ripple Effect and Racer knows me well enough to sense that I’d click with this release and as usual he was right. I tend to like trippy, spacey music and ambient hip hop and Elements hits on all of these styles.

Elements opens with "Intro", a spacey little appetizer reminiscent of Boards of Canada featuring a single spoken line slowed down to eerie effect.  The second track, "In A Dream", opens with a bright and echoing guitar chord ringing out as a downtempo beat slowly fades up underneath.  Not that it was necessary, as the track is dreamy enough, but a voice chanting “in a dream” repeats in the background.  This creates a nice bit of tension in the piece.

cuttooth makes excellent use of ambient sounds, spoken word samples and layers of disconnected sounds to weave a dreamscape.  Rather than bore you, dear reader, with a track-by-track analysis I will attempt to describe the album as a singular piece of work:

Are you a fan of lucid dreams?  Are you apt to daydream?  Do you go off into a reverie when your senses are hit with a certain sound, smell or visual that suggests something beyond our limited physical surroundings?

If you fit the above profile, I’d highly recommend giving this a listen.  This is an album for the dreamers among us.  This is headphone music.  For me, that’s the highest compliment I could pay Mr. Cooke.

--Jones

Cuttooth - Elements [Psychonavigation Records] PSY045 Samples by psychonavigation

Ripple News - Team All About the Music Releases Free Compilation Album!

TEAM ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC releases FREE Compilation, “Setting Trends And Banging Heads Vol 1”, OUT NOW!!

Just in time for the New Year, TEAM ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC is releasing a $FREE DOWNLOAD$ of the company’s first compilation, Setting Trends And Banging Heads Vol 1.  Featuring a host of some of the hottest trend setting bands out there (and all with their own respective sound), Setting Trends And Banging Heads Vol 1 will surely be a good one for your listening pleasure.  Get your free download of Setting Trends And Banging Heads Vol 1, here: http://www.teamallaboutthemusic.bandcamp..com  

Download it, burn it, literally do whatever you want with it.  Track listing for the compilation is below.  For those of you who are keener on more of the creative side of things in music, make sure to listen to this from start to finish.  The beautiful and absolutely stunning album art was created by Salo Sopor – check out more of his work here: http://www.salosopor.com/ .

TEAM AATM owner Alex Gilbert comments on the artwork, "I’ve always loved that city / nightlife feel, and our friend Salo pretty much accommodated perfectly, plus more than I could even imagine." 

TEAM ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC – Setting Trends And Banging Heads Vol 1
1. HYPNO5E - Tutuguri
2. MARGIN OF ERROR – Your Life In Playback
3. A BAND OF ORCS – I, Gogog
4. TRUTH CORRODED - Decimate
5. MY OWN PRIVATE ALASKA – After You
6. IDOLS ARE DEAD – The Name Of My Rage
7. A BACKWARD GLANCE ON A TRAVEL ROAD – Regular Barbary
8. JOURNAL – Velvet Ribbon

TEAM ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC is on the web.  Check us out here!
http://www.teamallaboutthemusic.com
http://www.teamallaboutthemusic.bandcamp.com

Prophecy Productions - Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings (Compilation)

Never . . . ever . . . in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would sit down and write my thoughts about a compilation album. Compilation albums have always been a mixed bag for me. Some songs will be just okay from the artists that you expect to be great, some songs are great from artists that you would expect would suck, and every so often, you stumble on a new name that’s doing something interesting, but that in itself never warrants the penning of a review and the typical collection usually sounds mismatched and unfocused in style and sound. Well, slap my ass and call me Susie . . . I have been pummeled senseless by the fine folks at Prophecy Productions (read my thoughts on Les Discrets, Alcest, Negura Bunget . . . yeah, I’m a big fan) with their compilation of dark and moody ambient trance inducing songs entitled Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings.

Prophecy Productions has quickly become one of my favorite labels for a few reasons, but namely the music that’s coming out from this label is emotionally complex and the kind of stuff rocks the soul rather than the body. The music is generally heavy in mood, not in overall sonic tone. The music is usually pretty dark, both in imagery and in emotion. And, the music never gets bombastic in the pummeling sense . . .it’s extreme, but on the other side of the spectrum than what we in the metal community have become accustomed to with the blastbeats and detuned instruments set to eleven. Then, of course, there’s the production value that you get from these guys! The packaging on their products is worth every red cent that one can dig from under their couch cushions or from the drink holders in their cars. Prophecy delivers a quality product . . . end of story.

This compilation is all of the above. Starting off with a quiet instrumental tune from Vali called “Hoestmelankoli”, I got this immediate sense that something tragic was about to happen. Less than a minute and a half long, this introduction to all that is Prophecy is packed with sorrow and despair, yet with an ever so faint ray of hope. The song is just a couple of acoustic guitars picking away at a gorgeous melody that escalates in epicness before morphing into a traipsing through a desolate castle sounds of Empyrium’s “The Day Before the Fall”. Laden with a multitude of instruments . . . cellos, acoustic guitars, the steady hum of what sounds like an old pipe organ . . . this song is simply mournful. This is one of those rare tracks on this album that is truly heavy in instrumentation as it is in mood and emotion. We have huge drum and distorted guitar portions in the middle passages of this one, and the whole thing builds in tension as the reality of a kingdom dissolves into ash. Absolutely brilliant!

Nebelung’s “Ich würd es hören” is a gem of a tune. Sung in native German and played with a couple of acoustic guitars and some string accompaniment, this song is a great example of how a band can create some serious mood without the massive production of a full band ensemble. Roughly translated to “I’d Hear It”, I get the sense that this is a personal tale of loss. The vocals are packed with so much sorrow, mournful . . . but not full of despair, not the suicidal type . . . this reeks of a man who has lost something of great emotional value is trying to find a way to fill that void or honor that loss. Man . . . truly a heavy song in an emotional sense! Then follow that one up with October Falls and their contribution of “Viima” and the soul is just torn apart. There is an epic sadness to the melody of this track. The acoustic guitars are played over a foundation of howling winds, which add an organic sense of natural wonder. Then, these guys add subtle flourishes of cello to create a massively heart rending texture. This is the kind of song that fits well with sitting in a darkened room, watching the rain or snow fall from a dark grey sky, and recollecting past transgressions or lost loves.

Ainulindalë’s “A Year Of Silence” was actually the first song that I heard from the album and I was immediately hooked by the vocal performances, both from the lead vocalist as well as from the choir of backing vocalists. Throw in the plaintive screams from the violins and the accents from the percussions and this song is drenched with elements that tickle the ears and, ultimately, the soul. My personal favorites on the Prophecy roster and the act that made me want to hear this compilation in the first place, Les Discrets contribute a couple of tracks back to back with “5 Montee Des Epies” and “Apres l'Ombre”. The first is a simple arpeggio being repeated on a chorused out guitar with some subtle synthesized sounds in the background, but then the second track kicks in and the sound that made me fall in love with this band hit me like an axe blade in the forehead. The strumming acoustic guitars, the textural synth flourishes, the impassioned vocals, the overall dark and shoe-gazing appeal of this song remind me of why I adore their full-length album Septembre Et Ses Dernieres Pensees as much as I do. These are two tracks that get better and better with every listen!

In truth, there is not a track on this compilation that doesn’t fit or doesn’t take me to some magically emotional place. The Musk Ox track is beautiful, the Havnatt seven minute epic . . . Wow! Ethereal beauty emanates from this one and the female vocals, sung in a native Norwegian tongue, are the key to its elegance. Dornenreich . . . stunning and I’ve only made it through the first disc in this set! Nhor, Ulver, and Neun Welten’s sprawling tune “Pan”, all stand as fantastic examples of the individual bands abilities of carving out their own niche in this organically ambient genre. Tenhi . . . Oh, Tenhi! You who I had never heard before, but now feel the need to cling to every note that you produce! Folks . . . this song is laden with so much soul shaking music that to not feel something from it would equate to one being dead inside. What is that? A mandolin being played over a throbbing and pulsating drum rhythm, those haunting and cryptic vocals, the plinking of piano keys and the constant reverberation of the violin strings . . . this song is my new life changer! The tones shift from ominous to hopeful and back again, all seamless and unforced. Remember this name. Tenhi.

It’s impossible for me to ramble on about every track on this glorious release and hope to keep from being redundant. Just know this, Prophecy Productions has some of the most wonderful songwriting talents on their roster and this compilation is perfect. Perfect, in that I have now been exposed to so many new artists who have the ability to move me on an emotional level as well as on an intellectual level. The songs have a dark, foreboding menace to them . . . a sorrow laced within the individual notes . . . an emotion that despite many of the songs being sung in languages that I don’t understand still impact me to feel shivers across my skin and my soul. All of these artists should be damn proud of the work that they’ve contributed here, but as true artists, they won’t be proud of these works. They’ll feel that these songs were simply a snapshot of how they were feeling at a particular moment and they were fortunate enough to capture those emotions forever in these recordings. For me . . . well, I’m thankful that they did. Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings is an instant classic and ranks up there with the first Metal Massacre album. Outstanding work, folks!

Pope

Buy here: Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings
Buy mp3: Whom The Moon A Night Song Sings

http://www.prophecyproductions.de/front_content.php?idcat=256&lang=1

At the Soundawn – Shifting

Contrast (con’trast): justaposition of different things.

Texture (Tex’ture): the effect of the different components of a piece of music such as melody, harmony, rhythm.

Surprise (sur’prise): to make somebody amazed.


Three words, each familiar to us.  Three words that best sum up my emotions and feelings after bathing in this stunning post-rock, hardcore-ambient, progressive metal masterwork.  I’m sure I could find more words, but I'll let these three suffice.

Italian prog masters, At the Soundawn, have created an album of dramatic and powerful emotional resonance.  Growling hardcore one moment, deeply introspective and meditative the next.  Brutally heavy and diaphanous and delicate.  Urgent and languid.  Ugly and beautiful.  Song by song, moment by moment.  Shifting is epic songwriting and performance at their peak. The album reminds me of the ocean, calm and meditative one moment, violent and deadly the next. Like the ocean, Shifting follows certain patterns and movements, but always with the suspense of the unexpected.

To be honest, I didn’t expect to like this album (hence the “surprise”).  I remember it vividly.  I was in the Drive-thru line of some random fast food chain waiting for a burger when I popped this disc into my player.  After about 50 seconds of quasi-epic intro, the vocals exploded through my speakers.  And I do mean exploded--terrorizing me in the type of screamo assault that usually give me warts.  People who know me know that I can deal with anger, passion, and violence in my singing, I just don’t like being yelled at.  By the 1:40 minute mark, I was ready to turn the CD off, but wouldn’t you know it, fate intervened.  Before I could reach for the stop button, the attendant’s electronic voice squeaked through the speaker system to take my order.  Distracted, I got my burger all taken care of and moved my car forward to wait to pay.  It was then that I suddenly took notice of the music.

What had started out as an aural attack on my sensibilities had suddenly transformed into something remarkable.  Gentle jazzy bass looped underneath the atmospheric guitar, gorgeously clean yet still emotive vocals called to me, and on top of all this layered the most amazing trumpet I’d heard in ages.  Avant-jazz metal?  Suddenly, At the Soundawn had my attention and never lost it again.

In contrast to this middle passage of “Mudra: In Acceptance and Regret,” the beginning suddenly made sense.  Contrast and texture.  Anger and penance.  Tension and release.  And so the song went all the way to the extended neo-ambient ending. 

Combining the intensity and pure heaviness of an ear-slayer like Isis, with the ambient textures of Explosions in the Sky, the melodic beauty of Porcupine Tree, the fury and vision of Opeth, and a touch of Pink Floyd, At the Soundawn are a surprise in the making.  Contrast.  Texture.

“Black Waves” roars back in full screamo fury.  Bass lines play out a passion play of melancholy.  Drums and cymbals crash with the thunder of loss and regret.  But not for long, as with so many of At the Soundawn’s compositions, the only constant is change.  Halfway through-- the metal drops out.  Disembodied sighs cascade over the tint of cymbals and the ambiance of keys.  Toms kick in, like a pre-tribal ceremony, hearkening a coming hunt or kill.  By the time the quasi-classical melody vocals kicked in, I was mesmerized.

“Caofedian,” reverses the formula. From it’s atmospheric beginning, it slowly builds in power and intent as the song progresses.  The song reminds me of a metaphor for the day; opening slowly as the sun rises, the first rays of dawn slicing through the morning clouds.  Light sparkles and shimmers in the textured guitars, the heavenly vocals.  A moment of promise and potential.  Until the 5 minute mark, when all hell breaks loose. Drums pick up in intensity, anger and directness.  Vocals that were once so soothing erupt into a maelstrom of anger and disappointment.  There’s real emotion here.  And stunning craft.

Following the tribal beat of “Drifting Lights” At the Soundawn launch into “Hades,” the most Explosions in the Sky work here, with lightning bursts of distinctive guitars.  And so it goes, the fury and the feeling.  The beauty and the brutality.  The melancholy and the madness.

Shifting isn’t an album for the timid.  It requires your participation, your intent, to fully suck the marrow from what At the Soundawn offer.  It's an album that must be taken as a whole, not a passage, a song, or even a segment.  Several listens of the album are needed to grasp the ever shifting layers and emotions.  But it’s worth it.  My Ripple brethren would probably place At the Soundawn next to bands like Les Descrets in their overall scope of dark and brooding atmospheric metal. 

I’ll agree.  Then I’ll hit the play button and do it all over again.


--Racer

A Sunday Conversation with Abysse

French ambient metallers, Abysse, floored us with their two song EP entitled Le vide est forme.Filled with huge swells of sound and complex musical arrangements, this disc made the Ripple office stop and take note. A few months back, we were able to spend a few moments with the band to find out more about how they create their wondrous sounds and to find out more about the music scene in France. 

Every musician is influenced by those who came before them, but what were your major musical epiphanies that inspired you to create music? What major musical moments helped define you as musicians?

Abysse is a "friend band". We grew up together since we were 6 years old. Now, we are 20, time spent together has permitted us to discover huge bands as Opeth, Lamb of God, The Haunted but also to create our own music database, sometimes enjoying bands that the others totally dislike!

Defined as a beginner musician was an easy step "Hey Guys, it's time to learn instruments and create a rock band" (Summer 2004). Easy as fuck, uh?

We needed barely 3 years to create what Abysse is now. Mastering instruments, developing, creating.. We recorded "Le vide est forme" in summer 2008, exactly 4 years after the killing question: "Hum, who wants to play guitar? You Vincent? So I'll learn bass. What is a bass guys?" 

Entering in this professional recording studio was time to feel like a musician and say 'Hey, I'm part of a rock band. Not the best, not the perfect one, but a cool rock band. That's what we wanted guys, we’ve done it!' A year after, we can say that it was a little step, and we are now in front of the wall.

Le vide est forme is only a two song, twenty minute long EP. What made you decide to issue this release as an EP and not go for a full length product?

 Our writing process is very long. When we recorded it, we didn't have any add songs to record. It was the moment to end the garage band period. The concept "2 tracks - 20 minutes" was strong, original. We had a good feeling with our studio engineer (David Potvin from the band Lyzanxia (Listenable records) and One Way Mirror (Metal Blade). He understood what we wanted and made a very good job, giving soul to our universe. It was another step, give the audience our identity ' We are an ambient band, will never create radio hit'

From where we’re sitting, the French music scene appears to be a burgeoning entity of massive creativity. Being that you’re there, does it feel the same way?

 France is a particular country. Metal music is not considered as music for masses. Our top 5 is Rn'B, Electro, Pop, Rap and French variety. So there is no institute, no structure for metal bands. We have to find by ourselves the great bands who really kick ass in different styles. It's not so easy for them (and us!) to be heard. Many talents stay anonymous while our French proud (Gojira, Hacride..) is getting bigger and bigger. We've got a few bands who cross borders, who are recognize in foreign country. Even if we've got great bands (take a listen to Watertank, Overmars, A Subtle Understatement), we find that the French scene is poor as well. Maybe because we've got many bands who are a 'copy of a copy'. Dejà-vu as we say in France.

Is there a lot of camaraderie within the various bands of the French underground?

 Metalhead’s are very nice, sure it's the case in the whole world. We’ve toured since late 2008, so we do not meet a lot of people, but it's been a great pleasure to share with musicians, promoters (sometimes you find great assholes, but we forget them as fast as possible). We met superstar (Guillaume Bideau haha(singer from Mnemic, One Way Mirror, Scarve..!) and great unknown bands. When people are motivated, they are interesting!

What do you see as being the biggest obstacle in getting your music heard in some of the more major markets, such as the U.S.?

 US market is not untouchable. We don't have any distributor for the moment . . . maybe because we didn't search them. But it will be the next step for our first LP (recording session in a year maybe). For the moment, we will have to share with people like you, getting reviews and interviews, find radios... It's a very hard work. We are actually working on many foreign magazines, but sometimes, they are not translated in English... Hard time!

Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?

We probably have the most weird way to write... We get together in our rehearse place and play, until finding the best riff/arrangement. We only work together, 4 musicians, 1 music... We are not able to write alone as many bands. If one of the members is not here (even the bass player!), we can't write!

It starts with a guitar riff. Our drummer is the orchestra chief, he gives them sense, a soul, and the way he plays, our guitarist will accommodate for the next. Leads come naturally on and bass gives basement, leads by the drums. We need about 4 month to write a ten minute song... For our upcoming first long play, we decided to think about a concept, how we want to feel the songs, get a view of the art work. We've got a direction to create a coherent album.

What piece of your music are you particularly proud of?

 We love what we play, we give pleasure to ourselves. That's how we feel music. We are happy to see people supporting us, loving personal music like ours. We are proud about one thing. Show to people that music sometimes doesn't need vocals.

The business of music is a brutal place. Changes in technology have made it easier than ever for bands to get their music out, but harder than ever to make a living? What are your plans to move the band forward? How do you stay motivated in this brutal business?

 We can't pretend to live with music. But we've got inside of us the energy to push the band as far away, away as we can. We spend a lot of time with promotion, management, and booking. When you want to go further, you have to think business. Play instrumental underground pieces and think money both is possible . . . haha. We consider us a self managed band. We do everything. We produce our own show in our region, so we played with great bands (Hacride, Kruger.) We create our own promotion/management/booking structure, working as me want. We are actually evoluate as booker, working on a west euro tour with good bands, including Abysse as opening act. We want to become a label soon to sign Abysse and re edit 'Le vide est forme'. Work hard is the best way to get notoriety. When our next album will be recorded, we will need to find a bigger label, tour agency.

Describe to us the ideal (realistic) record label and how you'd work with them, and they with you.

 Ideal professional structure are the ones who give us musical liberty, let us work as we want, but giving us what you can't get alone (International distribution, euro tour, maybe US Tour :)) We stay unskilled in some domains, we need elders to get what we want, a label that works for you if you work for them. These two last questions give you a taste of how our business works.

Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?

If you want Vinyl or CD, you need money. When we've got some to spend on good stuff, we get a better appreciation when items are real, artwork bigger. We will never buy mp3.

Prophecy Productions Report: Featuring Alcest, Les Descrits, and Negura Bunget

Prophecy Productions is a German based label that is focused on more of your ambient, atmospheric music, though they don’t limit their releases to purely metallic offerings. There’s some cool acoustic stuff in their coffers to go hand in hand with the darkened black metal material that I seem to keep gravitating towards. What excites me the most about this outfit is the quality of the products that their putting out for us music fans and collectors! Sure, they have your standard fair of CD and digipak releases, but they’re mixing that up with 12” vinyl, split EP’s, and fantastic looking CD art books that highlight the visuals as they pertain to the music. Three bands have burrowed their way into the darker recesses of my brain, Alcest, Les Discrets, and Negură Bunget. All have a similar dark atmospheric sound going on, but once you delve deeper into the sounds permeating from these platters, you should soon find that there are wonderfully subtle, yet striking differences between each band. 

Alcest - Écailles De Lune

It’s like this. You take all those shoegazers who started creeping their uncertain and unconfident way onto stages across the globe in the 90’s, and then, introduce them to Satan. Okay. It’s not exactly like that, but the gist is there. Alcest play a style of black metal (though I hate to pigeon-hole them into that category) that I’ve found completely infectious because it’s filled with so much ambiance and hauntingly gothic melody, and their creation of this music never goes where I expect it to go. One second, I’m expecting blastbeats galore, but they drop whispering guitar strains instead. Or when I am expecting a sound more along the lines of walking around moonlit lake shore, I’m greeted with an explosive discharge of torment vocals and violent guitars.  Écailles De Lune is a complex listen, but somehow, comes across as being very natural. None of the material feels forced and none of the tonal changes sound all that out of place. The album comes across as the guys from Isis having a midnight snack with Quorthon (Bathory) while listening to early Smashing Pumpkins. Huge waves of droning sound working in contrast with the darkened black metal blasts of evil, and then simply drifting into atmospheric passages that, under the influence of the right illicit substances, would completely lift the listener out of themselves.

On the first two tracks of the album, “Écailles De Lune, Part I & II,” Alcest work these musical combinations to perfection. Kicking off the album with moments of melodic trance-y sort of stuff, our heads bobbing in time with the music, our bodies swaying with the flow of sound, all while we have our eyes firmly fixed on the floor. Then, all of those beautiful melodic textures are kicked to the side and replaced by blastbeats and the band is off on an expedition of sonic exploration. The album closes with “Sur L’ocean Couleur de Fen,” which roughly translates (and mind you, my French is rusty) to “Ocean the Color of Iron.” This tune is a spectacular epic of a song that absolutely teleports the listener to a far away seashore, watching as the darkened waves peak and topple of one another, all working their way to pound against the sand and rock of the shore line. The music roils like the open Atlantic, never calm for more than a few moments before the waves lurch us into a life and death struggle against nature. A little over eight minutes in running time, “Ocean” is a song to experience. If you listen to just one song from Alcest, make sure this is the one. Ultimately, you’ll find the sound to be so compelling that you’ll go back and listen to this whole album. www.myspace.com/alcestmusic 

Les Discrets - Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées

Along the lines of Alcest’s more melodic moments, Prophecy Productions has delivered us Les Discrets and their latest album entitled Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées. This ten track opus is a beautifully majestic piece of ear candy, filled with lush acoustic guitars, ambient guitar passages, and soaring melodies . . . basically, it’s another album that has the power to teleport you, the listener, to faraway lands and potentially leaving you there to wander along the sonic landscape. Every time that I’ve put this disc on, I’ve been able to completely tune out everything around me, which just pleases my wife to no end. There’s sarcasm in that last line. So beware, reader . . . when listening to this album, there’s a good chance that you’ll become so engrossed in the music that you’ll forget about picking up the kids from school, pulling the casserole from the oven before it burns, or even bathing. Even though I don’t understand the lyrical content of this album (it’s all sung in French,) I find that I’m drawn in and clinging to every word. Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées is just another testament to the universal appeal of music. Like math, music is a language that transcends borders and cultures.

Though absolutely enthralling as an album, I found myself even more transfixed to the palette of sounds around the mid-point of the disc, particularly with the fifth track, “Sur Les Quaint” and “Effet De Nuit.” The former is sorrowful sounding song powered equally by the sparkling acoustic guitars strumming out the rhythm and the engaging dual vocals. The break in the middle of the song is a nice touch, as the finger picked arpeggios flutter through the listener’s conscious, and then as the plaintive guitar solo echoes from the speakers, you can practically feel some tortured soul tugging softly on the heart. The voices are highly emotive and their performance is executed to perfection. “Effet De Nuit,” on the other hand, shows a different side of the band. Opening with a wall of shimmering cymbals and distorted guitars, this song has an Opethian vibe to it. Dark and sorrowful, the vocals croon in their haunting way, and as the acoustic guitars enter the mix, a sad melody lilts through the more cacophonic din. It’s a brilliantly crafted song, full of tortured emotions and strong musicality. Rays of hope begin to shimmer through the dark clouds of the rest of this album just as this set begins to close. “Une Maintee D’hiver” reminds me of Joshua Tree-era U2 in the way that the music begins to feel orchestrated and uplifting, almost like there’s been a rebirth of our collective outlook on life. Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées  is a truly spectacular album. www.myspace.com/lesdiscrets 

Negură Bunget - Măiestrit

I got to thinking while I was listening to this album that I really know very little about the country of Romania. After knowing that Romania is in Europe, I’m out. Well, now I know about Negură Bunget, which apparently means something like the black fog that comes from the forest in the Romanian tongue.  Măiestrit, which translates to ‘masterly’, is a re-recording of 2000’s Măiastru Sfetnic and showcases the bands folk-y, experimental black metal sounds. Upon listening to this album, I’m immediately reminded of Below the Lights-era Enslaved. It’s dark and imposing, but there are fantastic elements of melody and mystery interweaved within the strains of despair. The music on Măiestrit has an organic and natural feel to it, not overly orchestrated or planned out, but almost like a knee-jerk reaction to life. There’s a skin crawling haunting quality to this album, almost the feeling one might get while walking alone through a dark forest, constantly feeling like you’re being watched . . . shadows skittering from tree to tree, leaves softly rustling when there is no wind, the disorienting feeling of the higher mountain altitudes and the evening chill burning the lungs . . . y’know, all that creepy stuff of being alone in a dark forest.

“In-zvicnirea Apusului” is one of those songs that can make the casual metal fan rethink what their stance on black metal. This is one of those near progressive musical pieces that has so much going on in the context of the song and the song relies on every instrument in holding it together. To remove one instrument from the song would have the composition crumble to floor. I love the mix on this as well! One guitar can be heard droning along in one speaker, creating a base for the rest of the music to build, while in the other speaker  a second guitar provides staccato bursts of distortion, giving the song an even more imposing feel to it. “Al Locului” walks along a similar path as the aforementioned song, but this one feels more immediate in its threat to overall health and well being. Catching my attention the most, besides the dual guitar attack, was the ambient swells of keyboards in the back and foreground. This song is more psychologically heavy than it is musically heavy. Though there are a lot of notes flying this way and that, the song never feels so dense that it becomes a detriment. Complex, yes. Pay close attention to the outstanding guitar work towards the last half of the song. That, my friends, is why I listen to this stuff! www.myspace.com/negurabunget 

Of further note, Prophecy Productions is releasing the Negură Bunget’s Măiestrit and Les Discrets’ Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées is a unique 56 page picture art book format. They’re hardcover and filled with original photographs and art work that coincides with the albums, and look to be a collector’s wet dream. Check these photos out! www.prophecyproductions.de

  

 

-  Pope JTE