Seeking out and recommending the best new album releases. Your ears will thank us…
The Wytches release their debut effort Annabel Dream Reader to mixed reviews: some compare this Brighton 3-piece to early Bleach-era Nirvana, whilst some praised the albums rough-and-ready-fuzz-filled-low-fi-sound. For fans of rhythm and melody hidden behind a wall of noise. Stand-out tracks Digsaw and Gravedweller hopefully indicate what’s to come from these exciting young upstarts.
Opeth continue their journey to only they know where, with Pale Communion. Their sound is now rooted firmly in the “Prog Rock” section, which would be almost unrecognisable to the band’s fans circa Black Water Park (2001). Goblin sounds like a not so subtle ode to the horror soundtrack titans Goblin. Voice of Treason is the closest to the Porcupine Tree style (Steven Wilson, the Porc’Tree frontman, produced the aforementioned Black Water Park and the bands have seemingly converged since), the album in general takes one more step towards prog-nirvana.
Blood is the third studio full length by Leeds noiseniks Pulled Apart By Horses. This release provides another massive punch to the face to get you going on a rainy morning. Tracks such as You Want It will never win an Ivor Novello award, but that’s the charm of the album. Raw power unadulterated from these heavy rockers bringing us more tracks to get you dancing – or at least jumping around the room.
OJ Tak! by Chłopcy kontra Basia is an uplifting 42 minutes of music to come our way from Poland. The trio from Kraków play an alternative brand of folk and jazz music. The main instruments are the double-bass, percussion and clarinet, with anything and everything else thrown in too (if the mood allows). The sultry bass is complimented perfectly by Barbara Derlek’s vocals. Whereas most of us won’t have a clue what she’s singing about the majority of the time, we can happily join in with choruses such as Hej Zagraj Muzyczko‘s “La la la la la, la-la-la-la-la!”
Foundations of Burden is the second release from Pallbearer. The Little Rock, Arkensas doom metal band have been produced this time out by Billy Anderson. Fans of the genre will undoubtedly be familiar with the name (he produced Eyehategod, Mr.Bungle, Fantomas and Sleep, as well as hundreds of other bands). Although this is a well produced drone (in the best possible way), it adds nothing new. Good production doesn’t always = exciting music.
