Friday 21 February 2014

Review - Gridlink

Gridlink
Longhena

Ok, it's finally happened - a new Gridlink album. Unfortunately, it is to be their final one - but hey, nothing can get me down when I've just found a new album by these guys. The record starts off with two lightning-speed grind tracks - both solid, though there's a troubling lightness to the guitar tone. Then, it's into atmospheric third track "Thirst Watcher." It's not often you find a soothing instrumental interlude on a grindcore album, but Gridlink have never been a band to take the obvious route. Then, the album slams you straight back into full-on grindcore with track four. The lightness in the guitar (you'll know what I mean when you hear it) actually sttarts to make sense at this point -it means that the actual riffs and musical structure stand out more, making the album a more satisfying experience than a lot of heavier records. Overall, Longhena is something that I never though was possible - a melodic grindcore album. When I say melodic, i don;t mean that they've given up on the blastbeats, the screams or the insane speed and technicality, but rather that, by removing most of the distortion from the guitar sound, they draw the focus away from the effect of the music (heaviness) and onto the music itself - not in a wanky, look-how-technical-we-are way, but in a way that turns even the most aggressive grindcore into a pleasant, sweeping soundscape. This album is more than a collection of songs - it's almost a long composition in its own right. Listening to Longhena from beginning to end is like hearing one peice in multiple movements, and all of those movements kick arse.

Basically, buy it. It's fucking cool.

Rating: 10/10

Monday 10 February 2014

Review - House of Apparition

House of Apparition
House of Apparition

It's hard to come up with an opening sentence for a review.

House of Apparitions is a one-man black metal band who has been releasing mostly untitled/self-titled material since 2012, and that's about all anyone seems to know. Fortunately, the music is all you need to know - a dark, corrosive mixture of noise and black metal that sticks strictly to the DIY aesthetic of the genre, while still managing to make well-produced, top-quality music. I don;t listen to much black metal, but this new album is already one of my favourite records in the genre. It's quite similar to early Burzum - harsh, very focused on the higher end of the scale, with high screams and fuzzy, trebly guitar. All four songs on House of Apparition are called "Untitled," because pretention is super kvlt, and all four of them sound very similar - mostly fast, but not grindcore-fast, with a raw, unpolished drum sound that fits perfectly with the general aesthetic. Listening to HofA's other work, it looks like he/she has upped the production values considerably on this record, which is definitely a good thing. I love super-lo-fi metal, but there's a lot to be said for actually being able to hear all the insruments.

All in all, a quality album.

Rating: 7/10

Saturday 8 February 2014

Review - Tinariwen

Tinariwen
Emmaar

There's something about Tinariwen's music that sounds as though it could only come from the desert. The long, spacious tracks on Emmaar conjure up endless stretches of sand like something out of Lawrence of Arabia, which makes sense given the band's homeland. You can practically hear the sun beating down on some camp out in the northern Sahara, the band sounding as if they're channeling the sound of the desert itself (or at least an English urbanite's idea of it). The songs on this, their sixth album, are above all atmospheric, but that doesn't mean they're boring. The faster numbers, like "Imdiwanin Ahi Tifhamam," bristle with danceable energy, and the slower, more meditative songs have a depth and intensity reminiscent of Ravi Shankar. Despite the troubled situation of their himeland, Tinariwen have managed to create another beautiful album.

But that's not to say that Emmaar is without its flaws. At times, the atmosphere wears a bit thin, and what start out as deeply moving tracks lose their thread, and tread dangerously close to blandness. There is a bit too much of the Guardian in this album - while fantastic in many respects, there are moments that sound like trendy background music. Still, it's mostly solid, and well worth a listen.

Rating: 7/10