SonicFrontiers: Reviews

Radius System: "Escape / Restart"

2008-08-26

Shimmering art rock from France
by Jeff Mcquiggan

Radius System's latest album is such an ambitious project that it has taken the band three years to get to this point (apparently there is still more to come.) Like Nine Inch Nails' most recent album, Escape / Restart features different pieces of artwork to complement the music, and, while the trio's budget isn't quite as large as Trent Reznor's, they've managed to deliver a series of spacey pictures...

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Hadoken: "The Ancient Machine"

2008-08-24

Invigorating post-rock
by Gary Davidson

First of all, let me clarify, with great joy and relief, that this band has nothing to do with the horrible English band called Hadouken! Massachusetts based six-piece Hadoken play a blend of experimental post-rock. Some may consider post-rock a dirty word, but the music that Hadoken create is far from tired and worn. Their debut album, The Ancient Machine,...

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Mouth of the Architect: "Quietly"

2008-08-05

Entry to the post-metal Pantheon?
by Bernard Koch

As a relatively long-term fan of the band, I have been awaiting the release of Mouth of the Architect’s (MotA) Quietly for more than a couple months. If you are a fan of the band (you probably already own this by now), you’ll agree with me that Quietly delivers. If you aren’t familiar, MotA’s unique brand of post-metal...

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Eksi Ekso: "I Am Your Bastard Wings"

2008-08-04

Dramatic rock (in a good way)
by Assaf Vestin

Eksi Ekso, is made up of “leftovers” from two previous bands, On Fire and The Burning Paris, and in 2008 this Bostonian Sextet presents their first offering, I am Your Bastard Wings. Having no knowledge of both of the ancestors to this band, I came with a clear head and prepared to see what they have in their stock. I must say it was a pleasant discovery. With...

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Svartbag: "Svartbag"

2008-07-29

Bliss in repetition
by Assaf Vestin

Danish trio Svartbag (Danish for "gull") was formed in 2002 and has created music that incorporates the raw essence of rock with the hypnotic-like effect of electronics. The trio consists of the two guitarists, Niels Ladefoged and A.REX who also handle samplers and electronics and the third member, Peter Kyed who is in charge of electronics and real sound samplings. In this album they...

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Wogulow, Taroutz, Vermo: "Morok"

2008-07-28

Meditative abstractness
by Assaf Vestin

While the name suggests a trio of musicians, this is in fact a one man project by Alexei Taroutz, a Russian composer and multi-instrumentalist (the instruments he plays on here include guitar, drum kit, piano, glockenspiel, double-bass, assorted electronics, samplers, etc). He is also the guitarist of the avant/experimental rock band I Am Above On The Left who released two albums thus far, one of them,...

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Nachtmystium: "Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1"

2008-07-22

Black metal pushed past its boundaries
by Josh Coppola

It seems that more and more black metal bands are feeling the need to break the mold by incorporating influences from outside their comfort zone. One such example is Nachmystium’s attempt to create “psychedelic” black metal. The very title of their latest offering, Assassins: Black Meddle pt. 1, is an obvious reference to Pink Floyd’s Meddle,...

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Spitfire: "Cult Fiction"

2008-07-22

Cult of Botch
by Ned Chambers

Once upon a time there was a band called Botch. Now, Botch were amazing by any standards – trend-defying in their employment of dissonance and irregular time signatures into a tired genre, sculpting something revolutionary that had never graced the ears of listeners before that point. Just around the time the members of said band decided to wander off and toy with indie-rock, post-hardcore and...

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Neubau: "Rymdmyr"

2008-07-19

A puzzle of sounds
by Assaf Vestin

Arno Steinacher is a young Austrian composer and musician that started his musical route at the age of 12 and has since veered into the world of electronic music; this release is under the working name Neubau. To first give you the idea behind this sort of music, here’s a quote from Arno’s website: “Music does not need listeners, it needs participants.” Relying...

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Fire on the Horizon & From Oceans to Autumn: "Split"

2008-07-16

A promising post-rock split
by Bernard Koch

It’s a good thing Glasgow’s Fire on the Horizon and Charlotte’s From Oceans to Autumn chose to leave their split release from Forgotten Empire untitled; there are more than enough words on the cover as it is! Both bands describe their music as ambient, experimental metal, but make no mistake, this is a textbook heavy post-rock album through and through. While the sound...

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Voyager: "Voyager Ep"

2008-07-08

Voyaging into known waters
by Andy O'Connor

Voyager's debut EP sees the Boston quintet taking on the sound of former sounds of Isis and introducing some depressive doom ala My Dying Bride in the mix. For one, the production is cleaner than most records put out by Isis and the imitators they spawned. Most notable is vocalist D. Toye's prominence in the mix. He sounds like what would result if Aaron Turner took lessons from some of Florida's finest...

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Canvas Solaris: "The Atomized Dream"

2008-07-06

Canvas Solaris's annual dose of instrumental metal
by Jeff Mcquiggan

With The Atomized Dream being the band's fourth album in five years, Canvas Solaris has wasted no time in chalking up a respetable discography of prog-infused instrumental metal. Since last years Cortical Tectonics there has been some drastic changes: founding members Nathan Sapp and Hunter Ginn (playing guitar and drums respectively) have been joined by new bassist Gael Pirlot, guitarist Chris Rushing,...

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Neuraxis: "The Thin Line Between"

2008-07-02

Technical death metal that isn't afraid of melody
by Josh Haun

When it comes to band lineups, the death metal genre is notorious for its high turnover rate. It seems as though bands rarely record more than one album with the same members, which can often lead to an unfortunate lack of consistency. Luckily for Canada's Neuraxis, a shifting lineup has only made them a sleeker, deadlier beast, as evidenced by their fifth album, The Thin Line Between. Unlike so...

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Eroica: "Hisen The Architect"

2008-07-02

A fine musical design
by Assaf Vestin

Upon hearing the name Eroica, I wasn’t sure what to expect, and so was a bit surprised to hear an energetic flow of heavy instrumental rock pouring from the speakers. The first listen of their debut album, Hisen the Architect, drew my full attention throughout the album. As it ended, I immediately played it again; yes, this is one of those albums that made me want to listen to it again right...

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Deadbird: "Twilight Ritual"

2008-06-30

Darkness compelling...
by Dave Warren

Oppressive. If I had to pick one word to describe Deadbird after the first couple of listens, oppressive would be the word. Deadbird crafts a dense sonic landscape much like their cousins Rwake. The main difference here is that Deadbird chooses to explore the melodic side of the darkest reaches of heavy guitar music. Just don’t make the mistake of expecting any radio-ready hooks here. Twilight...

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