The Rock Blogger

Have a Nice Life - “Time of Land” Review

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:49:09 +0000

Have a Nice Life. Time of Land. 2010. 4.5 stars. The hidden kings of the American underground return with this deeply subdued EP. Gloom spreads over the lumbering ambiance of “Wizard of the Black Hundreds” with grim, deaden percussion and yawning distortion. The droning waves of black noise rise against ghostly vocals, offering a sacrificial hymn [...]

Raate - “Halki Kuolleen Maan” Review

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:45:37 +0000

Raate - Halki Kuolleen Maan. 2007. 4.5 stars. Halki Kuolleen Maan is a mind-bending black metal album from Finland that encompasses nearly everything great about the genre. The cold, hypnotic buzz of distortion, cyclonic percussion, airy keyboards and a harsh misanthropic atmosphere are all part of Raate’s post-Burzum vision. Not content with mere shrieks and lo-fi tremolo [...]

Maeror Tri - “The Beauty of Sadness” Review

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:25:54 +0000

Maeror Tri - The Beauty of Sadness. 1996. 5 stars. This an exquisite and emotional drone/ambient album from this now defunct German trio. Deep bass lines and subdued guitars underlay the brooding moans of synths which lapse over each other in densely layered compositions. Jangling riffs are contrasted against airy ambiance, evoking desolate spaces broken only [...]

Oren Ambarchi - “Intermission 2000-2008″ Review

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:02:23 +0000

Oren Ambarchi - Intermission 2000-2008 . 4 stars . Intermission is a meditative compilation of drone and ambient pieces from this prolific Australian artist. Consisting mainly of subtle guitar and bass tones, these plodding tracks are drawn out over long periods of time to the point where they loose their deliberate instrumental quality and [...]

In Rupture

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:39:04 +0000

Drawing by Marc Ngui “In rupture, not only has the matter of the past volatised; the form of what happened, of an imperceptible something that has happened in a volatile matter, no longer even exists. One has become imperceptible and clandestine in a motionless voyage. Nothing can happen, or can have happened, any longer. Nobody can [...]

YOGA - “Megafauna” Review

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:06:03 +0000

YOGA. Megafauna . 2009. 4.5 stars. A fascinating drone album that oscillates between airy dark ambiance and raw experimentation. YOGA’s mystical surrealism opens up a sonic space punctured by bursts of distorted guitar noise, warbling synths and martial percussion. There are no voices echoing across this landscape, only the chirps, grunts and groans of unknown [...]

Rahu - “Ride of the Eight Black Steeds” Review

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:09:56 +0000

Rahu. Ride of the Eight Black Steeds. 2008. 4 stars. Obscure, lo-fi black metal inspired by wrathful figures from Hindu mythology. A strong, misanthropic atmosphere emanates from the dense guitar riffs as they cascade against stark percussion and haunting wails. Rahu project the occult mystique of bands like Urfaust while infusing the intense textural dirges of [...]

The Clearing that Shelters

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:56:48 +0000

Ivan Shishkin. The First Snow. 1875. “Ordinarily we speak of letting be whenever, for example, we forgo some enterprise that has been planned. “We let something be” means we do not touch it again, we have nothing more to do with it. To let something be has here the negative sense of letting it alone, of [...]

Hateful Abandon - “Famine” Review

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:35:08 +0000

Hateful Abandon - Famine (Or Into The Bellies Of Worms). 2008. 4.5 stars. This is a rather obscure but rewarding debut from Hateful Abandon. Evoking the bleak fog of the UK, this duo play sparse post-punk melancholy with a blackened metal edge. Mournful bellows, accompanied by sinister, wraith-like snarls, open a space where the cold bass [...]

Ulaan Khol

Damien Van Vroenhoven — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:59:10 +0000

Ulaan Khol. I and II. 2008. 5 stars. Glorious psychedelic drone music from the prolific Steven R. Smith (of Hala Strana). Both of these albums are largely guitar based, sending distorted space-rock riffs through hazy ambient mist. Loose, jangly melodies crackle in the arid and ancient atmosphere, sounding like weathered field recordings from Mars. Light [...]