MT. SARIN - Fortær (Album Review)

Release Date: April 10th 2026. Record Label: El Capitan Records / 5FeetUnder Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl.

Fortær - Tracklisting

ÆT

FORTÆR

MASKERNES NAT

BAKLA

MORGENRØDE

DEN, SOM SÅR VIND, HØSTER STORM

PITUFFIK

KORSHØJEN

SYNDFLOD

Review

Fortær is the debut album from Instrumental Post-Metallers MT. SARIN who are influenced by the likes of Pelican, Russian Circles, Telepathy and Kollapse. Their debut album merges with the dense heavy sounds of the American Post-Scene amongst the ice-cold direct progressive melodies of the European Post-Metal scene. This is perhaps a record that showcases the best of both worlds with Fortær having a quite varied and global feel which is quite engaging and highly impactful for the band’s debut album.

MT. SARIN didn't wait for long to develop a thuggish intense sound that’s bursting with a real progressive energy that soon transforms into a slightly distorted direction with traces of Ambient, Post-Rock and Psychedelic surroundings appearing. The songs are quite direct with MT. SARIN perhaps sometimes takes a bit too long in playing the heavier Atmospheric Sludge Metal passages when the record really needs them and that’s my only complaint for such a well constructed and deeply engaging record.

As when MT. SARIN really hit their musical stride, they play a real intense style of Post-Metal that’s bursting with real brawn and intelligence especially when that translates into a classic style of Progressive music with flashes of aggressive Sludge Metal leading the way on the tracks such as ÆT, FORTÆR, MASKERNES NAT and BAKLA. These songs allow MT. SARIN to expand their creative journey into heavier waters such as Blackened Doom and Post-Black Metal which allowed the album to become a more exciting prospect. There’s some intense Ambient trickery developing behind the scenes with faster played melodies and some thrilling beatdowns becoming more commonplace as the album draws to its thrilling climax.

The second half of Fortær has a more unforgiving attitude compared to the first half with MT. SARIN exploring darker and heavier themes whilst still drawing upon some classic Post-Metal themes on tracks such as: DEN, SOM SÅR VIND, HØSTER STORM, PITUFFIK and SYNDFLOD. Sometimes the band use a “LESS IS MORE” approach that reminds me of early PELICAN in places but they add that modern day Blackened Doom energy to the record which gives the album it’s own original, stylish and highly relentless sound of it’s very own. 

Fortær is a highly accomplished record from MT. SARIN to release as their debut album which should gain the band a loyal and dedicated following within the underground Post-Metal scene. If you want an album that pays great respect to the legendary formative  years of the Instrumental Post-Metal scene whilst breaking new ground of their very own then MT. SARIN has delivered the goods here. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

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Dievel - Sedimentale (Album Review)

Release Date: 15th December 2023. Record Label: Overdrive Records / Shove Records / The Fucking Clinica. Formats: CD/DD

Sedimentale - Tracklisting

Mantichora

Vipra

Weil

Decade

Alluvionale

Silt

Detriti

Microchimerismo

Members

Bob Villa

Valentino Boccedi

Luca Gabriella

Alessandro Zanotti

Review

Instrumental Post-Metallers Dievel are a band made up of various musicians from the Italian Alternative Metal scene where they've joined forces to form a band with a more primal and ritualistic urge within their sound that also fuses Ambient Post-Rock sensibility at their creative disposal. Dievel's debut album Sedimentale is a beautifully heavy and down-tuned experience with epic sludgy guitars that draws upon bands such as Pelican, Russian Circles, BOSSK and Cult Of Luna. Though, Dievel reminds me of another great Italian Post-Metal band by the name of LENTO. Both bands have quite a similar approach in delivering their own blend of Instrumental Sludge Metal with Dievel offering a more emotionally charged sound.

Sedimentale runs across eight tracks for around fifty minutes with Dievel channelling a harsh Sludge Metal sound with the Atmospheric Post-Metal grooves keeping the album quite world-weary and psychedelic in places. There's a wealth of complex sounding progressive melodies within the album as Dievel allow themselves to play their own devastating blend of emotionally cold gloomy sounds that changes into harsh Post-Rock passages along the way. The instrumental work is impressive and richly satisfying throughout with Dievel demonstrating a keen ear for sonic manipulation on the early stages of the album on standout tracks such as: Mantichora, Vipra and Well. These tracks help Dievel establish an emotional connection with the listener with a non-stop array of classic world-building Post-Metal moments which harks back to the classic early days of Post-Metal. Dievel employs a solitary stop/start approach with their music that allows the album to become more prominent within the LOW & SLOW environments that ultimately becomes the most dominant sound of the entire album.

Sedimentale requires the listener's full attention as they include different sounding Ambient noises in the background though allowing the beautifully played and aggressive Sludge/Post-Metal instrumental sounds to never be far away to punish your senses with. Dievel perhaps finds greater creative accomplishment with the more tender and quieter parts of the album. As they weave classic Post-Rock themes with their prominent Sludge/Post-Metal sound that delves into darker areas of music which brings a more chaotic Progressive element to the whole album.

Other standout tracks are: Decade, Silt, Detriti and Microchimerismo. These tracks see Dievel play the most devastating moments of the album. The mood can be rather subdued but Dievel are striving for full emotional creativity here and they succeed especially on the wonderful fourth track Decade. As Dievel brings a Classical element to their music which slowly builds upto a first rate outburst of Post-Metal aggression.

Sedimentale is a haunting and emotionally charged release that's beautifully intense with a range of different levels of threatening moments of classic sounding Atmospheric Sludge/Post-Metal that's very hard to come by. This is a masterful release which should allow Dievel to make some waves within the underground Instrumental Post-Metal scene. 

Words by Steve Howe 

Thanks to Overdrive Records for the promo.

Sedimentale will be released on CD/DD via the following links below from Friday December 15th 2023.

Overdrive Records

Shove Records

The Fucking Clinica

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Heldscalla - Two Cathedrals (Album Review)

Release Date: June 02nd 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Two Cathedrals: Tracklisting

1.Swamp Throat 08:57

2.Amhran Scath 06:08

3.A Chapter For Humming Blood 06:24

4.Otis 03:37

5.Witcheim Minor 09:43

6.Deiu Lache 07:23

7.Nightmare Riders 06:18

Members

Jensen White: Bass Guitar

Gregory Marlor: Guitars

James White: Drums

Brian O'Toole: Vocals, Guitars, Keys

Review

Psych Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metallers Heldscalla made a mighty impression with their debut album Fog Creatures Of Antiquity. The band have returned with their even  better new album Two Cathedrals which sees Heldscalla opt for a heavier and progressive sound compared to their debut. The album is a more multi-layered experience with Heldscalla drawing influence from bands such as Neurosis, Mastodon and Baroness but with more leanings into Psychedelic Rock/Metal.

Opening song Swamp Throat has a Post-Doom feel before launching into a heavier and furious style of Sludge/Stoner Metal. The vocals from Brian are self assured and highly confident with his aggressive style working superbly well with the Progressive Sludgy attitude the band play on this track. The later stages are more Ambient and Post-Rock driven which allows the album to have a Dramatic and slightly Theatrical approach. When Heldscalla plays a faster style of music, the grooves become more melodic and groove orientated which shows the listener what lies ahead for the rest of the album.

Second song Amhran Scath opens with a slightly distorted Doomed Out sound before Heldscalla explodes into an avalanche of furious growls, grooves and harsh lyrics that allows this track to be one of the standout moments of the album. Atmospheric Guitars offer an aggressive Psychedelic tone which moves further into RELAPSE RECORDS territory in places. Brian’s vocals are OFF THE CHART with the bombastic style of Death Growls, Grunts and Clean Vocals. Heldscalla are playing music that feels inspired by GOJIRA and MASTODON with the beautiful and chaotic melodies having an ICE COLD appearance to them. 

Third song A Chapter For Humming Blood continues with the Post-Metal attitude of the album with Heldscalla diving right into the action playing harsh sounds with more focus on the Doom element of their music. The song wisely drifts from Post-Whatever grooves to a more PRIMAL style of Sludge/Stoner Metal. The Psychedelic moments add a touch of creative class to the song with trippy sound effects that leaves a lasting impression with the quieter and sombre moments of the album.

Fourth Song Otis is a more riff-driven number with Heldscalla playing the shortest song on the album. Less progressive than the other tracks on the record. The instrumental work is faster and more direct. This is a straight up Sludge/Stoner Metal banger with the band playing some of the most interesting and heaviest grooves on the album. 

The final three tracks on the album Witcheim Minor, Deiu Lache and Nightmare Riders sees Heldscalla return to the Progressive world and offer some of the bleakest lyrics contained on the album. The music moves from Ambient, Atmospheric and Post-Metal based sounds which allows the band to experiment with their sound even further. More SONIC based but the music speaks for itself with a wide array of intense grooves to impress listeners with. Brian’s vocals feel inspired by Bruce Dickinson especially on Witcheim Minor and Nightmare Riders. 

Two Cathedrals benefits from first rate production values with Monolord’s Esben Willems on Mastering Duties from his famed Studio Berserk. Cameron Heck works his magic on Mixing  duties. Cameron is also on Engineering duties with help from Jack McKool. So expect a top-notch listening experience from start to finish.

Heldscalla have released an unexpected delight with Two Cathedrals. The album is complex, bold and daring that offers a more over the top style for a modern day Psych Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal album such as this. 

Words by Steve Howe

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Exclusive Album Premiere Of Cløudy Skies New Album CHANGES Released via Argonauta Records

Cløudy Skies, Dreamgaze Atmospheric Post-metal, Est. 2019 Paris France, is a duo led by Lionel & Nicolas who both belonged to Ambryo (metal/hardcore 2000-2009) and Eyes Front North (Blackened Postmetal 2009-2019).

The main idea for this new project was to literally "change" direction by crafting an odd and beautiful landscape nourished by not only "Metal" but also many other music genres Lionel and Nicolas love such as indie rock, ambient, post rock, alternative...

As songs are the reflection of the composer's soul, it was important for them to impregnate their emotions into their music. It could sound like a cliché but sensitivity is part of Cløudy Skies and the last 2 years they have been through with Covid-19 and lockdown have helped a lot to write in that direction.

Lionel and Nicolas composed and recorded everything except drums.

For that task they hired the talented Conny Pettersson (ANATA, ETERNAL LIES,TROJAN DOGS...) to perform subtle, ethereal, groovy and brutal drum parts. The band focused on sound quality and took particular care in fine-tuning track mixing.

As for the mastering, it has been processed by the great Magnus Lindberg responsible for many great albums (CULT OF LUNA, GHOST, SWITCHBLADE, PG.LOST...). This results in a clear, spacious and massive audio experience.

FFO: Deafheaven, Solstafir, Caspian, Cult of Luna, Katatonia

You can hear this stunning and emotionally charged album in full today thanks to the good folks over at Grand Sounds Promotions and Argonauta Records.

Changes will be available to buy via Argonauta Records from Friday 20th January 2023.

Links: 

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LESSER GLOW: New Track The Great Imitator Now Streaming From Their Upcoming New Album - Nullity

LESSER GLOW was born from an ever growing sea of noise, swirling together the sounds of humanity into a churning vat of anonymity, in which as individuals, sometimes we are drowning.

The Boston five-piece's debut album “Ruined” made waves in 2018: a “felicitous nihilistic debut coup” (Metal Hammer) containing “the best doom single of the year” (Visions), making “the excitement of what they might come up with on their sophomore release nearly unbearable upon first listen” (Ghost Cult).

Well, here it is: “Nullity” brings an undeniable heaviness, with lyrics and music coexisting in the same beautiful, dynamic and volatile space. Heavy but not excessive. Massive yet not gratuitous. Meticulous. Focused. Direct.

“We wanted to make the record sound more forward and driving, while implementing a lot more movement into the sounds and mixes. Pull the drums forward. Up the grit a bit more. Give the record more teeth in the heavier moments and more lush space in the melodic and ambient passages. We gave ourselves a lot more time in the studio to track this one over all, diving deeper into tones and choices along the way and leaving time for plenty of experimentation and improvisational passages written in the studio. Overall our approach was consciously much more immersive this time around”, comments guitarist Andrew Nault.

“Nullity” is based around the concept of human beings existing on earth as parasites. The scope both widens and focuses throughout the course of the record, touching on creation myths, existence within nature, interpersonal and internal struggles, and finishing out with the mass extinction/cleansing of mankind.

The idea of LESSER GLOW grew as a response to the unrealistic progression of heavy music in recent years... generally feeling over-technical, over-produced and sometimes entirely fake.

“I was caught in a major 90s binge, listening to a bunch of stuff like Unsane and Failure, and feeling like that raw, palpable energy and songwriting was slipping away from modern heavy records”, comments Nault. “I was tired of genre-choked bands, and missed hearing songs instead of riff parades.”

The lineup of the band came together organically, “though now the combination of individuals feels incredibly fortunate”, comments Nault. 

Alec is the sound engineer of Chelsea Wolfe, Ben is the manager of Cambridge, MA's finest live venue Sinclair, Seth is a session drummer and music teacher and Andrew is not only the guitarist in LESSER GLOW, but also session drummer for electro-post-hiphop outfit Arms And Sleepers. The fact that all members are experienced professionals is a restraining factor (when it comes to aligning schedules), but it has also helped the band stay focused on the essentials.

With their upcoming sophomore album “Nullity”, Lesser Glow rips open a massively wide and confident blend of traditional doom meets melodic metal, paired with the likes of hardcore, post hardcore, noise rock, post rock and beyond. Molding all these into one cohesive mix, LESSER GLOW stand out as a refreshing and unapologetically brutal take on heavy music.

Lesser Glow

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Steak Number Eight - Kosmokoma (Album Review)

Release date: November 20^th 2015. Label: Indie Recordings Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Kosmokoma – Tracklisting

1.Return Of The Kolomon

2.Your Soul Deserves To Die Twice

3.Principal Features Of The Cult

4.Gravity Giants

5.Charades

6.Knows Sees Tells All

7.Claw It In Your Eyes

8.It Might Be The Lights

9.Cheating The Gallows

10.Future Sky Batteries

11.Space Punch

Band Members:

Brent Vanneste: guitars/vocals

Joris Casier: drums

Jesse Surmont: bass

Cis Deman: guitars

Review:

Steak Number Eight describe themselves as an atmospheric sludge band and this description is certainly apt regarding their new album Kosmokoma, the band have obviously retained the sludge element that defined their previous albums but have definitely cranked up the atmospherics on their latest effort.

Kosmokoma kicks off with the almost entirely instrumental (save for a few choice vocals at the end of the track) Return Of The Kolomon, a track that is in equal turns pummelling and trippily progressive, and it is this latter style that shapes the whole of the album and for the better it has to be said. This opening track creates an atmosphere that doesn't let up for the duration of the album. The epic Your Soul Deserves To Die Twice follows and is a big song, equally in parts both mournful and full of anger, it is packed with massive riffs and tripped out solos and is an early highlight on Kosmokoma.

What dominates Kosmokoma is just how expansive and epic the bands have become, Gravity Giants, It Might Be The Lights and Cheating The Gallows are all vast riff led soundscapes that drag you in and refuse to let you go. Gravity Giants in particular is a huge brooding monster of a track built around a gargantuan riff that you lose yourself in with great ease and is as heavy and all encompassing as getting stuck and slowly sinking into a tar pit while It Might Be The Lights and Cheating The Gallows are hugely aggressive and expansive sludge anthems, the former a huge wave of ferociousness while the latter is enhanced by a hypnotic vocal style and propelled by a rolling drum rhythm.

Such is the sheer musical expansion on show here, it is not just about pummelling heaviness, there are songs of an epic nature that are simply expansive musical passages such as the kaleidoscopic Charades, the vast Future Sky Batteries, the progressive and anthemic Claw It In Your Eyes and the deeply mournful and laid back psychedelics of Know See Tells All but one thing unites all of the songs on Kosmokoma and that is the monolithic riffs that create an atmosphere of losing yourself to the music and letting yourself go completely and surrendering yourself completely to the vibe, a vibe that is at times dark and at others uplifting but one that is always all encompassing. This is probably best summed up by closing track Space Punch, a track where its title says it all and a perfect way to finish this album, just listen to it and you will understand.

Kosmokoma is the sound of a band unleashing a sound that will embrace you but then consume you and with this album Steak Number Eight have achieved what they had previously hinted at, the heaviness of sludge combined with devouring atmospherics, so jump in, listen intently and let Kosmokoma completely take over your mind.

Words by Gavin Brown

Thanks to Andy at indie Recordings. Kosmokoma will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from Indie Recordings on November 20^th 2015.

Links:

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