Kylver - The Plague Tapes (Album Review)

Release date: February 05th 2021. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

The Plague Tapes – Tracklisting

1.The Mountain Has Ghosts - Live 14:11
2.Hy-Brasil - Live 05:13
3.Allghoi - Live 13:04 

4.The Great Storm of 1703 - Live 14:01
5.Monolith - Live 11:28
6.The Dance of the Mountain Ghost - Live 06:13
7.The Frozen Sands - Live 12:51

Members

Jonny Scott (Guitar)
Barry Micherson (Drums)
James Bowmaker (Bass)
James Hill (Keys)

Review

It’s been 4 years since UK, Post-Rock/Post-Metallers Kylver released their last album back in October 2016 with The Island. Kylver are from my home-town of Newcastle Upon Tyne and I’ve seen them a few times over the years and always have time for their blend of Post-Rock/Post-Metal which fuses other areas of music such as Psych Rock, Prog Rock and Cinematic Rock.

The band have just released The Plague Tapes. The Plague Tapes is described below:

Kylver present ‘The Plague Tapes’, a collection of live recordings encompassing music from the bands two previously released studio albums, ‘The Mountain Ghost’ and ‘The Island’ as well as two new unreleased tracks: 'Allghoi' and 'The Frozen Sands'.

This “LIVE” performance was recorded in the iconic North East venue – The Cluny – back in August 2020 and sees the band play through a collection of the best tracks from the bands 1st two albums as well as including two new songs – Allghoi and The Frozen Sands.

This album is a great representation on how Kylver actually sound on the LIVE stage. The band’s Progressive Post-Rock/Post-Metal sound does take time to fully get going as there lots of different textures and themes to get accustomed to. Though, if you’re a fan of bands such as PELICAN, RUSSIAN CIRCLES and WE LOST THE SEA then you’ll soon be right at home.

The live performance itself is superbly recorded and is perhaps the perfect introduction for first-time listeners to become aware of this great band. The album is quite progressive with the many different styles of music the band play on each song.

The real bonus of the live album is to hear the 2 new tracks Kylver have included within the set with Allghoi and The Frozen Sands offering 26 minutes of new material from the band. Allghoi and The Frozen Sands are most definitely the standout moments for myself. Both songs offering a bleaker and doomier narrative compared to other things that Kylver have written previously.

The Frozen Sands is perhaps the best song from the new collection with Kylver showing they have changed their creative style in places and I adored the “Eastern” vibes heard on the song whilst retaining their classic Post-Rock/Post-Metal identity.

The band were going to record their 3rd album in 2020 but as they said recently: “Restricted access to rehearsal space, studio time and everything else the pandemic brought with it forced the band to rethink their plans, use what resources were available to them.”

The Plague Tapes is a thrilling Live Album that showcases the true talent and relentless nature of Kylver with a powerful performance that everyone should listen to.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp 

Kylver - The Island (Album Review)

Release date: October 06th 2016. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

The Island – Tracklisting

1.The Great Storm of 1703 13:41

2.Hy-Brasil 05:11

3.Monolith 09:28

4.The Abyss 06:37

5.The Great Race 06:54

Band Members:

James Bowmaker (Bass)

Barry Mitcheson (Drums)

Neil Elliott (Hammond Organ, Keys)

Jonny Scott (Guitar).

Review:

Firstly I must apologise to Kylver for the delay in writing this review. I've had this album for a few months now but I got sidetracked with many things in my life. My 40^th birthday where I took a self imposed exile from writing reviews and this is one the albums that I sadly forgotten about during that time.

f you're not familiar with Kylver's sound then be prepared for a lesson in instrumental progressive metal masterclass as The Island is truly a majestic album that merges Psych, Post-metal, Post-Rock, Doom and Prog Rock that sounds fresh, exciting and original.

Kylver's second album – The Island sees the band in more psychedelic and progressive territory compared to their debut album. Opening track – The Great Storm – merges Mastodon style progressive sludge style riffs with a subtle 70s folk-rock sound. It's a very daring track to open the album with as you cannot determine or identify the main theme of Kylver's sound. It can be described as a progressive lucid and surreal dream with moments of doom and gloom giving the song a more sinister edge.

Second track – Hy-Brasil – carries on the 70s influenced psychedelic riffs though with a more modern post-metal delivery. The use of organs from Neil is what elevates this album into the realm of greatness. I'm not the biggest fan of organ music but Neil is making me a firm believer with his expert playing. The other guys concentrate on creating more heavy surreal sounds that have Pelican fans sit up and take notice.

Third track – Monolith - is perhaps closest to a true progressive DOOM metal song you will ever likely to hear from Kylver. Though the song takes it's time in bringing the heavy riffs to the party. As Kylver expertly weave another magical 70s psychedelic sounding and almost occult style song.

The final two tracks – The Abyss and The Great Race are perhaps the two standout tracks on the album as Kylver demonstrate their ability to create haunting and exciting stories without the need for words. Their music veers once again into so many different directions that you will easily lose yourself into the heavy psychedelic madness of it all. The Abyss is more slower paced but it offers a more far-out experience than The Great Race.

The Island is a very hard album to describe but one that will have universal appeal to the Rock/Metal community. If you're a fan of Pelican, Russian Circles, Tool and Mastodon then you need this album now. The production is first rate as Kylver sound immense from the start.

Two albums in and Kylver have the potential to become one of the leading Instrumental Rock/Metal bands the UK has to offer. With a couple of more releases I can see Kylver making a lasting impression on the international stage. The Island could the the first step to greater things from Kylver. I can't wait to see where they go from here.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp