Drone

Fós – Níl mo chroí in aon rud Review

By Carcharodon on January 27, 2025 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Electronica, Noise, Post-Metal, 24 comments

“When I reviewed Irish duo Fós’ last outing, Rinne mé iarraidh (which translates as “I Tried”), back in 2020, I wanted to be spellbound. And I was, in parts. Combining traditional Irish folk sean-nós singing (courtesy of Orla Cadden Patel) with the drone, electronica and the vaguely post-metal stylings of multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter Fionn Murray, it had a deeply emotional core. It was also rare in offering something genuinely unique. At the same time, the duo were finding their voice on that record, and it showed. Cadden Patel’s voice was stunning but, at times, rather than coalescing with the music, the two felt discordant and disjointed, while the music itself was rarely memorable. Four years later, with a record deal and a new singer—Susan ní Cholmáin—Fós are back with Níl mo chroí in aon rud.” Folking about.

A Swarm of the Sun – An Empire [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]

By Carcharodon on December 3, 2024 in Things You Might Have Missed 2024, Avant-Garde, Doom Metal, Drone, Post-Metal, 30 comments

“”Imagine the best parts of Katatonia, Anathema, My Dying Bride and Agalloch all submerged into a minimalist post-metal miasma, so thick not even the faintest ray of hope can penetrate.” This is how Steel Druhm invited us to envisage Swedish joy vampires A Swarm of the Sun, in his review of their second album, The Rifts. That review introduced me to A Swarm of the Sun.” Despite being unflinchingly beautiful, The Rifts and its successor, The Woods, blanket and suffocate you. Fourth LP, An Empire, is no different.” Swallow your joy.

Black Aleph – Apsides Review

By Dear Hollow on October 25, 2024 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Drone, Folk, Noise, Post-Metal, 15 comments

“Black Aleph is a sonic experiment devoted to ritual. Debut Apsides, blends drone metal with folk instruments and post-metal’s metamorphic crescendos. Yet, its value lies deeper, with a ritualistic heart pulsing beneath Middle Eastern modal traditions, guiding the movements into a divine, otherworldly experience. Make no mistake—Apsides will crush you, but as much in its serenity as its dense riffs. The weight it conjures suggests punishment rather than delivering it, resulting in something haunting, unique, yet full of untapped potential.” But like, is that all good?

Five the Hierophant – Apeiron Review

By Carcharodon on October 16, 2024 in Reviews, Ambient, Avant-Garde, Doom Jazz, Drone, Post-Metal, 33 comments

“I wanted to love Five the Hierophant’s last album, 2021’s Through Aureate Void. I really did. Alas, it was not to be. However, after seeing them play a great set at ArcTanGent in 2022, I revisited that record. While I stand by everything in that review, including the 2.0, which some viewed as harsh, the potential was clear and Five the Hierophant was tantalizingly close to delivering a worthy follow-up to their very good debut, Over Phlegethon. The British quartet’s brand of psychedelic, jazz-inspired, instrumental post-metal had elements of greatness marred by meandering, over-indulgent songwriting that lacked standout ideas.” Five or lower?

Oscillotron – Oblivion Review

By Dear Hollow on October 14, 2024 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Drone, Noise, 84 comments

“Oscillotron is the project of David Johansson, frontman of Kongh and live guitarist for Cult of Luna since 2013. If you’re expecting doom rock influences, aside from thick heaviness, you’ll be disappointed. Oblivion leans more toward drone than the atmospheric doom and electronics of 2016’s Cataclysm or 2012’s Eclipse. Oblivion delivers a continuous wall of noise—a relentless, hour-long track filled with droning guitars and Moog synthesizers.” Music with a bad case of the Mondays.

The Mercury Impulse – Records of Human Behaviour Review

By Thus Spoke on August 21, 2024 in Reviews, Ambient, Drone, Noise, Not Metal, 21 comments

“Drone is an exceptionally difficult genre to analyse. By its very nature, it resists structure, memorability, and conciseness; its forms are indiscrete; monotony is a feature. Chicago duo The Mercury Impulse intensify and deepen this trait by channelling their drone through a noisy medium with a subtle undercurrent of dark ambient. Debut Records of Human Behaviour thus stands as a kind of mood music indifferent to musical norms and tangible emotions.” Alienist entertainments.

Sumac – The Healer Review

By Carcharodon on June 19, 2024 in Reviews, Drone, Electronica, Noise, Post-Metal, Sludge, 60 comments

“Well, goodness. It’s been a while since I last sat my ass down to write a review. Now, there were Important Reasons for some of this (and other, less AMG-related, reasons for the rest). Unlike me, Aaron Turner is not someone you could accuse of having a shabby work ethic. Best known as the frontman of post-metal legends Isis, Turner has numerous current and past bands, as well as having founded Hydra Head Records and more. He has fronted atmospheric sludge trio Sumac for a decade now and, somewhat remarkably, the band’s line-up has stayed consistent for that period too.” Busy, itchy, sludgy.

Among the Rocks and Roots – Pariah Review

By Carcharodon on December 7, 2023 in Reviews, Drone, Noise, Post-Hardcore, 18 comments

“Among the Rocks and Roots explore semi-free form compositions, relying as heavily on hypnotic repetition as they do shifts in style and tempo. The concluding part of a trilogy that has explored the battle to conquer addiction, Pariah fairly seethes with an unstable anger.” Rage against the hunger.

R.A Sánchez – L’Ottava Sfera Review

By Dear Hollow on November 30, 2023 in Reviews, Drone, 23 comments

“The trouble with genre-bending avant-garde artists is the line between utter brilliance and foolhardy amateurishness. Like a sleeping bear of sonic putridity, artists poke it with their toes of jazz and ambiance and drone, and it largely is a matter of time before they’re greeted with the teeth, and consequently, our ears are bathed in confusion. R.A Sánchez, proprietor of the ambient weirdness of Black Baptist, offers this odd concoction in solo debut L’Ottava Sfera.” Creativity is madness by another name.

BRIQUEVILLE – IIII Review

By Carcharodon on November 3, 2023 in Reviews, Avant-Garde, Doom Metal, Drone, Electronica, Instrumental Metal, Post-Metal, 49 comments

“When I reviewed B R I Q U E V I L L E’s third record, Quelle, I got tetchy about all the spaces between the letters, and various other pretensions. However, the Belgian project’s mesmerizing brand of instrumental post-metal won me over. Its bleak, misery-drenched tones conveyed everything that slightly uncomfortable-to-look-at album artwork suggested it might, ranging from a sludgy Bossk to Godspeed You! Black Emperor in tone. At almost an hour in length, and with a few strange choices in its composition, Quelle did struggle a little under its own weight but it still held my attention. Although the spaces now seem to come and go, it would appear BRIQUEVILLE have found a new way to irk me with their fourth record, IIII.” B r i c k by BRIQUE.