Tag Archives: post-metal

Album Review – Hesperian Death Horse / Živ (2018)

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The Croatian avantgarde narrators of psychedelic, nihilistic poetry return with the second installment of their trilogy about the saga of birth, life and death of every being.

Since their inception in 2012 in the city of Zagreb, Croatia, the Avantgarde/Sludge/Post-Metal band known as Hesperian Death Horse has been a narrator of psychedelic, nihilistic poetry that sings the saga of birth, life and death of every being, each stage envisioned as a separate album forming a trilogy after which the band will have concluded the saga and will not create any further music. Death was the theme of their first album, entitled Mrtav (Croatian for “dead”), released in 2013, while now in 2018 the band has just released their second album Živ (Croatian for “alive”), having life as its central theme. Recorded at Kramasonik Studio in Zagreb during the summer of 2017 and featuring a beautiful and ominous artwork by Snjezana Mekic Delic, Živ will certainly stimulate your senses, reaching deep inside your mind and twisting your thoughts just the way we like it in experimental and avantgarde music.

Wicked, melancholic and distorted sounds and tones blasted by the guitar trio Dario Orac, Domagoj Zunic and Marko Galetic permeate the air in the opening track Saol (Part 1: Prizma), a somber and eerie Post-Metal tune where all vociferations blend flawlessly with the already creepy music, with drummer Ivan Kukuljevic going mental with his pounding beats. However, if you think the opening track wasn’t weird enough, get ready for an onrush of demented distortions in Elu (Part 2: Voda), where the entire band puts the pedal to the metal, making the music bolder and more progressive as time goes by. Moreover, bassist Slaven Jedvaj is absolutely on fire with his intricate punches, while Ivan adds his own dosage of complexity to the music, sounding like a fusion of the madness blasted by Faith No More with hints of Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and so on, showing how eccentric their music can be.

And their lunatic feast of tones and noises goes on in Hayot (Part 3: Mezanin), another solid creation showcasing nuances of the unparalleled Progressive Metal by Tool and Mastodon. One interesting fact about this song is that the vocal lines never get too heavy or piercing, remaining as dark as possible and consequently bringing even more insanity to the overall result, not to mention they’re not afraid at all to experiment with several distinguished elements from modern-day rock and metal music. Lastly it’s in Liv (Part 4: Horde) that they get to a whole new level of experimentations and craziness, bringing forth a multi-layered Sludge and Post-Metal extravaganza (spiced up by their characteristic cryptic vocalizations) where the band’s guitar triumvirate slashes their strings nonstop while Ivan showcases all his skills behind his drum set, with the music flowing in a very eccentric and fun manner until the end.

In summary, the unorthodox and freakish Živ (available for a detailed listen on YouTube) might not be an easy listen at first for the average rock and metal fan, but if you truly open your mind to the music by Hesperian Death Horse, especially if you listen to their debut opus and to Živ in a row without any interruptions, you’ll see how entertaining the whole experience can be. Don’t forget to check what they’re up to on Facebook and on YouTube, and also to purchase Živ from their own BandCamp page. Furthermore, the third and final installment of the trilogy, and also the band’s last album, will see the light of day in late 2020 and will be named Rodjen (Croatian for “born”), having obviously birth as its core theme, which means we don’t have a lot of time left to join this Croatian horde in their quest for avantgarde music. Well, at least we’ll have Mrtav, Živ and Rodjen to keep Hesperian Death Horse’s flame burning bright even after they become just a distant memory.

Best moments of the album: Liv (Part 4: Horde).

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2018 Independent

Track listing
1. Saol (Part 1: Prizma) 9:47
2. Elu (Part 2: Voda) 7:27
3. Hayot (Part 3: Mezanin) 6:31
4. Liv (Part 4: Horde) 6:19

Band members
Dario Orac – guitars, vocals
Domagoj Zunic – guitars, vocals
Marko Galetic – guitars, vocals
Slaven Jedvaj – bass
Ivan Kukuljevic – drums

Album Review – Soul Attrition / Vashon Rain (2018)

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A vibrant and very professional exhibit of pummeling riffs and haunting melodies by a one-man band from Chicago, integrating components of Sludge and Post-Metal with nuances from several other rock and metal styles.

If you only know one-man bands that play the most visceral and aggressive form of Black Metal, the fusion of Sludge Metal and Post-Metal blasted by American multi-instrumentalist Josh Parlette (bass player for Chicago-based Sludge/Noise trio Escape is not Freedom) under his brand new solo project Soul Attrition might change the way you see the work of those lone rangers of heavy music. Highly influenced by renowned acts such as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Tool, Deftones and Soundgarden, among others, Josh spent the winter of 2017/2018 recording songs for what would become his debut album under the name Soul Attrition, titled Vashon Rain, integrating components of Post-Metal, Grunge, Doom, Sludge and Alternative Metal and Rock with a focus on pummeling riffs and haunting melodies in order to create both an emotive and driving sound.

All guitars, bass, percussion programming and vocals in Vashon Rain were performed by Josh himself, with the production of the album being  performed by Shane Hochstetler at Howl Street Recordings, in  Milwaukee, while the mastering was performed by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering, in Chicago. And all the hard work and dedication Josh put into creating Vashon Rain paid off, with the final result sounding not only very professional and crisp, but you can easily savor every single note extracted from each instrument, making the experience of listening to his debut solo album a lot more entertaining and pleasant.

As soon as you hit play, distorted guitar lines set the tone in the opening track Sinking, being gradually joined by low-tuned bass lines, sluggish beats and anguished vocals, resulting in an embracing fusion of the music by Nirvana, Tool and Deftones and sounding as dark and melancholic as it can be. The following track, titled Thirteen, is just as dense as its predecessor, being the perfect soundtrack for an obscure B-side thriller with Josh once again delivering razor-edged riffs and demented vocal lines in over five minutes of top-tier modern-day Sludge Metal. Moreover, it’s just impressive how organic the programmed drums feel, showcasing the amazing job done by Josh in this field. And melancholy flows from his strings in another somber tune titled Remission, an underground and raw version of the music played by Nirvana with hints of Doom Metal and Post-Metal. Furthermore, it has a truly mesmerizing vibe thanks to the interesting mix of clean, melodic vocals and slow and steady beats, ending in an absolutely serene and gloomy way.

Then we have metallic bass lines, fierce beats and endless melancholy flowing from the guitar riffs in another Post-Metal exhibit by Josh and his Soul Attrition entitled Fatal Flaw, with the music growing in intensity until it reaches a more aggressive stage than all previous songs, flowing back and forth in a sea of tranquility and rage. Acoustic guitar lines dictate the rhythm in the instrumental title-track Vashon Rain, before Unexpected Affront comes crushing our souls with its cryptic words, eerie atmosphere and delicate pace, once again evolving into a wicked feast of Sludge and Post-Metal sounds and tones with its breaks and variations making it feel like two or three songs in one. And the last blast of melancholy and pain by Soul Attrition comes in the form of a contemporary fusion of rock and metal titled Euclid, with its sluggish rhythm being led by the steady sound of drums blended with Josh’s introspective vocals, generating an enfolding ambience and, therefore, closing the album in a serene manner.

You can get more details about the work by this lone wolf of Sludge and Post-Metal by visiting Soul Attrition’s Facebook page, and if the music played by Josh is your cup of tea you can grab your copy of Vashon Rain directly from the project’s BandCamp page, from CD Baby or from Amazon. Soul Attrition might just be Josh’s newborn baby at the moment,  but based on the high quality of the music and the utmost professionalism found in Vashon Rain, we can rest assured the project will keep growing and evolving, perhaps even becoming a full-bodied band in the future. And at least for now we can sit down, relax and enjoy this excellent album of rock and metal music from the always vibrant Chicago independent scene.

Best moments of the album: Thirteen and Fatal Flaw.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2018 Independent

Track listing    
1. Sinking 4:56
2. Thirteen 5:20
3. Remission 7:52
4. Fatal Flaw 5:12
5. Vashon Rain 2:11
6. Unexpected Affront 7:02
7. Euclid 6:39

Band members
Josh Parlette – vocals, guitars, bass, percussion programming

Album Review – Deadly Carnage / Through the Void, Above The Suns (2018)

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Embark on a journey through the cosmos with the brand new album by these talented Italian doom metallers, always evolving and exploring new territories without posing musical limits or barriers.

Born as a Black Metal band in the year of 2005 in Rimini, a city on the Adriatic coast in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, but slowly shifting away from the Black Metal scene in favor of Doom Metal, Post-Rock and Post-Metal influences, Deadly Carnage continue to pave a path of absolute experimentation with their brand new album titled Through the Void, Above The Suns, evolving and exploring new territories without posing musical limits or barriers. Comprised of lead singer and guitarist Alexios Ciancio, guitarist Davide “Dave” Bacci, bassist Fabio “Adres” Arcangeli and drummer Marco Ceccarelli, the band offers in Through the Void, Above the Suns a phenomenal journey, an unmatched vision of the cosmos with all its tangible and intangible components, such as stars, dark matter and black holes, forces that regulate it up through light and time.

While having explored existentialism in the past, with this new chapter Deadly Carnage move towards a universal vision, halfway between science, philosophy, occultism and spirituality. Musically speaking, the album brings to our ears an amalgamation of different styles and emotions, all embraced by a wide vision and dark moods, putting together the heaviest and most Stygian elements found in traditional Black Metal with the more modern, expanding and sometimes even esoteric tones and nuances from Doom Metal and Post-Rock. As a matter of fact, you’ll find your mind wandering through the realms of the atmospheric and sinister music crafted by Deadly Carnage while at the same time feel the urge to bang your head and scream in anger so subtle is the line between the band’s past and present sound, proving how gripping and timeless their music can be.

The album kicks off with an atmospheric intro titled Quantum, warming us up for to the obscure Matter, where the doomed beats by Marco dictate its funereal rhythm and set the perfect stage for the desperate vocals by Alexios, with the music flowing in a somber way until its climatic finale. Then we have Hyle, with the band’s stringed trio Alexios, Dave and specially Adres with his menacing bass helping enhance the song’s impact considerably by blending the obscurity of Doom Metal with hints of more modern styles such as Groove and Progressive Metal, while Alexios darkly declaims the song’s lyrics (“Here they are / the pillars of every seen and unseen things / the fiery and burning water of existence / that no one can corrupt”), gradually morphing into a pensive and dark bridge called Cosmi, before the band brings forth the melancholic tune Lumis, a lancinating composition with highlights to the somber vocals by Alexios surrounded by a mesmerizing atmospheric background, also displaying a beautiful and potent ending.

As desperate and melancholic as its predecessors, Ifene blends the most obscure elements from Doom, Progressive and Black Metal, with both Alexios and Dave slashing our ears with their guitar lines; followed by another atmospheric creation by Deadly Carnage titled Fractals, where you should simply close your eyes and let the ethereal waves crafted by the band guide your soul to the flammable Divide, showcasing traditional Black Metal blast beats intertwined with the delicacy and introspection of Post-Metal, resulting in a stunning multi-layered composition for admirers of the genre with sheer poetry flowing from Alexios’ vocals (“I’m not allowed no more / can’t see what I left behind / and the choice makes me blind / I’m not allowed no more / I cannot shine, no more / I’m in the divide tonight”) and a smooth piano ending setting the stage for the closing act in the album, the even more progressive and whimsical Entropia, where Alexios and Dave add tons of electricity to the song’s dark ambience with their riffs, while Marco smashes his drums in a beautiful way. Furthermore,  the music remains vibrant, melancholic and atmospheric until its very last second for our total delight.

In summary, Through the Void, Above The Suns, which is available for a full listen on YouTube and on sales through the band’s own BandCamp page, through the ATMF’s BandCamp page and webstore, and on Amazon, represents a huge step forward in the career of Deadly Carnage, pointing to a bright future for those four skillful Italian metallers. What part of the cosmos they’ll reach no one knows for sure, but we can all expect to have our ears and minds filled with more of their imposing and always-evolving music in the coming years without a shadow of a doubt.

Best moments of the album: Hyle, Lumis and Divide.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2018 A Sad Sadness Song

Track listing
1. Quantum 1:42
2. Matter 5:09
3. Hyle 4:13
4. Cosmi 2:37
5. Lumis 5:36
6. Ifene 7:54
7. Fractals 3:14
8. Divide 7:16
9. Entropia 7:41

Band members
Alexios Ciancio – vocals, guitars
Davide “Dave” Bacci – guitars
Fabio “Adres” Arcangeli – bass
Marco Ceccarelli – drums

Guest musicians
Mike Crinella – synths, piano solo on “Divide”
Alice Masini – cello on “Hyle”

Album Review – Phendrana / Sanctum: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (2018)

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Immerse yourself in this concept album about a Sanctum, an ethereal place where lost souls find shelter, bringing an amalgamation of sounds and nuances that will at the same time soothe your soul and stimulate your senses.

Anuar Salum, the mastermind behind Mexican Atmospheric Post-Metal Phendrana, is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist based in Mexico City who at the age of 12 started the project under the name Pakistuf, in memory of his grandfather Emilio Kuri Rame, recording a couple of albums and sharing the stage with bands like Alcest, Gehenna and Nader Sadek. Of Syrian and Lebanese descent, Anuar then took the project into a whole new direction in 2016 by changing the project’s main focus and concept, incorporating atmospheric and progressive elements to his music, and eventually changing its name to Phendrana. Now in 2018 it’s time for Anuar and his Phendrana to unleash upon humanity their first full-length opus, titled Sanctum: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.

Recorded between October 2016 and November 2017, Sanctum: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (with “sic transit gloria mundi” being a Latin phrase that means “thus passes the glory of the world”) is a concept album about a Sanctum, an ethereal place where lost souls find shelter. The album is divided in seven parts, those being a description of the Sanctum, three transitions from different souls to it, two stories about the past lives of Sanctum inhabitants, and an ode to the night. Featuring an elegant artwork by Mexican artist Caro Fer, based on the painting “Vanitas Symbols in a Landscape” by Dutch painter Matthias Withoos (1627–1703), this whimsical and unique album of contemporary heavy music will beautifully transport you to the Sanctum proposed by Anuar, bringing an amalgamation of sounds and nuances that will at the same time soothe your soul and stimulate your senses in a striking way.

A crescendo of dark sounds invades our ears until Anuar arrives with his harsh gnarls in a feast of contemporary extreme music titled Sanctum, a perfect depiction of modern-day Post-Metal featuring beautiful keyboards thoroughly blended with the song’s riffs and bass lines, with the second half of the song being a progressive and atmospheric sonic voyage. In addition, Anuar definitely knows how to add a touch of poetry to his lyrics (“An ivory gate, with marble wardens / A citadel, enshrined in an ocean of clouds / Hallways born in the heart of the forest / A legacy, a destiny, written in blood.”). Then we face sheer melancholy flowing from Anuar’s smooth guitar lines in The Threshold, a gentle bridge to the full-bodied aria Ethereum, with the song’s lyrics also bringing a sense of introspection to our souls (“Once an arcane blue aurora / Once ethereal, a fragrant memory / Once a sanctum for the shadows / Once a threshold to their twilight.”). Italian guest Vera Clinco (from Caelestis) provides her share of delicacy to the music with her gorgeous voice, with trenchant blast beats permeating the air in total sync with the song’s whimsical keys and atmospheric passages, again showcasing rage and desolation flowing from Anuar’s growls.

The Dream is another gentle bridge provided by Phendrana, ideal for closing our eyes and preparing our spirits for Where Ages Meet, where acoustic guitars ignite a precise extravaganza of modern metal music blended with ambient and rock music. Vera Clinco joins Anuar once again to beautify the overall musicality while the band’s mastermind continues his dark musical path through his raging roars and sharp guitar lines. Furthermore, several distinct elements from the most diverse range of styles are added to the background, increasing the song’s taste considerably. The Bog offers the listener one last breath of instrumental sounds and tones, this time infused with the mesmerizing sound of water, before the multi-layered Gjenganger presents Mexican musician Aracoelium as a guest vocalist, hypnotizing us all with her choir-like vocals, as well as what’s perhaps the heaviest sounding of all tracks with rawer-than-usual riffs and Black Metal-inspired frantic beats. And to make things even more exciting, an otherworldly break brings some peace to our hearts for a while, until Anuar returns in full force with his final stint of harmonious and thrilling devastation.

The music shelter to your lost soul crafted by Anuar and his Phendrana can be fully appreciated on YouTube and on Spotify, and you can always support such skillful artist by following him on Facebook and by buying a copy of Sanctum: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi through his BandCamp page, on iTunes or on Amazon. I confess I wasn’t familiar with the work by Anuar when the project was named Pakistuf, but I’m sure what he’s doing now with Phendrana represents an inspiring and healthy evolution for him as an artist and as a human being, and let’s hope he can continue to put us in a metallic trance with his atmospheric and modern heavy music for decades to come.

Best moments of the album: Sanctum and Where Ages Meet.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2018 Sickness Records

Track listing
1. Sanctum 9:04
2. The Threshold (Instrumental) 1:55
3. Ethereum 9:15
4. The Dream (Instrumental) 1:51
5. Where Ages Meet 7:48
6. The Bog (Instrumental) 2:10
7. Gjenganger 6:58

Band members
Anuar Salum – vocals, all instruments

Guest musicians
Vera Clinco – female vocals on “Ethereum” and “Where Ages Meet”
Aracoelium – female vocals (choir) on “Gjenganger”

Album Review – Buioingola / Il Nuovo Mare (2017)

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Through fears, conflicts, uncertainties and discomfort, this Italian Darkwave trio offers the world of heavy music their latest (and unfortunately final) opus.

Through fears, conflicts, uncertainties and discomfort, the music by Italian Darkwave/Neocrust act Buioingola tells of a journey that leads nowhere, but which finds its meaning in its own becoming. Drawing influences from legendary Crust and Post-Punk bands like Amebix, Cocteau Twins, The Cure, Killing Joke and Joy Division, the mysterious Buioingola (which literally translates to “darkness in my throat”) have just released their new and final album, elegantly titled Il Nuovo Mare, or “the new ocean” in English. Nobody knows for sure If Il Nuovo Mare is actually their swansong or not, but if it is, let’s say Buioingola are retiring at the prime of their short but intense career.

Founded in 2011 in the city of Pisa, Tuscany, in central Italy, the band formed by Diego Chuhan on guitars and vocals, Omar Bovenzi on bass and vocals and Thomas Gianardi on drums and samples has been making a name for themselves since the release of their debut demo in May 2012, followed by their first full-length album, named Dopo L’Apnea, in October 2013. And now, after almost four years of “silence”, Buioingola are back with more of their wicked experimentations in seven distinct but thoroughly connected compositions, with the obscure artwork by Italian artist Marco Zanella beautifully summarizing what you’ll face during the album’s 35 minutes of their characteristic deep and doomed sounds.

Experimentations hit our ears and penetrate our minds instantly in the opening track, Polvere, where the dissonant guitar lines by Diego generate an eerie atmosphere in a great display of Post-Metal and Darkwave, with both clean and harsh vocals effectively telling the story proposed (in Italian, of course). Following that potent start, Buioingola don’t give us time to breathe, attacking our senses with a sensational avalanche of sick distortions, deranged growls and doomed riffs and beats entitled Latenza. Moreover, you might not understand a single word in Italian, but it’s quite easy to feel the poetry coming from the song’s lyrics (“Per guardare avanti cerco la forza di una memoria, / un modo di strappare il lutto al braccio / che comprime le arterie ed erode i miei arti, / un modo per tagliare la catena dell’ancora /e salpare verso lidi meno funesti”). After reaching the third track of the album, Irriconoscibile, you’ll notice all songs are connected as one entity, with the power trio offering in this case a sonic amalgamation of belligerent sounds led by the intricate, obscure and metalized drumming by Thomas, and with its second part being an ominous and exploratory voyage of modern metal music.

Attesa, a whimsical instrumental piece, brings forward eerie background noises with constant bursts of modern madness, followed by Eclisse, where the band gets back to a more metallic sounding with heavier guitars and Doom Metal inspired beats. Furthermore, this is the perfect sample of what Post-Doom is all about, showcasing a mesmerizing rhythm and hints of Depressive Black Metal in its last part to make it more compelling and exciting. More visceral and potent, Silenzio brings elements of traditional Black and Doom Metal added to the band’s Darkwave core, with highlights to its brutal deep growls full of anguish and to the blast beats by Thomas, before the music flows into a melancholic ending. And Il Giorno Dopo presents a dark and introspective closure to the album, being a beautiful composition by Buioingola where steady, calmer passages are the main ingredient throughout the whole song, never exploding into the savagery of all previous tracks.

One might inquire if the music by Buioingola is really metal, questioning the “metalness” of the band’s wicked creations. Not only I think it’s metal, but I also consider it high-quality music, offering us fans a distinct side of the type of music we love so much. Hence, if you want to experiment the creations by Buioingola, go check what they’re up to at their Facebook page and enjoy their music at their YouTube channel, and purchase Il Nuovo Mare (which you can listen in its entirety HERE) through the band’s BandCamp page, the Sentient Ruin Laboratories’ BandCamp or webshop, the Unquiet Records’ BandCamp or webshop, the Sangue Dischi’s webstore, on iTunes, Amazon, or at Discogs. Swansong or not, Il Nuovo Mare is definitely an album the three musicians involved should be proud of, and maybe the positive feedback it deserves from us fans of heavy music will provide the band the necessary inspiration for another Buioingola album in the future.

Best moments of the album: Latenza, Eclisse and Silenzio.

Worst moments of the album: Attesa.

Released in 2017 Sentient Ruin Laboratories

Track listing
1. Polvere 3:25
2. Latenza 5:23
3. Irriconoscibile 6:59
4. Attesa 4:38
5. Eclisse 4:47
6. Silenzio 5:41
7. Il Giorno Dopo 3:31

Band members
Diego Chuhan – guitars, vocals
Omar Bovenzi – bass, vocals
Thomas Gianardi – drums, samples

Album Review – Cairiss / Fall EP (2016)

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Enjoy this outburst of different emotions and feelings, embraced by the heavy sounds of Post-Metal and the delicate but obscure ambience of Atmospheric Black Metal.

Rating5

Fall ArtworkThe album I’m going to talk about belongs to one of those bands that are capable of transforming all the ravage, darkness and anger of raw Black Metal into daintiness and melancholy without losing that inner aggressiveness necessary in good extreme music. However, don’t ask any of the members from British Atmospheric Black/Post-Metal act Cairiss how exactly they do that, as there’s no magic formula to reach the musicality presented in their debut EP entitled Fall. They simply let their hearts guide their creativity, resulting into an outburst of different emotions and feelings embraced by heavy passages, piercing sounds and a delicate ambience.

Founded in Southampton, UK in 2013 by guitarist Ethan Bishop in collaboration with his partner, vocalist Freyja Brown, this promising female-fronted band released their first demo track, named Disgraced (one of the songs from the EP, by the way) in 2014, which has generated so far over 80,000 views on YouTube and over 600 downloads via their Bandcamp page. Highly influenced by bands such as Opeth and Alcest, Cairiss offer in Fall a 30-minute passionate voyage through the worlds of Atmospheric Black Metal, Post-Metal and Progressive Metal split in three distinct compositions, all wrapped up by a dark and minimalist artwork designed by Freyja herself.

For The Lives He Stole, with its serene and charming piano notes, brings forward a soothing ambience that gradually moves to a heavier sounding beautifully enhanced by the smooth voice of Freyja, suddenly exploding into demonic growls and, consequently, reminding me of the contemporary music by Danish one-woman project Myrkur. Furthermore, Ethan and his bandmate Martin Williams do a great job on guitars, firing melancholy and pain through their riffs while drummer Connor Frapwell adds his share of Doom Metal and Atmospheric Doom to the musicality with his hefty beats. Not only that, the slow and somber breaks and soulful guitar solos are more-than-welcome ingredients to this 12-minute aria, with the darkness contained in the musicality growing until the song’s introspective ending.

cairissStrong emotions arise when the classy chant Disgraced, their aforementioned debut single, kicks off with beautiful Doom Metal riffs boosting its obscurity while its angelic ambience brings peace to our hearts. In this precise fusion of traditional Black Metal and Atmospheric Black Metal, the amazing Freyja ranges from the most charming clean vocals to pure hellish screeches (which obviously bring with them some traditional blast beats by Connor to properly blacken the whole composition), turning this into the most complete, exciting and well-crafted of the three tracks in Fall.

Last but not least, we have the title-track, Fall, a delicate Post-Metal composition focused on the smooth vocals by Freyja accompanied by some acoustic guitar lines and a calm environment. It’s undoubtedly the least Black Metal of all songs, getting closer instead to being a soundtrack to a drama movie with a touching ending. In other words, this is another taste of the uniqueness this talented band is capable of delivering to fans of complex and heavy music, leaving the doors open for more of their stylish Post-Metal in a not-so-distant future.

Which surprises the minds of Ethan and Freyja have for us as Cairiss evolve as a band only time will tell, but in the meantime there’s already a lot to relish in Fall, which can be listened in its entirety on their YouTube channel and purchased at their BandCamp page or on iTunes. Let’s just hope the wait for the next step in their career doesn’t take too long and that they release either another EP or maybe their first full-length album soon, permeating the air with their sophisticated and heartwarming music once again for our total delight.

Best moments of the album: Disgraced.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2016 Independent

Track listing
1. For The Lives He Stole 12:47
2. Disgraced 9:35
3. Fall 7:56

Band members
Freyja Brown – vocals
Ethan Bishop – guitars
Martin Williams – guitars
Sam Weston – bass
Connor Frapwell – drums