ALBUM REVIEW: Polar Sun – Wax – Wane


Rising from Brighton, United Kingdom, the genre-bending quintet Polar Sun (formerly known as Porshyne) self-release their new album Wax / Wane, which presents a mix of styles from electronic and Jazz to post-Rock and Math Rock.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Autarkh – Emergent


 

As the mastermind behind the sadly missed Dodecahedron, future works of Michel Nienhuis were always going to challenge conventions. This was certainly the case with Autarkh’s debut Form In Motion which was as abrasive as it was innovative in its execution. So, in perhaps expected fashion, a new album feels markedly different to its predecessor with sophomore release Emergent (Season Of Mist), if not proving any less progressive and captivating.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Teeth of the Sea – Hive


 

If the sea had teeth what would they look like? (You’ve probably never wondered). If you have asked yourself such a question, you’ll likely have to keep pondering. As to what they would sound like, well Sam Barton, Mike Bourne and Jimmy Martin, known collectively as Teeth of the Sea, have been providing an answer to that question since their first record (2009’s Orphaned by the Ocean). Hive (Rocket Recordings) is the group’s sixth full-length release.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Code Orange – The Above


 

The hope for a band to “return to their roots” is a phrase that has been thrown around so much in modern music, it has begun to lose its meaning. As with the roots of a tree, a band’s roots are always there, securing the foundation of their sound, no matter how many different directions it may branch out into.

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EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Huelga – ‘Chinga de Perro’


Instrumental metal act Huelga is the brainchild of artist/activist and jazz multi-instrumentalist Michael Fonseca of Austin, TX. Huelga is bringing the release of his debut EP next month, promising to rewrite the book on progressive metal. Huelga, mixed by Mick Kenny of Anaal Nathrahk, will be released in digital and cassette format on April 5th, 2019. Inspired by modern composers Charles Ives, Frank Zappa, and Elliot Carter, as well as the Chicano Movement and the current political tensions that have come to a boil on the Texas/Mexico border, Huelga is making an emphatic statement musically and politically. Check out the new single ‘Chinga de Perro’ right here at Ghost Cult! Continue reading


Circle – Terminal


Terminal (Southern Lord) is Circle’s thirty-second album, not counting sixteen live albums and three soundtracks (!). To say they are constantly putting out new material is an understatement.Continue reading


Igorrr – Savage Sinusoid


Normally, when a press release boasts that no samples were used on an album, we can infer two things about the band in question: firstly that they’re trapped in a time-loop that extends no later than 1994 and secondly that they play some kind of raw, sloppy Punk/Metal that no-one would imagine for a second used samples. For the first time in the history of music, however, there is actually a point to declaring that – if you go in to Igorrr’s kitchen-sink onslaught of Metal, dance, Balkan music, 8-bit synths and whatever else solo permanent member Gautier Selle feels like chucking in, you could be forgiven for thinking that samples play a heavy role. They certainly used to, but in the decade-plus since the first Igorrr demo was released, Selle has gradually built up both his own musical ability and his circle of connections and collaborators, until every sound on Savage Sinusoid (Metal Blade) was created specifically for the album.Continue reading


Dynfari – The Four Doors Of The Mind


Since their inception in 2010, Dynfari have proven to be a true, unearthed gem for forward thinking metal; and yet another entity in Iceland’s thriving and rich Extreme Metal scene. Continuously showing evolutionary steps across their early albums, 2015’s Vegferð Tímans (Code666) was at the time their creative zenith, bridging atmospheric Black Metal with post-Rock and ambient landscapes to stunning effect. On latest album The Four Doors Of The Mind (Code666/Aural), this duo have majorly upped the ante both in musical execution and in subject matter.Continue reading