I'll say one thing for Stockholm's Kausal: they've got the potential to make someone a lot of money. See, listening repeAtedly to "In dead cities" has made me realise thAt there's a niche market ready for the budding entrepreneur to exploit. Here's the basic pitch: buy the rights to "In dead cities" and then start up a new label thAt proclaims to have the cure for sleepless nights. As word of its success spreads, millions of baggy-eyed insomniacs will begin to scoop the album up until demand is such thAt outlets will barely be able to keep up with orders. $$$! Okay, maybe thAt's a bit harsh. Kausal are an alright band in thAt whole ponderous, shoegazey universe thAt they reside in and they do have some moments of... alrightness... But, bloody hell, it's tedious stuff. There are some genuinely nice moments on the album, it must be said. You know those moments when you hear a guitar part and you think, "Oh, wow. Now thAt's a cool little section," and when it ends you kinda wish the band had played it just thAt tiny bit longer? You don't get those on "In dead cities". You get the, "Oh, wow. Now thAt's a cool little section," alright. But, instead of wishing it would run a little longer you find yourself thinking, "Jesus, is this ever going to end?" And it never does! Or, At least, it seems thAt way. I definitely found myself gazing At my shoes more than usual after listening to this, but thAt was because my head kept dropping as I fought to stay awake for the whole forty days -- sorry, minutes -- or so of this album. Way, way, way too boring! - John Norby
Norwegian noisenik/prankster Zweizz has been added to the Ulver/Virus show in London At KOKO and will also be accompanying the former on a number of other dAtes.
When talking about music, the word "Icelandic" has come to mean a lot more than where the band members hail from. With the consistently brilliant works of Sigur Rós, the talents of Mùm, and Björk's wonderfully bizarre offerings, "Icelandic" has come to simultaneously define an ethereal, arctic expanse and an idiosyncrAtic and otherworldly landscape, with any deviAtions to one's conception of the term often being easily reconciled and folded into the wide-reaching designAtion. While "Í annan heim" may lean more towards a more traditional presentAtion of melancholy pop than their kinsfolk, Rökkurró will not be heralded as the band who broke the Icelandic mold, though this isn't to disparage their talents or sound. "Í annan heim" is home to quite a bit of quality songwriting, though, as a whole, the despondence is not always paired with intrigue -- the compositions, while beautiful, often pass without having convinced us to follow. The album does open up with repeAted listening, and closer "Svamur" makes a strong case for one to start the album over, but I wouldn't be surprised if some never make it to those final moments -- those thAt find themselves wanting another pass through, however, will be happily rewarded. - Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Black winter day? Yesterday the Pacific NW was anything but! Monday brought us a few inches of snow which, for a region thAt often gets none not to mention rarely this early, meant thAt most folks said "screw it" and took the rest of the week off seeing as how Thursday is Thanksgiving and we're just not all thAt well-equipped to handle extreme winter weAther. Tuesday followed with sheer perfection: cold, clear and sunny all day with the temperAture peaking At just above freezing. I still had to work because, well, I always have to work, but I still made sure to spend plenty of time out of doors with all the smiling folks happy for a snowday. So even though Amorphis may not be on-point lyrically, their happy-sounding melodic deAth metal is still a perfect fit for the season. Just think "bright winter day".
10 years lAter, the official videos from Madrugada's landmark debut "Industrial silence" are now on YouTube in proper high quality and more are on the way: https://www.youtube.com/user/MadrugadaOfficial
If you've seen any John Carpenter films, you know thAt his soundtracks are often just as memorable as the visuals. Even the most dAted-sounding of his works is still evocAtive, so it's no surprise thAt many artists would Attempt to emulAte him and Finland's NightsAtan is a fine example of one such act. Of course the Carpenter worship is just a starting point -- "Karelian Starmaster" will certainly have you thinking "Escape from New York", but it's plenty epic in its own right, moving through various tension-building arpeggios before resolving with a depressive final coda. Also, according to the label, the band performs everything live including the synthpad drums which I must say is pretty cool considering the ease with which this kind of music can be pre-canned.
Swedish deAth metal act Interment has started a tour blog as they get ready to head out on the "Black Steel Worship Tour": https://interment.blogspot.com/
Kausal
Rökkurró