Band: Bekor Qilish | Album: Consecrated Abysses of Dread | Genre: Avant-garde metal | Bandcamp
The new album from one-man Italian experimental metal act Bekor Qilish sees a further refinement and evolution in the act’s sound. Black metal is still at the root of what he’s doing here, but there is a lot more at play. Riffs are bizarre and ultra-technical. This constant oscillation can be exciting and lead to some fantastic juxtapositions. At the same time, though, it can also come off as disjointed or unfocused. There is a lot to like on this record, but I think Bekor Qilish’s music works best in the format of a slightly-shorter EP.
Score: 78/100
Band: Different Light | Album: Binary Suns (Part 2 – Alternate Reality) | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Different Light is back with part two of their Binary Suns project, six years after releasing part one. Overall, it’s fine. It’s relatively sunny, piano-heavy prog that’s rooted in the 1990s. There is some good occasional crunch, and the vocal performance is strong. Certain passages are maybe a little cheesy for my taste, and transitions between the sub-sections of the suites can occasionally be a little awkward. But if you like Spock’s Beard and crave more Spock’s Beard-sounding music, this is a pretty decent choice.
Score: 74/100
Band: Dionysiaque | Album: La Tourbe Des Rêves | Genre: Experimental doom metal | Bandcamp
French band Dionysiaque’s sophomore record might just be the most daring and forward-thinking doom metal record I’ve heard. Doom is not often a genre that leans too hard into progressive or experimental ways of writing or playing, but this act shows the potential of this marriage. Riffs are crushing, melodic, and melancholy; and the vocals are dramatic and emotive. The playing is technical and flashy, with drums tumbling, bass snarling, and guitars slicing and shredding where more orthodox doom acts would be content to simply trundle along. Dionysiaque effortlessly folds in black, thrash, and even folk elements alongside their more experimental excursions.
Score: 90/100
Band: Mors Verum | Album: Canvas | Genre: Avant-garde metal | Bandcamp
Canadian death metallers Mors Verum put forward a dense, challenging, and rewarding 30-minute release on Canvas. Riffs on this are dissonant and coarse, often lending a hazy aura to the whole affair. The band deftly alternates between speedy passages that scour the listener and slower moments where they occasionally dip into more melodic passages. The five songs on this EP gradually unfold in odd, tangled ways which are very satisfying.
Score: 85/100
Band: Phideaux | Album: Automoto Animus | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Phideaux is one of my favorite progressive rock acts, so it pains me to say this, but Automoto Animus is not very good. I’ve been struggling to articulate exactly why this isn’t resonating with me, and I think the best explanation I can come up with is that this record feels somewhat small. Phideaux’s best work (Infernal, Snowtorch, Doomsday Afternoon) has always been grand and epic and sweeping. That sense of scale and scope simply isn’t here on this record.
There are flashes of Phideaux’s usual brilliance, but one of the biggest problems here is that many of the songs feel quite same-y. Most of the songs are about four minutes long and led by bouncy piano with some often-schlocky pop elements. There’s a sense of sterility to a lot of this album. Even the closing 14-minute epic is something of a let-down. It ends strong, but the first nine minutes or so feel like an extension of the preceding compositions.
Score: 55/100
Band: Stimmerman | Album: Challenging Music for Difficult People | Genre: Progressive rock, Avant-prog | Bandcamp
This album delivers what’s advertised on the tin. The music is weird, full of off-kilter rhythms, atypical chords, and wonky melodies. Stimmerman also blends strains of jazz, metal, alt-rock, and more into a dense and thorny record. Despite all this it’s undeniable that the music here is fun and strangely infectious. The band covers a lot of territory in less than 35 minutes, but it holds together and delivers something that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
Score: 82/100
The Elite Extremophile 