Band: Athak | Album: Primarï | Genre: Zeuhl | Bandcamp
Hong Kong-based one-man zeuhl act Athak is back with their latest release. Primarï sees Athak veer into some new territory. Chinese music plays a prominent role, something I had not heard previously from this act. (Maybe they’ve done it before; I don’t know. Athak is quite prolific, and I haven’t heard everything.) “Iyelō” leans into some Canterbury influences, especially Third-era Soft Machine. Yangqin and erhu lend some very unique textural contrasts throughout the album. This record is inspired by colors, and fittingly, the music here embraces the full spectrum.
Score: 76/100
Band: Chafouin | Album: Chafouin Orchestra | Genre: Krautrock, Modern classical | Bandcamp
Brittany-based experimental math rockers Chafouin are back with a new 26-minute opus. Joining Chafouin on this record is a small orchestra, adding a new layer of depth to their music. The whole ensemble utilizes repetition beautifully, with themes gradually building and slowly morphing. Jagged guitar lines are rounded out with flute, saxophone, and violin, and wordless vocals lend a certain fanciful character. The mood grows noisier and more chaotic as this piece progresses, imbuing it with a sense of constant forward momentum that never feels drawn-out.
Score: 91/100
Band: Deathbird Earth | Album: Objective Consciousness | Genre: Space rock, Post-metal | Bandcamp
The debut record from Philadelphia’s Deathbird Earth blends eerie, restrained passages led by sci-fi synth tones with heavier moments where elements of noise rock and sludge metal come crashing through. Hypnotic guitar lines channel classic space rock acts like Hawkwind, and other influences are as varied as Neurosis and Devo. The four-part 20-minute conclusion to this record, “Time”, is a powerful storming epic.
Score: 78/100
Band: Lunar Shadow | Album: The Pall of a Past World | Genre: Progressive rock, Hard rock | Bandcamp
This German band’s newest album is a high-energy bit of proggy, retro-flavored hard rock. The playing is complex and inventive, and it’s clear there’s a lot of enthusiasm behind this music. For me, at least, this unfortunately falls into something of an uncanny valley of retro-rock that I’m simply not a fan of. They haven’t fully embraced retro sounds (like Wobbler or Ring Van Mobius)–which is itself a bit of a risky proposition–but they also haven’t quite gone far enough in infusing more modern sounds (like Zopp or Moura). It’s fine, but this simply isn’t jumping out to me.
Score: 72/100
Artist: Bruno Pernadas | Album: unlikely, maybe | Genre: Progressive pop | Bandcamp
Portuguese composer and multi-instrumentalist Bruno Pernadas plays a laid-back and light variety of pop music that demonstrates a lot of inventiveness. The mood here is sunny and smooth, and he effortlessly incorporates elements of folk, tropicalia, traditional Portuguese music, and even dashes of hip-hop into a cohesive whole. Textures are lush and smooth, full of silky synthesizers and fluttering flutes. And though psychedelic-tinged pop music is the focus here, there are plenty of jazzy asides and surprising structural switch-ups. Many instrumental tones hearken back to space-age pop and lounge music. This album manages to be both relaxing and deeply engaging, a tough tightrope to walk.
Score: 87/100
Band: Telegraph | Album: Topography of Mind | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
The latest release from this Israeli quartet consists of four long pieces, each around 11 minutes long. In it, they cultivate classic space rock and psychedelic textures and pair them with intelligent and creative structural choices. (Pink Floyd is a very, very obvious influence here, with the last couple minutes of this record being borderline-plagiarism of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”.) The songs evolve in manners which feel natural and help to build senses of drama and weight. The particular tones and textures here are mostly rather light, with a sense of warmth and hopefulness.
Score: 77/100
The Elite Extremophile 