Rowan Blair Colver Online
  • Welcome
  • The Artist
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
  • Poetry
  • Homunculus Media

Sleepless and Spiritual

Music in Review

Myth of a Life - Erinyes

20/7/2015

Comments

 
Picture
Originally printed in Now Then Magazine issue 87 

MYTH OF A LIFE
ERINYES
SELF RELEASED

Slashing a hole in musical tranquillity with a searing blade, up to the bloodied hilt through the emblem of peace and quiet that once flagged its colours before we pressed the almighty play button, Myth of a Life surf into action on a wave of what was once a Children of Bodom iconic whip, now a staple part of all modern, in-your-face thrashings. Once more, echoes of previous legends reverberate in the melodic guitar work and the sheer determined aggression of Pissing Razors is evident in their style.

The key to making decent metal is that it has to ensnare you in its fury and drag you through its tantrum of dissonance to musical culture with each track, and Erinyes does this by simply not stopping. Every bar is saturated with aggressive, forthcoming and musically enticing energy. It doesn’t put you off. It’s not unsightly. It’s epic and enchanting.

Skills are apparent. No music like this can be of any resounding quality without the push of experience. The well-scripted thinking of a student of the guitar is essential when making exciting and rageful music that works. Every one of the four tracks that make this neat little EP is just enough to show us the business and prepare us for something new. It moves well, and original riffs and melodies continue to sweep the rumbling holler along, framing the cursing and challenging vocal.

Erinyes is not for those who like to drink lemonade with a book, unless they want a moment to escape from that scenario. Intense music doesn’t always do its job. It can become nonsensical and violent, but for me Erinyes teeters well on the positive side of that line. Remaining skillful and with a flow that suits the pace, I enjoyed this snappy record.

Rowan Blair Colver


Comments

Jacco Gardner - Hypnophobia

20/7/2015

Comments

 
Picture
Originally printed in Now Then Magazine issue 86

JACCO GARDNER

HYPNOPHOBIA
FULL TIME HOBBY

If you just give me a moment to comb the daisies from my hair, I’ll tell you about this record. The summer of love has returned with an acid folk flavour that just wants to be listened to. The sound that trickles from the stereo flows deliciously like a musical custard, and on our wafer boat we set sail into realms of dream. Sunny, bouncing echoes of yesteryear frame a modern yet nostalgic whimsy into far flung tribulations and posery. It’s all rather cool.

‘Another You’, the first track in the order of chapter-like songs, grants us a hazy stripe of keys that in a childish way remind us of the psychological title of this record.  As Jacco begins to sing, the melody immediately hits us as influenced by yesterday’s sounds, but a cheeky, modern-sounding drum fill reminds us we are listening to a newly released record.


The pretty yet haunted melody of ‘Grey Lanes’ cuts deeper still into the soul of this journey. I am overwhelmed by a sudden urge to go back to my childhood and ride my Wildcat bike. 
With the Art of Garfunkel’s prowess and the Incredible from said String Band’s misty sounding tunes, we’re given a gradually unwrapping gift of light, magic and musical geometry.

Hailing from Zwaag, near Amsterdam, this multilingual musician has demonstrated his diversity by fusing the sounds of many instruments acquired through his career so far. Perhaps in this way Gardener is able to recreate the folk landscapes often associated with holey jumpers and pipe smoking and, while celebrating their once-sovereignty, is able to combine modern elements to make a fantastic record for the 21st century.

Rowan Blair Colver


Comments

Ethereal Shroud - They Became The Falling Ash

7/7/2015

Comments

 
Picture
Ethereal Shroud

They Became The Falling Ash

Grimoire Cassette Cvlture Records

Northern Silence Productions

The nightmares that boil in the darkest crevices of our neural gyri, those passions and feelings of sensational power, epic fusion of self, wisdom and vibration bring forward the reality of human shadows. Ethereal Shroud takes us to that dark and golden world of forces, fates and enchantment. A mirror image of the post rock scene, matched in the progressive flow and delivery yet reversed in the draw to self. Lengthy tracks encapsulate the drive and reverberation in stages, score like symphonic passages of musical time. As the record plays, the energy builds. As the energy builds, the feeling of inner satisfaction grows. As we continue on the path, the dark yet mysteriously beautiful compositions haunt us, teach us that not all is suffering when in the shadow of the heart.

Look Upon the Light, a track of inner depth and visions of horror, a doomsday themed ode that opens much like My Dying Bride but soon changes gear and leaves the funeral procession behind. Excellent use of scale and timing bring each section into a new layer of presence, the drums and the keys wrap the riffs in neat, precisely notated sandwiches. As we near the end of the track, we find ourselves holding the mother of all sandwiches, eyes watering, mouth open wide and ready to shove it all in.

As the music persuades us to envision ourselves running along the top of jagged rocks, perhaps on a hill, we can feel the predatory eyes in the backdrop waiting for us to get comfy. Extreme music loves to make us jump and this album will do this. Desperation Hymn leaps from the pristine shimmer left behind  after the first twenty four minutes of track number one and launches us into a powerful assault of smashing snare drums, raging guitars and lyrics about utter hopelessness. Potent stuff indeed. This track has an Emperor feel about it, taking light of the harsh but consistent and eventually appreciated guitar-drum delivery.

Track three, the final opus on this deceptively lengthy record starts like it sounds. Echoes in the Snow reveal a cold and desolate sonic landscape which slowly fills with the elements of life and then finally a melody cuts in, bringing soul to the original chaos of near silence. Perhaps the most progressive track on the album, after being bathed in a tranquil moonbeam of storytelling bars, we are thrust again into the poltergeist that is feeding on the light, feasting on the knowing of self. The coldness sucks life away yet, we as the audience are treated to this opera of intent and battle, this tragedy of music. Art doesn’t always leave us feeling all gooey inside. This leaves us feeling raw, sensualised and ready to make some changes to our own source of winter.

They Became The Falling Ash is available on bandcamp for download and limited physical versions. 

Rowan Blair Colver


Comments
    Support Links:

    Amazon UK

    Amazon US

    eBay UK

    ​eBay US

    ​See More Retailers
    Music Reviews by Rowan Blair Colver
    View my profile on LinkedIn
    Enjoy this blog? Why not volunteer the price of a magazine or book?
    Source by Rowan Blair Colver
    Source by Rowan Blair Colver
    by Rowan_Blair_Colver
    This website is a personal site written and edited by me, Rowan Blair Colver. This website contains affiliate links which are delivered at no extra cost to the customer but also provide a commission to me if you choose to make a purchase. ​
    Site Home

    Archives

    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All
    14th
    1981
    AAirial Emotions Are Desert Islands
    Abe Heave Ho
    Alice In Chains
    Arca
    Arca Xen
    Audacious Art Experiment
    Aurora
    Awooga
    A Year With 13 Moons
    Ben Frost
    Black Metal
    Blogger
    Bonobo
    Brainfreeze
    Cambrian Explosion
    Chillstep
    Christian Larson
    Conjuro Nuclear
    Cousin Silas
    Cygnus
    Dance
    Dan Le Sac
    Dave Wine
    D-Echo Project
    Destroy All Your Earthly Possessions
    Dropkick Murphys 11 Short Stories Of Pain And Glory Review
    Electro
    Electro Prog
    Engelwood
    Epoch
    Eskmo
    Ether Club Records
    Ethereal Shroud
    Fink
    Fink Meets The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
    George Will Dawn
    Grace Jones
    Haken
    Hauntologists
    If You Kept On Spiralling
    Jacco Gardner
    Jaya A Combination Of Things
    Jefre Cantu Ledesma
    Karen Lyons Kalmenson
    Kate Isabel Stranger
    Koan Serenity Side A
    Koy
    Martha
    Master Margherita Hippies With Gadgets
    Morphogenetic Fieds
    Mute Records
    Neo Folk
    Ni:12
    Nibana Fireside Tales
    NLF3 PINK RENAISSANCE
    Oliver Wilde
    Operentzia Far Far Away
    Painter
    Patterns
    Plaid
    Reachy Prints
    RIVAL CONSOLES SONNE EP
    Scroobius Pip
    Sharron Kraus
    Sieben
    Sieben The Old Magic
    Sigur Ros
    Sleeping Forest
    Sol
    Spirit Hood
    Stef Esposito
    Tea Tree The Ancient City
    The Ambivalent
    The Maension
    The North Borders
    They Became The Falling Ash
    Ticon Prog Trance
    Trevor Something
    Valtari
    Vertical Amigo
    Waking Lines
    Walking Colouring Book
    Warp Records
    Wo Fat

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.