Tombs, Winter Hours

US, 2009

Tombs is a sludge/post-metal band hailing from Brooklyn, NY.

Playlist:

1. Gossamer
2. Golden Eyes
3. Beneath the Toxic Jungle
4. The Great Silence
5. Story of a Room
6. The Divide
7. Merrimack
8. Filled With Secrets
9. Seven Stars the Angel of Death
10. Old Dominion

Link.

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The Ocean, Anthropocentric

Germany, 2010.

The Ocean Collective (usually referred to as “The Ocean”) is an experimental metal band from Berlin, Germany. Their work combines elements of modern hardcore and technical metal with classical music and electronic soundscapes. The band often describes its sound as “ambient soundtrack doomrock”.

"Anthropocentric" is the second of a two album series released in 2010, following "Heliocentric".

Playlist:

1. Anthropocentric
2. The Grand Inquisitor I: Karamazov Baseness
3. She Was the Universe
4. For He That Wavereth…
5. The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts
6. The Grand Inquisitor III: A Tiny Grain of Faith
7. Sewers of the Soul
8. Wille Zum Untergang
9. Heaven TV
10. The Almightiness Contradiction

Link.

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Maserati, Pyramid Of The Sun

US, 2010.

"Knowing what Maserati have been through during Pyramid of the Sun's creation makes it hard to consider the album on its musical merits alone. A year ago, they lost drummer Gerard Fuchs in an elevator-shaft accident. They were already working on Pyramid, and that gives the resulting LP a double shot of gravitas as one of Fuchs's final recordings and also a tribute to him."


Playlist:

1. Who Can Find the Beast?
2. Pyramid of the Sun
3. We Got the System to Fight the System
4. They'll No More Suffer From Hunger
5. Ruins
6. They'll No More Suffer From Thirst
7. Oaxaca
8. Bye M’Friend, Goodbye

Link.

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Boris & Ian Astbury, BXI

Japan/US, 2010

An unlikely collaboration between a band that needs no introduction, the Japanese mavericks Boris, and a vocalist that also needs no welcoming card, Ian Astbury the crooner of the band The Cult.
BXI is a 4 track ep, with three original songs and a cover of The Cult´s song "Rain" sang by Boris guitarist Wata, showcasing Boris and Astbury on their most rocking mode, providing a work that is a must listen for fans of either projects.


Playlist:

1. Teeth And Claws
2. We Are Witches
3. Rain
4. Magickal Child

Link.

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Rosetta, A Determinism Of Morality

US, 2010.

"Philadelphia quartet Rosetta push the boundaries between metal, progressive rock, post-rock, space rock, and hardcore punk, employing an experimental songwriting technique filled with chaos and atmospherics. Their sounds range from Pink Floydian progressive rock sonic layering to walls of pure static ambience to crushing, sweeping sludgey riffage."

Playlist:

1. Ayil
2. Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin
3. Blue Day for Croatoa
4. Release
5. Revolve
6. Renew
7. A Determinism of Morality

Link.

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Khoma, A Final Storm

Sweden, 2010.

Khoma is a Swedish (post-)rock/metal band hailing from Umeå. After three years of silence Khoma finally surface. In late august 2009 Khoma began the recording of their third album "A Final Storm", the follow-up to the highly acclaimed "The Second Wave" of 2006.

Playlist:

1. Army Of One
2. From The Hands Of Sinners
3. Harvest
4. Orisis
5. A Final Storm
6. Inqisition
7. The Tide
8. All Like Serpents
9. In It For Fighting
10. By The Gallows
11. Mist

Link.

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Irepress, Sol Eye Sea I

US, 2009.

A 5-piece rock band from Sharon, Massachusetts. They began as a very heavy sludge metal, evolving to a sludge-influenced but more progressive, instrumental post-rock. Sounds like a mixture of Rosetta and Giant Squid.


Playlist:

1. Diaspora
2. Rhintu
3. Barrageo
4. Daniel Sen
5. Cyette Phiur
6. Fletchie
7. Adeluge
8. Billy
9. Entanglement

Link.

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Fading Waves, Please Wait

Russia, 2010.

Fading Waves is a one-man post-metal/sludge band from Rostov-on-Don, Russia, formed in 2008 by Lex Maximuk. "Please Wait" combines the intensity of Isis with the atmospheric sound of Cult of Luna.

Playlist:

1. Rush Hour
2. Megapolis Depression
3. Lights On Water
4. Forever Closed
5. No Way Home
6. Flows
7. Waiting For End

Link.

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Woburn House, Monstrous Manoeuvres In The Mushroom Maze

Germany, 2009.

Woburn House are a three-piece sludge/progressive/psychedelic metal band hailing from Bonn, Germany.

"Beautifully crafted, adventurous and inspiring - this unique band are always tough to pin down. Levitating between the bliss of the finest European avantgarde metal, epic song structures and earthy, organic post-rock tones, "Monstrous Manoeuvres In The Mushroom Maze" unfurls layer upon layer of beautifully textured melody that is driven by a bass drift that reminds us of classic early Lungfish in parts too. And all wrapped up in beautiful artwork painted by Toby Driver of Kayo Dot and mastered by the sound genius of Tom Kvålsvoll (Strype Audio)."

Playlist:

1. Omega
2. Oil
3. Globus
4. Transmitter
5. Transformer

Link.

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Battle of Mice, A Day of Nights

US, 2006.

"Battle of Mice was a post-metal supergroup consisting of Julie Christmas (Made Out of Babies), Josh Graham (Neurosis, ex-Red Sparowes, A Storm of Light), Joel Hamilton (Book of Knots), Tony Maimone (Book of Knots, Pere Ubu), and Joe Tomino (Fugees, Dub Trio, Peeping Tom).

The album, which was released under Neurot Recordings, is heavily influenced by metal, post-rock and noise rock roots. The atmosphere is decidedly eerie and unnerving, with one song, At the Base of the Giant's Throat, featuring a recorded 911 call between vocal sections. The lyrical content is wide in scope, touching on love, lust, jealousy, and rage."

Playlist:

1. The Lamb and the Labrador
2. Bones in the Water
3. Sleep and Dream
4. Salt Bridge
5. Wrapped in Plain
6. At the Base of the Giant's Throat
7. Cave of Spleen

Link.

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Shrinebuilder, Shrinebuilder

US, 2009

Them Crooked Vultures may have had all the publicity, but as far as super groups go Shrinebuilder took all the merit. A behemoth of an album, every riff, every vocal, every solo was impressive in its own right without reminding you of some second hand association to Neurosis, Sleep, OM or Saint Victus.


Playlist:

1. Solar Benediction
2. Pyramid Of The Moon
3. Blind For All To See
4. The Architect
5. Science Of Anger

Link.

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Mastodon, Crack the Skye.

US, 2009

The album which marks Mastodon's break with a major label also marks their biggest change in sound and fanbase. Whilst moving to a proggier sound, Mastodon may have alienated many former fans, but do so whilst maintaining their status as most relevant metal band of today. It might not be what many expected, or even hoped for, but Crack the Skye doesn't cease to surprise and impress on successive listens.



Playlist:

1. Oblivion
2. Divinations
3. Quintessence
4. The Czar
5. Ghost of Karelia
6. Crack the Skye
7. The Last Baron

Link.

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Minsk, With Echoes in the Movement of Stone

US, 2009.

"Located along the in-betweens of Chicago and Peoria, Illinois, and drawing its nominal inspiration from the Belarusian capital, nestled deep amidst the in-betweens of the East and the West, a city that has been burned to the ground on several occasions only to be rebuilt like a phoenix rising from its ashes, Minsk is an eclectic experience of passion, aggression, rhythm, noise, and trance. The music is as organic as it is other-worldly, infusing the rhythms of the earth and the resonance of the human voice with the synthetic sounds of machines, amplifiers, and effects."

Playlist:

1. Three Moons
2 The Shore of Transcendence
3. Almitra's Premonition
4. Means to an End
5. Crescent Mirror
6. Pisgah
7. Consumed by Horizons of Fire
8. Requiem: from Substance to Silence

Link.

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Jesu, Silver EP

U.K., 2006

Three year old release from post-metal/sludge/and-some-more-tags-if-you-want-to.
It does ring something inside; I have been happily stuck with the first song for years, and silver is just another gold.


Playlist:

1. Silver
2. Star
3. Wolves
4. Dead Eyes


Link.

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Isis, Wavering Radiant

US, 2009

Their most polarizing album so far. Depending on who you ask, fantastic or craptastic. Wavering Radiant sees Isis drifting away from sludge ever so slightly and embracing some more traditional progressive elements. It will still grow on me, but I think its their best work since Panopticon.



Playlist:

01 - Hall of the Dead
02 - Ghost Key
03 - Hand of the Host
04 - Wavering Radiant
05 - Stone to Wake a Serpent
06 - 20 Minutes / 40 Years
07 - Threshold of Transformation


Link.

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Mastodon, Leviathan

US, 2004

Yet again, another group that tours with awful bands, so far only signed to one decent label (which is, by the way, not their current one) and is commonly placed inside a dreadful category, the so-called "New Wave of American Heavy Metal". They play sludge/progressive metal and are mostly influenced by bands like Neurosis and the Melvins. New album to be released in a few days.

Playlist:

1 - Blood and Thunder
2 - I Am Ahab
3 - Seabeast
4 - Ísland
5 - Iron Tusk
6 - Megalodon
7 - Naked Burn
8 - Aqua Dementia
9 - Hearts Alive
10 - Joseph Merrick

Link.

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Jesu & Eluvium, Split

Wales/U.S., 2007.
This amazing split LP combines the electronic and ambient elements of Eluvium with the post-rock/sludge style of Jesu.

Playlist:

1. farewell
2. blind and faithless
3. why are we not perfect?
4. time-travel of the sloth parts I, II and III

Link.

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Pelican, City of Echoes

US, 2007.

Instrumental progressive rock with a strong metal influence, along the lines of Isis.


Playlist:

1. bliss in concrete
2. city of echoes
3. spaceship broken parts needed
4. winds with hands
5. dead between the walls
6. lost in the headlights
7. far from fields
8. a delicate sense of balance

Link.

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Neurosis, The Eye Of Every Storm

United States, 2004.
Neurosis' most absorbing work to date retains much of the abrasion which defined earlier works. Uniquely, The Eye of Every Storm conveys much of it's violence through moments of silence, intermingled with layers of crushing guitars.

1. burn
2. no river to take me home
3. the eye of every storm
4. left to wander
5. shelter
6. a season in the sky
7. bridges
8. I can see you

Link.

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