Browsing Tag

Experimental Rock

faSade – Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free): A Dark Cabaret Plea For An End to The Right to Bear Arms

Posted on 6 November 2024

In the Avant Garde production of faSade’s dark cabaret rock single, Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free), the artist plunges deep into the heart of one of America’s most polarising debates. The jazz-imbued track, saturated with theatrical verve, doesn’t shy from voicing the harrowing price paid by innocence in the face of the nation’s gun culture.

With each lyric, faSade delivers visceral blows, but none as sharp as the one imparted through the strikingly sombre line, “Your freedom to carry is not free when I have to carry my child to the cemetery”.

The fierce outcry against the so-called freedom of gun ownership accounts for the loss of the cost of children’s lives while delivering an anthem mourning those lost to the bullets of mentally ill assailants and a rebuke of society’s complacency.

With America on the brink of electing a new leader, the timing of the track couldn’t be more poignant. faSade holds a mirror to the grim realities of a society that chooses the profits of the gun industry over the safety of its youth as the artist condemns the political powers that perpetuate this cycle of violence for electoral gains, and the societal indifference that allows domestic abusers and despondent individuals access to firearms.

Through Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free), faSade implores listeners to awaken from their idle states as mere legislative changes could preserve countless futures.

The official video for Freedom to Carry (Is Not Free) premiered on October 18th; stream the video on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ren Ashfield and the Magicians – Geronimo: A One Way Track to Nirvana

Posted on 3 April 2024

Genre fluidity is one thing, genre sorcery is quite another; find the difference by delving into one of the seminal singles, Geronimo, from Ren Ashfield and the Magicians’ unmissable LP, Sonic Creations.

Starting with a groove which melds Motown-reminiscent basslines with gospel-esque bluesy shimmering organs before rock inclinations are licked into the production by the audaciously brashy guitars, Geronimo is a riot of alchemic ingenuity before the first chorus hits. You’ll know when it does; the synths kick up a frenetically dance-y 80s storm before psych folk elements entwine with them to lace the polyphonic aesthetics with organic elements for a truly mind-melting experience.

It took a talented vocalist to tame the sonic beast which is Geronimo, but Ren Ashfield’s naturally commanding vocal lines blazed across the unchartered territory with unfaltering ease, pulling you deeper into the production, ensuring that by the time the guitar solo starts to tear through the atmosphere, it will lead you to nirvana as it endlessly ascends.

Stream the Sonic Creations LP on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The celestial architects, Terrestrial Soulz, led prog-rock and hip-hop through an orchestral maze in ‘Slipping Away’

Posted on 27 February 2024

Salt Lake City’s Terrestrial Soulz reached the pinnacle of genre-fluid experimentalism with their standout single, Slipping Away, taken from their debut album, Crash Landed.

After an extended orchestrally-laced prog-esque intro that licks funk into the groove pockets, the track that will give you 90s melodic rock nostalgia kicks into full gear through the introduction of the sleek and sharp spoken-word rap bars that deliver a sobering exposition of grief, oppression, and our inescapable relationship with fear that are facades can hide, but deep down, it’s always gnawing away at our psyche as ‘time slips away’.

As the single progresses, there are even more transitions in the interstellar pioneering transmission as soul spills in from the vocal harmonies and orchestral strings join guitar strings to relay the riffs. Between the distinction in their sonic signature and the weight in their bars, the outfit that is renowned for their explosive live performances is fated to make waves in an era when so many of us are searching for meaning. What it means to be human is stitched right through this cinematically avant-garde hit.

As Terrestrial Soulz is currently hard at work on their upcoming LP, Third Rock from the Sun, and priming for a state-wide tour, they’re more than worth a space in your playlists and on your radar.

Slipping Away is now available to stream with the debut Crash Landed LP on Spotify and SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Darkwave danced with opium den chic in CHIRAL’s debut single and music video, I BRING CHAOS

Posted on 12 February 2024

Darkwave slipped into opium den chic in CHIRAL’s debut single and music video, I BRING CHAOS. After an opulently tribalistic intro which sees rhythms snake and shimmer with maximum seductive effect, CHIRAL starts to exhibit the shadow side of the Sunset Strip with their sleazy guitars and harbingering hard rock vox – but that is only the start of the ensnaring experimentalism with I BRING CHAOS, which more than lives up to its titular proclamation.

If it’s been a while since you locked sonic horns with a truly authentic darkwave band, the Irish conduits of alchemic fervour are the ultimate avant-garde antidote to the mundanity that has started to infiltrate and oversaturate the alternative music scene.

After founding in 2023, the fourpiece immediately surpassed their wide-spanning set of influences, which includes Therapy?, Faith No More, Deftones, and Tool. If I BRING CHAOS is a taste of what is to come, I already know I’m going to want to devour the broodingly carnivalesque glamour in the rest of their forthcoming discography.

Stream the official music video for I BRING CHAOS which premiered on January 26th on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Enter Luxifer’s dark and distorted evocation with ‘Always Remembered’

Posted on 20 November 2023

Luxifer used their latest EP, Hook, Line, and Sinker, to reel fans of dark and twisted experimentalism in with exactly what it says on the tin. Known for their explosive on-stage rock n roll antics, the internationally diversified four-piece injected plenty of that captivating visceralism into the sludgy, doomy melodicism which pulsates through the standout single on the EP, Always Remembered.

With instrumentals that pull you into the undercurrent of their alchemy with every progression in the same vein as Deftones fused with a magnetically devil-may-care demeanour which matches the arresting intensity of Rammstein, Luxifer effortlessly succeeded in asserting their originality while ensuring that their distinction levels with the commercial appeal. It’s not rock n roll as you know it; it’s a transgression that stands as a testament to the ingenuity of the dynamic outfit, which has exactly what it takes to reach higher ground in the rock and metal charts if they keep delivering tracks as atmospherically cultivated as Always Remembered.

Always Remembered is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Visit the neon-lit metropolis with LockdAwg’s sticky-sweet alt-rock vignette, These Streets

Posted on 2 November 2023
https://spotify.link/6tqvKKE2bEb

With their latest self-released single, These Streets, the up-and-coming artist LockdAwg bridged the gap between acoustic pop-punk, synth-rock and classic rock to deliver an authentic heart-on-riff hit that is all too easy to succumb to the raw and intimate power of.

With every progression a revelation and a testament to the artist’s refusal to fall in line with other people’s expressive styles, the level of distinction is only as visceral as the potency of the emotion.

LockdAwg clearly has the vocal and instrumental talent and determination to make it in the industry; by honing the song structuring and instrumental layering to bolster the rhythmic cohesion and flow, their name will be up in lights as much as the metropolis explored in the synthesis of classic and experimental rock styles in no time.

These Streets was officially released on October 9th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast 

Culann animated the Scottish alt-rock scene with their standout single, City Eternal

Posted on 3 October 2023

After picking up the Best Rock/Alternative Artist accolade at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards, the Scottish-and-proud-enough-to-mainline-their-heritage-into-their-high-octane-hits powerhouse, Culann, have unleashed their inexorable EP, The Songs of Saints & Reivers.

The standout single, City Eternal, may be best enjoyed with a beer in hand in an atmosphere as lively as the anthemics of the unpredictably progressive fervour, but the cocktail of heart-in-throat immersion, tightly wound rhythmic chaos and swaggering hooks is just as sweet listening solo and in stereo.

Listen closely, and you’ll hear the rules of traditional songwriting being torn up and scattered like confetti in the exhilarant alt-rock arrangement, which isn’t afraid to show its histrionic side, pull punches with tumultuous math rock guitars, or cut itself with an edge of Glaswegian indie.

The Songs of Saints & Reivers EP was officially released on September 15; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

A Desolate Light printed the ticket to transformation in his alt-rock debut single, Suppressor

Posted on 16 September 2023
Suppressor by A Desolate Light

The Sparks, NV alt-rock artist, A Desolate Light, got his forthcoming debut LP, To Knell and Vanish, off to a scintillating start with the first single released from the concept album, Suppressor.

Starting with the solitary strike of a gong, the spirituality of the release asserts itself from here and unravels further through the Jungian and Zen-inspired lyricism throughout the evocatively high-octane progressions. The instrumentals find themselves in the middle ground between gunge and post-hardcore to stoke the fires of a blazingly hot brand of ingenuity that is uniquely finger-printed to the solo artist.

A Desolate Light is a one-man project fuelled by the enlightened innovation of Sam Spivey (ex-Authmentis); aside from the percussive work, Spivey is putting all the finishing touches on his upcoming 13-track album, which is being fan-funded via his Patreon page and Bandcamp pre-orders of the record.

Suppressor was officially released on September 8th; it is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

congo64 is comfortably numb in his post-punk-chilled alt-rock single, I Can’t Feel Your Feelings

Posted on 12 July 2022

Taken from his debut album, Daddy’s Weird, congo64’s lead single, I Can’t Feel Your Feelings, is a highly addictive aural oddity, consisting of layers of 80s post-punk, grungy overdriven rock and 60’s harmony-laced pop.

It takes a lot for a single to send me down a psychological rabbit hole. But with the crooned post-punk chorus, “I Can’t Feel Your Feelings”, you can’t help but consider the reality of the alienating experience of connection when nothing brings resonance. If you can’t relate, consider yourself as lucky as a lottery winner.

Intriguing substance and titular poetry aside, congo64 notably succeeded in crafting a familiar yet grippingly distinctive sonic palette that won’t fail to enthral any seeker of experimental revivalist alt-rock.

I Can’t Feel Your Feelings is now available to stream on Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dying Pharaohs – Lost in the Dark: Neo-Psychedelic Synth Rock

Posted on 14 July 2021
https://soundcloud.com/dyingpharaohs/lostinthedark

‘Lost in the Dark’ is the latest dusky feat of neo-psychedelic synth-rock from one of San Jose’s most prodigal outfits, Dying Pharaohs. If the Editors dropped acid and experienced a spiritual awakening, we’re sure the aural results would mimic Lost in the Dark which drips with post-punk cool and is sweetened by the almost hypnogogic vocals.

The angular indie guitars around the trip-hop beats and glassy synths are beyond anything I’ve heard from the psych scene or the pools of darkwave tracks that hit the airwaves. Let the goths and hippies unite through the compassionate kaleidoscope of monochromatic tones.

Lost in the Dark is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast