Browsing Tag

post rock

Kiss the Scientist is ‘Waiting on the Rest of the World’ in their psych-tinged orchestrally-heightened post-rock triumph

Posted on 24 November 2022

After opening for the Plain White T’s and Hoobastank, LA alt-rock powerhouse Kiss the Scientist is priming the airwaves for their debut EP that is set to release in 2023. Their latest single, Waiting on the Rest of the World, starts with an ambient neoclassic stringed prelude before waves of momentously high energy break around the alt-rock instrumentals.

Strap yourselves in and prepare for off-kilter curveballing progressions that make delving back into Waiting on the Rest of the World infinitely pleasurable. With every repeat listen, you pull something new out of the multi-sensory experience that entices you with the punk ethos in the lyricism and the delicate motifs around the monolithic breakdowns.

The swirling psych-rock cascades cut up by classic rock riffs create a stunning score of ingenuity for lead singer and guitarist Max Tomack to lay down his dynamic vocals that range from ragged post-hardcore screams to hook-filled melodic lines.

As if we didn’t love the latest single already, we were infatuated upon finding out that all of the music that spills from the practice room is a happy accident made through their sheer unadulterated love of making music. We’re officially psyched for the debut EP.

Waiting on the Rest of the World will officially release on November 18th. Catch it on Spotify and all other major platforms via this link. Follow Kiss the Scientist on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Vaulted Skies unleashed their poetically primal post-grunge exposition of complicated desolation, Hollowhead

Posted on 13 November 2022
Hollowhead by The Vaulted Skies

The Vaulted Skies wrapped their signatory angular guitars around eastern rhythms in their achingly resonant exposition of grief, Hollowhead; penned and arranged to pay tribute to the singer-songwriter and guitarist, James Scott’s father, who left a legacy tainted by racial discrimination behind him in 2000.

Between the lines, tones, and artful aural abstractions of complicated desolation, Hollowhead transcribes personal loss while painting the universally relatable possessive nature of grief as it wraps around the physiological senses to leave us cold, dark, and hollow. I couldn’t help but see the contrast in the hallmark platitudes that cascade around the grief-stricken and the primally poetic outpour of emotion.

In the evocative context of the release, which uses dark post-grunge-y cascades accentuated with stinging orchestral layers to mirror the grappling sensations of grief that contest you into subjugation, the solid rock riff that sears towards the outro may be one of the most visceral I’ve ever heard. And if that sounds superfluous, you evidently haven’t heard the existential death roll off a riff in question yet. Get to it. From start to 6-minute finish, it’s sheer perfection.

Stream & purchase the official studio recording of Hollowhead on Bandcamp.

Follow the goth antics of The Vaulted Skies on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Thurtythree found the parables between internal war and external destruction in his post-rock hit, Raid ft. Christina Rotondo

Posted on 27 October 2022

Inspired by the atrocities of Russia and the sense of powerlessness it has instilled in every sane mind, the alt-rock artist, Thurtythree released his latest single, Raid, featuring vocalist Christina Rotondo.

With ethereal vocal whispers in the same chilly vein as Celldweller around the raw alt-metal vocals, and the addition of Christina Rotondo’s empathy-eking glassy vocal timbre, Raid efficaciously hits hard. Especially through its lyrical wrestling with themes of war – external and internal. If any track captures the collective 2022 mood of helplessness and futility, it is Raid, which offers just as much progressive alchemy through the way the post-rock innovation meets punk-pierced alt-rock textures. Any fans of Eighteen Visions and All That Remains will want to take a cathartic hit on Raid.

Raid was officially released on October 14th. It is now available to stream on all major platforms. Check out the single via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Thurtythree painted an off-kilter picture of PTSD in his single, Traumatized

Posted on 9 August 2022

In his latest single, Traumatized, Thurtythree used every ounce of his existential-driven talent to reflect the visceral of PTSD. If you know, you know, if you don’t, Traumatized will paint a vividly off-kilter picture.

On top of Echo and the Bunnymen-Esque atmospheric guitars in the intro, the up-and-coming artist adds Linkin Park-reminiscent electronic effect and genre-obliterating vocals, which toy with dark trap and post-hardcore in the same breath.

The ardent ingenuity of the track leaves us with no room to question why the San Francisco-born artist has been able to amass a loyal fanbase. On top of his originated sonic style, fans can always expect resonant realism from the lyrics and the vocals in equal measure. Needless to say, he is one to watch.

Traumatized is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Mystical Hot Chocolate Endeavors delivered a prodigal prog-rock evocative firestorm through their single, MU-TH-UR

Posted on 5 July 2022

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting a band under the moniker The Mystical Hot Chocolate Endeavors to sound like, but as sexy as Deftones & Kyuss wasn’t high on the list.

Fresh from the release of their MU-TH-UR EP, they sucked us into the atmosphere of the title single, which catapulted us across the spectrum of human emotion with the tightly tumultuous post-rock gravitas.

There is something endlessly sweet about the melancholy-tinged harmonies, which run in the same vein as Incubus, creating a bridge over the proggy furore that can’t be pinned down with any discernable accuracy. MU-TH-ER was the result of pure unbridled experimentation. Yet, with the stellar songwriting talent, The Mystical Hot Chocolate Endeavors makes it easy to enjoy going along with the ride that hits you with crescendo after curveball after breakdown. Considering that gas prices are at an all-time high, you may as well expand your horizons with the hypnotic propensities in the progressions in MU-TH-ER. We know we will. Repeatedly.

MU-TH-ER is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Nocturnal Omissions – Local Customs: Meet Your New Experimental Escapist Playlist Staple

Posted on 15 June 2022
Pareidolia by Nocturnal Omissions

After the infinitely experimental alt-electronica artist Nocturnal Omissions invited us into the sanctity of his 2021 album, Tempus Destinatum, we’ve been hoping to see a return of his cinematic blends of post-rock, synthwave and chillwave.

The standout single, Local Customs, from his 2022 album, Pareidolia, is quite the departure from the last time we heard the one-man production machine, but a welcome reprieve from the soul-less electronica that floods the internet. The spacey meandering synths kaleidoscopically drift through the soundscape until the first crashing crescendo that lets you know just how immersed you are by pulling you through the tumultuous shift before the ambience creeps back, albeit briefly before another hammering blow of a breakdown.

Alchemic creativity and confidence in autonomy aside, any artist with the humility to describe themselves as perpetually emerging is an artist you should have on your radar.

You can check out Nocturnal Omissions’ album Pareidolia via Apple Music & Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lighters in the air for Phatt James’ latest melodic grunge single, Ahead of Line

Posted on 27 May 2022

The evocative rock raconteurs, which form the melodic grunge powerhouse, Phatt James’ are fresh from the release of their latest single, Ahead of Line, which is a sublime convergence of the styles of Incubus and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, with plenty of their own distinction injected in between. Production-wise, the instrumentals gravitate around inexplicably intricate gravitas while the vocals expose nothing but raw soul.

It is still early days for the Bridgeport, Connecticut hailing outfit after releasing their debut EP, Circle Bent, in 2019, but notably, if any new band has what it takes to stir the hearts of 90s and 00s rock fans, it is Phatt James with their familiar yet sincerely original sound.

Ahead of Line is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Birdeatsbaby – Ribbons: A Silver Screen Post-Rock Lullaby

Posted on 18 May 2022
Birdeatsbaby

The coven, Birdeatsbaby, has reconvened to conjure the witchy alchemy found in the first single released from their occultist album, HEX. While I probably haven’t heard them all, it is still safe to say that ‘Ribbons’ is one of the most cinematic dark progressive lullabies ever scored.

By the time the outro hits, it’s hard not to feel desperation to hear what else is in store from the forthcoming LP. Whatever they’ve poured into their unique transfusions of baroque rock and metal is sure to beguile just as much as anything that In This Moment has produced. Notably, they’ve got a talent for balancing gravitas with catharsis.

Ribbons is due for official release; you can check it out for yourselves via Birdeatsbaby’s website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Drood protested the idiomatically sentimental in their post-industrial single, Psychic Institute

Posted on 22 April 2022

Denver Colorado’s most mindfully experimental duo, The Drood, have unleashed their latest single, Psychic Institute, which is a little dancier than the last time we heard the psychedelically inclined post-industrial mystics, but it more than hits the existential spot.

Lyrically, Psychic Institute derides the innate human tendency to sentimentalize everything while the vocals pay homage to one of The Drood’s main influences, Gary Numan and the glitchy, robotically hook-filled instrumentals ensure that your rhythmic pulses are well entwined with the cathartic furore.

Dark and dystopic music is one thing; bringing a sense of subversive spirituality to it that speaks to the soul is another thing entirely. I never thought that anyone would share the same visceral reaction to vapid sentimentality, but with the mindful scepticism and philosophised despair, the Drood is an intellectual cut above the rest.

We may not have seen Psychic Institute coming, but now that it is here, we’re endlessly gratified for the escapism it offers. If you aurally follow any artist through the impending apocalypse, make it the Drood.

Here’s what The Drood had to say on their latest release:

“We didn’t set out with the intention to write a dance song, but that’s what came out! Psychic Institute unintentionally evolved into an homage to the industrial music which shaped our musical proclivities. The lyrical message, if any, is a cautionary tale about the emptiness and transparency of foolish sentimentality.”

Check out the official music video for Psychic Institute via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

The UK’s most promising electronic post-rock pioneers, Bear Witness, have released their temperamentally visceral stormer, Thorn in My Side

Posted on 18 April 2022
Bear Witness

If you ever found yourself with a soft spot for Celldweller, Highly Suspect or InMe, the Brighton-based Electronic Alt-Rock duo, Bear Witness have exactly what it takes to rekindle your affinity for viscerally raw turbulent tracks. Their latest single, Thorn in My Side, is practically post-rock pornography.

Around the overdriven scuzzy guitar riffs, there’s enough of a melody to leave you hooked in the temperamental rhythms, and perceptibly, Bear Witness know just how to use spatial effect and build tension throughout their sonic stormer.

Unsurprisingly, we aren’t the only ones hooked on Bear Witness’ refreshing candour and blisteringly off-kilter signature sound. They’ve already been lauded by the BBC, played to crowds at The Camden Assembly, and are currently semi-finalists in the Isle of Wight Festival’s New Blood competition.

Thorn in My Side will officially release on April 15th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast