Browsing Tag

post rock

Bear Witness ticked the underbelly of madness with their addictively grooved alt-rock hit, INSANE

Posted on 13 April 2023

The Brighton-based brother duo, Bear Witness, tickled the soft underbelly of madness in their latest addictively grooved alt-rock hit, INSANE, which unravels as an arm wrestle between the strength of the hooks and riffs.

The hooks may have a slight advantage through their ability to pull you right into the riled core of the exhilarating feat of soul, but the tensile technicality of the supernovically overdriven guitars still plays an absorbing part in this candidly un-candied window into entropy.

The electronic synthetics of the track may allow INSANE to flirt with the post-rock genre, but rock fans will never have been seduced in this vein before. It’s a mainline of pure resonance that affirms Bear Witness is one to watch.

INSANE hit the airwaves on March 31; hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

FLEAS became agitated alt-punk icons in the making with the visceral rancour in their post-rock hit, Nightmare

Posted on 17 February 2023

Slip into the visceral disquietude of the latest single, Nightmare, from the Suffolk-based alt-punk five-piece FLEAS.

Starting with a raw spoken-word verse over sludgy post-rock guitars, the candid rancour slowly builds until you’re palpitating at the same pace of the frenetic arrangement that conceptually ties together to replicate the sensation of being torn from a dark trip curated by your subconscious mind.

FLEAS banded together while studying at West Suffolk College, which saw them put their own spin on an iconic track by Slaves and finding the inspiration to orchestrate their signature aggressively versatile sound. Since forming, FLEAS have been lauded by BBC Introducing, won the NMG award for the best rock act and supported major acts, including Fightmilk and Dingus Khan.

The reissue of Nightmare will officially release on February 17th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Transcend to a new distorted dimension with the post-rock instrumentals in Bundle of His’ latest single, Patches

Posted on 7 February 2023
Úr Ur by Bundle Of His

If Grandaddy dialled the polyphonic distortion and fuzz up to 11, their sweet synthy melodies would be as infectiously muddy as the electro post-rock tones in the latest single, Patches, from the artist and producer, Bundle of His.

With a touch of Kraftwerk melded into his intrinsically authentic instrumental hits, the Outer Hebrides-based artist pushes the envelope beyond the limits most dare to, and his instrumental lo-fi tracks are all the more alluring for it.

After an illness got in the way of the artist playing bass in various bands in Glasgow and the Outer Hebrides, it is safe to say Bundle of His didn’t fail to bring his bass-driven ingenuity to life as a producer.

Patches was officially released on January 1st. It is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Grab a seat at the table for Tuncratio’s atmospheric alt-rock instrumental, Feast of Nothing

Posted on 26 December 2022

There’s something in the atmosphere of Tuncratio’s seminal instrumental alt-rock single, Feast of Nothing. The intro instrumental framework threw me right back to when Alexisonfire was a prized possession in my CD collection. Feast of Nothing then progresses into a deeply evocative melodic piece with complex time signatures that compel you to lean deeper into the alluring sonic mise en scene that cinematically wraps up through a cinematically orchestral outro.

The Italian-born, Scottish-by-adaption multi-instrumentalist and producer entered the music industry in the early 2000s. Not one to feel sated in the confines of one genre, his music spans across multiple, often in the space of one track. In his eclectic range of influences, Smashing Pumpkins, Mogwai and Deftones often push to the forefront in his sonic signature scribbled across his discography. Tuncratio’s back catalogue currently consists of two LPS, two mixtapes and the EP, Elephant in the Room, from which Feast of Nothing was taken.

Feast of Nothing was officially released on December 12th; catch it on Spotify. Stay tuned for Tuncratio’s upcoming

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Templemind reached the pinnacle of life-affirming alt-rock anthems with, More to This Life

Posted on 29 November 2022

I don’t make a habit of head-banging alone at home but I’m only human, and when Templemind’s latest single, More to This Life, flooded the room with visceral energy and hooky guitar riffs, getting caught up in the cathartic momentum was non-optional. The meditative yet rhythmically arresting propensities of the monolithic alt-rock track started to make a little more sense upon learning the single was tuned to 432Hz, which is proven to lower heart rates and heightens perception.

Starting with a disconcerted scratchy prelude that threw me right back to my teen days obsessing over Linkin Park’s raw introspection and catapulting into an alt-rock soundscape which raises the vibe with funky angular guitar chops around the massive synth lines and grittier tones, More to This Life is a life-affirming lesson in vindication.

I’m going to throw professionalism out of the window and confess to fucking ADORING Templemind. Although I guess I’m not alone. After his 2022 debut, the mastermind behind the project, Philipp Schardt, amassed over 500,000 streams.

More to This Life is now available to Stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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