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post rock

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

Posted on 15 June 2022

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

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

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

E.L. Davis gave us a ‘Window to the World’ that we want to look through with their latest alt indie rock single

Posted on 29 March 2022

Ahead of the release of their 6-track EP, Stars We’ve Never Seen, E.L. Davis has given a taste of their elevated existential angst with the standout single, Window to the World.

With the nuanced 90s indie rock vibes mixed in with the post-rock atmosphere of the single that proves how far we’ve come since Bono reigned supreme, Window to the World is simultaneously a nostalgia hit and a way to find contemporary resonance in a time of scarcity of it.

From the very first lyric, the all too relatable disillusionment and cynicism take hold before Window to the World turns into a stormer of an alt-indie rock hit that could easily fill a stadium and command the audience.

Window to the World will officially release on April 29th. Check out E.L. Davis here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hana Piranha showed their razor-sharp hooks and teeth in ‘Fucked Up Feeling’

Posted on 11 March 2022

Hana Piranha showed their razor-sharp teeth in her latest storming slice of alt-rock, Fucked Up Feeling. Their artful approach to rock is shared by few, and their ability to become larger than life through her searing hot pop-rock vocal lines is matchless.

As Fucked Up Feeling unfolds, you’ll break through walls of guitars and synth and use Ryan Brown’s percussion as a guide through the track that is expressly not for the faint of heart. Lyrically, Hana Piranha calls upon your shadow side while forewarning the dangers of hedonistic indulgence. In their own words, “it is a relentless anthem of self-destruction”. It’s worryingly relatable and just as head-bang-able is anything Slipknot have done.

Fucked Up Feeling is due for release on March 11th. You can check it out for yourselves via Bandcamp and Spotify and connect with Hana Piranha via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Southeast powerhouse, Weller, captured the collective sense of futility and isolation in their post-rock hit, Irritated.

Posted on 8 March 2022

The Southeast UK-based post-rock pioneers, Weller, have released their most bruising single to date with the release of Irritated which opens on the instantly disarming, relatably numb lyric, “it has been so long since I felt some connection, feels like a wasted life waiting for the resurrection”. Impressively, they found a way to capture the contemporary collective sense of ennui, futility and isolation while delivering the ultimate angst-riled comfort for it.

They followed in the footsteps of Bring Me the Horizon and Enter Shikari before stridently taking a step in their own atmospherically enrapturing direction. Usually, there is somewhat of an incongruous relationship between fame and talent; with Weller, there’s a synergy in the ingenuity they deliver and the hype that has amassed around their post-hardcore edge. Since making their first official release in 2021, they have garnered international airplay from TotalRock Radio, BBC Introducing and Kerrang Radio. They have also gone down a storm on Spotify with over 100k streams on their seven singles, two of which have hit number 1 in the iTunes rock chart.

I don’t know what I’m more excited about, their forthcoming EP or the chance to see them live. They have everything it takes to be bigger than Paul Weller, which I very much doubted before I hit play.

Irritated is now available to stream on Spotify with the rest of Weller’s indulgently infectious takes on alt-rock.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Purge yourselves via District 13’s post-hardcore stormer, Step into the Fire

Posted on 5 February 2022

There was little chance of forgetting the mesmeric furore of District 13, which we were introduced to via their 2019 single, Soma. The Exeter-hailing virtuosic sons have driven even more frenetic finesse into their sound over lockdown if their latest single, Step into the Fire, is anything to go by.

Between the old-school Black Sabbath vibes and the hints of post-hardcore, their own darkly maniacal alt-metal signature sound had plenty of room to breathe. For 5 and a half minutes, District 13 prove the dynamism in their influence and talent as you are shunted through the unpredictably gratifying progressions. From hooky choruses to theatrical interludes to thrash metal breakdowns, Step into the Fire offers it all. We highly recommend any alt-metal fan with an open mind instead of a petulant fixation on the past purges themselves within Step into the Fire.

The official video for District 13’s single, Step Into the Fire, is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Drood bring the ritualistic catharsis in ‘It Must Needs Wither’.

Posted on 30 January 2022

The essence of The Drood’s latest single, It Must Needs Wither is a captured ritual. An invitation to cherish the memories of the many lives lost in the years leading up to this Shakespearean release that took inspiration from the tragic play Othello.

For their ritualistically cathartic release, the Denver, Colorado-based electronic duo, used post-rock, Eastern psych and industrial for their dreamy textures. For the vocals, they opted for an ethereal quiescent timbre to rival the harmonic ambience in the dreamiest Beach House and Slowdive releases.

The haunting explorative progressions carry cynical lament while light transcendent textures bring comfort to the affirmation that for all of our artifices, we’re still the same primal creatures. Primal creatures plagued by the vulnerability of mortality and the psychological afflictions that drive us to acts of madness that are all too easily romanticised in our minds.

It Must Needs Wither will officially release on January 25th, 2022. You can check it out for yourselves via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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