Agnes Vein - Soulship

Agnes Vein are not a newcomer to the European heavy sludge scene, and have shared stages with  leviathans such as Om, Electric Wizard and Conan. On the 1st of May they will grace us with their third release called 'Soulship'.

This overtly talented 3-piece hailing from Greece have managed to deliver a musical tale that breathes beauty and putrefaction at the same time, which may sound like a band just playing melodic passages entwined with sudden avalanches of sludgy mayhem, but there's obviously more to it than just that. In fact the processes themselves that take you through these shifts in musical timbre are the touches that make this an album that should draw your undivided attention. I have to admit that the album is tricky in that way, sometimes way up there in quality, but sometimes a bit derivative. But overall the former prevails, which makes for a dark and impressive album.

Csejthe - Réminiscence

Csejthe (Lucifer only knows how to pronounce this)  is a Black metal 3-piece from Quebec delivering an unrelenting black metal entity in the vein of their greatest influence Burzum. An other adhesive for their songs is their fascination with the Hungarian countess Elisabeth Bathory whom allegedly murdered hundreds of girls during her time of reign.

With their second album Réminiscence, Csejthe have managed to create an album that is rife with musical references to the Norwegian black metal scene, with Burzum being the main focal point. Although this reverence of a small number of bands is clear in their artwork and advertisements, their overall tone is of a broader spectrum, drawing comparison to many American black metal bands like Xasthur, Krallice, Wolves in the throne room , Nachtmystium and maybe even Ash Borer.

Csejthe is one of those bands that provides an attentive listen not because they sound so new and unique, but because they remind any self proclaimed black metal connaisseur of the times where black metal was a small ruthless club, a time where it could still be called a scene and a time where burning churches filled the moonlit sky with flickering crimson light.

Polska Radio One - New Space (Single)

I've mentioned the previous single of these Russian shoegazers here. I'm still yearning for them to release a full album instead of the occasional single, but in the meantime this will have to do.
New Space is pretty much a fair continuation of their previous single but they seem to have adjusted the destination of their krautrock induced trip to a more neo-psychedelic missive, a destination shared with bands like The Black Angels, The Warlocks and even some more illustrious psychedelic bands like The Stone Roses or Primal Scream.

The single is available for free on their Bandcamp.

The Psyke Project - Guillotine

The Psyke Project is pretty hard to pin down sound wise. One thing that's a certainty is that they're heavy, very very heavy. But there are so many aspects of this band that truly aid in their quest to become one of the most fucking uncompromising sludge bands to date.

They're most recent scourge towards mankind is called Guillotine. whether the etymology of this album is part of some grand theme or whether it's just chosen because of it's direct link to death, it doesn't matter. The album is rightly chosen because the following analogy is easily understood: 'it fucking cut's clean through'. There's no restraint in this piece of mayhem, just plain heavy, downtuned swells of sludge with sudden sidesteps of more advanced influences like Post and Noise Metal. The vocals as well as the mastering of the album are in conjunction with the Post-Hardcore esthetic, while all the rest just breathes sludge and noise.

Definitely a meritorious contender in becoming the best sludge album of 2013.

Leucosis - Leucosis

Upon first hearing this new album the scenery and heredity of this band become clear as day. In the vein of other American west-coast bands like Ash Borer and Fell Voices (with whom they've shared the stage) they produce this hybrid shape of black metal, being true to the Norwegian original in esthetic and overall sentiment but with a clear injection of melancholic and droning genius. What further sets them apart however is their capacity to sound more dynamically melodic, similar to many European black metal bands like Mgla, Tardigrada or maybe even Winterfylleth.

Another defining characteristic is the integration of harsh sludge and doom elements that shine through in a couple of their songs, which in turn makes them sound even more exhilarating and refreshing. I can't subdue the impression that this band is only on the cusp of breaking through into the global black metal scene and in due time will be positively featured in the most widely respected blogs and magazines from all over the world.

Olde Growth - Owl EP

Olde Growth are yet another american stoner/doom bands, accompanied by all the essentials: Fuzzy guitars, slow plodding drums and a unified interest in playing slow and diabolic riffs. they've just released their new Owl Ep. This is how they're described on their Bandcamp page:

With bass and drums, Olde Growth creates music that evokes the awe inspiring relics of the natural world - giant trees that span millennia, jagged, snow-capped mountains that only the bravest of souls attempt to scale, oceans who’s mysterious depth are as alien as the most imaginative worlds out of science fiction.

You could go as far as to describe them in the former manner, but in my opinion they're more easily defined as a stoner/doom band with truckfighterish vocals reinforced with dense and dynamic riffing. enjoyment is only assured when all skepticism is discarded (preferably when drunk, high and tired) and you're only goal of the evening is to headbang your way into the night ahead.