zachwyt - zachwyt (2022)

I love debuts like this. An artist from the city of Oświęcim, Poland, creates some particularly noisy take on lo-fi dream pop and released it under the moniker of zachwyt. Think blackgaze and dream pop at once. He released his first more serious self-titled EP this year and I have my fingers crossed for more music from his part soon.

Zachwyt (translating to "awe") is frank to state that his music is "focused on balance between dreamy and loud noises". This is similar path Have a Nice Life (or Sun Addicted Family if you want an obscure comparison based on this blog's content) took, one filled with heavy and overwhelming use of synth sounds and guitars (not as metal-like though) that are as loud as they are smooth. This goes well with the vocals that are distorted to the ridiculous point where they sound like whispers somehow audible on the shoegaze-like backgrounds. This music is mostly focused on creating a crushing and beautiful atmosphere but there is one song that is very much tilted towards dream pop music. Czekam aż spadnie deszcz ("I'm Waiting for the Rain to Come") has clearer vocals and pace with dream pop-like vocals that express lyrics that are as ethereal and melancholic as you can get with the chorus translating to "I'm lost in labyrinths/ I'm lost in my thoughts/ I'm waiting for the rain to come". It took only this short EP for me to become the artist's hardcore fan.

zachwyt costs 2 EUR (10 PLN).

Check: Czekam aż spadnie deszcz 

Country: Poland

Genre: synth shoegaze

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Isahi - extromantic (2022)

6 years after I posted about his debut album Nisahilism and fours years after Diluted Self​-​portrait, the South Korean artist known as Isahi is back with another exciting album. Extromantic follows the path of  the neoclassicism-induced heavy post-rock/post-metal music that is as beautiful as it is destructive.

Isahi's music is clearly guitar-oriented but what makes it extremely attractive is the heavy use of synths - this combination situates him somewhere around Heave a Nice Life and the blackgaze community with Unreqvited as a perfect example. Especially that, although the artist's music is mainly instrumental, there are post-metal's withdrawn and distorted screams audible, giving some of the desperate violence to the overall synthy and smooth compositions. The artist uses those and many more means to create diverse and attention-grabbing songs with Anorexia as perfect example: loud and tear-jerking synthy passages, post-metal screaming and sudden changes of pace ornamented with piano-like sounds and samples make it a track that is difficult to be indifferent to. The fact that it is followed by almost exclusively piano-based For Those Who Drown in Me makes it only more stunning. The album goes on and on, it's almost an hour long, but the artist made sure that the audience is not bored even for a second and this is probably the most important thing.

Extromantic costs whatever you want to pay.

Isahi - Nisahilism (2016)

Check: Anorexia 

Country: South Korea

Genre: synth-heavy blackgaze

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A Light in the Dark - Insomnia (2020) EN

Russian artist known only from his initials B. M. is a real machine creating music under various monikers, but it seems that no matter if it's Hiki, Skyforest or A Light in the Dark - it's always characterized by the quality and enthusiastic vibes. Just like on Insomnia.

In all of the cases, it's always the euphoric face of metal married to electronics and walls of synths. The new album is no exception, the atmosphere here climaxes all the time but at the same time always provides us with simply  good music. Changing vocals (for example in Let It Guide You), samples, some specifically metal elements like mechanic drums and aggressive though withdrawn growl together with impressive electronic spicing (so good in Vortex). There's a lot of the cyberpunk theme of a great, neon-filled city, to journeying through which the artist invites the audience adding that "you are in for a long ride…with no destination".

Insomnia costs whatever you want to pay.

Hiki - Closer (2017) EN

Check: Vortex

Country: Russia

Genre: synth metal

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A Light in the Dark - Insomnia (2020) PL

Rosyjski muzyk znany tylko z inicjałów B. M. to prawdziwa maszyna do tworzenia muzyki pod różnymi nazwami, wydaje się jednak, że niezależnie od tego, czy jest to Hiki, Skyforest czy A Light in the Dark - cechuje ją zawsze jakość wykonania i entuzjastyczny vibe. Tak jak na Insomnii.

Za każdym razem jest to też euforyczna wersja metalu pożeniona z elektroniką i ścianami synthów. Nie inaczej jest na nowej płycie, na której atmosfera co i rusz sięga zenitu, ale poza tym oferuje po prostu dobrą muzykę. Zmieniające się wokale (choćby w Let It Guide You), sample, elementy typowo metalowe czyli mechaniczna perkusja i agresywny, choć przytłumiony growl, a do tego efektowne elektroniczne smaczki dodające całym kompozycjom pieprzu (przednie w Vortex). Ma to w sobie bardzo dużo z cyberpunkowego motywu wielkiego, neonowego miasta, do podróży po którym zaprasza sam artysta dodając, że "zapowiada się długa jazda…bez konkretnego celu".

Insomnia kosztuje tyle, ile chcesz zapłacić.

Hiki - Closer (2017) PL

Sprawdź: Vortex

Kraj: Rosja

Szufladka: synth metal

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