Cyberian - Dark Orphism (2021)

Stefan Bachvarov is another Bulgarian ambient artist who I got to know thanks to the amazing label Amek Collective. Better known as Cyberian, Bachvarov collaborated with Angel Simitchiev as Vague Voices and now shows his own album called Dark Orphism.

The album is filled with very fittingly dark music. It stems from the artist's interest in "paganism, nature, and the occult". The title suggests inspirations taken either form very psychedelic art (Cubism derivative so it must be veeery psychedelic) or Greek mythology (pretty dark part of it if you ask me). Anyway, it may be both, as Bachvarov's music is filled with trance-inducing soundscapes kept in a very bleak and gloomy atmosphere. But it's absolutely not all about homogeneous soundscapes; there's a lot of noise and a lot of broken rhythm that makes it almost danceable. Almost.

Dark Orphism costs 6 EUR.

Check: Seeds of Death

Country: Bulgaria

Genre: dark experimental electronica

Label: Amek Collective

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yoo doo right - Don't Think You Can Escape Your Purpose (2021)

One of the most interesting debuts of the last months, the Canadian yoo doo right have just released their first long play Don't Think You Can Escape Your Purpose and it hits so hard in the best way possible. 

The band describes their music in a very picturesque way, talking about the guitar and synthesizer soundscapes in which "solemn, chin-to-chest vocals dance in and out of the primordial sonic spectrum". And indeed, the album starts with a solid dose of guitar blizzard in a very post-rock-like compositions, that, at the same, suggest a lot of psychedelic rock influences, especially with the way the repetitive drums induce mesmerizing trance as do the similarly repetitive vocals that appear somewhere in the middle of the album. But the main magnet for me is the quality of the noise. It is always present, sometimes in the backgrounds, sometimes in more prominent role and especially attractive in the perfectly loud finish in Black Moth.

Their music seems to draw inspirations from both past (Marché des vivants' title may be taken from the event held in Poland to commemorate the Jewish victims of WWII) and future (extremely Black Mirror-like vibes can be felt in The Moral Compass of a Self-Driving Car particularly). And perhaps everything that fits their spacial and massive music that shows a lot of space vibes (they introduce themselves as "part interstellar ear-worms" after all) and induces striking feelings in the audience.

Don't Think You Can Escape Your Purpose costs 9.99 CAD.

Check: Black Moth

Country: Canada

Genre: psychedelic post-rock

Label: Mothland

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Sky Is Alright - Sky Is Alright (2021)

The London/LA-based Sky Is Alright released their first album Sky Is Alright  and it may be one of the most interesting ethereal music releases this year. The duo consists of the artists known from post-rock/mathrock bands The Littlest Viking and Signal Hill, but now they create this extremely soft-vocals very guitar-based dreamy music that takes you straight to Morpheus' Realms.

What strikes the most from the beginning is how airy the vocals are - they're not your dreamy indie pop vocals, they are an ethereal cushion, an incarnate dream, the most delicate male voice since, perhaps, Hanging Valleys. Those whispers are accompanied by very rock-like guitars (no place for soothing synths, everything is filled with the pop-rock vigour) in catchy compositions. Especially Sky Is Alright and Indigo Moon deserve special attention  while  Mistress Pessimist may be the liveliest dream rock song I heard for a while now. The whole album finishes with extremely mellow songs that make it feel as if the whole release simply dissolves into the air.

Sky Is Alright costs 8 USD.

Check: Indigo Moon

Country: UK

Genre: ethereal indie rock

Label: Somewherecold

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Fuzzy Lights - Burials (2021)

I can't stress enough how important for me was the band's 2010 album Twin Feathers. It brought me into the world of atmospheric, post-rock-influenced post-folk and I love it until now. Finally, after over a decade since this one and 8 years after the last album, the British band released a new one and it brings the same kind of vibes I missed.

Their approach to music is very characteristic: on one hand it is clearly inspired by folk music with the inclusion of violins and the way they address folk mythology-like themes in the lyrics. On the other, the compositions are very much guitar-based and particularly noisy, this is some real post-rock meets post-folk situation. And the style hasn't changed over the years much - Rachel Watkins' delicate but also clear vocals, violins ' role (very familiar in Maiden's Call) and the torrential guitar noise that is so mesmerizing and unnerving at the same time.

The album is opened by the single Maiden's Call which makes an instant post-folk hit but is followed by noisy ten minutes of Songbird - a song that doesn't follow your typical song's construction but is pure and unrefined beauty. This may actually be the main difference between the old and the new sound of the band: it seems their music is noisier, the guitars are coarser and more rock-like. But it sounds so well, be it in the most lively songs like Under the Waves or the moody post-rock ballads. Also, let's mention the absolutely staggering cover art picture.

Burials costs 7 GBP.

Fuzzy Lights - Twin Feathers (2010) EN

Check: Maiden's Call

Country: UK

Genre: noisy post-folk

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Whispering Sons - Several Others (2021)

The brilliant Belgium band is back! Brussels-based Whispering Sons, a debut prodigies of 2018 when they released Image, follow up with a strong album filled with dark and uncomfortable compositions of extremely melodic and catchy post-punk. A must listen-to, no doubts.

As their Bandcamp page states, the band decided to lose the debut's theatrical atmosphere to underline the "sheer, unpretentious intensity". And I have to say, I  d i g  the theatrical, especially that watching Fenne Kuppens on stage is like attending a touching performance on its own. But the core elements are all there anyway: the minimal, utterly post-punk music arrangements, mesmerizing melodies and, of course, Kuppens' voice. Not only it's unique and outstanding no matter what's around it, it also brings tons of gloominess and darkness to even the liveliest songs. Take Heat, the bass line of which is fast and energetic with fresh and eager guitars around it but the vocals (and lyrics of course) make it sound so depressing anyway.

Especially when the vocalist decides to occasionally raise her voice and start screaming, the effects are spine-thrilling. And a look into the lyrics only make the feeling of anguish more poignant: they sound extremely personal, talking about the psychological and the physiological aspects of being human in such a way it borders very painful grotesque, as in Screens ("she’s no longer a woman / she’s merely a body to look at / a monstrous body to look at"). Huge album, can't wait to see the Belgians live.

Several Others costs 10 EUR.

Check: Surface

Country: Belgium

Genre: dark post-punk

Label: PIAS Recordings

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Peter Bjärgö - The Translucency of Mind's Decay (2021)

The Swedish artist makes music for almost 30 years now, his discography is impressive and now it's time for its next part. Released with Cyclic Law, the new album The Translucency of Mind's Decay brings some of the darkwave nostalgia in a surprising form.

It is opened with very cinematic sounds of the title track - ones the epic vibes of which make you feel like you suddenly appeared within a completely different realm that surrounds you entirely. Especially that the vocals here have those folk/fantasy vibes with very darkwave twist within them. And this is the general ambiance of the release: there's a lot of ghostly backing vocals, Medieval-like instrumental sounds, and this general feeling of being in a very epic dream, which is true especially for tracks like Honoré de Balzac-inspired Séraphita.

The Translucency of Mind's Decay costs 8 EUR.

Check: Séraphita

Country: Sweden

Genre: fantasy neoclassical

Label: Cyclic Law

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Vespers - Dour (2021)

Dour is the second short album from the Tennessee-based band Vespers. It is filled with guitar-based post-rock music that surprises with some unique ways of presenting the instrumental music.

The album is kept in a rather gloomy atmosphere. The music starts slow and with huge dose of reflectiveness, but when finally gets louder, the guitars show how to crush the audience with steady and heavy sound. There's some of the stoner rock's atmosphere here that is being slowed down and made into what post-metal is for black metal I suppose. This is abruptly changed in Bloodletting and its metal-like fast pace. And this very heavy, stoner-like approach to post-rock with fluctuating pace is the main theme of the EP - one that perhaps doesn't shock with anything but is genuinely very enjoyable (especially in the album's best and noisiest The Oldest House), even if in a bleaker way.

Dour costs 7 USD.

Check: The Oldest House

Country: Tennessee, US

Genre: stoner post-rock

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