Shentov, Simitchiev, Lukanov - Pain and Power (2024)

Amek Collective always brings to my ears something that is worth mentioning. This time the ambient label from Bulgaria released a joint-effort from three their compatriots: Ivan Shentov (aka Krāllār), Martin Lukanov, and Angel Simitchiev (aka Mytrip).

This is the second collaboration of the gentlemen after the 2022's Palimpsest. Like on that album, Pain and Power offers minimalist but extremely dark ambient sounds that build up the reflective state in one's mind the longer the album plays. This is music that feels like the earth's subtle movements, like the dark caves look, like a persistent call to go back to the simpler times. It should be listened to in complete darkness and then it's felt in your bones.

Pain and Power costs 5 EUR.

Check: Light Barrier

Country: Bulgaria

Genre: minimal dark ambient

Label: Amek Collective

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There's a Light & Noir Reva - Anam Cara (2024)

Two German (mostly) instrumental bands released a split album back in November and brought as a healthy dose of good guitar post-rock. The better known There's a Light from Lahr and their compatriots, Noir Reva, from Koblenz made sure to fill this short release with some juicy stuff.

The first part belongs to There's a Light, who composed their songs with a lot of post-rock aspects: the soft guitar dancing (I don't like this that much), the heavier guitar crushes (I like them very much), the melodic story-telling and the nostalgic atmosphere. The second track, Aporia, surprises twice: the first notes sound almost like minimalist chip tune, but it eventually grows into a full-fledged post-rock composition until it is joined by, it's the second surprise, almost... progressive rock-like vocals. I think it all works together pretty well.

The second part from Noir Reva shows that the lesser known band is very able to make interesting music. Their compositions are faster, more complex (with some interesting samples in the background I think) and catchier. The energy is pretty contagious and it's difficult no to dance to Svartur. Which is great, but in Noir Reva's case I do believe the faster the better. as the closing track is one that my mind completely ignored every time I  listened to the EP.

Anam Cara costs 4.99 EUR.

 

Check: Aporia

Country: Germany

Genre: guitar post-rock

Label: Broken Youth Records

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93MillionMilesFromTheSun - Let Go (2024)

The British nugaze powerhouse is a frequent guest on this blog and there are good reasons for it. Led by Nick Noble, the noisy collective released their new album (I can't count so well to tell you which one in their discography) when other people were just getting calmer before Christmas.

It's their signature sound: you have to dig deep into the layers of noisy guitars, samples and whatnot to find the soft vocals and melodies. But if you do that, you are rewarded with some most beautiful and catchy songs on the shoegaze market, as in Sleep for example. This track could easily be an indie rock hit if stripped down of the noisy elements, but it'd lose a lot of its charm, no doubt about it. The punch, the melancholia lie in the overwhelming music the band donates right into the audience's ears. Sleep is dethroned as my best-loved later in the album by Only Living Now, which became one of my favourite songs at the beginning of the new year.

If I have to have one complaint, it's that it's too long for my attention span. Interestingly, Noble states that it was their most difficult album to finish and show to the world due to the band's lineup changes (which I don't hear in their sound at all) and personal problems. 'If I'm honest,' he adds, 'I'm not sure I still do want it to come out'. I, for one, am keen to say that I'm very happy it did in the end. Made the year's end better than it could have been.

Let Go costs 7 GBP (8.5 EUR).

Check: Only Living Now

Country: UK

Genre: guitar nugaze

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Soulless, Sadness - burning as the first light (2024)

Damián Antón Ojeda, professionally known as Sadness is already a well-known name for any fan looking for the blackgaze scene's underdogs. The Mexican artist releases a number of shorter and longer albums a year and towards the end of 2024, he joined forces with his lesser known, but at least as interesting, Indonesian counterpart, Soulless. 

The album is opened by an intro that sound more like a melancholic ambientish piece, but soon enough bursts into Sadness' signature noise. It is made with harsh noise of guitars that is hidden behind the silky flow of piano keys and, finally, vocals. Those are rather fresh-sounding, hopeful, energetic, providing a pleasurable contrast with the music, beautiful in its melancholy. His second track feels like a complementing piece, an ornament underlining the importance of every edge of your name, burning.

The part of the split provided by Soulless has a slightly different taste to it. While it is also a prime example of underground blackgaze music, the vibes are changed: the black metal vocals add the element of anger and depression that, when juxtaposed with the synthy, flowy music, always brings a tear to my eye. The euphoric parts come to the picture in the second track by Soulless and they make the whole blackgazey picture absolutely complete.

burning as the first light costs 4 USD.

Check: every edge of your name, burning

Country: Indonesia, Mexico/US

Genre: synthy blackgaze

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Bartosz Dziadosz - Peace (2023)

Bartosz Dziadosz is better known as pleq, but this time he released his new album under his birth name. And the results are particularly interesting both thanks to the form of the music and the atmosphere that Peace is filled with.

Perhaps the artist chose to use his own name to underline the theme of the album which is the tragic war that Russia started in Ukraine and the longing for the title's peace. Interestingly enough, the album was released by the formerly Russian label DRONARIVM, making it clear that at least some of this country's citizen feel the same about the war. The music here is an extremely ethereal take on meditative and moody ambient-like neoclassical soundscapes. It's also fairly diverse genre-wise, but the overall results are clearly mesmerizing in the beauty of the neoclassic elements and experimentally interesting.

Peace costs 5 EUR.

Check: GABI

Country: Poland

Genre: experimental dreamscape

Label: DRONARIVM

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Loather - Eis (2023)

While I first posted about the Austrian band of Loather back in 2018, this year's Eis is their first LP ever. And it was quite worth waiting for since the album is a great example of rough and heavy music that is also particularly mesmerizing.

The band's road to the debut release has been rough with pandemics problems and line-up changes along the way. Luckily they made it. And Eis is filled with captivating music. From the very first notes, it attacks the audience with rough guitar sounds and heavy and dark atmosphere. The lo-fi vibes add to the sincerity of the album, making it even more striking I feel. On Eis, the band dances between black metal and shoegaze quite regularly and with fantastic grace too. Some parts are clearly (post-) black metal with angry screams and fittingly aggressive guitars, but some other are smoothed down by attractive, almost dreamy vocals. Still. very, very loud. And really, really good.

Eis costs 7 EUR.

Check: Mortuary

Country: Austria

Genre: post-black metal

Label: Vendetta Records

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Magic Wands - Switch (2023)

It's time for already the sixth album in the California-based band's discography and I have to say, Magic Wands are one of the lesser known dreamy artists whom I find the most consistently good with what they do. As it is the case with this year's Switch.

Their dream pop feels like hot chocolate: it's beautiful but not high-paced, it's atmospheric but melodic, it's dark. I can feel notes of wave and post-punk here (especially thanks to the clear bass line backgrounds), but the whole thing is more dreamy and hazy than cold and minimalist. It's great pop music with this gloomier hint and ethereal mood all over it. The balance between all the ingredients is pretty good here and it's one of the reasons I find the band so good since 2018's Abrakadabra (and I need to check out the previous albums as well). For hardcore fans, the Bandcamp version of the album includes remixes that make the release virtually twice as long. 

Switch costs 10.99 USD.

Magic Wands - Illuminate (2020)

Magic Wands - Abrakadabra (2018)

Check: Switch

Country: California, US

Genre: wave-esque dream pop

Label: Metropolis Records

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