E-L-R - Vexier (2022)

I was lucky enough to witness E-L-R's beginnings when back in 2019 they performed live during the Bergmal Festival in Zurych with their very fresh debut album Mænad. It was quite mind-blowing so I couldn't wait for the continuation of their career. The struggle is over with the band's new album called Vexier.

The combination of very heavy guitar riffs from the sludge/post-metal musical area with the dispersed and airy but also very psychedelic vocals is the core of the Swiss band's work. The said vocals express extremely ethereal lyrics ("opiate the Sun" sounds like something taken from a braver, lyrics-wise, version of the old Slowdive or MBV) divided into short phrases that make them feel like tribal-esque mesmerizing chanting. All of this makes this sophomore album a very literal continuation of the debut, including such an interesting detail as longer pauses between tracks filled with subtle sound samples of cracking fire and other nature-originating moody tunes.

The mesmerizing features of the band's works are present also in the music itself: its slow, doom-like pace and psychedelic guitars make it easy to get lost within the sounds. As their Bandcamp page describes it, they "oscillates elegantly between velvet darkness and flaring bursts of high energy" but the bursts are always toned down, covered by the layers of post-metal noise that makes everything a very homogeneous and smooth (the velvet reference is on point!) sound.

Vexier costs 6.99 USD.

E-L-R - Mænad (2019)

Check: Seeds

Country: Switzerland

Genre: ethereal post-metal

Label: Prophecy Productions

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E-L-R - Mænad (2019) EN

Recently I had a pleasure to be a part of Zurich's Bergmal Festival, the undoubtedly main discovery of which was the local band called E-L-R. And so it happened that the two girls and one guy band have released recently their debut album Mænad and... what a debut it is!

E-L-R's music is made of unbearably noisy (especially live) combination of post-rock ideas and shoegaze execution. Their wall of guitar sounds literally crushes you into the ground, the overlapping sounds sound precisely how My Bloody Valentine wanted them to in their shoegaze and the vocals are minimal or even non-existent. The artists usually limit themselves to airy backing vocals and generation of guitar noise.

But when the vocal does appear, as in Devotee, it brings some of unbelievable grandeur and truly just makes you cry out of beauty. Some other fragments are more post-rocking, as Above the Mountains There's Light for example, especially when it comes to compositions and the drums' part taken in this monumental experience. Certainly one of the most important albums of the year. Important news is that the Swiss band is going for a tour soon and will play also in Poland: November 13th in Wrocław and the next day in Warsaw.

Mænad costs 6.99 USD.

Check: Devotee

Country: Switzerland

Genre: shoegazing post-rock

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E-L-R - Mænad (2019) PL

Miałem okazję bardzo niedawno uczestniczyć w Bergmal Festivalu w Zurychu, którego niekwestionowanym odkryciem był lokalny zespół E-L-R. Tak się składa, że dwie gitarzystki i perkusista wydali niedawno swój debiutancki krążek Mænad i... cóż to jest za debiut!

Muzyka E-L-R to nieznośnie głośne (zwłaszcza na żywo) połączenie post-rockowych idei i shoegaze'owego wykonania. Ściana gitar w ich wykonaniu dosłownie przygniata do ziemi, nawarstwiające się dźwięki brzmią dokładnie tak, jak wymyślili to sobie My Bloody Valentine w swoim shoegazie, natomiast.. wokalu albo nie ma, albo jest go niewiele. Artystki na ogół ograniczają się do eterycznych chórków i generowania gitarowego hałasu. 

Jeśli wokal się pojawia, tak jak w Devotee, dodaje nadzwyczajnego rozmachu i wręcz zmusza do płaczu swoim pięknem. Bardziej post-rockowo jest w Above the Mountains There's Light, zwłaszcza jeśli chodzi o kompozycję i udział perkusji w tym monumentalnym wydarzeniu. Z pewnością jedna z ważniejszych płyt roku. Warto dodać, że wkrótce Szwajcarów zobaczyć będzie można w Polsce: 13-tego listopada we Wrocławiu, a dzień później w Warszawie.

Mænad kosztuje 27 złotych (6,99 USD).

Sprawdź: Devotee

Kraj: Szwajcaria

Szufladka: shoegazing post-rock

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