post-metal

Nine Circles ov…2018: A Mid-Year Report

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2018 mid year report

We’re about to hit the mid-point of the year, and as ever the amount of quality releases seems to increase with each passing breath.  I’ve spent some portion of attention to 183 metal releases so far, and in a year where I find my personal tastes drifting more and more away from metal there’s always something that manages to pull me back in.  So far there doesn’t seem to be a particular genre or style pressing its nose against the Trend Window™ (unless you count the amount of sax going on I guess…) and I’ve been surprised at the sheer variety of music pulling at my nerve endings these past six months.

So similar to last year, consider this edition of Nine Circles ov… a snapshot.  It’s a measure of a point in time, personal to me and indicative as to where my head’s at halfway through the shitstorm that is 2018.  And since that’s probably all the justification I’m going to give, so let’s do this. Continue reading →

Nine Circles ov…Vince’s Post-Metal Catch-Up

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If you’re a regular reader of my columns on this website, it’s been pretty easy to see the kind of pattern I fall into with my metal listening habits.  I’ve made no secret that I like my metal on the more extreme side, in particular the realms of funeral doom, black metal, death metal, and the intersections thereof.  Recently, though, I’ve felt like I needed to break out of my rut and see what else has been out there that I’ve been missing out on.  Prior to this article, my experience with the diverse world of post-metal was limited to my hometown heroes, Russian Circles and Pelican, with a Red Sparowes album thrown in for good measure.  When talking about this with my Nine Circles colleagues, I was bombarded with a slew of highly recommended albums that I had somehow missed out on over the years, and it became clear that this was the avenue I needed to pursue to broaden my metal vocabulary, so to speak.  Thus, the seed for this piece was born.  Some of these albums are classics that I never got around to visiting, some are more recent releases that simply flew under my radar, but all of them helped rekindle a love for a subgenre that I had been sorely missing out on.   Continue reading →

Album Review: Raum Kingdom – “Everything & Nothing”

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Raum Kingdom - Everything & Nothing

Post-metal is one of those genres where, if things are done correctly, you will end up with an emotional, expansive atmosphere that makes you sway and feel something completely new. This genre is a tricky one to categorize, as it stands somewhere within the experimentation of avant-garde metal and the technical mastery of progressive metal. It sounds like a mixture of all of these genres but, simultaneously, it is none of these. Because of its undefined nature, post-metal allows for massive sound and technical experimentation, mixing elements together like a particle collider. In the case of Irish band Raum Kingdom, their debut Everything & Nothing brings post-metal, reminiscent of Isis (the band, not the militia), while mixing sludge elements into their music. Continue reading →

Profile: Eclectic Experimenters Aux Era

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Aux Era

New York’s Aux Era are a band that staunchly defy easy categorization as they effortlessly saunter between post-metal, post-rock, psychedelic experimentation and emotionally heavy ambience. Comprised of members from Hull, On the Might of Princes and Lost Coves, to name a few, this trio put their heads together on their self-titled debut and came up with five tracks of extremely powerful yet avant garde..ish tracks that ooze through the speakers ever so gently. Yes I am aware of that sounding like a mouthful of what?! But seriously, one listen to this massive roller coaster and you’ll be hooked. The album was released back in February and we recently had the chance to sit down with the band to ask them our set of Profile questions. They were extremely gracious with their answers and offered a ton of insight in regards to their headspace on Aux Era. Head inside to see what they had to say and get wrapped around the stream contained within. Continue reading →

Premiere: The Ever Living – “New Mutiny”

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The Ever Living - Herephemine

The Ever Living — a band that’s been coined with sharing headspace with the likes of Cult of Luna and Isis — will be releasing their debut full length Herephemine on May 4 via Chromism Records. That may still be nearly a month away, but today Nine Circles is excited to premiere the album’s second track, “New Mutiny,” to get you ready for what’s to come.

Dense atmospheres and exceedingly beautiful soundscapes pepper the hour-plus journey here. The London based band garnered many of this album’s themes and ideas while traveling abroad — excess through technology and other means takes on a whole new feel while submersing yourself in the juxtaposing melody and dissonance found throughout Herephemine. A form of post-metal perhaps, but they don’t place themselves within that genre so simply. The album as a whole feels like a sonic exploration of the cinematic kind similar to rock’s early visionaries who were looking for something different and unique. I could go on and on but you need to hear it for yourself. Check it out immediately below. Continue reading →