Gangleri – music reviews

When you read my reviews of the previous albums of Karjalan Sissit you will notice that I never really held this project in high regard. His music is alright, but there are better projects in this style. With the previous album Pesonen gave a bit of extra gass and he recorded an album much more agressive than anything in the “bombastic industrial” style of that time (and still). Too bad that on the latest album, he just repeats himself and made a copy of “Tanssit…”. Nice dark soundscapes with speechsamples are alternated with bombastic and sometimes orchestral industrial with fierce drumming and very aggressive vocals. Not really boring, but not really great either.
Links: Karjalan Sissit, Cyclic Law

I know, I know, I am a prejudiced music buyer. I heard about this band with a band name and album title that are obviously pagan, but I also heard that these are (ex-)black metal musicians, so I no longer felt the need to hear “Runaljod”. Wardruna happen to play at a festival in Tilburg where also Der Blutharsch and a couple of other bands that I want to see play (but not on the same day…), so I figured I might just try what this band is all about. Wardruna is nothing like neofolk like pagan music, but has a more traditional and also a more ritual or sjamanistic sound. Perhaps a tiny little bit like the early releases of Hagalaz’ Runedance, but more sedate. There is a nice mix between traditional and electronic sounds, variety in the use of vocals (from chanting to speech), soft drumming, but also some darker experiments. “Runaljod” might not be a masterpiece, but this is actually quite a nice album.
Links: Wardruna, Fimbuljóð Productions

I saw Ianva at this years WGT, never having heard of the band. However I did not like most music too much, I liked their show. Many good musicians on stage, uncommon elements such as trumpets, several guitars, drums and male and female vocals. I mostly enjoyed the cabaretesk songs with the female vocalist. Curious about their recordings I got Ianva’s latest album with the strange cover. The music is well-done, nicely layered and of a nice atypical (for our scene) Southern sound and here and there some martial influences. Point is that listening to this album, my conclusion is the same as when I saw them live: not really my cup of tea. I do not really like the Italian vocals and the music does not really do anything for me. Again the songs with the female vocalist (which have a different style) are the better, but there is one great song called “Bora”. It is good to hear that the scene is still moving, but my musical preferences do not allways move with the scene it seems.
Links: Ianva, Antica Fonografia Il Levriero

I do not really follow Albin Julius’ Hau Ruck! label, I guess he is a bit too progressive for me (or he just has a very different taste in music). Ballo delle Castagne is mostly a progrock album with some folky influences and Italian vocals. I cannot say much about it, just that this is again not really my thing.
Links: Ballo delle Castagne, Hau Ruck!

“Martial dark ambient” is the best way of describing this CMI release I think. Soundscapes and ambient with drumming, marchdrums and deep beats, sometimes some orchestrations or a sample. Each track of this 70 minute album is recorded with another guest musician/group. “Sapere Aude” is not a bad album, but not particularly good or original either. I guess this might appeal to people who like Toroidh or similar projects. Personally I find it a bit too monotous, but especially the tracks without drumming are nicely dark.
Links: Eldar, Cold Met Industry

Kim Larsen of Of The Wand And The Moon apparently wanted to make a more folk and a less neofolk album, so he did and he released it under another name on his own label. Solanaceae has very minimalistic folk songs, while in other songs there are many instruments. There is one song that reminds me of Fire + Ice, but most songs are supposedly in the “psychedelic folk” style. The songs and slow, moody and melancholic (but not as much as Of The Wand) and most of them are quite beautiful.
Link: Solanaceae / Heiðrunar Myrkrunar

Finally a new release on Galakthorrö and “Miasma” is very much a Galakthorrö release. A bit old November Növelet, a bit of Maska Genetik and a lot of Haus Arafna. As a matter of fact, if this would have been released under the name of Haus Arafna, I would have believed this to be a Haus Arafna album instantly. “Miasma” would come perfectly after “Butterfly” with again softer industrial noise and angstpop. The sound, the structure, the vocals, everything reminds of Haus Arafna, the only thing missing is mrs. Arafna. Should this have been a Haus Arafna album, it would have been their best; man, what a great album “Miasma” is! Exactly what I needed. Industrial rhythms, creaking noises, dark drones, deep vocals. Not every track is perfect, but most tracks are great enough to compensate for the one or two less-great tracks. Hopefully mr. and mrs. Arafna will soon take up the task to release an even better album.
Links: Herz Jühning, Galakthorrö

The band sent me an email to ask if I wanted to review their free download album. Nosens make soundtrack-like orchestral / neo-classical music. The half hour album starts with a nice track reminding of Clint Mansell. Then follow some experimental classical soundscape tracks that are not too much of my liking, but the prelast track is again a bit darker and the last one quite bombastic. No masterpiece, but it is free, so it does not hurt to give this release a try if you like orchestral tunes.
Links: Nosens, Lomeanor, Wildness Records

I never really knew Isomer, I never really heard their music. When I read that this dark ambient band made a noisier album, I decided to try their latest attempt. “Face Towards The Sun” contains some great ambient noise tracks, some less interesting atmospheric tracks and some good dark ambient; the larger part is noisy though. Overall I am quite pleased by this album which serves well as background music.
Links: Isomer, Tesco

In april 2007 I saw Minamata at the Tesco festival in Antwerp. Over two years later, this show is released on DVD (just like the Galerie Schallschutz show about two months ago) together with the “Cyclator” album (both as cd and in videos). Minamata has been around since 1984 with a gap between 1991 and 2007. This French project takes its name from the Japanese city where just after WWII a chemical plant discharged their wastewater in open water, causing the fish that the inhabitants of the city ate to be polluted with chemicals and thus the Minamata disease appeared. Minamata has been telling this story for 25 years. During the show in Antwerpen we saw traditional Japanese music alternated with extreme noise. The album/videoclips and the noise parts of the show are a bit too noisy for me, but I like a project with a message and the original mix between two very different kinds of music in the live footage.
Links: Minamata

The festival is still going when I write this, but we went only yesterday. Arriving much later than planned due to other activities, we missed the free performance of Sieben at the Dom square in Utrecht (but we saw Matt walking through the city), so we just quickly looked around at the tiny market. On our way to the Ekko were Brighter Death Now would be playing, we only arrived when Roger had already left the stage… Next up was the band that I came for: Triarii. It took a couple of tracks before the two men on stage (I heard a third was home with Mexican flue) got the swing of it, but I found the show as a whole pretty convincing. It wasn’t much more than music from a disc with some live drumming and live vocals, but isn’t that usually the case in our style of music? I heard one track that I think is new and some slightly different versions of tracks from one of the albums. Next up was Dernière Volonté. I have seen them a couple of times more and going better than yesterday. It wasn’t bad or something, but I know they can do better. What was nice were the live beats. This mostly played live made the music a bit thinner, but it is a much better effort than just having a cd running with all the music on it. After Denière we rushed to another location because Front 242 were playing. I was not at all impressed by their show. A few tracks from the only two good albums that they released, but overall nothing that shows almost 30 years of experience.
When walking through Utrecht to get our wristbands and walking from one venue to another, I was amazed that there were quite a couple of completely dressed up grufties walking around. Indeed, Summer Darkness is the Wave Gotik Treffen in a smaller version. Not all that bad, but hopefully a possible next time we have more time to look around a bit.

Not much “blogging” here I know. Just a few things then. I’m awaiting a couple of cds. The new Rome (which I have already pulled off the internet…), the full length of Herz Jühning, the Minamata box with old material and DVD with their nice show in Antwerpen a couple of years ago and the new Isomer. As for live performances, tomorrow we go to the Summer Darkness festival in Utrecht where Sieben, Triarii and Dernière Volonté will play with a range of other interesting and less-interesting bands, they also have a market. I’m curious if it will be a bit ‘Leipzig-like’ with different locations and some publically accessible things.
In september we hope to see Der Blutharsch, Bain Wolfkind, Deutsch Nepal and Of The Wand And The Moon at the Incubate festival in Tilburg who booked a whole range of bands including some ‘of us’. This festival is quite cheap by the way!