French melancholy, a sacred Italian grove, a Californian Flub and more…

French masters of melancholy Klone reinvented themselves with the release of “Here Comes The Sun” in 2015, morphing from a more aggressive and heavy groove metal sound towards atmospheric, melodic sadness put into music. 2019’s “Le Grand Voyage” saw them reach new heights popularity wise, while dwelling a bit too much on the new formula for my taste. “Meanwhile” is more dynamic again compared to “Le Grand Voyage”, bringing back both some heavier parts and also more crazy saxophone again courtesy of Matthieu Metzger. But don’t worry, the pensive melancholy established on “Here Comes The Sun” is still permeating every note and every second of Klone’s music! Interestingly enough, apart from album opener and first single ‘Within Reach’, the other two singles left me a bit underwhelmed, but upon listening to the whole album I was relieved to find out that the rest of the songs do more than make up for it. They even put a bass solo in the title track! How cool is that? Klone are back with another immaculate production (courtesy of Chris Edrich) and I can’t get enough of it!  If you’re in Europe, don’t miss out on Klone supporting the one and only Devin Townsend on tour, starting February 21 in Oslo! Dario

Coming out from the riff monster that is the outro of Klone’s “Meanwhile”, sliding ride into something completely devoid of riffs, but not any less atmospheric: Bosco Sacro’s debut album “Gem”. The Italian quartet thrives off their ambient, doom & trip hop roots with great success, creating a sonic world inherently their own. The only musical reference point that comes to my mind would be Dead Can Dance, with textural ambient guitars creating a vast atmosphere for Giulia Parin Zecchin’s impeccable vocals to soar over and Luca Scotti’s slow steady pulse to tie it all together. Bosco Sacro (“Sacred Grove”) have created a sacred ritual and an utterly beguiling and mesmerizing “Gem” of a debut album here. Nothing short of breathtaking. Bravo Bravissimo! Dario

Friday was Flub-Day! The Californian experimental tech death masters released not only a brand new EP called “Dream Worlds”, they also re-released two of their early EPs in the form of the “Purpose/Advent” compilation through their ever industrious label The Artisan Era (which basically features all the music they had released prior to their self-titled 2019 debut). Both releases are without a doubt a must hear for every tech death and progressive death metal aficionado, vinyl lovers hop over to Bandcamp now and get some of the gorgeous limited editions. Flub-Day was good as it brought us more Flub-Music, but you can make any day Flub-Day by spinning their sick music. Dario

With an eclectic line-up and out of the ashes (or as a side-project?) of French jazzrock band Camembert comes Oiapok with their debut album “OisoLün”. Lots of trombone, vibra- and xylophones, harp and funky grooves meet vocals in English and French, reminiscent of their legendary countrymates Magma. So yeah, there’s some Zeuhl and Canterbury mixed into the weird, but very cool mélange. Definitely something to check out for those into these kinds of adventurous stylings. Dario

British instrumental duo Divided By Design eases us with some calm piano notes into their newest offering “The Fear Of Being Forgotten” before the first full on djent onslaught bursts through. The album, divided (by design) into four parts, scratches the 30 minute mark with its final notes, so it definitely doesn’t overstay its welcome and makes the most out of it while it lasts. High octane instrumental prog metal with enough twists and turns to stay interesting and exciting is on the menu here and it’s presented with confidence and skill. Oh wait, there’s vocals! A stunt vocal solo! A quick research reveals the name Barnaby Tomlinson who surely knew how to channel his inner Vladimir Lalic (Organized Chaos, David Maxim Micic, Charlie Griffiths) it seems! I would still classify this release as ‘instrumental
though, but in any case: nicely done. Dario

A different kind of instrumental music comes out of Switzerland: hubris. are back with a new album, entitled “The One Above”. With instrumental post rock, I find it often even more difficult to keep things interesting, compared to the various tools you have when composing instrumental prog metal. Luckily, hubris. know their craft and manage to steer clear of falling into the trap of becoming all too repetitive. Subtle changes in the dynamics and tasteful arrangement choices make for a dreamy, yet engaging listen. Dario

From instrumental prog metal to instrumental post rock to atmospheric post black metal: our final highlight for this week is another re-release, namely the self-titled debut album from German band Heretoir. It’s been more than five years already since their amazing sophomore effort “The Circle”, and more than 10 years since the release of “Heretoir”. High time to revisit it in a remastered version (and/or on limited marbled vinyl, available through AOP Records right here), or to discover it for the very first time. So even though Heretoir were not the most active band and didn’t churn out album after album, they have carved their niche in the blackgaze world with those two albums and I really hope they’ll follow up this re-release of their debut very soon with album number three. Dario