Dive into these three instrumental worlds

“In the realms of the dead dwells “Orcus”, the punisher of broken oaths in the afterlife. He is Lord in this abode for purification of the souls, the Underworld. This is the katabasis of DROTT.” After their already very intriguing self-titled little debut EP earlier this year, the norwegian Shamans of Drott return with their first full length album. Their instrumental brew mixes psychedelic elements with a strange western flair and an overall ritualistic and cinematic feel. Oddly compelling, they tell a strange tale that lures you in, whether you like it or not. Seasoned musicians from the creative Bergen scene, also active in established bands like Enslaved or Ulver, in search of new paths, injecting a breath of fresh air into instrumental, psychedelic prog rock. Utterly engrossing! Dario

More instrumental strangeitudes this week are coming from Montreal, Canada. A complete re-work of their first EP “Episode 01” from 2017, Alpha Boötis are taking us on a real fun, weird science-fiction story with their unique mix of warm synthesizers, a saxophone that sounds like a bassoon and some fun, upbeat power metal riffs. Oddly enough this crude mixture might appeal to synthwave fans as well as lovers of medieval metal sounds. They even get out their recorder for a fun Alattia-remix of the last song ‘Circling the Belt of Orion’, and I haven’t heard a recorder in such a cool spacey context since Armageddon‘s ‘Funeral in Space’ from their totally underrated 1997 debut album “Crossing the Rubicon”. To top things off, Gojira’s ‘Another World’ works just marvellously in a synth setting. So what are you waiting for? “Jump to Alpha Boötis”! Dario

Staying in cinematic instrumental territories this weekend, our third stop is in Russia with a band called So Far As I Know. The further their new EP “The Omega Point” is progressing, the more they seem to stray away from the initial well-known post rock tropes to delve into the depths of computer game soundtracks and electronic atmospheres, especially on the last track ‘AGI’. The concept revolves around the evolution of consciousness, the point where artificial intelligence will inevitably merge with the organic. The cover artwork was fully created by a neural network, and they are currently working on two innovative videos, which will be created by a neural network as well, which will generate video based solely on the music. Intriguing conceptual stuff and 15 solid minutes of vast, expansive post rock landscapes. Dario