New stuff from SycAmour and Winters Wish

I feel I have to star this off by quoting a movie called Mercury Rising.  "I'm so glad I missed the whole (djent) thing, so my (ears are) virgin territory for (punchy riffs and soaring melodies)". 

If you are unfamiliar with the recent wave of djent music, I can offer some insight on what the term implies.  Djent is a sub genre of metal built from fragments of metalcore, groove metal, and thrash.  It gets its name from the way it sounds, because the riffing sounds like the word djent.  It mostly earns a negative connotation these days amongst fans of extreme metal music due to how popular it became a few years ago where bands began to copy each other.  It seems that the basic template is the early work of Meshuggah.  This style of music is pounding, groovy metal music with both extreme and melodic vocals.  Michigan's SycAmour does not list Meshuggah as an influence, but you can hear it in their music.  This is heavy music with low, growling vocals during the verses, and uplifting clean vocals for the chorus.  I never was a fan of djent or anything related to it, but I am a huge fan of both Textures and Gojira, which take the Meshuggah sound and adapt it to their own philosophy on heavy music, therefore earning them a sound all their own.  I'm not willing to say yet whether SycAmour has their own style nailed down, but what I do hear is pretty good.  Take a listen to the stream from their bandcamp page below.


Winters Wish is a Sydney-based pop outfit that creates haunting melodies with slow, layered pop vocals over a stunning wash of ambiance.  This is not your average drone ambient, either, as the music is rich is soul and texture, something that drone is not.  The problem with this group is that their self-released EP "Persia" is so fresh that you cannot seem to buy it anywhere.  What is a person who likes the music to do?  At least they do have a full stream on their bandcamp page, which I am embedding below.  This music has a great balance between pop and ambient that I find to be unique and intriguing.  Listen below.  Enjoy!

Alcest-Les Voyages de L'ame

Who knew French music could be so fun?  Last week I reviewed Gojira's recent album.  Today I'm looking at the latest album from Alcest.

Alcest is one of those bands whose style has evolved and morphed over the years into a style of music that hardly reflects their roots.  Some bands pull this off to great effect, while for others, the attempt falls flat on its face.  Having begun as an atmospheric black metal band in 2000, the band now plays a thick, reverby shoegazing style where notes stretch as smooly as molen glass and linger in the listener's ear.

Vocalist Neige sings almost exclusively in a pensive clean voice as if remembering moments of his childhood.  Although some vicious shrieks find their way in to the mix occasionally, these moments are sparse and serve only to alter the mood.  These screams never last more than a couple of lines, so they never overpower any of Neige's singing in any one song. 

While my explanation of the music so far sounds simple (yay for unintentional alliteration), the tunes are anything but.  Having thier roots planted firmly in metal, Alcest employ vast, sweeping melodies that are layered and complex, seeming to hinge on emotional memories from times long ago, or looking back on journeys to distant lands.  It is a sound that is evocative and at times eerie. 

You don't have to be a metal afficionado to enjoy Alcest's music.  Instead, you must be ready to embark on a journy for which your destination is unknown.  Indeed, as the saying goes, it is not the destination, but the journey.  Les Voyages de L'ame reflects a 4.4/5 rating.  Listen to the opener Autre Temps and the title track below.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Gojira-L'Enfant Sauvage

If you are a fan of metal music, chances are you have at least heard of Gojira.  These Frenchmen have a new album out.  I finally got a chance to listen to its entirety this evening, and I have to say I dig it. 

Gojira (formerly known as Godzilla, which Gojira actaully means) start things off on L'Enfant Sauvage (traslatable as the Savage Child) where they left off on The Way of all Flesh, but they expand on that sound with viscous guitar leads.  This is in addition to their trademark chugging riffs puncuated with unpredictable drum work, which results in a rhythmic attack on the auditory sense that is oddly addictive.  If you know of Gojira's music, you know what I'm talking about. 

Here, they deliver 11 delicious tracks that bend minds and take no prisoners.  I know I'm going a little overboard with the metaphors with this review, but that's because it is easy to go overboard with Gojira. 

Gojira is rightfully a big name in metal and stand as possibly the most notable French band there is. Over the years they have a crafted a sound all thier own.  Many bands have tried to duplicate Gojira's sound and many have failed.  Other comparable bands would perhaps be Textures and Meshuggah, but these bands differ in many ways.  Not metal collection is complete without at least one Gojira album, and L'Enfant Saugave certainly fills the niche. 

This album grabs hold of listeners and destroys entire cities with its 4.4/5 rating.  Ok.  No more silly metaphors from me today.  Listen to the title track from L'Enfant Sauvage below.