post-metal

I have a yoga teacher who starts her classes with forced meditation. It’s forced because nowadays, it’s almost impossible for minds – mine, at least – to be still. She tells us to empty our minds, and makes us sit…and sit…and sit…and sit… Of course, my mind refuses to empty. In fact, it goes into […]

The name Drain the Sky comes from William Faulkner’s The Hamlet, which beautifully describes sunset as the return of light from sky to earth: “Then ebbs afternoon, until at last the morning; noon, and afternoon flow back, drain the sky and creep leaf by voiceless leaf and twig and branch and trunk, descending, gathering frond […]

Saying that One Starving Day is a lesser version of Neurosis is no dis. It’s a fine wellspring from which to draw. If Neurosis move mountains and scar the sky, One Starving Day build a good garden, with a gnarled oak nearby. This Italian group may not play new tones, but it pitches them perfectly, […]

I had the good fortune of seeing Neurosis play a rare hometown show on New Year’s Eve, alongside Earth and Saviours. The latter was the odd band out. Its hesher stylings rang thunderous and accurate, but failed to set things high on fire. Earth’s slow, pastoral leanings, acquired of late, attracted some heckling. New Year’s […]

At first, Long Distance Calling seemed like another NeurIsis clone. They had long songs, organic rhythms, and soft/loud dynamics. Even the artwork seemed derivative of mid-’90s Chicago post-rock. But one night, their brilliance floored me. I fell in love. I found this year’s Year of No Light, the band that does the NeurIsis sound even […]

France continues its domination of all things heavy with Aussitôt Mort, which is evidently French for “as soon as dead.” This quintet from Caen plays post-hardcore, post-metal, post-whatever you want to call it. Some reference points might be the melodicism of Hot Cross with the rolling 6/8 grooves of Burst and the atmospherics of fellow […]

The Red Chord I’m moving from Berlin to San Francisco at the end of this month. This, combined with excessive travel (five trans-Atlantic crossings in six weeks, with five destination airports and way too much sleeping while sitting), has severely hampered my recent productivity. The Red Chord – Tread on the Necks of KingsHalford – […]

Oddly, Adult Swim has posted a Jesu track in a free, downloadable mixtape called Warm & Scratchy. The track is the “Original Beats” version of “Silver” (originally available on the Silver EP’s Japanese release), which is a little hard to believe. With mid-’90s beats and messy keyboards and basslines that don’t gel with its melodies, […]

Kronos After what seemed like a slow start, metal in 2007 has shifted into high gear. Great releases flood in from the underground daily. In Left Hand Path #009, we’ve reviewed over 30 discs, including must-have splits from Baroness/Unpersons and Eibon/Hangman’s Chair, Harvey Milk reissues, Marduk, Municipal Waste, Abigor, Glorior Belli, Irepress, dark ambient from […]

Sometimes it’s nice when humans shut up and let their fingers do the talking. Vocals do sneak in on the last track of The Destruction of Small Ideas (Monotreme, 2007), but by then it’s thankfully too late. Perhaps the “small ideas” refer to genres; this album could fit under “post-rock,” “prog rock,” “atmospheric metal,” and […]