Christoph Berg - Paraphrases





Berlin based Christoph Berg composes chamber music and plays all instruments on this stunning debut. The strings, piano and occasional field recording or electronics seem to transcend simple auditory stimulation and engage the listener on an emotional level. This is the sound of dusk, of forlorn longing in the creeping shadows of existence. In a word, brilliant.



Tracklist:

1 Falling asleep
2 Elegy
3 Poems written for an old (prepared piano)
4 Buildings at night
5 Interlude
6 Paraphrases (on vinyl)
7 A small path crossing
8 Quiet times at the library
9 Interlude (remixed by aus)
10 Falling asleep (remixed by P Jorgenson)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHVfUdfp0cQ

Website: http://christophberg.com/

Label: Fluid Audio

Release date: November 2012

From the Sunset, Forest and Grief - ...Empty, Cold & Forgotten...






I may be late to hear this album as it came out nearly three years ago but upon first listen I was memerised by it's depressive beauty. Sole member Daniel Covarrubias from Tampico, Mexico has created a well balanced DSBM release that mixes acoustic and distorted guitars with melancholic keyboards and the agonised vocals that are a staple of the genre. The playing and production are impressive and I eagerly await future works from Daniel.



Tracklist:

1 Intro
2 Broken Lights
3 ...Empty, Cold & Forgotten...
4 Lifeless
5 My (Suicide) Path
6 From the Sunset, Forest and Grief

Website: http://www.myspace.com/sunsetforestandgrief

Label: Naturmacht Productions

Release Date: November 25th, 2009

Abu Lahab - We Beheld the Last Contraction of the Seraph

Abu Lahab in history is known as the Father of Flame and this one man industrial black metal band from Morocco certainly lives up to that moniker. This fourth or fifth release (depending on the source, info is scarce) opens with a wall of noise that progresses downward into the pits of hell. With agonising wails, effected instrumentation and crazed spoken word and samples this album borders on madness but it holds together with an energy that is at once unsettling and mesmerising. The music is harsh and memorable and while I have no idea what the lyrics are there is no mistaking the vibe of this EP. This is pure darkness and must be heard.

Tracklist:

1 And No Health Was Left in Us
2 Sharpen the Tooth of Thanatos
3 Levitation of the Gravida
4 Agony of a Hatching Eye
5 Gyrosophism

Website: http://www.last.fm/music/Abu+Lahab

Label: self released

Contact: kaleemuallah@gmail.com           

Release date: 2012

Grisatre - L'idee de Dieu

This first full length from Grisatre begins with a hauntingly delicate piano melody and continues on with alternating DSBM epics and more subdued interludes.Sole member Rokkr of France has put together a cohesive album of introspective tracks that infect the listener with a lingering malaise symptomatic of a world in decline. The shorter instrumental tracks heighten the depressive feel of the album and are a perfect compliment to the more blackened songs with their anguished vocals and moody riffs. This is an outstanding release.



Tracklist :

1 V
2 IV
3 III
4 II
5 I
6 L'esquisse des astres

Website : http://www.myspace.com/grisatre

Label : Dusktone

Release Date : July 15  2010

Soley - We Sink

We Sink is the first solo full length for Iceland's Soley having been preceded by the ep Theater Island. The album is a seamless collection of melancholic pop beauty built around wonderfully morose piano and her haunting and at times reverb drenched vocals. Comparisons could be made to You are Free era Cat Power in it's ability to convey such emotion with sparse arrangements and that is only a good thing. I look forward to hearing much more from Soley as I am hooked on this record.



Tracklist:

1 I'll Drown
2 Smashed Birds
3 Pretty Face
4 Bad Dream
5 Dance
6 And Leave
7 Blue Leaves
8 Kill That Clown
9 Fight Them Soft
10 About Your Funeral
11 The Sun is Going Down I
12 The Sun is Going Down II
13 Theater Island

Website: https://www.facebook.com/soleysoleysoley

Label: Morr Music

Release Date: September 2nd, 2011