…in english please!
Not even a year after Keeper from California introduced themselves with the outstanding MMXIV, all the promises this first demo made are carried through: while the splits with Sea Bastard and Old Witch would have been enough in that regard, Penny Keats and Jacob Lee outdid themselves with The Space Between Your Teeth, summoning a misanthropic doom-maelstrom perfect in form. The heights Keeper are able to grow into know no limits, but at least in 2015 nearly every other heavy band had to eat their dust.
The opening track on Jungbluth’s furious sophomore album is called Everytime Geradeaus, and it accurately describes its breathless agitation: Lovecult rumbles ahead raw and poisonous, sitting more comfortable in noiserock than every other oft he band‘s record, attacking hardcore with some of their most catchy songs to date. No break for the band after this imposing tour-de-force though – while they’re having a dense calendar of live shows, Jungbluth even managed to pass by the Heavy Pop advent calendar.
Around The Pineapple Thief and numerous other projects, Bruce Soord’s discography certainly isn’t lacking in striking moments. With his self-titled solo debut from 2015 though, he created a record that enjoys a special status: A intimate and nostalgic window into his own past for Soord himself, a manifesto of timlessness for everyone else who wants to escape their everyday life for 41 decelerating minutes. Maybe Soord has recorded more spectacular things, but surely nothing more gracefully wise and languourous than the beautiful grower 'Bruce Soord'.
Teeth of the Sea have always been a band moving outside of any genre conventions with impressive implicitness. Their fourth album pushes this versatility to the max: Highly Deadly Black Tarantula dances as effortless between the sinister electronica of The Haxan Cloak and the unreal dark ambient of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble as it combines disturbing industrial components with Blade Runner-soundscapes into sweaty, grooving post-rock scenes. The record you get is a coherent sound-construct, hypnotizing in its eclecticism – and one of the best albums of 2015.
Each and every second of waiting since the previous album Die Miserable was worth it – not only because the Canadian band around Topon Das has made it easier to cope through numerous splits and EPs. Even after almost twenty years Fuck the Facts don’t allow themselves any breaks or comfort zones, but push their progressive grindcore on Desire Will Rot in unexpected directions, stay demanding and merciless – and a loose cannon on the genre’s spearhead.
It doesn’t surprise that Pelagic-Records is responisble for distribution in Europe, and that Peege from Hope Drone chose Yield to Despair as his personal best album of the year 2015: The very own way Tangled Thoughts of Leaving combine post-metal, doom, jazz and post-rock into a gripping work of art is special in its implicitness – even in context oft he band from Perth. While the Black Captain-EP completes the album in a genious way, Luke Pollard tells us - in no particular order - which other records there were to discover in the past twelve months.
Cloud Rat have always been more than „just“ grindcore close to perfection. No record showed this off as impressively as Qliphoth, so Thou-guitarist Andy Gibbs was completely right calling their third album their best release so far. In part responsible for the – after Moksha once more – impeccable quality of the record is the addition of Brandon Hill, who expanded the sound (and member-count) of Cloud Rat, and also found time to enrich this years Heavy Pop advent calendar.
It only needs the 5 songs of CVLT to understand that Phantom Winter won’t be statisfied with being recognized as the „successors“ of Omega Massif. Not only the addition of vocals draws an impressive picture of an uncompromising, hungry band, that has long established their own, dark handwriting. And while they are actively in the studio at the moment, working on the highly anticipated next album, it’s a pleasure to welcome them to this year’s Heavy Pop advent calendar.
With Dumb Flesh, Benjamin John Power – one half of the Fuck Buttons – not only produced one of the highlights of his discography, but maybe also the most body-conscious electronic album of the year: The second outing as Blanck Mass is fascinating, challenging and disturbing at the same time, but an instant grower also euphorically pushing onto the dancefloor – a hypnotic rush that sends the brain on a trip and controlls the legs, showcasing a formidable songwriter. Combined with the not less brilliant Great Confuso EP, the genre-crown for the time being is Powers‘ alone.
While the hope for a second LP doesn’t seem to be unwarranted, a short appendix to their debut serves to bring back to mind, why a new album by Polkov is one of the most anticipated ones in the near future: Ho Un Gatto (Si Chiama Vendetta) captivates with three sun-soaked nostalgic tunes, and masterfully dances above indie, pop and folk. Mastermind Laurenz Jandl found the time to tell us about his favourite albums of the past year.
