Ishtar - Ombre [EP]

Genre : Instrumental neofolk / Ambient

Here's something refreshing. Ishtar give us a mix of warm clean guitars playing instrumental neofolk, and cold pianos playing some kind of dark ambient. In the end, this short release delivers a deep and rich sound with both those layers. It's completely instrumental and there are no drums either, however it's melodic enough to stay catchy anytime. Some parts are a bit darker, some are a bit warmer. But it's nonetheless a pretty melancholic piece of art, reinforced by some atmospheric sounds like rain and wind. Yes, piece of art, because it's some very good work, melodies stick in one's head, quickly leading to a new listen. Because it's a bit short, yes. We'll be eagerly waiting for more from Ishtar!

Check out a couple songs, dark ambient oriented Le vele dormienti, mi volgo alle nebbie or more neofolk-ish Ho preso il cammino del fuoco e bruciavo nel cuore. And follow Ishtar on Facebook.

Súl ad astral - Súl ad astral

Genre : Post-black metal

Post-black metal, despite being a fresh and growing scene, takes along some really average and boring stuff. That's why it's always useful to mention who stands out in the genre. Súl ad astral does. On a side, it reminds of the bleakest references around, successfully depicting a real void of light, urban-related according to post-black metal's essence. Think to those usual walls of sound, huge tremolo picking parts, blast beats and shrieking vocals. Those ones are not a major element though, as there are big instrumental gaps. The one behind the mic uses a really wide range of vocals, sometimes deep and dark, sometimes emotional and high, sometimes... clean. Rest assured, they shine with quality, just like anything else here, thanks to an awesome crystal-clear production. Crystal-clear doesn't mean it makes things "beautiful" here, I mean... it's dark in any possible way, and perfectly arranged for that matter! Yeah, many approaches to the genre, and despite being quite a bleak monument, Súl ad astral also has some enlightened, soft parts, making it relaxing and chilling at times. Just like it should be, deep and intense, crushing, stunning, relaxing.

To cherish is an almost ten minutes-long instrumental opener, showing a wide part of Súl ad astral's skills. If that was a good experience, why not listening to Amaurosis too? And follow Súl ad astral on Facebook.

Havnatt - Havdøgn [EP]

Genre : Neofolk

Some fresh air here. Really fresh. Probably thanks to norwegian lyrics sung with a crystal-clear female voice. Or maybe because of those clean, soft guitars? Anyway, through that five songs-long EP, Havnatt makes this new approach to neofolk a success. New approach, mainly because it's vocals-driven before being guitar-driven. Some may not like it, but the guitar lines are mostly here to carry those vocals, instead of standing in the foreground. Havdøgn depicts nature like neofolk usually does, but an other way. Maybe this release won't describe cold, snowy forests with rotting trees all around, but more a bright green forest, with faeries flying all around in the sunrays. Well, enough silly comparisons, just give Havdøgn a listen if you enjoy relaxing, slow neofolk strictly limited to guitars and clean, relaxing, ethereal female vocals. No drums here, no big arrangements. But that makes it more natural, didn't it?

Check out of couple of its songs, mind you? For example Prammen and Han som skyggar meg. And follow Havnatt on Facebook.

Hypomanie - Calm down, you weren't set on fire

Genre : Instrumental post-metal / Shoegaze

What's nice here is that Hypomanie sticked to its instrumental sound. And what a sound my friends! I guess most of you already listened to the previous album (maybe this one too, heh), and new one is just as good, yet in a different vein. Calm down, you weren't set on fire is actually quite calm, yes. It's definitely lighter post-metal. Walls of sound are still here, still as powerful, drumming lines are once again a huge strength, as they're totally catchy. That sound is light, dreamy, ethereal by any means. Melodies are built inside the wall of sound, giving a serious coherence to the songs. Well, by now this kind of sound is quite "popular" among that scene, just because many bands tried that thing called "blackgaze". However, Hypomanie are still masters of that recipe. A superb release, full of dreamy atmosphere.

Oh well, maybe you want some previews? Here you go, with opener 19 stars and the sweet smell of cinnamon and Lullabye for Ian. And follow Hypomanie on Facebook.

Other reviews from Hypomanie:

   - A city in mono

Dråpsnatt - Skelepht

Genre : Folk black metal

Do you remember about Dråpsnatt? Although seriously underground, the guys still shine in the folk black scene, and definitely deserve more attention. They're back with Skelepht, a piece of agressive, grim folk metal, and a serious challenger for "album of the year 2012" if you ask me. Compared to their previous efforts, I'd say that this release features more melancholic, sometimes kinda depressive sides. Vocals are once again mostly despaired and agressive shrieks placed in the foreground, but I mean... those ones are really expressive, more than many black metal bands, where it's just about "hey, let's shriek because black metal goes that way". No, it's seriously honest, there's no happy boozing or trolls, it's all about sincerity.  It's even easy to feel it among the few clean vocals, which are definitely sincere and deep too. Technically, it's even a bit wrong to tag this "folk", even though there are some great acoustic parts, mainly consisting in pianos and cold, echoing clean guitars, more melodic than actually folky. Musically speaking, it's just what black metal should be. No blastbeat spamming, no boring repetitions, Skelepht just comes and go, moving, sometimes slower, deeper, darker, sometimes faster. Sometimes meditative, sometimes crushing. Some real atmosphere in the end, with every single element shining with quality. And an impressive maturity.

Some awesome previews? Here you go with Klardrömmar and Intigheten. And follow Dråpsnatt on Facebook.

Other reviews from Dråpsnatt:
   - Hymner till undergången

Infinitas - Journey to infinity

Genre : Depressive black metal

At first, I was quite reluctant to listen to this. Depressive black metal is moving toward directions I'm not enjoying recently. There are more and more poor one-man bands, with always the same pictures, same logos, same song structures with blend and boring walls of sound behind crying vocals. Well, this is completely un-imaginative for the most part. But we're not talking about Infinitas here. Even though it could visually let us think it's one more boring ripoff project (I've already seen that logo somewhere, huh), it's quite rich and well-executed. Well, it's not too depressive either, except the vocals maybe, which are at best for the genre, and not too redundant. Actually, there are not too much vocals, and they're kept as a background. Technically speaking, it's once again something we've already heard before, but to be honest, it's done the right way. Guitars have a nice melodic line, acoustic at times, and the background is perfectly set with really catchy, melodic walls of sound, setting a real urban atmosphere. And I think this is really the best part of the release. All in all, Journey to infinity is not something completely new, not at all to say the truth (I've already seen that logo on bands with the same sound, yay!). But it's a very good performance in the genre, definitely worth a check.

Not sure which songs to pick, so let's try Hinter grauen Wänden and Ein Hauch von Ewigkeit. And follow Infinitas on Facebook.

From oceans to autumn - The flood / The fall [EP]

Genre : Instrumental post-metal

Still very underground, From oceans to autumn is nonetheless one of the most interesting acts in the instrumental post-metal genre. This EP features two long tracks, with a strong ambient touch, mainly thanks to background guitars delivering kind of an hypnotizing sound. Not huge riffs or power chords here, things are more kept a soft way. What's quite unusual, is how bass is mostly set in the foreground, making both the songs very consistent and deep, to say the truth. Drumming lines move from ambient to fast. As a result, these tracks are mostly repetitive, but in a good way, catchy and relaxing. Worth a listen, for sure!

You can check out both the songs on the EP, The flood and The fall. And follow From oceans to autumn on Facebook. The flood / The fall is available as a free download on bandcamp.

Other reviews from From oceans to autumn:

   - Equanimity
   - Return