Vergissmeinnicht - Whispering solitude

Genre : (Mostly instrumental) neofolk

If I come to you and say "hey, I found chinese folk!", you're all scared, aren't you? Well, I was, too. However, Vergissmeinnicht has nothing to envy occidental folk bands. What we have here is a very melodic, deep and calming neofolk, with ethereal male vocals featuring a couple english lyrics in the background. Well, that's almost all you have, but who dares saying simplest things cannot be good? They're even the best ones, sometimes. In some cases like this one, no need to add layers of instruments, as the aim is definitely reached, with rich, melancholic guitar and flute melodies. All we want. All you want, too, if you can forgive a couple out-of-tune parts and some noisy ambient sounds, which you should.

A superb piece of this album is for sure Innocent. Also check out Whispering solitude.

Other reviews from Vergissmeinnicht:
   - His own strange songs

October falls - The womb of primordial nature

Genre : Folk black metal

The womb of primordial nature is simply divided into four untitled chapters which consist into a deep journey through black metal and nature, getting darker and more agressive towards the end. Although folk parts are often strictly cut from the black metal elements, there are plenty of rich melodies here, and clean guitars keep playing behind distorted ones. Guitars keep singing and singing during the whole album, and the softened clean guitars parts are warmly welcomed to spare this deep autumnal forest feeling. However, that awesome guitar work is not the only strength of the album, as drums and bass are very interesting too. Vocals could have more strength (which will be the case in A collapse of faith), but they're still really good, and perfectly mixed, so the volume balance doesn't suffer any flow.

What else to say? Let's listen to Part II and Part IV now. And follow October falls on Facebook.

Other reviews from October falls:
   - A collapse of faith
   - Sarastus [EP]

Omega massif - Geisterstadt | Kalt

Genre : Instrumental post-metal / Sludge

Usually, when it's about sludge, I feel a bit disappointed about the lack of melodies, and the overall heaviness which sometimes get too much and boring. However, Omega massif makes a good attempt in avoiding those flaws, with a strong, distorted and heavy sound, but featuring interesting melodies that stick in one's head, and softened, yet dark parts, that fit in perfectly. Omega massif thus depicts a desertic and frozen world, with an overall cold sound, would it be heavy rhythms or melodies which are kept gloomy enough to fit in the genre.

Get a first taste of their sound with Eiswüste and Arcanum. And follow Omega massif on Facebook.

Other reviews from Omega massif:
   - Karpatia

Vàli - Forlatt

Genre : Instrumental neofolk

Vàli plays a calming and inspiring neofolk, mostly made with warm folk guitars, playing unforgettable melodies. Behind those, are often hidden a couple flutes, pianos, violins, or light female choirs. Still, the strength of Vàli is to setup diverse atmospheres, through the use of complex and rich melodies. Therefore, Forlatt switchs from light parts to melancholic sounds, always kept a very natural feel, without any kind of percussions. Poetic, calming, soothing, Vàli is all that at a time, and undoubtedly one of the best instrumental neofolk of all times.

Enjoy this one through Dypt inne i skogen and Naar vinden graater.... And follow Vàli on Facebook.

Falls of Rauros - The light that dwells in rotten wood

Genre : Folk black metal

Finding good, sincere, and non-viking oriented folk black metal to bring you is a real pain, believe me. Luckily enough, I've been able to find Falls of Rauros, and if you don't know about them yet, it's high time to fix this terrible mistake. The light that dwells in rotten wood is an amazing and epic piece of music, with every element you need to get perfect folk black. Vocals are strong and sincere, yet kept enough in the background to let the guitars shine. And those guitars really need to, for they throw away amazing riffs, melodies, folk parts, and powerful rhythms. Bass and drums have to be mentioned too, as they do a perfect background work, which will really give you shivers, as they carry and support the melodies at best. No happy drunk viking, beers or dragon slaying here, but definitely a perfect nature-bound folk black.

Now really, please check out Awaiting the fire or flood that awakes it and Silence. You know you want to, because you wonder why I'm so excited about it. And follow Falls of Rauros on Facebook.

Year of no light - Ausserwelt

Genre : Instrumental post-metal / Sludge

Some call it sludge, or doom, but I will just say that Ausserwelt is one of the most awesome instrumental gloomy and despaired metal I've ever come across. First, it's completely guitar-oriented, with very few keyboards, and ambient parts are more played through drones than with synths. Songs have quite unusual structures, featuring long parts with tortured guitars, crying riffs and urban-like sounds, diving deeper and deeper into a world devoid of light. Guitars are sometimes played high and fast, then they switch to harsh, loud and low rhythms, not to forget the awesome droning parts. It's hard to describe how well they fit with bass and drums to create a desperate atmosphere, but I can ensure it's a masterwork, and there are very few records that would be able to bring you such emotions, if you enjoy sick and dark music, of course.

Get a taste of those feelings through Perséphone (Enna) and Perséphone (Coré). And follow Year of no light on Facebook.

Other reviews from Year of no light:

   - Nord

Meniscus - Absence of I

Genre : Instrumental post-rock

Post-rock has many hidden gems, and Meniscus is one of them. There's nothing new or unusual in their sound, except maybe the length of the tracks, but it is great instrumental post-rock, strongly bass driven, energic and  just distorted like it should be to keep it between softness and heaviness, with nice and epic melodies that give that somewhat space feeling often associated with post-rock. Tracks are often complex and long in Absence of I, but that makes for a not-boring-at-all music, which is a good thing! Worth checking out, if you ask me.

Check out Cusp and Mother for a nice part of this journey. And follow Meniscus on Facebook.

Other reviews from Meniscus:
   - War of currents