sleepmakeswaves - Love of Cartography (2014)

Originating from Sydney, Australia, Love of Cartography is sleepmakeswaves' third album. Their style could be broadly described as post rock with very strong guitars and attitude. 

The album opens with Perfect Detonator. The guitars roar creating a solid wall of noise but the song also contains very playful melodies. The contrast between the hard guitars and the post rock style melody is perfect. Right from the very start, this song makes a statement: This is post rock of the highest caliber with roaring guitars. The band manages to create an album that is uptempo, often sitting in the border between rock and metal but is still filled with beautiful melodies and cinematic moments. A hard combination to make but one that sleepmakeswaves manages to create seamlessly.

Other songs to highlight, are the more cinematic and sweeping Traced in Constellations, the progressive and epic How We Built the Ocean and the utterly powerful Your Time Will Come Again; a song in two parts that lures in with gentle intimacy to then explode in your face. 

The guitars are hard and in your face, the melodies are beautiful and the electronic arrangements work to great effect, enhancing the songs but not detracting from them. This is an excellent release for those who like post rock with attitude. Simply brilliant.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

You can buy the album from the sleepmakeswaves Bandcamp here

Ancient Bards - A New Dawn Ending (2014)

Originating from Italy, Ancient Bards is a power metal band with a distinct Italian sound: symphonic and epic. But this is not a generic band and A New Dawn Ending, their third album, stands out as one of the best in its genre.

The album opens with the traditional intro which is followed by A Greater Purpose, an outstanding song that can be seen as a declaration of intentions and sets the bar incredibly high for the rest album. The best news is that, the rest of the album doesn't disappoint and keeps up the high standard set from the start. The album also offers a couple of grand songs, The Showdown, just under thirteen minutes, and the title track A New Dawn Ending which goes over sixteen minutes. Fortunately, the band doesn't get lost in the magnitude and scope of the music. Despite the symphonic epic bombast, the songs sound fresh and tight. All the fat has been trimmed and only the best parts have made it to the album.

I honestly can't highlight favourite songs, there's only two that fall a bit short, all the other tracks are absolute killers. It's refreshing to listen to a female voice in a straight forward power metal style and Sara's vocals are incredibly powerful. She commands the band with energy and delivers outstanding vocals.

Overall, this is an outstanding power metal album with an epic symphonic bent that I can't stop listening to. An absolute burst of energy that confirms Ancient Bards as one of the best in the genre right now.

Rating: Heavy Rotation