Mogwai - The Bad Fire (2025)

Mogwai has been around for a long time and they continue to create excellent music. Listening to The Bad Fire is like listening to a familiar voice, a friend who's been with you on and off in your life. The voice may change a little bit here and there, there may be some new textures little variations in tone, but you know it's the same old friend who's always been there. 

The Bad Fire is another great addition to Mogwai's outstanding discography.

Aoria - The Constant (2012)

 

The Constant by Aoria is an excellent album of melancholic and sweeping alternative rock with shades of post-rock.

Listen to opening track below and visit their Bandcamp here

Tides of Man - Young and Courageous (2014)

 

Great melodies and an excellent post-rock album for a band that didn’t do post-rock before and had a singer in the previous two records. 

You can get it on their BandCamp page here

Catacombe - Quidam (2014)

 

A very classic sounding post-rock album. It’s nothing new but it’s certainly well done and the album delivers some great moments; Lolita being my particular highlight - excellent track!

You can listen and buy the album through their Bandcamp page here

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

Alcest - Shelter (2014)

Originating from France, Alcest is a band that creates utterly beautiful music with shoe gaze, post rock and dream pop influences. In Shelter the band leaves behind bursts of guitar, all the elements are smoothed out and melody, beauty and ethereal qualities are emphasised to great effect. 

From album opener Wings/Opale all the way to the closing track Deliverance, the album takes the listener into an ethereal otherworld. This is a soundtrack of wonder and beauty. In this regard, apart from the the album opener and closing track mentioned above, I would highlight Voix Sereines. Placed half-way through the album is the heart of the album with a great mix of delicate sounds and lullaby-like feel.

Best of all, though, the album is consistent in quality and concise at 47 minutes. The songs are great on their own but are best appreciated in the context of the album. The mix of post rock and dream pop qualities is perfectly blended and the band manages to sound honest and true, never generic. Like many other bands before, who moved from darker territories to lighter sound-scapes (think Opeth's Damnation or Anathema's latest albums) Alcest have managed to create a very special album.

Rating: Good Vibrations

Anathema - Distant Satellites (2014)

Distant Satellites is Anathema's tenth studio album in a long career that has seen them evolve from doom metal to uplifting progressive rock with an ever present touch of melancholy. Whilst the previous two albums showed a considerable progression in their sound, Distant Satellites feels like a distillation of their sound since 2001's A Fine Day to Exit at the same time that it takes another bold step forward.

The band continues their journey into minimalism, something that's even more prevalent than in their previous two albums. The sound and arrangements have been stripped down and the structure of songs follows a driven crescendo more akin to post-rock music. The album opener is a prime example of this, The Lost Song Part I is a song that builds and builds in a clear progression until it completely explodes. It's very post-rock but it's also very much what Anathema has been doing for a while now. 

The album uses symphonic elements creating atmosphere and beautiful calm passages to great effect. Some of the guitar work harks back to A Fine Day to Exit, for example in Dusk (Dark is Descending), and some of the more ambient and electronic moments bring A Natural Disaster to mind, but Distant Satellites brings all these elements together with a more assertive, dressed down approach than ever and a more electronic sound that brings Radiohead to mind (something that was already present in parts of A Natural Disaster but it's more present than ever here).

Distant Satellites works best as an album. It's the whole experience rather than a collection of songs. Songs like Anathema and The Lost Song Part III are best experienced and understood in the context of what has come before. Having said that some highlights include the album opener The Lost Song Part I, a classic Anathema song that starts quietly, grows in power and explodes into an incredible wall of sound; the atmospheric and gentle Ariel and the darker shade that The Lost Song Part III (you can listen to the track below). 

But the last two songs in the album deserve a special mention. The title track, Distant Satellites, is an eight minute bold song that is jam packed with atmosphere, electronica and symphonic elements. It feels like this driven and fascinating song breaks with the past and presents a new Anathema. A feeling that continues with the closing track Take Shelter. It opens with a very quiet atmosphere and Vincent's fragile and hauntingly beautiful vocals then grows into an upbeat second half with electronic drums, leaving the listener with a powerful uplifting sensation. Both songs sound like Anathema but offer a new sound, a new side to the band, perhaps a sign of things to come, and they're my favourite songs.

The band has changed dramatically from their early years. Anathema has evolved from dark into light but there's still a strong sense of power, doom and melancholy even in their most uplifting moments. Distant Satellites is their tenth album and it successfully distills everything Anathema has been working on since A Fine Day to Exit at the same time that it takes a bold step forward. 

Perhaps some people will not be receptive to what Distant Satellites has to offer wanting the band to go back to what they were doing 15 to 20 years ago but that's their loss. I can't stop listening to this album and Anathema present once again what will surely be one of the best albums of the year.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Please note, an interview to lead singer Vincent Cavanagh will be posted soon. This will be the very first interview for this blog, with many more to come - I hope! 

Collapse Under the Empire - The Silent Cry (2013)

Originating from Hamburg Collapse Under the Empire fall into the post-rock category but this is not a band that should be dismissed and in fact stand above the general crowd.

All six songs are excellent but I would particularly highlight the opening track We Are Close As This (see the video below), a powerful track with a powerful rolling beat of drums and roaring guitars. The title track The Silent Cry, a perfectly crafted song that builds up with excellent arrangements and guitar work to end with an orchestral 'soundtracky' passage. And Ashfall which packs big drums, strings and a lot of power. 

In many ways this is straight forward post-rock but what sets Collapse Under the Empire apart is their incredibly cinematic sound. Their music really feels like the fitting accompaniment to a film. The band has achieved a great balance of quieter and harder moments with an ever present dark brooding tension. 

Excellent release from the band.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Palms - Palms (2013)

Palms is a kind of superband with members of Isis and Deftones' Chino Moreno as frontman. Expectations were high for the album and the band delivers but perhaps not in a way that will satisfy everyone.

The album moves at a slow pace like a small boat sailing gently through a pristine calm ocean. This is a dreamy kind of post-rock concerned with mood and atmosphere rather than riffs and Chino Moreno's silky vocals suit the music perfectly. The songs are also quite long with progressive rock tendencies. 

Some may find the calm and quiet of these songs boring, there's no metal here, no big guitar bursts (well a few really well measured ones), but the album is so beautiful, soothing and uplifting that I personally would nominate the ten minute long Mission Sunset as my particular highlight. 

I love everything Deftones has done but I've always wanted Deftones to explore their more melodic and dreamy side in one album. Forget about metal, consider it a one time experiment and just go with it. I don't think that will ever happen but this album gives me a bit of an idea of what it could sound like.

Palms may not be for everyone, some will miss bigger guitar moments, but I'm captivated by the utter beauty of this debut album and I hope there's more to come. This debut album is a triumph in every possible way.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

I Hear Sirens - Between Consciousness and Sleep (2013)

Originating from the United States, I Hear Sirens is a four piece band that creates beautiful landscapes with perfectly crafted post rock songs.

The songs are mostly contemplative and relaxing, with a few sparse moments of tension here and there. Unlike the heavy reliance on keyboards that seems to have become the norm of late, I Hear Sirens has a more classic post rock sound relying on guitars.

The album has the feeling of a film score and the music transmits a lot of emotion. The songs are built like stories and the arrangements are spot on.

I Hear Sirens doesn't break any new ground in the genre, but the songs are so perfectly crafted and executed that this EP is incredibly addictive.

You can purchase their EP at their Bandcamp page for $5 here

Rating: Good Vibrations

Dorena - Nuet (2013)

Originating from Sweden, Nuet is Dorena's third album. The band describe their sound as: "Music for love, dreams and warm summer nights." That's pretty accurate.

The first song, Semper, begins with a dreamy arpeggio that lures you into the album. The song is beautifully crafted and the band builds layers of sounds to create a lush sound that is, at the same time, incredibly minimalist.

That first song, sets the template for the rest of the album. Dorena is quite minimalist but manages to build melodies and sounds that are simply beautiful and lush. The songs are catchy but at the same time understated.

Of course, there are parts when sharper sounds and noise build up, but this is mostly a very bright chilled-out album.

Borrowing, again, from their website: "Dorena crafts beautiful and nostalgic post-rock without pretensions."

Without pretensions is right but what a brilliant album! I honestly can't even mention a favourite or stand out song.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Mogwai - Les Revenants (2013)

This review will be short.

Les Revenants is not a standard Mogwai album but a soundtrack to a French zombie TV show.

The music is haunting and beautiful. The band uses lots piano and xylophone sounds. The music is gentle but simmering with tension that never explodes (no classic Mogwai wall of guitars and noise here).

I haven't seen the show, but this music is just pure bliss. I can't recommend it enough.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Long Distance Calling - The Flood Inside (2013)

Long Distance Callling impressed me with their first two albums but I somehow managed to miss their third (my fault). The Flood Inside is their fourth effort and it's simply brilliant.

From the opening track Nucleus, the album flows effortlessly between dreamy calm passages, simmering rage and explosions of furious guitars that sit somewhere in the border of rock and metal. 

Featuring more vocals than ever but still being predominantly instrumental and true to themselves. The Flood Inside also includes some bluesy solos, particularly in opener Nucleus (see the video below) and enough variety between songs to hold up interest. 

A great album from start to end that feels like it tells one story.

Rating: Heavy Rotation