Hazards of Swimming Naked - Take Great Joy

#FOR FANS OF: Post-Rock, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogway

This melodic Australian post-rock album is a joy for the people who like to dream during their listenings, a delightful piece of harmonious music, a work almost wordless except for the nostalgic and sweet remake of the Icelandic lullaby "Sofðu Unga Ástin Mín" where a female voice lulls fear and anger, letting us dive into a lake of peace and hope. Hazards of Swimming Naked reveal in this 2018 their second album, almost nine years after their debut ‘Our Lines are Down’ and promise to launch a tour starting apparently from the 15th of December 2018. This latter release is one of those albums that make me thankful to write music reviews, in a bunch of unknown artists this Brisbane’s collective switch a light on and illuminate my boring afternoons, a breathing proof that a singer is not necessary to compose a great rock album. What I liked the most is for sure the sensation of resonance and nostalgia played by the brilliant arpeggios, the feeling of an enjoyable sadness orchestrated by pieces of trombones, arches and bells. ‘Take a Great Joy’, in conclusion, is a sweet electric fable, one of these tales that we never want to stop listening: an epic announcement in "There Was Never a Right Time", an adventurous development in "Waiting for 5120", a breakdown in "Curtis", a mysterious ascent in "I Don’t Know This Road", a reflexion in "This Common Thread" and, in the end, an inevitable advice: "Accept the Mystery". Well done mates! (Pietro Cavalcaselle)

(Bird's Robe Records - 2018)
Score: 80

https://hazardsofswimmingnaked.com.au/album/take-great-joy

Shuffle - #WontTheyFade

#FOR FANS OF: NuMetal/Alternative Rock, Linkin Park, Incubus

After the 2015’s convincing debut album 'Upon the Hill', this nu-metal youngster quintet releases another raw diamond: '#WontTheyFade'. Everybody would initially spot this band somewhere in the USA, the sound takes us to the late '90s college rock but: first of all, these guys come from France (Le Mans) and second, they re-adapted a 20 years old sound to the XXI century’s second decade with modern lyrics and much more groove. I enjoyed this album a lot and I’m looking forward to monitor the bright future they’re promising, they have everything necessary to break trough the scene and already shown maturity in this latter release comparing it to the first one. The composition, the arrangements, the riffs and the melodies deserve more than a superficial glance, delicacy and brutality are perfectly merged together, I mean, if you are under 30 you have no reason to avoid this album, if you are over 30 and still able to dream, you also have no reason to leave this work un-downloaded. Shuffle is a wonderful reality made of young hungry guys ready to slap your face from the earliest live guitar plug, I’m already checking if they’re planning a gig in Italy! The ingredients of Shuffle are compliant for a world explosion, “Spoil the Ground” and “Faded Chalk Lines” will stay for a long time in my playlists and I will definitely let my girlfriend listen to “Oh Glop D’eternitat”, '#WontTheyFade' has songs for everybody. Emerging or not, material about this band can be found easily with a quick research and what really emerge are their passion and dedication. If the improving path won’t meet distractions, we will here about these guys very, very soon. (Pietro Cavalcaselle)

(Self - 2018)
Score: 70

https://www.facebook.com/Shuffleofficialpage/

Unhold - Here is the Blood

#FOR FANS OF: Post Metal/Sludge, Cult of Luna, Neurosis

There is a Swiss quintet, better to name it fivesome considering the mass of this album, presenting a humble masterpiece called 'Here is the Blood, the release issued on 9th November 2018 from Czar Of Crickets Production. Everytime I reach such an artwork my biggest struggle is “to have never seen a live performance of this band is such a pity”. The outcome is a mature and full-bodied wave of magnitude, this heavy bernese band is not a newcomer in the metal scenario, they actually look like being active since at least 25 years, not a surprise when it comes to analyse their tracks’ texture, engineering, mixing and mastering: Unhold is definitely candidated to be one of the best niche European sludge realities. Taking a considerable distance from the initial noise roots spotted in the previous LPs, this last work’s style reminds us to Cult of Luna and Neurosis even if the synth layers and the astonishing voice of Miriam Wolf, co-vocal and pianist, define a unique sound amenable to a personal and unique trademark. 'Here is the Blood' starts with "Attaining the Light", brilliant and convincing invitation to enjoy the whole product, "Convoy" pulls us with a stoney riff into a hidden rage corner, announcing the arrival of a bloody flow. The following tracks Deeper in and Curse of the Dime shepherd the path with remarkable vocal atmospheres. In "Hunter", Miriam takes the lead and orchestrates a melancholic break, a teardrop of hope in a ocean of fury but also a bid, a bid to test our integrity, coherence and our responsibility. "Pale" and "Altar" dive again into waters of anger, the hoarse voices of the guitarists Philipp Thöni and Thomas Tschuor, spread oblivion and agony. The last track, "The Chronic Return" encases all the adjectives compliant to this 50 minutes album: emotional, aesthetic, hopeful, existential, a wall of depth. This alpine ensemble latest production is definitely a must buy! (Pietro Cavalaselle)

(Czar of Crickets Productions - 2018)
Score: 80

https://unhold.bandcamp.com/album/here-is-the-blood

Alchem - Viaggio al Centro della Terra

#PER CHI AMA: Progressive Metal

Se non sapessi che la release degli Alchem 'Viaggio al Centro della Terra' fosse uscito nel 2018, avrei senz’altro pensato, dopo l’ascolto, che fosse datato almeno di 15 anni. Questo album mi ha fatto tornare indietro ai tempi in cui da sbarbatello, sotto gentile concessione dei miei gentiori, andavo alle sagre di paese e scoprivo per la prima volta che la musica non era soltanto 'Hit Mania Dance' e 'Hot Party' ma che invece esisteva, al di fuori di queste compilation, un intero mondo di persone che si ritrovava settimanalmente in uno scantinato nell’intento di preparare live performance. L’ultimo lavoro del collettivo romano fondato da Annalisa Belli e Pierpaolo Capuano è un prodotto genuinamente umano e si capisce subito come i musicisti abbraccino il motto “Do it yourself”: la qualità di registrazione infatti, insieme alle scelte di composizione, sembra inequivocabilmente riconducibile ad una band che da più di un quarto di secolo si è isolata nella sua comfort zone e si è dedicata con zelo a trasportare sogni e visioni su un pentagramma. Non ci vuole molto tempo per trovare informazioni sugli Alchem e scoprire che la loro mission non si esula soltanto nei meandri del progressive metal ma abbraccia anche progetti di visual e grafica, insieme ad una considerevole serie di collaborazioni con altri musicisti. 'Viaggio al Centro della Terra' ahimé non spicca per innovazione e scelte stilistiche azzardate, è un super classicone del genere, condito da intraprendenti breaks vocali che strizzano l’occhio a spiritualità e alla magia. Consiglierei questo album a chi, come me quando non avevo ancora la barba, si dovesse svegliare un mattino di novembre e capire che la musica non è soltanto un daw-software ma è nata e sopravvive, ancora oggi, grazie a persone che sentono il desiderio di comunicare pensieri ed intuizioni. La musica non è solo mixtape e remixe, ma è nata e sopravvive anche nel 2018 grazie a persone che periodicamente s'incontrano e si arrovellano il gulliver per trasformare idee in note, esercitarsi ed esibirsi. (Pietro Cavalcaselle)

(The Triad Records/Black Widow Rec/Maculata Anima/Hellbones Records - 2018)
Voto: 55

https://hellbonesrecords.bandcamp.com/album/alchem-viaggio-al-centro-della-terra

Chorosia - S/t

#FOR FANS OF: Sludge/Psych Doom

Vienna represents, probably second only to Berlin, the European electronic music’s fulcrum. Every night, waves of hopeless people are melting in clubs and the offer of these synthetic rooms is practically unlimited. In a city where techno expresses his sovereignity, a band named Chorosia makes his debut with a 53 minutes album full of hope for the metal scene. The work appears even too sophisticated to be a self-production, these guys indeed entirely wrote, produced and mastered the album and, most of all, released it free from labels: everything sounds definitely way far from a rudimentary project. Hoarse voices are kneaded to hypnotic riffs and elegant arpeggios, the first track introduces clearly Chorosia’s mission: "Priestess of Doom", what else better than a female holy guide to attract new masses and redeem Vienna from his sins? The peak of the album can be identified in the tracks "The Lurking Fear", followed by "Harm", a deep navigation between strenght and harmony. This tracks duetto expresses, in my opinion, what this Austrian ensemble is, aka a living oxymoron: an expert rookie band (they formed in 2017) spreading profound vibrations in a city intoxicated by daw-music and hit hats. Chorosia’s self titled album alternates frenetic rides to slow, profound and introspective moments of decadence, the instrument’s union doesn’t clash for a single second and produces a monolithic result. The rythm choices are surprising and never step into banality, covering practically the entire spectrum of the doom and sludge style. "Place of Planes", the bottom track, is pure chocolate for the lovers of the genre, the perfect conclusion of this outset album: it burns like a fire coming from a rocket ready to be launched. The last seconds of Chorosia is a foggy glaze to a brillant future, what actually this band deserves, no doubt about it. (Pietro Cavalcaselle)

(Self - 2018)
Score: 75

https://chorosia.bandcamp.com/releases