• Deep Mountains – Lake of Solace

    October 10, 2014 in Reviews by Sebastian Kluth

    Deep Mountains 2014Deep Mountains Lake of Solace (2014)

    Reviewed by Sebastian Kluth

    Deep Mountains is an interesting black metal band from Tai’an, Shandong province in the People’s Republic of China, because this quartet almost has nothing to do with metal music whatsoever. The three men and one woman mostly play laid back acoustic neofolk that evokes strong feelings and relates a lot to nature in general. Fans of bands such as Dornenreich, Empyrium, Opeth, or Ulver should dig this kind of music.

     

    Many songs are harmonious and make you feel at peace with the world. The mysterious and sacred “Intro”, and the laid back, optimistic acoustic guitar-driven last track “Li Fenghua”, where one even hears the band members chatting and laughing from time to time, really closes the circle on this release for me. Other songs are more desperate and nihilistic, and can include occasional black metal shrieks and noisy guitar walls. An interesting example is the epic “Detachment”, which includes a few English vocal samples taken from a movie. They describe the desperate situation of women in relation to abuse at work, as well as excessive beauty ideals suggested by the media that don’t harmonize at all with the band’s almost Rousseau-esque vision of Mother Earth.

    Some tracks, like the majestic “Sin”, include both elements. Beautiful acoustic guitar harmonies and mysteriously whispered vocals meet more plodding and noisy riffs, along with impressive emotional vocal outbursts. The title song “Lake Of Solace”, in two parts, has a similar tone that also recalls the band’s highly commendable Chinese colleagues from Esthète Sinistre. There are more and more profound black metal bands coming from this country as time goes on.

    The standout track on this release is definitely the harmonious “Ballad Of River Nai”. It features nature sound samples such as water falling, which make the track feel really authentic. These field recordings are combined with acoustic guitar work which is simple, yet liberating. The short song is crowned by traditional female vocals that recall ancient Chinese mores that I happen to admire very much. For me, this song is a nostalgic piece of magic, and has nothing to do with modern music whatsoever.

    To conclude, Lake Of Solace is a profound, nature-bound, and emotional soundtrack to plunge into. It’s the kind of sophisticated, yet pure grower that evokes numerous images in your mind. It’s an album you should experience when you’re walking alone through autumnal landscapes. Neofolk and post-black metal fans should definitely try this album out, as I haven’t discovered a better genre release this year so far. Visit the band’s Douban site to discover this little masterpiece for free.

    4.25 // 5

     

     

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  • Tonight is the beginning of the 2014-15 NHL season! Here are my personal predictions:

    Atlantic Division

    1.       Tampa Bay Lightning                                   109

    2.       Boston Bruins                                                 106

    3.       Montreal Canadiens                                     100

    4.       Toronto Maple Leafs                                          98

    5.       Detroit Red Wings                                              96

    6.       Buffalo Sabres                                                    89

    7.       Florida Panthers                                                 73

    8.       Ottawa Senators                                                64

     

    Metropolitan Division

    1.       New York Rangers                                         112

    2.       Pittsburgh Penguins                                     107

    3.       Columbus Blue Jackets                                95

    4.       Carolina Hurricanes                                            92

    5.       Washington Capitals                                          90

    6.       Philadelphia Flyers                                             86

    7.       New York Islanders                                            72

    8.       New Jersey Devils                                              66

     

    Central Division

    1.       Colorado Avalanche                                     105

    2.       Chicago Blackhawks                                     102

    3.       Dallas Stars                                                    101

    4.       St. Louis Blues                                                   97

    5.       Minnesota Wild                                                   86

    6.       Nashville Predators                                            78

    7.       Winnipeg Jets                                                    60

     

    Pacific Division

    1.       San Jose Sharks                                            108

    2.       Los Angeles Kings                                         101

    3.       Anaheim Ducks                                              98

    4.       Edmonton Oilers                                                 89

    5.       Vancouver Canucks                                            87

    6.       Phoenix Coyotes                                                81

    Calgary Flames                                                   57

     

             Eastern Conference Champions: Tampa Bay Lightning

             Western Conference Champions: Colorado Avalanche

             Stanley Cup Champions: Colorado Avalanche

     

             Calder Memorial Trophy: Jonathan Drouin, Tampa Bay Lightning

             Hart Memorial Trophy: Martin St. Louis, New York Rangers

             James Norris Memorial Trophy: P.K. Subban, Montreal Canadiens

             Vezina Trophy: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets

             Jack Adams Award: Patrick Roy, Colorado Avalanche

             Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy: Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks 

     

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  • Dear readers of my blog,

    I just read that my very favourite television series "Twin Peaks" is set to make a comeback in 2016, including many of the legendary original cast members as well as the driving creative forces behind the original project who were Mark Frost and David Lynch. The second and until now final season of the series left many intriguing questions unanswered. It's hard to put into words how excited I am about this project. Anybody who hasn't seen the original series as well as the feature film that were produced and broadcasted between 1989 and 1992 or who hasn't watched the episodes for quite some time should absolutely do so and (re)visit this historical series. In my humble opinion, this is by far the best television show of all times.

    You can find more details here:

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-07/twin-peaks-set-to-make-comeback/5795590

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  • Xiaoyu – Downtown Fall Border

    October 2, 2014 in Reviews by Sebastian Kluth

    Rain - Downtown Fall BorderRain Downtown Fall Border (2013)

    Reviewed by Sebastian Kluth

    Xiaoyu (or Rain, in English) is a promising symphonic power metal quintet from Guangzhou in the People’s Republic of China. Founded back in 2005, the band released its first full length record in 2008 which can be loosely translated asForest Pavilion, and delivered a strong follow-up by the end of 2013. This album is a little bit tougher to translate, but the term Downtown Fall Border sounds the best to me. The four young men on bass, drums, guitar, and keyboard, as well as the female singer bring forth a diverse batch of song writing which includes calm, sometimes neo-folky passages in the key of Empyrium, great melodic guitar solos, and an almost ambient use of keyboards which places them closer to bands like Edenbridge. Finally, Rain throws in a few gothic metal passages in certain songs, where the gracious female vocalist gets the support of some hoarse and rather unique male growls in a style very familiar for fans of groups like Epica.

     

    After a great, quick introduction, the quintet from Guangzhou immediately delivers in form of the gracious “Silence”, which unites all the different elements cited above in one single song with gripping songwriting. Calm moments carried by decent atmospheric keyboard parts, occasional acoustic guitar passages, and angelic vocals meet fast power metal and well-executed guitar solos. The song has a running time of seven minutes and a half, but it neither gets redundant nor loses its clear guiding line.

    “Warriors Underneath The Sun” is more of an overall up-tempo track with gripping riffs, fast power metal solos, and organs, while the hoarse male vocals are used more and better to contrast the elegant female singing. The great middle part of the song that gives us a short break introduces a folky section with powerful gang chants that I could hear coming from a Gwyllion release. Moving along, the almost medieval flute sounds in the laid back “La Porta Di Luce” pull on the laid-back elements even further. The calm tribal drumming and dominating bass guitar also shine in this track, while the touching soft vocals reach out to caress the listener. Old Nightwish fans should dig this track, as well as the similar and maybe slightly catchier album closer “The Path To Paradise”.

    While the first few songs on the album will immediately appeal to a wider audience, the second part of the album is not only calmer overall, but also more progressive, with songs reaching running times of above ten minutes. The emotional violin, gloomy piano, and chilling extensive neoclassical guitar solos in the mysterious title song meet what is probably the most outstanding vocal performance on this release. Pang Yuet, also called Xiao Xiao, reaches her highest vocal ranges and performs as fantastically as a professional opera singer without ever sounding annoying. This track really lives due to her effortless performance, and I can’t but fall in love with her voice. If you like laid back classical music or symphonic metal, this is the kind of song that is a little bit more challenging at first, but will turn out to be an outstanding highlight on this release. If you had to listen to only one song on this whole album, this is it.

    Apart from the slightly redundant transitional instrumental “Twilight Flowers By A Rainy Night” and a well done short introduction, Xiaoyu’s second output includes seven creative and touching high-quality symphonic metal tracks that ought to grow on you with each spin. Along with the latest releases by Epica and Xandria, Xiaoyu’s record is easily among the very best symphonic metal releases of this decade. Among many promising obscure Chinese metal bands, Xiaoyu, is one that should be kept on your radar for more obscure metal endeavors. I highly recommend you to listen to Xiaoyu’s release for free now.

    4.5 // 5

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