Saturday, September 26, 2015

Bandcamp Picks - Fuck The Facts, Alda, Anopheli, Myrkur



DoC faves Fuck the Facts return with their best album yet. Desire Will Rot sees the always eclectic québécois quintet diversifying their sound further with some OTT metal moments on top of their usual mix of grind, death, doom, and hardcore. A band that breaks the mould and then stomps it into dangerous little shards. Magnifique. [$4 CAD]


Alda, one of my first ever Bandcamp Picks, finally deliver their long awaited (by me at least) third album. Passage continues where its predecessor left off, combining atmospheric black metal and folk, with more confidence and stronger performances (particularly with the vocals). An album for long walks in the woods; it may not deflect any Agalloch comparisons, but it shows the band is coming into their own. [€6.90 ]


It's amazing what a difference one instrument can make; Oakland CA's Anopheli might be just another band following in Tragedy's footsteps if it wasn't for the addition of a cellist. The Ache of Want puts her front and centre and lets her drive the music, the end result being even more apocalyptic than this kind of dark crust usually is. One of the best, most compelling hardcore albums I've heard this year, and it's available as a "name your price" download.


Well, the cat's out of the bag on Myrkur's Amalie Bruun; her dance pop and shoegaze background is now common knowledge. Honestly, Myrkur's full length M would benefit greatly from embracing that background a little more. The straight ahead black metal moments are a little generic, and songs that lean too heavily on her (admittedly pretty good) clean vocals dredge up comparisons to the Ghosts of Goff Metal Past (anyone who got a Century Media Identity comp back in the day will know what I'm talking about). But the album's sublime opener (not to mention their contribution to this year's Adult Swim singles collection) suggest that Relapse's faith in the project isn't misplaced, just a little premature. [$10.99 ]