The January overflow continues STILL with 2021 records from Geese, Zornheym, and Sur Austru. There’s already some good 2022 music out, why do I focus so much on the past? What even is a 2021? Where are my shoes?

Geese – Projector
(October 29, 2021)

There are no reservations about my opinion that 2021 was the Year of the Post-Punk debuts. I won’t even name drop them again, you should already know them or leave this website forever (edit: please don’t leave this website forever). Underrated among them, trying to cash in at the 11th hour, was Geese’s own debut. Bands named after birds in the plural form tend to go over well: the Wrens, Doves, Swans, Cranes. The Eagles notwithstanding. In any other year, Projector could have possibly been making the charts. It was a very tough competition.

Usual post-punk fare. There is a lot of indie-sensible songwriting in the vein of ’00s garage rock revival groups (the Black Keys, the Strokes, et al.), which helps contrast the experimental approach of Squid, black midi, and Black Country, New Road. Songs alternate between choppy, angular garage rock and slow and steady groove funk. Tracks like “Fantasies / Survival” have the crisply-edged, melody-driven urgency of a White Stripes song, and tracks like “First Fold Warrior” sound like LCD Soundsystem at James Murphy’s crooniest. Sometimes songs sound like both of these styles at once! The title track, especially, naturally merges these two faces of the Geese coin. The Goose coin?

My favorite track is “Disco”, largely because of the disco! But there’s only some disco, and it happens at the bridge, but most of the end is a chaotic breakdown of noisy Sonic Youth anti-music. I also like the brassy trumpet coda at the end of “Exploding House”.

I name-dropped more bands than usual this time! It’s clear that Geese have a lot of influences! They need to come into their own still, and hopefully some more individuality shines through in the future. For now, though, solid release.

Early Verdict:

Zornheym – The Zornheim Sleep Experiment
(October 22, 2021)

I don’t listen to metal for the lyrics or the story because, more often than not, they’re dumb as shit. The concept behind Zornheym’s second album is intriguing, though: a doctor at the Zornheim Asylum documents his findings and reports the grim consequences as they perform sleep deprivation experiments on the insane inmates. That’s a far as I got, though. I still didn’t listen for the lyrics or the story!

But one needs not the concept in front of them to enjoy the music on this action-packed 37-minute operatic ride! The Zornheim Sleep Experiment is the very definition of theatrical, melodic death metal. Overproduced stringed instruments, dizzying speed guitar solos, and echoed tubular bells make the whole production sound like a twisted Trans-Siberian Orchestra affair. Except without the, you know, Jesus-y Christmas stuff. And although I tend to be on my guard when it comes to symphonic metal in this vein, the corny power metal jubilation is often avoided in favor of cinematic tension. Plus, the use of blackened growls along with the clean singing gives additional edge to the arrangements.

Speaking of clean singing, the heavy Swedish accents make the dramatic delivery of lines like “Keep the devil away/Keep him astray/Hear us pray/Hear what I say” unintentionally funny to me! And those clean vocals work well with my favorite track, “The Revelation”, where the Middle-Eastern scales and the “Don’t want to be free” chorus brings to mind an ancient Egyptian death march.

This is album is a case where everything works, and it’s exactly the kind of album I needed to hear in order to keep myself from compulsively waving off melodeath records sight unseen (sound unheard?). Gems are everywhere!

Early Verdict:

Sur Austru – Obârșie
(February 12, 2021)

I have spoken before (one week ago, actually) on my burgeoning neofolk interests, so when I dipped into Sur Austru I expected more of the same. And then I got more of the same! And then I learned that Obârșie isn’t neofolk, it’s avantgarde folk metal. And then I learned that it gets this distinction, possibly, because Sur Austru is not much more than a continuation of Romanian black metal outfit Negură Bunget after their last original member died. And then I was like “oh yeah, I sorta know that band’s one album that I listened to maybe twice”.

Anyway, with this knowledge, I listened to Obârșie again and realized that this shit is totally neofolk! What the fuck! OK, maybe track one is pretty heavy, I guess, and the distorted guitar shows up from time to time, and certainly the guttural vocals are unmistakably a heavy metal trait…but there’s goddamn flute everywhere, man! And there’s all this atmospheric chanting. All these slow, steady, unassuming passages. Not much in the way of guitar textures or overly aggressive vocal performances. Does this mean your mom will like this? Probably not! She’ll think it’s mostly weird. But there are parts she will like!

Like “Taina”, it lies almost entirely outside the metal genre (brief phrases of riffage and that one lead guitar refrain notwithstanding). “Comru Moma” is just a flute solo with soft, sparse hand drumming accompaniment, no guitars  at all. “Caloianul” builds to a frenzy, and finally some raw, blackened metal is unleashed in the last couple of minutes, but all of that momentum comes entirely from the drumming. And to my ears, that drumming sounds just a little bit jazzy…

What’s my point? This album is metal in spirit, that’s my point. It’s so fucking metal that it doesn’t need to put on any airs by being overtly metal. Listen to this shit.

Early Verdict: