Kauan "Wayhome" (2025)

 

Gently swain by the soothing return of this moving ethereal melancholy, Wayhome's first spin deeply captivated. Shimmering guitar licks revel in dense reverbs as soft atmospheric synths brood, swelling into stunning passage of dreary melody, beautiful yet sullen. Guided by simplistic glacial percussion, a cast of gentle instruments are invited to croon in textural pleasures, as minimal compositions amass in swells of volume. At its most intense, distant guitars distort and crunch metallic chops. This edge melts away into the ever present hum of its cloudy keys. Voices come and go, some harmonious and Folkish, occasionally shouts of a softer nature. In its best strides, ritualistic chanting conjures familiar suggestions of rural nostalgia. Pianos drift in and out of focus too, another tuneful arm to deploy subtle spellbinding arpeggios.

On second and third listens, the magic fades. Kauan have refined their Post-Rock/Metal motif to a mastery but one lacking fresh ideas. The absorbing nature of this aesthetic indulgence always packs a punch after an extended absence. Yet only two tracks had stand out moments with an impactful Black Metal tinged mid track crescendo on Leave / Let Go. With a lull before the storm, Haste / Ascend brought a touch more grove and momentum than the slower songs, giving its opening stretch much gravitas as the back of the song mellows out. Many of the tracks carried heavy moments between quiet stretches. Perhaps speaking to a concept behind its duel track names. Either way, its beautiful nature couldn't mask how routine this felt.

Rating: 6/10

Steve Roach & Soriah "Curandero" (2025)

 

Still pumping out records and seeking fruitful collaborations, ambience master Steve Roach returns with a spellbinding record conjuring echos of his classic Dreamtime Return with a devilish twist. Absolutely suggested by its plunderous album art, one senses a Caribbean flavor of pirate mysticism and a tropical occult. These are worshiped gods of death, a darkly vein heard best in its curious voices that whisper in cryptic chants throughout the record. Curandero starts strong, Analog Cave, Citla & Shadow Current brew entrancing rhythms within dense nightly atmospheres. These are welcoming numbers, strapped with a strange sense of safety and tribal spirituality, despite dancing with estranged dangers. Perhaps its trippy psychedelic nature suggests its all in the minds imagination.

Stars Of Darkness takes a turn, a duller affair of droning ambience to bridge into the back half of this hour long record. Steppe Traveler goes hard on a shivering 70s synth arpeggio. Its abrasive, maddened by its own jolty nature, too much for indulgence with a now familiar sound design constructed around it. Shard Tribe showed promise with a striking Ethereal, shimmering synth, woven between cryptic chants, a power emerges but then sadly collapses into another dull drone. After a handful of spins, this sense of two halves is confirmed. A fantastic trio to start with but a swift drop off after.

Rating: 6/10

Trivium "Struck Dead" (2025)

In this age of drip feeding album hype cycles with a growing string of singles, its unclear if Struck Dead is a standalone EP, or the lead in to a full length. Unable to find mention of a new record, I thought these three tracks deserved a few kind words. Balancing punishing monotone grooves with melodic inflections, an act of swaying between the two plays a prominent theme. More so on its first two cuts are we treated to impressive stomps of guitar brutality that build tensions to be unleashed as Heathy rocks in with crooning guitar leads dripping with lavish color and his ascending voice.

 

 Its closer, Six Walls, blurs boundaries as harsher tones meld with choppy melodies echoing classic Metalcore guitar riffs. Its a more ambitious song, seeking an epic structure as gleaming guitar solos amp up the energy for a closing chorus repeating to a fade out. Impressive but often leaning on the lessons learned by a seasoned song writer, it lacked a vibrancy I heard bold and loud on Struck Dead with its ferocious guitar solos making quite the impression given how little room for originality there is in this performative art form. A short, welcome listen reigniting my curiosity in Trivium.

 

Rating: 4/10

Anna Von Hausswolf "Iconoclasts" (2025)

 

A far cry from the darkly mesmerizing dread of Dead Magic, Anna pivots her devilish leanings to ancestral charms, her voice finding its Folkish power in warmer territory. Continuing with lengthy temporal progressions that gradually groan and smother, her broody organ drones still evoke esoteric spirits as new musical ideas gently steer its destination away from the pale. That descent into unwinding madness always lingers but the plunge evaded, as some of these numbers flirt with a stern unease.

As a dense record of seventy two minutes, no song hurries itself. Iconoclasts meddles through its ideas, ruminating on notions, soaking in its own atmosphere. So often do passing moments linger on Anna's witching voice. Tribal percussion drifts in and out of focus around heaving walls of sound that assemble from humble origins, the string sections often leading charge. Its not until Stardust that we get a standout track.

Kicking off with a persistent rolling drum loop, it powers the core driving baseline. Instruments gradually chime in as organs, synths and Anna's luminous voice swell around this central pounding notion. The break and return of its main riff towards its conclusion plays a gratifying one. This architecture is sorely lacking throughout the rest of the record as other songs drift and linger. This one feels purposeful, with direction, still carrying the organic feel all these numbers flow with.

 Struggle With The Beast is another highlight. Its jolting, animated jazzy Saxophone dances with the devil on the records darkest track. That however is just two standouts among Iconoclasts twelve which stokes an indulgent atmosphere for one to soak in its ambience, yet its flavor rarely find the rapture to whip one into its spell. I'm left a bit bewildered by how such beautifully inspired music doesn't quite strike the nerve without that dark focal point. This chemistry isn't quite attuned to more worldly leanings.

Rating: 6/10