Psyclon Nine 

Psyclon Nine are the infernal musical creature led by Nero Bellum, the only remaining original member, and are one of the most important abysses of ebm, industrial metal and aggrotech music around the world.

The band was founded in 1999 under a different name, which soon changed to its current one, where Psyclon stands for a mispronunciation of Zyklon B the infamous gas used by the Nazis, and Nine as a magic number in the belief of Aleister Crowley. The band debuted with the album ‘Divine Infekt’ on NoiTekk and immediately made a name for themselves with their sick sounds, using ebm-esque electronics and a bit of metal to make the listener uncomfortable, personifying very well that subtle disgust that gives pleasure to sinners, lewd people and those who will soon be in some hellish hellhole.

Their long career has led them to become a very important band for many genres and sub-genres, taking them through two interruptions and other problems and yet, thanks to Nero Bellum, they are still here. This ep ‘More to hell’ is the follow-up to the excellent work ‘Less to heaven’ released as this work by Metropolis Records in 2022. Nero Bellum wrote, played and produced all the tracks on that record, and here we find an ep with an unreleased track and remixes made by heavy names in the scene such as Suicide Commando who rework “Money and sex and death” in their own way, making it even more lustful and bewitching, or Pitch Black’s “See you all in hell” which emphasises the paranoid and industrial character of the original song.

The previously unreleased “For the night is dark and full of terrors” is slow and flawed, with sudden bursts of distorted chitra accompanied by blunt bass, making it wonderfully claustrophobic, bringing out the more metal side of Nero Bellum. An ep that deepens the black music of Psyclon Nine, showing the importance they have in this genre, in this evil wasteland that lies on the borderline between ebm and industrial metal, where this band always manages to give something extra.

A very valuable addition to the latest record.

Rainbow Bridge

Rainbow Bridge is a very special Italian band, which started out as a tribute band to Jimi Hendrix and the blues, and ended up making a truly unique and original blues desert stoner psych. Their discography is very special, since it is composed almost entirely of live records or recordings of jam sessions, an art in which the group is particularly skilled, spanning the sky of notes in freedom.

This latest self-produced work ‘Drive’ is by their own admission their most ambitious and challenging record, having been conceived in three parts that encapsulate their career on a smaller scale: the first part consisting of songs, then instrumental jam sessions to close with a final moon suite. The result is an album with a blues soul, but very psych and stoner, with a very strong desert touch. Our band always builds upward sound scaffolding as they go along, knowing where you start but not knowing where you end up. The beauty of their music lies in a great ability to be psych and blues at the same time through a clean and very well-curated sound, where jam session does not mean random improvisation but free notes in a certain context that never ceases to be interesting.

The title ‘Drive’ is appropriate to say the least, as it is a work that would be well heard on a long journey, it has that bleus and psychedelic something jointly with a strong dose of desert stoner and also hard rock that gives something extra. The long song ‘Tears Never Here’, which could very well be an album in itself, encapsulates all that this band is, that overflowing and very charming musicality, which makes them sound like Italian Led Zeppelin, thanks to the flow of a certain sound, using guitars in a way that is never predictable and the bass that sounds special, with drums that counterbalance everything.

The most ambitious work of their career, a record we had never heard in Italy, full of very good things.

The Modern Age Slavery 

Great return for the Reggio Emilia-based band, The Modern Age Slavery with ” 1901 The first mother” on Fireflash Records, a subsidiary of Atomic Fire Records. The Italian band is back after 2017’s “Stygian” and does so in the best way possible: the new work is relentless and relentless, from the first to the last note it leaves the listener with no respite, takes him by the collar and drags him down with it.

The music is very modern death metal very close to deathcore and played very well. Their death metal very close to deathcore is very solid and much less smoky than many deathcore bands of our time, here there are some effects to emphasise the sound, they are not used to cover up some shortcomings. The record has a rare heaviness, combined with a sonic dynamism that is perhaps their most important stylistic feature.

Lyrics are very important in their poetics and in this record they are very particular, but let us start with the title. 1901 is the date of Queen Victoria’s death, a date that is commonly used to usher in the beginning of the modern era, and The First Mother means that this record will be the first of a trilogy that will focus on the last stages of history, namely a past, our present and a dystopian but quite possible future.

These lyrics also come very close to the band’s name, which means the slavery of the modern era, starting with the concept that the masses are letting themselves take away the ability to decide their own future, and they are also quite happy about it. In this album, however, the early years of the modern era are explored, where everything is still in its infancy but is very much present, and the band explores the thinking of some very influential writers, philosophers and artists.

One could talk for hours about metal dealing with culture as in this case, but let’s avoid the tirade, even if that is the case. The Modern Age Slavery produce a devastating album, very powerful and with many points of interest, which leaves no respite, perfectly produced and played, modern and interesting. One of the best Italian modern metal bands, and a special mention for the beautiful and meaningful cover produced by guitarist Ludovico Cioffi. The best possible cover of Korn’s ‘Blind’ closes the disc.

Heezer

Long-distance debut for the Finns, from South Karelia to be precise, Heezer with ‘Sungrinder’ on Argonauta Records. Why choose to listen to gl Heezer in the myriad of stoner etc. possibilities we have? Soon said.

The Finnish band possesses a deadly grunge hard rock pull that produces beautiful and very hard to find melodies. The band’s strength lies in their ability to find melodic lines that are never predictable and are very beautiful, thanks also to their origins as a jam band.

Like many other bands, ours got together in the living room to make some sonic raids, and then found themselves in possession of some very good material and a very important way of making music. Listening to ‘Sungrinder’ one can find many different shades of stoner, desert and a lot of grunge and hard rock, underlining the common roots of this sound. The distorted and at the same time melodic sound that can be heard in this long-distance debut shows how so many aspects of different genres are linked by melody, this underground river that binds the sounds of this band very well and makes them very enjoyable.

The album flows well, is fresh and can be listened to again and again without ever getting tired, which is very difficult these days. “Sungrinder” is a different kind of listening, a record that always leaves you satisfied and well taken, very effective distortions and great melodies for a very good musical discourse, and as a debut it is well above average.

 

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