Written by:	RaduP, musclassia, F3ynman2000
Published:	17.03.2024

Wait A Minute! This Isn't Metal! - February 2024
Metal Storm's outlet for nonmetal album reviews





We here at Metal Storm pride ourselves on our thousands of metal reviews and interviews and article; metal is our collective soul and passion, which is why we bother with this junk. That being said, we'd be lying if we stuck to our trve-kvlt guns and claimed that metal is the only thing we ever listen to. Whether we want to admit it or not, we do check out some other stuff from time to time; some of us are more poptimistic than others, but there's a whole world out there aside from Satan-worshiping black metal and dragon-slaying power metal. We do already feature some nonmetal artists on our website and have a few reviews to back them up, but we prefer to limit that aspect of the site to those artists who have been a strong influence on the metal scene or who are in some way connected to it. This article series is the place for those artists who don't matter to metal in the slightest but still warrant some conversation - after all, good music, is good music, and we all know metal isn't the only thing on this planet for any of us.

Down below, you might find some obscure Bandcamp bedroom projects or some Billboard-topping superstar; as long as it ain't metal and the album itself isn't a best-of compilation, it fits. Obviously, we're certain that not everything will be for everybody (you guys can be viciously territorial even when metal is the only thing on the menu, and we're all supposed to like the same things), but we do hope you find at least one thing that you can enjoy, instead of just pointing and screaming in horror "Not metal!" as if that would be an insult.

Here are our previous features:

January 2024
December 2023
November 2023

And now to the music...

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One-time Oceansize frontman Mike Vennart now has a solo career that has produced as many albums as Oceansize managed during their lifespan; on top of that, he ventured into yet another new musical direction last year with the debut album from Empire State Bastard. Vennart’s previous solo album, In The Dead, Dead Wood, was covered in our non-metal article series back in 2020, and featured a mesh of alt rock styles spanning the likes of grunge, space rock and post-rock; however, off the back of Empire State Bastard, with which Vennart and collaborator Simon Neil stated they were attempting to make “the most fucking poisonous vile music” they could, it was intriguing to see whether any of that aggression would spill over into the latest Vennart solo release.

Well, after a slightly twee alt-prog opening song, the question raised in the previous paragraph is partially answered by “3 Syllables”, a heavy modern prog sound with gnarly riffs rendered with a muscular guitar tone, albeit a song that ventures more towards Vennart’s Oceansize days than Empire State Bastard. Forgiveness & The Grain on balance remains grounded in rock territory rather than metal, but more so in the crossover territory of a band like Hum, who could easily have featured a song with as heavy and gazey a sound as “Luminous Target” on their 2020 comeback album Inlet. At the other end of the spectrum, “R U The Future??” pulls things right back for a dreamy, euphoric tone with its shoegaze/indie base fleshed out with shimmering keyboards, and “Casino” replicates the quiet modern prog of an act like The Pineapple Thief. “Fractal” brings both sides of the equation together, opening in shimmering, hazy fashion and eventually bringing a wall of fuzzy distortion into the equation, somewhat replicating the journey of “Almost Always” by Rolo Tomassi.

Bandcamp

by musclassia





Another year, another tale delivered by the mighty Black Sky Giant. This Argentinian band grace us once more with an entirely instrumental stoner rock album, sending us on a psychedelic trip into the Ghost Valley. As old fans of Black Sky Giant may recognize, Ghost Valley is a reference to a song from their 2021 album End Of Days Pilgrimage. This new album follows the adventures of a “stellar fugitive” as he rides aboard his “red chariot”, encountering a “timeless oracle”, uncovering “submerged towers”, and eventually ending “in the sight of the mountain god”. With their excellently performed and consistently captivating compositions, this band craft grand soundscapes that just let your imagination roam free. Whether it's on alien planets, in uncharted caverns, or across barren landscapes, Black Sky Giant’s music is the perfect soundtrack to exploring the alluring unknown.

At first, it seems like the style of Black Sky Giant hasn't changed all too much. They still play patient passages of meandering, hypnotic riffs, their fuzzy sound wrapping up the listener in a warm blanket of relaxation. But, along with the standard stoner rock elements, it seems to me like they've also included a lot of progressive musicianship. Black Sky Giant keep developing their sound with every new release, which makes them somehow always sound so fresh and creative amid a rather stagnant genre. With every new installment in their discography, this band make it abundantly clear that they reign supreme at the top of the stoner rock hierarchy. Now, sit back, close your eyes, and hear what the Black Sky Giant has to say.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by F3ynman2000







Despite their strong reputation and my partiality towards good instrumental psych rock, Monkey3 are not a band I’ve previously dabbled with; the release of their seventh full album offers a good opportunity to rectify this. Welcome To The Machine opens in quite fierce fashion; I’ve not seen Monkey3 referred to as a metal band anywhere, but there is quite a metallic drive to the relentless first main riff passage on opening track “Ignition”. There are subsequently calmer, trippier jamlike sequences with tasty guitar/keyboard texturing more in line with what I expected, and the evolution of the jam on this song, getting gradually denser and featuring a spellbinding and evocative guitar solo, makes for quite the sumptuous start to Welcome To The Machine.

Although “Collision” opens in a more ambient and contemplative manner than the first song, it does eventually bring back some of that heaviness, albeit in a more steady, mid-tempo manner, and also throws in more exhilarating soloing. Monkey3 manage to imbue quite a lot of emotion into their songs; the soundscapes of “Kali Yuga”, in particular, are tender and inviting, and “Collapse” also conjures up some compelling atmospheres. This is my first taste of Monkey3, but given how impressed I’ve been with it, I’m sure the band will remain on my radar going forward, as Welcome To The Machine is an excellent listen.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Out of the 2010s wave of post-punk, Idles might just be my favorite, even if their jump to full-length stuff might've came later than other bands in that same wave, 2017's Brutalism and 2018's Joy As An Act Of Resistance are some of my favorite albums of that decade and even if a lot of the reception of 2020's Ultra Mono was more lukewarm that's still one album I enjoy a lot, even if less so than its two predecessors. 2021's Crawler was also a quite interesting album, sort of building upon what Ultra Mono was doing while also introducing a couple more elements like electronica and sounding more introspective at times.

Tangk, despite its explosive cover art, is the least explosive of Idles' albums. I don't think that Idles are only good when they're explosive and their appeal is deeper than that, but it becomes clear why that worked so well with them when you take that away. I have the same problem with Tangk that I had with recent stuff from the likes of Gojira and Them Moose Rush, in that the more mellow atmospheric stuff can work in moderation but when even a song with LCD Soundsystem sounds unexciting, and I'm struggling to find moments that do feel exciting in an entire album, when things from the same band felt so exciting in the past, that's a problem.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP







Glam rock isn't a sound I expected to hear a lot from these days, especially not glad rock that doesn't sound like it tries to be either a David Bowie or a T Rex clone. Adapting that sound for a more modern audience does seem like something that could work, partly because of how that theatrical drama of it could work with the artsier crowd and also how a lot of the blurred gender lines that glam rock produced would work even better in the current context. So that's exactly what The Last Dinner Party do. They are dramatic and they talk about all things sex and gender, as glam rock should.

There's a lot of indie rock sensibility to it that makes it clear that this takes from more than just the 70s wave of glam rock, both in terms of the songwriting which seems to take from Florence & The Machine about as much as it takes from New York Dolls, but also in how grandiose the production feels like. In a way it's though to imagine that this is a debut album because of how fully fleshed out the band's sound and identity is at this early stage. Prelude To Ecstacy is both fun in a "theatre kid" way, a full of earworms way, and also in a way that doesn't take itself overly seriously while also being extremely good at what it does.

Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP







Eluveitie and Faun appear to be groups with some degree of rapport with one another, as the former made a guest appearance on the latter’s recent record, Pagan. Perhaps that connection is driven chiefly by the pair behind Tvinna, a project formed by Faun’s Laura Fella and Eluveitie’s Rafael Fella. The pair are joined by a new supporting line-up featuring Alain Ackerman (Eluveitie) and Sascha van der Meer (Solarcycles) on their second album, Two – Wings of Ember, and also by Eluveitie’s Fabienne Erni, who guests on the song “Louga”. Given the founding members’ more established bands, I was assuming this to be a release rooted in folk, but it turns out that Tvinna aren’t content to play it safe.

With the inclusion of the likes of bukkehorn and hurdy-gurdy, there are folk elements to Two – Wings of Ember, but if I were to categorize this as anything, I would probably plump for progressive rock, albeit with something of a dark pop slant. Electronics play as much of a role as traditional instruments in shaping the album’s sound, while tracks also approach metal territory at times with the more distorted guitar sound. It’s a compelling combination of sounds, one that has an unorthodox and sophisticated accessibility to it that reminds me slightly of an artist like Katie Gately, and perhaps also recent Myrkur. On songs such as “Fortress” and the Erni-featuring “Louga”, the folksier touches to Tvinna’s sound slot in naturally, while heavier cuts such as “Two Staves” also sit comfortably alongside softer, moodier tracks, including the ballad-ish “Somnia” and twisted, complex “Arma”. The Fellas are onto something quite intriguing with the fusion of sounds demonstrated across Two – Wings of Ember.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





The latest new indie darling to debut a full length album is Irish outfit NewDad. With two EPs and a bunch of singles under their belt, NewDad's shoegaze-ish sound leans more towards the dream pop side, blending a bunch of indie rock and post-punk into it, rather than leaning on the noisier wall-of-sound side of things. There are bits that are relatively noisy by indie rock standards but for the most part Madra is a pretty clean and easy to listen to album, where the "dreamy" part of the sound is still quite accessible rather than sounding overtly dissonant or psychedelic.

In a way its accessibility is a double edged sword. They're inoffensive and pleasant enough that I find it hard for someone not to enjoy their music, but even with how well written and performed it is, it feels a bit too safe for its own good. Its most defining characteristic are the sweet vocals, which often sound a bit too closer to the kind of vocals you'd hear in popular song covers playing in movie trailers, rather than something that gels well with the dream pop sound. The moments when things get noisier or edgier are the ones I found myself enjoying the most, and there's a lot of promise to be had with NewDad.

Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





The best concert I went to so far this year was Slowdive in London. Not only was it my first time in London and all around a great trip and experience (except the food), it was one of the best music experiences, from how the venue let the stage be seen from anywhere on the standing area to how it sounded to the visuals to the setlist.

In other news here's the second album by the band that opened for Slowdive that night. It's true that most of the time I'm reminiscing about that concert, I completely forget that someone did open for one of my top favorite bands, but checking out who'd be opening before the show I did notice that they'd be releasing a full-length soon and they'd be prime material for this edition. I have stumbled upon this album independently afterwards so there's a chance I would've covered it even if fate didn't bring me and Whitelands together in the way that it did. But I'm glad things turned out the way they did.

Does feel a bit different covering an album in this feature in which I've already heard some of it being performed live. Having heard both the live performance and this studio product in full, I'm pretty confident that even if it doesn't feel very original and is clearly indebted to the band they opened for, they're really good at this kind of hazy shoegaze. That haziness also seems to work better for them in studio (somehow Slowdive aced it better live), because of how dense and warm it sounds, and thankfully that's something that Whitewalls ace.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





I always feel a bit weird covering stuff that's only streaming on Bandcamp and therefore isn't gonna show up in the playlist at the end of the article, since that's how I assume a lot of people will engage with the music here. Also weird is covering something that is vocal about being a final album. Asian Glow is a one-man project so continuing it is definitely a much easier decision, but if the person behind it felt like this chapter in their life reached closing time, that's something I can understand. I don't have a lot of doubts that we'll be hearing more from them under a different alias. But for now, it's time to celebrate the short period where Asian Glow was a thing.

It's a bit of a shame for the project to end now. 2023's Dreamglow collab with sonhos tomam conta might not have impressed me that much, but 2022's Stalled Flutes, Means was one of my picks of favorite albums from that month. Unwired Detour sits somewhere in between these two, being a kind of record that ends stronger than it starts. It's kind of a gradual album, mellower and more stripped back at first, before more and more noise elements get introduced. Asian Glow always stood out for how the processed soft vocals interacted with the noisier backdrop, so I guess it's more fitting that a final album ends on a high note rather than starting on a high note. So long, Asian Glow.

Bandcamp

by RaduP





It’s time for the latest notable synthwave release that challenges me to find something new to say about it. It’s not that I dislike these releases by any means, it’s just that most of them can be described in very similar fashions. This particular album comes from Dan Terminus, who I know through his 2015 record The Wrath Of Code, an album I was introduced to, and very impressed by, during lockdown. Gothic Engine comes 4 years after the last release from the project, and is jampacked full of 15 tracks to reward waiting fans. After an atmospheric introduction with bright synth sounds and subtle techno beats in “Forge”, the album kicks into motion with “Heavy Metal”, and runs the synthwave gauntlet across the following songs.

A slick, bouncy song in which the track’s title is repeatedly stated by a robotic voice, “Heavy Metal” makes for a fun, easy introduction to the album, and really the genre as a whole. Coming right afterwards, “Ignorant Masses” offers a slightly less throbbing interpretation of the style, with smooth drum rhythms, pulsating bass and dainty motifs atop, but the album’s title track offers plenty of churny synth sounds, while “Stargazer” practically bulldozes along with its thick, up-tempo synths and vibrant, lively melodic motifs. The rest of Gothic Engine moves within this already established range; about the closest it gets to anything slightly different is the marginally more stripped down and spacious “Abandon All Hope”, and the slow, symphonic-tinged closer “Angle Mort”, but synthwave fans know what they want, and if they’ve got a spare 16 euros to cough up, they’ll get plenty of what they enjoy on Gothic Engine.

Bandcamp

by musclassia





It seems like every now and then there has to be a pop album that kinda blows my socks off. Maybe "blows my socks off" is a bit of an exaggeration, but there is an itch that only pop at its most unapologetic and fun can scratch, sometimes the more accessible kind, sometimes more retro-sounding, sometimes even more forward-thinking. When I first stumbled upon Allie X with 2020's Cape God, I found that to be a pretty good alt-leaning synthpop but lacking that X factor in terms of being memorable. It did have a bit of promise, so most of it seems to be delivered with Girl With No Face, but it's still just shy of blowing my socks off.

The improvement seems to be mostly because it sounds like Allie X is both allowing herself to have a lot more fun this time around and also because the album seems to more unapologetically delve into 80s sounds that are less alt / sophisti-pop leaning, but taking more from stuff like new wave and disco without necessarily dumbing it down on the conceptual and lyrical department. There are plenty of moments that really go hard in emulating what made the energy of synthpop in that era so infectious, while also making it sound modern and snappy, but I find that far too many moments don't go hard enough. Still, with how big of a jump this was from Cape Cod, I'm pretty excited to see if what the future holds for Allie X includes even less holding back.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





This wasn't my first encounter with Mary Halvorson, even though I didn't instantly know why that name looked familiar, I remembered covering now one, but two sibling albums of her in this feature. 2022's duo of Amaryllis and Belladonna were some of the most intriguing avant-garde jazz albums of that year mostly because of how well they complemented one another with Amaryllis being more ensemble-focused and Belladonna being more string-focused, while also neither of them going too wild in the avant-garde direction, providing a more accessible breach into avant-garde jazz.

Cloudward ariving solo makes for something a bit less interesting to talk about than a duo of albums that can be compared to one another, but that makes it no less interesting of a listen. The free improvisation-leaning avant-garde is still there and will forever create a barrier for the uninitiated, but the form now feels a lot closer to modal jazz compared to the more classical-leaning approach of the previous duo. Halvorson's guitar playing once again feels like it takes less space that the rest of the band, though it gets its moments to shine the same way that other instruments get theirs, plus Laurie Anderson makes an appearance on a track, which makes more sense the more I think about it.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





I like Dinosaur Jr a lot and I find their music and J Mascis' vocals very soothing, but somehow I never really got to check J Mascis as a solo artist until now. It does make some sense that he'd start a solo career, even though he's not necessarily a skillful singer, he has a very specific presence as a vocalist that does seem to work really well in a more singer / songwriter setting as well. What Do We Do Now seems to be the first solo record from J Mascis in six years, and while I can't really contextualize it from the solo discography point of view, I can from the Dinosaur Jr discography point of view.

What Do We Do Now quite naturally has a lot in common with Dinosaur Jr's music in more ways than just sharing a vocalist. Mascis' vocal timbre works really well with a more relaxed atmosphere, and somehow even at their noisiest and most abrasive, there was something about that timbre that made Dinosaur Jr's music feel soothing. Having a lot of that noise being replaced by folkier leanings, without always going fully acoustic is quite a nice change of pace, though it is something that makes the atmosphere feel even more lethargic and mellow. It still has quite a band feel, complete with drums and some electric guitar moments, which does make it sound closer to Mascis' main band.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





I think I would've checked this album out even if it wasn't for knowing who Kali Malone was simply for how intriguing of a genre tag "holy minimalism" is. But to kinda explain what that is, think of it like a drone version of Christian liturgical music. It's something of a branch of modern classical, something that's been part of the works of composers like Arvo Pärt and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. Plus because of how often used organs are in both drone and Christian liturgical music, there's an overlap that has appeared in Kali Malone's music prior on albums like 2019's The Sacrificial Code.

All Life Long takes things a step further by alternating the organ pieces with choral pieces and brass pieces, sometimes with two versions of the same piece. I could spend an entire paragraph just with information about the performers and the recording locations, with Macadam Ensemble doing the choral bits, Anima Brass doing the brass bits, and Kali Malone and Stephen O’Malley doing the organ bits. More bite sized than the gigantic Does Spring Hide Its Joy from last year but still a daunting listen, All Life Long works so well because it grasps that feeling of the sacred through multiple musical approaches.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





Lewis Hamilton has long made his love of music and passion for creating it known, even appearing on a Christina Aguilera track, but it is future Ferrare teammate Charles Leclerc who is the first to release music under his own name. After three singles in 2023, he has collaborated with renowned French pianist Sofiane Pamart to produce debut EP Dreamers, a 4-track of tranquil piano music.

The vibe of Dreamers is in the vein of the melancholic, evocative work of contemporary classical pianist Ludovico Einaudi, but tracks such as “Focus” and “Limitless” also demonstrate a technical proficiency with some elaborate and complex runs; given that Leclerc has stated that his learning of piano began during the pandemic, it would be impressive if he has reached that ability level while also juggling a jet-setting career, so it is possible that these more technical parts are performed by Pamart (if they are all Leclerc, kudos). He’s unlikely to find much success on the track this year if the Bahrain Grand Prix is anything to go by, but Leclerc has at least one accomplishment to be proud of in 2024.

Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia







MGMT might not be that old of an act, but having already passed two decades of existence, there's already a feeling that acts like this have already passed a classic era. For MGMT, it might feel like they'd be forever defined by the indietronica of 2008's Oracular Spectacular and 2010's Congratulations, especially for how much of the indietronica wave of that period was indebted to and swallowed by MGMT. To see the band still have somewhat of a big reception and second rejuvenation with 2018's Little Dark Age, especially with how much music from that record eventually ended up as part of internet culture, is quite a nice deviation from the norm. And it's quite surprising to realize how much time passed since then.

Going into Loss Of Life when most interactions with MGMT's music have been through big singles is a bit of a shock, but a very slow brewing one, because this is their most mellow and least immediate record. While it's still as dreamlike and psychedelic as can be expected, a lot of the moods and soundscapes shifted towards something folkier, with more baroque pop and indie rock that's even more warm and stripped back than those same sounds on earlier albums. The more reflective and mellow nature of the record might be a bit of a contrast from expectations, but Loss Of Life is quite a grower that might take a bit more patience to really appreciate.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP





Long-running Czech folk doom act Silent Stream Of Godless Elegy follow a path trodden by many other folk-rooted metal bands in dropping the metal for an all-acoustic release; however, instead of writing new songs for this endeavour, Jiná is comprised of re-imaginings of tracks from their previous albums (predominantly Návaz and Smutnice) arranged by Michaela Niké Vopálecká. Given the relative scarcity of releases from the group, long-waiting fans may be disappointed by the group opting for this endeavour instead of original metallic material, but those open to embracing this experiment will be greeted by a well-crafted, beautifully soundscaped record that explores and embraces the range of sounds found within the group’s numerous members.

What with their previous albums featuring folk melodies, these translate naturally onto instruments such as violin, piano and acoustic guitar, and while growls are unsurprisingly eschewed this time around, the male/female dual clean vocals remain intact. What’s more, with the lightening of the backing music, the vocals are moved further into the spotlight, and songs such as “Ten, Ktery Ukoval Slunce” allow for the building of delicate, moving vocal harmonies. The featured tracks range from balladic (“Prisaham”) to more lively; “Skryj Hlavu Do Dlani” has a certain theatricality to the busy drum parts and vocal trade-offs. It’s easiest to throw Jiná into the ‘neofolk’ genre category, but a song like “Pod Babima Horama” arguably has more to do with chamber pop or art pop such as Agnes Obel. In following up an album after 6 years with a record that features reworked versions of half of said previous release, Jiná isn’t necessarily going to be a crowdpleaser, but taken on its own merits it’s a tender and pleasant listen.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by musclassia





Well, turns out I actually like country. Ok, maybe under very specific circumstances, but I'm learning to dismiss the genre less and less. Most of the time it was a touch of alt-country that went along with country rock or alt rock, but Critterland is more of an Americana album that's theoretically more in line with just being country. But, there's still such a huge difference from what one would expect from a country album because the indie sensibilities are so huge and obvious. This is about as far from bro country as it gets. Because it's too genuine to be even close to being that.

I guess what really works about Critterland is how it is simultaneously very tongue-in-cheek about what it's doing. The cover art, the references in the lyrics, some of the vocal lines, all of it works to set it apart as something whose presentation goes against the country grain. But its lyricism is emotionally genuine and the stories are heartfelt, the performance is earnest. You wouldn't expect an album with a cover art like this, whose lyrics at one point reference Dungeons & Dragons to be as emotionally resonant as it is. But that's what works about it. It takes some of country's best qualities, both lyrically and musically, and manages to both take them as a mantle and to subvert them.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP







Now that Wayfarer have embraced that side of theirs even stronger on their latest album, gothic country might have became even more appealing to metalheads. A name that has been getting a lot of traction in this field lately is Amigo The Devil, who's been at it since at least 2010. Not exactly a newcomer, but Yours Until The War Is Over is only the third full-length, and also some of the darkest folk out there. There's something very specific about the approach here, and something that works really well to tell these dark stories. Amigo The Devil is one hell of a lyricist and narrator that it's almost impossible to treat this album as just music and not feel immersed in the stories told.

I'd be remiss not to mention how varied the sounds here are. The lyrics are all various kinds of dark, but the music can take that darkness in directions that are more cabaret-like and very Tom Waits influenced, or ones that are more dramatic in that specific gothic country way, some that are more straight-forward in a singer/songwriter way, and the lyricism somehow feels just as impactful no matter how "unserious" the music may feel. But pretty much nothing could emotionally prepare someone, regardless of how dark the stories told in the rest of the album are, for how intimately heartbreaking the closer is in a "pulling the rug from under your feet" way in a way that felt incredibly emotionally devastating to me, in a way that makes it hard to recommend to people who want to be entertained by the music they listen to.

Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

by RaduP

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And that was it. You've made it through still alive. Congrats. See ya next month. Here's a Spotify playlist we compiled out of stuff featured here: