Bavarian black metal one man entity Skognatt released new opus, this time in form of an e.p. There are three songs on this one, each representing ‘Mountains’, ‘The River’ and ‘Moon’ at night. The music is fast, raw yet atmospheric and melodic black metal, creating and holding a melancholic sad guitar melody in ‘Mountains’ with screaming anguished vocals, sometimes turning into atmospheric clean singing and fast drums, courtesy of Gerileme who was involved in making this opus with main man DZ. ‘The River’ is maybe a bit mid tempo and less blasting than the previous song, creating an atmosphere of eternal life and river which flows no matter who we are, how we fought or how we died, river will not remember us. I used to walk and watch the river at night and it is something special, the force and power of nature, almost healing and respectful power. This one is a pure instrumental, but it really doesn’t matter, strong music creates picture. ‘Moon’ is longest song on this record and haunting guitar main melody keeps coming back to your along with fast drums and screaming vocals, this is a perfect mixture of raw black metal with melody and atmosphere. Great e.p.
The Scuba Kids are from Los Angeles and they have been in the scene long, but I must admit that this is their first release I have listened. This one contains five songs of melodic punk rock mixed with ska and brass music, so the band which comes somehow to mind while listening to The Scuba Kids is Less Than Jake, although The Scuba Kids retain more of a rawer punk energy through all reggae and ska parts. Do not get me wrong this is still melodic punk rock with great vocal lines and melodies, but singer has some more shouting and screaming parts and there is as I can hear synth in ‘I Think It’s Me’ song that somehow sounds dreamy in that reggae ska parts. Lyrics are personal and as you might have imagined from the record title deal with all the bullshit that befell us in last two years due to well known pandemic circumstances. My personal favorites on this one are: ‘UR Dead’ and ‘Vaxenema’. This release is name your price on Bandcamp, so show some love to the band, I am sure they will appreciate it much.
Bar Tape are from Dublin, Ireland and this is their new release. What do we have here? These guys play a mixture of Californian fast skate punk with nineties influences and emotional punk in the vein of The Menzingers or Off With Their Heads, with rougher vocals, I would even say this rough yet melodic voice adds more to the drama and intense of the songs themselves. Like I said there are some faster songs like One Way East or St. Peter’s College Drop-out for example, but the real jewels on this one are mid tempo emotional hitters like Hindsight 20:20 which is one of my favorite songs on this album. Also, Subscription Glasses is one of my highlights on this one. Like you probably guessed from the provided song titles lyrics are personal with a dose of humor and irony thrown in for good measure. Great album, I am happy having discovered this band.
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