Ethera

Our good friends in Delain have signed a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.  The band is planning a new studio release for early 2014.  In the interim we have Interlude.  Its a CD/DVD collection of unreleased and non-album material.  Some of this dates back to the April Rain line up while other tracks are from the We Are The Others sessions.  The band also kindly included some live tracks from their Female Metal Voices X festival appearance.  Further, there is a (PAL Region 0 format) DVD that includes video footage from the festival, promo videos, and backstage footage.  My extremely biased opinion is that this is a must own.

The Diablo Swing Orchestra dates back to 1501 in Sweden, where history tells the tale of an orchestra that played like no other, with music so seductive and divine that the ensemble overwhelmed audiences all over the country. Their performances rapidly earned a reputation of being feral and vigorous and gained the orchestra a devoted crowd of followers. Their concerts attracted more people than High Mass in church and as a result the orchestra was accused of being treacherous and in league with the devil. The members were accused of being everything from heretics to the spawn of Satan. “The Devil’s Orchestra” was the epithet used by the church in it's attempt to halt the orchestra’s success. However, this eventually became a catchphrase that spread throughout the crowd, and before long it was the popular name of the orchestra. With the accusation of heresy a bounty was put on the orchestra, and as the hostilities from the church grew stronger the orchestra finally felt the need to flee. But they decided that if they were to disappear they should go out in style, by giving one last concert. Before doing so they all signed a pact saying that their descendants were given the task of reuniting the orchestra in 500 years, and that they should continue the orchestra’s work of spreading thought-provoking music. Six envelopes were sealed and given to trustees of the orchestra to pass on to family members. The final concert was a great success. Thousands of people came to see it, and the massive sing-along of the crowd made the performance the most talked about in history. Eventually, the armed guards arrested the orchestra. They were subsequently sentenced to death by hanging. Stockholm 2003. By mere accident two of the original orchestra descendants met in a music shop and began to discuss music. It later turned out that they both had received a strange letter from some ancient relative containing instructions on how to reunite The Devil’s Orchestra. By searching through archives and records they managed to track down the other ancestors. Daniel's sensibility for words and melodies made him the main composer. Annlouice's angelic yet powerful operatic voice gave a bombastic feeling to the music. Andreas swinging and energetic drumming provided the orchestra with a deep and solid foundation. And together with Andy's powerful finger style playing and funk-oriented slapping they made sure the songs had a steady groove. Pontus electronic and experimental influences proved useful as the orchestra wanted a contemporary sound. Johannes's emotive cello-playing, theoretical knowledge and stunning technique completed the orchestra. With reference to the old catchphrase they took the name Diablo Swing Orchestra and are determined to honor the legacy of their ancestors. Since the release of their debut “The Butcher’s Ballroom” in 2006/2007 the orchestra has gained a loyal fan base of their own. People have embraced their sound with open arms and they have been perceived as a fresh breath of air in a genre getting more and more stale and formulaic. The album was also well received among critics earning many rave reviews recognizing the new ideas the band brought to the scene. DSO’s sophomore effort titled “Sing-Along Songs for the damned & Delirious” proves that they are no one hit wonder but are here to stay. The new record set to be released in September 2009 is a smörgåsbord of different levels of musical insanity building on the foundation laid down on “The Butcher’s Ballroom”. Touring will begin in September starting with Progpower USA and will continue in Europe later in the fall.

Double live CD recorded on the 2010 US tour in support of The Incident.  The set includes a complete live performance of "The Incident" recorded in Chicago as well as additional material recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

""It is a rare thing these days for a post-metal band to break the mold. So many bands play sludgy, lurching, epic metal that it can be hard to tell what band is trying to sound like Isis this time. This brings me to the breath of fresh air that is Secrets of the Sky.The Oakland based sextet takes what is a great but tired genre and adds a dash of black metal and a bit of prog. Imagine if you tossed Neurosis, more recent Immortal, and Porcupine Tree into a blender. Sounds like a fucked up mix, right? It's an awesome fucked up mix though.The Sail Black Waters consists of 4 tracks that are rooted in sludge, that manage to take twists and turns throughout it's all-too-short forty-one minute run-time. There are moments of dreamy soundscapes, harmonized clean vocals, and crescendos aplenty.A band they bring to mind is the Australian black-metal-with-a-violin band Ne Obliviscaris. They don't necessarily sound alike, especially because Secrets of the Skysimple aren't playing as fast, but their progressions are quite similar. Also, Secrets happen to employ a violin as one of the several talents of vocalist Garett Gazay. Their use of it is much more subtle than Ne Obliviscaris to the point where it becomes a game listening for it.In short, a phenomenal debut." - Metal Injection

Second album of the collaborative effort from Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson and noted Israeli pop singer Aviv Geffen. The music on this one is a bit mellower than the debut but still cut from a similar cloth.

You might recognize this album...you should.  Like the rest of the Egg catalog, Patrick Vian's sole album was heavily imported into the US by JEM Records.  Back in the day, this album was everywhere.  In fact I still run across copies in the used bins from time to time.  It even made the Nurse With Wound list.  Originally released in 1976, it finally has found an audience and has been reissued by Staubgold.  Patrick Vian is the son of French jazz musician Boris Vian.  He was also a member of the underground rock band Red Noise, who made one album that is quite well known among prog and psych collectors.  Bruits Et Temps Analogues is actually quite an interesting album that has probably been taken for granted over the years.  Vian has assembled a high caliber instrumental quartet that includes noted percussionist Mino Cinelu.  Vian plays a variety of analog synths  - Moogs and ARPs.  George Granier is the second keyboardist and Ame Son's Bernard Lavialle plays guitar.  The music is flat out prog rock.  Vian's use of synths has a bit of a spacey quality but not in a textural way - he's playing laser-like leads while the band plays in a bit of a jazz rock style.  The rockier tracks sound a bit like Egg stablemates Ose and Heldon.  So you wind up with this weird amalgam of styles that come across like a mash up of Heldon and Gong.  Highly recommended.