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[Music] Fatal Casualties – Filter

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Dutch label Seja Records graces us with a magnificent new release by Swedish neofolkers Fatal Casualties. It’s amazing to thing that Stefan Ljungdahl and Ivan Hirvonen have been performing off and on as Fatal Casualties for 30 years now, as the current release is perhaps the freshest, most vibrant music they’ve put out in more than a decade. It’s hard to even consider this neofolk, because it uses so many other genres as a touchstone. One can hear post-punk, goth, dark electronic music, a bit of a soundscape here and there. Ivan’s vocals top the aural cake off beautifully. Kudos to the engineer who managed to balance the sounds perfectly.

This album was released in 2016, but as I came around to it only recently, I’ll gladly consider this a new-ish release. Well worth your time.

[Music] Awalom Gebremariam – Desdes

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Awalom Gebremariam has quite an interesting story. Originally from Asmara, the capital of the Republic of Eritrea, he left his home country at age 28 to go to the United States, having stayed at an Ethiopian refugee camp while waiting to hit his final destination. This album is the only disc he cut, and it’s quite a lovely example of Eritrean pop.

Many thanks to Awesome Tapes From Africa, who put out gem after gem. Follow them, as they never seem to fail in their picks.

[Music] 6 – 6

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My favorite avant-prog couple surprised me recently with a release I completely managed to bypass. It looks like Amadine and Santiago Fradejas’ project, 6 (Seis), was recorded in their original home of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The music sits squarely inside the progressive metal genre, with powerful-but-restrained musicianship, a Floydian feel with vocals which would not compare unfavorably to James Hetfield of Metallica. You can hear touches of jazz here and there as well. Both musicians have come a long way, but you could already hear the raw beauty in their sound from this decade-old project.

[Music] Introspect Void – Behind the Fallen Monuments of Time

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I don’t know if today is Flashback Day, but the last three posts have brought some very, very good memories of the period in my life between 1988-1992, when I was absolutely immersed in Electronic Body Music (as well as the alternative music scene of my youth).

Introspect Void are not a band from the late 1980s, but you get the feeling they sat at the feet of the masters, added a cleaner, more crisply-recorded music, but retaining that dark, foreboding vibe that made Frontline Assembly, Front 242, and bands of this stripe so much fun to listen to.

[Music] Silver Rose – Silver Rose

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I know of quite a few artists in Brazil who are doing stupendous work in the genre of Shoegaze music, but this release by Silver Rose, a Mexican band, equals or surpasses these, having a lot in common with their fellow British and American co-practicioners of this sonic art.

Those of you who like Dream Pop will find a lot to enjoy with this release as well, as, for those of us over the age of 40, we’ll remember swaying to Hope Sandoval’s lush vocals. For a moment, this album transported me back to those days. A keeper.

[Music] Bargou 08 – Targ

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There seems to be an explosion of bands from the Tuareg regions and North Africa in general these days. Bargou 08 hail from the Tunisian side of the Bargou Valley region which sits on the border with Algeria. They are a modernized version of local traditional music, from what I understand. Very impressive.