SHORT BUT SWEET: AGRICULTURE / ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE / BA’AL / MALEVICH / REJECTER / VOGEL

(In this column Andy Synn focuses on short-form releases that emerged in recent months.)

It seems like every year I make a promise – to myself, if no-one else – to stay more on top of covering all the various EPs and short-form releases that come out… and every year I fail miserably.

Well, here’s my chance to make up for that by digging back into the last six months and selecting a handful of heavy/harsh/heartfelt releases for you all to check out.

AGRICULTURE – LIVING IS EASY

Agriculture are, undoubtedly, one of the most hyped (and memed) bands of the moment and, as much as I enjoyed both their debut EP (or, at least, its excellent title-track) and their promising self-titled album (which I reviewed positively last July), I still contend that the group’s sound is nowhere near as innovative or as unique as it’s been portrayed (which isn’t entirely the band’s fault, to be clear).

That being said, Living Is easy clearly demonstrates the group’s commitment to growing and improving with each release, with the virulent vibrancy of the title-track (whose ostentatiously melodic approach is more Gary Moore than Gorgoroth) and the heart-racing intensity of “In the House of Angel Flesh” being some of their best work yet (the latter especially).

Sure, Americana-tinged acoustic track “Being Eaten By a Tiger” seems like it wants to grow into something more (and thus ends up feeling a little stunted as a result, even though the vocals in particular are absolutely top-notch) and spoken-word outro “When You Were Born” ends the EP on a rather flat and uninspiring note, but the potential for Agriculture to become the sort of band the hype-machine clearly wants them to be is definitely there… even if it’s still not quite been fully realised.

ARTIFICAL LANGUAGE – DISTANT GLOW

Technically-talented Pop-Prog sextet Artificial Language – whose sound sits somewhere between Agent Fresco and Periphery – may not seem, on the surface, like the sort of band we’d usually cover here at NCS.

But, the fact is, they’re very good at what they do… and, ultimately, that’s all I really care about.

With its bright, bouncy riffs and silky-smooth vocals, “Two Faced Star” quickly establishes the formula – and sets the bar – for the rest of the EP, which means that if you don’t like the first few minutes of Distant Glow then you’re probably not going to like the rest of it.

But if you do find yourself intrigued then I recommend you keep listening, because both the Leprous-esque “Rain Follows” (which possesses one heck of a killer chorus) and captivating closer “Skinwalker” (which features some of the heftiest, grooviest guitars on the entire release) are both even better than the opener, while the melancholy strains of “House of Hoarded Sands” put more emphasis on the “Prog” part of the equation, meaning that there’s a lot more to uncover, and enjoy, here than there first appears!

BA’AL – SOFT EYES

By rights I guess I should be a little upset at Ba’al – after all, I’ve been wanting to write a song about the relatively unknown battle of “Bamber Bridge” for a while now, only for these Sheffield-based Post-Metal potentates to beat me to the punch with the terrific ten-minute closer of their latest EP – but the band are just so good at what they do that I can’t stay mad at them for long.

By shifting towards an even more atmosphere-intense approach, one drenched in shimmering synths and strewn with subtle string embellishments, the band have successfully (and confidently) taken the necessary next step in their ongoing creative evolution, making even more room for lengthy passages of quiet and calm (especially during the opening and closing movements of the aforementioned “Bamber Bridge”).

That’s not to say, however, that they’ve abandoned the weighty heaviness or bitter, blackened ferocity of their previous works by any means – the caustic metallic catharsis of “Ornamental Doll”, for example, recalls the visceral intensity of Isis at their best, while the crunchy riffs of “Yearn to Burn Bright” demonstrate that the band have lost none of their bite – but by increasing the dynamic contrast between the two opposing extremes of their sound they’ve actively managed to make themselves sound bigger, and more expansive, than ever.

MALEVICH – TREMBLING AND DOWSED

Blending elements of Grind, Black Metal, Sludge, and Post-Metal, abrasive Atlanta quartet Malevich are a band we’ve written about several times before but that I also wish we’d written about even more.

Well, now we have another chance to do so with the recent release of their Trembling and Dowsed EP, which kicks off with the fluxing electro-atmospherics and howling vocal histrionics of the Amenra-esque “Irène Jacob” before barrelling headlong into the scorching, dissonantly sludgy strains of “Red to Gold”.

Shifting gears, the EP then progresses through the more intricately melodic and immersive sounds of “I Can Hear It Constantly, Without Relent” – whose cathartic combination of clean and harsh vocals serves to demonstrate the increasing emotional breadth/depth of the band’s sound – followed by the bass-heavy, blast-driven, and broodingly intense “Inalienable”.

As short (and sweet) as this EP is, it definitely demonstrates the extent of Malevich‘s ongoing evolution in the years since their last album, and should serve them well as a jumping off point for their next album too!

REJECTER – A METHOD FOR WITHDRAWING

Rejecter‘s new EP doesn’t waste much time getting going (it only takes about 15 seconds for the snarling vocals and prowling bass lines of “Disarticulate” for the A Method for Withdrawing to hit its stride) but it’s not until the ultra-hooky, riff-heavy “Disobey” that business really starts to pick up, with the band’s signature blend of insurgent aggression, insistent melody, and (in the song’s second half, at least) pulsing Post-Punk rhythms giving the group’s sound an even more distinct and defined sense of self.

This continues throughout both the blasty, thrashy, stabbily-staccato strains of “Disbelieve” – which recalls the similarly strange-yet-savage moments of Assassins-era Nachtmystium – and the grimy, low-end grooves of “Discipline” whose instantly-recognisable brand of hefty hookiness and harsh physicality ensures that – much like the rest of the EP – this will be one song you’ll probably keep coming back to again and again over the rest of the year.

VÖGEL – KALLIÐ

Icelandic Prog-Death quartet Vögel are another one of those bands I always meant to write more about – their debut album,  Ómstríð, was one of the more interesting and ambitious, albeit imperfect, albums of 2019 – but whom I never find the space or time to cover properly.

The band’s new EP presents an even more compact and refined version of their sound which – ignoring the obvious and overt influence of the likes of Opeth and Edge of Sanity – feels like the product of a band not only firing on all cylinders but also fully locked-in and laser-focussed on defining their own identity.

They’re not quite there yet, of course (they are, after all, attempting to fill some pretty big boots) but there’s no denying the impressive impact and eloquent instrumentation at work here, from the electrifying leads and organic flow of “Söngur Raddanna” and the gorgeously gloomy, clean/harsh interplay of “Flæðisker” to the captivating contrast of calm and catharsis that makes up “Móðir Jörð”.

It’s the shapeshifting title-track, however, which really gives you an indication of the as-yet untapped potential of the band’s sound, and makes me eager to hear even more from these guys going forwards!