Nero Di Marte - 'Derivae' CD Review (Prosthetic Records) [Post-Rock/Atmospheric Metal]

Even though I’ve got a large stack of releases that I’m hoping to get through before the end of the year, Italian post-rock/atmospheric metal band Nero Di Marte’s sophomore release, Derivae (released Oct. 28th – Prosthetic), has already earned a spot on my ‘best of’ list for this year.

Nero Di Marte’s sound falls somewhere between The Ocean, Isis and early Pink Floyd. Derivae was recorded 100% in analog which allows the band sonic space to build their epic soundscapes – most of which clock in around the eight minute mark. The band chose to record in analog so “we could develop and commit to atmospheres and sounds while recording instead of thinking about how this guitar effect or that part should sound while mixing. It makes it a little bit more true to how we are when we actually play as a band, without the challenges of doing a live recording”. (from interview with Invisible Oranges).

The disc starts with “L’Eclisse”, which starts with crashing dark and ominous guitar chords which build up to a claustrophobic wave of sound over which drummer Marco Bolognini adds powerful drum fills. Guitarist/vocalist Sean Worrell utilizes a range of vocals across this disc and, on this song, his Italian baritone sounds a bit like Moonspell vocalist Fernando Ribeiro. The band shifts gears with the third track, “Pulsar”, where Worrell’s whaling vocals are featured up-front in the mix and Bolognini’s drumming takes on a tribal beat. There are a number of rises and falls in the music, including one where Worrell’s vocals are whispered over this tribal beat and the song closes with a moody, “Pink Floydish” outro.

Some of the other highlights on the disc are “Il Diluvio” and the 10+ minute final track “Those Who Leave”. “Il Diluvio” is a dark, almost doom number with a big post-rock sound. This song features big, crashing guitar chords and vocals beneath the wall of sound. This sonic swirl slows down toward the end to get more atmospheric. “Il Diluvio” is very “Pink Floydish” with its electronic burble of sounds. The guitar is slowly added in and vocals are a chant below the instrumentation. A major portion of this song is instrumental and this number ends where it started, with an instrumental outro.



Links:
Nero Di Marte

The Ocean (Metal Blade) Unveil New Video for 'Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams' / Show Aug. 7th at Best Buy Theater (Summer Slaughter Tour 2013)

The Ocean has launched a brand new video for "Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams" from their most recent album, Pelagial. The band's first official music video, not counting previous videos composed of live footage, was directed by Alexander Kraudelt and Lukas Hambach and produced by Frameshock, with additional visuals by Craig Murray.

Founding guitarist Robin Staps comments: "This clip is blending performance footage with excerpts from Craig Murray's Pelagial movie, which was released along with the limited edition CD and vinyl boxset versions of the album. We've never really done a clip like that before, but it was great fun making this."

Pelagial, the latest album from The Ocean, has been received with open arms and ears across the globe. RockARolla, bastions of taste at the experimental end of heavy music, emphasized how revered The Ocean currently are: "With Isis gone, no one has yet taken their place as intelligent and sensitive masters of post‐metal but, with this, there's no doubt that The Ocean are shoe‐ins for the title."

The Ocean play New York City on August 7th as part of the Summer Slaughter Tour. This show is at Best Buy Theater and doors are at 3:30PM (obviously they aren't expecting anyone who has a job to get there for the first few bands). Tickets are $29.50 in advance and $35 DOS. Other bands on the bill include: Animals As Leaders, Periphery, Norma Jean, Cattle Decapitation, The Ocean, Revocation, AEON, Rings of Saturn, Thy Art Is Murder and Dillinger Escape Plan is headlining.



The Ocean on The Summer Slaughter Tour [remaining dates]:
7/24/2013 - Diamond Ballroom – Oklahoma City, OK
7/25/2013 - The Scott Inn – Austin, TX
7/26/2013 - House of Blues – Dallas, TX
7/27/2013 - House of Blues – Houston, TX
7/29/2013 - House of Blues – Lake Buena Vista, FL
7/30/2013 - The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
7/31/2013 - Old City Courtyard – Knoxville, TN
8/01/2013 - House of Blues – Myrtle Beach, SC
8/02/2013 - The Filmore Silver Springs – Silver Springs, MD
8/03/2013 - The Palladium – Worcester, MA
8/04/2013 - The Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA
8/07/2013 - Best Buy Theater – New York, NY
8/08/2013 - Sound Academy – Toronto, ON
8/09/2013 - Metropolis – Montreal, QC
8/10/2013 - Upstate Concert Hall – Clifton Park, NY
8/11/2013 - The Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI
8/12/2013 - House of Blues – Chicago, IL
8/13/2013 - The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
8/14/2013 - The Cabooze – Minneapolis, MN
8/15/2013 - Club Antares – Omaha, NE ***
8/16/2013 - Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
8/17/2013 - The Complex – Salt Lake City, UT
8/19/2013 - Snowbox Sodo – Seattle, WA
8/20/2013 - Roseland Ballroom – Portland, OR
8/21/2013 - Biltmore Cabaret – Vancouver, BC ***
8/24/2013 - Circo Volador – Mexico City, MX ***
9/01/2013 - The Wall – Taipeh, TWN ***
9/04/2013 - Hidden Agenda – Hong Kong, HKN ***
9/05/2013 - B10 – Shenzhen, CHN ***
9/06/2013 - SD – Guangzhou, CHN ***
9/07/2013 - Vox – Wuhan, CHN ***
9/08/2013 - 46 House – Changsha, CHN ***
9/11/2013 - Yuylntang – Shanghai, CHN ***
9/12/2013 - Nuts – Chongqing, CHN ***
9/13/2013 - Little Bar – Chengdu, CHN ***
9/14/2013 - Mao – Beijing CHN ***
9/15/2013 - 13 Club – Tianjin, CHN ***
9/19/2013 - Megapolis – Irkutsk, RUS ***
9/21/2013 - Era – Krasnoyarsk, RUS ***
9/22/2013 - Mayak – Tomsk, RUS ***
9/23/2013 - Rock City – Novosibirsk, RUS ***
9/25/2013 - Plan-K.Tone – Tyumen, RUS ***
9/26/2013 - Nirvana – Yekaterinburg, RUS ***
9/28/2013 - Plan B – Moscow, RUS ***
9/29/2013 - Arktika – Saint-Petersburg, RUS ***
***THE OCEAN headlining shows

Links:
The Ocean

Lair of the Minotaur Releases New Disc, Plays Knitting Factory on May 26th

Chicago's Lair of the Minotaur is releasing their third disc this Tuesday on Southern Lord. The new disc has a heavy sound and the band's press release describes it as "a concept album about solving conflicts with a big f*cking axe!" The band has made available an MP3 of the lead-off track, "Horde of Undead Vengeance".

Like most Southern Lord releases, this disc has beautiful packaging which features art by Jeremy Mohler and layout by Seldon Hunt. CD also contains a 20 page booklet with graphic illustrations for each song. There is also a limited edition version that contains a dropcard with a password activated web link to download exclusive live tracks recorded at a show in Chicago in October 2007.

LotM are touring with Kylesa (check out their cover of Interstellar Overdrive, which is a free download on Kylesa's MySpace page) and The Ocean.

Links:
Lair of the Minotaur's Website
Lair of the Minotaur's MySpace page