i Am esper/Nox Obscurum/Satanath Records/Dead Dog Skull/Heil Hell/2013 CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording  from  i  Am  esper  which  is  also  in  the  experimental,  drone,  post  rock  and  dark  ambient  musical direction  of  the  other  recordings  with  the  album  being  released  in  2013  and  called  "Nox  Obscurum"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Satanath  Records,  Dead  Dog  Skull,  and  Heil  Hell  Productions.

  A very  distorted  yet  clean  guitar  starts  off  the  album  giving  the  music  a  post  rock  feeling  bringing  in  repetitive  riffing  for  a  few  seconds  while  also  mixing  in  melodic  guitar  leads  a  few  seconds  later  and  just  like  with  all  of  the  other  recordings  that  music  is  all  instrumental  and  the  guitars  also  bring  in  a  lot  of  open  riffs.

  All  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  you  can  also  hear  some  distorted  drones being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  every  song  sounds  different  from  each  other  while  also  keeping  a  very  calm  atmosphere  and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  metal  in  the  distorted  sections  of  the  music.

  with  this  recording  i  Am  Esper  focused  more  on  an  instrumental  yet  guitar  driven  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  post  rock  creating  a  very  calm  approach  of  the  genre  and  bringing  out  a  great  amount  of  of  emotion  and  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  lo-fi.

 In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  i  Am  esper  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  instrumental  post  rock  and  dark  ambient,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Nox  Obscurum  2"  and  "Nox  Obscurum  4".  8  out  of  10. 

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat034-i-am-esper-nox-obscurum-2013

Hulduefini/i Am esper/Paleozic/Satanath/Aliens Vs. Dinosaurs/Symbol Of Domination/2015 Double Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  double  4  way  split  between  Portugal's  Hulduefni,  U.S.A's  i  AM  esper,  Belarus's  Paleozoic  and  Russia's  Satanath  called  "Aliens  Vs.  Dinosaurs"  which  was  released  by Symbol  Of  Domination  Productions  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Hulduefni  who  plays  a  mixture  of  dark  ambient,  drone,  experimental  and  psychedelia.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  ambient  sounds  and drones  along with some  distorted  parts  and melodic  guitar  leads  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  awhile  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  screams  are  added  into  the  music  and  the  guitar  riffs  also  add  in  melodies  to  the  songs  when  they  are  utilized.

  Some of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  at  times  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  also  instrumental  and  there  are also  some  psychedelic  elements  being  utilized  at  times  and  all  4  of  his  tracks  sound  very  different  from  each  other,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  song  themes  focus  on  aliens  and science fiction.

  In  my  opinion  Hulduefni  is  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  dark  ambient,  drone,  experimental  and  psychedelia  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical genres,  you  should  check  out  this  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Alien.  the  Beginning"  and  "Grays  Walking  Through  the  Hangar".

  Next  up  is  i  AM  esper  a  solo  project  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  blog  and  plays  a  mixture  of  drone,  dark  ambient  and  experimental.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  dark  ambient  style  synths  which  also give  the  music  an  atmospheric  feeling  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  lot  of  experimental sounds  and  the  music  also  brings  in  post  rock  style  melodies  and  lo-fi  elements  along  with  most  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  music  is  instrumental  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  very  different  from  each  other  with  guitars  being  used  briefly  and  field  recordings  being  added  into  the  last  song  along  with  some  harsh  noises,  while  the  production  has  a  very  dark  sound to  it.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great sounding recording  from  i  AM  esper  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  ambient,  drone  and  experimental,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED   TRACK  "Cosmic  Death  II'.

  Next  up  is  Paleozoic  a  solo  project  that  plays  a  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  drone.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  atmospheric  sounding  drones  and  after  awhile  the  music  gets  more  distorted  along  with  some  guitar sounds  and  most  of  his songs  are  very long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  gets  more  diverse  with  each  track  along  with  all  of  the  music  being mostly  instrumental  while the  last  track  does  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  screams  and  the  production  also  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy.

  In  my  opinion  Paleozoic  is  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  dark  ambient  and  drone  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Immobility,  Indifference  and  Toughness".

  Closing  the  split  is  Satanath  asolo  project  that  plays  dark  ambient.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  drones  and  dark  ambient  sounds  along  with some  field recordings  and  the  music  can  also  get  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  at  times  bringing  in  a  variety  of many  different  sounds  and  the  music  also  adds  in  some  loops  and  power  electronics  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  most  of  his  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  tribal  elements  being  added  into  the  music  briefly  while  each  track  also  sounds  very  different  from  each  other  and  there  is  also  a  small  use  of  acoustic  guitars  for a  few  seconds  while  later  songs  also  mix  in  electronic  music  and  the  production  has  a  very  dark  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  I  think t hat  Satanath  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  dark  ambient  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  his  songs.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Satnogor"  and  "Sotekius".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  dark  ambient  and  drone.  8  out  of  10.

https://symbolofdomination.bandcamp.com/album/sodp045-hulduefni-i-am-esper-paleozoic-satanath-aliens-vs-dinosaurs-split-2015

         

i AM Esper Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the musical project these days? The project has taken a break for a good year due to being busy with work and overall just needed a break. Starting to work on new stuff this month and will be releasing music again just not in the same high volume as i used to.

2.You have released plenty of material over the years, how would you describe the musical sound of the current music? The sound of my current music i would describe as mellow post rock influenced drone ambient music.

3.Your music is all instrumental, are you open to working with any vocals or song writing in the future? I did a collab in the past with a metal vocalist and put out some of it on tape. It was cool would i do it again prob not. I like the project to be as inhuman as possible and vocals remind us all that there is a human present making the music.

4.What are some of the themes and images that you bring out with your music? Animal rights , nature , solitude , and whatever personal mood or emotion im feeling at the time of the recording be it happy or sad or angry and so forth.

5.On the albums you record mostly everything by yourself, do you feel this adds to the creativity of the music? Yes i get to do it my way and don't have to answer to anyone's opinions or thoughts...which was the problem of many of the bands i used to play in years ago.

6.What are some of the best shows that you have played with this musical project and also how would you describe your stage performance? I've only played 2 shows with this project as a collab with a other musician who's style did not mesh with mine....i regret the performances and recordings of it. I can't look back but i can look forward and i feel my project is better as a studio only project.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future? Most likely not unless i found a full band to play with for some kind of special performances with a full band....that's the only time it would happen.

8.Can you tell us a little bit more about the record labels you have worked with over the years on getting your music out there released? There's so many and i appreciate all of them for getting my music out there. As someone who ran his own label i know how hard it is and how much work goes into it you all know who you are and I can't think you all enough.

9.On a worldwide how has the feedback been to your recordings by fans of underground music? Overall very very well and I'm thankful for all the positive words...and the negative ones doesn't bother me everyone has an opinion and their right to it i make music for me not for people anyway.

10.What is going on with 'Salamander Lane Productions' these days? Nothing at all its be inactive for some time i may reopen it as a way to self release my own material again at some point but no longer other bands. As of now I just don't have the time to devote to a label right now it's so much work and when you work 2 jobs you just don't have barely anytime for things like this. Maybe in the future i will do it again.

11.You are also involved with 'Black Antlers', can you tell us a little bit more about this project? Black antlers is a avant garde raw black metal project between myself and Rob bekic. It started as me just messing around with really bad recording equipment to see how lofi i could get it. For fun i asked rob( who i have done splits with in the last for his other various bands) if he would provide vocals. We liked the results and decided to continue on. So far we have 3 really rough lofi demos. In time we plan on putting out something more professional. But the raw recording style fits our genre anyway.

12.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future? I honestly have no idea..hopefully learning new things maybe picking up new instruments expanding my sound. Maybe starting other projects who knows really.

13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays? For my newer music a lot of post rock ...such as mono (huge influence ) and godspeed and explosions in the sky (another big influence and my biggest influence stars of the lid.

14.What are some of your non musical interests? Animals , watching tv boring shit hahaha i work 2 jobs so don't have much time for much i guess aside from art my interests are just trying to keep myself from having  a panic attack and trying to find as much joy in the little things as possible.

15.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for your interest and your time it's much appreciate cheers. - jp

https://iamesper.bandcamp.com/

i AM esper/Garnet/Symbol Of Domination Productions/2015 CD Review

  i  Am  esper  are  a  solo  project  from  New  Jersey  that  plays  a  mixture  of  drone,  ambient,  lo-fi,  experimental  and  post  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2013  album  "Garnet"  which  was  released  by  Symbol  of  Domination.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  ambient  elements  and  heavy  guitars  and  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  at  times  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  and  add  a  post  of  post  rock  to  the  recording  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Most of  the  songs  are  instrumental  and  drones  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  some  of  the  distortion  also  adds  in  a  touch  of   lo-fi black  metal  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  high  pitched  screams  while the  rest  of  the  album  goes  into  more  of  an  ambient  and  post  rock  direction  after  that  as  well  as  getting more experimental.

  i  AM  vesper  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  post  rock,  lo'fi,  drone,  ambient  and  experimental  and  mix  them  together  to  create  a  style  of  his  own  while  also  being  mostly  instrumental  and  the  production  sounds  very  powerful.

  In  my opinion  i  AM  esper  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  drone,  ambient,  lo-fi,  experimental  and  post  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out t his  solo  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rebirth''  and  "Fast  Forward  to  Summer".  8  out  of  10. 

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat032-necrosadik-death-chant-glorification-2013