The Hydromedusa That Could

It's a case of the hairy monster Adelaide band that could - many-headed rockers Hydromedusa brought out their self-titled album through Tyms Records, and the fucker keeps selling out! It first came online back in April of last year, and word of mouth spat fire on its brilliance, but every time I rustled the cash for it, it was gone. Now into its third pressing, with behemoths Tee Pee Records pushing its wares around the US, Hydromedusa is only going to get bigger, more gargantuan, more debauched, more raw power. Now in split black/purple vinyl, the record is sexier as well! I won't miss out on their pumped-up 70s metal extravaganza (with Sleep injections, just to keep you on your toes) this time - and neither should you.

The Golden Weight Of Forest Swords

I'm constantly surprised when I hear something that comes out of left field, is absolutely terrifying in how good it is, and yet no one seems to have heard of it. In 2010 this happened when Dagger Paths, the debut release from northern England artist Forest Swords, came to my attention. It was one of the first posts I ever did here at Sonic Masala, and I immediately started handing it around to everyone I knew, telling them how amazing this guy (real name: Matthew Barnes) was. Sure, he hadn't really started playing any live shows, but so what? That was still somewhat an anomaly at that stage. And even if everyone left the live arena and retired to their Garageband desktop studios, Dagger Paths was a clearly defined beast, at once unabashedly assured and otherworldly - a spectral crawl like no other.

Of course he did get noticed, to the point that three years later, as he prepares to launch his debut LP Engravings on Tri Angle Records, Forest Swords is contending with a tsunami of anticipation. I don't think Barnes is too worried though, if 'The Weight Of Gold' is anything to go by. The incredibly dense textures created back on Dagger Paths, meshing together genres so that it became a dense, lysergic mist across the moors where only the bravest tread, were already well entrenched in Barnes' MO, there is nothing second-guessed in this vision. The new track seems even more stranded in Forest Swords' manufactured netherworld, more fettered with foreboding, and more crystalline in its intent. All in all, an incredible extension of what is already an incredible (albeit very short) oeuvre.

You can pre-order Engravings here. Australians, you need to hear this - and much better in person, as Barnes brings his world to ATP's Release The Bats festival in Melbourne on October 26. He joins an already impressive line-up that includes The Jesus Lizard, Sleep, Television and Lightning Bolt, amongst many others - this is going to be AMAZING.

Lowered Holograms = Higher Expectations

Lower

I'm spending my day writing for other publications - and bizarrely it's all on the heavier side - reviews for local punks Fat and resident scuzzbuckets The Melvins, as well as an interview with OM/Sleep's Al Cisneros (and another with OM/Grails drummer Emil Amos in the works). Yet the music I'm looking forward to listening to all afternoon is of a more Scandinavian bent, as two of the greater exports from Copenhagen gear up for new releases.

Holograms

I've spoken of both Holograms and Lower of recent times (have a read about and listen to their "older" stuff here and here respectively). Combined with the likes of Iceage and Sexdrome, the underground (well, not so underground anymore) music scene there is teeming with parasitic, grimy post-punk nihilism that rattles the teeth and widens the eyes, shortens the breath and quickens the heart. It's exciting times, heightened further with the imminent releases of Lower's debut as-yet-untitled LP through Escho, and Forever, Hologram's longplayer effort (out through Captured Tracks in September). And if this isn't enough, they have both dropped teaser tracks. And lo and behold, they are fucking stellar, particularly Lower's brutal sledgehammer that is 'Another Life'.

Getting The Night Terrors

I only came across Seattle's Helms Alee a fortnight ago, which is a god damned shame. The best band on Hydra Head Records (sorry Torche, you're just pipped here), they released an album back in 2008 called Night Terror. Its brilliant. Brilliant! I thought it was new - I wanted to put it on my top ten of the year - I now want to step back in time and hear it in its infancy, then spend 2 years listening to it... Its heavy, melodic, raw, yet well defined - its marriage of post-metal and shoegaze indie is engrossing, and astounding in how well its been executed here. The three piece (Ben Verellen, Dana James and Hozoji Margullis) trade melodic density, tremolo-stained guitar, churning bass and akimbo drumming with unauthorised efficiency, and the amazing guy/girl vocal interplay with their deft understanding of quiet and tense layered build ups adds further dimensions to each track. I love this album!!!!!!!!!!

Since then Helms Alee havent released much, although Verellen has introduced his own amplifiers that are amazingly crafted and used by the likes of Sleep, Young Widows and Against Me. However they have just completed a massive tour with the likes of the aforementioned Young Widows, along with Red Sparowes and Boris, and are finally reentering the studio with Night Terror producer Matt Bayles for an album ready for early 2011. In the downtime between then and now, get Night Terror. Its amazing.

Helms Alee - New Roll

Helms Alee - A Weirding Away