6 great new releases – 6 short reviews.
If available on Spotify, one song each will also be added to the MangoRotation playlist for 14 days.
Further featured playlists of this post will be listed on the bottom.
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SCALLER – Music All We Have
04:10, Single | Digital | Archangel Records / Golden Robot
Indie Rock / Alternative Pop | Jakarta, Indonesia | 08/08/2022
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With their atmospheric single release ‚Music All We Have‘, Jakarta-based duo SCALLER has given us a yummy pretaste of their upcoming album „Noises & Clarity“ which will be out via Archangel / Golden Robot soon. The two musicians from Indonesia create a gorgeous and colourful sonic reverie to dive into. As the dynamic velocity of Indie Rock drives the song forward, a thick blue mist made from Shoegaze blankets the soundscape, keeping it warm while the honest but friendly Pop character of ‚Music All We Have‘ lets the audience dance back and forth between blue and red, toasty and chilly. Within the covibrations of these sounds there is something that reminds of later day Queen, so that one is expecting Freddy Mercury to pop up as a guest vocalist at any moment.
SCALLER’s ‚Music All We Have‘ is a sober and honest perspective on life on planet Earth these days where information about humankind’s chasms frequently seem to overroll us. In these times when being blue and paralyzed are part of the new normal, music is all we have. Let us thus enjoy the beautiful moments in life with tunes like this one. 7/10 Mangoes
The Shrubs – Summer Sun
03:16 | Single | Digital | Blossöm Records
Psychedelic Rock / Progressive Rock | Houston, TX, USA | 12/08/2022
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Another duo that has provided us with a stunning new single this August are the brothers Josh and Miguel from Houston, Texas. With their fifth album „Drone“ released via Blossöm Records in early 2022, the two brothers have already given us another great piece of mesmerizing sound for our auditive pleasure. In ‚Summer Sun‘, The Shrubs concern drug addiction and the limited ken that is caused by the dependence on substances.
Different to many songs about drugs and addiction, The Shrubs neither raise their finger in an educational way to present the negative effects of use and abuse, nor do they celebrate the upsides. Instead, ‚Summer Sun‘ is a stoic and self-aware text written from the perspective of a consumer who knows the drugs will kill them some day like they have cut down some of the protagonist’s friends. Being aware that stopping will save their life, the protagonist short-sightedly decides to continue anyways, and thus they enjoy the ‚Summer Sun‘. This very honest take on consumption and abuse of substances is carried forward on a light flying carpet made from percussions, a psychedelic sitar as hot as the sun during a South Asian hot season, and a proggy, bluesy guitar for extra velocity. The ethereal vocals on top of this anthem double up on its psychedelic effects. 8/10 Mangoes
Principe Valiente – I am You
04:08 | Single | Digital | Metropolis Records
Post Punk / Indie Rock | Stockholm, Sweden | 26/08/2022
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With ‚I am You‘, Principe Valiente from Swedish capital Stockholm have released the second single off their new album „Barricades“ which was out on March 18, 2022. Different to previous single ‚Porcelain‘, the song ‚I am You‘ is not coined by fragile or silen soundscapes. Instead, on the new single Principe Valiente present their dynamic combination of Post Punk, New Wave and Shoegaze in a broad-shouldered, autochthonous, and solid manner.
Driven by a massively energetic rhythm, the Swedish band spreads sonic mist so thick even powerful fog lamps are struggling to get through. Amidst this auditive mist a house of mirrors shows up while numerous creatures dance through it carrying candles and flickering lights. Movement, lights, mirrors and fog let concepts such as self and strange vanish, and thus the questions rise up: Who am I? Who are You? Are we One? Although the answers to these questions may not be found, this New Order meets Laibach sonic experience is a wholesome trip to one’s inner self. The single release on bandcamp and Spotify also contains two remixed versions worth checking out. 7/10 Mangoes
Christmas / Haest / Batwölf / Electric Frankenstein – International Split LP
24:21 | Split Album | Vinyl/Digital | TSN Records
Satanic Rock / Hardcore Punk / Horror Punk | Sankt Wendel, Germany / Hastings, England / Leiden, Netherlands / New Jersey, NJ, USA | 09/09/2022
Homepage | bandcamp (TSN Records)
Next up, we have a beast of a Split Album. This international cooperation is here to tear off your skin and sacrifice it to all kinds of demonic and satanic creatures while drinking a 60/40 mix of goat blood with lager beer and performing a infernal hot moshpit.
The A-Side is opened by the Saar Country’s most devilish Punk Rock band Christmas. Their two tracks merciless plow forward while the anthemic choruses partially remind of Napalm Death’s „The Code is red… long live the code“. Guest vocalist Andre Neufeld (Comeback Kid) even intensifies the sheer force of the first song. With Hastings‘ Haest, some legit Hardcore Punk that combines UK and US styles marks the second half of the A-Side. The English bands presents some dynamically stomping sounds with heavily rolling attributes and eschatologic atmosphere.
Dutch Punk’n’Rollers Batwölf intensify the rolling movement once the record is flipped to its B-Side. The sonorous sound in combination with its dirty Punk Rock attitude and sheer force creates a massive avalaunche of stomping, riot and thirst. The instrumental track ‚Katerina‘ is a great pedal-to-the-metal anthem. And last but not least, New Jersey’s Horror Punk and Punkabilly legends Electric Frankenstein finish this international blast. Two tracks that invite to nightlong skateboard sessions between gravestones and crypts mark the finish of this entertaining split. 6/10 Mangoes
Science of Disorder – Apoptose
49:20 | Album | CD/Digital | Black Market Music
Dark Metal / Groove Metal | Lausanne, Switzerland | 16/09/2022
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Swiss Groove Metal quintet Science of Disorder has released their third longplayer „Apoptose“ on CD via Black Market Music. On this album they share their thoughts on life and death, on the reproduction and sustainability of life on our planet, and on the spreading of disease and hate. Lyrics in English and (Swiss) French accompany an innovative merge of styles – genre-wise in both, region and era.
Science of Disorder let Dark Metal à la Samael or Mirzadeh grind on massive grooves while a thunderstorm of Death Metal covibrates in the atmosphere of „Apoptose“. Thus, traditional 1980s Extreme Metal, especially Scandinavian style, bursts into atmospheric and gloomy Southern European Metal. Amidst these two storm fronts, a powerful cyclone of modern Dark and Groove Metal is born. Although the arc of suspense is not very well-defined, and proper climaxes or highlights are missing, „Apoptose“ is an entertaining album. 5/10 Mangoes
YOP – Beyond Being
04:33 | Single | Digital | Wahshstuff Records
Kraut Rock / Post Punk | Ballina, Ireland | 16/09/2022
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Irish duo YOP is back from a hiatus after the release of their first single ‚2Q16‘. Fully refreshed and filled up with energy, the band is here to mark the final stage of their transformation from Raw Punk to atmospheric, gloomy and emotional Kraut Punk. In their single ‚Beyond Being‘, YOP let the rough edge of their Punk Rock past shine through in the deeply dark and yet catchy chorus. The verses are coined by a stoic Kraut Rock rhythm that is overlayed by emotional Post Punk themes.
Like a melancholic but wise butterfly, YOP exit their cocoon and present their new transformed phenotype. Everyone who still loves raw sounds, the single’s B-Side ‚Human Cannonball‘ will raise the anticipation for the upcoming EP even more. 7/10 Mangoes
Featured Playlists
MangoRotation
The Mango 100: Cinematic Sounds
The Mango 100: Death / Black / Thrash
The Mango 100: Indie Pop / Shoegaze
The Mango 100: Indie / Alternative
The Mango 100: Kraut / Space / Psychedelic
The Mango 100: Post Punk / New Wave
The Mango 100: Prog / Djent / Art
Sound of Indonesia: The Mango 100
Sound of Sweden: The Mango 100
Sound of Switzerland: The Mango 100
Sound of the USA: The Mango 100
