N.Tesla - Lux Manifesto

This slab of post-metal comes from a small country that you might have heard of called Russia. As N.Tesla clearly take their moniker from the Serbian American inventor so you either expect the band to be inventive or to be heavily influenced by the American metal band. N.Tesla are much further to the left of than the American band with a similar name and are far more creative.

N.Tesla move from ambient to more avant-garde metal to black metal with barely a whimper and often on a single track. The bands vocalist is definitely a huge talent as the man can do more than just scream as the times where singing is called for he handles the situation with aplomb.

There's a lot of black metal running through the music on "Lux Manifesto" and a little bit of Pink Floyd in the album's title track. Rather than comparing N.Tesla to other post-rock bands Agalloch seem a fairer comparison as the music and creativity both bands have are similar. The blues guitar on the album's closer, "Here Speak Only the Birds" is a nice surprise although it's nearly a little too short and sweet.

N.Tesla have recorded a metal album that clocks in at a little over thirty minutes instead of the usual full hour so that's a huge thumbs up here as we hate time-wasters.

Check out the title track below. Then go and click on the bandcamp link below to hear the full "Lux Manifesto" album.






3.5/5




N.Tesla on bandcamp



N.Tesla on facebook

Basendrums and stuffs

I was sent some stuff to review by a record label> I'm not too certain how much they read the blog as some of this stuff veers more than a little from the usual content.

Here goes:

Slicnaton Basendrums(Extemporate)



Boring instrumental music that monks might listen to on the quiet comtemplatve road to Nirvana. For people who consider the sound of a dripping tap to be music.

Remora - Derivative (Siber Records)

Instrumental post-rock music that would likely be those who listen to Mogwai, Clione-Index, 8mmSky or Explosions in the Sky. These songs are reworkings of the likes of Joy Division, Warrior Soul and Pere Ubu. Not something I'd reach for but it's not bad. The final song Love Corrupt strikes me as the strongest song with the audible loops in the background and and the guitar sounds taking foreground.


Remora


Plumerai - Electrical Mess

I saw another review which compared this band to The Smiths. I must be getting deaf in my old age because I don't hear Morrissey and Johnny Marr in this band at all. There's a female singer who sounds a little like Shirley Manson singing over guitar feedback that comes and goes in the title track. If the song was coming from a transistor radio you'd put the aerial up to kill the static noise. "Die Die Slowly" is music Portishead fans would eat up. It's slow building but with those sultry vocals over the top of shoegazer guitar reverb. "Shapes and Trees" has a pulsating New Order style electro-dance beat. There's a couple of live tracks with audience noise that distract more than a little from the music.

Plumerai on myspace