Grup Sokak - "Benim Hüzünlü Orospum" [2012]

Artist: Sokak

Title: Benim Hüzünlü Orospum

Genre: Turkish Rock

Country: Turkey

Release date: 2012

Track List:

1. Benim Hüzünlü Orospum
2. Üçgeni Kareye Sokmak Meselesi
3. Ceset
4. Kutup Ayısının Pipisi
5. Katil Tanrı

After listening to "Küçük Kadın", I conducted a search for other releases of Sokak, but managed to find only this EP. "Benim Hüzünlü Orospum" generally sounds more mainstream than "Küçük Kadın" (even bordering on pop-rock at times)... but at least it's still quite catchy stuff that has the unique "Turkish" flavour with it (don't know how to explain it better). They have at least one more album "Sokak Çocuğu" released in 2000? but I haven't found it anywhere yet.

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Sokak - "Küçük Kadın" [2007]

Artist: Sokak

Title: Küçük Kadın

Genre: Anatolian Rock, Industrial Rock

Country: Turkey

Release date: 2007

Track List:

1. Küçük Kadın
2. Jale
3. Ahtapot
4. Hayatın Sırrı
5. Yiğenim
6. Güneşin Doğduğu Yer
7. Haram Sevda
8. Kırık Mızrap
9. Fesleğen Çiçeği
10. Tuğlanın Gücü
11. Uyutmaz
12. Midasın Kulakları
13. Öç
14. Yaban
15. Sessizlik Ölümü Biriktirir
16. Jale (remix)

Sokak are an obscure Turkish rock band whosestyle is often described as "industrial rock". For me it's a bit of exaggeration, even though their music does contain some "industrial-esque" elements. However, "Küçük Kadın" is a good release, although a bit too lengthy. The first two tracks are especially catchy (but the 2nd half of the album is somewhat boring, though).

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Hedvika - "The Evidence Of Absence" [2013]

Artist: Hedvika

Title: The Evidence Of Absence

Genre: Post-Rock

Country: Greece

Release date: 2013

Track List:

1. Collapse
2. 100000 Years
3. The Ocean Below
4. Enceladus
5. Void / No Void
6. Last Glare
7. Shapes Of Nemesis

"The band was formed in Athens, Greece in spring 2011 in order to deliver heavy tunes in the vein of Neurosis, Isis, Fall Of Efrafa, Electric Wizard and the likes. After spending some quality time in the studio making demo recordings, the band started performing live and scheduled some winter gigs for 2012-2013.Simultaneously they began the arduous task of giving birth to their first endeavor entitled “The Evidence Of Absence” , a concept album for our own expanding universes. Currently, Hedvika continue their journey in the stellar plains composing new tracks combining atmosphere and heaviness through their own prism..."

"...Formed in the remaining of the Old Sun. Through dust, the first glow revealed the vastness of the new world. The celestial solitude of an enslaved passenger of time who saw the light of a world of masters and minions. Silence is broken. Conscious is born. Her ocean is screaming her existence filling the void, reflecting on his frozen entity. From the reaches of the new gleam to the warmth of destruction, matter realizes it’s own existence following the arrow of time. In the shadow of a second sun doubting the reality. Doubting the Evidence Of Absence"

Psycho Tree - "Black January" [2013]

Artist: Psycho Tree

Title: Black January

Genre: Post-Rock

Country: Russia

Release date: 2013

Track List:

1. Thundercloud
2. Birds Flying Over The Dying City
3. Remember The Ocean
4. Above The Ground
5. V
6. Gaia
7. Pripyat
8. Snow Horizon

Depressive post-rock from Siberia (Tomsk/Krasnoyarsk). Quite good for a first full-length release of an young 3-piece band.

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Reverie Falls On All - "İMÇ" [2007]

Artist: Reverie Falls On All

Title: İMÇ

Genre: Noise Rock

Country: Turkey

Release date: 2007

Track List:

1. İMÇ
2. interlude
3. İMÇ (live)

"Reverie Falls On All was formed in the summer of 2003 by Replikas members Barkin Engin and Burak Tamer. The sound processing improvisations in search for the direction of the collaboration evolved into various textures containing acoustic instruments with the real acoustic qualities of the building, where the sessions took place. Finally the music shaped into a structure that blend the duo’s guitar playing aesthetic with their influences on glitch, noise, 20th Century Music and classical composition.

The musical ideas interfere with sound wise coincidences throughout the composing process. Digital errors, ambient noises, leakage from other spaces become elements of the compositions, each introducing an actual code of framed time. Then these audible codes of the moments connect with the reflections of daily life and transform into musical structures"

Well, I don't know much about Replikas, but looks like they're a quite well-known experimental/post-rock project. And speaking of RFOA - yes, it's noise, but not the "industrial" kind of noise. Anyway, it's the only Turkish (or generally Middle Eastern/Oriental) noise project I know of.

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The A.Y.I.L.A.R - "Istanbul Skins" [???]

Artist: The A.Y.I.L.A.R

Title: Istanbul Skins

Genre: Oi! (S.H.A.R.P), Street Punk

Country: Turkey

Release date: 200?

Track List:

1. Istanbul skins
2. Ayip
3. Sansliysan yasarsin
4. Bezelye
5. Kallez
6. Bugunpazar
7. Karsiyiz biz savasa
8. Sokakar sahidim ol...

The only Oi! band from Turkey I know (yes, there's also Bandista, but their music is more ska than anything else). Maybe not great, but not bad at all (however, the quality of recording varies significantly from one track to another). Don't know when exactly it was released, but it's definitely from the 2000s.

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She Past Away - "Belirdi Gece" [2012]

Artist: She Past Away

Title: Belirdi Gece

Genre: Post-Punk, Darkwave

Country: Turkey

Release date: 2012

Track List:

1. Sanrı
2. Rituel
3. Monoton
4. Kasvetli Kutlama
5. İnsanlar
6. Belirdi Gece (Musallat)
7. Ruh
8. Kemir Beni
9. Bozbulanık
10. İçe Kapanış

Can't say I have a good knowledge of either Turkish rock scene or 80's post-punk/gothic rock, yet I found this album really interesting. It's a first time I hear 80's-style new-wave/post-punk made in Turkey, and it's quite good. However, the opening track isn't the best on this album (IMO), and the whole album would be better with vocals in English, or with no vocals at all... Other than that, this album is really remarkable, and I think She Past Away deserve to be called "Turkish Clan of Xymox".

LINK REMOVED DUE TO DMCA

You can listen to the whole album on Youtube, though:

Haapa - "Veroníka" [2012]

Artist: Haapa
Title: Veroníka
Label: ODDOT
Genre: Witch House
Country: Russia
Release date: 2012

Track List:

1. sensual zurbagan
2. lick me
3. dva ABSOLUTa
4. تحبني  

 Haapa is a Moscow-based artist best known for his track "Sensual Zurbagan", hat was included in the "Newbreed Vibes III: Future" compilation. His music has been described as "futuregaze" and "hypnagogic pop", but I think it's just witch house (and Haapa is one of the few artists in this genre whose music is actually good).

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GuilThee - "Szemantikai háromszögek" [2012]

Artist: GuilThee

Title: Szemantikai háromszögek

Genre: Avant-garde Metal

Country: Hungary

Release date: 2012

Track List:

1. Hiedelmek magamról
2. 1/3
3. Tél a homokpusztán
4. A nyulak örökké élnek
5. Vérszívók
6. Kedd
7. A jakobinusok ellen
8. Kívánom a testet
9. Necropolis
10. A tachyonok tánca
11. Az „Csak búbánat” nótájára az ember helyéről a világban (Sajnálatos módon összeállítva az adeptus fia és vak szeretője által)
12. Inga

"Szemantikai háromszögek" is the 3rd and the last album of Guilthee up to date. It's even more experimental than "Homunculus Paradoxon", so it wasn't an easy listening even for me. However, I still happy to discovery Guilthee as a decent alternative to Gire - who, unfortunately, split up in 2007 after releasing only one (but excellent) album.

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GuilThee - "Homunculus Paradoxon" [2011]

Artist: GuilThee

Title: Homunculus Paradoxon

Genre: Avant-garde Metal

Country: Hungary

Release date: 2011

Track List:

1. Introitus Tragoediae
2. Succubi
3. Red-Hand Succubi Theory
4. Chorion
5. The First Experiment
6. Manna Di San Nikola
7. Die Vier Junkfrauen
8. Digitale Gaudium
9. Zitije Hermesovo
10. Spire Disaster
11. Hübrisz
12. Útban délnek

It's been a while since my last post about Hungarian avantgarde music, so I think it's about time to review one of the most interesting Hungarian metal releases of 2011. Guilthee are an unlabellable band from Veszprém, started in 2006 by a former member of Sunseth Sphere. While their first album "Lustration" was more death metal than anything else (it was already pretty avant-garde, though), "Homunculus Paradoxon" is a whole metal opera with several male and female vocalists, incorporation elements of groove metal, industrial metal, gothic rock and psychedelic metal/rock (especially on first 3 tracks, which aren't representative of the album as a whole). My favourite track is "Chorion", but "Red-Hand Succubi Theory", "Manna Di San Nikola" and "Die Vier Junkfrauen" are quite good too... however, it's a concept album which is better to be listened as a while. And finally: not only it fits my taste almost perfectly, it's also available for free off their official site:

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Numen - "...Jarrai Beza Kondairak" [2003]

Artist: Numen

Title: Jarrai Beza Kondairak

Genre: Black/Folk Metal

Country: Spain (Basque Country)

Release date: 2003

Track List:

1. Eskualdunak
2. Inguma
3. Mari
4. Ama Lurra (acoustic)
5. Haize Sorginduen Intziriak
6. Ehiztari Beltza
7. Heriotza Eta Geroa
8. Gaua Gauekoentzat...
9. Beotibar

Among with "Galdutako Itxaropenaren Eresia", these two albums are the best in Numen's discography (the consequent ones are more generic black metal and less folk/pagan). Definitely recommended to everyone who's interested in black/pagan metal that's inspired by pre-Indo-European history and legends. The acoustic version of "Ama Lurra" is great.

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Numen - "Galdutako Itxaropenaren Eresia" [2001]

Artist: Numen

Title: Galdutako Itxaropenaren Eresia

Genre: Black/Folk Metal

Country: Spain (Basque Country)

Release date: 2001

Track List:

1. Gauerdia Erortzean
2. Denboraren Iluntasuna
3. Gau Hotz Isilaren Magalean
4. Mendiaren Irrintzia
5. Arbasoen Oroimenean Kulunka
6. Galdutako Itxaropenaren Eresia
7. Oinazearen Itzalak
8. Iheslaria
9. Ama Lurra
10. Galdutako Itxaropenaren Eresia (Bigarren Atala)

The debut full-length album of probably most well-known Basque pagan metal band. Outstanding stuff.

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Azken Garrasia - "Sorgin Zorrotz" [2005]

Artist: Azken Garrasia

Title: Sorgin Zorrotz

Genre: Heavy Metal

Country: Spain (Basque Country)

Release date: 2005

Track List:

1. Suzko Bidetik I
2. Apokalipsia
3. Bizitzaren Baitan
4. Boterearen Gainbehera
5. Hor Nonbait
6. Zure Munduko Giltza
7. Suzko Bidetik II
8. Naufragoarena
9. Sorgin Zorrotz
10. Ilgora

More or less standard heavy metal, except all the lyrics are in Basque language. Even if you're not interested in metal in exotic languages, I still would recommend this album if you're looking for obscure/underrated bands that sound better than the majority of generic heavy/power metal bands.

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Merkabah - "Lyonesse" [2011]

 Artist: Merkabah

Title: Lyonesse

Genre: Post-Metal/Sludge, "Jazzcore"

Country: Poland

Release date: 2011

Track List:

1. Narwhals
2. Deconstruction Mass
3. Occultation

First I read about this Polish band in one of the blogs dedicated mostly to RIO and related genres. Their LP "A Lament For The Lamb" didn't leave me disappointed - 6 pieces of heavy, gloomy "jazzcore" (as they call it). You can download the whole LP from last.fm (the bitrate is low, though). As for "Lyonesse" - it's a live EP released in 2011 and officially available for free download. Not as heavy as "A Lament...", but still as awesome.

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Иное - "Кувшины" [2010]

Artist: Иное

Title: Кувшины

Genre: Jazz-Rock, Acoustic, Folk-Rock

Country: Russia (Dagestan)

Release date: 2010

Track List:

1. Мелодия
2. Коты
3. Не Ходи
4. Тропою Шейха
5. Утюд
6. Урарту
7. Танго
8. Чёрным колдунам белого севера... (bonus)
9. Акку-Акку (bonus)
10. В горном лесу (bonus)

...And probably the most interesting discovery of this evening - a jazz-rock band formed by Islam Ibragimov, ex-member of Fatima's Band (and possibly Abscess). All 7 tracks on this album are quite lengthy and entirely instrumental; the musicianship is quite good but nothing outstanding. Bonus tracks are more interesting: the music is pretty much the same, but there are vocals performed in a quite strange, "oriental" way; and the lyrics are a complete mindfuck. After listening to this, I'd say the band justifies its name: their sound is really different. I'd describe their sound as "esoteric folk-jazz-prog-rock", and it's quite a surprise for me to hear something like this coming from Dagestan. A greater surprise would be only a folk/pagan metal band singing in Avar or Lakku... however, this kind of psychedelic "oriental" rock is even more interesting than any kind of metal. Sadly (but unsurprisingly), it looks like they're almost unknown even in their home region...

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