Multifeature: Remina, Beth Gibbons, Observers, Huntsmen

Multifeatures are for two things: EPs and albums about which I don’t have much to say. That doesn’t mean that I dislike them, though. I might really like them, actually. Here are four brief reviews, one for an EP and three for good albums that didn’t bring me many words.

____________

Remina is the duo of Mike Lamb (Sojourner) and Heike Langhans (ex-Draconian, Light Field Reverie, Lor3l3i, ex-ISON). This particular EP includes drums from Renan Bianchi and guest vocals from Emilio Crespo (Sojourner). I’m a huge fan of all of Mike and Heike’s projects, and I loved the 2022 Remina debut, even making it my album of the year. Now, as they get ready to launch the second album, they’ve released a three-song EP which includes songs not on that new album, but I am so glad they still emerged.

The band plays something of a cosmic doom sound with some post-rock elements, science fiction or fantasy themes, and Gothic trappings. There is something exceptional about how they pair ethereal melodies with dark guitars and Heike’s legendary vocals. I like how their music seems to float in spacious galaxies of atmosphere, but also has drive to it with catchy rhythms and huge melodies.

This EP is fantastic. The opening track is “Erebus”, and it is easily one of my favorite songs of the year. The slow build to the towering climax is amazing, and the melody is probably one of the most memorable of the year; I keep finding myself humming it. “Cinderfall” comes next and is something like an older ISON piece with lots of hovering candlelight until the double bass kicks in and Heike’s emotional vocals hit a new peak. The final track is “Siren’s Sleep”, which is closer to a classic doom song with Emilio laying down some great harsh vox. It is heavier and more lumbering, I suppose, and Mike’s guitar work is excellent, especially in the second half.

If this is a taste of the new album, my body is absolutely ready. This EP is fantastic, and I can’t imagine how these songs could get cut from any album, they are that good. This is a great place to jump aboard, but I recommend checking out everything these musicians have made, too.

____________

Beth probably needs no introduction seeing as how she is the voice for the legendary Portishead. Her new solo album Lives Outgrown has been getting some attention lately, and that is for good reason. This is a great album.

She offers music that is fairly difficult to describe. It is dark art pop in a way, something like Agnes Obel I’d say, but uses more acoustic guitar, quirky and angular melodies, and often projects Dead Can Dance in her whispering, breathy style. Don’t expect a plethora of upbeat tunes, certainly; this album is mostly downtempo, odd, and bent towards a slight folk aesthetic.

It’s a great album, though, with great songs. I don’t find myself connecting with it to the point of, say, Susanne Sundfør’s works, but I really enjoy it nonetheless. I like the muted ambience of “Tell Me Who You Are Today” and the catchy and bright lyrics of “Floating on a Moment”. Other favorites are “Reaching Out” with its haunting harmonies and the gorgeous closer “Whispering Love”, which is more pastoral in its humming flute and tender emotions. My favorite overall is “Beyond the Sun”, an odd piece with a strange melody that has somehow wormed its way into my soul. The whole album gets better and better with time, though, and I may find more words for it in the future.

____________

Observers is a project from Martin Kennedy on guitars and synth, Chris Bohm on drums, and Rich Gray on bass. I think I actually stumbled across them because of their Facebook page, which is mostly about classic, made-by-a-real-human science fiction and fantasy art—even if you don’t like the music, the page is a wonderful follow. Their debut is called The Age of the Machine Entities.

The band plays what they describe as instrumental melodic metal with a dark ambient undertone. I would point out strong doom and electronic influences, too. They offer heavy riffs and a thundering rhythm section, and because most of their songs are only a few minutes long, they are purposeful and lack filler, but could perhaps be developed more. They do have one 11-minute piece on the album which delves into an ambient and curious song structure, and I would love to hear more of that.

Look, this album is one you can play again and again. My favorites are the spacious soundscape of “Frank Poole’s Dream”, the heavy subtlety of “Strange and Beautiful”, the slower and lumbering beauty of “Moon Doom”, and the genuinely amazing “Metaphor II”, which is the longest song and really uses that time to explore and muse on some rather nuanced and alien melodies; the only metallic portion comes near the end. Anyways, this is a fun album that you’ll probably play dozens of times, but it isn’t the kind that makes me wax eloquent or emotional.

____________

This might be the most difficult release to review in this post. Huntsmen is a Chicago-based band that has been through the ringer with illness, and so this The Dry Land album is a return and also a fresh start. I’ve honestly looked everywhere for the personnel lineup, but even their website omits that information. I do know this is the first full album with Aimee Bueno-Knipe on vocals.

The band is labelled as doom, but they sound quite different than most such bands. There are more stoner tendencies and even prog rock portions, and a certain American flavor to all of it. The base is definitely the long riffs and clean/harsh mix of vocals that characterizes many doom bands, but this is more dynamic and active.

I find that I like all the songs on the album, but I don’t like every part of every song. They tend to break into the furious blast beat white noise of some black metal from time to time, and I think that’s the weakest part of their sound. However, when Aimee is allowed to sing and express, and when the music is more reserved, the unique character of their sound is able to emerge, and those moments are fantastic. That is not to say, however, that I don’t love the great riffs and heavier portions, too.

The opener “This, Our Gospel” is a good example. I’m honestly not a huge fan of the first half—it’s fine—but the second half is where the melody and shadow really come out to dance. The next song “Cruelly Dawns” is terrific, though, with its folk-leaning swagger and slowburn to heavy riffs and great vocals. I like “In Time, All Things”, too, for its mix of layered vocals and awesome, searing riffs, but I like the closer “The Herbsight” most of all for its ambient, melodic climb into pounding metal; it takes its time and is almost soothing in a way. I think the rhythm section really shines on that one. Overall, The Dry Land is a good album that has been growing on me, and I’m interested to see where the band goes from here.