Chybucca Sounds

Release Date: Out now.

Record Label: Independent.

Earth Burnt Black practise what they preach: Harrowing Catharsis, the Colorado quartet’s debut is, as its cover art suggests, rather bleak.

According to the band’s online biography, Earth Burnt Black is: “an amalgam of sound that is never content to repeat itself.” Like most people who read this, the obvious question is: How does a band that straddles the blurry lines of progressive-sludge and black-metal dirges, not repeat itself? The answer is: they don’t.

Despite this, Harrowing Catharsis is certainly an enigma. The appropriately named prelude to ‘The March’ (‘Intro’) is rife with guttural howls, before bursting into dynamic, uplifting prog; the likes of which are sure to draw similarities with Swedish metal darling’s Opeth; before a timely, tuned-down twist, takes the listener back to Satan’s lair.

Like Opeth, Earth Burnt Black is a forward-thinking band: combining the intensity of death-metal with the abandonment of prog-rock; however, despite this being only their first release, the boys from Colorado are at a crossroads: More prog, less metal? More metal, less prog?

Release Date: Out now.

Record Label: Sulatron Records.

Press releases do one of two things: Either they provide factual content, that can’t be found after a quick, Google search; or they contain meaningless, nonsensical bravado.

Now, while the lengthy, A4 sheet, that accompanies Vibravoid’s sixth studio album is inevitably the latter; there’s a single statement that rings true: “Gravity Zero proves psychedelic-rock music, to be alive and well.”

In fact, without Vibravoid the genre could be dead altogether. Since 2009, the Germans have given the world: two live albums, an extended E.P. and Minddrugs: a six-track release that includes an ambitious cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’. Gravity Zero, the group’s first full-length offering of the year, is the apotheosis of what Vibravoid can do as a power trio: Namely, dreamy layered grooves, with mystical vocals, and occasional wild-eyed freak-outs.

While musically sound, the impressionable acid-dodgers try to be a little more ‘out there’ in comparison to the rest of their peers – their website proves this – and while this does little to hinder the band’s overall image; it does affect the albums lyrical content; spewing out gems such as: “flower-power is the only solution” and “take a ride on good vibrations” – which is great if you’re having bad acid flashbacks, and your calendar is telling you that its 1968; but for those of us in 2012? Not so.

Release Date: Out now.

Record Label: Go Down Records.

Despite showing glimpses of occasional experimentation; Autumn’s Rain’s debut stays firmly rooted in pop-rock territory.

A young, fashionable trio from Venice; the band’s biography pretty much writes itself; but, with this in mind, you can’t help feeling that this collection of tracks is a missed opportunity. ‘Tannannann’, the album’s ballsy opener, merges controlled ‘70s grooves with high-octave grunge – and even Chili Peppers funk – with blistering intent.

Unfortunately, this is where the excitement ends; as apart from occasional blasts of vintage, galloping riffs and cymbal-crashing euphoria (‘Too Loud’ and ‘Piove’) the remaining eight tracks veer aimlessly into FM-radio territory: self-directed hollers, complete with uninspiring melodies; the likes of which have been present on Foo Fighters albums (sorry, Dave), for the best part of a decade.