Kazea – I. Ancestral Review

By Iceberg

Kazea hail from Sweden, home of the Björiff and the chainsaw song of the HM2. But on their debut album, I. Ancestral, the Gothenburg trio promise to blend “the power of post-rock, the haunting melodies of neo-folk, and the crushing weight of sludge.” If the mere mention of sludge hasn’t sent you screaming from the room, good, because you’re in for a treat today. I dealt with posty sludge from labelmates Besra in my n00b days, but throwing neo-folk into the mix puts an unusual spin on the situation. While both styles revel in their simplicity of content, the open soundscapes of folk could provide much-needed contrast against sludge’s distorted chugging. Or it could devolve into a mishmash of styles that don’t share any common language. Whatever the musical case, there’s no denying the gorgeous poetry of Frederico Garcia Lorca in opener “With A Knife:” “Green, how I want you green. Green wind. Green branches. The ship out on the sea. The horse on the mountain.” Color me intrigued.

Kazea choose to separate and highlight, rather than amalgamate, their stylistic influences, a gamble that pays off more often than not. Dusky acoustic guitars reminiscent of Gustavo Santaolalla or A Romance With Violence-era Wayfarer lead the folk-inspired sections, evoking untamed, pagan wilderness (“With A Knife,” “A Strange Burial”). The sludge, which forms the backbone of Kazea’s sound, is more Melvins than Mastodon, and a lot of American Scrap-era Huntsmen, with fuzzy guitars and stomping drum patterns (“Whispering Hand,” “Wailing Blood”). Jonas Mattsson’s vocals may be a bit controversial here, with their Billy Corgan-esque nasal quality, but the more I listened to I. Ancestral the more Mattsson’s performance stuck with me. I hear shades of Layne Staley in his scrawling delivery, and while I wasn’t always able to discern the lyrics, his dynamic croon forms the beating heart of the album’s post-metal tunes (“Trenches,” “Seamlessly Woven”).

For a band handing in their debut record, Kazea slither and wind their way around 37 minutes with the hallmarks of seasoned songwriters. An air of storytelling pervades the album, with memorable spoken word fragments (“A Little Knife,” “A Strange Burial”) and ambient soundscapes (“The North Passage,” “Seamlessly Woven”) delivering post-metal’s cinematics within a sludge framework. Post-metal swells and crashes à la This Will Destroy You and Isis are found on “Trenches” and “Seamlessly Woven,” and while these are unsurprisingly the longest tracks on the record they handle their duration well, with the latter providing one of the strongest, heart-wrenching choruses I’ve heard all year long. Even “Whispering Hand,” which is something akin to pop sludge, is a radio-ready anthem full of earworms that evokes the better moments of Them Crooked Vultures.

I. Ancestral is a promising opening for Kazea’s proposed musical series, and its flaws are few and far between. Daniel Olsson’s drums are powerful, and the groove laid down in “The North Passage” marches in mammoth lockstep with Rasmus Lindbolm’s bass, but the minimalist tribal kick/toms/snare pattern begins to feel a bit overused the longer one listens to the record. “Pale City Skin” and “Wailing Blood” both start strongly but spin their riff wheels a touch too long, giving in to the tendency of both sludge and post-metal to utilize repetition for content. And while a master by Cult of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg is roomy and darkly colorful, the vocal mix does get buried in the busier sections of the album, which is a shame because these constitute some of the best music I. Ancestral has to offer (“Trenches,” “Seamlessly Woven”). But the overall impression of Kazea’s debut beats its blemishes, presenting a stark and unique voice formed from disparate influences.

“…with a knife. With a little knife that just fits into the palm.” The chilling denouement of “With A Knife” has stuck with me as I’ve ruminated over I. Ancestral. It neatly encapsulates the album, weaving shadowy, wooded energy into an unlikely combination of post-metal and sludge. The album is smartly edited and easy to pore over multiple times, with repeat listens revealing some standout moments: “Whispering Hand” is a shamelessly fun sludge anthem, and “Seamlessly Woven” is the most emotionally packed closer I’ve heard since The Drowning’s “Blood Marks My Grave.” I think Kazea have knocked it out of the park with this debut, and are on the verge of coalescing their sound into something truly remarkable. Don’t sleep on these guys.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Suicide Records
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 21st, 2025

#2025 #35 #GustavoSantaolalla #Hunstmen #IAncestral #Isis #Kazea #Mar25 #Melvins #NeoFolk #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #Sludge #SuicideRecords #SwedishMetal #ThemCrookedVultures #ThisWillDestroyYou #Wayfarer

#NewsFromTheFront
Weekly update from your anarchist comrades in #NES
17.02.25-24.02.25

Also available on https://tekosinaanarsist.noblogs.org/category/war-updates/

# Ongoing clashes in Euphrates region

Heavy clashes continue to take place in the western shore of the Eufrates river around Tishreen Dam and Qereqozah bridge. Turkish planes and drones had been targeting SDF positions together with continued attacks of heavy weapons, as new waves of Turkish proxies launched offensives against SDF positions. The civilian vigil that started on January 8th continues, with new convoys arriving every few days. HTS forces recently deployed forces in Jarablus, near the Euphrates river and next to the Turkish border, in convoys that arrived from Turkish territory into the border city.

# Preparations for the "national dialog conference"

The HTS aligned preparatory committee for the "national dialog conference" have been holding meetings in Damascus with delegates from different provinces of Syria. Anti-Kurdish statements had been made by the president of the committee, that made clear that neither SDF nor PYD will be invited to the "national dialog conference". The participation to those meetings has been therefore controlled by that committee, that made public statements after the meetings concerning the provinces of Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir Ezzor calling for the dissolution of SDF. A video was shared on social media allegedly showing an SDF/DAANES delegate being expelled from one of these sessions. ENKS, political rival of PYD and in opposition to SDF, also criticized the decisions of holding those meetings outside SDF controlled territories and with very limited scope of participation.

# Efforts to return Iraqi nationals from al-Hol camp

A new group of Iraqis sheltered in Hol Camp, hosting families captured in the campaign against the caliphate of ISIS, returned to their country. This process is part of the joint work by the Autonomous Administration and the Iraqi Parliament's Committee on Migration, Displacement and Community Reconciliation. The new group, which is the fifth to leave the camp since the beginning of 2025, consists of 618 people (167 families). The Iraqi administration will reportedly resettle these migrants, who have returned voluntarily, to Jeda Camp in Nineveh. Since 2022, 22 Iraqi groups have left Hol Camp and returned to their country.

# On economy and HTS unfulfilled promises

At a time when Syria’s economy is struggling with inflation, currency devaluation, and rising unemployment, a recent report issued by the Syrian Central Bank on the country’s general inflation rate of 2024 is questioned by several economists, dismissing the Central Bank’s numbers as inaccurate and unreliable.
The head of the Chamber of Industry in Damascus also criticized the Syrian provisional government for their unfulfilled promises to support the industrial sector and incentivize economy. After the fall of the Assad regime, 100,000 Syrians returned from the bordering countries. In a context where it is already hard to maintain the jobs of industrial workers, the lack of measures to answer the need of the newcomers will deepen the humanitarian and economical crisis already ongoing in Syria. On the other side, the announcement of the EU to lift the sanctions on energy, transport and banking on Monday 24th of February can bring important economical changes.

# Trade unions against Syrian government's decisions

The Syrian provisional government fired 400,000 workers connected to services and administration of the Syrian State. This was presented as part of a "government restructuring plan", at a time when Syria’s economy is struggling with inflation, currency devaluation, and rising unemployment. Damascus workers’ unions organized demonstrations to protest the decision, calling for a suspension of the dismissals and the creation of independent review committees to reassess the process.

# Tribal clashes growing in Deir Ezzor

Inhabitants of Deir ez zor are witnessing a surge in deadly clan clashes, increasing local insecurity and heightening residents’ fears, that already left nearly 20 dead and more than 100 injured by gunshots. Most of the victims are civilians uninvolved in the clashes. Community development initiatives promoting dialogue and reconciliation among tribes are unsuccessful, partly due to the fear of repression and increase of violence. Some civilians of the region recently called for “support from local and international organizations to motivate residents to work together”.

# HTS and the of Southern Operation Room

Banyan Hariri, commander of the Southern Operations Room and member of HTS since 2018, has been promoted to colonel and assigned as commander of the military forces in the region of Hawran. His forces from the Southern Operations Room are being merged an integrated under the Defense Ministry together with soldiers of the SAA who fought on the ranks the dissolved Assad regime. The region of Hawran include Daraa and Suweyda, neighboring with the occupied Golan heights and the newly expanded "security zone" of Israel. This process is also happening together with increased security operations of the provisional government against old regime loyalists and drug dealers.

# New military council in Suweyda

In Suweyda, the police command has been reactivated in coordination with the provisional government, and a similar process to resettle soldiers of the SAA started. After meeting with delegates from the provisional government, Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri declared that men from Suweyda joining the army will serve in their regions, and that those who don't want to join military service will continue their civilian lives. Allegedly, on February 22nd, a statement of a new military council of Suweyda was shared on social media, rejecting the integration of their forces in the ministry of defense of the HTS provisional government. We are not sure yet what this implies.

# Israel not-anymore-temporal security zone

Israel defense minister declared that two military posts on mount Hermon and 7 more in the newly occupied "extended buffer zone" will be permanent. Netanyahu called for a demilitarization of the southern Syria and Israel intentions to not allow military forces of HTS provisional government deploy on the areas south of Damascus. Netanyahu expressed concerns about the safety of the Druze community, stating that they won't tolerate threats against them.

# Analysis

*Read in reply!*

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#Syria #VictoryCongress #SDF #DAANES #AANES #SNA #SDF #PYD #HTS #AlSharaa #Rojava #Kurdistan #Revolution #DefendRojava #Anarchy #Anarchism #Comrades #Internationalism #AbdullahOcalan #Öcalan #TishreenDam #Turkey #ISIS #Assad #Israel

À Terre – Embrasser La Nuit Review

By Thus Spoke

There’s nothing wrong with sticking to an established genre template, but it’s interesting when a band opts to mix things up. Bordeaux’s À Terre could be said to go a step further, claiming the musical DNA of their debut Embrasser La Nuit was guided by the provocative question, “Is making Cult Of Luna or Converge really that original these days?” As a sludge/post-metal ensemble, the group’s self-awareness about their debt to the big names, leads them, in Embrasser La Nuit, to sprinkle in a handful of other influences, mainly from the French rap and hip-hop scene.1 But the real question isn’t whether or not what À Terre have created makes for a novel take on post-metal or sludge. Instead, it’s a question of whether or not what they have created is good, regardless of its callbacks or imitations.

There is certainly an air of uniqueness about Embrasser La Nuit. A trap-beat-led, post-metal version of rap (“Tous Morts,”) is not something you hear often. But À Terre don’t settle into any one distinctive style so much as flick between them, and not unnaturally. Classic sludgy trudges marry well with the hardcore stompiness that rears its head on multiple occasions (“Paris sous les Tombes,” “L’Appel de la Nuit”). The post-metal leanings lend themselves by default to the passages of ambience (“ÂCÂB,” “Presque Morts,” “Nous Sommes la Nuit”), which itself pairs as easily with rap-style delivery as harsher rasps. Flashes of greatness come in the form of a cascading pattern of synths smartly woven into an escalating build (“ÂCÂB”), or an alarm-bell riff playing to the tune of a -core/sludge mash-up (“Paris sous la Tombes”). À Terre play their interpretations of these blended genres well, but as as the elements continue to brush shoulders with one another within songs, the energies give way to indistinctness. And there grows an uncomfortable sense that it all amounts to another less-than-memorable iteration of a subgenre’s core sound.

À Terre can write sludge and post-metal. They know how to craft some battering riff-rhythm patterns (“Paris sous les Tombes,” “Nous Sommes La Nuit”), throwing in some group, and layered vocals for that satisfying touch of aggression. Their atmospheric tendencies are also appropriately sombre, and chilling, particularly as they tend towards the stripped-back-to-slow build style that marks some of the best of post-metal’s traits (“ÂCÂB,” “Prophétie”). In reminding the listener of greats like Amenra, Cult of Luna, Isis, and more, passages—and by extension, tracks—gain familiarity and the halo of quality shines on them. Yet, when I hear the pained, atonal screams over minor synths and the tides of gritty chugging (“Prophétie,” “L’Appel de la Nuit”), it’s like hearing Amenra with 90% of the emotion stripped away. The gradual increases in tension and intensity that rise and fall (“ÂCÂB,” “Presque Morts”) are not unaffecting, but their impact is greatly softened by À Terre’s tendency to force, rush, or otherwise fail to properly capitalise on them. They are at best simply inserted, if still decent (“Prophétie”) and at worst, totally undeveloped (“Paris sous les Tombes,” “Presque Morts”). Likewise, the bite of the surrounding sludge feels relatively toothless thanks to the fact that the impatience that characterises the hardcore stylings infects even the stiller moments: off-the-cuff edginess bringing angsty riffage too soon, and ambience breaking sludge far too frequently and abruptly. What results are compositions lacking in conviction, possessing none of the rawness or introspection that they ought to, combining to form something awkwardly bland.

Embrasser La Nuit thus makes for a surprisingly uneventful listening experience; surprising, because everything is technically good, and yet somehow anaemic. The glimmers of brilliance are good only insofar as they are imitations, while the exceptions to the established formula in the form of ‘experimentation’ (“Tous Morts,” and, at a stretch, a more synth-heavy approach in spots across the record) are vastly too brief to create any meaningful intrigue or spice. Leaving individual tastes aside, this kind of music should never be boring, and in fairness, calling Embrasser La Nuit boring would be overly simplistic; it’s too uneven for that. There are stretches of atmospheric musing (“Prophétie”) and snappy boisterousness (“Paris sous les Tombes”) that are, in isolation, good. Their collection nonetheless leaves more than a little to be desired.

À Terre speak to the concept of originality, but ultimately, their debut does not suffer because it lacks it. It suffers because À Terre’s homages to genre mainstays fail to elicit the profoundly affecting responses in their audience that their incarnation demands. The music is a surface-level representation of its inspirations, with only glimpses of depth. With relatively little raw humanity, despite its literal components, and a lukewarm commitment to the true presence of its pugnacity and its magnitude, Embrasser La Nuit makes only the barest of impacts.

Rating: Disappointing
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: wav
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: January 24th, 2025

#20 #2025 #ÀTerre #Amenra #CultOfLuna #EmbrasserLaNuit #FrenchMetal #Isis #Jan25 #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleases #SludgeMetal