Alex Newton's Top 50 of 2013

1. The Ocean – Pelagial

In the wake of The Ocean’s polarizing duo Heliocentric and Anthropocentric, their next album was bound to be a make-or-break affair. With Pelagial, however, those fears about the Ocean’s future can finally be laid to rest. Based around the very cool concept of descending through the ocean, Pelagial feels more natural than anything else by the new lineup. Songwriter and guitarist Robin Staps’ original idea was to start with a clean, ambient “surface” feel and move steadily towards a “distorted and abrasive sound for the doomy depth-passages at the end of the album”. Indeed, the serene major-chord piano of “Epipelagic” sets a tone unlike anything in The Ocean’s catalogue, despite seascape sounds that otherwise whisper of Fluxion’s opener, “Nazca”.

Artist of the Day: Rorcal

Key Release: Világvége (2013)

"You have no idea what to expect."

It’s the sort of line a band throws on packaging to dare you to buy its album. Nine times out of ten, the ploy works (and it’s exactly that, a ploy), but it’s that other ten percent in which the real meat of modern metal lies. That’s where the chimeras of heavy music dwell – the fearless bands with nothing to lose. It's where the visionaries come from, bands like Mastodon and Opeth who are now household names for their ingenuity and steadfastness. That's where Rorcal is clawing its way up from, and for a beast like Rorcal, every road from here on is the one not taken.

If you haven’t heard of Rorcal, you’re in the overwhelming majority. The quartet was birthed in Geneva in 2006, and made a name for itself by pounding the local scene in support of cult heroes like Knut, Red Sparrowes, and Wolves in the Throne Room. The outfit’s early sound owed much to its hardcore contemporaries, but by the time Myrra, Mordvynn, Marayaa dropped in 2008, Rorcal was waist-deep in doom and sludge metal. In the band’s eloquent words, “Somewhere between Drone, Doom and Black metal, let yourself go into the bowels of the whale.”

Artist Of The Day: Rorcal

Winter is the perfect season for metal. They go hand in hand, truly; with early nights in the cold season, what better way is there to call in the day by blasting some of the darkest genre of music? Sadly, winter is on its way out, but it is fairly safe to say that new metal releases are only beginning. Enter Rorcal, with their third album released late last month. Unfortunately, I was unable to review it within a timely period, but I still wanted to talk about the album, which fits the style of their debut, Myrra, Mordvynn, Marayaa in the sense that it divides the tracks up in a conventional way, but very much hearkens to their prior release, Heliogabalus in terms of musical experimentation. The atmosphere on Vilagvege is well constructed, beautifully set-up by "I" and featured first on "D." However, after the black six begin (tracks "II" to "VII"), the tempo speeds up, leaving the traditional doom feel behind and working their way towards blackened death metal, which is a departure from Heliogabalus in both concept and sound. The change may not be welcome to some, but I think Vilagvege is one of the best metal releases out this year so far.

You can listen to the new record, as well as the rest of Rorcal's discography, on Bandcamp for free.