Mellow lyrics for tranquility

Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs
Chelsea Wolfe
7-out-of-10

Quiet nights around the campfire are coming, can you feel it? A beverage, a snack, the sharp crackle and the crickets, and of course something gentle playing from the porch. I nominate Chelsea Wolfe's release Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs to be the droning filler for a peaceful night (note: not ideal for a rowdy backyard party).

Unknown Rooms is a chilling album and a haunting listen. It oozes with gentle melodies and eerie sounds. The album is soft and flowing, yet interesting and engaging. Led by Wolfe's rich voice and accented with Viola, Unknown Rooms is a simply intricate work of art. It is stripped down to the studs and rafters with a hard wind blowing through.

Edging onto experimentation and brimming with a ghostly atmosphere, Wolfe creates a very specific environment and mood. I wouldn't call it depressing, or scary, but it offers a very calming voice perfect for mapping star patterns late into the night.

-SEAN CRAIB-PETKAU

13.0.0.0.0
This Town Needs Guns
9-out-of-10

Oxford, UK, prog rockers This Town Needs Guns rips apart a genre and rebuilds it from the ground up. Their latest release 13.0.0.0.0 is an exciting and challenging listen, expecting a lot from the listener.

Smart lyrics backed up by smarter guitar playing reign over a tight, technical drum beat. Up tempo and relentless, TTNG laid down a lot of brilliant talent on this record. Sprawling rhythms and melodies tied together by syncopated percussion and flawless break downs deliver an album that is extremely easy to get into. These technical elements of the guitar playing and syncopated rhythms converge into what's often known as Math Rock. To go along with the excellent music there is also clever song writing and unbelievable vocals.

Also incorporating a few electronic elements and a handful of samples, TTNG really knocked it out of the park with 13.0.0.0.0. The amalgamation of so many perfect sounds into 12 beautifully crafted songs obviously makes for a stellar record.

-SEAN CRAIB-PETKAU