I typed this blog out offline, on Saturday morning and only posted it now. It’s my first Cloudhead blog. Hope you dig 
. Thanks to my favourite imported music magazine, Rock Sound, I found yet another innovative band within heavy music, which is sadly, a real rarity these days. Check out a UK band called Rinoa. Their new/debut self-titled EP, was produced by one of Devil Sold His Soul’s guitarists. I love Rinoa for the same reasons I love Devil Sold His Soul…
Rinoa - Rinoa EP
It’s not chugga chugga hardcore with predictable breakdowns or sing/scream dynamics, or regurgitated “heard before” metal riffs. These dudes aren’t overly technical but I can hear conviction in their sound, especially in the vocals, which somehow sound different from anything I’ve heard before. They use rad, messy guitar chords and have clever arrangements. Again, it’s a rarity to find “heavy bands” who somehow manage to create a sense of atmosphere and mood within their sound. Both Rinoa and Devil Sold His Soul pull this off amazingly. I would say that that’s probably one of the main reasons why I find them appealing. Another one of these kind of bands would be Japan’s innovative hardcore veterans, Envy.
I also recently started enjoying a genre called IDM. According to Wikipedia, it’s an abbreviation for “intelligent dance music”. As far as I can hear, it’s not really dancy at all, but I never take “genres” very serious anyway. I agree with the “intelligent” part though. From the bands that I have found and that fall within the “IDM sound”, I see it more as an amalgamation of post-rock, ambient and electronica. I am new to this “genre” so I’m no expert, but from my experience, it’s really abstract, unpredictable and dreamy. Vocals are very sporadic and unconventional, if present at all. I recommend checking out Arc Lab (get the latest album, “The Goodbye Radio”) and Lights Out Asia. Their new album, “Tanks and Recognisers” is absolutely amazing. I also noticed that one of my all time favourite electronica artists, Apparat, is also apparently part of the IDM movement (or have been associated with that pigeonhole).
Arc Lab - The Goodbye Radio
Enough for now, I’m off to see Underoath in a couple of hours…
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