post-rock

Katatonia

Katatonia / Cult of Luna / Intronaut / Tesseract @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, September 27, 2013

When you’re into foreign underground bands who are often slotted into short opening slots because they’re not widely known… well, you get used to enjoying one of your favs for about half an hour before the higher profile but sometimes less interesting headliners take to the stage. In the case of Katatonia and Cult of Luna’s co-headlining tour stop at the Opera House in Toronto this September, ‘interestingness’ wasn’t the issue. Nevertheless, openers Tesseract were the highlight of the night.

The Night Watch – s/t

Hellbound Metal: “The Night Watch have released a challenging debut, one which initially did not work for me. Though not all the tracks stand out, it’s with repeated listens that it becomes apparent to me that the album is an exciting piece of avant-garde metal/post-rock/insert label here.”

Coheed and Cambria

Coheed and Cambria / Moving Mountains / Pianos Become The Teeth @ Music Farm, Charleston, SC Apr 30

“With the upcoming Iron Maiden tour preparing to get underway, many people are aware that half of the tour will be getting Alice Cooper as their opener — a man that needs no introduction — and the other half will be getting New-York based Coheed and Cambria. I know a lot of people who are disappointed with getting Coheed and I feel that disappointment is merely because, for the most part, people going to Maiden are just unfamiliar with the band so Alice Cooper seems like the better of the two. When I discovered that Coheed was going to do a warmup tour in preparation for their slot with Maiden, I jumped at the chance to go see these guys live as my previous chance to see them was dashed.”

Live review and photos by Justin Richardson

Lantlôs – .neon

While this is indeed a different vibe from the more nostalgic, fantastical vibe given off by Alcest’s albums, Lantlôs remains very similar in feel. This fact alone should be enough to help one decide whether or not .neon is worth pursuing.