ninehertz

Spaces between the notes, there's infinite spaces here and it's just beautiful! All We Expected sell themselves by brandishing names like Russian Circles in their press gumpf, but really, you just need to listen to them. They probably have more in common with Red Sparowes in terms of sheer blinding wonder and calm exploding into thrashing, life-affirming crescendo, perhaps a healthy streak of math rock too. When in full flight, this Belgian unit fly high with dextrous, psychedelic twists and turns.

Quieter sections show off a delicate and smooth side full of shivering delay pedals and careful, spindly percussion that winds its way across your dome sweetly and elegantly. There's much to be said for cliche in the post metal/post rock genre but AWE simply uproot that particular tree root, turning it over and planting their own magnificent seed.

Raum Kingdom paint themselves as a Neurosis and Tool hybrid, but again, this is selling them short in terms of description, sure there's the serpentine rivulets of eastern scales that flow through the quieter sections of their first effort Grace that are a bit Maynard and co, but on the whole, this sounds damn original. The heavier sections are punctuated with some pretty lively riffs and gruff vocals that require no lyric sheet and seem to be about abstract concepts rather than metal derivatives. So many bands of this ilk opt for nonsensical witterings, but RK sound as if they mean every word, feel every note. This is pretty ritualistic, that'll be the Neurosis influence slowly shining through.

RK's second track is more sprawling and has a prog-like tone to it, the vocalist having a few moments of experimentation among the the slabs of heaviness on offer. It actually sounds at times as if all semblance of structure has been lost, aimless wandering is the name of the game for a while. That is until a killer, crushing, motorik, violent and sudden surge ends the affair with might and flair. Great end to a full and satisfying split.