Album review overview: Perturbato, NEEB and more

Dozens of new albums arrive at Maxazine’s editorial staff every week. There are way too many to listen to them all, let alone review them. It ensures that too many albums are left behind. And that’s a shame. That is why today we post an overview of albums that arrive at the editors in short reviews.

Perturbator – Age of Aquarius

James Kent, known as Perturbator, presents his sixth album, “Age of Aquarius”, as his most concentrated work to date and his debut on Nuclear Blast Records. The album explores how individualism, conflict and war are interconnected. With tracks such as “Apocalypse Now” featuring vocalist Kristoffer Rygg from Ulver and the epic title track “Age of Aquarius” with Alcest, Kent reaches new ground. Author & Punisher and Greta Link add texture to various tracks. The album streamlines the corrosive industrial chaos of earlier works in favour of sharp techno danse macabres and cold new wave tracks with great replay potential. “The Art of War” delivers a striking laser barrage. This is not synthwave as remembered, but rather a more complicated and more infectious version of it with clear industrial influences. It feels both brutal and sublime. (Anton Dupont) (8/10) (Nuclear Blast Records)

Erang – Tome Zero

French artist Erang returns with “Tome Zero”, an album written during a depressive period inspired by the current world situation. It differs from earlier works that took place in fictional kingdoms. The opening track, “Feelings While the World Ends”, sets the tone with a sense of despair rather than mystical wonder. Tracks such as “Godless Behavior” with its extended melodic line and the devastatingly beautiful “Three Candles in the Castle” are deeply moving. The synthesisers bob like glowworms in a palpable atmosphere of catharsis. All tracks progress slowly but concentrate around quite beautiful melodies that hit harder with each listen. The thirty-minute runtime does not feel slow despite the lack of fast rhythms. This is dungeon synth that feels better than decorative, with melodies that seem to cut deep. “Tome Zero” follows “The Kingdom Is Ours” and proves that Erang has much more ground to explore. (Elodie Renard) (6/10) (Katabaz Records)

Bless Picasso – Rillest In The Room 3

Virginia rapper Bless Picasso presents “Rillest In The Room 3”, an album that follows a specific narrative structure from difficult beginnings to luxurious success. Picasso remains engaging with a rap style that resembles Pusha T in timbre and precision, but where Pusha leans on bravura, Picasso feels like a diarist. On “Fortune 500”, he sketches a picture of his transformation with impressive imagery of growth and change. The production ranges from stuttering trap to wet sounds without sacrificing coherence. The tracks demonstrate a thoughtful approach with visual power over narrative elaboration. Picasso’s wordplay remains sharp despite the subject shift from seriousness to clarity. The album plays like a film where his charisma and prose hold you from beginning to end. The collaborations and production choices support his narrative form without distraction. (William Brown) (8/10) (Black Pentagon Entertainment / Man Bites Dog Records)

Heathe – Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom

Danish experimental metal band Heathe brings “Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom”, their third album, with an artful and peculiar listening experience. The work combines extended dissonant dynamics and infernal screams with unexpected fusion elements. “Uproar Taking Shape” brings together clear Gnawa beats with doom-like drone, while other tracks combine hand-clapped folk arrangements with electronic progressions. Fans of Amenra, The Body, and Blood Inside-era Ulver will appreciate this work. The album shows Heathe’s ability to feel heavy metal with unorthodox influences without falling into confusion or a tendency toward chaos. This combination of earthly folkloric elements with futuristic electronics makes it a unique experience. The work proves that serious metal experimentation still allows for innovation. (Anton Dupont) (7/10) (Indie/Independent)

NEEB – Take To The Sky

English NEEB began as a trio in which Mark Hand’s Rhodes piano and synthesisers played the leading role. That leading role is taken over on “Take To The Sky” by vocalist Jasmine Weatherill, and that vocal addition is absolutely an enrichment of the sound, which still sounds familiar: the band still combines jazz and soul with ambient and electronic music, where a touch of drum and bass is not shunned. “Take to the Sky” is thereby a varied album, with restrained pieces such as “The Way I Do” to the more experimental “Time Is Elastic”. The latter is one of the more daring pieces, and there is a bit of a lack of that on this album, despite Weatherill’s beautiful voice, which prevents some tracks from getting bogged down in verbosity. An example is “Cave of Hands” with a long, soundscape-like synth intro: the track could have done without it just fine, for it only becomes exciting when the vocals come in. Stronger still: in the British press, the comparison is drawn with Sade, and that is certainly not far-fetched. But it must be said that this is mainly due to Weatherill. (Jeroen Mulder) (7/10) (Shy Bairn Records)