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The Sound of The Future

Metal Quartet Ex Eye Live at À L’Arme! Festival Vol. VII
Radialsystem | Berlin 2019

Ex Eye's debut album harnesses its power from a fusion of genres, inviting listeners on an immersive journey through a mind-expanding symphony of transcendental metal. With a compelling blend of rawness and refinement, the unique sound of Ex Eye captivates, leaving you breathless as you traverse a post-apocalyptic realm at the edge of eternity.


Transcendental Metal Symphony

Embark on an exhilarating sonic voyage as composer and saxophonist Colin Stetson (Hereditary, 2018), Liturgy drummer Greg Fox, multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, and guitarist Toby Summerfield join forces. Together, they beckon us to transcend boundaries and immerse ourselves in a transcendent metal symphony that defies the confines of space and time. Prepare to be captivated by their mind-bending compositions, pushing the limits of reality and evoking a euphoric state beyond imagination.

A Landscape at the End of Time

Immerse yourself in a vast, untamed sonic landscape, where the power of the open sea crashes upon you relentlessly, wave after wave. It is a landscape as profound as the alluring depths of an endless abyss, where the elements engage in a fierce and tumultuous battle. Within this realm, pulsating energy surges through every fiber, creating a complex and electrifying network. It is a landscape teeming with raw, unyielding forces—a tempestuous storm that reaches crescendo after crescendo in an eternal cycle of fury and ecstasy.
   
Animalistic Serenades

Or a relentless battle for life or death. A passionate struggle with insanity. A desperate, intoxicating symphony of darkness, in the middle of the deepest, starless night—and yet! Voices are rising out of the dark, filling the night with animal wails, serenades from a prehistoric, untouched world. Or a brilliant polaroid, coarse-grained, resolutely black and white, a snapshot of total exposure. A landscape in agony, torn apart by the elements, somewhere at the end of the world—fallen out of time.

Call of the Open Sea

A thrilling journey along jagged coastlines, carried by a wild frenzy, with seafoam caressing your face and the haunting echoes of wind-whipped waves filling your ears. Each moment brims with an unparalleled intensity, as if it were your very last—an intoxicating experience fueled by unyielding forces amidst an overwhelming, thunderous storm.

Into the Light

As the final notes fade into the shadows of the dimly lit room, a euphoric, intoxicating wave washes over you, leaving you in a state of exhilarating disarray. With every step you take outside, back into the illuminated corridors of normalcy, a lingering sense of transformative darkness reverberates within. At the nexus of free jazz, black metal, experimental electro, improv, noise, and math rock, Ex Eye boldly forges a sonic landscape that transcends boundaries, boldly pioneering the sound of tomorrow.

Relapse Records, 2017

EX EYE Debut Album

 

Colin Stetson (sax)
Greg Fox (drums)
Shahzad Ismaily (synth)
Toby Summerfield (guitar)


 

One-Way-Ticket To Hell

The Deep (Soul) Cleanse You Have Been Waiting For

Ari Aster’s Hereditary (2018)

Immersive, provocative, and visually mesmerizing, this cinematic masterpiece sets the stage for a new era of horror. As a captivating family drama, the debut full-length film from writer-director Ari Aster grips us tightly from its opening scene to its climactic conclusion, leaving us in a state of awe as the final credits roll.

Greetings From Hell

While at its core a haunting tale of a family's disintegration, Ari Aster's directorial debut delves deeper into the complexities of mental illness and its divisive influence. Set in Utah, the story follows miniature artist Annie Graham (Toni Collette) and her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne), alongside their teenage children Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Millie Shapiro). Following the death of Annie's mother, unsettling occurrences begin to unfold, leading the family down a path of tragedy. What initially appears to be a close-knit family grappling with a profound loss soon morphs into a chilling portrayal of multi-generational dysfunction and deep-seated animosity, consuming them from within.

 

A New Breed of Horror

Carefully composed for maximum cathartic impact, this psychological tale of demonic possession starts unfolding its shocking potential at a dizzying speed. About half an hour into the movie, Charlie’s brutal accidental death accelerates the pace of terror to an almost sickening speed. Turning a seemingly straightforward family drama into a terrifying chamber play rife with unapologetically violent and disturbing effects, Aster has created a new breed of psychological horror movie that is sure to radically influence the horror film industry for many years to come.
   
Summoning the Demons

Escalating classic horror movie elements and techniques to an almost unbearable level of oppressive eeriness, the uncanny combination of phenomenal cinematography (Pawel Pogorzelski) and a killer soundtrack by American-Canadian composer Colin Stetson make Hereditary an immersive and all the more riveting viewing experience. The demise of Annie's mother, starting and pivotal point of the story, gains much deeper meaning once we learn about her mental illness, which, as we soon find out, is the catalyst for the even greater tragedy that is about to unfold.

Handed down from generation to generation, infinitely perpetuated by new dysfunctions created along the way, trauma is a beast with many faces. Summoning demons or opening a pathway to hell—the hurting and spiraling mind can unleash unimaginable horrors and create levels of mayhem that are impossible to contain.

Cathartic Tour de Force

Ultimately, Hereditary is not only an intricate allegory for the apocalyptic worlds of suffering that come with grief, but also a tribute to the destructive powers of the mind. Effortlessly wrapping heavy topics such as loss, trauma and mental illness into a blood-curdling and transformative 127 minutes of at-the- edge-of-your-seat horror, Hereditary's cathartic tour de force leaves you slightly stunned, but also relieved—and most of all, unequivocally purged.
 

Hereditary, Ari Aster, 2018
starring Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Millie Shapiro, Alex Wolff
 

 

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    © 2023 Marie Boyd

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