Detailed Reviews [Anderes Holz - 2022 - "Continuo"]

Prolusion. German band Anderes Holz have been a feature of their native rock scene for a good handful of years, and I understand the band is just as well known for their live performances as they are for the type of music they explore. They have two albums out to date, of which the first one appeared back in 2018. "Continuo" is their second production, and was released in the spring of 2022 through German label Tonzonen Records.

Analysis. Anderes Holz is a band name that 'can' be metaphorically translated into "Other Direction" in English (or to Other Wood to be precise), and that is an apt band name indeed. There's something of a vaudeville presence that is a constant in the music explored by the band here, and the approach is one that merits the use of avantgarde to boot. Dramatic and theatrical music if you like, with a penchant for odd and unusual developments. Eerie sounds and effects is perhaps the key mainstay element throughout this second album by the band. From noise rock inspired textures through to plucked string instrument notes using tones and resonances that creates unnerving and disturbing associations through to raw and emotional vocal deliveries that have more in common with the emotional wails of an artist like Bjork than the deliveries of a trained melodic singer, but more often than not with the lived in voice elements of an artist like Tom Waits added for good measure. Not that the vocals here are actually similar to any of those two, but the emotional references in the delivery is comparable to me and perhaps to some others as well. Emotion is the key word here, and while finely controlled and by singers I presume are very well trained indeed, the delivery chosen comes with an edge to them of the kind that brings associations more towards raw emotion and less towards fine control. The songs differ quite a bit in approach, orientation and intensity, but do revolve around a few key elements. Various noises and effects are constant, and generally speaking we get calmer or more sparse elements paired off with more majestic and powerful ones. Often with the bass central in the former, with or without additional input by acoustic guitar like sounds, dampened guitar like textures and the organ, while the latter tends to be dominated by explosive dark sound explosions with guitar riff like textures with as well as without additional organ support. The aforementioned vocals tend to have a shift in intensity corresponding to the music, but this isn't followed as a strict rule but more as a tendency. Besides the switch between a more careful and a more explosive and expressive variety of rock and hard rock (even without the use of actual guitars) in the songs, elements of jazz and jazzrock will also come and go in several of the cuts here, with a few folk music elements thrown in here and there for good measure. The former occasionally with the saxophone present and the latter with occasional flute input. Perhaps more important than style orientation is that the songs tend to be theatrical of course, with a vaudeville-like sentiment establishing something of a presence in terms of the overall album experience. Music made with an outside of the box attitude if you like, and exploring moods and atmospheres residing at times rather firmly in landscapes with something of an unnerving general nature.

Conclusion. Anderes Holz is a band that follows their own distinct pathways on "Continuo". Dark, unnerving and expressive progressive rock filled with raw emotion, eerie soundscapes and material that is odd, unusual and strangely hypnotic in nature. A production for those who appreciate the progressive aspect of progressive rock, who tend to regard the presence of an avantgarde spirit as a positive and who suspect the blend of rock and hard rock with jazz and folk music flavoring will be intriguing within such a context.

Progmessor: May 2022
The Rating Room