Listening Notes: Playlist Clearance Vol. 1

If a store has a term called clearance sale, then I have a new agenda called playlist clearance.

This agenda is meant to clean up releases sitting on my playlist shelves—sometimes for months—without any written listening notes. This matters a lot to me personally, since I prefer listening to music offline rather than streaming, even though platforms like Spotify also offer offline features. I’m already too used to downloading music, even if it means I’ll probably never really get into mainstream artists, which automatically reduces public attention. Hahaha…

As for that issue, I do have my own alternative—but for now, I don’t yet have a map to avoid being overwhelmed and confused when diving into streaming platforms just to consume popular releases.

Alright, back to cleaning up the playlist. What’s in here this time? Let’s take a look!

Abraham – Débris de mondes perdus (2022)

73%

Sometimes music can feel like a stab—or a cause of headache—like this fourth album from Swiss sludge/post-metal unit Abraham. Still, it’s better that way, with textures the ears can latch onto, rather than feeling bland.

Take “Maudissements,” which carries an emo-like feel through its clean vocals, followed by “Black Breath,” featuring Emilie Zoé’s voice and serving as a fitting closer. The rest operates squarely within the genre, with the heaviest weight found in “Blood Moon, New Alliance” and “Ravenous Is the Night.” The others need more repeated listens to leave a clearer impression.

Overall, Abraham is a solid recommendation for fans of Cult of Luna, The Ocean, and the like.

Botanica – Hope (2020)

73%

As grim news about the COVID-19 pandemic began echoing across the world, Botanica released an album titled Hope, intended to comfort and encourage us to endure, to keep moving forward together with a glimmer of optimism until the end.

Unlike Invisible Garden, Hope also incorporates electronic beats and synths in tracks like “Crab Police,” “Wielka Sowa,” and the title track. The opening and closing tracks form a fitting ambient frame, while “Mist” highlights emotional piano work. This sequence makes the album feel calming yet slightly unsettling—much like the atmosphere during the pandemic itself.

Best tracks: “Lucid Dream,” “Mist,” and “Lighthouse.”

Orob – Departure (2011)

70%

Orob is a French progressive black/post-metal band—yes, from the same country as Alcest. But from the start, this EP makes it clear that the two are very different. A mix of growled, harsh, and clean vocals sits atop dense, solid music with a death metal backbone, though without explosive blast beats.

This gives the EP a dry, barren feel, despite the presence of brief interludes that later become emotionally effective, especially in “Of Shores and the Wind.”

That’s about all I can observe here. Hopefully, Orob will deliver a stronger atmosphere in future releases.

A Perfect Day / City of Dawn – Of Our Quiet Stars (2016)

75%

City of Dawn appears to be very active in collaborations and splits with various projects. One of them is A Perfect Day, which handles the post-rock side, while City of Dawn contributes ambient tracks—three songs each.

“GenderLost” opens with a piece that feels more symphonic than the other two, which didn’t quite click with me. Spoken-word samples add emotional weight to “Tuxedos in the Rain” and “Modern Girls in Distress.” City of Dawn’s ambient sections flow smoothly overall, though there’s a slight annoyance in the form of an audio sample at the beginning of “Midnight Cafe,” which might need reconsideration.

Sleepmakeswaves – in today already walks tomorrow EP (2008)

74%

This is one of the releases that entered my early post-rock playlist years ago. Now, it feels clearer which tracks truly deserve a place in my favorites.

For example, the violin in “one day you will teach me to let go of my fears” makes it deeply emotional. Meanwhile, “it’s dark, it’s cold, it’s winter” feels less appealing due to its electronic leanings. The shift back to conventional instrumentation in “so that the children will always shout her name” is still tolerable, while the heavier opening track can probably be set aside right away.

Wounds of Recollection – Warm Glow of the End of Everything (2023)

71%

Post-black metal often passes me by like a gust of wind—it feels emotionally unbalanced from my perspective. The music itself works, but black metal vocals fail to penetrate the emotional wall, evaporating into the air. The same applies to Warm Glow of the End of Everything by Wounds of Recollection.

What does manage to seep through are the instrumental interlude “Golden Claws” and the track I’d heard before, “Rapture.” The emotional impact of the other songs only surfaces with additional stimuli, like watching a landscape unfold. So for now, most of this album still doesn’t quite fit my personal taste.