Great new albums I'm listening to lately

Here are 4 superb albums I've been listening to lately that I'd like to recommend to you.
Read after the jump



Orbs - Asleep Next To Science



Orbs are a 5-piece band, a sort of "supergroup" made up of:
Dan Briggs (Between the Buried and Me), Adam Fisher and Clayton Holyoak (Fear Before the March of Flames) and Ashley Ellyllon (who used to be in Abigail Williams and is now in Cradle of Filth) and Chuck Johnson.They have recently released their debut album, Asleep Next to Science (being in the science field myself, this is an even more interesting album for me). The vocals remind me of Mars Volta's.

Their Myspace bio:
"After three years of cross-country collaborations, ORBS have united to release their debut full-length album, Asleep Next to Science, which will be available August 17th on Equal Vision Records.

ORBS blends progressive and experimental sounds through the creative workings of Adam Fisher and Clayton "Goose" Holyoak (Fear Before), Dan Briggs (Between the Buried and Me), Ashley Ellyllon (Abigail Williams/Cradle of Filth) and Chuck Johnson (Torch Runner).

Recorded at The Basement recording studio in Winston-Salem, N.C. with producer and engineer Jamie King [Between the Buried and Me, Alesana], the nine song, 66-minute album is the product of long-distance friendships linked through an appreciation for music, nature, and a mutual desire to defy common song structure.

By juxtaposing high energy, piano-infused choruses with a mixture of classic and space-rock interludes, the quintet breaks the mold of traditional songwriting and creates a sound all their own. Lyrically, the album transports the listener through a vivid, almost conversational, storytelling experience. Asleep Next to Science connects mind with matter as the lyrics and music unite space and sound to create a sound that simply put, is otherworldly."




Samsara Blues Experiment - Long Distance Trip

 

Now that is a promising name for an album, as well as cover artwork.
German heavy psychedelic-rock (even metal in fact), with great tunes, not just meandering jams and freakouts.

Here's their Prog Archives bio:

"SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT are a Berlin based band, founded in Summer 2007 by leadguitarist/singer Christian Peters. They went through several changes in the first period but are in constant line-up since September 2008 featuring Hans Eiselt (guitar), drummer Thomas Vedder and Richard Behrens (bass). As the band name implies three elemental aspects are to notice - the blues as the fundament where it all comes from, the inclusion of spiritual influences accompanied by Indian/raga music and the experimental approach to mix up varied elements in a convincing manner.

The band's songs are dominated by a playful dual guitar work as well as a passionate blend of heavy psych, stoner and space rock. This is provided with several nuances and transitions in between - quite retro styled, jamming, even sometimes worked out with a repetitive hypnotic touch in the tradition of krautrock. The band produced two appetizer EP's and intensively toured Europe as well as the US-Westcoast in order to reach for the appropriate condition to record a full album.

World In Sound released the long awaited debut 'Long Distance Trip' in March 2010 which finally offers the band's potential. SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT are a demanded live band in the meanwhile and participate at many European festivals, Roadburn, Yellowstock and Burg Herzberg to name a few. "

Charming Hostess - The Bowls Project



Another release by Charming Hostess, led by Jewlia Eisenberg who composes and sings.
You can read more about this particular project and their other releases in the links I gave above, but here's a blurb from their website:
"Charming Hostess is now working on The Bowls Project, a performance installation based on sex, magic and the apocalypse in Babylonian Jewish amulets. Incantation bowls were inscribed with a householder’s secrets and desires, then buried under the home. The texts speak of mysticism and sex; angels and demons; and the trials and joys of love and sex. Especially audible are the voices of women--their work, hopes, and dreams. The Bowls Project offers a visceral, personal connection to daily life 1500 years ago in the region now known as Iraq.
Musical context for The Bowls Project, Tzadik is drawn from the female body, the rich traditions of the Babylonian Jews, and other diaspora sources, both Jewish and African. Jewlia Eisenberg founded Charming Hostess to explore the relationship between text and the sounding body and The Bowls Project continues this endeavor. 

Charming Hostess: Jewlia Eisenberg, Jason Ditzian, Marika Hughes, Cynthia Taylor and often Ganda Suthivarikom. Read more about the Hostesses."

Cleric - Regressions



I got to know this album from reading a review in Decibel magazine raving about this release. Knowing nothing about them but seeing as this is being tagged as avant-garde metal, I naturally wanted to listen to it. As I put it on, I realized the description didn't exaggerate at all. This is a band that goes out from grindcore/extreme death metal and into other spheres, mixing in other influences, sounds and styles (doom, psychedelic, ambient), creating lengthy compositions and a mind-numbing experience.

Read the blurb from Web of mimicry, who issued the album:
 
"A four piece from Philadelphia, Cleric's music mixes elements of grindcore, avant garde composition, doom and... something else entirely? Influenced by other metal pioneers such as Meshuggah, Converge, Fantômas, and Neurosis, their music zeroes in on a level of brutality and experimentation that a single band rarely maintains even for a few seconds. In their six years since inception, Cleric has released a number of EPs and a 12" picture disk through Sound Devastation Records (UK), all of which (for their very high quality and unique & intricate sounds and artwork) have garnered praise and die-hard underground accolade. Having been around awhile, and taken a lot of shit & not given up & built themselves up internally to handle whatever bullshit this world flings their way, this band is just beginning its walk down their shining path. "
Listen to "A Rush of Blood" here.