Dear show organizers,

We're currently searching shows for our friends HEIRS from australia.
It's something for fans of mono, swans, pelican or khanate. You can find
first reviews of their debut record (released 2 weeks ago) at the end of
the mail. The album is available for free streaming and download over
here: www.denovali.com/heirs

Parts of the tour will be together with KODIAK from germany and IROHA --
the new band of Diarmuid from JESU.


The approximate tour schedule for your area looks like this -- but we're
in general very flexible:

20.08.09 nl (HELP!!!!!!!!!!!)
21.08.09 münster (d) - amp (+ kodiak)
22.08.09 essen (d) - coffee corner (+ kodiak)
23.08.09 germany (+ kodiak)
24.08.09 zwolle (nl) - eureka (+ kodiak)
25.08.09 bel (+ kodiak) (HELP!!!!!!!!!)
26.08.09 bel/ france (+ kodiak) (HELP!!!!!!!!!!)
27.08.09 france (+ kodiak) (HELP!!!!!!!!!)
28.08.09 france (+ kodiak) (HELP!!!!!!!!!)
29.08.09 lyon (fr) - grrrnd zero (+ kodiak)
30.08.09 siegen - vortex (+ kodiak)

FROM: Victoria (Australia)
LABELS: Cd + Vinyl: Denovali Records
GENRE: Instrumental, Ambient, Doom, Experimental,
FOR FANS OF: Pelican, Khanate, Mono, Red Sparowes
MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/heirsmusic

Thanks a lot for reading! Please write back if you're interested. Then
we can clear the details.

Take Care
Denovali

booking@denovali.com
www.denovali.com
www.myspace.com/denovali


FIRST REVIEWS


Rock-A-Rolla
Alchera is an instrumental post-rock affair that pushes all the usual
buttons, but contrary to a frightening percentage of today's endless
gang of bands like this it does manage to show interesting glimpses of
personality in most songs, thus maintaining
the attention of the weary listener for longer than the 2009 average.
This is done mostly by avoiding the peaks-and-valleys approach to
crescendos that post-rockers love so much. Instead, a song like
'Mandril', for example, holds a steady rhythm and pace for almost seven
minutes, adding a few layers of noise and distortion to the riff that is
drilled into your head with each passing minute. It's their debut album,
and it shows -- not all the tracks maintain the same degree of quality
or inspiration. However, the heavier, darker songs like that
aforementioned 'Mandril' or the harsh 'Plague Asphyx' shine as examples
of where this band should go in the future to become the quality act it
promises to be throughout Alchera.





Mess And Noise
When reviewing an album like Alchera -- or any record, really -- it's
best to avoid hyperbole. Suggesting that this record is near-flawless or
that Heirs might well be the best instru-metal band ever to have sprung
forth from the arid soil of this continent smacks of lazy journalism. Or
worse, insincere hype-making. But it's difficult not to heap such lavish
praise upon Alchera. It really is that good.
The record opens with bursts of sharply panning static, which eventually
give way to the hefty, lurching rhythm and dissonant guitar squall of
'Plague Asphyx'. Like Swans, Heirs use repetition as an end in itself:
the cyclic pattern of drums become an almost never-ending mantra.
The Red Sparowes-esque 'Mockery' proves that, in the right hands, the
traditional post-rock build-up can still be used to devastating effect.
At nearly 10 minutes, it's in no hurry to prove its point, making the
eventual payoff all the sweeter. 'Cabal' is slower and darker, slowly
shifting from a bleak acoustic strum (reminiscent to some extent of the
folk-noir of Neurosis's A Sun That Never Sets album) to an
ever-intensifying wash of cymbals and distortion.
There's another hint of Swans (their Children of God album, in
particular) on the muted bass and minimal percussion of 'Mandril', which
about halfway through is suddenly assaulted by a punishing,
Godflesh-esque rhythm. 'The White Swell' is the least belligerent piece
here, never reaching the ear-splitting heights of its cohorts. Its
relative calm, however, is countered by closer 'Russia', which starts in
high gear and just gets more intense. Even as the guitars fade out and
are replaced by an abstract low-end rumble, their ghosts still linger in
a form that will probably amount to permanent hearing loss.
While the basic formula remains the same here -- almost without
exception, the songs on Alchera start quiet and end deafeningly loud --
Heirs create variation through their innovative use of texture and
rhythm. They eschew cliched arpeggios and jock-rock power chords in
favour of a more intelligent approach. You have heard bands like Heirs
before, but probably not many as good as them.

RINSE REPEAT (9.5/ 10)
Rock in its whole, has become diluted with redundant jargon, repetitive
structure, and lackluster rhetoric. You take the heart of the rebellious
genre of punk, throw in the inspiration of post-rock, add a little
grunge and metal and you have Heirs. This is music. This is rock.
The opening track "Plague Asphyx" opens with an actual introduction,
which turns out to be both surprising and stimulating. From the start,
the mastery of the album has found a balance that actually allows all
the instruments to be heard in just the right way. Allowing the guitars
to become prominent at buildups, die back down, allow the drums to start
its own part of the story, and so on. "Mockery" illustrates this
perfectly, and it has also become apparent that the similarities to
Pelican are very hard to ignore.
Darker moods are usually implied with music related to post-rock.
"Cabal" seems to take the mood even further, the contrast between the
major keys and moving them into the minors make it that much more gloomy
and enthralling. The mood almost seems to take on an aura of Josh Graham
and his work, knowing how to bend the music around an idea and keep the
balance of the sound at the same time. The buildup as heard in "Mandril"
is immense, each second moving heavier and more resilient layers on top
of the already existing melodies.
"The White Swell" being an aptly named track, presents with beautifully
layered harmonies. The tracks moves off on and on into a more ambient
category, which brings in a unique element. Adding in ambiance and
making it still gravitate your attention is a hard skill to accomplish.
"Russia" the finale track begins with an audial explosion and dies right
back down into the somber ambiance. As the track builds itself back up,
it does a superb job of reintroducing the introduction, building through
the heart of the album, and clearing its way for the end. As it finally
dies down, it leaves a sort of remiss craving for more.
In the end, any sort of summarization could not do this band's debut
justice. Very well crafted and excellent balance; again, this is music.
This is rock.