Hello from sunny but freezing Dublin, and welcome to The Metal Detector, Muso’s Guide home of metal, and related musical ramblings.  If there’s a metal band you think we should be writing about, please get in touch on our Twitter and Instagram, and let us know.

The words Hungarian instrumental prog metal, may, quite rightly, scare off some.  I’m among that cohort.  I’m an old punk and metal fan, and I despise prog, but I’ve been following Debrecen’s Ghost Toast since they signed to Inverse Records.

Inverse are one of my favourite metal labels.  They work with bands from all over Europe and release new records almost weekly.  I’ve found some of my favourite tunes there in recent years. Not least ‘Eclipse’ from their last album, Shape Without Form.  The follow-up is Shape Without Color and they’ve gone even further down the prog rabbit hole on this one. It takes balls of brass to release a 12-minute single to launch your album but, too often, it feels like longer than that.

The band was formed in Debrecen, Hungary in 2008 and they appear to be on a similar trajectory to Liverpool’s Anathema.  They blend instrumental styles from heavy and groovy metal to the tight syncopation and drones of prog.  They’re still capable of rocking out and laying down head-banging riffs, but there’s just a build-up of fluff in between.  There are moments when that indulgent streak becomes overpowering and listening feels like an endurance test.  It becomes ambient music for metallers like 65 Days of Static or Tool.  Hopefully the rest of the album is tighter.

Our frontline reporter and London correspondent, Captain Stavros, brings you the newest and most exciting new tunes.

Mothermary – ‘I am Your God’

Out Now – Italians Do It Better

Calling all Italians Do It Better fanboys/girls, double trouble coming at you with Mothermary. No such thing as too much of a good thing. Foot tapping rump shakin’ goodness.

Tempers – ‘Nightwalking’

Out April 1– on DAIS

Stripped back doom-synth (I’m not sure that’s a thing, but it is now!) sullen and moody. Somehow still catchy though.

Bnny – ‘I’m Just Fine’

Out now on Fire Talk

Melancholy vocals accompany equally melancholic melodies. If you dug Windowspeak and Holy Motors’ latest, give this a whirl.

Tess Parks – ‘Happy Birthday Forever’

Out May on Fuzz Club

We immediately got some low-fi Sneaker Pimps vibes off this one, let us know if you hear it too.

Media Giant – ‘Guilt/Shame’

Out now on Brace Yourself Records

We had a good feeling about this one because the promo shots were next level ironic. Media Giant’s tunes are anything but ironic, they feel awkward in a loveable and listenable way.

Zoee - ‘The Empty Glass’

Flaw Flower is out now on Illegal Data

Theatrical avant pop comes at you mostly like a psychedelic pagan ritual to welcome in the spring time sooner, a helluva lotta more fun than a ground hog day event in our opinion.

Geese – ‘Projector’

Out now on Partisan Records and in the UK for a tour in June.

Reminds us of Feet, effortlessly cool. It’s the type of track that reminds you to check-and-see what’s piping in through your headphones.

Calexico – ‘El Mirador’

Out April 8 on City Slang

A visually appealing video accompanies a familiar sound Calexico south-western sound. It’s a blur which, one, or all, South American musical styles they draw from and pay homage too point is it sounds mighty fine.

Happy new year everyone!

Hopefully 2022 will be an improvement on what has preceded it.

Captain Stavros is back with a roundup of the best new tunes to guide our tired brains through the rest of January.

Daniel Rossen - ‘Shadow in the Frame’

An energetic and masterful piece in a hurry.

Bodega – ‘Thrown’

A punchy and fiercely scrappy track.

VR Sex - ‘Victim or Vixen’

Hard to describe, their blurb says ‘deathrock acid punks’. It’s fucking cool whatever it is. It’s like an acid trip from the perspective of a whammy bar. 

Ibibio Sound Machine

Huge sound, seductively produced and surprisingly isn’t crushed under the weight of its own grandness.

Jason Lytle- 'Drop that Hero'

Here at Muso’s Guide, we don’t condone the use of heroin, but if we did, this would be playing in the shooting gallery.

Tindersticks - ‘Both Sides of the Blade’

Planning a funeral? Want to clear a house party? Slide this bad-boy on. It’s beautiful but really sucks the air out of the room. Great tune for the backdrop of a lost baby duckling looking for its mother after a massive snow dump.

Vero – ‘Beg!’

Guitar centred grungey power music, great for what it is and straight outta Stockholm. Like the syndrome!

Barrie – ‘Quarry’

Dreamy shoegaze blurs the lines between genres but the video to Quarry will blur the lines between reality. This one cuts.

Hate Moss – ‘Fog’

Italo-Brazilian industrial / post-punk duo release an electrifying cut.