Jelena Ćirić, Snorri Hallgrímsson, Cécile Lacharme, Oliver Patrice Weder - Tramuntana Tapes II (2026)

The four artists started collaborating as a group in 2023 "at an old shoe factory in Mallorca". Since then, they released an album in 2025 that is now being followed up by a second release. The improvised neoclassical music they create together has the charm and the beautiful energy that inspires the audience with so much ease.

The two releases are characterized by delicate neoclassical soundscapes joined by magical vocals that only boost the soothing and slightly mysterious atmosphere. This all is a result of creating music freely, without a plan or expectations, just fueled by the energy of the group of artists being present in one place in one moment and filled with the need to create something together. Jelena Ćirić sings, Snorri Hallgrímsson and Oliver Patrice Weder play piano and Cécile Lacharme accompanies all of them on viola. I love this multi-instrumental neoclassical team joining forces like some sort of Avengers to save the souls of us, mortal music enjoyers.

Tramuntana Tapes II costs 4 EUR (6 CAD).

Check: Wave

Country: Serbia, Iceland, France, Switzerland

Genre: neoclassical

Label: Moderna Records

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H E X - II (2025)

Somewhere on the verge of post-rock, gothic rock and experimental music sit the five artists of the Swiss outfit H E X and they sit there and make their difficult to categorize music. Their second album leaves the audience with the feeling of participating in something unique. Dark and heavy but also unique.

Is this just post-rock with vocals? I doubt it. Is it just dark indie? Not really. The long compositions are based on the vocal parts that are not meant to be very catchy but rather atmospheric and mysterious. Remember the Icelandic band called The Autumns? It's what this music reminds me of. Very indie rocky in a way, but having also a lot of space for gloomy and heavy guitar work to introduce the audience into the hazy trance so similar to some of the more atmospheric-playing post-rock bands.

Accoridng to the artists, the album was created from a total chaos multiplied by changes in the band's line-up and I'd say you can notice that. The compositions somewhat lack order and seem to simply be the manifestation of the band's energy. This, together with the coherent, very dark texture of their sound makes a curious mixture that is first of all aimed at creating the atmosphere, but also, another quote from the artists, at making "an attempt to map our flaws and turn them into strengths, to make our misalignment with the world into a language of its own". Does it work? Of course it does.

II costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Liminal

Country: Switzerland

Genre: dark rock

Label: Humus Records

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Leech - Sapperlot (2024)

It's only February and it's the second post-rock album from Switzerland I'm posting here. I know, they're both from last year, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that it says a lot about the condition of the genre in the Alps and I can't stop saying that Switzerland is now chocolate, banks and great instrumental guitar music.

I have to admit that the album bought me with first notes. Literally, the first notes of Knock Knock feel so good, I can't explain it. Even if these slightly unnerving sounds don't represent the vibes of the whole album, they what drew me to the release so much. I'm saying that it's not a good representation because the album is... nice. The sound is very approachable, with extremely good flow and melodies fueled by synthy keys that are the background of every composition. It's not loud, it's not unnerving at all, it's like this perfect boy you'd want your daughter to mary. Even if you don't have a daughter at all.

And I can see how some may feel like it's not that good. But I can assure you, it is: the time goes so fast with the band's music. I find the synths always pretty transcendental, their vibes make it easier for me to flow in the sound without thinking about my physical self. And as the guitar side of Leech's music doesn't overwhelms the delicate synths, it's very easy to do just that with Sapperlot.

Sapperlot costs 20 CHF (22 EUR).

Check: Knock Knock

Country: Switzerland

Genre: synthy post-rock

Label: Instarmental Records

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All You've Seen - Mavu (2024)

The post-rock landscape of Switzerland doesn't stop surprise me, when I think that in such a smal country, there can't be more excellent bands of the genre, I find one more. So after Glaston, Hubris. and all the other, it's time to present All You've Seen on this blog, especially that at the end of last year, they released a fantastic album filled with slow but poignant guitar music.

And also because this is ot a new band. Their releases track back as far as 2009 and still, our musical paths hadn't crossed before. And it's very suspicious as I find that they play this kind of post-rock that is the closest to my heart: slow and dark, moody and dangerous. One would say glacial, but that would be an overused adjective for a Swiss band I'm sure. "A sense of awe overtakes me when I behold this world that can only be revealed by my innermost self", this is only an excerpt from a longer description of the album on the band's Bandcamp page and I have to say that it certainly sounds like something Alcest would write about their music.

And it's pretty much spot on. The poetic way of describing the music is perfect since the music is poetic itself. It is oneiric to the point where you can't tell the dream from reality around you. Especially when it becomes overwhelming, filled with this kind of sonic grandeur that fill you with awe with little room for any other thoughts (as it is the case in procession).

Mavu costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: procession

Country: Switzerland

Genre: atmospheric post-rock

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Ilajan - Villes de Papier (2023)

Ilajan is a debuting singer-songwriter who keeps her music in a very dreamy atmosphere. This is the first EP ever in her discography and Villes de Papier promises a lot for future.

Released by Hummus Records, album is made by Ilajan and her sister, Indiana, who "shape their own delicately oneiric atmospheres, mixing guitars, voices and electronic experimentations". Their compositions are as dreamy as they can be with slow and cozy music drowning the audience with its beauty and calming abilities. The singer/songwriter component is very strongly present here with the artist's soft vocals as well as emotional and particularly poetic lyrics being the focal point of each song (especially mysteriously appealing when sang in French!). I'm reluctant in making comparisons here as I'm not an expert in these genres, but if I was to make a guess, I'd say it's what Tori Amos would sound like if she decided to venture to the dream pop music territories. 

Villes de Papier costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Mad

Country: Switzerland

Genre: dreamy singer/songwriter

Label: Hummus Records

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Hubris. - The One Above (2023)

Thanks to great three albums and, at least as importantly, their love for performing live (really, check out how many gigs they had last year!), the Swiss band of Hubris. worked for a label of one of the most interesting new(-ish) post-rock bands in Europe. And they are about to prove it with their fourth album called The One Above.

Their strong side is the ability to make very melodic instrumental music that doesn't lose anything from the post-rock's atmospheric vibes. The tracks are long and their complex compositions fluctuate from softer patterns that feel like some imagination-fueling short stories up to heavy, overwhelming fragments with guitar cascades that can easily crush the audience. And the story-telling part is no coincidence here. The Swiss band have a very distinct theme they like to submerge into in their music, namely, the Ancient Greek mythology and culture. This time, it's all about "exploring the works of Plato and his allegory of the cave". It's worth a while to read their interpretation or, perhaps, to try and develop yours while listening to this post-rock album of the best quality.

The One Above costs 5 EUR (5 CHF).

Hubris. - Metamorphosis (2020)

Check: Of Light

Country: Switzerland

Genre: guitar post-rock

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Glaston - I Am Whole (2022)

They make music since 2014, their debut album appeared in 2017, but it's only now that Glaston released their second album ever. The Swiss band brings post-rock and neoclassical music extremely close together and this makes I Am Whole something to have your ear engaged by for sure.

This is a pretty unique approach to post rock, I must say. Saying that it is led by the piano sounds is definitely not an exaggeration: the very classical piano keys are omnipresent here and decide the pace and the mood the music takes. And more often than not, it is surprisingly chill and relaxed pace and mood: the artists are concerned with the piano's beauty while guitars and drums mostly accompany this main actor. SO perhaps a neoclassical post-rock would be a fitting label for the Swiss band's music. There are cracks on this image that appear from time to time, as in Rotbuch where the guitars create very unnerving soundscape toward the end of the track, but the overall feeling is that the louder guitars still sit in the piano's shadow.

This is the way, a very jazzy way if I can add, the band decided to go to take the audience on a "journey of exploration, tapping deeply into emotions and feelings within". That's why more often than not, the music here feels calmer and more self-reflective than I would assume judging by the singles. It's an interesting surprise and I must say that it takes a while to appreciate this long album, but it's worth it.

I Am Whole costs 9 EUR.

Check: Rotbuch

Country: Switzerland

Genre: piano-led post-rock

Label: A Thousand Arms Music

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WatchCamp July-August '22 with glaston, The Heart of the Sun, Jellies, Jiangnan Shangguan, T R E M O U R S

glaston - I Am Whole

Yet another fantastic project from Switzerland; but the Zurich's outfit are not new to the music stage, they are around since 2014 and have released one full length album. The new singles are filled with very moody post-rock with classical elements and I hope the new album is released as soon as possible. This one track costs 1 USD.

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The Heart of the Sun - Probably Not

Stockholm-based Filiph Antonsson leads this music project that goes with moody but also pretty complex compositions and very sad vocals ornamented with voice samples and finished with mesmerizing psychedelic passage. It's a real autumn kind of music. The single costs 0.75 EUR (8 SEK).

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Jellies - Always

Two artists, Adam and Tommy live on the other sides of the Atlantic Ocean but they manage to create something very dreamy and very melodic together. Especially the first track here creates particularly moody atmosphere in this bedroom pop kind of style. Two songs cost 2.5 EUR (2 GBP).

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Jiangnan Shangguan - No Beginning Where Everything Ends

A member of the Californian post-rock outfit In Lights, Jiangnan Shangguan, created a deliciously atmospheric, ambient pop-like experiment. There are emotional vocals here but distant and covered by noisy music all around. The track costs whatever you want to pay.

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T R E M O U R S - Affectations

The Lauren Andino-Glenn Fryatt duo comes from Los Angeles and, very much in the Californian noise/dream pop fashion, released an extremely airy piece of melodic music. Andino's vocals are utterly oneiric while still managing to bring catchy melodies to life. Three songs cost 5 USD.

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Casiotone - Progetto Zero Zero (2022)

Casiotone are Julien Bernard and Maryline Auderset who together make up a post-rock outfit from the western part of Switzerland. They debuted recently and while Progetto Zero Zero took me by surprise, I quickly understood what a unique and impressive take on the genre it presents.

The short album begins with The Dreamer, a track that is slow but it's slowness of continental plates, overwhelming and unstoppable. I love the work the artist put in the keyboard sound-infused compositions. I'm a sucker for including those in post-rock music, but in the duo's work, it's on another level. It seems that the guitar noise in many fragments is just a background for the flood of key sounds. But even when it's not about the keyboards, the sound of Casiotone is different than your typical post-rock outfit's. It's more nuanced and focused on the slow-paced atmosphere building without being particularly harsh and loud. And it works like charm.

I love the flow the compositions show - it's next to impossible to stop a track halfway through. And despite the fact that this music is not super loud - the darkness and heavy atmosphere is well audible here. I adore this unique, artsy style and honestly can't wait for more music from the duo.

Progetto Zero Zero costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: The Dreamer

Country: Switzerland

Genre: synth post-rock

Label: Cold Smoke Records

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E-L-R - Vexier (2022)

I was lucky enough to witness E-L-R's beginnings when back in 2019 they performed live during the Bergmal Festival in Zurych with their very fresh debut album Mænad. It was quite mind-blowing so I couldn't wait for the continuation of their career. The struggle is over with the band's new album called Vexier.

The combination of very heavy guitar riffs from the sludge/post-metal musical area with the dispersed and airy but also very psychedelic vocals is the core of the Swiss band's work. The said vocals express extremely ethereal lyrics ("opiate the Sun" sounds like something taken from a braver, lyrics-wise, version of the old Slowdive or MBV) divided into short phrases that make them feel like tribal-esque mesmerizing chanting. All of this makes this sophomore album a very literal continuation of the debut, including such an interesting detail as longer pauses between tracks filled with subtle sound samples of cracking fire and other nature-originating moody tunes.

The mesmerizing features of the band's works are present also in the music itself: its slow, doom-like pace and psychedelic guitars make it easy to get lost within the sounds. As their Bandcamp page describes it, they "oscillates elegantly between velvet darkness and flaring bursts of high energy" but the bursts are always toned down, covered by the layers of post-metal noise that makes everything a very homogeneous and smooth (the velvet reference is on point!) sound.

Vexier costs 6.99 USD.

E-L-R - Mænad (2019)

Check: Seeds

Country: Switzerland

Genre: ethereal post-metal

Label: Prophecy Productions

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YRRE - Luhlae x The Witch (2022)

When talking about Swiss music this year, I am excitingly waiting for E-L-R's sophomore album. But there is something else that proved to be as compelling and gloomy. YRRE's debut album Luhlae x The Witch is a soundtrack of fear and noise disguised as modern drone post-metal album and I love it.

This very special album is "an adaption of a ciné-concert composed to the movie ‘The VVitch'" by Robert Eggers and was created for the festival 2300 Plan 9 les Etranges Nuits du Cinéma and performed for the first time at Bikini Test in La Chaux-de-Fonds under the name Luhlae x The Witch (thus the title of the album of course). The movie itself grew up to be an icon of ambitious horror genre and the original music by Mark Korven is masterpiece on its own. This album seems to be an interpretation of the movie through post-rock and post-metal sounds. There won't be any surprise when revealed that the album is particularly dark and heavy. It achieves that with very modern post-rock/metal means though.

While the band describe themselves as dark ambient noise, there's way too much of the guitars and drums and other effects. It is, yes, soaked in noise which makes the angry and desperate post-metal vocals that sound in the backgrounds even more poignant. And in general, the feeling of horror is very well tangible in every second of this fantastic release. There's quality of sound, there's inspiring noise, there's captivating ambiance. Fantastic.

Luhlae x The Witch costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Uhtceare

Country: Switzerland

Genre: noise post-metal

Label: Hummus Records

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Profond Barathre - Tinnitus (2021)

This is not news that the Swiss can make some quality hard music. The likes of Rorcal or E-L-R proved that in recent years. Profond Barathre is another pebble in this avalanche. And this year's comeback (it seems that they had some works in the past, I'm not very oriented in the metal scene), called Tinnitus, doesn't only make your ears buzz, it's also some Music with a capital M.

This is the kind of music that pretty much optimally balances the metal rabidness and post-genre's atmosphere, the raw and coarse guitars complement the wall of noise's ambiance characteristics. The compositions are not overly complicated but their straightforwardness build up the whole thing's mesmerizing quality. Especially that the tracks here are massive and very long, long enough for the audience to get lost and buried within them, under the massiveness of the sound. It's especially admirable when you realize that the whole album was recorded in a "couple of evening sessions during the winter 2017-2018" and without much post-production, I can hardly believe it, the quality of sound here is so good.

And yes, tinnitus after this album is a real thing.

Tinnitus costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Corpus

Country: Switzerland

Genre: post-black metal

Label: Hummus Records

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Convulsif - Extinct (2020) EN

Convulsif are from Switzerland and, as we are ever so often proved again, Switzerland is rich in the loud guitar music. The Swiss released now their second album called Extinct with some crazily unique approach to post-rock noise on it. 

Obviously, the uniqueness of the band is built on the instruments present in the lineup - violins or clarinet are not what you call your obvious choice for the post-rock turmoil. And the latter really is top class. The band's music is ruled by chaos that almost in every track turns into complex loudness with time. Especially that the musicians like to give themselves quite some time to develop the compositions from instrumental ambient slash thick bass line-oriented jazz into the very noisy and very jazzy post-rock. Or perhaps even noisy jazz as the traditional post-rock way of building things is not really a thing here.

But besides the label, you can safely say that the Swiss music is in its core very artsy and chaotic as well, I wouldn't be surprised if most of this album was improvised live. But this is the charm of the music like this, I strongly recommend it.

Extinct costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: The Axe Will Break

Country: Switzerland

Genre: jazzy post-rock

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Hubris. - Metamorphosis (2020) EN

I have repeated myself over and over again for the last half a year but I'll say it again: Switzerland recently makes a real goldmine of great post-rock and similar genres. Another proof for that is the Fribourg-based band Hubris with a dot.

As the Australian label Art As Catharsis sates, the Swiss combine on the album "both Greek mythology and their native Swiss landscapes as prime drivers for the album’s conception." Also massive sounds with lively melodies and atmosphere generation with the catchiness of the tracks. And so not super hasty but heavy Hepius at the beginning transforms into the very fast and constantly changing Dionysus. 

And the changes continue throughout the whole album. Massive Adonis  is followed by an ambient soundscape with spoken word ornaments of Icarus and finally by the very much satisfying finish in Heracles. Hubris. do what every good post-rock band should - they are open to all inspirations, combine the genre's oppositions and as a result, created a diverse and exciting album.

Metamorphosis costs 14.50 AUD.

Check: Heracles

Country: Switzerland

Genre: heavy post-rock
Label: Art As Catharsis

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Passepartout Duo - Vis​-​à​-​Vis (2020) EN

Sometimes a project's music is only a bit more interesting than the artists' story. This is the case of the Swiss Passepartout Duo whose music on synths, glockenspiel, percussion instruments and "a portable set of instruments designed and built by the duo out of scrap wood and metal found on the streets of Geneva" can be admired on their first LP called Vis​-​à​-​Vis. 

The pianist  Nicoletta Favari and drummer Christopher Salvito recorded the album in several places on their way from Switzerland to China and the traveling makes one of their musical inspirations. No wonder that there's so much various influences there. Because on one hand there's some very dirty and noisy ambient, on the other, the dominant are glockenspiel sounds and keys sounding somewhat oriental. Its' not your typical neoclassical album but it goes to this genre as well. 

The album consists of two pieces out of convenience divided into more tracks. Both with the same, minimalist and seducing vibes. the whole project due to its uniqueness deserves the highest attention. 

Vis​-​à​-​Vis costs 6 EUR.

Check: Heartwood (Section 3)

Country: Switzerland

Genre: eclectic neoclassicism/ambient
Label: AnyOne

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Rorcal - Muladona (2019) EN

Another time the Swiss alternative music is audible, this time it's the post-metal Rorcal who decided to create something really terrifying and formed it into a new album called Muladona.

The band show that the metal-esque music doesn't have to create fear only by the means of the aggressive, overwhelming and very sad music, not only with the screaming vocals but also with the fantastically ill-omened lyrics, ones that make the listener shudder over and over again. Those spoken word fragments of the album are its might and characteristic feature. The Swiss took them from the book Muladona written by Erik Stener Carlson who not only gave them a blessing to use his prose but also recorded his own voice reading it.

This fantastic experiment engages the audience in many various ways into its dramatic and terrifying plot but also treats the ears with a great quality post-metal music that makes no room for pauses and peace from the album's omnipresent feeling of danger. 

Muladona can be yours for anything you want to pay.

Check: The Only Constant in This World Is Blackness of the Human Heart

Country: Switzerland

Genre: horror post-metal

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Gob Ribbons - Attain - Maintain (2019) EN

The Swiss guitar alternative music has their prime time recently, great albums were released by E-L-R or maïak, but there's also this debut EP from the talent show Sprungfeder winners Gob Ribbons of Luzern.

Three-track-long album begins with Hegemony, a track created around US president Eisenhower's speech and aggressive, more heavy rock than metal vocals repeating a phrase "nothing has changed". The band "tell a story about the idealization of striving, the collective cult of prosperity and the fear of losing an attained position" and they do it with a combination of progressive rock, oldschool heavy metal and modern post-rock. A weird one but exceptionally edible.

Attain - Maintain costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Hegemony 

Country: Switzerland

Genre: post-heavy-metal

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E-L-R - Mænad (2019) EN

Recently I had a pleasure to be a part of Zurich's Bergmal Festival, the undoubtedly main discovery of which was the local band called E-L-R. And so it happened that the two girls and one guy band have released recently their debut album Mænad and... what a debut it is!

E-L-R's music is made of unbearably noisy (especially live) combination of post-rock ideas and shoegaze execution. Their wall of guitar sounds literally crushes you into the ground, the overlapping sounds sound precisely how My Bloody Valentine wanted them to in their shoegaze and the vocals are minimal or even non-existent. The artists usually limit themselves to airy backing vocals and generation of guitar noise.

But when the vocal does appear, as in Devotee, it brings some of unbelievable grandeur and truly just makes you cry out of beauty. Some other fragments are more post-rocking, as Above the Mountains There's Light for example, especially when it comes to compositions and the drums' part taken in this monumental experience. Certainly one of the most important albums of the year. Important news is that the Swiss band is going for a tour soon and will play also in Poland: November 13th in Wrocław and the next day in Warsaw.

Mænad costs 6.99 USD.

Check: Devotee

Country: Switzerland

Genre: shoegazing post-rock

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Nyctalgia - A Hint of Eternity (2017) EN

Another in last weeks alongside George Will extraordinary and extraordinarily emotional post-rock comes from Switzerland. Silvio Pfiffner of Basel known as Nyctalgia is an artist for obligatory checking and falling in love for everyone who likes crying over beautiful sounds and flying in space.

Pfiffner doesn't cut short on anything. The album from the very beginning is full of this beautiful pathos that reminds of movie scenes of ascension and equally bombastic events. Listener can't get bored with all those strings and dirty guitars and epic drums and delicate keys inviting them to their insane dance. The whole album is an instant ecstasy.

The music is also painful in its beauty. No wonder as the name of the project is also a sickness that involves feeling pain while sleeping. This is what happens to everyone who drowns into the new album by Pfiffner.

"A Hint Of Eternity" costs 9 CHF.

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Alles Club - 1999 (2016) EN

Some bands are created on the spur of the moment and after a while they have already two albums and several awards, other just *can't* get started. This is the story of Alles Club, the band that came through after Luiz Alberto Moura listened to a demo recorded by himself with some friends... 17 years before. "1999" is a tribute to this moment and, let's hope so, the beginning of the Brazilian (though recording also in Portugal and Switzerland) shoegazers' career.

The tribute is noticeable in the very first moments of the album with a piece of an old very low quality recording in the beginning of the first track, which has to be a reminder of the lost demo. Even though the album has only three songs, every one of them offers something special. "Eclipse" is a delicate and catchy melody with vocal full of reverbs, "Só Hoje" warms up slowly from a romantic ballad through full of backing vocals middle up to a real shoegaze ocean of sound. "Brilhar" is based on deep sounds of drums and some trumpets in the background. It's a pity it is also the end of the EP.

The band's motto is "sad music and loud guitars" which, together with their musical sensibility makes me wait for more material by the Brazilians.

"1999" is available for free.

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