Magnalith - 2025 - Memento Mori

(25:41; Rothko Records)






















After nearly 40 years of reviewing I still smile when I get an email from an artist saying they have been told to get in touch with me by another musician, especially when the person doing the telling is someone like Paul McLaney of Gramsci whose work I greatly admire. In this case the email was from Matthew Bosher, who is the bassist in Auckland post metal outfit Kerratta. Here he has a new project where he provides everything apart from drums where three tracks are performed by Corey Friedlander (8 Foot Sativa), three by H. Walker (Kerratta) and three by Daniel Bosher (Battle Circus). 

I received this album a few months back, and it sat there in that month’s playlist until it was time for me to start listening to it, by which time I had totally forgotten where it had come from and that it was by a NZ artist. There is always a risk that I will overstate just how good an album is when it is from Aotearoa, us Kiwis need to stick together after all, but I had no idea I was listening to a local release as I worked through it. It is an unusual mix of styles to be sure, with post-metal, progressive metal, and hard rock mixing with more ambient and atmospheric styles. Matthew told me he deliberately strived for emotive introspection, and there is no doubt that at times he has definitely achieved just that. However, this is not music meant to be to and listened to gently as he can move off into discordant tangents, or drop the distorted fuzz bass into the foreground, and the result is something which had far more depth than one may realise on first play.

This is not an album destined for radio airplay, or for those who want something gentle (or metallic) to play in the background, but instead is something which contains nuances from piano, or different vocal attacks, all which are designed to keep the listener engaged. Matthew is a fine singer, and it is no surprise to see it is not the first time he has taken on that role, as he used to be singer and guitarist in the highly rated Decortica (three albums, signed to EMI Music NZ).

I enjoyed this album, and for a basically solo debut it is definitely worth hearing. It will be interesting to see if Matthew continues in the solo fashion or if he turns Magnalith into a band. If you like this style of rock then I urge you to check this out on Bandcamp. 

Kev Rowland, November 2025

Links:
https://www.rothkorecords.com/magnalith
https://www.rothkorecords.com/

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