Angine de Poitrine - Vol II

Canadian experimental rock group Angine de Poitrine released their second album, Vol. II, on 3rd April 2026.

The viral 2 piece have shot to notoriety after a jaw dropping performance on Seattle-based radio station KEXP in 2025. Their polkadot, paper mâché, otherworldly costumes are undoubtedly part of the allure of this anonymous band, but the music they create stands as a high art form on its own. Vol II confirms this.

I get shades of Primus in the bass grooves, 80’s King Crimson in the layering of the complex guitars, Mr Bungle and Buckethead in the unhinged aesthetic and wild experimentation, and Secret Chiefs III in the microtonal guitar sound palate. I’m sure fans of bands like CAN and GONG will also enjoy this stiff. This is instrumental, experimental, progressive music for those who are happy to be challenged, and for those find something satisfying in what can be a long, slow build to the pay off.

Guitarist & bassist ‘Khn de Poitrine’ uses a twin neck, microtonal bass and guitar set up, with a loop station. The way he goes to town on creating off-kilter but groovy layers off bass and guitar has to be heard to be believed. ‘Klek de Poitrine’ lays down killer drum beats throughout too, enhancing every riff and change up with his parts. Admittedly If you listen to the tracks without understanding how the songs are performed (using a loop station) you could potentially find some of the build ups to be a bit samey or boring, but luckily for me I enjoy stoner/doom and have always found something mediative and enjoyable about songs with long build ups, or tracks that hammer the same riff over and over!

For those unaware, Microtonal guitars have significantly more frets than a usual guitar. Where usual guitar fretting arrangements allow a guitarist to move ‘half’ a step at a time, microtonal guitars further subdivide the chromatic scale, to provide note choices previously only available to guitarists using subtle bends or whammy bar inflections and the like. I don’t know exactly what these guys are running with set up wise, but I assume it’s quarter steps. The Sitar is an example of a microtonal instrument, and for that reason some of the melodies can have a bit of a Indian aesthetic to them at times. However for the most part Angine de Poitrine favour whimsical mind-bending themes more so than anything that sounds too much like traditional sitar (potentially the track "Yor Zarad" is an exception to this).

The album gets underway with the absolutely killer track "Fabienk". This is the perfect opening track and introduction to the band. It's ultra complicated, but the grooves and melody have a nice, simple fun feeling to them. I get 80s era King Crimson vibes from this one and the way they layer and build grooves using a loop station is like a form of modern Gamelan. The bass grove and layered build up that brings the track home is an absolute stone cold killer. I considered doing a track by track review for Vol II, but you’re time is better off spent listening to this album not reading what I have to say about it! It’s 6 great tracks with an overall run time of just shy of 40 minutes. The opening 3 tracks and the closer "Angor" are probably my favourites, but I’m finding something new to like with each and every listen.

I’d imagine lots of people will rank Vol II very highly on end of year lists, because it is relatively unique, fresh and memorable. Sure, there is a viral hype behind this release that may have myself and others sucked deeper into the world of Angine de Poitrine than we might have otherwise been, but I’m quite sure I’d dig this stuff without the viral performance or the out there costumes. If you’re after something fresh, quirky and fun, look no further.

Khn de Poitrine - microtonal guitars, bass guitar, loop station, synthesizers, vocals
Klek de Poitrine - drums, vocals

Track Listing
1. Fabienk - 6:31
2. Mata Zyklek - 6:09
3. Sarniezz - 4:35
4. Utzp - 6:50
5. Yor Zarad - 6:29
6. Angor - 6:16

Added: April 7th 2026
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Angine de Poitrine @ bandcamp
Hits: 89
Language: english

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