While I am far beyond stoked for the show June 23rd and the fact is not going to have any thing from after "Seventh Son" for once I would like a band to deviate from it's greatest hits and play the deeper cuts that people who have already seen them before want to hear, lets face it we are the loyal fans who have been helping with their mortgages back in the days when people bought albums, don't you know if people still bought them Maiden would not be touring as much as they have since the market took a decline back in 2006. So here's my wish lists set lists for ten bands who I think could stand to drop the greatest hits tours .
Iron Maiden
1-Invaders
2-Wrathchild
3-Sea of Madness
4-Back in the Village
5-Total Eclipse
6-Still Life
7-Killers
8-Alexander the Great
9- the Prisoner
10-Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Judas Priest
1-Delivering the goods
2-Don't go
3-Riding on the Wind
4-Stained Class
5-Never Satisfied
6-Eat Me Alive
7-Dissident Aggressor
8-Beyond the realms of death
9-Island of Domination
10-Devil's Child
Slayer
1-Killing Fields
2-Aggressive Perfector
3-Die By the sword
4-Black Magic
5-Necrophiliac
6-Behind the Crooked cross
7-Altar of Sacrifice
8-Temptation
9-Spill the blood
10-Seasons in the Abyss
Alice Cooper
1-Go to Hell
2-Roses on white lace
3-Halo of flies
4-The ballad of Dwight Frye
5-Is it my Body
6-Scarlet and Sheba
7-Cold Ethyl
8-It's Hot tonight
9-Steven/ the Awakening
10-i love the dead
Kiss
1-I've had enough ( into the fire )
2-Parasite
3-Keep me comin
4-Hotter than Hell
5-Charisma
6-a Million to one
7-Thrills in the night
8-She
9-100000 years
10-the Oath
Black Sabbath
1-Hole in the sky
2-Tomorrows dream
3-Hand of Doom
4-Megalomania
5-Killing yourself to live
6-Snowblind
7-Sleeping Village
8-Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
9-Into the Void
10-Never say die
Rush
1-2112
2-Circumstances
3-Red Sector a
4-The Necromancer
5-Ghost of a chance
6-Witch Hunt
7-Red Lenses
8-Cygnus X-1 Book one
9-Something for nothing
10-Sub-divisions
Deep Purple
1-Stormbringer
2-Maybe I'm a Leo
3-Child in time
4-Dealer
5-Into the fire
6-Place in line
7-No one came
8-You Keep on movin
9-Woman from Tokyo
10-Perfect Strangers
Nine Inch Nails
1-Mr. self destruct
2-1,000,000
3-Heresy
4-Dead souls
5-Happiness in slavery
6-Kinda I want to
7-the Becoming
8-My violent heart
9-Even deeper
10-Eraser
Alice in Chains
1-Rotten apple
2-Sea of sorrow
3-Last of my kind
4-Down in a hole
5-All secrets known
6-I can't remember
7-Junkhead
8- Angry chair
9-Get born again
1O-Would?
Sound Garden
1-Birth ritual
2-Hands all over
3-Gun
4-Beyond the wheel
5-Jesus Christ Pose
6-Mood for trouble
7-Searching with my good eye closed
8-No wrong no right
9-4th of july
10-Big dumb sex
Monday, February 20, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Pallbearer- sorrow and extinction
Underwhelmed by the Arkansas doom band’s 2010 demo, I still felt there Pallbearer had potential. This measure of faith rested on the hope of better production and time spent in the studio to give reflection on the nuances of song writing. On the very first listen of “ Sorrow and extinction” Welcoming morose passages of clean guitar welcomed me, as it dripped with morose melody giving previous doubts I had on their demo a proper burial.
The white elephant in the room on dividing metal message board is singer Brett Campbell. Neither a growler or an Ozzy homage, he stands out in the genre. I first heard Brett on the guest spot on Loss' “Despond” album.He is not trying to be the second coming of Ronnie James Dio, sometimes allowing his voice to crack in more of a stylistic element that lack of range. He displays at time a measure of akin to Eric Wagner of Trouble without the Jesus or the boogie or bell bottoms. He only become forceful on the 6 minute mark of "Offering of grief," the majority of the album he evokes Rob Halford's crooning mid range found on the first four Preist albums. The vocals well mixed into the music to plead to the thunder head of riff age rolling in on you.
One unique quality of their music is there isn’t an overabundance of Sabbath worship. If traces are found any where it would be in the drumming. These guys have huddled around the bong to both Solitude Aeturnus and Candlemass. Where doom or stoner rock purposefully hearkens to a more retro sound, here the elements of dated cheese thrown out of the fridge before the mold grows.These epics of a darkening horizon cast fresh light on the darkness. The challenge for any doom band is to keep it varied and interesting while plodding at a dying lumber. The guitars carry a rock n roll fuzz to them, keeping their sound from being what is categorized as funeral doom.
The guitars have an experimental edge to them rather than just use the riff to dig into the dig with sheer heaviness they know when to let the chords ring with a sense of majesty. The lead playing catches your ear not defaulting to the thematic melody of the song but venturing out in angular fashion past the minor fifth harmonies. The bass lead in to " The legend" accents the fact there isn't a weak link to this band, song also appeared on the demo ,displaying growth invested into it’s re-recording. They know when to pick up the pace into a mammoth chug, and give space for a solo to blaze out of the crescendo. The closer required a second listen, the oddly layered guitar solos at the end dragged me back in as the swell in a fade of synth echo. The first release of 2012 that has really rock my socks off .
The white elephant in the room on dividing metal message board is singer Brett Campbell. Neither a growler or an Ozzy homage, he stands out in the genre. I first heard Brett on the guest spot on Loss' “Despond” album.He is not trying to be the second coming of Ronnie James Dio, sometimes allowing his voice to crack in more of a stylistic element that lack of range. He displays at time a measure of akin to Eric Wagner of Trouble without the Jesus or the boogie or bell bottoms. He only become forceful on the 6 minute mark of "Offering of grief," the majority of the album he evokes Rob Halford's crooning mid range found on the first four Preist albums. The vocals well mixed into the music to plead to the thunder head of riff age rolling in on you.
One unique quality of their music is there isn’t an overabundance of Sabbath worship. If traces are found any where it would be in the drumming. These guys have huddled around the bong to both Solitude Aeturnus and Candlemass. Where doom or stoner rock purposefully hearkens to a more retro sound, here the elements of dated cheese thrown out of the fridge before the mold grows.These epics of a darkening horizon cast fresh light on the darkness. The challenge for any doom band is to keep it varied and interesting while plodding at a dying lumber. The guitars carry a rock n roll fuzz to them, keeping their sound from being what is categorized as funeral doom.
The guitars have an experimental edge to them rather than just use the riff to dig into the dig with sheer heaviness they know when to let the chords ring with a sense of majesty. The lead playing catches your ear not defaulting to the thematic melody of the song but venturing out in angular fashion past the minor fifth harmonies. The bass lead in to " The legend" accents the fact there isn't a weak link to this band, song also appeared on the demo ,displaying growth invested into it’s re-recording. They know when to pick up the pace into a mammoth chug, and give space for a solo to blaze out of the crescendo. The closer required a second listen, the oddly layered guitar solos at the end dragged me back in as the swell in a fade of synth echo. The first release of 2012 that has really rock my socks off .
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Liturgy- and odd looking glass of metal in Atlanta
This started off as just a review of the Liturgy show I went to last week but giving a little more thought to the experience as a whole, it raised a few questions I feel need to explored.
Lets go ahead and get the elephant out of the room , which is the dreaded " hipster " tag and the controversy , Hunter Hendrix riled with his manifesto. The two issues go hand in hand because , if Hunter never opened his mouth in a manner that might be construed as suggesting this band is too elitist to be thought of in the same way as Norwegian black metal, then he would not have a-drawn attention to him self , which happens to be in the territory of self promotion a major key to being an artist independent or otherwise and b-fallen into separating himself from metal. It's pretty clear listening to the "Reannihilation" album, these guys have given Burzum more than a few spins and it's fair to say Darkthrone has made their playlist as well. Liturgy wears the shadows of the influences but brings influence from bands like Swans, Lightning Bolt, and Sun Ra to the table, so even at the risk of delving into noise they aren't looking to play it safe. So what I took away from all of his rambling , is they aren't looking to ape a style that has been done and want to do their own thing, now unless you have a small mind that is unable to progress beyond "Blessed are the Sick" then I don't see what's the problem with that.
Liturgy's 2011 release ”Aesthethica” remains one of my favorite albums of the year so the bar set high for them with a year of anticipation built around seeing the band live. Less than thirty minutes at the Masquerade I was informed Liturgy’s bassist and drummer had dropped off the tour and they would be preforming with a drum machine. With this in mind the fact the show had been moved into the Purgatory stage, made a little more sense as would the crowd of under fifty people.
Ok, lets get clear on this it made sense that it was moved to Purgatory due to low turn out ...what doesn't make sense is the low turn out. To get labelled as a hipster band I saw three or four people I would qualify with that label. So you are going to tell me all the metal heads who are into forward thinking metal where at the nostalgia fest that was Anthrax and Testament? If I think back to the Agalloch show, it was well attended and a different demographic than the Testament crowd, but more straight forward in their approach than Liturgy who is huge in New York. So does this mean experimental and metal only work in new york? Or more likely is Atlanta behind the curve when it comes to where metal is going.
It was a fact the creative clock is turned back the further outside of 285 you are proven once again by Tifton, Ga’s When Pain is King, who opened the show with a brand of Myspace metal I remember being much more adventurous in say 2004. I'm sure they killed it in the cafeteria at the Tifton high talent show, but Atreyu's days are dead and gone a fact even Atreyu is in acceptance of.
One of Atlanta's better bands Scarab followed them. While their blend of rocked out math-rock was more appropriate, I wouldn't say they are metal.The hints of blast beats recalled something more akin to Estradasphere in the days when they band dipped into the occasional metal outburst or falling closer to an instrumental version of the whole rock against rock movement that came out of California spear headed the Secret cheifs 3 and Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum with winding deviations in song structure complimented by remarkable use of creatively employed chops. I think given the circumstances Scarab stole the show and as a band whose rhythm section dominated the songs to a band lacking one would proved a jarring transition.
So why were Tifton's finest on the bill when a black metal-ish band would have made more sense, though now i think of it Überchriist, is the only one of those that comes to mind and a very tongue in cheek in their approach. So does this mean to only expect retro thrash and sludge once word gets back to New York don't waste your time going through atlanta on tour, and the message boards lament when Atlanta is passed up for city's like Mobile,
Liturgy’s main man Hunter Hendrix went about this gig if it were business as usual, more daunted by the meager crowd than the logistics at hand Hunter Hendrix was business as usual, though more than likely reminding him self to tell Krallice to skip atlanta once he ran into Mick Barr. He spoke only to announce themselves and their last song. He stood alongside guitarist Bernard Gann and let the quality if this bands music I find most compelling take center stage ...their guitar tone.
Rather than rely on the murky tremolo picked distortion their create a sonic clamor . their guitars ring like a cacophony of bells. The closest comparison in their sound would be found in their admitted influence of the Swans. To have such a unique guitar sound, i expected to see them encircled by pedal boards, this was not the case as became evident they create this using only the blur at the end of their wrists.
The impressive display of guitar playing aside , no attempt to replicate drum sounds. The lap top lurching behind Hunter only followed the albums patterns, spit out lo-fi drum sounds, that often blipped into a squeal. I am all for experimentation, but they are not Godflesh so it lacked lacked the power the album conveyed .The two guitarist played their parts spot in, with the only other deviation in the a capella sections of the looped clean vocal chants to lead into the sets opener and closer. Hendrix’s raw black metal shreikage was by his request buried in the mix .Later in their set he even asked not to hear themselves in the monitors.
Bernard Gann told me after the show that he found playing with something as rigid as the programed drums to be freeing. I hope this was not a cryptic hint at what to expect from the duo in the future. The pound of the angular rhythm section accented the horrid beauty they crafted so well on last year’s release. I admire them for working against adversity, and saw this as an intimate guitar clinic, while enjoyable as a once in a lifetime performance of circumstance I hope to see the band ... though in a different, return to form they deserve and when a band like Ulcerate skips Atlanta just remember word travels fast in New York.
Lets go ahead and get the elephant out of the room , which is the dreaded " hipster " tag and the controversy , Hunter Hendrix riled with his manifesto. The two issues go hand in hand because , if Hunter never opened his mouth in a manner that might be construed as suggesting this band is too elitist to be thought of in the same way as Norwegian black metal, then he would not have a-drawn attention to him self , which happens to be in the territory of self promotion a major key to being an artist independent or otherwise and b-fallen into separating himself from metal. It's pretty clear listening to the "Reannihilation" album, these guys have given Burzum more than a few spins and it's fair to say Darkthrone has made their playlist as well. Liturgy wears the shadows of the influences but brings influence from bands like Swans, Lightning Bolt, and Sun Ra to the table, so even at the risk of delving into noise they aren't looking to play it safe. So what I took away from all of his rambling , is they aren't looking to ape a style that has been done and want to do their own thing, now unless you have a small mind that is unable to progress beyond "Blessed are the Sick" then I don't see what's the problem with that.
Liturgy's 2011 release ”Aesthethica” remains one of my favorite albums of the year so the bar set high for them with a year of anticipation built around seeing the band live. Less than thirty minutes at the Masquerade I was informed Liturgy’s bassist and drummer had dropped off the tour and they would be preforming with a drum machine. With this in mind the fact the show had been moved into the Purgatory stage, made a little more sense as would the crowd of under fifty people.
Ok, lets get clear on this it made sense that it was moved to Purgatory due to low turn out ...what doesn't make sense is the low turn out. To get labelled as a hipster band I saw three or four people I would qualify with that label. So you are going to tell me all the metal heads who are into forward thinking metal where at the nostalgia fest that was Anthrax and Testament? If I think back to the Agalloch show, it was well attended and a different demographic than the Testament crowd, but more straight forward in their approach than Liturgy who is huge in New York. So does this mean experimental and metal only work in new york? Or more likely is Atlanta behind the curve when it comes to where metal is going.
It was a fact the creative clock is turned back the further outside of 285 you are proven once again by Tifton, Ga’s When Pain is King, who opened the show with a brand of Myspace metal I remember being much more adventurous in say 2004. I'm sure they killed it in the cafeteria at the Tifton high talent show, but Atreyu's days are dead and gone a fact even Atreyu is in acceptance of.
One of Atlanta's better bands Scarab followed them. While their blend of rocked out math-rock was more appropriate, I wouldn't say they are metal.The hints of blast beats recalled something more akin to Estradasphere in the days when they band dipped into the occasional metal outburst or falling closer to an instrumental version of the whole rock against rock movement that came out of California spear headed the Secret cheifs 3 and Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum with winding deviations in song structure complimented by remarkable use of creatively employed chops. I think given the circumstances Scarab stole the show and as a band whose rhythm section dominated the songs to a band lacking one would proved a jarring transition.
So why were Tifton's finest on the bill when a black metal-ish band would have made more sense, though now i think of it Überchriist, is the only one of those that comes to mind and a very tongue in cheek in their approach. So does this mean to only expect retro thrash and sludge once word gets back to New York don't waste your time going through atlanta on tour, and the message boards lament when Atlanta is passed up for city's like Mobile,
Liturgy’s main man Hunter Hendrix went about this gig if it were business as usual, more daunted by the meager crowd than the logistics at hand Hunter Hendrix was business as usual, though more than likely reminding him self to tell Krallice to skip atlanta once he ran into Mick Barr. He spoke only to announce themselves and their last song. He stood alongside guitarist Bernard Gann and let the quality if this bands music I find most compelling take center stage ...their guitar tone.
Rather than rely on the murky tremolo picked distortion their create a sonic clamor . their guitars ring like a cacophony of bells. The closest comparison in their sound would be found in their admitted influence of the Swans. To have such a unique guitar sound, i expected to see them encircled by pedal boards, this was not the case as became evident they create this using only the blur at the end of their wrists.
The impressive display of guitar playing aside , no attempt to replicate drum sounds. The lap top lurching behind Hunter only followed the albums patterns, spit out lo-fi drum sounds, that often blipped into a squeal. I am all for experimentation, but they are not Godflesh so it lacked lacked the power the album conveyed .The two guitarist played their parts spot in, with the only other deviation in the a capella sections of the looped clean vocal chants to lead into the sets opener and closer. Hendrix’s raw black metal shreikage was by his request buried in the mix .Later in their set he even asked not to hear themselves in the monitors.
Bernard Gann told me after the show that he found playing with something as rigid as the programed drums to be freeing. I hope this was not a cryptic hint at what to expect from the duo in the future. The pound of the angular rhythm section accented the horrid beauty they crafted so well on last year’s release. I admire them for working against adversity, and saw this as an intimate guitar clinic, while enjoyable as a once in a lifetime performance of circumstance I hope to see the band ... though in a different, return to form they deserve and when a band like Ulcerate skips Atlanta just remember word travels fast in New York.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Eluveitie - Helvetios
A key selling point for metal is to make me feel like I’m riding a dragon through middle earth, preferably Mordor. Folk metal takes plenty of stabs at said dragon , yet It takes a party of high level bards to pull this off and hold the power and snarl required of good metal . Bands like Korpiklaani, fail their saving throws and end up in a drunken frolic with elves and not enough mithril in their sound. Switzerland’s Eluveitie gallops onto the battlefield leaving their inner elves back at the hearth of home.
This being the Swiss octet’s fifth full length, this is a much more refined machine, and churns with a focused energy through the snow capped Alps . The sounds are bigger, guitar tone has more crunch, the vocals carry a more acidic hiss and you would think these the things which make for a metal album , however folk metal sounds most authentic and less like Skyrim background with a balance of big production for epic sound and an organic warmth to merit to the presence of folk instruments. Eluveitie’s modern vision of Middle Earth finds me at the Shire asking Frodo where the strip malls and fast food joints came from.
The metal remains the meat of the matter here the layers of hurdy gurdy , violin and mandola , slavishly return to the same intervals played not only on the previous songs but of the previous albums . After further listens it is not as evident as on their previous albums, and require less effort disprove the theory when you have heard one Eluveitie song you have heard them all. It would be interesting if when they return to the studio later this year to work on the next acoustic album, if the band decided to take copious amounts of hallucinogens and find new parameters for these instruments.
If not the most inspired the execution of musicianship is solid front to back , my ears caught bassist Kay Brem’s chops have stepped up to allow the low end to churn with renewed precision. Considering how many musicians each player is preforming around avoids been a cluster fuck is an accomplishment int and of it’s self . The pound into a stomp veer into a dared Nu Metal territory, the results are varied as on the song “ the Siege “ more break neck In Flames styled thrash recalls less memories of Hot Topic stores best forgotten.
At the jarring inclusion of a song like “ A rose for Epona” I stopped to see how Lacuna Coil snuck onto my Ipod. In my heart of heats I never fully disagreed with the lament of the dreaded baby’s mother of this band ‘s previous albums , which was the vocals often sound like they are battling the rest of the band . Though Chrigel sounds best when he drops down more phlegm soaked depths of his guttural tone. The more modern tone of the album is more accommodating to his style this go around.
In the days of teenagers making there weekend pilgrimage to the mall to spend their parents hard earned money on cds , this album would have been hailed as the once that would have broken Eluvietie through to a wider audience , perhaps that might still happen if they find themselves on a package tour sandwiched in between Lamb of God and Halestrom. I think it is more likely that they will find themselves treading a middle ground of not being heavy enough for their once upon a fan base who has moved on to Kampfar or Taake and too heavy for the casual Nightwish fan.
This being the Swiss octet’s fifth full length, this is a much more refined machine, and churns with a focused energy through the snow capped Alps . The sounds are bigger, guitar tone has more crunch, the vocals carry a more acidic hiss and you would think these the things which make for a metal album , however folk metal sounds most authentic and less like Skyrim background with a balance of big production for epic sound and an organic warmth to merit to the presence of folk instruments. Eluveitie’s modern vision of Middle Earth finds me at the Shire asking Frodo where the strip malls and fast food joints came from.
The metal remains the meat of the matter here the layers of hurdy gurdy , violin and mandola , slavishly return to the same intervals played not only on the previous songs but of the previous albums . After further listens it is not as evident as on their previous albums, and require less effort disprove the theory when you have heard one Eluveitie song you have heard them all. It would be interesting if when they return to the studio later this year to work on the next acoustic album, if the band decided to take copious amounts of hallucinogens and find new parameters for these instruments.
If not the most inspired the execution of musicianship is solid front to back , my ears caught bassist Kay Brem’s chops have stepped up to allow the low end to churn with renewed precision. Considering how many musicians each player is preforming around avoids been a cluster fuck is an accomplishment int and of it’s self . The pound into a stomp veer into a dared Nu Metal territory, the results are varied as on the song “ the Siege “ more break neck In Flames styled thrash recalls less memories of Hot Topic stores best forgotten.
At the jarring inclusion of a song like “ A rose for Epona” I stopped to see how Lacuna Coil snuck onto my Ipod. In my heart of heats I never fully disagreed with the lament of the dreaded baby’s mother of this band ‘s previous albums , which was the vocals often sound like they are battling the rest of the band . Though Chrigel sounds best when he drops down more phlegm soaked depths of his guttural tone. The more modern tone of the album is more accommodating to his style this go around.
In the days of teenagers making there weekend pilgrimage to the mall to spend their parents hard earned money on cds , this album would have been hailed as the once that would have broken Eluvietie through to a wider audience , perhaps that might still happen if they find themselves on a package tour sandwiched in between Lamb of God and Halestrom. I think it is more likely that they will find themselves treading a middle ground of not being heavy enough for their once upon a fan base who has moved on to Kampfar or Taake and too heavy for the casual Nightwish fan.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Ash Borer - self titled
As black metal heads into it’s 25th anniversary of existence as we now know it ,one might wonder why a band like California’s Ash Borer would be hyper vigilant against stumbling into main stream success. Despite the buzz generated by the spilt they did with Fell Voices ,It took me the greater part of 2011 to track down the band’s self titled full length debut .In keeping the kvlt cops happily grim , the band released the album in vinyl and cassette pressings of roughly 300 copies.Maintaining obscurity seems to be the mystique or shtick, making no effort to keep an online presence and only being referenced by the first letter of their first names.
This 3 song album clocks in just under forty minutes. It is best heard as one interconnected opus to experience it’s ebb and flow. Not unlike a horror movie setting it’s tone before the blood bath, the first minute of feedback ambiance of the album’s opener “ in the midst of life we are in death” warms you into the storm to come.The pummelling that follows is a hypnotic beating. the tremolo gallop snowballs into a wall of white noise .
. Like most of their peers in the American black metal scene they tip their hooded cloaks as much to Godspeed you black emperor as Darkthrone.The sonic drone comes at you with velocity and ferocity.The band gets lumped in with the trend of bands marrying shoe gaze to black metal, this is not accurate as the trickling guitar melodies are beacons in a chaos far more punishing than say Alcest’s heavier moments.
For a band obsessed with remaining the underground,the album is well produced. Raw and cavernous as needed, with dynamics intact capturing band’s live sound.Granted the vocals are a background howl and keyboards haunt the songs edges at best.The drums stir the fray with ominous accents a wise deviation from typical genre blast beat. This is most effective in the albums final three minutes when they break down into a half time pound and crush the speakers under the swell of guitar.
Think of this as more of a black metal Phillip Glass than the standard Wagnerian offering coming out of Europe. Ash Borer comes across as much more of a cinematic post - apocalyptic sound scape. If you need more verse to chorus structure you are already listening to that last Craft album so carry on. If the current crop of U.S.B, M, has left you wanting , this album offers a darker take on the genre than New York hipsters like Krallice and Liturgy. These guys aren’t out to make you dizzy with acrobatics, instead their tangible fury drags you into this aural mushroom cloud.
While my baby’s mother, the barometer for your average American pop consumer, thought the radio was stuck in the static between stations up hearing this album in the back ground any discerning fan of black metal would find the hunt for this album a wise investment in time . My ears seem to grow hungrier for it every day .i hope the band will get over themselves and make more of an effort to get their music out their to those with a similar craving.
This 3 song album clocks in just under forty minutes. It is best heard as one interconnected opus to experience it’s ebb and flow. Not unlike a horror movie setting it’s tone before the blood bath, the first minute of feedback ambiance of the album’s opener “ in the midst of life we are in death” warms you into the storm to come.The pummelling that follows is a hypnotic beating. the tremolo gallop snowballs into a wall of white noise .
. Like most of their peers in the American black metal scene they tip their hooded cloaks as much to Godspeed you black emperor as Darkthrone.The sonic drone comes at you with velocity and ferocity.The band gets lumped in with the trend of bands marrying shoe gaze to black metal, this is not accurate as the trickling guitar melodies are beacons in a chaos far more punishing than say Alcest’s heavier moments.
For a band obsessed with remaining the underground,the album is well produced. Raw and cavernous as needed, with dynamics intact capturing band’s live sound.Granted the vocals are a background howl and keyboards haunt the songs edges at best.The drums stir the fray with ominous accents a wise deviation from typical genre blast beat. This is most effective in the albums final three minutes when they break down into a half time pound and crush the speakers under the swell of guitar.
Think of this as more of a black metal Phillip Glass than the standard Wagnerian offering coming out of Europe. Ash Borer comes across as much more of a cinematic post - apocalyptic sound scape. If you need more verse to chorus structure you are already listening to that last Craft album so carry on. If the current crop of U.S.B, M, has left you wanting , this album offers a darker take on the genre than New York hipsters like Krallice and Liturgy. These guys aren’t out to make you dizzy with acrobatics, instead their tangible fury drags you into this aural mushroom cloud.
While my baby’s mother, the barometer for your average American pop consumer, thought the radio was stuck in the static between stations up hearing this album in the back ground any discerning fan of black metal would find the hunt for this album a wise investment in time . My ears seem to grow hungrier for it every day .i hope the band will get over themselves and make more of an effort to get their music out their to those with a similar craving.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
R.i.p Woods of Ypres -
I got my hard drive on “Grey Skies & Electric Light” , the now posthumous release of Woods of Ypres, the day after learning of singer David Gold’s death. It was set to be the band’s first album on Earache Records and put to rest message board babble of the band breaking up. the Canadian band was often tagged as being blackened Doom. Both black metal and or Doom felt like a misnomers , due to the more straight ahead hooky melodies that filled the void left by Type O Negative’s absence .
The weak opener “ Career Suicide ( is not real suicide)” could have been saved for a b-sides compilation. It spot lights their tragic flaw of looking back into 90’s alternative rock. Faith was restored by the second song “Travelling Alone” . The song’s feel is more of a logical progression from 2009’s “ Green Album” . The backing instrumentation on this track and through out the rest of the album stays solid if not adventurous.
Despite the sparse deviations into harsher vocals the album never muscles it’s way into territory heavier than an album like “ Slow , Deep and Hard “ . The mournful mood is best set in songs lending breathing room to piano and string arrangements. Even on the more ambitious pieces like “ Alternate Ending “ the Gold displayed his skill as a songwriter by not being bogged down by grandiosity like most post-“October Rust “ era Goth metal. The Peter Steely inflections are still present yet Gold has painted a clearer picture of his won narrative voice.
Where some metal bands fall into pretentious feigned melancholy, Gold had a certain honesty in his delivery. His voice is convincingly bleak , though more comfortable as a baritone , the awkward reaches for Micheal Gira-like low notes , on the outskirts of his range the only lapses into Hot Topic Nu Goth . Only on the song “ Modern Life Architecture” do the stumbles into this register inhibit the potential for melody. Gold’s voice always set the band apart and worked best layered with the double tracked harmony sections. The melodies marriage to the lyrical content makes up for this, as Gold was more contemplative and less pining. Morose and earnest pleas to the world around him, rather than the pseudo poetic musing of a post break up middle school cutter .
It is safe to say Ypres isn’t going to spurn an after death revival with this on as midway through the album my baby momma, asked why was i listening to the Crash Test Dummies. Fans of harder fare than Type o or Agalloch would find the band’s earlier work a more fitting entry point. Ypres existing fan base will find the album morbidly timely and a lyrical inscription on Gold’s headstone and fitting final chapter in the band’s legacy.
The weak opener “ Career Suicide ( is not real suicide)” could have been saved for a b-sides compilation. It spot lights their tragic flaw of looking back into 90’s alternative rock. Faith was restored by the second song “Travelling Alone” . The song’s feel is more of a logical progression from 2009’s “ Green Album” . The backing instrumentation on this track and through out the rest of the album stays solid if not adventurous.
Despite the sparse deviations into harsher vocals the album never muscles it’s way into territory heavier than an album like “ Slow , Deep and Hard “ . The mournful mood is best set in songs lending breathing room to piano and string arrangements. Even on the more ambitious pieces like “ Alternate Ending “ the Gold displayed his skill as a songwriter by not being bogged down by grandiosity like most post-“October Rust “ era Goth metal. The Peter Steely inflections are still present yet Gold has painted a clearer picture of his won narrative voice.
Where some metal bands fall into pretentious feigned melancholy, Gold had a certain honesty in his delivery. His voice is convincingly bleak , though more comfortable as a baritone , the awkward reaches for Micheal Gira-like low notes , on the outskirts of his range the only lapses into Hot Topic Nu Goth . Only on the song “ Modern Life Architecture” do the stumbles into this register inhibit the potential for melody. Gold’s voice always set the band apart and worked best layered with the double tracked harmony sections. The melodies marriage to the lyrical content makes up for this, as Gold was more contemplative and less pining. Morose and earnest pleas to the world around him, rather than the pseudo poetic musing of a post break up middle school cutter .
It is safe to say Ypres isn’t going to spurn an after death revival with this on as midway through the album my baby momma, asked why was i listening to the Crash Test Dummies. Fans of harder fare than Type o or Agalloch would find the band’s earlier work a more fitting entry point. Ypres existing fan base will find the album morbidly timely and a lyrical inscription on Gold’s headstone and fitting final chapter in the band’s legacy.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Top 15 metal albums of 2011
The trend this year IS to make top 15 lists instead of the classic top 10. The rise of the Ipod allowing us to digest more music. With Metal this was not a problem though with rock music I had a harder time finding 10 much less 15.Being O.C.D , making lists which rank things in any order became an all to intensive task where i broke out spread sheets and devised scoring formulas.While engaging in that sort of crazy behavior for this I gave my self a little veto power.I looked for good songs, originality, and staying power... how much it was listened to over the course of the year. So here we go in count down order.
the top 15 metal
15-Skeleton Witch- Forever Abomination -Ok thrash is making a comeback i got it . What this album has on some of the others that didn't make the list, ...toxic Holocaust, Absu, etc, is a dark sense combined with hooky guitar interplay and fantastic song. alot of the other bands in a similar vein just didn't tie it altogether as perfectly for me . Sure the vocals are a little one dimensional but we rocked past it.
14-Peste Noire... L'Ordure à l'état Pur- one of the more unique albums on here, captures a sleazy night of debauchery in Paris or perhaps this is gangsta black metal. The songs are winding almost Mr.Bungle-ish adventures and i would have digested them more regularly if i still did drugs.
13-An Autumn For Crippled Children-Everything - Ever wonder what the Cure's Wish album would sound like if covered by a black metal band? This comes close to capturing that. To be considered depressive suicidal black metal this album is oddly uplifting.This is the year i also re-considered medication.
12-Leviathan - True Traitor , True Whore- This came out late in the year so yet to have it fully grow on me so i can absorb it for the masterpiece i will one day recognize it to be, so for now I see it as Wrest's musical therapy after being charge with sexually assaulting his ex-girl friend with a tattoo gun. If he had actually done this it would have been the most metal moment of all time. the creative growth on here is remarkable and needs more time to sink in.
11-Blut Aus Nord - 777 deSanctification - This feels more like a piece of modern classical music than a black metal album. Dense and seething like a storm cloud in hell. It's more of a score than songs but i don't skip it when it comes on shuffle and fits my mood perfectly for early sunday mornings.
10-Krallice - Diotima- This album may cause dizziness , don't listen it operating heavy machinery . The guitar work on here was created by gloves of + 5 dexterity and worn by a chaos mage. It embodies one of the things i look for in good black metal to be pummeled by the ambiance.
9-Moonsorrow- Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa- Epic blackend folk metal .I am sure this one topped the pop charts in Middle Earth. I for one have rolled many a 20 sided die to it this year. While the songs are sprawling variations of a theme, it's a theme to ride into glory to.
8-Taake - Noregs Vaapen- Raw Norwegian black metal that still manages to be melodic and experiment beyond the tried and true which at this point would be stagnant.For all it's experimentation none of the fierceness is compromised.Another album i didn't get a hold of until later in the year but it ranked high because i was impressed with the song writing and creativity .
7-Woe - Quietly Undramatically- This howls with fury in a way few American Black Metal bands can capture. While not taking as many chances as Krallice or Liturgy, they make up for it in grit. There's a strong aftertaste of post-hardcore, but that's not a band thing.
6-Loss- Despond - Normally i would not consider myself a fan of funeral doom or doom of any flavor aside from the Doctor, but this album plods with beauty. It trudges the road to unhappy destiny in a way that really resonated with me. it is however better played at home than out and about on my ipod which is why it isn't ranked higher.
5-Primordial -Redemption at the Puritan's Hand- though i was a little disappointed these guys are atheists and not pagan, this one rocks with a grim epicness which made me forget that. Very cohesive playing throughout that always serves the songs. In fact the superior quality of the song writing is why these guys scored so high as i am not always in the mood to roll like Braveheart.
4-Shining- Född förlorare- OK, these are not the Swedes you are looking .They are no longer depressive -suicidal black metal or black metal of any flavor , but like charlie sheen are rocking out like total fucking rock stars from mars . if you have seen the video from this one you know its true. It recalls old Opeth which is fine with me since Opeth is now Emerson Lake and Palmer.
3-Liturgy-Aesthethica- My ipod doesn't care about triple h's pontificating . No all it knows is it likes the abrasive shimmer of guitar these guys spit out. Are they Hipsters? Prolly so, but unlike most hipsters these guys get it done so maybe the Hipsters in Brooklyn rock but everywhere else suck, i dunno. I do know this shit is blisteringly pretty and has stood the test of time when other albums got deleted.
2-Tombs- Path of Totality- Speaking of hipsters i heard this streaming on npr before release and yes i already had winter hours, what impressed me was how dark this son of a bitch is . I am not sure if this is black metal or not but god flesh raping joy division the bowels of the hollow earth. Not a bad word to be said here.
1-Burzum - Fallen- When i was putting this list together , i forgot this album had come out the first of the year, i just thought of it as another classic from the Varg vaults. It has that kind of a timeless quality to it. the addition of clean vocal melodies is positive growth from an old dog you wouldn't assume to be learning new tricks.The vocal hooks on this one i find myself singing under my breath today just as much as i did in January .It has every element i want in my metal...of course aside from King Diamond like yodels. I think Varg's legend obscures the fact he makes some fucking killer music as my inner teenager would say. In a year obviously dominated by black metal it only makes sense he has to take the number one spot.
ok non-metal ...that exists you know .
10- Ancient VVisdom-a God Like Inferno - You think this was going to be kvlt as hell but it turns out to be campfire songs for Satan. I don't have any of those in my Ipod so yes please and thanks.
9-Puscifer- the Conditions of My Parole- I love Maynard, but the first album from these guys didn't do alot for me mostly because all of the songs were sung in a register lower than what i feel he should record a whole album in. This one he is back into his A Perfect Circling croon. I think the scope of melodies he has to work with here lends it's self to more compelling song writing. Sure there are a few songs which sound like Tool's deleted out takes but thats life at the vineyard .
8-Cult of Youth- self titled- This had to grow on me in part because i was unsure about the singers often out of key bellowing. There's also something kinda like if the Pogues wrote their lyric with a Ouija board to this as well. Not to mention the whole are these hipsters trying to find the irony in Death in June factor, But when i made it past that i had fun with it.
7-Mogwai- Hardcore Will Never die but you will-They have been at this for a long time. Another one of those bands who i did not require as much listening time from when i quit doing drugs, however rather than ride on the name they have made for themselves they have craft some beautiful songs here , they have fit many a mood this . You know they have a killer guitar tone , now they have killer melodies to serve with it.
6-the Devil's Blood- Thousandfold Epicenter - Yes , if they ever flirted with metal then they have decided to see other people. The whole occult element seems toned down and the production heavy handed, but great musicianship, i mean unrealized guitar gods of the freedom rock variety. The Jefferson airplane has indeed landed on their street. Now is the singer going to start wearing skimpier outfits?
5-Pain of Salvation- Road Salt Two- Another band who once flirted with metal continues to drift into other waters. I like this one much better than it's predecessor as the blues shuffle felt a little forced to me , i think it is also a good idea the faith no Mormonism is left at home. The vocals are what wins it for me here, the most dynamic singing of the year.
4-Royal Thunder- Self titled Ep- Ok this is only ep i allowed to rank on either list, though Cynic's would be a close second place but feels like Goldilocks would find it too small and this one just right. This is also the only band in the ATL i am giving props, as they put their best foot forward where Mastodudes put out what sounds to be an album of b-sides, i think they might have been wiser to put out an ep instead but oh well. I think Royal Thunder would like to be a metal band, but i think they fill this middle ground much better. the singer sometimes reminds me of Lita Ford, but is full of darkened soul, these songs have a great feel which ranks them this high . if that makes any sense.
3-Glasvegas- Euphoric Heartbreak- The fact that this band's sophomore slump is better than almost everything other rock album that came out this year ,says something. their first album was so good that the bar was set pretty high. the song " what ever gets you through the night " could be my favorite song of the year. i wanted them to take the gut wrenching and tear jerking to 11 but instead i got something wanting to be pop. However this collection of coming out of the closet lamentations fills the void Placebo left when they decided they were just going to start dialing it in. Once the fact this doesn't pick up where the first album left off has begun to sink in i think i can get more out of this than i have in my initial listens and is growing on me .
2- The Decemberists- the King is Dead- In some ways this is a perfect album but this is the Decemberists we are talking about so you know what thy are capable. everytime i wanted to cross my arms and complain they were selling out i was brought back to the fact these are really good songs. Ok leaning towards country and not a sea shanty to be found, but after Hazards of Love i can understand why they would want to strip it down and hey R.E.M isn't making this kind of music anymore so i'll take it.
1-Zola Jesus- Conatus- the lady gaga of Witch house? sure she prays at the altar of Siouxsie. But the conviction she sings with is what helped give her the edge over everything else i have heard this year. i can listen to it all day .the perfect blend of bleak and beats. She gets alot of feeling and sound out of employing very minimal elements. i relate to every lyric it's one of those things where it is the album that sums up where i am at in life so that factors in why it rates so high , not to take away from what she has created . like charlie sheen says of partying .."whats
not to love. looking to make a road trip to see her.
overall list
1-Zola Jesus- Conatus
2-Burzum- Fallen
3-Tombs - Path of Totality
4-Liturgy -Aesthethica
5-the Decemberists- the King is Dead
6-Shining- Fodd forlorare
7-Glasvegas- Euphoric Heartbreak
8-Primordial- Redemption at the Puritans hand
9-Loss- Despond
10-Woe- Quietly Undramatically
10-
the top 15 metal
15-Skeleton Witch- Forever Abomination -Ok thrash is making a comeback i got it . What this album has on some of the others that didn't make the list, ...toxic Holocaust, Absu, etc, is a dark sense combined with hooky guitar interplay and fantastic song. alot of the other bands in a similar vein just didn't tie it altogether as perfectly for me . Sure the vocals are a little one dimensional but we rocked past it.
14-Peste Noire... L'Ordure à l'état Pur- one of the more unique albums on here, captures a sleazy night of debauchery in Paris or perhaps this is gangsta black metal. The songs are winding almost Mr.Bungle-ish adventures and i would have digested them more regularly if i still did drugs.
13-An Autumn For Crippled Children-Everything - Ever wonder what the Cure's Wish album would sound like if covered by a black metal band? This comes close to capturing that. To be considered depressive suicidal black metal this album is oddly uplifting.This is the year i also re-considered medication.
12-Leviathan - True Traitor , True Whore- This came out late in the year so yet to have it fully grow on me so i can absorb it for the masterpiece i will one day recognize it to be, so for now I see it as Wrest's musical therapy after being charge with sexually assaulting his ex-girl friend with a tattoo gun. If he had actually done this it would have been the most metal moment of all time. the creative growth on here is remarkable and needs more time to sink in.
11-Blut Aus Nord - 777 deSanctification - This feels more like a piece of modern classical music than a black metal album. Dense and seething like a storm cloud in hell. It's more of a score than songs but i don't skip it when it comes on shuffle and fits my mood perfectly for early sunday mornings.
10-Krallice - Diotima- This album may cause dizziness , don't listen it operating heavy machinery . The guitar work on here was created by gloves of + 5 dexterity and worn by a chaos mage. It embodies one of the things i look for in good black metal to be pummeled by the ambiance.
9-Moonsorrow- Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa- Epic blackend folk metal .I am sure this one topped the pop charts in Middle Earth. I for one have rolled many a 20 sided die to it this year. While the songs are sprawling variations of a theme, it's a theme to ride into glory to.
8-Taake - Noregs Vaapen- Raw Norwegian black metal that still manages to be melodic and experiment beyond the tried and true which at this point would be stagnant.For all it's experimentation none of the fierceness is compromised.Another album i didn't get a hold of until later in the year but it ranked high because i was impressed with the song writing and creativity .
7-Woe - Quietly Undramatically- This howls with fury in a way few American Black Metal bands can capture. While not taking as many chances as Krallice or Liturgy, they make up for it in grit. There's a strong aftertaste of post-hardcore, but that's not a band thing.
6-Loss- Despond - Normally i would not consider myself a fan of funeral doom or doom of any flavor aside from the Doctor, but this album plods with beauty. It trudges the road to unhappy destiny in a way that really resonated with me. it is however better played at home than out and about on my ipod which is why it isn't ranked higher.
5-Primordial -Redemption at the Puritan's Hand- though i was a little disappointed these guys are atheists and not pagan, this one rocks with a grim epicness which made me forget that. Very cohesive playing throughout that always serves the songs. In fact the superior quality of the song writing is why these guys scored so high as i am not always in the mood to roll like Braveheart.
4-Shining- Född förlorare- OK, these are not the Swedes you are looking .They are no longer depressive -suicidal black metal or black metal of any flavor , but like charlie sheen are rocking out like total fucking rock stars from mars . if you have seen the video from this one you know its true. It recalls old Opeth which is fine with me since Opeth is now Emerson Lake and Palmer.
3-Liturgy-Aesthethica- My ipod doesn't care about triple h's pontificating . No all it knows is it likes the abrasive shimmer of guitar these guys spit out. Are they Hipsters? Prolly so, but unlike most hipsters these guys get it done so maybe the Hipsters in Brooklyn rock but everywhere else suck, i dunno. I do know this shit is blisteringly pretty and has stood the test of time when other albums got deleted.
2-Tombs- Path of Totality- Speaking of hipsters i heard this streaming on npr before release and yes i already had winter hours, what impressed me was how dark this son of a bitch is . I am not sure if this is black metal or not but god flesh raping joy division the bowels of the hollow earth. Not a bad word to be said here.
1-Burzum - Fallen- When i was putting this list together , i forgot this album had come out the first of the year, i just thought of it as another classic from the Varg vaults. It has that kind of a timeless quality to it. the addition of clean vocal melodies is positive growth from an old dog you wouldn't assume to be learning new tricks.The vocal hooks on this one i find myself singing under my breath today just as much as i did in January .It has every element i want in my metal...of course aside from King Diamond like yodels. I think Varg's legend obscures the fact he makes some fucking killer music as my inner teenager would say. In a year obviously dominated by black metal it only makes sense he has to take the number one spot.
ok non-metal ...that exists you know .
10- Ancient VVisdom-a God Like Inferno - You think this was going to be kvlt as hell but it turns out to be campfire songs for Satan. I don't have any of those in my Ipod so yes please and thanks.
9-Puscifer- the Conditions of My Parole- I love Maynard, but the first album from these guys didn't do alot for me mostly because all of the songs were sung in a register lower than what i feel he should record a whole album in. This one he is back into his A Perfect Circling croon. I think the scope of melodies he has to work with here lends it's self to more compelling song writing. Sure there are a few songs which sound like Tool's deleted out takes but thats life at the vineyard .
8-Cult of Youth- self titled- This had to grow on me in part because i was unsure about the singers often out of key bellowing. There's also something kinda like if the Pogues wrote their lyric with a Ouija board to this as well. Not to mention the whole are these hipsters trying to find the irony in Death in June factor, But when i made it past that i had fun with it.
7-Mogwai- Hardcore Will Never die but you will-They have been at this for a long time. Another one of those bands who i did not require as much listening time from when i quit doing drugs, however rather than ride on the name they have made for themselves they have craft some beautiful songs here , they have fit many a mood this . You know they have a killer guitar tone , now they have killer melodies to serve with it.
6-the Devil's Blood- Thousandfold Epicenter - Yes , if they ever flirted with metal then they have decided to see other people. The whole occult element seems toned down and the production heavy handed, but great musicianship, i mean unrealized guitar gods of the freedom rock variety. The Jefferson airplane has indeed landed on their street. Now is the singer going to start wearing skimpier outfits?
5-Pain of Salvation- Road Salt Two- Another band who once flirted with metal continues to drift into other waters. I like this one much better than it's predecessor as the blues shuffle felt a little forced to me , i think it is also a good idea the faith no Mormonism is left at home. The vocals are what wins it for me here, the most dynamic singing of the year.
4-Royal Thunder- Self titled Ep- Ok this is only ep i allowed to rank on either list, though Cynic's would be a close second place but feels like Goldilocks would find it too small and this one just right. This is also the only band in the ATL i am giving props, as they put their best foot forward where Mastodudes put out what sounds to be an album of b-sides, i think they might have been wiser to put out an ep instead but oh well. I think Royal Thunder would like to be a metal band, but i think they fill this middle ground much better. the singer sometimes reminds me of Lita Ford, but is full of darkened soul, these songs have a great feel which ranks them this high . if that makes any sense.
3-Glasvegas- Euphoric Heartbreak- The fact that this band's sophomore slump is better than almost everything other rock album that came out this year ,says something. their first album was so good that the bar was set pretty high. the song " what ever gets you through the night " could be my favorite song of the year. i wanted them to take the gut wrenching and tear jerking to 11 but instead i got something wanting to be pop. However this collection of coming out of the closet lamentations fills the void Placebo left when they decided they were just going to start dialing it in. Once the fact this doesn't pick up where the first album left off has begun to sink in i think i can get more out of this than i have in my initial listens and is growing on me .
2- The Decemberists- the King is Dead- In some ways this is a perfect album but this is the Decemberists we are talking about so you know what thy are capable. everytime i wanted to cross my arms and complain they were selling out i was brought back to the fact these are really good songs. Ok leaning towards country and not a sea shanty to be found, but after Hazards of Love i can understand why they would want to strip it down and hey R.E.M isn't making this kind of music anymore so i'll take it.
1-Zola Jesus- Conatus- the lady gaga of Witch house? sure she prays at the altar of Siouxsie. But the conviction she sings with is what helped give her the edge over everything else i have heard this year. i can listen to it all day .the perfect blend of bleak and beats. She gets alot of feeling and sound out of employing very minimal elements. i relate to every lyric it's one of those things where it is the album that sums up where i am at in life so that factors in why it rates so high , not to take away from what she has created . like charlie sheen says of partying .."whats
not to love. looking to make a road trip to see her.
overall list
1-Zola Jesus- Conatus
2-Burzum- Fallen
3-Tombs - Path of Totality
4-Liturgy -Aesthethica
5-the Decemberists- the King is Dead
6-Shining- Fodd forlorare
7-Glasvegas- Euphoric Heartbreak
8-Primordial- Redemption at the Puritans hand
9-Loss- Despond
10-Woe- Quietly Undramatically
10-
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