REVIEW DRAFT - The Infinite
Greetings, salutations and welcome to the inaugural REVIEW DRAFT for the Infinite clan. Every month we will nominate a handful of albums (one more than the number of participants) and we will participate in a draft format to help flush out our knowledge of progressive, avant-garde, djent and post-metal.
The method of selecting albums will be completely random as to remove any chance of bias. Only full length albums, EP's and live albums are allowed (no compilations or split records) and I will be using the base Releases tab for selection. First a random page number, and then a random album on that page. If I see that an album has been reviewed by one of our participants, that user cannot select that album for the draft. To compensate, I will add an additional album for kicks.
The initial selection order will be:
1. Saxy S
2. DinaricWarrior
3. Xephyr
And we will rotate each month, so in January I will select last. I hope that you all enjoy and let's get drafting!
Deathspell Omega - Drought
Lunatic Gods - Turiec
Ron Jarzombek - Solitarily Speaking of Theoretical Confinement
Zu - Cortar Todo
What a fascinating group of records to start us off. I guess I'll get us kicked off with that Ron Jarzombek album. I'll hand it off to you next Dinaric!
Alright, I'll try this Lunatic Gods album. It looks nice.
Also, I'm not fully acquainted with the way the draft works yet. I post the review here, I know that, but do I have a time limit or something like that?
Probably until the end of the month.
Lunatic Gods - Turiec (2018)
Ever wanted to know what Agalloch would sound like if it heavily employed Slavic folk music? Your wish is granted.
That's the best description, really. There are also some Opeth-isms in the way of dissonant riffs and deep growls (Pieseň živlov and K fatranským svahom, for example), inconsequential acoustic passages and some pseudo-epic orchestral touches, but for the most part, this description sums it all up: mellowed down black metal-isms combined with Slavic folk (which, on its own, is easily the best part of the album, but does not blend well with the metal, sadly).
I can't help but to think of most of folk metal albums like this one as confused. There's no real direction to the compositions and the music is not nearly as atmospheric or potent as it wants to come off as being. It seems like background music more than anything else.
Oriana and Na Tlstej rastie zlatá tráva are the heaviest songs here, but even those seem underwhelming. For the most part, the music is midpaced, folky and pleasant, but not really interesting or captivating. Again, it feels like background music more than anything else. Even the typical BM sections feel tame, bland and inoffensive.
I can't even bring myself so say anything else due to how weary the album makes me. It's okay for what it is, but there's far better stuff out there.
2.5/5
I'll take the Deathspell Omega album since I never dug into their discography all that much.
And dang, you work fast Dinaric! Reminder to post that review to the actual album page if you would like, it's always nice to have write-ups for lesser known albums that no one on the site has listened to yet.
Also, I'm not fully acquainted with the way the draft works yet. I post the review here, I know that, but do I have a time limit or something like that?
Post the review here (and on the album page if you so choose) and be sure to rate the album on the website as well, under the rare instance your album appears again and you do not have to be forced to review an album you did not like.
Andi, I'll throw your name into the number 3 hole next month.
Thanks, Saxy.
Ron Jarzombek - Solitarily Speaking of Theoretical Confinement
I knew when I initiated the review draft in the Infinite that I was going to have to listen to albums like Ron Jarzombek's Solitarily Speaking of Theoretical Confinement. This is pure guitar wank, delivered over a single, continuous idea, where the tracks are not serve as the end of an idea; it gives the record a conceptual feel. The biggest issue is that it takes the compositional approach of the Minutemen's fantastic record, Double Nickels on the Dime, with short song fragments and a whopping forty-five tracks! As a progressive metal album, this record comes nowhere close to matching Minutemen's punchiness and instant connectivity.
Progressive metal has a hard time on the best of days to create a concept album that is conceptual, but this takes it to the extreme in the worst way possible. Ron is switching to and from different patterns and ideas like a schizophrenic and does not have a care in the world for making this record memorable beyond "look how quirky it is!" With almost every track on the album running less than two minutes, songs that were compositionally uninteresting before become unbearable on repeated listens.
It becomes more apparent when you look at the names of some of tracks on this record and realize that most of them were likely afterthoughts: "Frank Can Get Drunk And Eat Beer", "Grizzly Bears Don't Fly Airplanes", "Sex With Squeakie" and "Tri, Tri Again" are just some examples that tell me nothing about the artist, or the artwork that is being presented. This is lifeless, guitar wank that I would like to thoroughly repress from my mind after being overrun with and endless stream of guitar students during post-secondary school who play this exact same shit. And now most of them are wondering why no one wants to hire them.
3/10
January 2023 REVIEW DRAFT
Here is the order of album selection for the month:
1. DinaricWarrior
2. Xephyr
3. Shadowdoom9 (Andi)
4. Saxy S
A bit of housekeeping before proceeding; a couple of these records already have names attached to them. These are records that have already been reviewed at some point and will serve as veto's for records that your namesake cannot select for this month's review draft. If you would like to write a full album review for album's you've already rated be my guest, but that is not the point of this project.
Anyways, here are the album's for selection this month:
1. The Antichrist Imperium - Volume II: Every Tongue Shall Praise Satan (2018)
2. CiLiCe - Deranged Headtrip (2009)
3. Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us (2009) Xephyr
4. Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree (2005) Xephyr/Andi
5. Sikth - How May I Help You? (2002)
6. Forgotten Silence - Ka Ba Ach (2000)
7. Code - Resplendent Grotesque (2009)
With that out of the way, DinaricWarrior gets the first pass at album choice. Have fun!
Hmmm. Let's go with Forgotten Silence.
I'll catch up with that Deathspell album after New Years festivities, I've been absolutely slammed this entire month.
Let's go with The Antichrist Imperium please.
I've heard about this band Sikth who are one of the earliest bands besides Meshuggah to develop the djent technique, while mixing that sound with experimental metalcore. I've checked out a couple songs from this band but never a full release, so now would be a great time to listen to and review one of their releases for the first time. Yeah, I'm going with Sikth's How May I Help You?.
Your turn, Saxy!
I've done my review for that Sikth release. Here's the link to my review: https://metal.academy/reviews/28495/3152
And here's its summary:
I can't believe I haven't fully discovered one of Sikth's releases until now. This band has really cranked up their talent higher than 11! While this might not be for everyone, the heavier metal/hardcore fans of bands like Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan can and should really get onboard. There's a crazy lot of guitar shredding and screaming babbling in a way that I love, all fantastic with no need for improvement. Their Nick Cave song cover does the original justice while keeping Sikth's identity. One of the vocalists, Mikee Goodman is awesome at his work. He's as energetic as the rest of the group, all determined to shake up their live performances. The 3 songs were all re-recorded for their debut album The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild. Listen to this band and witness how hard-hitting they can be!
5/5
And to round out January 2023, I will be choosing that Ghost Brigade album, Until Fear No Longer Defines Us.
Ever since hearing Paracletus a good ways into my Black Metal listening, I've had a reverence of Deathspell Omega, but I never find myself listening to much of their stuff. This includes their stellar lineup of EP's, which I was unaware of until choosing this for the draft. Drought is the second EP they released after Paracletus and the last one they've released up to this point, and as someone who has listened to more modern DsO compared to the slightly older stuff, this album was some serious whiplash. I wanted to say this reminded me of Serpent Column, but then I remembered that this album came out three years before Serpent Column was even formed, driving home the fact that DsO really did, and to some extent still do, have a monopoly on this brand of eccentric, progressive, and more math-y Black Metal. At just 21 minutes this album feels like it stops just as it's getting started, but at the same time that might not be such a bad thing for DsO. It's in such a concise package that it's not overwhelming to go back to, and there's still a ton of complexity to explore with their signature chaotic style with spoken word-like Black Metal vocals. I'll hopefully expand more on this when I get more time, it's very cool to see that DsO has some insanely good EP's to check out apart from the albums that everyone knows.
4/5
Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us
I must admit, I had overlooked Until Fear No Longer Defines Us as a member of the Ghost Brigade discography. I heard this groups remaining three projects and found myself gravitating a lot more towards Isolation Songs and One With the Storm and with no prospect of a fifth album, I had little reason to check in on the record that is sandwiched between those two mentioned previously.
Upon listening to Until Fear No Longer Defines Us, I understand why I made that distinction because this album does very little to develop a melodic atmospheric sludge sound that Isolation Songs had figured out remarkably well before. Not that this was a bad thing; this album has a refinement on display that makes for a more consistent release for sure, even though I do not think its highs match those of the previous album.
Part of this is inevitably the sameness of the tunes. Many of them gravitate towards a similar tempo and remain locked in to that groove for a while. It isn't like doom metal though where the tracks can regularly exceed the ten minute mark; this records longest track is "Breakwater" at just under nine minutes. As a result of this, songs like "Torn" and "Divine Act of Lunacy" rarely outstay their welcome despite being fairly monotonous tracks overall. This also gives some greater emphasis to the songwriting on longer tracks like "Clawmaster", "Chamber" and "Soulcarvers", and these tunes do have some nice growth, even so considering how depressive this album can get.
The clean vocals of Manne Ikonen have a delivery that reminded me of some of Machine Head's softer moments on that groups most recent album, Of Kingdom and Crown, while the harsher vocals are a closer resemblance of The Ocean's lead vocalist, Loïc Rossetti. I think The Ocean comparison goes farther than just that the vocals sound similar, but the overall tone of this record has many similarities to The Ocean as well, from the tone quality of the rhythm and lead guitars, to the tempo selections, and even some of the percussive embellishment choices. Where Ghost Brigade succeed over The Ocean is a focus on melody, and "Clawmaster", "Grain" and "Cult of Decay" have strong melodic foundations, and the developments of those themes are more refined than any complete The Ocean album, and even the bands own Isolation Songs.
In the end, this record was a wonderful listening experience. Sure, the record is pretty formulaic by Ghost Brigade, and modern post-metal standards, but it does a far better job of keeping the listener engaged with sticky motifs and development instead of wallowing in texture.
7/10
I've posted up a slightly longer review for that Deathspell album I rolled, time to make time to go back to that Antichrist Imperium album. I listened to it once and definitely didn't hate it.
A Fiery Taste
It's somewhat unbelievable that I can look at the over 2,000 albums that I've listened to up to this point and still feel intimidated by certain bands. I've delved into the depths of Brutal Death and Goregrind, as well as enveloped myself in the chaotic static of underground Black and War Metal, but something about the reputation that precedes Frenchmen Deathspell Omega keeps me at a firm arm's length from truly spending time with them. I knew that their discography was daunting, but I was unaware of their secondary lineup of highly praised EP's that began to be released after their initial 2004 breakout album Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice. Most consist of one twenty minute song or simple movements like Kénôse, but Drought asserts itself as a miniature Deathspell Omega experience that provides something more hectic, aggressive, and blunt than their standard winding and dissonant melodies. The slow and brooding opener "Salowe Vision" is able to lull the listener into thinking they may be in for another Paracletus experience, but "Fiery Serpents" bursts in and shelves all those preconceived notions. The clearer and louder overall production, the punchier drums, the sharper guitars, and the more balanced but haggard vocals see Deathspell Omega move into more traditional and slightly more Math-y Progressive Metal territory all while retaining their unhinged chaos in terms of their songwriting and rhythm structures. Drought brings a forceful heaviness that feels a bit alien for the band, especially since the fiery, evil atmosphere of Paracletus is historically what they've done best, but this short EP shows that their overall style is able to be shaped and wrought in slightly different ways to produce material that's just as compelling. Despite being an intimidatingly dense 20 minutes, I really enjoy the balance that Deathspell Omega has been able to create, with "Fiery Serpents", "Scorpions & Drought", and the first half of "Abrasive Swirling Murk" being absolute pandemonium and an obvious inspiration for later acts like the currently popular Serpent Column. "Sand" and "The Crackled Book of Life" slow things down a bit at the end without sacrificing any of the harrowing and jagged riffing that keeps Drought pushing forward.
Even though it's only 20 minutes long, there's a lot to take in when it comes to the beginning of Deathspell Omega's metamorphosis into their more modern style that they'd debut on The Synarchy of Molten Bones four years later. The band has since then gone through even more changes, sadly in a direction that leaves me less interested than something like Drought, so it's been exciting to finally sit down and be able to try and digest a bit of what Deathspell Omega has to offer. It's impressive how chaotic and crushing the riffs and drumming can be while still maintaining a sense of coherency, which is what is ultimately able to keep me interested given the jammed nature of their music. It's hard for me to say this is an absolutely outstanding release though, given it's length and slight pacing issues, but at the same time I think the length is what makes this album a standout in their discography. With the rest of their EP's being 20-minute single song marathons, having a bite-sized slice of Deathspell Omega isn't necessarily a bad thing at the end of the day. As someone who wants to appreciate this band more but never seems to be in the right mood, Drought is a fantastic gateway album that doesn't require as much commitment or focus as their more complex and sinister albums. Thanks to its less muddled production, it's able to pack a hell of a punch that highlights and elevates their classic sounding riffs compared to their recent, safer, and more balanced albums The Furnaces of Palingenesia or The Long Defeat. I think it's safe to say that I have some Deathspell Omega albums to catch up with now that Drought was able to successfully drag me back into their ominous and tumultuous inferno.
February 2023
Hello Infinite drafters. It's a new month so let's open a new cycle of records to explore. Xephyr, you get the first pick:
Gone Is Gone - Gone Is Gone (2016)
I'll take Borealis please, Prog/Power Metal always intrigues me because there's normally very little Progressive Metal to be found on them, so I'll be interested to see if this one actually holds up.
I did a short writeup that will hopefully (eventually) turn into a full review for last month:
The Antichrist Imperium - Volume II: Every Tongue Shall Praise Satan (2018)
To be honest, I ended up enjoying this album way more than I thought I was going to. I think it’s a very confused album at times, but at the same time, that aspect helps keep this album interesting throughout. The Antichrist Imperium double down on their evil and blatantly Satan worshipping shtick and while I don’t think that aspect makes it instantly compelling, they’re able to consistently play around with the theme in different ways so it doesn’t become too dull. This is a tough album to pin down since it has a little bit of everything, but it’s sort of like an alternate reality Persefone with more Black/Death Metal influence and slightly more atmosphere due to the spoken word interludes? Fans of dense and chaotic Prog Metal will definitely enjoy this, but I find the vocalist to be just okay with both their cleans and harshes, even though there are some fleeting moments of well done contrast between the two. “Liturgy of the Iconoclast” is a much needed hit of variety with its clean vocals and more melodic riffing, but it still ends up in the same place as the rest of the tracks at the end.
This album sits right in the middle of being a Death/Black Metal album with a few too many Progressive influences, and a Prog Metal album that may be a bit too extreme for some. It’s great for someone with my taste, but I’m not sure who else exactly this sort of fusion satisfies, since both sides end up detracting a bit from one another over the course of the album. It’s still a unique spin on the evil and anti-religious theme that Black Metal is known for, and it has a few great moments, but I don’t think it offers anything intensely compelling. It was still able to keep my attention thanks to its relentless Prog Riffing and sometimes satisfying songwriting with atmospheric interludes, but that’s about it. Apparently they have a 2022 album out, maybe they’ll be able to refine their approach a bit on that one?
3.5/5
I'll take Borealis please, Prog/Power Metal always intrigues me because there's normally very little Progressive Metal to be found on them, so I'll be interested to see if this one actually holds up.
I was thinking of choosing that band because they're the most notable band I can think of in that list that I haven't checked out yet, but that's OK. You got them first, so it's yours, Xephyr.
I'm gonna go with the Gone is Gone release. Upon research, I noticed that band has Mastodon bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, so I look forward to hearing what he can do there.
Your turn, Saxy!
I've done my review for that Gone is Gone release. Here's the link to my review: https://metal.academy/reviews/28681/26014
And here's its summary:
Gone is Gone offer really high-quality music in their plate. Mastodon bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders shows his more melodic heartful side, together with Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, and At the Drive-In drummer Tony Hajjar, and keyboardist/guitarist Mike Zarin. The members' tight unity of music makes a spectacular 8-track EP of alternative/progressive metal/rock. A great thing about supergroups (though they prefer to be considered just a band) is, when each member is from a popular band, chances are you can get spectacular results, and Gone is Gone is a grand example!
5/5
I'm gonna go with Odessy's Reinventing the Past.
Finally Dinaric
Welcome to a new month and a new draft in the Infinite! Due to a pretty overwhelming month of February, I will likely have to take a rain check on the Odessy album from last month. If I find time in March then I'll try to fit something in later. Anyways, here are the albums the shredder chose this month:
Alkaloid - Liquid Anatomy (2018)
Blotted Science - The Machinations of Dementia (2007)
Dog Fashion Disco - Committed to a Bright Future (2003)
Looks like we're going pretty hard into the prog/tech death metal split this month! Since I get the first pick, I'm going with Blotted Science.
Xephyr is up next!