REVIEW DRAFT - The Infinite
I've heard about this band Dog Fashion Disco, having listened to a couple songs from them, and even tried listening to and reviewing one of their albums but I couldn't finish because of its experimental wackiness. I've never heard their 2003 album before, so I'm up to giving it some listening and a review to see if the band really is worth adding to my metal arsenal. So yeah I'm going with Dog Fashion Disco's Committed to a Bright Future.
Blotted Science - The Machinations of Dementia
How the fuck did I end up randomly choosing TWO Ron Jarzombek albums in less than six months? Oh well, the record is what it is and I hope I never have to hear about it again.
Well if it isn't my old friend Ron Jarzombek once again!
I must admit, I thought that as I was getting older my ears were not as great as they once were, but one playthrough of Blotted Science's only full length album, The Machinations of Dementia and I already knew which guitarist had their handprints plastered all over this record. This record is certainly not my cup of tea, but I can see potential for an album like this if it had that missing piece to put it all together. It needs a melodic line or a vocalist to keep the guitar wanking in check instead of allowing for it to go unchecked for almost an hour. The records first two tracks have some solid foundational work put into them and they sound like fully developed songs. Basically everything else falls into this empty void of impressive showmanship, but leaves me with nothing else to talk about.
And what pains me the most is that songs like "Narcolepsy" have worked for me in the past, but once again, this one is missing one important piece to connect the parts together. I am referring to Between the Buried and Me's Colors from the same year. Structurally, they are nearly identical records, but Ron Jarzombek and company don't have the songwriting chops to do anything other than guitar solo for an entire album. By the time the eight minute track "Activation Synthesis Theory" was complete, I just wanted this thing to be over. There is only so much I can say about an album that does not evolve or reinvent.
5/10
I've done my review for that Dog Fashion Disco release. Here's the link to my review: https://metal.academy/reviews/29111/1140
And here's its summary:
Dog Fashion Disco have really done their job well in this album, Committed to a Bright Future! It shows the band's talent at a nice pace, and it has given me the motivation to continue exploring this band instead of just giving up after part of it. In many songs, one moment you hear fast guitars and drums, and the next you hear jazzy bass and creepy carnival-like keyboards, with a bit of xylophone or saxophone. So weird, but I love it! Todd Smith's vocals would make Mike Patton proud. Committed to a Bright Future can pretty much be one of my top 10 releases in alternative/avant-garde metal. Any fan of rock or metal should look into this bright future!
5/5
Another month of the Infinite review draft is upon us. Xephyr will not be joining us again for the month of April so its just me and you Andi. You get to pick first between these four albums:
Iapetus - The Long Road Home (2017)
Well this is gonna be tough. I don't think I've ever heard of those bands before in my life, but that's part of the point of the review draft, to discover different bands and albums that had never previously encountered by the reviewer. I'm gonna take my chances and choose... (plays that "eenie meanie minie mo" game) that Stone Healer album!
Your turn, Saxy.
I've done my review for that Stone Healer release. Here's the link to my review: https://metal.academy/reviews/29408/29397
And here's its summary:
The black metal that I often prefer is the more melodic/progressive kind, which includes clean singing and no focus on the satanic references the genre is notorious for. That's one of the metal genres I've been shooting for in the last few years (except for a break from that genre for nearly a year). Stone Healer might just be what I need to boost my motivation, with their album Conquistador! It's very cool how they can connect extreme metal to more accessible pieces of post-metal and folk rock, creating solid progressive black metal with cohesive variation. There may be some wounds here, but they're nicely healed. With progressive twists that unite metal aggression and rock melody, most of the songs naturally evolve with different surprises, and they can be carved into the extreme progressive metal stone....
4/5
I went with the only artist whose name I recognized from the list: Iapetus - The Long Road Home. I was tempted to explore that Vomitron album and I still might, but for now, here's my review of Iapetus:
Sometimes a bands expectations precede them. There is a certain point when a new act is getting ready to break out and present the world with a new fresh new sound, only to see the names of album collaborators and then formulate relatively predicable expectations. That was the case with Iapetus, a New York prog-death band and their 2019 album The Body Cosmic. As soon as I saw the credits featuring the drummer of Ne Obliviscaris, any sense of wonder was squashed. The album was still good, but minus a few surface level changes, this really was not anything revolutionary in either progressive music, or melodic death metal.
And so, as part of the Review Draft, I had the chance to listen to the bands 2017 debut. And it was pretty rough as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the compositions on display here and how they split the difference between the post-metal soaring of Ne Obliviscaris, combined with a melodic death metal sound that is indebted to Insomnium. The performances are very impressive, but not super technical to whip me out of its very comfortable groove and flow. Overall, The Long Road Home is a very loud album with very few calming sections, and the few that we get are relatively short.
The album has a number of extended song structures, so it would be fascinating to hear how Iapetus are able to make these tunes work as part of a whole. Well the record is actually quite impressive in that regard. Like Ne Obliviscaris, songs have a sense of momentum and direction that is quickly changing, and sometimes it can result in some very strange style changes. But songs like "My Father, My God" know where they are going and how to say everything that needs to be said, while still making it sound like a coherent idea. "Lachrymae Rerum" meanwhile, does not get the album off on the right foot after the first two instrumental tracks, which are fine I guess, but I feel like they serve more of a textural purpose than a melodic one.
Given the influence, it should come as no surprise that this record dabbles in fantastical themes and environmentalism. As such, this can be a long album if you are not prepared for it. Considering how much it sounds like Insomnium melo-death instead of Ne Oblivscaris melo-black might also play into its length being a determent. "Eviscerate Divine" and "The Long Road Home" do not make for the epic conclusion that Iapetus were expecting, since both songs have very similar instrumental ideas and together take up nearly half of the albums runtime. Perhaps only one of them would have made this albums conclusion sit more comfortably, but here we are. In the end, I think Iapetus' biggest problem is that they have lots of good things going for them, but they try too hard to play into the "ten minute epic" school of progressive songwriting that it hurts them more than it doesn't. The Long Road Home is an album worth exploring, but you'll likely find yourself appreciating the destination more than the journey.
3/5
May 2023
We are back with a new month and a new swathe of records to explore. I do not know what Xephyr's situation is at the moment so I'm thinking that:
1. Saxy S
2. Andi
3. Xephyr (?)
will be the order of selection for the draft this month. So here are the albums to choose from:
3. Irreversible - Irreversible (2015)
4. Painted in Exile - The Ordeal (2016)
Since I have the first selection for the month, I'm going to choose the self titled, Irreversible album. Andi is up next so whaddya want?
I'm gonna go with the Azusa release. Upon research, I noticed that band has The Dillinger Escape Plan bassist Liam Wilson, so I look forward to hearing what he can do there.
Your turn, Xephyr!
I'll take Painted In Exile on.
I've done my review for that Azusa release. Here's the link to my review: https://metal.academy/reviews/29563/20419
And here's its summary:
Azusa was formed by two members of Extol and Absurd2, guitarist Christer Espevoll and drummer David Husvik. Joining them is The Dillinger Escape Plan bassist Liam Wilson and Sea + Air vocalist Eleni Zafiriadou, all ready to shock the world! Coming from the US, Norway, and Greece, the band perform a solid modern avant-garde-ish progressive metal to remind some of Ram-Zet's sound bleeding into Extol. And you know what? Eleni can perhaps be the most versatile female vocalist I've known, practically surpassing Julie Christmas and Karyn Crisis. From singing to screaming and even whispering, a lot of drama is created to make this experience out of the ordinary. A lot of the songs form a unique progressive blend with touches of djent, thrash, and a slight bit modern metalcore. They often frantically switch through different tempos and time signatures, all from different corners, in just under 4 minutes per song, unlike those other extreme progressive metal bands that make long epics. You can never stop appreciating how original this band can be once you hear this album, ranging from beautiful to nefarious with barely any limits. Although this might not be for everyone on Earth, Azusa has made the kind of sound the future really needs. For this supergroup, greatness shall not die!
4.5/5
So...I may have bitten off a little more than I can handle with The Ordeal.
It is New York based Painted In Exile's debut and only album after being together on the records for 9 years and it obviously shows, given how much is going on in this album. Even though it's probably correct to place The Ordeal as a Progressive Metal primary, I view it as a misguided vessel for Deathcore and Tech Death ideas, as those styles are what make up the primary focus of this album. Even though a lot of time is spend on progressive meanderings with some decent guitar solos, piano interludes, and mellow soundscapes that sound good enough, it always circles back to Deathcore climaxes that are, in my opinion, just not good. I think these guys are perfectly good musicians and they come up with some very interesting ideas in the more erratic Progressive Metal space; for example "Jupiter" is a pretty awesome song as it establishes a moody atmosphere before climaxing into a not-so-overblown riff with harmonized harsh and clean vocals at the end. Whereas the opener "House of Cards" and especially the 11-minute epic "DM" relish a bit too much in Deathcore chugging and breakdowns for anything to be effective to me. It just doesn't fit together for me, especially given how long some of these compositions can be.
It's a shame because I think there are some decent ideas that are surrounded by core ideas that the band obviously didn't want to give up, which is commendable, but it doesn't work out for me. I listened to this early in the month and really didn't want to go back to it, and relistening to snippits as I'm writing this confirmed that suspicion. I'll hopefully be able to write a slightly more in-depth review in the next week or so, but again, this is a deeply complex project that has a lot of moving parts, gonna be a tough one. Also, "Not For Nothin'" might be one of the worst interludes I've heard in a very, very long time. It derails the back half, especially since "Like A Memory", "These People", and "My Keeper" are on the gentler side. I think these guys could have had something great if they found a better balance or production style to fit their heavy-to-soft style as well as work on the vocals a bit; neither the harshes nor the cleans instill me with too much confidence throughout the entire album.
Very interesting listen, tough one though.
2/5
Irreversible - Irreversible (2015)
This was not a record that should have caught my attention as much as it did, but to keep it brief, I did not like this album. Part of my disappointment for this record comes from the sheer lack of any innovation in the post-metal genre. This record has nothing unique to say and would rather just copy the notes of Rosetta on The Galilean Satellites or earlier The Ocean album's like Precambrian. I feel like I have been incredibly lucky when it comes to post-metal in recent years; whether through my normal progressive metal circles or right here at Metal Academy at finding premium content. There is a reason why Irreversible never floated to the top, and likely why I won't hear from them again.
2.5/5
WE ARE BACK!
You didn't think that I forgot about the review draft did you? Well it's back and ready to rumble. Since Andi is away for a couple months because of school & work, it looks like it'll just be me and Xephyr participating for the time being, but we are always open to adding new users to the fray if you so choose. Anyways, here are the albums that the shredder selected for the month:
1. 6:33 - The Stench From the Swelling (2013)
2. Fall of Efrafa - Owsla (2006)
3. Terra Tenebrosa - V.I.T.R.I.O.L. - Purging the Tunnels (2014)
4. Radiation 4 - Wonderland (2003)
Xephyr, if you would like to make the first choice, then I'll follow
I'm third.
It seems like 6:33 have a Dog Fashion Disco thing going on so I'm down to try that out.
I'm taking Terra Tenebrosa's album. Rex is next!
Terra Tenebrosa - V.I.T.R.I.O.L. - Purging the Tunnels (2014)
Do not be fooled by the strange looking character on the cover wearing what looks like a military garb; this is not an industrial metal album. V.I.T.R.I.O.L. - Purging the Tunnels is an atmospheric sludge metal album with it fair share of obtuse songwriting decisions that lead it towards the avant-garde. The warbling vocal filter is fascinating, but not overwhelming when you consider the instrumental atmosphere on display. The nearly five minute ambient interlude during "Draining the Well" is kind of disturbing as shrieks of agony are felt wavering in the distance. And the monophonic strings that become progressively louder and more irritating and the final act of the first song reaches a conclusion. However, I did find those strings to not be the best choice, since they sound comically synthetic and mostly distracting as the song drones to a conclusion.
You'd think that after eighteen minutes that Terra Tenebrosa would be out of things to do on this record, but just for fun, there is another track here; "Apokatastasis". And I really enjoyed it. It's definitely a more straightforward piece of sludgy post-metal, but I really dug how the songs slow burn becomes so much more, even if the fundamental leans heavily into the minimalist technique with its hypnotic main guitar riff.
Avant-garde is really a tag that I think a lot of people explore with extreme trepidation. Perhaps that's why this Terra Tenebrosa EP was such a delight. While it can be unsettling at times, it never feels like the obtuseness of the compositions are taking over and rather play compliments to the atmosphere. And the secondary track is a nice piece of drone/minimalism that still feels like a fully developed piece of music. Quite the surprise from me, but if you like Rosetta or even the recent output of the Ruins of Beverast, give this EP a chance.
4/5
I got my pick. Owwsla. I'll review it later today on site and post it here when it's my turn.
September REVIEW DRAFT (The Infinite)
I've found a new batch of records to try out and anyone who wants to help me clear out this batch is more than welcome. I'll select first, followed by Rexorcist, Xephyr and then possible Andi.
1.El Altar del Holocausto - - I T - (2019)
2.Fractal Universe - Rhizomes of Insanity (2019)
4. Oxiplegatz - Sidereal Journey (1998)
5. Sun Caged - The Lotus Effect (2011)
This might be the best review draft yet considering I haven't heard a single one of these names before! My selection will be... Sidereal Journey by Oxiplegatz.
Rex, you're up!