The Infinite

It's now September which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We're really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don't be shy.

This month's feature release for The Infinite is 2002's "Sadness Will Prevail" album from avant-garde US outfit Today Is The Day. This band began life as a noise rock act in the early 1990's but over the course of their first five albums we'd see them becoming something increasingly unusual with "Sadness Will Prevail" marking the high point of their creative journey. We can't wait to hear what you think of it.

https://metal.academy/releases/15259

The more I listen to Sólstafir, the more I'm realizing just how hit or miss Post-Metal really is for me. My thoughts from Köld haven't necessarily changed, since I still really love their style but can't necessarily point out exactly why. Maybe it's the warming reverb? The calming and meandering songwriting that never really goes anywhere but never exactly gets boring for me? Needless to say they've had me extremely conflicted on what to write for this entire month, so this one is going to be way more off-the-cuff than normal as I try and find some bearings on how exactly to explain anything here. 

Although they share the same sort of sound style, Köld and Svartir Sandar are very, very different albums. Köld is dark, brooding, even menacing at times. This one is just as atmospheric but more riff and melody driven, with most of the tracks sounding strangely uplifting in their own Post-Metal kind of way. It's more dreamy and almost ethereal at times. The fact that Svartir Sandar is a double album is a bit much though, since it packs even less punch overall than Köld did. The percussion is reverbed to hell, with most of the cymbals sounding like a white noise radio most of the time. The riffing is good enough and the Icelandic lyrics give it a homely feel since it's the band's native language, but it certainly drags over its runtime. At the end of the day I think I prefer the darker, more dismal atmosphere of Köld over Svartir Sandar, even though this album has more content to sink your teeth into. If you're a huge Post-Metal fan, this album is probably a slice of heaven for you, and while I still love Sólstafir's overall sound, I can't give this one too high of a score. I could definitely see this album being a grower though, I think I have to give Post-Metal in general some more time to sink in compared to other genres. 

3.5/5

So we're going to be testing the waters with another new offering this week which is one that I'll be looking for your feedback on. The idea is to release regular two hour Spotify playlists for each clan with the tracklistings taking the listener through the full gamut of sounds each clan encompasses, both old & new, classic & underground. In putting together the initial lists I've attempted to push my personal tastes to one side by including something for everyone with all eras & subgenres receiving representation. I certainly haven't gone with your more obvious releases all the time & you will find the odd novelty track included just for a bit of fun. These will certainly give people that are finding it hard to choose their clans a good point of reference to see if a particular clan is for them too. Check 'em out & tell us what you think. If everyone enjoys these then we may look to make them a more permanent part of the site.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3kEEdEXrtFrCHXjxtHq630?si=nvTn17svTUGel5TbNfvNHQ

Tracklisting:

1. Psychotic Waltz – “I Remember” (from “A Social Grace’, 1990)

2. Haken – “1985” (from “Affinity”, 2016)

3. Ayreon – “Computer Eyes” (from “Actual Fantasy”, 1996)

4. Diapsiquir – “Peste” (from “A.N.T.I., 2011)

5. Huntsmen – Ride Out“” (from “Mandala Of Fear”, 2020)

6. Fantomas – “04/06/05 Wednesday” (from “Suspended Animation”, 2005)

7. Ashbringer – “Absolution” (from “Absolution”, 2019)

8. Tool – “7empest” (from “Fear Inoculum”, 2019)

9. Agallloch – “Not Unlike The Waves” (from “Ashes Against The Grain”, 2006)

10. Periphery – “” (from “Periperhy IV: HAIL STAN”, 2019)

11. The Algorithm – “Binary Space” (from “Compiler Optimization Techniques”, 2018)

12. Oxxo Xoox – “Abym” (from “Namidae”, 2015)

13. Spotlights – “Learn To Breathe” (from “Seismic”, 2017)

14. Meshuggah – “Rational Gaze” (from “Nothing”, 2002) 

15. Monuments – “I, The Destroyer” (from “The Amanuensis”, 2014)

16. Liturgy – “God Of Love” (from “H.A.Q.Q., 2019)

2,800 words later, it's finished. I hope I never have to write another review as long as this one. Thanks for giving me the motivation to finally pen something like this out.

https://metal.academy/reviews/17294/155

Mekong Delta - "Mekong Delta" (1987)

Another release that seems to be universally labelled as technical thrash metal but is far more progressive than it is technical in my opinion. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this is first & foremost a progressive metal release that regularly utilizes thrash & speed metal as tools. I mean if you look at it closely you'll find that a good four of the nine tracks aren't fast or thrashy. It's a pretty good record too although it's definitely disadvantaged by opening with two of its weaker tracks & then closing with another which means that you start & finish with a negative mind set & it requires a couple of listens to reassess those initial feelings. In truth, the middle of the album is actually pretty strong. The vocals are a bit hit & miss although they often remind me of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell (my all-time favourite singer) which can't be a bad thing. This should offer some enjoyment for fans of Coroner, Watchtower & particularly Voivod as there's some good complexity to the expansive arrangements & instrumentation.

3.5/5

What a strange album. I can safely say that I wasn't able to unpack most of this in one listen, but I think that would apply to most people. The Black Metal really took me off guard since I came into this album completely blind, and it's definitely hit or miss. The tremolo riffs still have that progressive edge to them, with the chord progressions being longer and more fleshed out than most Black Metal, but it's not necessarily groundbreaking. It definitely has a shock factor though, with the Black Metal not fully coming in until the end of "Den Saakaldte", a full 23 or so minutes into the album. There are teases of heavier Black Metal before that, but the band skirts around the influence and doesn't fully commit. 

Written In Waters really does have to be broken down piece by piece, since each transition offers something completely different than what came before it, and it's up to the listener to piece it all together. I've listened to a few influence-salad releases but none sound as alien as this one. The release date of 1995 is also impressive, putting this right smack in the middle of the more experimental wave of Black Metal, which makes a lot of sense looking back. On a first-listen basis though, this album failed to come together in any capacity for me, with the different tones they attempted to merge not making any sense whatsoever. The weaker Black Metal sections didn't hold up to the more progressive sections, and the progressive sections didn't fit together with the atmospheric or avant-garde sections. I'll have to take some time to really delve into this release if I want to re-score it. 

3/5

For this round, we'll try a couple more well-known releases which, even though I haven't listened to them myself, I guarantee some of you Infinite members have listened to them before. So here are two Infinite albums released in 2001. Which one of these albums with a different genre has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason!

Avant-garde metal:

Progressive metal:

I gave Meshuggah another shot after enjoying their 2016 album The Violent Sleep Of Reason by checking out Catch 33 and Nothing (2002) to mixed results. My taste in metal has shifted since 2016, since I was definitely more fond of Meshuggah back them, but I can see where the hype for Catch 33 was coming from. I came out one year before Catch 33, and it's an extremely interesting EP because it feels like a test run of Catch 33 with Nothing's production and style, which is inferior in my opinion. It's hard to really analyze Meshuggah because, like Saxy explains above me, they can be very one dimensional in how they write their music. It's all about the chug, the aggression, and the dark themes, which works well for some people and for others it turns into grinding monotony that you can't get away from. 

In terms of this album versus Catch 33, I can see how die-hard Meshuggah fans would enjoy this one more, because it's aggression overload. Catch 33 has more variety and atmosphere, but I just has that Djent chug for a solid 16 or 17 minutes of the 21 minute song. If you're into that, this album is a paradise for you, especially if you prefer Meshuggah's old production style with more trigger-sounding snare and bass drums and deeper but slightly messier sounding guitar tone. I still have a few Meshuggah albums to check out, like 2006's Nothing, but the straight-up Djent style isn't for me. They vastly improved over Nothing (2002) though, so I think that warrants a slightly higher score than what it seemed like I might give. 

3.5/5

While immensely beautiful, Choirs of the Eye shoots itself in the foot a bit with its droning spoken word during the lulls in the album. I personally try to stay away from the word "pretentious" when reviewing music since I feel like it's just a blanket statement that gets thrown around needlessly, but in this case I think it's warranted. The way it tries very, very hard to sound profound and deep definitely made me roll my eyes quite a few times. It takes an entire 28 minutes to get any sort of vocal contrast, with the first harsh vocals of the album showing up at the climax of "Manifold of Curiosity".

From a composition standpoint this album is obviously fantastic, with all sorts of orchestral, acoustic, and extreme metal styles being flung around every which way to somehow form a cohesive product. As impressive as it is, certain parts definitely lag and Kayo Dot relishes in their minimalism a bit too much for me on tracks like "Wayfarer". It's beautiful, there's a ton of interesting atmosphere, but not a whole lot happens, so it really depends on the listener if they emotionally connect with the slower parts or not. Some of the transitions seemed overlooked as well, with some being very jarring and almost unnecessary at times. 

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this, enough to give it a 4/5. But for something like this to be truly great it needs to pull out all the stops and everything has to be composed in a way that is exciting and feels right. If some of the transitions are wacky and there just isn't enough payoff for spending 8 to 10 minutes listening to soft orchestral and acoustic sections with whispering vocals, then the album is going to suffer. If someone is really into the slower sections though, this would be an easy 5/5 for them, since the ideas in this album are fascinating. 

Inspired by the new DIS vs DAT thing on Metal Academy, in turn inspired by that weekly feature on Utopia Records' Facebook page, I decided to turn this conversation-starting activity into a full thread instead of separate threads. Got a couple albums with the same genre and release year that you can't decide which has the greater edge? Share them here!

Let's start off with two of the greatest progressive metal/metalcore classics released in 2005. Which one has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason!

P.S. Yes, I know Kezia's release year was stated here to be 2006, but it was actually originally first released in 2005 via the Underground Operations record label, similar to how the self-titled Symphony X album was first released in Japan in 1994 and then released in America in 1996.

I've turned into a big fan of Agalloch after initially disliking Marrow of the Spirit, but then revisiting it as well as finally checking out The Mantle. Ashes Against The Grain is certainly a better Metal album than either of those, with better quality riffs and a much more evil feel than the more natural sound of The Mantle. This album vs The Mantle is always going to be the big talking point and, to be honest, I think I enjoy The Mantle a tad more, although both of them get a 4.5/5 as of right now. While Ashes may have more Metal and heft to it, I think it loses a lot of the atmosphere that really gripped me for whatever reason on The Mantle. Reviews of both of these albums are definitely a goal of mine and I simply haven't listened to them both enough to really go in depth yet.

Devin Townsend and Wilderun absolutely crushed it this year, but here's the rest of the 2019 Progressive Metal Top 10 from me:

1. Devin Townsend – Empath 

2. Wilderun – Veil of Imagination 

3. Opeth – In Cauda Venenum (Metal In-Spirit)

4. Tool – Fear Inoculum 

5. Soen – Lotus 

6. Liturgy –  H.A.Q.Q. 

7. Evergrey – The Atlantic 

8. Myrath – Sehili 

9. Richard Henshall – The Cocoon

10. Alcest – Spiritual Instinct

I agree that it's one of those albums that's just so strange and unique, but somehow manages to draw you back to it rather than forcing you away. I really love the whole aesthetic they went for too. It gives the whole project a level of sci-fi mystique. I think I called them the Daft Punk of Avant-Garde Doom Metal on the podcast.

I remember being shown Queensryche and kinda explained Operation: Mindcrime but not really understanding but still loving how it sounded and that a concept album was super cool idea. The first album that really got me though was as I was getting into harder music in high school eventually got around to Between The Buried and Me Alaska. I was so blown away by this interesting sound. It was all over the place and loved it. 

I used to read a bunch of music/metal magazines (RIP) and they would used to rave about Dir En Grey especially after Uroboros. I could not do it. That album is terrible to me and took me until recently to like anything that could be considered avant-garde until I found Diablo Swing Orchestra Pandora's Pinata. It's freaking Polka Metal. It's so wierd, but I loved it for some reason and had to show all my metal friends and nobody could understand why it was so good.

Alcest Souvenirs d'un autre monde.  I don't know how I found this album but it captured me and I still have to go back to it once in a while if I'm just in that kind of mood. 

I'm a huge fan & would definitely give this project a listen. Danny's earnt the right to these sort of self-indulgences in my opinion.

I'd suggest that Vektor's "Black Future" which is so often referred to as "technical thrash metal" would be more accurately described as "progressive thrash metal" & therefore belongs in not only The Pit but also The Infinite. Who agrees with me on this?

There is absolutely no way that it's a coincidence. The positioning of the fingers and hand is identical, as is the entire colour scheme. Someone needs to own up and/or be fired.