Saxy S's Forum Replies

I got to see these guys live way back in the day when Kezia was brand spanking new and I was very pleased with what I heard. Later that week, I bought a copy of this album from my local HMV and spun it nonstop for weeks. This is metalcore with a ton of technical prowess from the entire ensemble, but not in the tech death or mathcore sense. These virtuoso's use their instrumental competence as a integral part of the music itself; that is to say, these songs have some genuine grooves and melodies, as well as some crushing metalcore parts.

In hindsight, this album still sounds great, but now stands in the shadows of the almighty Fortress, an album that pushed the boundaries as to what progressive hardcore could sound like. But this is certainly no slouch. Kezia stands out even today as one of the most unique sounding metalcore albums that I've heard. And, of course, Canadian content. We have a lot more than just Nickleback up here.

8/10

I went back and listened to this album again recently to see if it held up. And it turns out that it mostly did. This album was able to establish Deftones in the mainstream, as they received lots of mainstream adjacent airplay with this album and its singles during the nu-metal boom. But this album does seem more heavily influenced by post-hardcore music rather than nu-metal. Those influences are still there, but not as prominent as I remembered. Unfortunately, songs like "Rickets" and "Headup" do hold the album back considerably. And Deftones realized this by abandoning much of those tropes in 2000 with White Pony and beyond. White Pony is still their best record by a considerable margin, but Around the Fur is still no slouch.

7/10

Dream Theater's Images and Words is a monumental album that put this group on the map. Perhaps a little too well.

While this album has aged incredibly well, its influence can be heard on numerous progressive metal albums today. You can still hear its influence on Dream Theater albums today! And I do view that as a problem. As a band who were so innovative and pushing boundaries as to where metal could go, to see them lock into a formula in recent years is disheartening.

Talking about this album, it does sound like the band dipping their feet in the water to see if anything will bite, before making the full dive later on. "The Miracle and the Sleeper" is easily my favourite moment on the album, with its free form composition, which was unconventional for metal at the time, and how it planted the seed that would influence the bands superior albums, Scenes From a Memory and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

This is still a great album, but one that has dampened on me over the years. I can appreciate the musicianship on display as well as what the band was able to accomplish, but it just.... loses its grandeur when you have heard it so many times.

8/10

Veil of Imagination is the third LP from Boston based Wilderun. It's progressive metal that hovers mostly around the symphonic side. There is also a little hint of melodic death metal as well.

https://wilderun.bandcamp.com/album/veil-of-imagination