Xephyr's Forum Replies

Wanderers: Astrology of the NIne (March 13, 2020)

This collaboration between Mare Cognitum and Spectral Lore has already started making its rounds on other sites, so I'll continue the trend. Although it clocks in at a whopping 2 hours and drags a bit too much in a few places, I think this is a new pinnacle of Atmospheric Black Metal in spaaaaace (or whatever you want to call this subgenre). Spectral Lore's offerings are dissonant and chaotic while Mare Cognitum focuses more on the riffs and heaviness of this project, finally concluding with a 24-minute full collaboration complete with a full atmospheric excursion into a suitable grand finale. I'm normally on the fence about this spacey kind of Black Metal but Wanderers has made me change my mind this time. 

Hashed out a review for this one as well even though I've never been a KoRn fan whatsoever. I have a pretty...aggressive opinion at the end that was very hard to write in a way that didn't call fans of KoRn out, but I still stand by that this album just feels like more of a personal project for singer Jonathan Davis than anything. 

Sometimes you just gotta yell into a creative void to help you get over your problems, and his experiences just happened to resonate with a large group of younger people at the time. I honestly really dislike KoRn, but I can't act like the start of Nu-Metal wasn't an important stepping stone to the other...questionable modern metal trends that have popped up from the 2000's onward. 

1.5/5

Emblas Saga fell a bit short for me as a Power Metal release compared to what 2019 has to offer, but it's still an incredibly fun album that I go back to every now and again just for the absurdity. "Powersnake", "Chainbreaker", and the title track "Emblas Saga" are easy favorites since they hover that tongue-in-cheek line you mentioned a bit more gracefully than some of the other tracks. 

Huntsmen - Mandala of Fear 

(Released March 13, 2020)

I wasn't impressed by this album at first, but after letting it sink in I'm a big fan. Definitely a grower of an album, should be on every Cult of Luna fan's radar. It's a bit slow and soft to get started, but after "God Will Stop Trying" I was hooked. 

I remember randomly checking Panopticon out without knowing what it was or why it is such an important album and just glazing over it with a resounding "Meh, it's okay I guess". Now that I'm a bit more acquainted with atmospheric sludge/post-metal I think this is an extremely beautiful record but I still don't necessarily find it that...interesting. The type of progressive and atmospheric songwriting is top notch and obviously shows how it influenced so many other bands like Saxy mentioned, Cult of Luna being the biggest one for me. However I can't find many other strong opinions about this record past it sounds pretty and being incredibly written and accessible stuff that still dips its toes into Metal enough to please both ends of the spectrum. I think bands like Cult of Luna as well as Agalloch took this type of formula and created, at least to me, much more interesting sounding music than Isis did with Panopticon. I still rated it highly because it's still a fantastic album but not necessarily better than the later projects it ended up influencing. 

4/5

Sojourner have released a new single and have a new album slated for May 8th.

Calming and symphonic Atmospheric Black Metal that I was a big fan of back in 2018 with their album The Shadowed Road. 

Grimy new Death Metal from Disembowel with their debut Echoes Of Terror. At first they struck me as just budget Tomb Mold but this record grew on me by the end; it's less technical than something like Planetary Clairvoyance but makes up for it in nastiness. 

I dunno Daniel, I might be with you on this.

Don't get me wrong I really enjoy Істина and The Voice Of Steel but going back for a quick skim made me wonder why people are so gung-ho on this album, especially comparing it to something like Verisäkeet from Moonsorrow. I'm going to take some time to go back to Nokturnal Mortem to really see if this holds up but for now I can't see this being on the same level as the other Folk/Black metal giants.

Absolutely nasty new Dark Fortress that made me wonder why I've never heard of these guys before. They've been around for a pretty long time apparently, guess I have to go back and check out their old stuff to see if Spectres From The Old World  holds up or if it's just more of the same. Even if it is, I really enjoyed this one. 

4.5/5

Since I play quite a few rhythm games, Trance Metal has been more or less in my listening cycle for quite a while now. While it may work great for hitting buttons in a videogame, I still don't think this style pans out as an album experience. 

Props to choosing an interesting one, as this album definitely had enough Death Metal influences to keep me interested, but like many other albums like this, it just gets to be too much after a while. After a while the riffs and melodies turn into a stagnant wall of sound and synths that ends up not being all that interesting. It had its moments, but I think it's a flaw of the genre trying to pack too much energy and noise into mostly simplistic songs rather than Blood Stain Child being a lackluster band or anything. I'll definitely think about revisiting this more than the other Trance Metal offerings I've heard, but I'm still waiting for synths in Power/Trance/Alternative Metal like this to really wow me. 

I'll say this, I think By Inheritance is the first time I've been truly excited about a Thrash release since....hell probably Rust In Peace. Although the tempos and overall feel of the record is a bit slower than the other classic thrash releases it's just as energetic and just does a lot of things right in my book. Some parts do miss the mark, like the beginning of "Bombfood" and "Don't Believe" in general, which keeps this from being an obvious instant classic. 

I find it interesting how Rust In Peace, which dropped during the same year, is easily proclaimed as one of the best while this one is very much an arguable cult hit. To me they have a lot of similar qualities and while Rust In Peace is faster and shreddier it has many of the same "melodic" qualities as By Inheritance does. Rarely does Megadeth simply chug or rely purely on rhythm, they always add in a scale, riff, or some kind of flourish, so I'm not quite convinced that By Inheritance is really that much more on the melodic side of Thrash, although I will admit it's on the slower side compared to the rest of the classics. 

I did check out Saturnalia Temple before, didn't do much for me sadly. I'll have to check out Doomraiser, haven't heard of them!

Although not entirely traditional, Godthrymm's Reflections is easily my frontrunner for Doom Metal so far this year, looks like you checked out that one as well. 

The first half of the album is stellar, lost a bit of steam for me during the back half. The vocals got a bit wonky starting at "The Failure of Creation" for me and the guitar tone got a bit tiresome, but it probably just needs another chance. "Cryptomass", "Creatures from the Vault", and "Burial at Night" had me thinking I'd rate this higher than Lord Vicar's The Black Powder from last year, but Lord Vicar edges it out. 

Still some great and more traditional Doom Metal for 2020, always great to hear. 

I normally use one-word descriptions but I can expand upon it here. Doing this has made me realize I might need to really nail down what each of these mean for me. 

5 - Irreplaceable

    Something wholly unique that offers an amazing experience, or has a very large personal connection.

4.5 - Outstanding

    Something that is extremely good but doesn't make the cut to be something truly special. 

4 - Great 

    Very good, minimal complaints. Would recommend confidently. 

3.5 - Above Average

    Something that is good enough that it distinguishes itself from the pack and has some redeeming, unique qualities about it. 

3 - Average

    The ultimate Meh rating. Something that is not bad, but doesn't do anything great either. Complete middle of the road.

2.5 - Below Average

    Something that just isn't quite right or makes some questionable decisions that I find take away from the music.

2 - Lousy

    One or two major flaws, or extremely derivative or dry. Running out of positive things to say about it. 

1.5 - Terrible

    Genuinely dislike. Will tell other people how bad the album is. 

1 - Offensive

    Something went horribly wrong in every way. I wonder how something like this was even released. 

0.5 - Hardly Even Music 

    Personal hatred towards even the idea that something like this was released or towards the artist for making it. 

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.

I...didn't get anything out of this. It's definitely one of the more interesting Drone experiences I've heard, but it just went one in ear and out the other. Need to revisit it, since I can tell there's something cool in here that I must have missed. Since I listened to this a week or so ago I can't really give anything more than that, it was that forgettable to me. 

I distinctly remember finding Therion years ago when I first started to really expand the genres of Metal I was listening to, excitedly grabbing their discography, and really disliking it for whatever reason. That made me never really want to go back to check out Therion again, until now of course, and couldn't have been more wrong in my initial assessment. 

Theli has that classic and theatrical Symphonic Metal touch that is obviously over the top but doesn't feel dull and boring like a lot of modern Symphonic Metal releases. Therion still has driving, heavy riffs plus better song structure and is just much more Metal than what we hear today. The transitions from guitar riffs to choral or orchestral parts are very on point with each one feeling organic and exciting, although a little messy sometimes. Since it's still early in the genre's life cycle there definitely are some awkward parts here and there, with the beginning of "To Mega Therion" sounding slightly off-time occasionally and some transitions not exactly hitting the way they should have. 

As a Symphonic Metal fan I'll be the first to admit that I think the genre, apart from one or two releases here or there each year, is very stagnant and it doesn't seem like it's going to improve. These classics have such a dark theatrical quality to them that makes them super unique, rather than the albums nowadays that seem to just use symphonic elements for the sake of using them. It leads to boring songwriting and extremely samey sounding products that just throw everything at a wall and hope it sticks. While a little rough around the edges Theli is a great example of how an over-the-top and bombastic record can still have great Metal riffs that work together with the orchestration rather than just adding all the bells and whistles as an afterthought. 

I'll have to check them out, I've never heard of them! It's always exciting (but normally a letdown) seeing bands return after ridiculously long hiatuses. 

I'm glad I waited a year before checking this out, since I listened to Scream Bloody Gore and Spiritual Healing at the beginning of 2019. I don't think I would have appreciated Symbolic as much as I did today if I didn't have to wade through an entire year of newer Death Metal releases. Ben's review pretty much sums up my thoughts, with this album just being exciting to listen to in general. The riffs aren't necessarily super fast like modern Death Metal tends to be, but they are still super technical and the abrupt melody changes still add that Death Metal flair to an otherwise very Progressive album. I had zero problems with the vocals, since apparently that's a sticking point for some. 

I do wish that modern Death Meal, especially modern Tech Death, would look to its roots a little bit more. This album that came out 25 years ago feels more technical and virtuosic than any I've listened to in the recent Tech Death scene, and maybe that comes back to clarity. The Death Metal crunch of the guitars and the overall aggression and chaos is still there, but everything is perfectly clear and set up in a way that highlights the actual notes of the riffs rather than just the muddy, dark rhythms and chug that modern Death Metal tends to lean towards. 

4.5/5 for me, I'll be going back to this one for sure. 

(Also I'm with Daniel, Crystal Mountain wasn't as impressive as I was led to believe)

Threw up a review as well. I listened to The Battle of Los Angeles a lot many years ago, but never checked out this full album. 

I think what bumped up the score (4 out of 5) for me was the amount of creativity in this compared to Battle of LA. Rage has been and always will be pretty monotonous with their one-note choruses and overused buildups, but this one has a ton of neat solos, sound effects, and bass lines that keep it much more interesting than any of their other albums for me. Plus this is probably the most angry de la Rocha has sounded on any of their albums. 

Bütcher (Belgium)

Thank you!

Could you add Kaoteon please? 

Thank you.

I wanted to make my review of Filosofem a longer and more thought out review as it is one of the most important reviews a Black Metal fan can write at this point, and I'm happy with what I produced. 

I've always had a hard time giving this one a high rating, and only after writing this review did I bump it up to a 4 out of 5. 

I wanted to have a more unique opinion on this one and after a few days of thinking I finally found my talking point. As lame as it sounds, Filosofem is just an incredibly lucky and fortunate album. Being as repetitive as it is, it basically had to do everything right to create the sinister and raw atmosphere that it's known for. If anything was out of place it would have completely ruined the experience, but somehow it never missed a beat. The album is still a completely slog to get through casually, which is why I claimed towards the end of my review that this one is much more interesting as an essay topic rather than an album, since I find myself only going back to it once or twice a year. 

It's just a fascinating album to talk about and I'm glad that I took the time to write a more extensive review on the album page itself. 

Apparently Katatonia are going a bit more electronic on this new, just announced record, so I'll throw it in The Gateway. I really enjoyed Fall Of Hearts when it was released so I'm hoping for this change or evolution of style to be just as good!

This was, surprisingly, my very first look at Deftones, I don't think I've ever heard a single song by them unless there's one from White Pony. I can't say I'm a massive fan but there's definitely something here for me with the noisy and punky riffs they throw down. I listened to a lot of Chevelle a few years ago and after checking this out I can definitely say that Chevelle are budget Deftones. These guys do what Chevelle and other bands like them want to do, but just don't quite get to the level of something like this. The...intimately evocative vocal style sort of puts me off after a while but it does fit with the noisy aspect of the album, so maybe I just need to give it a few more listens to really nail down the overall feel of the album. Definitely going to have to check out White Pony sometime in the next couple of days to get the full story here.  

It looks like it is just a Finnish/English version, I had no idea Ben. Every single site acted like it was just a brand new release for 2020.

Could you please add Marko Hietala? (Nightwish frontman's solo project)

I've always enjoyed Protest the Hero, so going back to their debut was a nice reminder of just how creative these guys were and still are. There's no one that sounds quite like them in the way each one of their songs is super fast, super technical, but still catchy and melodic at a base level. There's absolutely a method to the madness with these guys even though it wears on me pretty fast. They're just so tight and confident with how they transition seemingly at random to different rhythms and ideas that, although there is never really a cohesive flow to their music, it all somehow makes sense in the end. 

This debut is still some of the best stuff they've ever made, especially since they're already cramming so much into each song due to their style it's very hard for them to evolve past what they started with. I still really enjoyed their later albums like Pacific Myth and Volition, but Kezia just has that edge and confidence that certain debuts have that can never really be recaptured. I couldn't listen to this all the time as it does wear me down pretty fast, and there are certainly some goofy and unnecessary parts, but Protest the Hero is easily one of the few bands I genuinely like that falls into The Revolution. 

Oh boy, time for me to rant about Grindcore for a second. 

I don't shy away from Grind because it's a genre that I do want to become more familiar with, but it's just so, so rough for me. I'm not the kind of metal listener that gets any enjoyment out of pure 24/7 aggression, so I'm really going against the grain here. I can appreciate the furious tempos, riffs, and the insanely angry vocals and atmosphere, but nothing ever sounds interesting to me. It's the case of having so much going on at once at all times that everything just blurs together and it just isn't...enjoyable. The song structures are also so short and condensed that things like buildups, climaxes, solos, and other portions of song structure that I tend to really enjoy just don't exist. 

That being said, from what little Grind I've listened to this is definitely some of the best sounding and...most cohesive? I found myself treating each small song simply like part of the entire 26 minute album rather than focusing on when a song ends and begins, which helped me a little bit. The back part of the album was definitely better for me, but that's probably because the songs actually had some length to them. 

Tiamat is another one of those classic bands that has consistently slipped through my fingers over the years, until now of course. Wildhoney is the perfect mix of atmospheric and emotional but not overpowering synths, punchy guitar riffs, powerful drumming, and right in the pocket vocals that help to pull together that signature Gothic atmosphere. The album doesn't sound cheesy or over-theatrical like some Gothic Metal can, plus it's surprisingly progressive with its extended atmospheric sections in tracks like "Gaia" and "Planets". This is definitely an album that deserves more than one listen but my initial impressions are extremely strong, easily deserving a 4/5 from me. I very much prefer this style over any other earlier Gothic Metal I've heard thus far, so call me a fan. 

Put up a review on the album page, but it was a pleasure going back and actually checking out old Dream Theater, which was surprisingly something I never did. Everything you would want from Dream Theater is here, and if it would have been ten years ago I would have given this album an easy 5/5. 

However, like I said in my review, my concept of what is impressive and awesome changes over time as I've listened to more and more things. What was incredibly impressive to me ten years ago is no longer nearly as impressive now that I've listened to more Progressive Metal bands. So while Images and Words is still a very solid album it's flaws are much more apparent to me, especially since Dream Theater was the first band to really let me down in terms of their modern releases. 

I loved this album and was one of my favorites in 2018 since Metal didn't have too much going for it that year, but after listening to it so much the mixing on the drums was just too much for me. They just stick out like a sore thumb after a while. I still enjoy the album, but definitely not as much as I used to.

Could WelicoRuss be added?

Thank you.

Oh yeah, now this is what I'm talking about. This was legitimately my first time listening to Ministry ever and these guys are riff and chug masters. "N.W.O.", "Just One Fix", "Scare Crow", and even "Corrosion" have some of the heaviest riffs I've heard in quite some time. Some bands are just able to nail that guitar and drum tone that just makes the the riffs chug, and Ministry is definitely one of those. The whole album is dark and gritty but still has an insane amount of energy and momentum as well as some hilarious tongue-in-cheek political and religious commentary, which surprisingly doesn't take away from the album. 

While I think I could build up to appreciating something more grating and monotonous, this is an easy 4/5 for me even on the first listen. The amount of influence this album had must have been insane, because through "N.W.O.", "Just One Fix", and "Scare Crow" I was reminded of so many other heavy metal songs that came out much, much later than this did. 

Nightwish have just announced their new album titled Human :||: Nature, set to be released on April 10th. I really loved Endless Forms Most Beautiful when it came out but looking back now it certainly had its problems, but I could only imagine they're going to keep going down the theatrical film score path, so hopefully it's not too overblown. 

Congratulations, that was incredibly quick work. Not enough hours in the day for me, I'm currently still chipping away at the 1st Decade Black Metal one.

If I didn't look at the tags I would have said a very progressive sort of Melodic Black Metal. The raw and messy guitar tone and lack of chug throws it out of Melodic Death Metal, but the lack of consistent double-bass and slower than average blast-beats and tempos means it's not fully Black Metal either. "As Rome Burns" dips into the more sweeping Viking/Folk Metal feel, but it never quite gets there either. Even though I'm not great at discerning genres yet, I would've settled on some strange hybrid child of Black, Viking, and Progressive. 

But of course since I saw it was tagged as Folk by a majority of people I can definitely see where they're coming from. 

The vocal style and riff structure is very unique and smooth! I don't instantly dig it as much as you did judging by your other post giving it a 4.5, but this could easily grow on me. It's just so clean! It really gives off that Irish folk vibe without necessarily using other string instruments or something like bagpipes to force it, which is cool.

Verisäkeet is probably my favorite Folk/Black Metal album that I've heard so far, so this one will be easy for me since I've listened to this MANY times already. I'm back from vacation and am going to have to dig deep to get all these reviewed starting tomorrow!

I'm definitely guilty of the "rate after one listen" mentality, but I always listen twice or more if I'm writing a review or giving an opinion past "I gave it this score". There's so many new albums always coming out that I wouldn't be able to keep up if I give every single release 3+ listens, especially for the ones that I know that I won't like to begin with.

My 4 ratings tend to change the most, either dropping to a 3.5 or moving up to a 4.5.

I've been learning to just embrace the bias most of the time. As long as you have an idea of what exactly your bias is, you can make educated decisions on what you think is better than what. It's cool seeing wildly different lists depending on the person, especially when they can explain their biases well.

Sometimes I'll leave an album at a lower score because I think I'll overrate it compared to other releases, example being this year's Gloryhammer, but that happens very rarely. 

I'm gonna take a risk and rec Elvenking's Reader of the Runes. It's still very much Power Metal with a ton of folk thrown in there, but it has the most serious and heaviest riffs of all the albums on my list. It even has some harsh vocals and tremolo picking on "Malefica Doctrine", so it's more varied than other Power Metal albums. It's still very much fantasy DnD metal though, so if that's going to be a sticking point for you then I'll just have to take the L here. 

A lot of Black Metal this year. An overflowing amount. Here's what I ended up with for a Top 10:

1. Funereal Presence – Achatius 

2. Serpent Column – Mirror In Darkness 

3. Saor – Forgotten Paths 

4. Obsequiae – The Palms of Sorrowed Kings 

5. Deathspell Omega – The Furnaces of Palingenesia 

6. Stormlord – Far 

7. Grima – Will of the Primordial 

8. Mgla – Age of Excuse 

9. Fen – The Dead Light 

10. The Great Old Ones – Cosmicism 

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

As said in my other post from this year, it's a great time to be a Power Metal fan. There were also a ton of great straight up heavy metal releases this year too, so here's my Top 10:

1. Avantasia – Moonglow 

2. Twilight Force – Dawn of the Dragonstar 

3. Elvenking – Reader of the Runes – Divination 

4. Gloryhammer – Legends From Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex

5. Turilli/Lione Rhapsody – Zero Gravity 

6. Lunar Shadow – The Smokeless Fires 

7. Galneryus – Into The Purgatory 

8. Tyr – Hel 

9. Beast in Black – From Hell with Love 

10. Steel Prophet – The God Machine 

I ended up listening to a surprising amount of Death Metal this year. While it may not have the most deep cuts, here's 10 from me:

1. Blood Incantation – Hidden History of the Human Race 

2. Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance 

3. Insomnium – Heart Like A Grave

4. Pulchra Morte – Divina Autem et Aniles 

5. Allegaeon – Apoptosis 

6. In Mourning – Garden of Storms 

7. Ossuarium – Living Tomb 

8. Hath – Of Rot and Ruin 

9. Belzebubs – Pantheon of the Nightside Gods 

10. Children of Bodom – Hexed