Xephyr's Forum Replies
Epitimia looks like the most interesting of the bunch for me, Sonny's next I believe.
Oh HELL yeah, this has been literally the only Thrash album from 2022 that has any sort of staying power, much to my dismay. I thought it was pretty good at first but it only got better the more I spun it, this one definitely deserves a review if I can get around to it.
Gánahëth, Äkth Gánahëth
In many ways, obscure, one-person projects are the lifeblood of the Black Metal genre as talented and novice musicians alike can produce material that is faithful to the beginnings of the genre despite recording and performance shortcomings. Äkth Gánahëth is yet another one of those projects, this time hailing from Iceland and possessing a heavier Dungeon Synth background than most other projects. As the gripping album cover would suggest, Crowned In Shadows is a general-purpose Black Metal experience with cleaner and more modern production value. The lead guitars still have that nice Black Metal grind to them and there's a decent split between flurries of tremolo and more rhythmic, marching chugs that have a unique twang to them from the cleaner sounding lead guitar. That weird twang that shows up on "Brimstone and Ash" and especially "Crowned In Shadows" had me scratching my head, trying to figure out what it reminded me of, until I finally landed on the iconic guitar part of the James Bond main theme. I'm not entirely sure whether that's a positive or a negative in the context of a Black Metal album, so I'll just say it definitely got a chuckle out of me. The drums and vocals are suitably pushed back to create a balanced sound that is easier on the ears but will leave fans of more zealous Black Metal wanting a bit more. The vocals are about what you'd expect from any Black Metal act as well and add the rawness you'd expect from a project like this.
The main draw of Crowned In Shadows is the Dungeon Synth additions, with "The Gates of Hel", "The Night Spreads Her Wings", and "Journey Through the Desert of Ice" being instrumentals fully devoted to creating a creepy, Black Metal atmosphere. Each one uses generally lo-fi synths to set a base atmosphere and builds up from there, using distorted sounding piano or bell-like sounds to bring some sense of melody into the soundscape. These synths are also used sparingly in the backgrounds of the rest of the songs as well, allowing a more full sound that's less tinny or thin than other small Black Metal projects. As an album, though, Crowned In Shadow doesn't do a very strong job of marrying the Dungeon Synth elements with the Black Metal ones, with the 3 instrumentals creating a certain feel that isn't followed up on in any meaningful way. Despite the two styles being competent, there isn't a whole lot that jumps out at me throughout the album's short, half hour runtime. Hell, I'd even venture to say that the Dungeon Synth excursions are stronger and more memorable than the Black Metal tracks despite "Under the Spectral Full Moon" having a pretty epic sounding ending.
This is a capable release in the solo Black Metal project realm, but doesn't have enough flow or remarkable passages for it to be something I can see myself coming back to. It all feels a bit choppy and while the cleaner guitar tone melodies and synth backings help to distinguish it, Crowned In Shadows doesn't do enough to completely sell me on it.
Extremely upset with myself over that title, not gonna lie.
I'll be getting around to reviewing Akth Ganaheth later today, but just in case my schedule falls through this is a very standard Black Metal release with a bit more Dungeon Synth than normal thrown in as full "interlude" tracks. It's mostly forgettable but not bad, the Black Metal sections are mostly run-of-the-mill but capable, and the Dungeon Synth elements break up the album but not exactly in a flowing way. They aren't incorporated as seamlessly as other, stronger albums with this tendency are, so it kind of just falls by the wayside. It scratches the itch of being another decent one-man Black Metal experience, but the choppiness of the album flow and overall generic feel of the whole thing made me decide it was a bit lower than average.
2.5/5
I think I've spent enough time with this to form some actual opinions. I think this will definitely be an overlooked highlight of most people's 2022 lists due to how uniquely creative it is compared to the rest of the albums released this year. The Endless excels at creating its own little world of elements with the inclusion of more mood-setting keyboards and synths than is common in most Progressive Metal outings, let alone the female vocals taking up almost all of the front stage compared to the Black Metal adjacent harshes that only show up when they're really required to. I think I struggled with this one at first because, in all honesty, it's a pretty low-key record through and through. At just 40 minutes it sometimes feels like the album should be just getting started as the gorgeous closer "The Paradigm Mirror" peters out and ends the affair on a strikingly bittersweet note. It felt like there wasn't a whole lot there and I think that's where my opinion will start to differ a bit from Saxy and Daniel. I'm extremely glad this was featured as it would have definitely been a 2022 album I would have missed, but I don't think it has quite enough going for it to be a massive, landmark release.
I think my favorite detail about this album is the distinct tone shift between the first and second half. The first sets up the expectation of having angelic vocals offset by the harshes, but "Liminal Veil" throws that completely out the window as vocalist Kelly Shilling adopts a completely different delivery as the album shifts into a more despondent and shadowy feel compared to the more ethereal sounding first half. I think there's a great balance struck between the heavier Post-Metal portions and the winding Progressive Metal musings too; I always leave wanting no more and no less of either style. I would have to do more digging and more listening to figure out an exact reason why, but I just feel like there's something left on the table with The Endless though, which is why it didn't absolutely floor me after spending more time with it. Maybe I'm one of the weird people who think that albums like this should be a bit longer in order to envelope the listener in the world. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to fully review this one but it'd be a welcome challenge to try and nail down exactly why I can't give this full marks, despite really enjoying it.
4/5
I wanted to get on the hype train after seeing this thread and while it's a beautiful album something isn't quite clicking for me on the first listen. I'll report back after a few more spins.
Welcome! There's tons of great recommendations, feature releases, playlists, and knowledgeable people to delve into whatever Metal subgenre you want. Thanks for checking us out!
Suggestions for November:
Gaerea - "Laude" - Mirage (2022)
Adorior - "Birth of Disease" - Author of Incest (2005)
I've been a big fan of this one since its release this year and when I first checked it out I thought that it was one of the best dissonant/more atmospheric Death Metal records I've heard. However, since going back to it every now and again for a total of 7-8 listens, I came to a similar conclusion as Daniel in that its a bit too unfocused for its own good. I'm a huge fan of "moments" in music, especially during longer albums with lengthy tracks, and Void of Unending Depths doesn't really deliver on that front despite being incredibly good everywhere else. It's still easily one of the best Death Metal records of 2022, but my own patience for it has waned over the course of a few months.
It does make me want to go and check out their debut though, as that might have a bit more of what I'm looking for. This one started out as a 4.5/5 from me, but has since dropped.
4/5
October 2022
1. Borealis – “Forgotten Forever” (from “Fall From Grace”, 2017)
2. Saviour Machine – “A World Alone” (from “Saviour Machine”, 2004) [Submitted by Andi]
3. Sacred Outcry – “Legion of the Fallen” (from “Damned for All Time”, 2020)
4. Pharaoh – “By the Night Sky” (from “The Longest Night”, 2006)
5. Stormrider – “The Patroller" (from "Heavy Metal Machine”, 2018)
6. Rusty Cooley – “War of the Angels” (from “The Alchemists", 2002)
7. Amebix – “Chain Reaction” (from “Monolith”, 1987) [Submitted by Daniel]
8. Manilla Road – “The Deluge - Eye of the Sea, The Drowned Lands, Engulfed Cathedral” (from “The Deluge”, 1986)
9. Blind Guardian – “Damnation” (from “The God Machine", 2022)
10. Manticora – "Enigma” (from “8 Deadly Sins”, 2005)
11. Trial – “In the Highest" (from “Feed the Fire", 2022)
12. Acid Blade – “King Killer” (from “Power Dive", 2022)
13. Paladin – “The River Dragon Has Come” (from “Anamnesis”, 2019)
14. Delain – “See Me in Shadow” (from “Lucidity", 2006)
15. Gloryhammer – “Fly Away” (from “Fly Away" 2022)
16. Leaves' Eyes – “Hymn to the Lone Sands” (from “Symphonies of the Night", 2013)
17. Judicator – “Lucid Nightmare” (from “At the Expense of Humanity", 2015)
18. Stratovarius – “Voice of Thunder" (from “Survive”, 2022)
I recognize NONE of these. But the Mickey Mouse hand speaks to me.
I'll take Akth Ganaheth, Crowned In Shadows.
Wowza, lot to go over here.
1. I'd like to offer that virality and popularity are different when it comes to examples like Metallica or Ozzy being played at football or hockey events. Sure it's exposure for the Metal genre, but those riffs and songs that any layman would get excited for are played just because they're catchy and make people chant things. The riff to "Seven Nation Army" is still being used at a ton of events and I don't think that necessarily equates to any argument regarding the current popularity (or lack thereof) of Alternative Rock. It's very cool to hear, but I think it falls in line with Daniel's thoughts; no one is jumping out of their seats and getting hype for Deathspell Omega, Oranssi Pazuzu, or Vektor, although Gojira and Mastodon have been able to win over the mainstream crowd quite a bit recently. Even then, those bands' careers still started 20-ish years ago!
2. Going off of that, I do think that Metal is more popular than its ever been just due to the ease of access of Spotify, YouTube, insert the rest of the social media platforms here. The ability to share and discover bands is at an all-time high and people LOVE seeking out random Metal playlists for their workouts without necessarily delving much deeper. However, I think that if you want to talk about the "Metal Scene" as a whole, it's the most divided its ever been in terms of where the traffic goes. You have nerds like us who will throw out names like Imperial Triumphant, Kaatayra, Bell Witch, and Blut Aus Nord for impressive bands that have an impressive modern album catalogue, but we're a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the Metal crowd who divides itself much like our Clan system. After all, someone is giving bands like Sabaton, In Flames, Unleash The Archers, Epica, and Nightwish millions of views on YouTube and while Power Metal is definitely more popular in the mainstream right now, other genres like Metalcore, more Melodic styles of Death Metal, and some Progressive Metal still have horse in the race of vying for listeners. In short I think that there are more people listening to Metal than ever, but no one can really agree on a so-called mega-band anymore.
3. For the original question, though, I'm someone who has never really made Metal music part of my societal identity. Metal is definitely a part of my own identity and how I interact culturally, but it never drove my opinions or who I associate with in your original "Metal is for the working class" statement. That being said, I think Metal has reached a point where the more accessible stuff appeals to the wider crowd and people won't look at you funny, and the more "extreme" stuff that we tend to listen to mostly gets a "wow I hate this" instead of a "you're a lesser person for liking this". Metal shows are still packed with people that are passionate about the music, but there's definitely a hard divide between the people who are ready to go into the pit and throw shoulders; the entire crowd almost never gets involved. Smaller shows are more about enjoying the music with likeminded people instead of punching each other, especially since it gets dangerous when there aren't enough bodies around to cushion falls or trips. I always have a fun time at shows but I have to choose my battles as Metal tends to attract bigger "tough guys" due to the moshing aspect; I'm in good shape but 6'3", 220+ lbs is a bit out of my weight class. I also tend to be wary of some Metalcore/Deathcore/Death Metal shows as some of the fans are a bit too aggressive for me, throwing spinkicks and punches around for the adrenaline rush doesn't exactly make someone like me feel safe, even though 99% of the crowd is considerate when throwing shoulders.
Most concert goers are there for a good time though, with crowds for lesser known, but still very talent bands like Allegeaon or Black Crown Initiate sporting all sorts of "underground" band shirts like Wilderun. The overall atmosphere, for me at least, has always been a few hours of escape to enjoy music with likeminded individuals in a way that only Metal concerts can provide, but I can't say I've felt it go as deep as you've said, Sonny. Maybe that's just my personality, but it kind of ends with the music, which is fine for me, if that makes sense. I also can't really say that the Metal concert-goer scene is very diverse either, with shows attracting mostly younger to middle-aged white males, at least in my part of East Coast USA. Hopefully that helps further the discussion in the way you were hoping, Sonny.
I'm back from vacation and stayed in a Hard Rock Hotel, they don't exactly have the most...Metal-centric collection but I did come across a very cool Anthrax guitar they had in their massive collection of stuff littered around.
Big fan of the Sons of Kehmet album, I definitely need to go back to that one. It was brought up in an album-club type thing a few years ago and I got a ton of listens out of it; it hit the right spot for someone who doesn't listen to too much jazz overall. I think the only problem with the album's full runtime is that a few tracks feel derivative of others, but like you said it's still a great time.
I've been listening to The God Machine pretty much all week and I have to agree that it's a massive comeback for Blind Guardian, not sure where these "fan club" guys are getting their info from. I've already spun this album more times than Beyond the Red Mirror, At the Edge of Time, and A Twist in the Myth combined and it hasn't lost any of its energy, but I'm not sure that it quite compares to their 1990's material. It's definitely not a rehash to echo Rexorcist's viewpoint, but with Somewhere Far Beyond and Imaginations From the Other Side being two of my favorite albums of all time, this one doesn't quite reach that legendary status. I may go back and forth on this since it's hard for me to be objective with Blind Guardian, but it's easily their best album since Nightfall in Middle-Earth and may even surpass it due to its more straightforward and rewarding approach. The riffs and songwriting are incredible throughout, Hansi's vocals have refined to a point where he still has the aggression of his 1990's material but has noticeably more control over his voice, and the consistency of the entire band is great. But...I can't help but feel the album doesn't quite compare to their best material. "Secrets of the American Gods" has definitely grown on me considering it was one of the tracks initially keeping The God Machine at a 4/5 for me, but I can't say it's exactly strong considering its long runtime. "Let It Be No More" pales in comparison to their older ballads and "Destiny" is a pretty lackluster end to an awesome album.
This is me being nitpicky at the end of the day, since Blind Guardian is one of the only bands to have more than one 5 out of 5 on my ratings. Easily one of, if not the best, Power Metal releases of 2022 and I doubt it'll be dethroned by the end of the year at this rate. Blind Guardian has shown that they've still got it in the best of ways, even though some of the tracks don't really jive with me in the way that their older material did. Incredibly glad to see one of my favorite bands still able to belt out a fantastic release after so long. I have a feeling I'm gonna keep this one in rotation for quite a while; already 5 or 6 listens in.
4.5/5
Adorior - Author of Incest
I won't be able to do a full review right away, but I can at least make my outline and give a pretty detailed breakdown of this one.
I mostly chose this one as a joke to push myself out of my reviewing comfort zone and while that's still the case, Adorior are a bit more familiar than I originally thought. Despite being based in the UK, this group features one of the guitarists from Destroyer 666 and it’s very apparent from the riffing structure and overall production that band was a massive influence, since Destroyer’s two big albums came out a few years earlier. This makes their more extreme Blackened Thrash / almost War Metal style make a ton of sense given how close knit the Australian scene seems; these guys have a ton of different projects under their belt including Bestial Warlust, whose names I've heard tossed around a bit. I'm only familiar with Destroyer 666 but the high tempo aggression that I recognize from them is all too present in Author of Incest.
In addition the vocalist, who goes by Melissa, is one of the more surprising performances in this extreme Black Metal hybrid genre. Very cool to hear a woman step up to the plate, especially in an album like this. She's really trying hard to sell the evil atmosphere as much as possible and she's pretty successful at it, since this whole album legitimately makes me uncomfortable after a while. I'm sure that's a positive for people who are more into this kind of thing and while I want to spin it as such, I can't say it helps Adorior's case for me. The evil laughs, the spat out lyrics, and the varied sheiks and impromptu yells all work with what Author of Incest is trying to do, but it gets to be a bit much for me.
This album is mostly trying to be as brutal and as shocking as possible, but not in a cheap or easy sort of way. It's a massive conglomeration of Black, Death, and Thrash ideas that come together in a shockingly technical style, but I think that's part of the reason it's bounced off of me a bit. The whole album is a huge burst of aggression, but certain tracks like "Birth of Disease" and "Vitriolic Megalomaniac" are over 8 minutes long and feel like they never want to end. Most of the songs on here are extended past where you'd expect and I feel like they're close to getting to that Tech Death zone where the length of the songs becomes a "feature", but the approach is so straightforwardly brutal that I'm entirely done listening to it after "To Split A Lamb". I'm still very impressed by the guitar work and overall production on this one though, it sounds absolutely massive and the Destroyer 666 guitarist basically never runs out of ferocious riffs and ideas to transition between. The scope and variety of the vocals help to keep the album moving and interesting too.
Overall I definitely didn’t hate this as much as I thought I would, I think it’s a hidden gem for people who like more aggressive, almost War-Metal stuff, but I can’t see myself going back to it and getting much more out of it than past two or three listens. I don’t think it’s that deep and the theatrics were getting old despite the performances and ideas being good. Just a bit too brutal for my fragile soul, I suppose.
3/5
Sad Wings Of Destiny was kind of shocking to go back to as someone who never really listened to too much Judas Priest; I'd agree that it's a decent benchmark. I think there's a lot of back and forth for a lot of Scorpions content as well, since those Guns N' Roses adjacent Hard Rock/Hair Metal bands seem to really toe the line from a modern perspective.
I don't find myself listening to a lot of straight up Heavy Metal these days though and that's where I think a lot of these genres start to get into a real grey area as Metal has evolved. I'll always name drop Caio Lemos from Kataayra and multiple other projects though, as he's recently been taking Black/Avant-Garde Metal songwriting tendencies and paring them with musical characteristics that go against Metal's fundamental definition. The fully acoustic and Brazilian Folk inspired Só quem viu o relâmpago à sua direita sabe and the even more egregious Inpariquipê have this strange sense that it feels like you're listening to something that could be considered Metal, but the content itself says otherwise. It's an entirely different case rather than finding the sweet spot where Hard Rock rocks hard enough to be considered Heavy Metal and sadly I'm not enough of a genre enthusiast to really get into the weeds, unless it comes up in a review.
I mean, who am I to refuse something like Author of Incest? I'm sure it'll be top quality, no way this'll backfire.
September 2022
1. Persuader – “Twisted Eyes” (from “When Eden Burns”, 2006)
2. Blind Guardian – “Violent Shadows” (from “Violent Shadows”, 2022)
3. Fellowship – “Atlas” (from “The Saberlight Chronicles”, 2022)
4. Ravenous E.H. – “Bridgeburner” (from “Hubris”, 2021)
5. Falconer – “The Clarion Call" (from "Chapters from a Vale Forlorn”, 2002)
6. Pagan Altar – “Samhein” (from “Mythical & Magical", 2006) [Submitted by Daniel]
7. Witchkiller – “Day of the Saxons” (from “Day of the Saxons - EP”, 1984)
8. W.A.S.P. – “Mean Man” (from “The Headless Children”, 1989)
9. Freedom Call – “Metal Is For Everyone” (from “Master of Light", 2016) [Submitted by Andi]
10. The Sword – "Arrows in the Dark” (from “Warp Riders”, 2010)
11. Avantasia – “The Moonflower Society" (from “The Moonflower Society", 2022)
12. Running Wild – “Black Hand Inn” (from “Black Hand Inn", 1994)
13. Steelwing – “Full Speed Ahead!” (from “Zone of Alienation”, 2012)
14. Grave Digger – “Excalibur” (from “The Middleage Trilogy", 2002)
15. Tad Morose – “Anubis” (from “Modus Vivendi" 2004)
16. Civil War – “Brother Judas” (from “The Killer Angels", 2013)
17. Impellitteri – “Fly Away” (from “Answer To The Master", 2004)
18. Stormwitch – “Odins Ravens" (from “Bound to the Witch”, 2018)
19. Sacred Rite – “High Society" (from “Resurrection”, 2007)
20. Kamelot – “The Spell” (from “Karma”, 2001)
21. Metal Church – “Over My Dead Body” (from “The Dark”, 1986)
22. Marlokarpatan - "V Okresnem Rybniku Hastrman Uz Po Staroca Vycina" (from "Nordkarpatenland", 2017)
Could the strangely niche album The Alchemists released by Liquid Note Records be added please? It's not all metal but there's enough tracks that are Guardians/Neoclassical shredfests that it earns its place among the other guitar shredder albums.
RYM link below as the album is quite difficult to find.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/various-artists/the-alchemists/
Sorry to throw a wrench into this, just got home to check the site, but I could try doing a North one? I can just go last, doesn't bother me. It's been hard to think about music reviews lately so maybe something that forces me to be creative will help me with my writing process.
I was holding off on checking out Gnosis since there wasn't a whole lot of buzz around it. Felt like it was going to be just another instrumental album of sorts, but consider me intrigued Sonny. I've enjoyed Russian Circles in the past but they never really stuck. Maybe this'll be the one, I've got it lined up for Monday probably.
There are a ton of Metal classics that I've missed since I tend to gear my listening more towards newer releases, and Close To A World Below was one of them. I'm usually pretty torn when it comes to renowned, "indisputable" classics since I never want to psyche myself out and be amazed by it because, well, of course it's going to be good. I mean, I've listened to a ton of modern and quite a few classic Death Metal albums, so what could Immolation have done back at the turn of the century?
A whole lot, it turns out. This album is an absolute beast and is worth all the band wagoning.
4.5/5
As a Devin Townsend fan and as someone who loves Empath, Deconstruction was still a bit of a sucker punch since I'm not too familiar with the middle portion of his discography. I always knew his style was overblown from Empath and Transcendence, but it took me a few years to eventually go back to Ocean Machine, Terria, or other albums like Accelerated Universe to get the full picture of Devin's music. Turns out he was a nutjob (in an endearing way) for way longer than I thought, since Empath was my first foray into the more insane and eclectic brand of Devin's music. I knew that Ziltoid was a thing but haven't gotten around to it, but I didn't realize that Empath wasn't exactly breaking new ground in the way I thought it did after listening to Deconstruction this month. All of the zaniness that I loved about Empath is shown off in full force here, but it's definitely more aggressive and a bit less mature. Devin's brand of sensory overloading walls of sound have always entertained me, but I'd say Deconstruction has more intrigue and interesting songwriting than his other, similar albums.
This post was going to be about how Deconstructed fell into the same bin as most of Devin's other albums for me, but as I put off writing this because I couldn't quite gather my thoughts, I found myself listening to it more and more. To be honest, it's basically like watching a car crash or some embarrassing stand up comedy act that you can't look away from. It's such a stupid album in some truly irredeemable ways, but at the same it's it's incredibly good at being stupid that I've come full circle with it. Hell, it was apparently so stupid that I missed every single guest vocalist on here until I read Andi's post. I know my audio/voice recognition is really bad but this was a new low for me. I think part of that is because Devin is, in fact, a very talented vocalist with a ton of range so I didn't really notice it, but also because there's so much going on in each song that you hardly have time to figure out whether that random growl in the background sounded like Opeth or not. Once I wrapped my head around the different guests and their places in each song, the album as a whole got much more enjoyable as I'm always a fan of all-star lineups, for the most part.
As other reviews have said this album is definitely an exercise in excess and throwing a gigantic middle finger to the expectation of professionalism in music. Granted I definitely wish there was a bit more professionalism here, considering I'm never a fan of toilet or fart noises. I'm sure there's some metaphor you could figure out regarding the music industry or the music scene in general, but Devin's antics tend to get the better of him throughout the entire album. Thankfully there are enough great riffs and soundscapes to make this a standout in his discography for me, but it's going to be an acquired taste no matter how you look at it.
I've been horribly busy recently so trying to come up with things to say about albums has been the least of my worries, hopefully stuff like this will get me to be better about stream of consciousness writing because trying to form an opinion about this album has my head spinning.
4/5
Even though I apparently enjoyed Epitaphe's debut quite a bit, I have zero recollection of it after rating it fairly highly at a 4. Something about immensely crushing Death Doom, regardless of how good it is, never quite allows me to go back to it with any sort of frequency. This follow-up has had way more replay-ability for me and due to the additions that Sonny listed, it's way more in line with my personal tastes than the debut. There's a ton to unpack through its drawn out songwriting, but I've found it to be all well worth it and I feel like I still haven't really gotten past the surface level of it at this point. Definitely one for me to go back to and give some more proper time before the end of the year.
4.5/5
Blind Guardian will probably always be my favorite as well, they just have everything I love about the genre. They've been hit or miss past their 1990's run but have never been bad in my opinion, save for the Legacy of the Dark Lands experiment, but I'm actually really excited for The God Machine to come out in a few weeks. It sounds like it has some serious potential for a band that's almost going into their 35th year.
I've been doing some necessary catchup this week after binging Fellowship's debut album for a review and checking out Falconer's debut and follow-up, since I enjoyed their final album From a Dying Ember a ton. It's crazy how Falconer found their signature sound right off the rip and how well put together it all is. Chapters From A Vale Forlorn is a bit more varied and showcases their unique vocals in a more pronounced way, but the debut is still great in its straightforward approach. If anything, Chapters... was a pleasant surprise since Falconer's debut is the album that gets most of the attention, it seems. I'd have to go back to From a Dying Ember again but it still might remain my favorite since I think it does the best job of harnessing all of Falconer's different aspects and leans into the medieval fantasy elements just a bit more.
Falconer - 4/5
Chapters From a Vale Forlorn - 4/5
Gave this one last listen today and I gotta agree, was expecting a bit more out of Solider of Fortune. The album starts out with the killer "Soldier of Fortune", the passable "You Shook Me" which I honestly can't take too seriously since my brain's wires get insanely crossed with the AC/DC song, and the song that inspired this Feature choice "Danger of Love". The album then quickly derails with the run between "Twenty-Five Days" and "Long After Midnight"; "Demon Disease" is a pretty great closer as it goes back to what made the opener "Soldier of Fortune" great, but the rest of the album is a weirdly middling affair of Hard Rock influences and chorus structures that doesn't offer any standout tracks compared to the beginning of the album. It's not like "Faces in the Fire" or "Long After Midnight" are below average songs, but they also don't do anything spectacular either. I'm not a big fan of "Red Light Shooter" and the two ballads don't really hold up for repeated listens, so Soldier of Fortune is basically a singles album for me. I wasn't aware of the vocalist change before posting this, so maybe the earlier vocalist and style would be more interesting to me, like Morpheus said? Guess I'll have to check that out someday but for now, this is very passable Heavy Metal with a few notable tunes.
3/5
I was legitimately about to shoot you a message when I saw the album on the front page, Ben. Checked it out last week as I was familiar with Oceans of Slumber and not only was I not exactly impressed either, it's easily has some of the least Metal attributes for something that has 3 Metal tags. I don't think it's a bad album by any means, but it's always confused me as to why Oceans of Slumber can't nail down any sort of interesting sound considering they have a talented singer and have had glimpses of good ideas in the past. I get more Blues/Soul out of the singer than anything, although I only listened to the album once so that may be off base as well. Still, Starlight and Ash should definitely be tagged as Non-Metal, I didn't realize that it had three metal tags, unsure what people are hearing.
Hi Daniel, I'd be interested to see if you've heard of this pair of early albums from the Swedish Death Doom band Runemagick. This was in my backlog for a very long time and now I'm just disappointed that I didn't check them out sooner; I knew they had more of a Death Metal edge in their early days and while it might not be as grimy as some pre-2000's Death Metal, that's only a positive for me given all the big riffs they have stuffed into these two albums. I feel like these two albums have some real quality stuff in them given how skipped over it seems they are.
September
Grima - "Giant's Eternal Sleep" from Frostbitten (7:35)
Saidan - "I Am the Witch" from Onryo II: Her Spirit Eternal (6:22)
September
Tómarúm - "Condemned to a Life of Grief" from Ash in Realms of Stone Icons (10:32)
Imperial Triumphant - "Merkurius Gilded" from Spirit of Ecstasy (6:09)
Ashenspire - "The Law of Asbestos" from Hostile Architecture (8:32)
There seems to be a trend on rym of labelling any heavy metal record with a slower section or two or a downtuned guitar tone as doom. I listened to Ecclesia's 2020 album De Ecclesiæ Universalis also yesterday and that is another egregious example of an album labelled as doom metal which it clearly is not. Both of those albums would be far more at home in The Guardians than The Fallen. I would maybe ageee with Doom metal as a secondary at a push.
I can agree with this, but it's a complicated gray area that I don't really have a massive interest in figuring out. It's interesting though because if I was creating the playlist for The Guardians, I don't think I would be able to put any of the tracks on there since they sound a bit too Fallen-y to my ears. "The Verge Of Time" and "And Then The Planets Will Align" would be the closest, just due to how energetic the tempos are compared to the rest of the album and the "soaring" vocals, and I can see where US Power Metal may come into discussion there. At the end of the day though I think it's such a weird blend of influences and songwriting styles that what you pull out of it will be very different from person to person.
I'm not entirely sure why but I kinda dig this. The vocalist doesn't get on my nerves at all, if anything his delivery is very unique and cool sounding. There are definitely some parts that make me wince a bit, but I think that's more on the songwriting than the guy's actual voice. Maybe because it's definitely closer to a Heavy Metal record due to the driving tempos and overall theatrics, but the extra Doomy elements and the synths give it a neat flair. I'm not incredibly impressed by it, I think it gets a bit old by "As Silence Grows Old" and the robotic interludes could have definitely used some more thought, but it's been keeping my attention this week so far. I sort of agree with Sonny that the Epic Doom elements might be a bit overstated, but that isn't really a problem for me personally; the choir and slower melodic sections add enough contrast to the product to keep it from being a free-wheeling Heavy Metal album. Despite being pretty straightforward and consistent with its atmosphere and approach, I think Danse De Noir takes a bit to unpack, so I'll have to see how I feel about it throughout the month. Cool pick, Morpheus.
3.5/5
August 2022
1. Blind Guardian – “Deliver Us From Evil” (from “Blood Of The Elves”, 2022)
2. Fer de Lance – “The Mariner” (from “The Hyperborean”, 2022)
3. Black Label Society – “Death March” (from “Mafia”, 2005) [Submitted by Daniel]
4. White Whizzard – “High Roller” (from “Over the Top”, 2010)
5. Slough Feg – “Street Jammer" (from "Hardworlder”, 2007)
6. Rage – “Light Into the Darkness” (from “Secrets in a Weird World", 1989) [Submitted by Morpheus]
7. Grave Digger – “Spirits of the Dead” (from “The Grave Digger”, 2001)
8. Avantasia – “The Wicked Rule the Night” (from “The Moonflower Society”, 2022)
9. GALNERYUS – “DESTINY” (from “RESURRECTION", 2010)
10. Fellowship – "Oak and Ash” (from “The Saberlight Chronicles”, 2022)
11. Iron Maiden – “Heaven Can Wait" (from “Somewhere In Time”, 2015 Remaster)
12. Stormwarrior – “Iron Gods” (from “Heading Northe", 2008)
13. Iron Savior – “Mindfeeder” (from “Condition Red”, 2002)
14. Mercyful Fate – “Burn In Hell” (from “9", 1999) [Submitted by Morpheus]
15. LOUDNESS – “Clockwork Toy” (from “Thunder In The East" 1985)
16. The Lightbringer of Sweden – “Skeletor” (from “Rise of the Beast", 2020)
17. Manticora – “Playing God” (from “8 Deadly Sins", 2005) [Submitted by Morpheus]
18. Wisdom – “War of Angels" (from “Marching for Liberty”, 2013)
19. Haunt – “Heroes" (from “Burst into Flame”, 2018)
20. Dark Moor – “Somewhere in Dreams” (from “Project X”, 2015) [Submitted by Andi]
21. Virgin Steele – “Through the Ring of Fire” (from “Hymns to Victory”, 2018)
22. Scanner - "Terrion" (from "Hypertrace", 1988)
Could Fellowship (UK) be added please?
I've been listening to this album off and on for the past 2 months or so, since a coworker recommended it before it showed up here. I think I was a bit too harsh on it at first when I bantered back and forth with my coworker, immediately going to the canned analysis of "Wow this sure is a Deftones record!". After coming back to it here and there and letting it marinate for a bit, I agree that it's definitely more than just a Deftones case study, but I still couldn't get into it all that much.
Thornhill leans into some of the more modern Indie/Alt Metal/Rock and Shoegazy tendencies that help to distinguish their style from their early 2000's influences. Their sound is a bit more playful and upbeat, coming off as a bit less aggressive than other similar styles. Their vocalist is less sultry than Deftones, but he still conveys a lot of passion with how soulful his varied range can sound. For some reason I view their style as a bit more mysterious sounding, although I can't quite explain what exactly that means.
Overall I think "Casanova" is a prime example of how Thornhill's style is able to take influential source material and put their own direct spin on it. It's a great song through and through, although the ending is disappointing in my opinion. "Hollywood" is another highlight but the harsh vocals aren't used very well for my tastes. Other than that, "Raw" really isn't something that I enjoyed and after the creative instrumental interlude "Something Terrible Came With the Rain" the album kind of grinds to a halt for me. The final two songs didn't grip me in any way, so it ends on a pretty poor note.
This is a weird one where I enjoy coming back to it for the first half, but then I just never get into it by the time the final few songs roll around. I can see why everyone's enjoying it and it's awesome to see this style make some waves thanks to a newer band, but I guess it just ain't for me.
3/5
I wish I had more time to return to October Rust as I think having more memory of that album would have done me a few favors in figuring out an opinion on this one. I've found that I generally enjoy my time with Type O Negative, but I never rush back to them or really feel the need to, considering I haven't listened to a single song off of October Rust or any of their other albums after it was featured months ago. I kind of felt the same way about World Coming Down, although I think I can agree that it's a step down from October Rust. It's definitely a darker, more brooding album, with the interludes painting some dark and interesting pictures. However I don't think they were utilized in a cohesive enough way for me to really get into the album's atmosphere or supposed concept if there is any; some of the transitions out of them are pretty rough sounding. I think that Type O Negative plays to their strengths extremely well and still are one of my favorite Gothic Metal bands behind maybe Tiamat, with the vocals having a ton of range and variety that contribute to the songwriting way more than any other element. The fuzzy, kind of weak sounding production sounds fine for what they were going for in my opinion, as it straddles the gap between their more gloomy but shiny sounding sections and the more dark and chuggy ones. Most songs have a ton of small transitions between the two moods and while I think it sounds great, I didn't necessarily find it compelling for the entire album's runtime.
I'm with Daniel in that the first half of the album is stronger than the second, with the first three "real" tracks (White Slavery, Everyone I Love Is Dead, and Who Will Save The Sane?) sucking me in rather well but the final three "real" tracks (Everything Dies, Pyretta Blaze, and All Hallows Eve) felt like they were overstaying their welcome. "World Coming Down" feels like a bit of a letdown considering its length, but "Creepy Green Light" is easily one of my favorites. I think this'll be another case of me not returning to this band for quite some time, but it's nice to know I can still enjoy some Gothic Metal every now and again.
3.5/4
but I can't help but f3el I'll drop my rating after a few more spins.
Yup, I stand corrected. Origins just doesn't feel like it has the depth or character it needs to really stand out. Easily Saor's weakest album, even though I still enjoy listening to it.
Dropped to a 3.5 from a 4.
These aren't ordered but it was real interesting going through my ratings and seeing how many bands had their breakout album on their 2nd or 3rd instead of their debut. Way more than I imagined, these were some of the most interesting ones I could find without listing any duplicates, since Devin Townsend, Emperor, Ne Obliviscaris, and Ahab would have made the list for me.
- Neptunian Maximalism - Éons (2020)
- Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992)
- Blood Incantation - Starspawn (2016)
- Opeth - Orchid (1995)
- Cryptic Shift - Visitations From Enceladus (2020)
- Stormkeep - Tales of Othertime (2021)
- Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye (2003)
- Altesia - Paragon Circus (2019)
- Epiphanic Truth - Dark Triad: Bitter Psalms to a Sordid Species (2021)
- Herzel - Le dernier rempart (2021)
I listened to this one in 2020 but it wasn't on the site yet, going to have to give it another listen but I remember not being too thrilled by it; I remember it being overly grating for some reason.
July 2022
1. Tony MacAlpine – “Death of Roses” (from “Death of Roses”, 1983)
2. Iron Mask – “Demon's Child” (from “Hordes of the Brave”, 2005)
3. Ambush – “Master of Pain” (from “Firestorm”, 2014) [Submitted by Daniel]
4. HammerFall – “Steel Meets Steel” (from “Glory to the Brave”, 1997)
5. Nocturnal Rites – “Awakening" (from "New World Messiah”, 2004)
6. Corrosion Of Conformity – “Born Again for the Last Time” (from “Wiseblood", 1996)
7. Black Sabbath – “Falling Off the Edge of the World” (from “Mob Rules”, 1981) [Submitted by Sonny]
8. Vitalij Kuprij – “Destination” (from “Extreme Measures”, 1998)
9. Maule – “Maule” (from “Maule", 2022)
10. Sonic Haven – "Vagabond” (from “Vagabond”, 2021)
11. Within Temptation – “Iron” (from “The Unforgiving”, 2011) [Submitted by Andi]
12. Nightwish – “Nemo” (from “Once", 2004)
13. Astral Doors – “Cloudbreaker” (from “Testament of Rock”, 2011)
14. Anvil – “Concrete Jungle” (from “Strength of Steel", 1987)
15. LOUDNESS – “Danger of Love” (from “Soldier of Fortune" 1989)
16. Cirith Ungol – “Master of the Pit” (from “King of the Dead", 1984)
17. Satan – “Luciferic” (from “Earth Infernal", 2022)
18. Wizard – “The Powergod" (from “Odin”, 2003)
19. Stratovarius – “Infinity" (from “Infinite”, 2010)
20. Warmen – “First of the Five Elements” (from “First of the Five Elements”, 2015)
21. Tyr – “Nine Worlds of Lore” (from “The Lay of Thrym”, 2011)
22. Iced Earth - "The Hunter" (from "The Dark Saga", 1996)
23. Nite - "Heliopolis" (from "Voices of the Kronian Moon", 2022)
24. The Ferrymen - "The Last Ship" (from "One More River to Cross", 2022)
I just began listening to Origins this morning and despite having many of the same issues as you Sonny, Saor ended up winning me over with this one. The shorter tracks definitely leave something to be desired when compared to his previous songwriting progressions and atmospheres, the "extreme" side of his music is FULLY gone on Origins compared to the half and half of Forgotten Paths, and the folk elements do feel a bit phoned in...but Folk Metal done well is such a rarity for me that I can't help but give this album praise for managing to be a more Folk-centric album that I've immediately wanted to come back to. It's definitely shallower than his previous work, with a lot of the album's progression coming from individual song transitions rather than having a full experience packed into a 20 minute track, but I still found myself really enjoying the full album experience despite all the criticisms I can make. Saor fanboying has won again, but I can't help but f3el I'll drop my rating after a few more spins.
I should be fine with the Guardians playlist and such, I'll make sure to PM you if something comes up, thanks for asking
If it wasn't already apparent I'm going to be on a "hiatus" for a few months. I think I mentioned that I have an engineering exam coming up and now that it's 4 months out I've been buckling down and found out that there's no way my brain can handle learning all this new crap as well as thinking critically about music for reviews. I'll still be listening to a ton of music but I doubt I'll be penning too much stuff until this is all over with.
Inanna - Void of Unending Depths (2022)
Chile continues to deliver with some excellent Death Metal that leans towards the progressive side of things, exactly how I like it. Very close to being a perfect example of the kind of Death Metal I'm most interested in, but the riffs and percussion lacks some punch from the mixing and production sometimes. Definitely interested in checking out their 2012 and 2008 albums as well, these guys might be one hell of a hidden gem.
Interesting way of doing it; an easy way to pull random albums definitely keeps it exciting. I'm sure I can speak for the rest of the frequent posters here that it's great to hear that the feature releases have been making their way into your collection, good luck!
July
Blut Aus Nord - "Keziah Mason" from Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses
Vehemence - "Au Blason Brule" from Ordalies
Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain (2022)
Never thought I'd be around these parts, but here we are I suppose. Even though the guttural vocals still rub me the wrong way sometimes, I've gotten a ton out of Artificial Brain's self-titled after a few initially rocky listens. Eventually it opened up and I've been enjoying my time with it as it's a swirling mess of chaotic passages and more than a few punchy riffs here and there. I'm surprising even myself with this one considering I really didn't like Artificial Brain's previous release. I don't think this is the start of something new for me, but I'm glad I'm starting to find a few albums in this genre that I genuinely enjoy, and I'm looking forward to spinning this one more throughout the rest of the year.
4/5
As I'm familiar with most of these releases, I feel like I have to try and take a shot at this I guess. Pagan Black Metal has always been a pretty useless tag for me personally; whenever I see it I assume it's going to be some slightly more lo-fi Black Metal with a ton of tremolo progression with a lot of the melody coming from acoustic or other folky instruments. The fact that Paganism is attributed to the lyrics or themes never really did much to transform the music for me, as conventional Black Metal can commonly be (anti) religious in nature to begin with. I'm up for the discussion because to me Pagan Black Metal is on the heavier side of the spectrum spectrum of Folk Metal, leaning more towards traditional or atmospheric Black Metal songwriting styles while still using more traditional instruments or melodies and relishing in a more triumphant sound. Just like all other subgenres have their extremes, Pagan Black Metal is the opposite side of the coin to the Folk Metal that has people frolicking around at a Ren Faire with two pints of ale in their hand. I consider it to have a traditional or Atmospheric Black Metal primary and a Folk Metal secondary, not its own thing.
It definitely requires some experimentation because it obviously doesn't work the same for each of the Clan's playlists.
I absolutely wouldn't use the same methodology if I was doing the playlists for The North or The Infinite; there's something about cheesy and bombastic Power/Symphonic Metal that feels more corny than usual if it's slotted in-between some Judas Priest or Iron Maiden.