Daniel's Forum Replies
Glenn Branca - "The Ascension" (1981)
I didn't like Branca's 1980 "Lesson No. 1" E.P. much but this debut full-length is excellent, both highly creative & experimental yet still aesthetically pleasing. Sure, it's use of dissonance can be a factor for some listeners but there can be no doubt about the influence that Glenn had on the music scene that was to come. You'll be able to pick up clear examples of where some of the most celebrated artists in musical history have borrowed (at best) from "The Ascension", from Primus to Sonic Youth to Swans to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Hell, the closing title track is pretty much the blueprint for the entire post-rock movement! This is a highly rewarding musical experience if you can handle the more cerebral approach to experimental noise rock.
For fans of Sonic Youth, Swans & This Heat.
4/5
I've mentioned that I can't even get behind Filosofem the way I used to. I might as well post that review on the Atmo Black thread if I haven't done so already. It IS Filosofem.
"Filosofem" is my second favourite metal album of all time. Every second of it is perfect as far as I'm concerned.
Oh, I see my mistake now. Sorry. I read it differently.
My wife is on the mend now & I should be back at work tomorrow. She's had a really tough run though.
On the positive, I was surprised with a two-day visit to the Hunter Valley wine region on the way down to Sydney to see family to celebrate my 50th birthday last week. All of my Sydney & Newcastle based friends (including Ben & his wife) showed up & we had a brilliant couple of days, highlighted by a spectacular lunch at the legendary Bistro Molines. Then we continued down to Sydney where we stayed for five or six days. Just got back late yesterday to prepare for a brief two-day work stint before the Xmas break.
Really fucking pumped to watch the Aussies demolish the Poms in the remainder of the Third Ashes Test this morning. Enormously gratifying.
I watching a light-weight American Xmas movie called "My Secret Santa" last night & it was exactly as predictable & dull as I expected it to be.
I just finished 1985's first book in this highly praised sci-fi series & really fucking enjoyed it. In fact, I've actually taken away some learnings that I'll draw upon as a leader at work which was a lovely surprise. Great stuff & I'm really looking forward to tackling the next novel in the series.
I'm a big fan of "Dead as Dreams" although I do find it to be a touch overrated by the Americans as I don't think it's quite as classic as it's often made out to be. It's certainly a very solid & highly enjoyable black metal record though. I've not too sure it should qualify as ABM. It's always seemed closer to conventional black metal to my ears. 4/5
This one is already tagged under Groove Metal exclusively Andi. Did you mean to have it added to The Revolution & got your words back the front?
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
https://metal.academy/hall/619
For the record, I don't recall much of a folk metal feel to this one so I'm voting NO on this occasion.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi as it's clearly required in my opinion.
Andi, I've passed "Ravenheart" uncontested & have created a Hall entry for "Salomé: The Seventh Veil":
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
I've passed these two nominations uncontested Andi.
I really struggle with "Arntor", as well as Windir's next couple of albums to be honest. I guess I'm simply not the intended audience for these guys.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
I've passed these two nominations uncontested Andi.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
I've just added these three nominations Andi:
https://metal.academy/hall/601
https://metal.academy/hall/602
https://metal.academy/hall/603
For the record, I'm well across "Parallel Minds" & I don't think there's enough Power Metal there to command a second primary genre tag.
Andi, I've passed the first nomination & added the second to the Hall of Judgement.
Cruciform - "Paradox" demo (1995)
This relatively unknown two-song demo tape is a real treat for underground doom/death fans & is, in fact, one of my all-time favourite releases from the genre overall. Cruciform were arguably the best extreme metal band in Sydney when I first started playing gigs with Neuropath around 1993 & I very quickly found myself idolizing them while becoming friends with their guitarist Leon Kelly who worked at my local record store. They definitely influenced me in a number of ways over the next four or five years & also played a role in my eventual defection from Neuropath to western Sydney doom/death outfit Elysium in 1997. Their 1993 "Atavism" E.P. was pretty decent but it's this wonderful cassette that best showcases the creative potential that Cruciform offered, eventually resulting in them receiving attention from overseas labels like Earache Records. Unfortunately, they split up just when they were on the cusp of taking the next level though. Although the production & performances on "Paradox" aren't perfect, the song-writing is brilliant with second track "Gutter" sitting amongst my favourite doom/death tracks off all time. See what you think.
For fans of Hearse, Sorrow & Delerium.
4.5/5
This one might fit the criteria Rex:
Dornenreich - “Her von welken Nächten” (2001)
Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity - "Streetnoise" (1969)
It took me a couple of listens to truly appreciate 1969's double sophomore album from this talented group of collaborators. I'd probably describe their sound as being progressive jazz-rock with the striking vocals of Driscoll & the well-executed organ work of Auger being the main focal points. The deeper moments are great while there are also a few really interesting cover versions that take a totally different direction to the originals. Thoroughly recommended.
For fans of Soft Machine, The Moody Blues & early Deep Purple.
4/5
Amon Amarth - "Twilight of the Thunder God" (2008)
The seventh & most well-known full-length from these Swedish Viking worshippers is one of their best releases in my opinion & I get a little more out of it than I do most other melodic death metal records. The tracklisting is still pretty hit & miss but, on this occasion, we find that the highlights are strong enough to carry the weaker inclusions with the opening title track being one of my favourite melodeath tracks. The song structures are very simple so it's all about whether Amon Amarth can hit that melodic sweet spot or not & they do as often as not. The heavier cuts are unsurprisingly where my personal preferences lie though.
For fans of Dethklok, King of Asgard & Unleashed.
3.5/5
Uuummmm... anyone else (other the Ben) loving the Ashes so far? I didn't think so.
My weekend was made extra great by my Detroit Pistons having another two wins to see us maintaining our position at the top of the Eastern conference on 19-5. I'm not gonna get ahead of myself as I'm well aware that the Western conference is far stronger & we're only a third of the way through a long season but I'm pretty confident that we'll make more of a dent in the playoffs than we did last year. I'm not sure I can see us beating Western heavyweights like Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, LA Lakers or Houston Rockets in a seven-match series yet though.
Season 4 of "Morning Wars" started off a little slow but really got going by the end. I've quite enjoyed it.
My wife has been very unwell for more than two weeks now, culminating in her being hospitalized for the last two days & nights. I've been home from work in order to look after the kids which hasn't been a drama but I'm really hoping that she comes good soon because the poor woman has endured more than enough health concerns over the last couple of years.
I've really enjoyed my first novel from this American crime author & screenplay writer. The twists are well constructed & the storyline is quite original. I might be back for more from Megan at some point.
^^^ This one is definitely on my radar as I'm a big Blut aus Nord fan.
Grand Funk - "Grand Funk" (1969)
The 1969 sophomore album from Michigan's Grand Funk Railroad (or simply Grand Funk as they were known at the time) is an absolute beauty that features a noticeably gritty psychedelic hard rock sound & a timeless production job that leaves all of the different elements sounding warm & well separated. The bluesy vocals of drummer Don Brewer & guitarist Mark Farner are exceptional here with some sections giving me the strong impression that a young Rob Halford may have been paying close attention to this record. It's a big call but I'd take "Grank Funk" over "Led Zeppelin II" these days & it's not all that far behind "Led Zeppelin I" either.
For fans of Uriah Heep, Blue Öyster Cult & early Scorpions.
4/5
Avenged Sevenfold - "City of Evil" (2005)
I have to admit that I took my first few listens to an Avenged Sevenfold record this week & quickly discovered that a) I don't think I've ever heard a single song by them in my life & b) I can easily understand why as they are clearly none of my business. "City of Evil" apparently saw them moving away from the melodic metalcore sound of their earlier records with this third full-length seeing the Californians playing with a proggy heavy metal sound that's often infiltrated by a European power metal influence. "City of Evil" is also a dreadfully commercialized slab of metal with the awful backing vocals & cheesy power metal guitar melodies doing nothing for me whatsoever. The vocals of front man M. Shadows are a tall ask for me too as he seems to want to channel Mike Patton's whiny higher register delivery but can't pull it off sufficiently which leaves it sitting pretty uncomfortably over this material. Thankfully, the instrumentalists are seriously good musicians & the record is very well produced which enables songs like "Blinded in Chains", "Betrayed" & the clear album highlight "Bat Country" to dig their teeth in but the rest of the tracklisting does very little for me, particularly the horrendous ballad "Seize the Day" & the woeful chorus of "Strength of the World". I guess Avenged Sevenfold simply aren't for me, at least not in this format.
For fans of Trivium, Bullet for My Valentine & Alter Bridge.
2.5/5
If they had swapped "Police Truck" for "Drug Me" it would be even better though.
I completely agree with that idea as "Drug Me" doesn't do much for me.
Rhythm & Sound - "w/ the Artists" (2003)
A stunning dub record that I picked up on CD at the time of release after stumbling upon it due to its associations with the dub techno scene. It's as deep & stripped back as a motherfucker & features some unbelievable vocal contributions from guest contributors which makes "w/ the Artists" one of my all-time favourite reggae AND chillout releases.
For fans of Basic Channel, Maurizio & Deepchord.
4.5/5
Pogrom - "A Dream of Nightful Silence" demo (1995)
This three-piece doom/death outfit hit the Sydney scene around a year after my own band Neuropath started playing gigs. They hailed from the Blue Mountains area which is west of Sydney & was somewhat of a hot-spot for interest in metal at the time. Pogrom were built around the Dyer brothers (vocalist/bassist Beau & drummer Neil) & when they released this demo tape & I think they were only 14-16 years old from memory. They'd change their moniker to Across the Scarlet Moat shortly afterwards & would release a couple of other underground recordings under that name. I'd go on to play in another doom/death band with Beau (Grenade/Innsmouth/Lord Kaos) around 1997 called Elysium (later changed to Stone Wings) & knew him quite well.
"A Dream of Nightful Silence" certainly isn't the most accomplished recording but it does show Pogrom to have their own style, even at such an early point in their careers. While they fit into the doom/death subgenre based purely on the triple vocal attack which blends cleans with a Jeff Walker-style higher register delivery & some very deep death growls, the instrumentation is more organic & much less dense than death metal, reminding me more of traditional doom metal acts like Pentagram only with a distinctly folky slant to it that hints at a black metal influence. Neil's (Elysium/Grenade/Innsmouth/Murkrat/Sacriphyx/Stone Wings) drumming is really quite bouncy & rocky which ensures that Pogrom never sound too crushingly doomy either which is to the releases detriment in my opinion. He's a pretty accomplished drummer for a young teenager though. I think the guitars of Own Richards (Decayed Divinity) could have been louder too which would have given Pogrom a heavier sound.
This material doesn't do a lot for me these days to be honest & it'll be interesting to see how the Across the Scarlet Moat demo compares when I finally get around to revisiting it.
For fans of Across the Scarlet Moat, Katatonia & Anathema.
2.5/5