Band: Impending Doom
Album: The Sin And Doom Vol. II
Genre: Deathcore
Rating: 8.5/10
First off, apologies for this not getting to y'all till 7 am, I'm usually better than this. Just got home from work though, which highlights why I need to get back in the habit of writing up posts a day or so in advance, haha
This is a very good album, but it's not the best that Impending Doom has put out. I would go so far to say that it's the second best, but that's my personal preference talking, I happened to enjoy Baptized In Filth the most.
The album is really quite solid, with a lot of tracks I feel stand apart from their regular sound. Some of my personal favorites are Everything's Fake, War Music, Run For Your Life (She Calls), and The Serpents Tongue. The thing about Impending Doom though are their fantastic breakdowns. This album has some fantastic ones in it, though off the top of my head I can't remember the specific songs that I had stand out to me outside of the riffs in Unbroken, another fantastic track.
I stand by what I said about Everything's Fake too, I know some people I know were saying it sounded too generic, but I liked it a lot. That's what I'm saying about the album though, it's maybe not the most creative work they've done, but it's super tight and appropriately heavy. I'm a fan at least. Honestly if you're a fan of Deathcore it'll probably be a hit for ya.
I'll try and expand on this after I've gotten a couple hours of sleep, I'll get back to ya.
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Artist: Ghost
Album: Prequelle
Release Date: June 1, 2018
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 8/10
As much as I like Kanye, I will say that this album is the much stronger release of June 1st.
Ghost has had a bit of a wild last year, what with Papa Emeritus getting exposed as his real life self, old band members suing over a selection of reasons, along with some other stuff.
What is comforting to hear though, is that none of these issues harmed the album. It's honestly a quite nice album to showcase Ghost, the continuation of their new sound, and a hint at the more theatrical direction the band may be taking.
We have 2 instrumental tracks in here by the way, which is probably the biggest switch up from Meliora. Both Miasma and Helvetesfönster are some highlights of the album too, with Miasma rocking a bomb freaking saxophone solo. I honestly never expected to hear saxophone on a Ghost track, so kudos guys.
If you're looking for a song that rocks a darker tone, you wanna listen to Faith. Faith keeps it much more in line with classic Ghost themes as well, so don't miss out on that. There's some chugging elements, and the vocal work is just haunting enough.
Last track I'll highlight is Dance Macabre. I actually hated this one when I first heard it as a single. It seemed really different from Rats, and I wasn't down with that. Since listening more though I've noticed that it's basically the perfect reinvention of the Classic Rock sound. If somebody wants to bring back the genre sounding like Dance Macabre I'd be ok with that.
I'm gonna rate this an 8/10, because while it's a great album I know a lot of people (myself included) who were hoping for a slightly darker album. It's still great, but the general tone is much more Rock & Roll than I had anticipated.
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Artist: Kanye West
Album: Ye
Release Date: June 1st, 2018
Genre: Rap, Hip Hop
Rating: 7/10
The hot take is that I really enjoy this album. I wasn't sure out the gate what I was going to get either. Would I get an album full of tracks like Ye vs The People? Would I get happy little tunes like Lift Yourself? Turns out I got neither of these things.
From songs that deal with heavier topics like I Thought About Killing You and Yikes, to more introspective pieces like Wouldn't Leave the album just flows from track to track in a really smooth way. It has some good old school Kanye vibes going on without actually feeling like pandering to the crowd that likes old Kanye.
I Thought About Killing You has the feeling of a skit off of some Tech N9ne album. Up till the harder beat kicks in later I could almost see this as something Tech breaks up an album with, or maybe off of Kanye's MBDTF. It's for sure the darkest track on the album though, which bums me out a little since dark Kanye tracks are some of my favorite to get down to.
Ghost Town is a bit of a highlight for me, cause we get some of the singing Kanye that you don't always get to see highlighted, though No Mistakes is pretty cool as well since it gives you a little glimpse into Ye's personal life. Violent Crimes takes a similar vein to No Mistakes, though rather than being directed toward Kim it's for his daughters.
I feel like a lot of this album is showing a turn to Kanye's attitude, but I suppose we'll see as things go on. The start is deffinetly devoted to him showcasing some of his problems, and as we wrap up with heartfelt messages. I'm excited to see what direction Kanye goes on in the future.
Long story short. Is this album perfect? No. Not even close. I liked it a lot, but it's not without flaws. It feels too short, and it has an absence of songs that feel like long term singles. Ghost Town will probably stand tall (not just because it was my favorite), as might Yikes. We'll see as times goes on though.
It's only 23 minutes long, so feel free to give the tracks a listen. It'll take up so little of your day, and you might find you found something you like. Be sure to read the lyrics along with the music to get the best impact. Violent Crimes is much more meaningful when listened to that way at least.
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Band: Deadhorse
Album: Crescendo
Release Date: August 28th, 2017
Genre: Post Rock, Punk Rock
Rating: 8.5/10
Bandcamp: deadhorse.bandcamp.com
We’re about to kick off the “Week Of Evil” tomorrow, but I didn’t want to slam right into that this year. Instead I want to give us a calm before the storm, and for that I can’t think of a better album that Crescendo by Deadhorse.
See, we’re not just gonna review it though, we’re gonna have an interview with one of the band members. You may or may not remember him as the artist of literally all of my tattoos, the one and only Jess Scutella.
Noah: Jess, how’re you doing today?
Jess: I am feeling creepy. I am feeling long. I am feeling wild and driven, depressed and annoyed. A lot of things on my plate and a lot more to come, but I am doing well. How are you?!
N: Not too bad at all man. So tell us a little about yourself, what do you do?
J: I found it is easiest to just rattle crap off like a grocery list:
I just love life and chase it to all ends of the Earth. I know that sounds egotistical, but it is what it is.
N: Nah man, that's the best way to list off what you're up to at this point, and that's a solid mission of sorts as well. So after we talked a couple weeks ago I finally checked out Deadhorse’s album. Gotta say, it wasn’t really what I was expecting from you with that Punk Rock background you have going on. What’s the inspiration behind Crescendo?
J: Now, to be honest, I didn’t do any of the writing for this album, but this album was meant to be the antithesis to the wall of sound out right now. The calm before the storm...but it is the storm, too. All previous albums were action and movement, loud statements. This one we wanted to be a whisper to a god. Now, I get poetic too easily, but truly the album is a collection of a lot emotions and years of repose. This is our first album in some time, my friend.
Further, we wanted to redefine punk-rock, even post-rock. Listen to the album. It is meant to be listened to loudly.
N: It was super freaking chill, not gonna lie. I was expecting some drums to kick in at some point, but the whole thing was just really floaty. With my prior expectations it made it a borderline tense experience.
J: Honestly, there is rage. There is hurt and confusion. There are upturns and chaos, but you have to listen to it fully. Sometimes, full-bodied albums can miss the target. We wanted something with no ego, just bare bones. When you listen to Satie, Bach, and Beethoven you feel a flurry of emotions, no? Surely, these are the gods of classical, but they were punks, they were revolutionary and wanted change to be heard in their music. We wanted to emulate that, in the smallest form. We believe this was achieved. We believe Crescendo is a punk album. We want you to feel the world change as you listen.
N: One of those times when it’s like, punk in attitude, even if not in conventional style? Love it. So you guys were supposed to tour China for a few months. Actually you were supposed to be gone right now, what ended up happening there?
J: Ah, yes. This was a huge upset for not only us, but our fans and the company we were working with. It was a very convoluted arrangement, but I will try my best to simplify it here. We haven’t toured professionally in nearly 5 years. So the tour offer from China was huge for us. We spent months rewriting songs, prepping a long, live performance, and organizing the tour itself. However, there was communication problems with the manager in China. Be it language barriers or cultural differences, we just couldn’t get the necessary info we needed at the appropriate times. It was frustrating and scary. China is an extremely bureaucratic country, it requires detailed personal information, trackable travel itinerary, and evidence of housing just to visit the place. It was that exact information that we required to get the proper visas and we did not get it in time, sadly.
I say these things while not blaming the manager, but just drawing attention to the fact that tours, especially internationally, can be extremely stressful, difficult, and expensive for both bands and managers.
N: That sucks man, that would have been a fantastic experience. On the plus side though, you guys still have this the full rework you’ve put together, in addition to an emotionally powerful album. As a heads up to anybody interested, you can buy this album on Bandcamp at the link provided in a name your price fashion. It’s worth at least a listen, but please consider supporting local music and buying it.
Jess, you have anything you want to close with?
J: Life is Beautiful. Watch that movie.
Check out and support your damn local scene. Appreciate and love the bands that bring you the music they do. Often times it is the only thing keeping them going in their lives.
Also, be active politically. Vote locally, write to your representatives and realize your dollar is a voting system. Be aware of what you buy.
Lastly, listen to more XTC, Johnny Cash, and Bowie.
N: Thanks man, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me here.
You can find Jess, his tattoos and his ramblings, on instagram as @MrScutella or online at strangeoperators.com. Take some time to treat yourself to his poetry and art, it’s worth your time.
Artist: NF
Album: Perception
Release Date: October 6th, 2017
Genre: Rap, Hip Hop
Rating: 8.5/10
So yeah, the new NF album! I don't follow NF nearly as close as I'd like to, so I actually had missed the release date for this album. Thanks to creeping on my friends though, I saw one of them listening to the new album on Spotify and managed to catch up then.
So I've probably listened through the whole album like 4 times by now just kinda having it on in the background and I really don't have a complaint with it. If I had to pick something I'd change, I would probably shuffle up his beats a little. Because most of his beats end up sounding really similar all his albums have a very consistent sound. Consistency isn't a bad thing by any means, but I don't love his beats in the same way I like some other people's, so I'd love a little bit of a changeup.
NF's music follows a trend that I love, depressed. I don't mean to imply it's good to be a depressed artist (gonna be talking about that in a few days actually), but I personally enjoy melancholy music as a general rule.
The album follows some pretty traditional themes for NF. There's a lot of anger and frustration at different things going on in his life which is a common theme in his music. When he switches over to the more mellow songs though I'm a huge fan of what he's got going on. The music behind them is really slick and I feel like he's managing to keep the same kind of emotion of his past albums.
Some of my personal favorite tracks are Intro III, Outcast, 10 Feet Down, Let You Down, Destiny, Remember This, and Outro. Especially Intro III, it's narrative is really hard hitting and makes you think about what he's feeling. Honestly that's what a lot of the album feels like. He talks about struggling through the last year and it's told in a way that I would hope make people a little more open to the struggles of being an emotionally compromised person in a spotlight. Maybe that's the wrong takeaway, but that's what I'm getting.
The other songs I just really love because they either go hard like Outcast and Destiny, or because they're just amazingly good like Let You Down.
I don't know why, but Let You Down is really rising up as my very favorite track of the album. I like a lot of the other ones more initially, but the feelings behind this one just hit me.
I'm gonna go ahead and rate this 8.5/10. Lyrically he's slick, but I would like a slight variation in some of his beats. That's about my only thing though, and when it comes down to it that's not a big complaint at all.
Listen to it all the way through, it's only an hour of your day. Spread that out a little and it's no time at all.
Band: Septicflesh
Album: Codex Omega
Release Date: September 1st, 2017
Genre: Symphonic Death Metal
Rating: 9/10
I was rather excited to see that Septicflesh had finally dropped a new album. I've been waiting for this since the "good but not great" release that was Titan back in 2014.
I've gotta say, I'm incredibly happy with where they went musically in this album compared to Titan. The music is a lot riff heavier, but it doesn't sacrifice any of the edge that the orchestra gave it either. Right out the gate we start with Dante's Inferno and it's very very SF traditional orchestra work. However, this is also a song that allows a very important part of the band to shine. The new drummer.
I'm Not trying to blow smoke either, so I went and re-listened to chunks of Titan and The Great Mass (one of my all time favorite albums) to check drum differences. Good lord it's night and day. Not only is this drummer just... better, he's also mixed better than the last one.
That's honestly a lot of my takeaway from this release, they are much better at mixing tracks than they used to be. The orchestra isn't as overpowering and the drums are rather present. My only issue with them honestly is the vocalist doesn't sound as demonic as he used to. He still does at times, but for the most part he seems to have changed the way he screams and it's not as horrific.
One of the things I love about these guys is the fact that they are just dark. Dark music is something I've fallen in love with over the last few years and Septicflesh has delivered on such great, emotion filled content for me in that regard that as long as their new music doesn't sound anything like Sumerian Demons or Ophidian Wheel era Septicflesh I'll be happy.
That isn't to say this isn't a good release though. Technically and musically it's a much grander piece than Titan. Thematically it's incredibly different from The Great Mass as well, and I feel that was a good choice. If they had tried to keep the same sound I don't think it would have worked any better than Titan had.
So I want to give you standout tracks like I generally would, but I just can't here, there's too many good ones to narrow it down fairly. That being said, some of my favorites include Enemy Of Truth, Dark Art, Portrait Of A Headless Man, and Faceless Queen. While the whole album is worth the about 50 minutes it takes to listen to you should at least check out those 4 and the title track.
All in all I give this release a very strong 9. I look forward to becoming more familiar with it as the week rolls on.
Band: Stone Sour
Album: Hydrograd
Genre: Metal
Release Date: June 30th, 2017
Well let's start out right off the bat here, Corey Taylor's voice sounds fantastic on this album. Quitting smoking has treated him incredibly well.
Also I still dislike the greaser they picked up as the new guitarist, Christian Martucci. Not just because he's a man who simultaneously looks like the singer from Theory Of A Deadman while also needing to let go of the 40s, but because I'm suspicious he had a hand in the butchery of the solo in their Creeping Death cover. I understand Josh Rand is a huge fan of Metallica and I really hope he isn't the one that gave me this absolutely trash solo that just felt like it was about hitting all the notes, regardless of if they were in key or not.
That being said, this album is actually really solid. While I enjoy the edge that Jim Root brought to the group, the difference between Slipknot and Stone Sour is a lot bigger now. It's been pretty prominent for a while, but the early albums had a couple songs that could have been traded back and forth easily enough, and House Of Gold & Bones had one or two as well.
Listening to this album I'm kinda picking up what Corey had been hyping it as. He was talking about how the album was "flat out Rock ‘n’ Roll in its best form", and I get that vibe from a lot of it. There's a very different feeling to this album than there was to any of the others. There's more songs that are low key, and there's less angry songs in general. I mean there's some really obvious examples of solid old school SS songs, but one the whole it's just more subdued than previous work.
While I did trash on their new guitarist for that Creeping Death solo, his work on this album is pure gold. I may not have liked a couple of the songs here and there, but I can't deny that the guitar work was amazing across the board. The band has really hit a solid groove with this album that I was worried they wouldn't hit again.
The Tracks:
After that intro track we hit Taipei Person/Allah Tea, and while it grooves in a different way than other Stone Sour tracks of the past I can't actually say that it's bad. It's a solid new step in their sound that actually is managing to get me excited about the band again; something I lost with the back to back cover albums.
The album starts out really strong in this way. It's clear that they put their songs that sound more typical to their sound closer to the beginning to make sure to draw you in and "trick" you into liking the rest of the album. Let's be real, fans are brutal when it comes to bands "having the nerve" to change their traditional sound. I mean heck, the intro riff to the song Hydrograd even sounds similar to Absolute Zero for a second to help make that bridge feel stronger. Not for long, but that initial walk is there for sure.
Song #3, which is actually the 5th song on the album is one I don't like as much. I heard it as one of the singles released for the album a while ago and I gotta be honest, in my mind it sealed Stone Sour's doom to the radio rock folder of music, and that made me really sad. Listening to it in the context of the rest of the album I know it was definitely made to be one of the radio singles, but happily, it doesn't reflect the rest of the album as a whole.
Fabuless is a very classic sound for sure. I feel like it's a really good song to have put after Song #3 to make sure they don't lose people who are listening through the album. The harmonies and song structure are incredibly reminiscent of House of Gold & Bones 1 & 2. Outside of lyrical differences I could see them getting put in as one of the tracks there.
Don't get your nostalgia hats on too quick though, cause we switch back to the newer sound in The Witness Trees. It's not the radio feel of #3, but it's not as typical a Stone Sour song as say, track 3, Knievil Has Landed.
Rose Red Violent Blue (This Song Is Dumb & So Am I). What a title. Dude. The song is ok, but also another one that's solid for radio, but not much else in my opinion. I find it's musical theme to be a little all over the place.
Thank God It's Over is a good one though. It's a rather straightforward tune, but not like, in a bad way. It feels like a placeholder that's supposed to sit toward the end of the album and, go figure, that's where it sits. For what it is, it's a good song.
St. Marie on the other hand is... Acoustic. Not in a good way like Bother, some of the crappy songs on Come What(ever) May, or anything like that. It's like, a country song. Corey's voice fits it well, but I feel like the song has no place on the album. It could be a bonus track on some special edition, or like, just a song Corey plays on his book tours, just not here.
Mercy grants us it's aptly named mercy in getting us far away from the track that shouldn't be here. It has that heavy bass line groove that Stone Sour uses so well and even though I'm not a huge fan of the flow of the vocals in this song it fits in with the new album's tone very well.
Whiplash Pants worried me at first with how low it starts out, but it manages to pull back into their classic heavy sound again. It highlights something I'm really not sure of for the album though, so many of the songs have an into that I feel doesn't really fit the rest of the song. I'm fine with contrasting intros, but there's just so many of them on this album.
That scratchy raspy lead tone on Friday Knights is dope though. The verse pulls back down again to the clean sound, but while the song is up it holds it's own as one of my favorite tracks on the album.
Somebody Stole My Eyes is probably the angriest song on the album. Check out the into up till about the 30 second point. It's all go go go but then Corey says the word "stop" and it feels like the song just takes a breath. It's so slick, just a solid piece of work in general.
When The Fever Broke is the last track and SS decides to leave you on a sad note. The track is a little ethereal with a haunting guitar lead that kinda floats through it. It's a really bold move to end on that I'm glad they did. For people like me that went into the album expecting to hate it the song helps end me on a song that's a heavier dose of the new than the old, bringing the whole experience together. The structure of the album just feels like it was leading to this point, and then it rounds off really well.
As far as angry songs go, all we really have on the album are Fabuless, Whiplash Pants, and Somebody Stole My Eyes. Heck, they aren't even angry the whole way through like their old school angry tunes. That's not bad since the first album was probably the only album they released that was all hard, but it's the sound I associate with them a lot.
The Wrap-up:
Long story short, I suppose if you're looking for "old" Stone Sour, you're probably gonna be disappointed. It's not like their old stuff, this is a new face for the group. I'm not mad though, I think this is a solid direction for them. While I'll miss the brutal material of the first album, the edge of the concept albums, and the sheer enjoyability of Come What(ever) May, I think this is the right path for these guys to take. It makes sense with how Corey is getting older that he wouldn't try to keep up with 2 really intense bands at once, and if he's gonna calm down somewhere it would be here. And the most important part of that is that they didn't totally sell out to do it.
There's a few tracks I wouldn't have put on here, but as a new path for the band I guess I'm not really mad about it. It's a package deal and, when it comes down to it, it's not all bad. I don't even think I really missed Jim Root by the end of the album, it all worked together really well.
It's a solid album that's worth a listen, so go ahead and give it an hour of your time.
Band: Fit For An Autopsy
Album: The Great Collapse
Genre: Deathcore
Language: Strong
I'm aware that since this album came out on the 17th I'm a little behind to really be reviewing it, but screw that. I wanted to take the time to listen to the album and since I'm not paid to blog that went a little on the back burner.
I'm really bummed that I took so long to really check this album out though, as it really adds a really strong entry to their catalogue.
I wasn't super excited about these guys when I first saw them. I remember when they hit the stage I just assumed they were gonna be another generic Deathcore band. To be totally honest, I wasn't wrong. They are mostly what you'd assume your standard issue Deathcore band would sound. The issue is that not many bands of the genre manage to meet the bare minimum of what they need to do. Fit For An Autopsy manages to not only meet this level, but surpass it.
There's some tracks on this album really stand out to me. Heads Will Hang, which was their big reveal song that I featured here before, is just good. I love the riff that goes through the song, it makes me really happy.
And Iron Moon. Freaking Iron Moon man, that song is so fantastic. When I heard it start I immediately saved it. So freaking good.
Yo, the chorus on Black Mammoth? That gang vocal choir thing? I can have more of that in my Metal anytime you wanna give it to me. It wasn't overused in the song or anything, it was there just enough to add a really awesome element to the song. It lifted it up from a good song to a great song.
Then there's Empty Still. It's all chill and ambient for a lot of it, but the vocals stay harsh. They don't make the mistake of trying to sneak a clean singing song into what they do because they know that's not what their fans are after. Especially after the fiasco that was the Suicide Silence fanbase reaction.
All in all I rate this album a really solid 8/10. I've been really bummed out recently with the fact that none of my favorite artists have been releasing anything much, but then this gets dropped straight on my head. Really good Deathcore guys, props to you. It's only 40 minutes to listen through it, so do yourself a favor and check it out.
Band: KoĐŻn
Genre: Nu-Metal
Album: The Serenity Of Suffering
Rank: 9 out of 10
Yo yo yo, album review!
So Korn dropped their new album on October 21st. I was stupid busy at the time and was teasing the idea of Nu-Vember so I thought I'd wait till now. Well here we go, Album time.
Let's kick it in the style of the 2015 A to Z Challenge and pick strengths and weaknesses.
Strong songs? Yo, we can't ignore Rotting In Vain if we're talking strong. It was the first single they released and it was basically everything that Korn fans wanted to see. There was a mountain of the old sound to it and then right as you didn't think it could get any better you get slapped in the face with the crazed beatboxing segment a la Twist but like, way better. None of my friends knew what to do when this song hit, it was the old school Korn sound with modern mixing making it sound good.
I feel like there's only one song on the album that I just don't care for as much is the song with Corey Taylor of Slipknot. It's not bad, but I feel like it was hands down the weakest single that was released and just didn't life up to what I had assumed Corey would deliver on. It wasn't a bad song, I just thought it could be better.
Some other songs to make a point to check out though would be The Hating (very classic Issues vibe to it almost), Next In Line (got some good old DJ noises here), When You're Not There (just generally solid), and Black Is The Soul. All of these are probably my favorites on the album, but it's all crazy solid.
The best thing? They delivered on their promise, no Dubstep sounds. I loved The Path Of Totality, but it wasn't as good a Korn album as it was a remix album for songs didn't have original versions if that makes sense.
This album is exactly what Korn needed to get back up there. Paradigm Shift was good, but it had a lot of flops on it like Hater, Never Never, Paranoid & Aroused, and some others. This album has their old edge while getting a modern twist to it of actually having well mixed music behind the vocals.
If we can get a resurgence of classic Nu-Metal sounds like this I will be one happy camper.
Since Rotting In Vain is my favorite track on the album I'm gonna have it be the one that get's featured as a placeholder on the playlist.
Band: Ghost / Ghost B.C.
Album: Meliora
Total Tracks: 10
Release Date: August 21st, 2015
Genre: Rock, Metal
Language: Some tracks
Themes: Satan
First, let's all be happy for Ghost that they finally get to drop the "BC" tag. They've apparently hated it for ages and they got to dump it, so good for them.
Now I know I literally just said that I was gonna be focusing on other music for a while, but I was actually planning on doing this review. Issue was it was released while I really distracted so I missed it. Now lets get onto the review.
My main impression is their music is like Deep Purple, but haunted. I don't really know what I mean by that, but if you're familiar with Deep Purples sound you'll kinda get what I mean.
That bass solo and riff in From The Pinnacle To The Pit is really good. Like, the line itself, the tone, it's all really good. Then the guitar solo kicks in and it ties together as one of my favorite intros on the entire album.
The whole thing is a well put together act with their traditional prominent bass parts and general horror/religious theme. They've got a "new" singer who is "younger and more powerful" than Papa Emeritus II, but in reality is the same singer. It's an amusing trend they have actually. With each album they get a "new" singer who is just the same guy with a new makeup job.
I was actually really surprised the first time I heard them. I was expecting super heavy dark music and it was like, pop metal. Not quite Linkn Park level, but still different then I thought it would be. This album sounds a lot more like what I had original assumed they would sound like.
All of the tracks are really good, so pick a spot and listen. I'd advise From The Pinnacle To The Pit, Cirice, Mummy Dust, Majesty, Absolution or Deus In Absentia.
Heck, the whole album is only 41 minutes. Listening to the whole thing won't even take that much of your day. Definitely listen to From The Pinnacle To The Pit or Cirice though, they're really good.
The much awaited album Special Effects! I've been pretty excited about this for a while now. You know why? We've got both Corey Taylor and Eminem on this. Those two are the collabs that Tech has wanted to do for a while but wasn't able to for whatever reason.
So with my initial listening I'm gonna call this a really solid album. Tech puts out so many albums (on or two a year) I find it a little hard to keep up, but here this is, and I'm actually able to listen to it.
This was released on May 5th, just in case that matters to you.
For real, there's not too many tracks I don't care for. I'm personally not a fan of the skit tracks, but I get that they help set the tone for the next song without messing around with the actual track itself.
Ok, so it might seem like I chose almost every single track off the first half. I didn't, but it's a really good album. It's got a lot of stuff that I really like on it, so no ragrets.
You know what though, I only have a couple artist that I'm legitimately embarrassed that I like, and these guys are one of them. I really want to review this though, cause it's only been out for something like 5 days.
So the first thing you should know is that each album seems to follow a central theme. Even if it seems to lose it at any point you can be sure it'll resurface later.
This album starts out with a much darker sound than most of their other material. The music itself that is, back in the day they started out with some reasonably dark lyrical themes. This is heavy dark sounding synths though, it's a bit different.
After Shock though, the album starts to sound a little different. It takes a slightly more "traditional" path, and is a generally enjoyable experience.
Falling Apart is a weird song.
I think the new Miracles/ Ghetto Rainbows would be the song How. It's got that vibe going on, though it's not nearly as quotable as that immortal phrase "F*cking magnets, how do they work?"
Explosions kinda reminded me of Mushroomhead's song Bwomp, just a little bit.
After that song though it kinda takes a "downhill" path to a more traditional ICP sound.
Flamethrower is reminiscent of Bazooka Joey, but only in subject matter. The song sounds very different, but I suppose it's not too important.
If you like ICP at all, I'd advise you to check this out. I give it a 7.5/10, so not really too bad considering. I feel like their music has actually taken a turn for almost legitimate talent. Bits of this album actually reminded me a bit of Hollywood Undead. Some of their new album reminded me of this too, but we'll talk about that in a week or so.
On February 23 of this year, Carach Angren came out with another Symphonic Black Metal masterpiece.
I wrote the song reviews as I listened to the music, so take into consideration that you are basically reading a live review up till the very end.
Band: Carach Angren
Genre: Symphonic Black Metal
Language: Strong
Caution: Disturbing Themes
Opening up with a small into titled "Once Upon A Time..." that slowly builds in intensity and sounds like the into to a dark telling of Little Red Riding Hood or something like that. However, that is not the direction that this music decides to take.
If anybody is interested, the lyrics are here if you want to read along while you listen. Simply click the song title and it will drop the lyrics down.
We then hit the second track titled "There's No Place Like Home". With the title of the album, I originally anticipated an album that followed the thought path of some of The Grimm Brother's fairy tales. I was very mistaken, considering this song is very much about domestic abuse. It's actually a really dark story the lyrics paint and it borderline makes me uncomfortable with how graphically it describes everything.
At this point it is clear that this is going to be one of the darker narratives Carach Angren has undertaken as we follow the story of a brother and sister.
The next step taken in this dark journey is "When Crows Tick On Windows". The children flee from their abusive home, only to be caught again by their father. After dragging them back home we find that the mother has killed herself rather than live with this life anymore. It has a rather haunting string piece at the end that turns into an emotion laden lament.
"Two Flies Flew Into A Black Sugar Cobweb" brings back the thought of flight from the nightmare house. The children run into the woods and get lost in the night. Fearful, they continue on till dawn when they come across a city and a small playground. Here they meet a man dressed as a clown, who seems to want to help them at first, though it is then revealed that he only wishes to drug and kidnap them.
"Dreaming Of A Nightmare In Eden" takes a mild step away from the main narrative to tell a very dark take on part of the tale of Hansel and Gretel. This is likely a dream brought on by the drugs they were given.
"Possessed By A Craft Of Witchery" opens with the children waking up in a basement. They have been kidnaped by "a deranged psychotic" who hears the voice of a witch in his head. The only way to keep the witch at bay is to kill children in a ritual manner. We close on the death of the boy in this story.
"Killed And Served By The Devil" opens at the end of the last song. The way the killer mutilates the boy is now described from the perspective of the sister, who is restrained in a cage in the same room this is taking place in. After the dismemberment has finished the girl is forced to bury her brother in the back garden. After she finishes burying the boy it is time to clean the kill room. After being told that she will serve as a slave to the killer until the witch calls for her death, it is time to eat. There is quite a thing at the end, which I will let you hear.
"The Witch Perished In Flames" opens on the girl waking in her cage again. Following the murder of her brother she contemplates suicide. However, she realizes that there is naught to be gained through her own death and she makes the commitment to be brave. Taking her chance at the next meal, she kills the man. During the scuffle a fire breaks out and she leaves while the monster burns in his home.
"Tragedy Ever After" begins with Gretel waking. She ran hard into a tree and now is unsure whether she is in the real world or not. Judging by the strange shadowy being calling to her, it would seem she is in purgatory. Seeing as it's purgatory it makes sense that the burned corpse of her brother's killer returns. Or wait, is it? As the song says while the abusive father is shown leaving the room, "The real nightmare continues in reality."
**Going for longest post yet record**
So let's talk for a second. This is a musically solid album. Everything that they do plays to the mood of the setting they are trying to describe. Swelling and falling, the entire album just works.
I will give this a solid 8/10, a definite score for Carach Angren to add to their discography.
I listened to this album all the way through on Wednesday and I'm not sure how obvious it is to you guys, but I definitely felt like I was falling into a dark mood while listening to this. Something about music that has an orchestra in it just tugs at my emotions, and if you read through the lyrics while you listen the whole experience is heightened in a way. I don't mean to sound all emo, it's just what happens.
Still though, I would call this a really good album and worth a listen. If you're not a fan of Metal, check out the first and last track since they're instrumental anyway. It's orchestral with a gritty guitar undertone, so it's obviously good.
So I got the new Cannibal Corpse album a couple days ago and only just realized that it has been out for less than 2 weeks. Review time!
We're gonna do this track by track, but my initial reaction to the album as a whole is that it's another great addition to the lineup of now 13 albums. While I'm not as well versed in their older material as I probably should be, I know at least 2 songs from each album.
Released on September 16th, the album had a lot of hype in the Death Metal community. Even if you aren't a particularly huge fan of CC, you should at least respect what they have added to the scene as a whole.
Known for their questionably lyrics, heavy sound, a the singers massive thigh of a neck, they have been around since 1988 with only 3 members having changed over the course of that time. These guys are solid members of the Metal world.
Some might find their content appalling (a religious group in Russia is currently trying to get them banned for blasphemy) but their personal views on their material "We don't sing about politics. We don't sing about religion...All our songs are short stories that, if anyone would so choose they could convert it into a horror movie. Really, that's all it is. We like gruesome, scary movies, and we want the lyrics to be like that. Yeah, it's about killing people, but it's not promoting it at all. Basically these are fictional stories, and that's it. And anyone who gets upset about it is ridiculous." (source http://www.markprindle.com/fisher-i.htm) certainly show that they don't give a crap.
Now without further ado, a track by track review.
1. High Velocity Impact Spatter
Like I said before, I can't claim much knowledge about this compared to a lot of the older stuff. That being said, I like a lot of things about this song. As a whole, this stuff feels a lot tighter than a lot of the older stuff but I don't think that takes away from it at all. The guitar work is very good and I love the what Fisher does toward the end of the choruses.
2. Sadistic Embodiment
Starting out kinda weird with borderline conflicting rhythms in the verses, this song has a cool and unique sound from a lot of the rest of the album. However, it does feel a little Tech-y, which isn't really CC's thing usually. Not a bad song at all, and lyrically it feels right, but not the best on the album in my opinion.
3. Kill Or Become
Now this one is probably my favorite track. As a bassist, I really freaking love Alex Webster's bass work, and while this song doesn't have super complicated stuff you can hear some killer tone in it that isn't as obvious in a lot of the other tracks.
Also for some reason I have a strange attraction to the line, "Fire up the chainsaw, Hack all their heads off." Don't ask me why, I just do.
4. A Skeletal Domain
This song starts out with tones of Death/Doom, and I really like it. As it unfolds you can almost hear the horror welling up in the music which is a really cool effect that you rarely feel in a style like Death Metal. The feelings this song brings up really do fit with what the art on the album would begin to conjure to your mind.
5. Headlong Into Carnage
I don't have as many strong feelings about this song right away to be honest. It's a good song, but I don't feel strongly one way or another about it, ya know? The more I listen to it, the more it seems to grow on me though, which in my book makes it a good song.
6. The Murderer's Pact
Ah, the single I've been hearing for a while now. On one hand, singles are chosen because they are the best on the album. On the other hand, that can make them feel old far too quickly. That is not the case with "The Murderer's Pact" thankfully, because it really feels like a solid CC song. I'm serious, lyrically and musically it feels right. I wouldn't call it classic, but I would say that it's a killer track.
7. Funeral Cremation
This song feels a little great to me. It has a wonderful doom and gloom feel to the intro followed by the tormented travels of a murderer. Really, what more could you want, right? Then it turns out that all the killings were his own family, which makes the whole package fit together nicely.
8. Icepick Lobotomy
Dat bass tho, listen to it ring out. Then there's the alternately horrifying and hilarious picture of Corpsegrinder operating on some poor soul. On the other hand, this song definitely feels different and maybe not quite right. Musically it is just that small step different from the rest of the album. Also reading up on legit icepick lobotomys has freaked me out a little, and these lyrics do a good job at summoning that old "creeped out" feeling I had.
9. Vector Of Cruelty
I'm not sure what it is about this song, but it is a very close second to "Kill Or Become" in my favorite list. There's some good bass work in this one too, and it also has (I almost hesitate to say it) a bouncy feel to it. It flows really well and is pretty fun to listen to.
10. Bloodstained Cement
Not to stereotype, but I feel like this song sums up what a good number of guys feel like when we think about what would happen if we got jumped somewhere. Don't lie, you've thought of it.
Musically it almost feels repetitive though, so there is that as a downside.
11. Asphyxiate To Resuscitate
One of the best things about this song is that the managed to take a Wah solo and make it not suck. This has been a problem in the metal world since Kirk Hammett ruined it for everybody back in the 90s. This is a pretty good song though, with a good beat that borderline reminds me of some of the stuff from the 90s era CC.
12. Hollowed Bodies
As I finish the album, I feel like I have very little to say about this track. Is it good? Yes. It it Brutal? Yes. I simply have this issue with the last track of an album, where I really struggle with having an opinion or any major sort about it. Musically it's killer, and Fisher takes us through a wonderful little tale, but be that as it may, I hold no major feelings about it.
That unfortunately, brings us to the end of the album. Hope you all liked it and remember, if you really enjoy music, support the band by actually buying the music and going to shows. That's my 2 cents.
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