Whats going on guys.
It's been a really long time since I touched this blog, I started it with the mindset of reviewing albums. But the fact is, I buy so many new CDs that I just don't have the time / a lot of what I buy has been reviewed AGES Ago and in way better detail than I could do.
So rather than cluttering up my bands blog with my rants, moans, unrelated music, poetry and photography.. it's going here.
Just got my Canon back, STOKED.
See you soon.
James
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Friday, 6 August 2010
Day two!
Oh herro.
Primordial - To The Nameless Dead (Black metal / Pagan metal)
Well, I've decided that I'm not going to try to stay on top of new albums and review them as they appear, I'm much happier sharing my insight on albums that i think are killer!
So, here we have one of the FINEST albums I've heard in recent years, recorded totally with analogue gear and on 1st and 2nd takes! The playing is tight as all hell and the vocals are just wonderful! Belting singing over screaming, but with some great shrieks at parts!
So, who wants a blow by blow review? ME!
1.
"Empire Falls" Opening on an exceptionally melodic note, but then descending into a very cool, very heavily black metal influenced riff, the vocals BELT! With some great lyrics and a marvellous chorus that gets even the most anti-black metaller singing along!
2.
"Gallows Hymn" One of my favourite songs ever, period!! The bass guitar opens on a very slow and melodic riff, hypnotizing the listener, then kicking off into some marvellous word play and lyrics that you can really feel the emotion behind, the shift from single kick to double kick during the song is truly a marvellous moment on the album and really gets your foot tapping!
3.
"As Rome Burns" A rather ambient song, with a very haunting melody, lyrically very strong and a departure from the two opening tracks, one of the best songs on the album! A great use of dynamic feel, something often lost in the loudness wars of recent years!
4.
"Failures Burden" A truly sorrowful number, the heartfelt lyrics really tell a story that is transferred well to the listener, a great show of the screaming ability of A.A Nemagthanga, rather than outright screeches, a very harsh vocal is used that really compliments his very powerful voice! the song speeds up toward the end and really gets your head nodding!
5.
"Heathen Tribes" Anyone who doesn't adore the opening riff to this song is a fool and a musical cretin, the riff truly shows the ability for Primordial to cover all bases with their sound, rather than pigeonholing themselves into one area of the genre, they really excel with the transition between riffs, providing a jaunty almost sea shanty like sound with this song, it really does get your foot tapping! The guitar solo is also marvellous!
6.
"The Rising Tide" A filler track, providing an ambient intro to traitors gate, very well done with drones and ambient samples, really sets the mood for the following number!
7.
"Traitors Gate" True black metal, the song starts with such true echoes of Burzum or Mayhem, the blast beats are strong, the riff is catchy, but still harbours its inherent dissonance, overall a musically marvellous song! Once again A.A manages to convey such passion and emotion through his voice, which I believe is down to the use of analogue gear, rather than using editing to create a perfect take, a raw and passionate feel lives and breathes on this album!
8.
"No Nation On This Earth" A truly beautiful closing track, with a clever use of melody and rhythm, a rather up beat feeling riff, but keeping the traditional sound and tonality of it's black metal roots! You can definitely tell the Primordial boys hail from Ireland at this point! A good use of exotic scales and melodies really do put this song in the top end of an already marvellous album!
What can i say? This is a marvellous album of varying stlyes of black metal and the most AWESOME vocals I have heard in a very long time!
I can't praise this album enough!
Go out and buy it or pirate it, I don't care, just.. GET IT!!!
Cheers!
Well, I've decided that I'm not going to try to stay on top of new albums and review them as they appear, I'm much happier sharing my insight on albums that i think are killer!
So, here we have one of the FINEST albums I've heard in recent years, recorded totally with analogue gear and on 1st and 2nd takes! The playing is tight as all hell and the vocals are just wonderful! Belting singing over screaming, but with some great shrieks at parts!
So, who wants a blow by blow review? ME!
1.
"Empire Falls" Opening on an exceptionally melodic note, but then descending into a very cool, very heavily black metal influenced riff, the vocals BELT! With some great lyrics and a marvellous chorus that gets even the most anti-black metaller singing along!
2.
"Gallows Hymn" One of my favourite songs ever, period!! The bass guitar opens on a very slow and melodic riff, hypnotizing the listener, then kicking off into some marvellous word play and lyrics that you can really feel the emotion behind, the shift from single kick to double kick during the song is truly a marvellous moment on the album and really gets your foot tapping!
3.
"As Rome Burns" A rather ambient song, with a very haunting melody, lyrically very strong and a departure from the two opening tracks, one of the best songs on the album! A great use of dynamic feel, something often lost in the loudness wars of recent years!
4.
"Failures Burden" A truly sorrowful number, the heartfelt lyrics really tell a story that is transferred well to the listener, a great show of the screaming ability of A.A Nemagthanga, rather than outright screeches, a very harsh vocal is used that really compliments his very powerful voice! the song speeds up toward the end and really gets your head nodding!
5.
"Heathen Tribes" Anyone who doesn't adore the opening riff to this song is a fool and a musical cretin, the riff truly shows the ability for Primordial to cover all bases with their sound, rather than pigeonholing themselves into one area of the genre, they really excel with the transition between riffs, providing a jaunty almost sea shanty like sound with this song, it really does get your foot tapping! The guitar solo is also marvellous!
6.
"The Rising Tide" A filler track, providing an ambient intro to traitors gate, very well done with drones and ambient samples, really sets the mood for the following number!
7.
"Traitors Gate" True black metal, the song starts with such true echoes of Burzum or Mayhem, the blast beats are strong, the riff is catchy, but still harbours its inherent dissonance, overall a musically marvellous song! Once again A.A manages to convey such passion and emotion through his voice, which I believe is down to the use of analogue gear, rather than using editing to create a perfect take, a raw and passionate feel lives and breathes on this album!
8.
"No Nation On This Earth" A truly beautiful closing track, with a clever use of melody and rhythm, a rather up beat feeling riff, but keeping the traditional sound and tonality of it's black metal roots! You can definitely tell the Primordial boys hail from Ireland at this point! A good use of exotic scales and melodies really do put this song in the top end of an already marvellous album!
What can i say? This is a marvellous album of varying stlyes of black metal and the most AWESOME vocals I have heard in a very long time!
I can't praise this album enough!
Go out and buy it or pirate it, I don't care, just.. GET IT!!!
Cheers!
Thursday, 5 August 2010
First post! First review!
Greetings!
I'm James! I spend far too much time listening to and playing music! I'm into folk, black metal, death metal, punk, folk metal... you name it and I probably like at least one song within that genre! (Except dubstep.)
So, I'll start off as I mean to continue, but somewhat late to the party..
Whitechapel - A New Era Of Corruption (2010)
This is the new album from Tennessee's finest son's of death metal, Whitechapel!
I first heard Whitechapel thanks to one of their guitarists posting on Sevenstring.org, where i then went on to obtain copies of both The Somatic Defilement and This Is Exile, the latter of which made it into my 2009 AOTY list!
So, the new album! Is it any good? You bet your sorry little ass its good! Not only does it take 2 of my favourite things in music, awesome double kick drums and extended range guitars, but it throws in some tasty solos and some really great vocals from Phil Bozeman, a man who's growl sounds like he was born chain smoking and raised on a diet of grit and sulphur!
Lets go on a track by track basis!
1. "Devolver" Very strong opener, really sets a tone for the rest of the CD, really nice breakdown!
2. "Breeding Violence" One of my favourites, great chorus!
3. "The Darkest Day of Man" Really catchy, at parts the vocals almost border on rap! Clever lyrics and great breakdown!
4. "Reprogrammed to Hate" One of the weaker songs, but still good in its own right, good display of vocal range!
5. "End of Flesh" Heavy as all hell, that is all.
6. "Unnerving" The intro is <3! Then the song goes onto be one of this years SOTY for me!!
7. "A Future Corrupt" Catchy, awesome solo section, guitar harmonies really play off eachother here!
8. "Prayer of Mockery" Again, one of the weaker songs, it just lacks the impact i think it was intended to have, still good!
9. "Murder Sermon" Marvellous display of dissonance and destruction, one of the best songs on the album!
10. "Necromechanical" Again, heavy as all hell, sometimes lacks a bit of punch, but otherwise great!
11. "Single File to Dehumanization" Absolutely brilliant closing track, great use of ambient guitar playing and drum fills, very strong track!
So, we come to an overall mark! 9/10, easily one of the best albums I've heard this year!
My criticisms lie mainly in the production of the album, the drum tones are marvellous, as are the guitars (Albeit a little over saturated..) and the vocals SLAY! But there's a grave lack of punch at certain points, where you want the song to just kick you in the ear drums... I love Jason Suecof's production on many albums, but he lacked the real kick on certain parts of this Whitechapel release!
Overall, i love the album and I think Whitechapel will go on to be one of the real figureheads of death metal / deathcore!
Til we meet again!
I'm James! I spend far too much time listening to and playing music! I'm into folk, black metal, death metal, punk, folk metal... you name it and I probably like at least one song within that genre! (Except dubstep.)
So, I'll start off as I mean to continue, but somewhat late to the party..
Whitechapel - A New Era Of Corruption (2010)
This is the new album from Tennessee's finest son's of death metal, Whitechapel!
I first heard Whitechapel thanks to one of their guitarists posting on Sevenstring.org, where i then went on to obtain copies of both The Somatic Defilement and This Is Exile, the latter of which made it into my 2009 AOTY list!
So, the new album! Is it any good? You bet your sorry little ass its good! Not only does it take 2 of my favourite things in music, awesome double kick drums and extended range guitars, but it throws in some tasty solos and some really great vocals from Phil Bozeman, a man who's growl sounds like he was born chain smoking and raised on a diet of grit and sulphur!
Lets go on a track by track basis!
So, we come to an overall mark! 9/10, easily one of the best albums I've heard this year!
My criticisms lie mainly in the production of the album, the drum tones are marvellous, as are the guitars (Albeit a little over saturated..) and the vocals SLAY! But there's a grave lack of punch at certain points, where you want the song to just kick you in the ear drums... I love Jason Suecof's production on many albums, but he lacked the real kick on certain parts of this Whitechapel release!
Overall, i love the album and I think Whitechapel will go on to be one of the real figureheads of death metal / deathcore!
Til we meet again!
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