DeVille is good people, I'm so glad he's gonna be here every day. Also: the best album that will be released this fall is Inquisition's Obscure Verses For The Multiverse. Oh yes it is!
Damn, thanks for chiming in, Carson! Well said across the board. Totally agree re: Windhand's use of melody. It reminds me very much of Pallbearer in that respect. I think I'm gonna go see them at St. Vitus tonight (I think Wyatt and Doug are going too actually). I'll report back to let ya know if they bring it. They're doing the first leg of a FUCKING INSANE tour later this year with Kvelertak and High On Fire, two of the best live bands in existence. (Unfortunately the first leg doesn't include NYC.)
Yes! GIN. That Recluse song is way rawer and more rudimentary than Cobalt but it's got a few superb riffs and while Phil's vocals have some different effects on them, they sound as good as ever (and he's one of my absolute faves among USBM singers).
THANKS ATOMIC! Glad you dig! It is a very good day indeed for Metal Geeking. Probably gonna do another session with Colored Sands myself. Definitely check out the full Earthless record when it's released because it's a serious beast. And DEFINITELY see them live. I swear.
Carson, the Seidr album probably functions best as an album (I say this a lot, I know). That's not a bite-sized band; everything is ... honestly empyrean is the word. Take that shit out on a cool autumn day and put it on the iPod while walking through some nature-y setting (Prospect Park or the Adirondacks or the Jersey Shore or whatever is convenient to you). It kinda demands a setting as big as the music I think.
They have two songs total and both kick ass! Great riffs, compelling structures, good writing, performances, and production all around, plus they just have an undefinable "thing." Maybe the album will be a disaster or a bore but right now I think it's pretty easy to like 'em!
I love you, breakfast sandwiches, and man do you love Gorguts. I feel like every one of your comments somehow goes back to Gorguts! It's definitely justified: great record, crazy talented band, not 100 percent my thing, but yeah I think Aaron and Doug have it at No. 1 on their lists right now. Grave Miasma are doing something totally different, really (as are Inter Arma). But in terms of Edward's question, I do think Grave Miasma will sneak up on some lists this year. It reminds me a lot of that Disma record in 2011, which ended up being a pretty massive critical favorite, except the Grave Miasma record is WAAAAY better (IMO, and I like the Disma record!), plus if the live experience means anything, Grave Miasma DESTROYS ALL, while Disma are ... not super exciting to see play. Edward, go see Woe. They rule and Chris Grigg is an awesome dude; definitely introduce yourself to him. And do see Inter Arma too. I saw them twice this year and they killed both times. Finally, I'm super bullish on this Inquisition record, I think it might end up being the best PURE METAL album of 2013, maybe best album period.
Definitely. It's an incredible record. If it means anything, I'd rank it higher than either Gorguts or Inter Arma (and those are pretty incredible too).
I love Ryan Leas and don't mean to throw him under the bus here -- especially regarding a piece that I assigned and edited, and ESPECIALLY because I never brought this concern to his attention during the editorial process -- but: No "4th Of July"? COME ON.
Gahhh! Of course I meant Scottish not Swedish (as my later references to Glasgow and countrymen Belle & Sebastian might have suggested). I have amended the text to erase my error from historical record. Thanks for the heads up!
Max, thank YOU for saving that old issue of Kerrang! I would never have known that was their first original song if you had not shared it. It's my pleasure to include that note and your contribution in my review!
Sorry that was intended to be rhetorical. The answer to both those questions is, "Yes." The implied follow-up is then, "But how far is too far?" And the answer to THAT is, "There is no such thing as too far" (short of causing physical harm to innocent parties, and even that line is probably pretty blurry).
Death Grips' actions were (IMO) immensely arrogant, disrespectful, and possibly even hurtful. But whether they "challenged people's perception of what a live MUSIC show should or could be" is beside the point; they utterly, radically defied their audience's expectations. I'm not saying it's GREAT art. But it crosses a line. The difference between a Bon Jovi show and a Black Witchery show (just by way of random example) is really pretty minimal, except in terms of scale: Band plugs in, plays songs for audience; audience buys drinks, merch, applauds. It's a time-tested formula and it works. But Death Grips presented a rejection of that formula: again, maybe not great art, and certainly not a great concert, to be sure, or even a rewarding experience -- and not the actions of two people who seemingly gave even the slightest fuck about the feelings or wallets of their audience or associates.
But creating art is not (necessarily) about providing a rewarding experience or giving a fuck. I'm a polite person, so I appreciate politeness, but between social networks and a collapsing economic infrastructure that often forces artists to engage -- always positively! -- on an intimate level (i.e., "crowdsource," in some respect), we've seen an increasing culture of "niceness" in music that seems inherently worrisome. I may not agree with Death Grips' choice to burn money and bridges (and I can't afford to do it myself!), but I fucking respect it.
I brought up Marina (and intended that comp to be the "answer" to my rhetorical questions) because the reaction to her work is frequently befuddlement and rage. A woman takes a bunch of pills .. and that's art? She cuts up her hand with knives ... that's art? She sits there looking at you silently ... art?
Finally, I'm not qualified to parse Death Grips' non-performance for meaning, but I can throw out some ideas. Maybe they were commenting on the degree to which we have, as a culture, degraded the experience of live music. Maybe they were objectifying suicidal ideation, or personifying their own artistic suicide (suicide is a pretty common theme in their work). Maybe they were putting on display and into clear focus the darkest thoughts of their most devoted fans (or stans, as we call them nowadays, in reference to another rapper who did the same fucking thing in song). All seem plausible. And frankly, all seem compelling. Not too many live shows -- even the BEST live shows -- leave so much to the imagination, do they? (Again, rhetorical!)
I mean there are the obvious issues with making that sort of claim, which begin with the fact that the album is still a month away from actually being released, but more crucially the problem of comparing work from different eras. That said, if Surgical Steel had come out in 1995, there's no doubt in my mind it would be in that conversation, and even as things stand, I think you could probably make a pretty convincing (if equally debatable) argument for its inclusion.
I think it's worth the price of a ticket, personally, and I'll back that up (probably) by buying one. I mean, it's a nostalgia show obviously but by all accounts they still put on an incredibly tight show, and they're not gonna play anything post-Domination, and maybe nothing post-Covenant (though they will play some Altars and Blessed stuff AFAIK). That's a pretty exciting and rare opportunity. I'll endorse it.
Ack! Sorry, have clarified that in the text above -- it was included as a bonus track on some versions of Weekend In The City.
Also, I will take this opportunity to note that Weekend is my own favorite Bloc Party record. Also also, my list would have included the non-album single "Two More Years."
Thanks, Jim! Those are two goodies you mentioned. We included Mammoth Grinder on last month's list (it's killer) and I slept on Noisem initially (missed 'em at MDF) but Aaron pushed 'em on me last month or so and I'm really into that one now, it's one of the year's best.
I actually think the songs work better as a single flowing piece than they do as individual songs (which I kind of tried to express in my writeup of "Fog Of Apathy"). The album is almost drone-y in nature, but those heavy parts are really powerful IMO. The vox remind me a little bit of Nick from Krallice, which is more of a death metal style than black metal (not their placement in the mix, just the vocal tone/attack). But I can't say you're wrong, just that I have a different reaction. I haven't seen these songs live, but if past experience is any indicator, that'll be the real test: VV is a pretty intense and destructive live force, and I think their material is best suited to that environment, in general (at least the EP was, for me).
I tend to prefer a really raw approach to a clean one (I think that Anagnorisis record is pretty close to perfect sounding, for example), but I like the way the Vattnet album is so pristine sounding. All the elements are starkly clear in the mix and it makes it feel (to me) both minimal and massive.
I like it too actually but I'm glad they've changed course, because going too much further in that direction would have really pushed them into some weird and not great adult contemporary space.
Thanks, RJ! I should say that the post in question is violently nauseating, but it also strongly suggests no ideological link between Varg and Breivik. I truly can't believe arrests were made based on this evidence, especially if that link was "the origin of the investigation."
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