September 4, 201411 yr Yeah, I saw a pretty damning review that confirmed that after Heritage, I didn't need to check out Pale Communion. While that initially made me sad, I said fuck it and listened to My Arms, Your Hearse and realized that I'm cool with whatever they do moving forward because they produced an absolutely perfect album already. This is true. With MAYH, Still Life, and BWP, Opeth released a trio of albums that can stand up to any trio released by any band ever. That was a seriously good run of albums, and if you lower the bar ever so slightly, from Morningrise to Damnation was just insane. I totally dig it. I think it's the best thing they've done. But I've always hated cookie monster vocals. It's just one note, there's nothing musical about it. I do have to admit, though, it's nothing like anything from the golden lineup of Akerfeldt, Lindgren, Mendez, Lopez, which was kind of a bizarre combination (in being half Swedish, half Uruguyan) and magical. But that stopped being magical when Akerfeldt became the focal point of the band. Kayo Dot appear to be heading in a similar direction (less extreme). Damn, Dusty. I never knew you did not dig the growls. I do not remember you mentioning that before. But seriously reconsider your evaluation of them. I will give you this much: most people are just not that good at it, and it detracts from music. Akerfeldt is one of the only people that can do them, have perfectly coherent lyrics in doing so, and still sound so damn emotive (guttural to screeching and everything in between). My two favorites are him and Claudio Carrasco from Poema Arcanus by a large margin. They are the absolute best in my opinion.
September 4, 201411 yr Author Welll...let's be careful here. I don't dig cookie monster vocals, that shit's laughably bad, but also there's plenty of music I don't think will sound right any other way (Swallow the Sun, Ephel Duath, et al). Anything with any variety (cookie monster to witchy poo, a la Cradle of Filth) is still >> (much greater than) just cookie monster. I do still listen to it, but it's in spite of it, not because of it. Look at how I celebrate clean vocals any time it's within the context of anything hard. Amorphis' best is when they went clean or mostly clean. Of the growlers, Gojira are the best. Better than Opeth, better than ... well, better than anything else I've heard. But yeah, it's right up there with smashing your guitar or your drum set. I realize that everyone else thinks it's totally rock'n'roll, but...yeah, no, just grates on my nerves.
September 7, 201411 yr Author Of the growlers, Gojira are the best. Better than Opeth, better than ... well, better than anything else I've heard. Okay, that vegan pad thai guy in the metal headphones thread was pretty great, too, maybe I don't hate them that much. But this is the best: Also, is that how, 'Anneke' is pronounced? I've always pronounced it, uh-NECK-ee -- should I prepare myself for a lifelong facepalm?
September 7, 201411 yr We might have to disagree on Gojira, definitely. And Devy is in a league of his own in many ways, but I quite prefer his clean vocals. As far as Anneke, I have always pronounced it Ann-eek, but I've never heard her clarify. As far as best, to me, Serenity Painted Death and Blackwater Park, are the pinnacle of death vocal performances in songs. It just does not get better than that.
September 10, 201411 yr Amazon informs me that there is a new Leonard Cohen album in the offing - release date to be the 23rd of this month. CDs and vinyl available on Amazon. (I'll see if I can pre-order at radio active though) And what kind of world do we live in when important news is disseminated by a robotic retailer?
September 10, 201411 yr And what kind of world do we live in when important news is disseminated by a robotic retailer? A mass customized, data mined, big data driven world. "People who thought this news was important, also liked the following news" A world where the greatest minds are not solving "important" problems, but are working out how to make you click on an ad.
September 24, 201411 yr Coltrane's Temple University concert is the stuff of legend and terrible sounding bootlegs have been out there for a while. According to this article, we should finally have it available in shiny new vinyl. http://articles.philly.com/2014-09-23/entertainment/54244368_1_alice-coltrane-ravi-coltrane-coltrane-house
September 24, 201411 yr I visited my local recorded music emporium to discover that the new Leonard Cohen on vinyl won't be out until Oct. 7. Seems there is a pressing plant capacity issue, sez the person at the counter. Apparently, this is happening a lot lately. Meanwhile the CD is out and was playing on the overhead when I was in the store.
September 24, 201411 yr I visited my local recorded music emporium to discover that the new Leonard Cohen on vinyl won't be out until Oct. 7. Seems there is a pressing plant capacity issue, sez the person at the counter. Apparently, this is happening a lot lately. The Tough Realities Behind Vinyl's Comeback http://t.co/IMxfT5XDAz
September 27, 201411 yr Lunatic Soul new track, "Cold" Thanks Dusty, I have listened to this 6 or 7 times already. Very keen to hear the rest.
October 29, 201411 yr New Kauan album, Muistumia, streaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hD1kzJuZthQ Even though they are remakes (save for the first track)... stunning.
November 4, 201411 yr I thought the Grai album was re-recordings... Dusty, you talking about the Kauan album above? If so, you are correct. The new album comes next year some time.
November 4, 201411 yr Author I was talking in contrast to the Kauan album, I thought the Kauan album was new material -- it's reworkings as well? Grai, Mlada Kauan, Muistumia The Kauan link clarifies; the Grai one does not...actually, it looks like In the Arms of Mara is the compilation, and Mlada might be new material.
November 5, 201411 yr I am not familiar with Grai. Any good? Oh, and it has been a good last few months for my kind of music. The new Lunatic Soul album is fantastic. Mariusz is just... wow! He was right; this is definitely the best LS album. Mikael Akerfeldt needs to take notes; this is how you write proper prog rock, for fuck's sake. Edited November 5, 201411 yr by roadtonowhere08
November 5, 201411 yr Author Yeah, that new Lunatic Soul is fantastic, his best yet. IQ's Road of Bones is excellent as well, if you're into straightahead prog rock. Grai are Russian folk metal, worth giving a listen. Here's their bandcamp if you want to stream/sample them first. I've got Russian in my blood, so I'm required by law to like it, YMMV.
January 17, 201511 yr From Riverside's Facebook Page: "Love, Fear and the Time Machine" - this is the title of the sixth Riverside album. The band have just finished composing the new material. "Our sixth album, six words in the title, sixty minutes of new music, that's about how long the new release will be. And we won't be playing hard rock any more", Mariusz Duda laughs. "There will be many more melodies dressed in completely different shades. We're changing and evolving as a band, we're growing up but most of all we want to keep recording different albums which are simply great to listen to. And the new one will be like a deep breath of fresh air, very different to what we'd done before." "Love, fear and the times that have shaped us have the biggest influence on our life choices. The lyrics will be about everything that pushes us to make the most important decisions in our life." The band are going to start recording the new material in March and it will be possible to follow the progress of their work on a special Instagram profile (www.instagram.com/riversideband.pl) The album will be released in August/September 2015 and some of the new songs will be played at this year's summer festivals. More information will follow soon… I do not care what they do; it will be awesome. Edited January 17, 201511 yr by roadtonowhere08
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