Showing posts with label 1/10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1/10. Show all posts

Sunday 17 April 2016

Azriel "Split With Eternal Lord" (2006)


Having covered the Eternal Lord tracks in this split release, I thought it would be a good idea to check out the Azriel tracks too. What a treacherous idea that would turn out to be. Scottish five piece band "Azriel" play with fractured melodic leads and Deathcore breakdowns spliced into their formulaic Metalcore style. It comes with an overtone of Screamo given the vocal style and gang shouts. I remember not being keen on it ten years ago and now as more diverse listener I thought this might change but alas I had to endure this one a few more times.

Lets be fair, this isn't terrible but some distinct characteristics rub me the wrong way and being dead bored of Deathcore the insentient open chord, palm muted break downs were dull and tiring. Between them slow leads would add a tinge of color and some interesting riffs would crop up with decent chemistry between the chords and leads but these would be quickly dispelled by needless "heavy" moments in favor of song progression. The production however is pretty solid for a low key release.

Above it all the groups vocalist slays me. His delivery is throaty, thin and lacks any oomph or power. Its whiny and "cringey" for lack of a less judgemental word. If not irritated by his presence the group shouts just make matters worse, loose and without out force they seem in complete contrast to the lyrics. "Nothing can stop us now", "Its only a matter of time before your true form is revealed", "Go get your guns". A lot of the lyrics revolve around struggle and self power yet the unity with style is absent to my ears. Not my cup of tea.

Rating: 1/10

Sunday 18 October 2015

Run The Jewels "Meow The Jewels" (2015)


 Following up on two claimed and well received records in concurrent years, Hip Hop Duo "Run The Jewels" return in 2015 with a crowdfunded remix record themed around cats... and meow sounds. I was hoping for a record to hold me over until RTJ3 arrives in 2016 but have found myself sorely disappointed with a record that's novelty didn't phase me for even a moment. This will be the first time I write my thoughts after just one listen, but I quite honestly don't want to waste my time with this record again. To be fair its not awful, there's just nothing here that tickles my fancy.

The albums overall aesthetic is bizarre, spacey, zany and damn right quirky. Meow sounds litter all the songs as expected, but accompanying them is an array of weird bass noises and other sounds which attempt to emulate instrument sounds through manipulated cat samples. The problem is these heavily stretched and pitch shifted sounds don't amount to anything exciting or even that musical. They suck the life out of Killer Mike and EL-P's raps which is quite the achievement considering the level of lyrical quality on the originals these remixes butcher. Across the entire record not a single moment or beat stood out and I can appreciate the novelty but without anything of interest for me here this one will be shelved to gather dust.

Rating: 1/10