Showing posts with label 4/10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4/10. Show all posts

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Mnemic "Mnemesis" (2012)

 
Disbanded not long after, Mnemesis is the Danish outfits final chapter. Initially Bideau's expanded vocal range caught my attention, feeling like a departure from their distinct "Future Fusion Metal" sound. With familiarity the rough cleans, burly shouts and tuneful inflections nestled in, however an underlying shift remains. Subtly toned down aggression leaves space for melodic flavors to capture ones attention. These songs run into frequent stretches of dulled world building stints. Mediocre in intensity, they fail to arrive at gratifying destination. The result is a set of songs that amble through the motions, landing only a handful of memorable riffs or vocal hooks.

Illuminated by subtle eerie synths, the dystopian tone is withdrawn from its previous extremities, creating a luke-warm atmosphere, rarely broken out from. Its mood is a sluggish, sunless, shadowy trek, emotively depressive when aggressive guitars depart on melodic refrains. That's not to de-mark its merits, Mnemesis is a competent set of songs ruminating on burdensome emotions. A listen, of which I've had many, passes by entertaining yet uneventful. Its closer, Blue Desert In A Black Hole, gets a thumbs up for fantastic song writing that steadily brews its sense of finality to close upon.

Rating: 4/10

Saturday 20 January 2024

Ziggurath "True North" (2024)

 
With a swift and sudden departure from their prior Jungle Synth effort, Ziggurath pivots again. Now venturing on a chilly expedition, True North tentatively explores desolate atmosphere from a sullen, lone perspective. Glacial pace sets tone as broody bass synths, howling winds and distant gulls guide lonesome melodies on its journey. Pace is sparse, its ninety minutes frequently linger, drawing out its main sound design. The album sleeve feels fitting, a ghostly ship on a lost voyage, the lingering presence of icy death incarnate through a menacing skulls gaze.

Aptly named Hearthfire Inn, fire-crackles and lutes warm the bones, a refuge from the relentless frost that awaits. From here on, only glimmers of cultural instrumentation echo in the distant fog. Howling dogs, swirling winds and rehashes of its brooding atmosphere drag on. Through Halls Of Ruined Splendour offers shimmering sounds of wonder over the backdrop of crashing waves and the creaks of aged floor boards.

From here, iterations on the established sound design intensify, shying away from anything vivid, only offering glimpses of music to latch onto. Then Someone Dies offers a passing funeral dirge, a glum, drained march of sadness. The final track, True North, goes all in, attempting to offer a gratifying conclusion but coming up short. A surge of melodies underpinned by choral synths and soft organ hum doesn't quite land as intended, given the lack of build up to this final concluding moment.

Its obvious to see the intention here, to really lean into this chilling abandon. When giving True North little attention, its somewhat achieves this. Its sparse moments of melody and scenic sounds perk the ears but its sluggish pace and lack of animation doesn't carry much gravitas in the forefront of ones attention. Curation and more musicality could of elevated its presence. Otherwise, this is a soft miss to my ears.

Rating: 4/10

Tuesday 5 December 2023

Mase "Harlem World" (1997)

 

A long overdue followup on No Way Out, I've finally picked up Harlem World, Mase's solo debut. He'd made a soft impression, a voice fit for variety in the mix but unsurprisingly tame on his own. The casual carefree laid back spoken raps didn't amount to much across a lengthy CD filling record. Although it went multi platinum, its legacy feels like a byproduct of the era. Mase runs through the typical themes apprising his status, playing himself as a ladies man and taking shots at his haters.

His cadence is smooth, easy on the ears but rarely does his words muster up the energy to really grab your attention with standout rhymes. Harlem World mostly rolls by a pleasant ride on average beats spliced with goofy interludes. Stated as such in a lyric, the albums best tracks are simply recycled hits from the past decade. That and many of its instrumentals highlight this Bad Boy Records formula candidly.

With typical features from Puff, DMX, Jay-Z, The Lox and many more, the album gets by on a run of the mill routine. The later, however, elevates! 24 Hours To Live lays down a firm concept, asking a question and letting everyone run through their answers verse by verse. Its a great setup for visual raps that The LOX dominate! The following I Need To Be sinks to a low with very questionable topicality that seems to just slip under the radar of controversy when it comes up in Hip Hop music.

The closing Jealous Guy is an amusing piss take. A tongue in cheek jab at "the haters". These rappers drop some ruthless off key singing over top of the smooth R&B singers beneath. Fun once but an earache after the third spin. Overall, this album felt very average, with little memorable to take away. It feels like the hype and promise of the record label made this one a success. Not bad but firmly average at best.

Rating: 4/10

Sunday 3 December 2023

Poppy "Zig" (2023)

 

Still one to follow for her creative ensemble of pop sensibilities and abrasive tones, Poppy returns with a similar set of mashed up sounds. As a pleasant vocal presence, one is drawn to the lyrics. Lightly cryptic, suggestive and occasionally humored, they rarely yield depth when wrapped up in a hook or catchy cadence. Her direct words muster more meaning with plain language, however none of it amounted to anything memorable for me. At times, a sense of reaching for a mischievous truth emerges.

Either way, the record doesn't hit on this front and neither does its bass groove oriented stints of cold calculated Electronica. Trading in overdrive guitars for distorted synths, the instrumentals often converge on flickering rhythmic drives, lavished in dispassionate texture, lacking emotion and accompanying melody. On occasion, atmospheric synths layer in some compassion but without its a rather lifeless stint.

After the droning disharmony of Zig passes, Poppy's voice opens up, some songs focusing on her melodies. A pleasant direction but only Motorbike strikes a nerve. Its soft Disco Funk grooves elevate the hook and color the song with an interesting subtle sway. On a better record, this might have been felt as a weak cut. Loaded with mediocrity, Zig was sadly somewhat of a bore, doing little to make itself known.

Rating: 4/10

Thursday 19 October 2023

City Morgue "My Bloody America" (2023)

 

Still one to check in with, City Morgue return recycling a familiar flavor of feisty aggression. Fusing Trap with Horrorcore and touches of Metal, the duo deploy harsh percussion aesthetics again. Rattling hi-hats and distorted base kicks thump no longer a novelty. Meeting spooky samples and lean distortion guitars, beat production paints ghoulish, nightmare scenarios for their unapologetic lyrics to reign a boisterous noise. Priding its content on death, hate, gunplay and machismo, a lack of depth is hardly a surprise. Most verses simply load in vile obscenities on aggravated flows spat hard.

Among its various leanings, a sense of something curious lingers but never arrives. Despite being a rather dull thirty minutes, the record has a certain foul charisma fit for horror but lacks substance. Its instrumentals fail to lean into its intriguing elements. Only Wicked elevated this unsettled energy to a catchy level. A banger among mediocrity. Its short looping melody illuminates when all instruments fire together. I still think this duo have something great to offer but currently I'm just not feeling it.

Rating: 4/10

Monday 24 April 2023

Janelle Monáe "Dirty Computer" (2018)

 

As the last of Janelle Monáe's offerings, Dirty Computer signifies a departure from its established android protagonist narrative. Where that theme evaporates, so does its 70s Psychedelic, Soul and R&B elements. In essence, an entirely different sound with Janelle operating on the level of an 80s Pop powerhouse front-woman affirming her stature. Intermingled with trendy tones of the times, its instrumental offerings ran a little weak for my taste. Many musical elements are striped to a mild resonance, energies muted, with a hyper focus on catchy hooks and empowered braggadocio.

It does however kick off with three decent numbers. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys lends his iconic swooning vocal sways to the background of a tender, harmonious introduction. Gears then shift as a dazzling mix of modern production collides with echos 80s Synthpop. This luminosity fades as the lyrics become bold, overt and obvious. Substance is inherent but its musical chemistry rubs me the wrong way. From here the record leans hard into the Pop trends of the time. To my ears, all to dull.

In its final third, the gears shift once again. Brushing shoulders with great songs from nostalgic eras, the influences come obvious and stiff, failing to ignite. This stripped compositional approach sours here, leaving its songs instrumentally underwhelming. Janelle seems unable to spark the magic either. Little of the conjured greatness beforehand is present. Clearly a different vision, one I'm sore I didn't connect with.

Rating: 4/10

Tuesday 18 April 2023

$uicideboy$ "I Want To Die In New Orleans" (2018)

 

$uicideboy$ rock a rapid release schedule that signifies a different approach to distribution. Since 2014 over forty or so EPs and mixtapes have emerged. It creates a daunting task in search of there best material, yet its where their most popular songs reside. I'm unsure of the significance the album format offers but this debut arrives with a clear concept to tie in their notoriety with home state Louisiana. Interlaced with locational references, tales and affirmations, the radio and news snippet interludes grounds a grizzly reality, illuminating the harshness of growing up in the south.

Sadly, my experience has been a dull one. On this debut record, both the gritty horrorcore beats and harrowing rhymes lack a sharp potency they land with on later projects. The sullen moody aesthetics and unabashed honesty with difficult subject matter remain in tack. Their vision is evident, a distinct individuality reaching out yet those infectious sung hooks and energized flows are yet to be honed and harnessed.

The record feels tied closer to its cultural roots with many southern tropes lining the instrumental design. Vocally, the pair drift into lazily spoken registers. Dull, softly delivered monotone raps distract from the subject matter itself, unenthused in nature but sometimes seeming conceptually relevant in a defeatist sense of overwhelming struggles. Despite analysis, the stars did not align for this listener. Clearly the foundations have been laid. In this manifestation, their expressions failed illumination.

Rating: 4/10

Wednesday 22 March 2023

Various Artists "Loud Rocks" (2000)

 

Here's one for my youth! Loud Rocks is a Hip Hop & Metal crossover record I'm somewhat flabbergasted to have not discovered years back. Release around the peak of aggression in the millennium music scene, dictated largely by MTV, it features popular Nu Metal bands and Rap artists collaborating in varying shades of success and failure. I'd actually heard a few of these from the Napster mp3 trading days, for example Wu-Tang Clan linking up with System Of A Down and Tom Morello to perform their songs in a metallic context. How I'd not learned of the record is beyond me.

The brief 90s Rap and Nu Metal collision was a strange affair yet the holly grail of my youth... If done right, a rare occurrence. I think the crown might belong to Cypress Hill with the second, metallic, half of Skull & Bones. Most other crossovers are novel and occasionally decent but Loud Rocks mostly seems conceived to serve a niche through remixing Rap tracks, often giving the stems to an artist to re-arrange and work in metallic elements. I think Wu-Tang are the only exception, however the remix of one of their finest tracks, For Heaven's Sake, is handed over to Black Sabbath for a strange mix of two sounds that clash awkwardly with sudden eruptions of dense distortion guitars and Ozzy singing that simply cannot resolve to the mood of its rap verses.

Xzibit seems to have the most success. Something about his tone and cadence mixes well with guitars. His songs too have a meaner demeanor allowing the original samples to blend. Far from fantastic yet hearing Sevendust and Endo scream out his chorus hooks had a little gratification. Hardcore legends Sick Of It All bring an interesting touch to the Mobb Deep sound, however its sense of rhythm often looses the lyrical cadence. Everlast reworking Shook Ones Part II might be the albums one solid track, however it plays more like a moodier incarnation than anything metallic.

With the Rap Metal era being so disliked, this record will sound like trash to most. My observations on its various chemistries were simply a vent on my curiosities. I wanted this long forgotten musical movement to work out so bad, however the reality is very little of it did. Discovering another piece of the picture will always be a delight for me, even if the fruits of collaboration were far and few between. In the case of Loud Rocks, it mostly feels forced to serve an audience. A fun listen but I'll move on swiftly.

Rating: 4/10

Tuesday 28 February 2023

Len "You Can't Stop The Bum Rush" (1999)

If mid 80's Hip Hop with its clunky grooves, fun but dated rhyming tropes is your niche, then You Can't Stop The Bum Rush might just float your boat. I'm quite partial to the era, however Canadian group Len's millennium offering has little to add aesthetically, essentially a stiff nostalgic resurrection. Its bizarre his how eclectic and interwoven with other genres this record is, however the music isn't all as fluent.

Echo's of classic 70s Electronic music to the likes of Kraftwerk emerge, as a string of songs foray into crossover with Hip Hop the likes of Afrika Bambaataa once flirted with. Loaded with body popping vibes and vibrant 808s, the authenticity should be sky high with legends Biz Markie and Kurtis Blow hopping onboard to lend their voices. Despite this, the lack of reach to new territory has a stale energy about it.

After Cold Chillin the flow looses pace, ditching the Hip Hip beats to explore Rock, Punk Rock, Pop and Jazzy vibes to see the record out. Although its nice to hear such diversity, only June Bug swoons with its easy flow and gentle singing. Of course, the albums star is Steal My Sunshine, a massive hit known the world over. An oddity, considering how little of its charm gets echoed elsewhere. Worth a listen but quite mediocre.

Rating: 4/10

Sunday 19 February 2023

Skinny Puppy "Rabies" (1989)

 

Where this journey ends, others shall begin. Having occupied a fair portion of my auditory real estate, I've come conclude there is little left for these Canadian Industrial pioneers to offer. Despite legendary status among the Industrial Metal I adore, the unearthing of the disjointed musical ideas that informed them has become a dull drone. On this fifth outing, Skinny Puppy recycle their dissident formula for dystopian soundscapes again. Lined with malfeasant movie snippet samples, inhuman percussion and jolting baselines, Rabies oddly offers the most accessible incarnation yet. Even so, its mediocrity has songs failing to favor themselves with memorability beyond brief surges of unsettling noise and claustrophobic vocal distortions.

A few songs are distinguished with a new dimension for the group. A metallic drive, as Al Jourgensen of Ministry lends his guitar craft to his musical idols. Thrusts of enthused yet blunt distortion riffs grind in repetition to lend a familiar aesthetic. Sadly the meld is a dull one, perhaps peaking with Facist Jock Itch, although its rampant snare drum abuse is a grating one. Other than this chemistry of note, the records aesthetic and atmosphere echos so much I've adored of their influence yet again fails to connect. Warlock manages a special moment, its alien vocals emoting deep pains with fascinating guile. As its concludes, the rising synths birth something unique. It reminds me fondly of Dysmorphik. There are more records in the catalog but currently the exploration seems futile and thus another journey concludes itself.

Rating: 4/10

Friday 23 December 2022

Skinny Puppy "Vivisectvi" (1988)

 

Stylized as VIVIsectVI, this fourth machination of darkly Industrial and sporadic electro tones is one I vaguely remember from over twenty years ago. Revisiting it has not rekindled any youthful memories or sparked any further intrigue in Skinny Puppy. Once again the approach of Ogre and Key alludes me. Their dystopian soundscapes running detached from a convention I'd connect with, like groove or atmosphere.

Harsh drum machine percussion pounds its persistent drone, a shuffling assault of stabs and jerking motions as jolty synth basslines busy themselves with energetic resolve. A persistent theme arises once again, the emerging instrumental pallet heard better used by others later on. Vivisectvi has its moments of chemistry, often brief and wedged between Ogre's bare screams, grisly spoken shouts and plenty of sampled snippets that attend to emphasizing a darker side of society and human behavior.

For me, this one barely amounts to more than the sum of its parts, however for the year I can see how fresh and different this experience might of been. Vivisectvi bridges its fidelity into a more digestible format, the music sounding visible. Crisper instruments and synthetic instruments play boldly. Where it looses me is after Testure, another notably Synthpop adjacent song with melodic convention and gleaming bells juxtaposing the dystopian madness with a touch of hopefully, if not naive, light.

With a touch of Dejavu, the record descends into a sprawl of chaotic ideas after this song. State Aid and beyond leans hard into distortion and battering percussion, never quite recovering the atmosphere once flirted with. I've heard these ideas re-imagined by others further down the line and packaged so much better. I can give it merit for exploring these grounds but the end result isn't satisfying, simply of curious nature.

Rating: 4/10

Wednesday 21 December 2022

Mudvayne "Lost And Found" (2005)

  

Despite being released beyond the swift decline of Nu Metal's popularity, Lost And Found stands as the groups best selling album, charting well on debut. Its a detail I don't think reflects the quality of music within. Mudvayne arrive worn out, stripped of Progressive Metal tendencies, relying on simplistic riffs and their personal aesthetics. It bares their character but lacks enthusiasm. Songs drone by in routine, syncopated riffs playing out with little relation to the passing screams and shouts of Chad Gray.

These tracks lack the challenge and intrigue proposed prior. A lone song, IMN, infringes on their past genius. Bold baselines and polygrooves but it too dulls as the band can't seem to conjure the maniacal, frantic energy once heard bustling on L.D. 50. On occasion the tone dips with horrendous choruses, chiming "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe". Another recycling Disturbed's cries of "I don't wanna be" over and over again.

As my brief remarks indicate, this album suffers its own futility. Unable to make a lasting impression beyond the forgettable nature of its mediocrity and a few sore spots, it somehow houses the bands most popular track Happy? This song has enough punch and gusto to stand heads and shoulders apart in the runtime but still seems weak in comparison to what was achieved on their first two records.

Rating: 4/10

Saturday 3 December 2022

Skinny Puppy "Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse" (1986)

Unlike the exploratory oddity predecessor Bites, Skinny Puppy's sophomore reeks of conceptualization. In presentation, aesthetic and an unwavering tone, Mind assaults the listener. With janky, discombobulated elctro-percussion, uneasy distorted samplings and the strained snarky chords of Nivek Ogre, one is plunged into a nightmare realm of their ghastly making. Striding into a rotten discomfort, these songs mostly build from unsettled origins into clusters of claustrophobic noise and howling.

Kicking off with One Time One Place, a restrained Ogre groans as airy synths brood in the distance, quite the spellbinding atmosphere. Its a navigation through pain and discomfort that's gratifying thanks to its soft melodic backing. Sadly, as the most accessible song, what follows descends into a madness with a specific shade lacking the allure to pull me in. These disjointed melodic phrases get roughly pushed aside by punchy Industrial drum kits with an assembly of noises seeming to only loosely fit together. Its hell bent on painting a dark and grisly dystopian soundscape and gets halfway there.

Despite having occasional spurts of curious chemistry to charm and capture ones attention, the janky nature of its inhuman rhythmic drive seems to steer the music into maddening piles of disorientation that ended up being my lasting impression. Some merits lay in aesthetic exploration, where intriguing Industrial textures emerged to be recycled by many more in the genre later on. Sadly though it didn't amount to much beyond the sum of its parts that became apparent after just a single spin.

Rating: 4/10

Thursday 1 December 2022

Dimmu Borgir "Dust Of Cold Memories" (2022)

 

With a lyric plucked from Absolute Sole Right as its title, Dust Of Cold Memories accompanies the recent Remixed & Remastered celebration of Puritanical Euphoric Misanthopia. Comprised of two halves, The Kolbotn Tapes and Prepod Session, these aged, degraded demos offer a curious insight into the albums creative process. The five Preprod songs are most intriguing. Recorded before all elements had converged, they play with many missing pieces and placeholders around its core musical ideas.

One of the PEM's finest crafts, Blessings Upon The Throne Of Tyranny, stands apart in its nakedness, the arsenal of razor grinding riffs completely absent. Hearing it at this stage illuminates their creative process. We see etchings of inspiration converge not unlike how you might of expected. With such a riveting rhythm guitar performance, I would of strongly guessed it was central to its formation but apparently not so. The other tracks aren't as insightful. One can hear absent contributions and entirely dropped ones too but mostly these songs arrived at this stage relatively fleshed out.

Of the Koltbotn Tapes, Fear & Wonder stands rather distant from its final incarnation with a persistent militant snare and bare piano chords. The other five arrive in varying fidelity. Loud clicking drums, occasional shouts and voices are heard, along with roomy rehearsal room ambiences being a common trait. With the songs fully formed out this point, they simply play like demos prepared before entering the studio.

Rating: 4/10

Wednesday 23 November 2022

Brockhampton "The Family" (2022)


 With wounds still fresh, Brockhampton supposedly returns from their recent post Roadrunner breakup. In less than a calendar year, this resurrection paints a sour flavor in its expressed explanation of existance. Dominating the airwaves, through commentary and production, The Family arrives like a Kevin Abstract record for this outsider looking in. Peeling off scabs from a painful separation, the woes of using drama for content seems lost on the nature of this dissection of their unraveling.

On one hand, The Family plays as a wonderful self analysis, a raw reflection. Like a fly on the wall of a therapists office, we cycle through events and dramas that tore the group apart. Its candid, unabashed and sudden. The other hand, an eerie postmortem called while a pulse can still be felt. This unease is steered by Kevin, lopsided in representation and drowning the music with early era Kanye West imitations.

Often do his vocally directed instrumentals reek of Kanye's genius. So do the flows, cadence and expressive schemes play uncannily alike. Its not found at every turn but throws what could of been a luminous reflective concept record into the unease based on imitations and a questionable timing that seems to retread some of the lessons its trying to learn through this open autopsy. Despite that, there is class at play, music to be enjoyed. Production is well rounded, topicality interesting, engaging yet that lack of self awareness breeds the inescapable odd tension, throwing all feelings into doubt.

Rating: 4/10

Wednesday 2 November 2022

Lorna Shore "Pain Remains" (2022)

 

With the huge springboard of viral success from last years To The Hellfire single, Lorna Shore have ample opportunity to stake claim in Metal's legacy with this new full length, Pain Remains. Leaning heavily into their breed of attention grabbing breakdowns, the lush orchestral thematic extremity on display gets smitten by sudden barrages of unmitigated brutality. Opening with a symphonic piece echoing Death Cult Armageddon vibes, its dark fantasy orchestration swiftly falls mercy to sporadic, murderous crashes of cold and cruel aesthetic abuse. Brazen pummels of lightning blast beats and unearthly demonic gutturals intrude, lunging its musicality into blunt, primitive howls. Carnal and crude in nature, its offering are slim past its inception.

And thus a truly interesting elevation of symphonic extremity gets subverted. The mighty, triumphant and mercilessly aggressive union has its fantastical themes abruptly diminished by these unconnected inhuman roars from an unforgiving abyss. Identity is lost as synths are stripped out, so to do melody and rhythm fall wayside to simplistic noise barrages. Seeming worlds apart, the immersive lather of strings, trumpets and horns integral to world building, slips into a void, in favor of brutal tropes.

For this listener, a sense of identity and direction for these songs failed to manifest. Where progressing with musical ascends and crescendos might be expected, all I found was the sudden dissolution of magic in the wake of its breakdowns. This was likely the intent, that all roads lead to their ugly abandon of over the top extremity. For me its a novel trope that undermined everything else. Fortunately its final three part title track ads a little saving grace, the best songwriting on the record where they have an opportunity to shine. But at the end of a grueling slog of intensity, it too wains.

Rating: 4/10

Sunday 16 October 2022

The Gathering "How To Measure A Planet?" (1998)

 

On their third outing with the classic lineup, a firm end to metallic components is all to apparent, The Gathering drop both song style and distortion guitars in favor of dirty overdriven tones, progressing into the morose side of their known melancholy. Echos of former selves are heard, if only glimmers of ethereal acoustic arrangements once toyed with, withdrawn sluggish tempos dominate its dreary limp temperament.

Anneke's youthful vitality is sullen by a moody, downtrodden presence, her charmed voice skewed by inescapable sombre sorrows. Paired with steely bleak guitars chords and dull, muted baselines, forays of strange electronic textures and distortion noise further extenuates an inescapable wearisome. Songs do swell, blooming in measured builds ups, only to collapse back into these pale atmospheres wearily conjured.

Its clear I've not been wooed. Despite a glowing reputation, this progression stole what I adored and replaced it with little excitable. A meaty double record duration further emphasized the dullness I couldn't escape. Even on Liberty Bell, its most energized song, the zapping synths rustle my dissatisfaction to grandiose Alternative guitar chords that don't deliver on intentions. It seems its clearly defined chemistry s lost on me, perhaps a result of its mournful spirit that seems tinged on a unidentifiable sadness.

Rating: 5/10

Thursday 13 October 2022

The Comet Is Coming "Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam" (2022)

 

Obnoxious rhythmic fluctuations take lead, the Saxophone sits central, a lone expressive voice articulating simple expressions over a surreal synth landscape of cosmic majesty. With Metal adjacent syncopation, the pulsing of minimal notes sways in brief repetitions. Looped hooks and grooves groan in its textural might. Voiced like sequences of chorus lyrics, they bounce and chime off the lavish densities rumbling below, a contrast that constrains its fluttering presence to a narrow linear path. Sadly, its a weak spot. As the record traverses its modest temporal trajectory, the blunt Sax expressions become monotonous and grating. Although exploring tonality and envelope, too often do the short phrases unleashed grind down into a rigid form.

 Casting a lengthy shadow over its complimentary backing section, the wild tapestry of electronics and shuffling percussive arrangements play second fiddle, despite being superior. With an attentive ear, a spectacular array of astral events emerges. Unfolding with shimmering synths and lively drum patterns, the latter jostles with airy ambience and dynamic unraveling of waveform leads. On occasion they gush and ooze in delightful spectacles of musical chemistry. Its mostly heard within a bold string of strong opening songs. As they pass, so to does that spacey wondrous charm. Retreating into routine, unimpressed ideas dominate, it drops off sharp, sparks fading.

Transforming into an uneventful jam session, Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam descends into itself. Brief arrangements conjure aesthetic curiosity but direction, progression and creativity seems simply lost. Such a shift from the lively magic it opened with seems sudden around the forth track or so. It rarely returns and thus leaves a sour taste in ones mouth, or ears. Trimmed to a brief EP, this would have been fantastical fruit. Unfortunately, the majority of the crop yield isn't up to scratch and thus leaves much to be desired. The Comet Is Coming are still one to watch with a unique musical arrangement however they have shown the best and worst of themselves here.

Rating: 4/10

Tuesday 4 October 2022

Sabaton "Father" (2022)

 

 "Father of toxic gas and chemical warfare", no surprises here, more plain faced descriptions and tunefully cheesy lyrics. Sabaton have returned with additional songs from this World War I themed era of theirs, which I have enjoyed immensely. Its the first of a few EPs to be packaged with additional tracks from The Great War and The War To End All Wars. Although only hosting one new song, the grouping of relevant tracks is a niche touch, another reason to their music once again.

Father is dedicated to Haber Fritz, a figure well worth learning about. Creator of synthesized crop fertilizers and chemical weapons he has brought about both suffering and flourishing for humanity on a grand scale. He is given a somewhat ambiguous reception by the band. The song has a soft lurching darkness and sinister tone as its guitars take a subdued roll, letting its symphonic tones roar. It pivots to quite an uplifting reprisal, led on by a brief guitar solo, the vocals roll into a brief swooning. Perhaps these contrasts are reflective of the scientists contributions to humanity. Weight is certainly put on the suffering he caused. Its a reasonable song, fitting snugly into their current focus. Can't wait to hear more on the coming EPs!

Rating: 4/10

Friday 30 September 2022

Mortiis "Spirit Of Rebellion" (2020)

Somewhat stiff, direct in execution, Mortiis' so called embrace of Dungeon Synth feels a step behind the ruinous, mystic wonders he helped inspired. Often sighted as a precursor to the movement, the Norwegian musician often remarked indifference to his obvious influences. This castley affair of medieval fantasy pumps might, magic and vitriolic spirit from its bold and cheesy synths. Alongside fractures of foggy, murky key tones, an aesthetic veneer glimmers in its own reflection. The unshaken instep march of looped melodies, perfectly aligned in MIDI notation, evaporates the humanity.

Its first half, A Dark Horizon, toys with the moody abandon. Gentle tempered spirits of estranged worbling VSTs venture on lonely meandering journeys, intermittently struck by thuds and drum strikes. Its lonely, occasionally frightful but mostly shy of striking a nerve. With a barer construct, its repetitions become a blemish of its pristine presentation. Simplistic looping melodies swiftly a gnawing gripe, sucking charm and magic other low fidelity production aesthetics of the genre would offer.

Visions Of An Ancient Future embarks on ambitious conquests. Deep gongs, perpetual echos of militant percussion and a stoic stature march forth with the might of glorious battle horns guiding its way. The shift from esoteric curiosity to kings and castles would make for an interesting record if both halves did not endure the lifelessness of such stiffly executed virtual instrument performances. In a nutshell, appealing ideas but a lack of immersion.

Rating: 4/10