Music Appreciation Thread

[Howie]

Gorgoroth - Pentagram (1994) - www.gorgoroth.org



I take it that most people who know of and listen to Black Metal knows what Gorgoroth is. "Oh yeah, they're the band who got in trouble in Poland, right?" or "Wasn't their vocalist the one who beat up a guy and drank his blood?". Yes, this is Gorgoroth. Some might call them attention-whores with no good music at all. This is wrong. At least the "No good music"-part.

This album is their first full-length. It's typical raw black metal (often reffered to as "True Norwegian Black Metal") with awesome screaming vocals (contributed by Hat, not Gaahl. Gaahl joined some album(s) later), the usual blasting drums, bass from Samoth himself and "cold and dark" riffs. All of the tracks follows the same recipem really, though there are standout-tracks here. Who doesn't love the awesome opening-riff of "Dr�mmer Om D�d" or the awesome Darkthrone-esque track "Katharinas Bortgang" or the screams in the opening of "Begravelsesnatt"? If you like Darkthrone, don't miss out on this great underrated album.

Another messy (double) post. But please people, post more in this awesome thread. That is all.

[Frozen Sky]

Exhumed - Gore Metal



The starting track "Necromaniac" immediately blasts you with intense furious riffs. They have obviously taken a lot of influences from the earlier Carcass albums. These guys can really play some good stuff. The guitar work really shines when the solo is taken place. The drumming is the usual death metal style with the blast beat and all that stuff. Also there is the ocassional sounds of chainsaws for example 2:46 of "Open the Abscess" *thumbs up* Excellent album I say for fans of death metal or grind

[Howie]

Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell (2005) - www.draconian.se



I can't say Doom Metal is my favorite genre. It's far too slow for me,really. But of course, there are a bunch of Doom Metal-albums I like, like this one for example. Looking for something really fast? Don't even consider getting this album.

Why? It's slower than me running, and I assure you, my condition is bad. It's slow, dark and depressing, just the way Doom Metal should be. Perfect for a rainy night. It has both death metal and female vocals (which may why people refer to Draconian as a gothic band), slow-paced guitars, bass and drumming. If it's melodic, you ask? Yes indeed. The slow riffs is accompanied by keyboards and piano (however, these instruments isn't present alot on the album). The lyrics is as depressing as the instrumental work. If you're looking for a new Doom Metal-album, this is the one you should get.

Frozen Sky: Yes indeed, that's a fucking kickass album. You should hear all the other albums too if you haven't. Also, check out Impaled, Ross Sewage (formerly Exhumed) is in this band.

[Slim]

The Smashing Pumpkins - Machina/the machines of god (2000)





This was the first Pumpkins album I actually bought and I love it to death. I love Adore, but Machina kicks off with with what Adore was sorely lacking in, that heavy ass opening riff. A perfect way to start the album, and a great song. But, by no means the benchmark for the album's sound. It's a very production heavy album, which is one of it's major critiques. All the naysayers say it's just a Corgan/Flood album, but they forget about the songs found therein. Luckily I like the whole tone of the album and am able to overlook this to see the perfect rock songs we had come to expect from Corgan and Co. Songs like Stand Inside Your Love, Try, Try, Try and Heavy Metal Machine affect emotions you didn't even know you had. There's the fantastic, quintissential epic track, Glass And The Ghost Children, and the beautiful closer Age Of innocence. Anyway, close behind MC&TIS for my favourite Pumpkins album.

I didn't do an album yesterday, because all I listened to was The Fiery Furnaces...

[Howie]

Winterlong - Winterlong (2005) - http://come.to/winterlong



Welcome to the world of Neo Power Metal, where Stratovarius and Yngwie Malmsteen reigns. Today, we present to you the newest album from the band "Winterlong" simply called, uh, Winterlong.

The albums starts of heavy with the song "The Priest". Everything in this song is fine, nothing to complain about really. The next song is really good and will probably be enjoyed by most power-metal fans, this one's called "Ten Digits Of The Future". I really nice melody can be found in this one, as well as powerful drumming, bass and vocals. The lyrics is surprisingly nice in this one too. But wait, there is more! The third song too is also very good and even the acoustic medley after that one is quite enjoyable as well. Another song worth mentioning is Bloodshred. This is just total guitar-wankery. 2312839218 (not exactly, but close) notes per second. The song reminds me so much of "Flight/Sting Of The Bumblebee". But sadly, that's it. This album suffers from one of the many "diseases" found in most Neo Power-album, and that disease is that there are a few good songs on the album, but the rest is total bullshit. Just like Malmsteen, Stratovarius and Virtoucity. The few good songs on this album will most likely live on in a Greatest Hits-album, everything else will probably die. Get it? Hopefully, you do.

[Slim]

Kayo Dot - Choirs Of The Eye (2003)





Remember that really weird and interesting metal band called Maudlin Of The Well that just burned out? Well Kayo Dot was born from their ashes, and it seems they like post rock now. Let me tell you first off, the first time I listened to this album, I thought it was trite, overhyped trash, and I was very disappointed. I am currently on my fourth spin now, and I have a huge boner. It's just that good.

It opens with a weird heavy riff accompanied by a speech sample of some sort. It's odd, but engaging. Kind of how the album is from then on, odd, but engaging. The album peaks at around the middle, the terrific orgasm in the epic track "The Manifold Curiosity" that lasts several minutes. The sound is difficult to describe, they're not your run of the mill metal band, and you don't want to call them metal afterwards, but you have to. Kind of like Isis in that way. And now that I think of it, Isis are probably their closest comparison. They've created a powerful mix of post rock/experimental rock/grindcore/heavy metal/noise/neo-prog and chamber rock, and it's just fantastic.

I recommend listening to it several times in a row, really loud...

[Megalith]

<b>Stormwarrior - Northern Rage (2004)</b>



Hailing from Germany, the forefathers of power metal, Stormwarrior play power metal in the viciousness it was meant to be. Brimming with power and energy, similar to Helloween and Gamma Ray's style of powerful vocals and blistering speed, Northern Rage doesn't hold back. These guys know exactly what they're doing. Every track stands out. There are no fillers. The album combines the best aspects of power metal and presents it in raw power. Worthy of note is that this album features the legendary Kai Hansen in many roles. Hansen took production and mixing duties, recorded the drums himself and has a few guest appearances in a number of tracks. If they aren't talented enough, they have the support of a very established power metal pioneer, who also shows his support in gigs. Granted, their writing style is retarded (spelling-wise), unnecessary and doesn't add a thing to the music. But that's the only downfall I could find in Stormwarrior's Northern Rage.

Stand outs:
- Heroic Deathe
- Thy Laste Fyre
- Welcome Thy Rite
- Lindisfarne

<b>Score: 9.2</b>

[Slim]

Iron And Wine - Woman King (2005)





First of all, "The Creek Drank The Cradle" is the supreme Iron And Wine release, but, although it was the album that hooked me, I believe this would probably be a better starting point.

Iron And Wine is essentially one guy, Sam Beam. He recorded the debut on a 4 track in his bedroom. What could have potentially been his downfall was actually the selling point. His lo-fi tone, combined with the overall prettiness of his songs created an unmatched experience.

Now while this sound was to die for, it could easily be dismissed. A lot of people are subconsciously production junkies. The Woman King EP, his fourth release including one other EP and one other full length, does definitely not sound it had a similar recording procedure. Fortunately, while his production techniques have grown, so have his songwriting capabilities. The songs are more varied now. It sounds like a full band, there's strings, and even distorted guitar in one song.

His music is influenced heavily by the singer/songwriters of the late 60s/70s, especially Nick Drake. He manages to get great, different tones out of that acoustic guitar, from the very careful, light, but bassy fingerpicking of Jezebel, to the incredibly rakey rough sound of Woman King. His vocals are just incredibly pretty, he harmonizes himself for backup, the result is divine.

Jezebel and Evening On The Ground (Lilith's Song) are the standout tracks, but the entire release is fantastic. Tied with The Fiery Furnaces' EP for my favourite release so far this year. I recommend it to anyone who this sounds new to...

[Howie]

Shining - IV: The Eerie Cold (2004/2005?) - http://shiningband.cjb.net/



I'd never heard of Shining until I heard their excellent split with Dolorian. So what kind of music is Shining? I'd say doomish black metal. Is it good? Read on.

The album starts with a speech. A speech about people who listens to "Tr00" black metal and such. The speech includes Dimmu Borgir, Eminem and Marilyn Manson. You have to listen to it for yourself, really. Quite funny. Then the whole shit kicks off. Mid-paced drumming, fast-as-hell guitar-riffs, good bass and great vocals. I'm not sure if I should take their lyrics too seriously, as the swedish word for "whore" is heard many times throughout the album, and the rather humourous title "N�gonting �r J�vligt Fel" which would translate into "Something Is Fucking Wrong" doesn't really make me think they're really serious. But heck, the music is great. Badambish.

[Howie]

Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian (1986) - http://www.fateswarning.com/



Fates Warning is another one of those bands people can't stop recommending me. The album The Spectre Within is often recommended, but I honestly can't say I've listened to it much. Though I have listened to their newest album FWX which left me unimpressed.

It took me quite a while to get "into" this album, I've listened to it continously, but I didn't seem to get the "right impression". To me it sounds like Queensr�che with a touch of some Helloween (yeah, no kidding). The vocals contributed by Arch is pretty damn good, powerful guitar, bass and drums. The lyrics ain't too shabby either. The only problem is that... it's kinda boring. Meh.

[Slim]

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada (1999)





I've heard people claim to be fans of the buildup. "The buildup in Welcome To The Jungle is awesome!", etc. Until you have heard the first track from this 2 track EP, you don't know the meaning of the word.

You push play, and you are shrouded in darkness, a low, resonant hum your only companion. All of a sudden your immensified in the sheer simplicity, the added sounds of a strings section, guitar and a glockenspiel seem arbitrary and unimportant. You don't even realise the buildup has begun. The faint hint of a melody begins a couple of minutes in. This is where it actually becomes a trial to push the stop button. From here on in, the song paints as beautiful a landscape as this nearly full scale orchestra (9 members) can provide, and it never stops building up until it provides one of the greatest orgasms in the history of music at the close. It drops back to a hum, and track 2 begins.

Track 2, called "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III" begins with light strings, and a recording of a "street poet" by the name of BBFIII. He begins by telling the story of his recent trip to the court room for a speeding violation, shrouded with his views on the dysfunctional government of the US, and human rights. He then reads a poem of his, which turns out to be the lyrics to Iron Maiden's "Virus". His name then makes slightly more sense. His mind doesn't. You're given mere seconds to take in what he's said, before a flurry of arpeggios evoke your brightest emotions and the track begins to set sail. Much like their previous work, the song drones and provides restraint in dynamics before beginning each beautiful section, particularly the final crescendo, which is possibly the finest moment of the piece.

If you've never heard post rock before, it, as so aptly described by Jim Onestroke is "Music that takes a long time to get anywhere, but is almost always worth it". I believe this disc would be a perfect introduction to the band and genre. At only half an hour, 30 mb or so, half the price of an LP, I implore you all to spend just a little time, bandwidth or money on one of the most beautiful pieces of music recorded to date...

[Howie]

Dio - Strange Highways (1993) - http://www.ronniejamesdio.com/



Does Dio (aka. The King Of Heavy Metal) ever do anything wrong? If so, I have yet to hear it. All the albums he did with Black Sabbath, Rainbow and his solo-project is good. What about this one?

This album reminds me of the work he did in Sabbath, especially his later albums with them. The vocals contributed by Dio himself, which is one of my favourite vocalists by the way, is great. His voice gets better as he ages. His voice fits the slow, doomish heavy metal well, especially on the title-track. Pretty much the whole album is like this, really. Nothing upbeat stuff here really, except from "Jesus, Mary And The Holy Ghost"'s intro. Everything is slow-paced (think Master Of The Moon, just a bit faster), but sometimes slow is good. Remember that. There's no real highlight on the album as most songs sounds the same, but if I would have to mention one, it would be Evilution. Give that one a shot. It's nothing like Holy Diver, but still good.

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Bathory - Bathory (1984) - http://www.bathory.se/



This is the first "real" black metal release (sure, Venom was first, but read on the side of the CD-cover. What does it say? NWOBHM.) Quorthon (R.I.P. 2004) is the mastermind behind this oh so great release.

This is raw and unpolished as hell. Don't expect a great production here, it's awful. But do you need good production in black (with some thrash mixed in) metal? Fuck no (Darkthrone has proved this many times). It just reeks of "Pure Fucking Evil". Quorthon's main influence is Mot�rhead, and that's not hard to hear. The album starts of with the song "Storm Of Damnation", which is really just an intro. Church-clocks ringing and winds are blowing for 3 minutes. It really just sets the "mood" for the album, nothing more. Then track two called "Hades" blasts of with thrashy riffs bass and vocals, Venom-like drumming and screeching vocals. That's pretty much what the whole album is. 27 minutes of pure greatness.

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Forest Stream - Tears Of Mortal Solitude (2002) - http://www.foreststream.net/



I can't say doom metal with death metal-vocals is really my thing, it's faaaar too slow for me. This album almost made me fall asleep (or maybe it was just my new comfy chair?), seriously. It's not bad or anything... it's just slow. Did I mention it was slow?

Think a slower and less melodic Opeth and a Draconian-clone minus female vocals. There, you got Forest Stream. The music is slow-paced (as mentioned a thousand times before). The drummer must be really bored, as in some songs, there is a only 1 beat per second. The vocals are typical doomish growling, not bad at all. The guitar and bass is ok enough, nothing too special. The album starts of with an ambient, atmospheric opening 'til a guitar-melody kicks in and the "growler" starts growling his tones until an acoustic guitar-melody accompanied by ambient tunes in the backgrount takes over. A nice opening. Jumping to the next track ("Legend"), you'll hear a more mid-paced track, with great vocals. Highlight of the CD, you could say. The rest is all ok, nothing to write back to mom about. The CD would probably get a better score if it just wouldn't be so totally fucking overlong as it is. 1,1 hours is too much for me.

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Dungeon - One Step Beyond (2004/2005) - http://www.dungeon.cd/



Lately I've felt that power metal has been walking down a path, instead of up. I've heard some really bad releases of power metal-bands lately, but hopefully this will "downfall of power metal" will straighten up soon. Dungeon's One Step Beyond is an album which will help straighter up nowadays power metal. I've always acknowledged Dungeon to be an "Iron Maiden-coverband" (they made a few great Maiden-covers), but they are more than that.

First time I listened through this album, I said to myself: "Gamma Ray". Yes, they're very similar in their style of playing. The album starts of with the song "The Power Within", which has kickass vocals (even if it's a bit cheesy "Finland metal-like" vocals), awesome solos and great drumming. A great singalong-song. Another song worth mentioning is "Surface Tension", which is by FAR the best track on the album. Solid drumming and guitarwork and the vocalist contributes once again with good vocals. The song "One Step Beyond" is also worth mentioning for it's great solos. The album ends with a solo-like guitarplaying (I've heard it before, but I can't remember where). A solid power metal album given to us by Aussies.

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Dark Suns - Existence (2005) - http://www.darksuns.de/



I have no idea what type of metal this band plays. The Metal Archives says "Progressive Dark Metal". The progressive-part I can agree with, but someone needs to explain the term "Dark Metal" to me sometime. I don't have any idea what it is. Oh well, I guess it's just another word to describe Progressive Doom Metal.

This albums smells of Green Carnation (in a good way). The vocalist sounds a lot like Green Carnation's vocalist, and their way of playing the music is pretty much about the same. The typical "progressive drumming" is here, heavy riffs, great bass and superb vocals. Think a "darker" version of Dream Theater (ok, not exactly... but close). The album starts with an ambient track, where you can hear kids playing in the background (isn't that just like the intro in Green Carnation's Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness?) and a little speech by the vocalist, and then the rest of the album is all good. If you love Green Carnation, this album must be in your collection ASAP.

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Suidakra - Command To Charge (2005) - http://www.suidakra.com/



Suidakra has made a bunch of great albums I enjoy a lot. The band hails from Germany and plays Melodic Death Metal with a "touch of" celtic/folk (think a good version of Soilwork mixed with Cruachan). Now, let's see if the album is as awesome as the cover-artwork.

As said, this album sounds alot like Soilwork, though a better version. They play almost the same style of Melodeath, and makes often use of clean vocals. Suidakra has used clean vocals alot in this album (note, this is usually a bad thing in melodeath), but the clean vocals fits alot into the album itself. Great work by the vocalist. The albums riffs is as heavy as they usually are in most Suidakra-albums, the bass and drumming is also superb. There is a bunch of great instrumentals on the album, especially "Dead Man's Reel", which makes use of the celtic instrument bagpipe and march-like drumming. Best song on the album along with the opener "Decibel Dance". If you like Suidakra I guarantee you that you will not be dissapointed by this great album.

[Slim]

Isis - Panopticon (2004)







Isis are a band all their own, combining the aesthetics of a post rock band with that of a heavy metal band, they are atmospheric, epic, abstract and even spiritual, while at the same time, crushing, dense and really heavy.

The opener sets the stage for the whole album, that heavy power chord over that dense landscape. When quiet, it feels engaging, like it's pulling you in, then it gets loud, and it's an absolute wall of noise.

Heed my word, this band will destroy you. Sorry for the brevity, there's not much more that can be said...

[Howie]

Dimension Zero - Silent Night Fever (2002) - http://www.dimensionzero.org/



One could say this is some kind of "supergroup", where members from Hammerfall, In Flames and Marduk (to name a few) is in. Usually these supergroup-project never really does anything good (at least in my ears), but finally I've found one I like.

The albums starts the way it ends. The vocals are great, the drumming is superb even though it might sounds a bit weak at times, the riffs and solos is great and even the bassist does a brilliant job. The opener, Silent Night Fever starts off with an awesome riff and great drumming. The vocals on this track is also great. After this song, you'll hear the big problem of this album. It's too repetive, the songs sounds almost the same with few exceptions. It's sad really, I'd give this CD a much better score if it had more variety. A song that's a bit different from all the other songs (not much though, but at least a little bit) is "Through The Virgin Sky". It sounds as if the song could have been ripped out from In Flame's Colony at times, and that's a good thing, really.

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Lacuna Coil - Comalies (2002) - http://www.lacunacoil.it/



Gothic metal-bands with female vocalists isn't exactly popular in my ears. Sure, there's a few bands that is OK to listen to, but most is quite crappy, to be honest. Lacuna Coil falls in the category in between "Crappy" and "Good", meaning they're in the "Decent"-category.

First of all, this album is ridicously boring. It almost made me fall asleep after the first song, though the second song was better (and probably the best song on the album). "Heaven's A Lie" it's called, and it sounds like an Evanescence-song (note: I do NOT like Evanescence. Thank you for listening.) done right. Nice guitar-work, good drumming, decent vocals for both the male and female vocalist and a quite catchy chorus. What about the rest then? Is it as sleep-inducing as the rest? Yep. Boring background-synth, the vocals are quite ok for both the male and female vocalist, but the guitar-work is quite boring and the drumming isn't exactly anything to call mom for. "Unspoken" and "Heaven's A Lie" is probably the only songs worth listening to. Avoid.

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Evergrey - The Dark Discovery (1998) - http://www.evergrey.net/



Swedish Evergrey is one of the most praised Power/Prog-acts from Sweden. The band sounds like "light" version of Symphony X. I just recently listened through their live-album "A Night To Remember", and I was not impressed at all. Maybe these guys is just like Sonata Arctica, who just doesn't sound good at all live but sounds great in studio?

The album starts with the song "Blackened Dawn". An impressive track, I must say, the drumming in this song shows how skilled their drummer is. Even the guitar-work in this song is great, but already in the first song you can hear the main problems of the CD. The bass and vocals is mixed in the album too low. Sure, they could blame the bad production on "this being their first album", but the vocals and bass issue needs no excuse. Even the 2004-reissue haven't fixed this. The vocalist's work is ok, though nothing extraordinary. He sounds like Russell Allen of Symphony X, and that's not a bad thing is it?

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Stormwarrior - Stormwarrior (2002) - http://www.stormwarrior.de/



Speedy power metal is one of my favourite genres. Nowadays you don't find any good "newer" bands that play this genre, at least not many. The man who gave us brilliant bands like "Helloween" and "Gamma Ray" produced this album. His name is... Kai Hansen.

This album is filled with kickass riffs, agression, speed, good vocals, raging drums, bass and guitar. Think Helloween's Walls Of Jericho. The solos are great as well. The lyrics are cheesier and the grammar of the lyrics is not exactly great, but hey, who needs good lyrics anyway? Along with kickass songs such as "Sons Of Steele", "The Axewielder" and "Iron Prayers", we get a killer bonus which is a cover of Helloween's Heavy Metal (Is The Law), where Kai Hansen (who was the one who wrote and contributed the vocals to the original song) lends his voice to the band. An awesome cover, it is.

[Solitude]

Spoon ~ A series of snakes (1997)

Rating: 9/10

Ok,first of all let me justify the rating.In my book, only truly epic ,completely imprinted in my memory kind of albums get a 9+ rating.This album does not fill any of those 2 criteria.In fact its one of the most deriviative albums i have in my collection.Then why?Quite simply,when it comes down to it,this album is just too god darn fun to listen to.There is no song better than another on this album.And the oh-we-just-thought-of-a-tune-lets-make-a-song approach enhances this experience. Of course Spoon/Britt Daniel as a band/songwriter now,is far superior,to the one that made this album.But you know sometimes, while listening to the diamond sharp melodies and razor sharp production on Kill the Moonlight, i miss the old spoon. Thankfully their latest album, Gimme Fiction ,which i have an advance copy of, fuses the styles of both of these albums.