Give Me Infinity is the second album from Reading's Exit Ten, who are a British rock/metal band, which is kind of refreshing in this world of a million and one genres.
Interestingly, they feature a singer who sings. Although I'm quite happy with cookie monster vocals and the like, 45 minutes of shouting can sometimes get on your nerves so kudos to Ryan Redman, Exit Ten's front man.
After my first run through of half the album so far what I most like about Exit Ten is an acknowledgement that the song is the most important thing. I don't care how good you are at your chosen instrument, if you can't write a song then all you're doing is showing off. The musicians of Exit Ten, all individually excellent, do precisely what each song requires and that's not always the case with rock and metal bands.
Opening two tracks Life and Curtain Call start the album off strongly. The latter in particular has a mighty riff but then two thirds of the way through has a quiet passage that musically has a hint of Oceansize, which is the greatest compliment I can pay any band.
Track 3 Suggest A Path has tasteful guitar and strings before everything crashes in but Ryan Redman bestrides it all, emoting his heart out. Eyes Never Lie is another solid piece of rock with another hint of Oceansize. Nice.
Tracks 5 to 9 are like overs 20-40 of a one-day international. Little cricket reference for you. They are all solid pieces of work but are working up to some kind of climax. The Cursed sounds like one of those alternative/indie rock bands and is quite hooky. Track 8 Sunset is a bit Funeral For A Friend-ish. Smoke has a restrained, pretty beginning. The guitars in this song, and indeed throughout the album, sound glorious when they are both restrained and full-on.
But then.
Then, we reach the tenth track. It is called Mountain.
Oh. My. God.
If you're lucky a band makes a good album. Occasionally, a band makes a great album.
But only rarely does a band make one utterly fabulous track that stands out so much it makes you completely rethink how you feel about the album its on and actually hauls that album out of the good category and into the great category.
But Exit Ten has done it and Mountain is the track.
It starts with a monstrous guitar sound and manages to maintain that monstrous greatness throughout its five and a half minutes. I won't describe it in any more detail because if what I've already said hasn't encouraged you to go seek it out then there is no hope for you.
It is genuinely thrilling. Thrilling that Exit Ten came up with it and thrilling in the way Exit Ten has laid it down. It shows admirable, awe-inspiring ambition.
And do you know what? Last track Lion is almost as good.
Coming to the end of this review I have now listened to Give Me Infinity a whole bunch of times and I have come to the conclusion, unsurprising given some of the things I've written above, that this is an enormous, formidable, fantastic rock record and I am most assuredly Exit Ten's newest fan.
I hope fans of the first album come along because Exit Ten are going somewhere, of that I am absolutely convinced.
Buy this album. Go see them live. Do whatever you can to encourage Exit Ten. I know I will.
Sunday 27 November 2011
Wednesday 9 November 2011
The whole Michael Jackson thing
There was a radio debate about Michael Jackson on yesterday. Everyone was saying what a great artist he was but what a "troubled" person he was in his private life.
I've got no idea what he was really like. He seemed pretty odd...but that's not the worst thing in the world. He did dangle a child over a balcony. That was dumb. He did seem to like the company of children but we'll never know whether he could actually be labelled a paedophile.
So let's stick with what we know. His music. I am old enough to remember the excitement and buzz in 1982 when Thriller came out and the video was shown in its entirety on the telly.
Off the wall, the previous album, was also pretty good.
1987's Bad, while not actually bad, was no more than okay.
After that, unmitigated garbage.
So, two and a half albums that you'd want to listen to.
One of them is the biggest-selling album of all time, so his contribution is not to be sniffed at.
But was he really such a good singer and such a good dancer? To my ears, his singing was competent but punctuated by needless whoos every other line. His dancing seemed to be a well-choreographed routine that he basically repeated endlessly whilst grabbing his crotch in an unappealing fashion.
There is not a single Michael Jackson vocal performance that is as good as, for example, Prince's singing on If I Was Your Girlfriend. Come to think of it, Prince was a much better dancer than Michael Jackson. He was free and loose and unshackled in a way that Jacko never was.
And now that I think about it, Prince was a better musician and a better songwriter...biggest-selling album ever notwithstanding.
From 1983 to 1988 Prince released Purple Rain, Around the world in a day, Parade, Sign o' the Times, Lovesexy.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. That's about as good a five-album body of work as you can possibly get. Up there with the first four or five Roxy Music albums.
And I've always wondered about those devoted fans of Michael Jackson. Maybe the media highlighted the slightly loopy ones when he died but frankly anyone who follows ANYONE with that kind of blinkered fervour is worrying.
Anyhoo, just a thought. I'm not a Jacko hater as such, and I'm not questioning his impact on the world, but sometimes a little perspective can be a good thing.
I've got no idea what he was really like. He seemed pretty odd...but that's not the worst thing in the world. He did dangle a child over a balcony. That was dumb. He did seem to like the company of children but we'll never know whether he could actually be labelled a paedophile.
So let's stick with what we know. His music. I am old enough to remember the excitement and buzz in 1982 when Thriller came out and the video was shown in its entirety on the telly.
Off the wall, the previous album, was also pretty good.
1987's Bad, while not actually bad, was no more than okay.
After that, unmitigated garbage.
So, two and a half albums that you'd want to listen to.
One of them is the biggest-selling album of all time, so his contribution is not to be sniffed at.
But was he really such a good singer and such a good dancer? To my ears, his singing was competent but punctuated by needless whoos every other line. His dancing seemed to be a well-choreographed routine that he basically repeated endlessly whilst grabbing his crotch in an unappealing fashion.
There is not a single Michael Jackson vocal performance that is as good as, for example, Prince's singing on If I Was Your Girlfriend. Come to think of it, Prince was a much better dancer than Michael Jackson. He was free and loose and unshackled in a way that Jacko never was.
And now that I think about it, Prince was a better musician and a better songwriter...biggest-selling album ever notwithstanding.
From 1983 to 1988 Prince released Purple Rain, Around the world in a day, Parade, Sign o' the Times, Lovesexy.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. That's about as good a five-album body of work as you can possibly get. Up there with the first four or five Roxy Music albums.
And I've always wondered about those devoted fans of Michael Jackson. Maybe the media highlighted the slightly loopy ones when he died but frankly anyone who follows ANYONE with that kind of blinkered fervour is worrying.
Anyhoo, just a thought. I'm not a Jacko hater as such, and I'm not questioning his impact on the world, but sometimes a little perspective can be a good thing.
Saturday 1 October 2011
Review of One by Tesseract
I've been hearing good things about this band and about this album for a few months now so this is an opportunity for me to find out what people have been going on about.
Meshuggah meets Textures. That's what I heard. Sounded fine to me. Seems to be part of the Djent scene. Yet another genre name. As you may or may not know, I don't do genres. Its either metal or its not.
This Tesseract album is most assuredly metal.
But some of it is just so pretty, too.
Third track Acceptance, which is the first (of six) part of Concealing Fate, originally released last year , tells you everything you need to know about Tesseract. Riffs that could grind diamonds coupled with subtle, ethereal passages that complement each other remarkably well.
This juxtaposition...sorry, forget that, juxtaposition is too poncy a word to use in an album review. This mix of light and heavy continues gloriously into the next song, almost sounding like two different bands fighting for prominence. That sounds like it shouldn't work but oh my laws how it does.
The Meshuggah influence is there for all to hear and actually that's thrilling. At the moment, no-one can match Meshuggah for what they are bringing to the metal world and to be both bold enough to attempt it and capable enough of getting anywhere near them is more than impressive.
There's also a hint of Oceansize in there. 'nuff said.
Normally, I'd pick out a few tracks individually but I really don't need to. This is an album to listen to all the way through in one go, if you can, and savour its many delights.
The playing throughout is remarkably assured and suggests to me that Tesseract could go anywhere they choose in the next ten or twenty years. I will be tagging along for sure. I strongly recommend you do, too.
In fact I insist.
Meshuggah meets Textures. That's what I heard. Sounded fine to me. Seems to be part of the Djent scene. Yet another genre name. As you may or may not know, I don't do genres. Its either metal or its not.
This Tesseract album is most assuredly metal.
But some of it is just so pretty, too.
Third track Acceptance, which is the first (of six) part of Concealing Fate, originally released last year , tells you everything you need to know about Tesseract. Riffs that could grind diamonds coupled with subtle, ethereal passages that complement each other remarkably well.
This juxtaposition...sorry, forget that, juxtaposition is too poncy a word to use in an album review. This mix of light and heavy continues gloriously into the next song, almost sounding like two different bands fighting for prominence. That sounds like it shouldn't work but oh my laws how it does.
The Meshuggah influence is there for all to hear and actually that's thrilling. At the moment, no-one can match Meshuggah for what they are bringing to the metal world and to be both bold enough to attempt it and capable enough of getting anywhere near them is more than impressive.
There's also a hint of Oceansize in there. 'nuff said.
Normally, I'd pick out a few tracks individually but I really don't need to. This is an album to listen to all the way through in one go, if you can, and savour its many delights.
The playing throughout is remarkably assured and suggests to me that Tesseract could go anywhere they choose in the next ten or twenty years. I will be tagging along for sure. I strongly recommend you do, too.
In fact I insist.
Sunday 18 September 2011
Review of Machine Head's new album "Unto the Locust"
So, here we are then. Four years on since the magnificent Blackening, which in turn was four years on from the stunning Through the Ashes of Empires, we have the new Machine Head album, Unto The Locust.
In contrast to virtually everything I've reviewed recently, Machine Head are a band I am very familiar with and have loved for a long time so I am quaking with excitement at hearing the album and writing about it.
Assuming it's not rubbish.
I just had a 49 minute break to listen to it all in one go.
It's not rubbish.
The first play of a new album is sacrosanct. You can never listen to an album for the first time twice, so the first run through holds a special place for you. More so if the album subsequently turns out to be a good one or a great one or a life-changing one. I'm thinking Van Halen's debut in 1978 or Ride The Lightning in 1984. Or even Burn My Eyes in the early 90s.
My first play of Unto The Locust told me no more than that I couldn't wait to play it again; to play it over and over again. No track stood out in the way that Clenching the Fists of Dissent did on The Blackening but every track sounded strong and powerful and all seven tracks appeared to have moments of utter Machine Head gloriousness.
When Robb Flynn and the guys are on their game they are such a brutal, beautiful force.
On to the second play, the first track, and a typically in-your-face title: I Am Hell. This starts with a choral passage for a minute or so before the guitars and drums crash in and Robb Flynn roars "I am Death". You gotta love him, haven't you?
The slow, crunching pace then gives way to a lightning drum fill and everything is full on in that Machine Head way we love so much. The guitar interplay between Flynn and Phil Demmel is as exemplary and as thrilling as ever while drummer Dave McClain manages to not sound like every other metal drummer around. I think its because he doesn't feel the need to bludgeon you into submission with relentless double-bass drums. Sure, he uses them but he uses them well and only when the time is right for each passage of each song.
Its a great opening, but we've come to expect that from Machine Head.
Moving through second track Be Still and Know and third track Locust I'm hearing all the things I want to hear on a Machine Head album. I don't want to dissect every track - that's for you to savour for yourself when the album comes out - but cumulatively I'm experiencing a warm glow that comes from one of my favourite bands clearly still firing on all cylinders.
I'm not sure Machine Head have been fully appreciated over the years. The first album was one of the great metal debuts of all time but a lot of people never forgave them for The Burning Red and Supercharger was a bit of a disappointment - although I guarantee if you go back and play either album tomorrow you'll find some classic Machine Head moments on both of them.
But I still remember playing Through the Ashes of Empires for the first time and being completely blown away by its focus, its fearlessness, its sheer strength of material. I'm not sure we had any right to expect such a spectacular return to form. Then of course everything was reinforced with The Blackening.
So, three truly great albums out of six. I think that's pretty fucking impressive.
Back to the seventh.
Fourth track on Unto The Locust is This Is The End on which Robb Flynn sounds especially pissed off, which is always a good sign for us fans. Fifth track Darkness Within is probably the most intriguing track on the album. An insistent strummed guitar builds behind Robb Flynn's most plaintive vocal on the album. He's actually a pretty darn good singer, an under-rated feature of most metal bands.
Penultimate track Pearls Before The Swine piles riff upon riff in a smorgasbord of metal fury which leads directly into...some kids singing.
Okay, not exactly what I expected but Machine Head have earned the right to do as they please and so final track Who We Are seems to be their version of Judas Priest's United. In between the kids singing and the strings that close the track we get more Machine Head mayhem so I'm happy enough.
Darn. Looks like I have dissected the whole album after all. Hey ho.
I tell you this. I cannot wait to get the CD. Downloads and iPods are all well and good but metal was made to be enormous and I am already anticipating playing Unto The Locust on a proper system through my huge fuck off speakers so I can really enjoy the power and fury of Machine Head.
It may not be quite as good as The Blackening or Through The Ashes...but it succeeds admirably on its own terms and confirms Machine Head as one of the great metal bands.
As if they weren't already.
In contrast to virtually everything I've reviewed recently, Machine Head are a band I am very familiar with and have loved for a long time so I am quaking with excitement at hearing the album and writing about it.
Assuming it's not rubbish.
I just had a 49 minute break to listen to it all in one go.
It's not rubbish.
The first play of a new album is sacrosanct. You can never listen to an album for the first time twice, so the first run through holds a special place for you. More so if the album subsequently turns out to be a good one or a great one or a life-changing one. I'm thinking Van Halen's debut in 1978 or Ride The Lightning in 1984. Or even Burn My Eyes in the early 90s.
My first play of Unto The Locust told me no more than that I couldn't wait to play it again; to play it over and over again. No track stood out in the way that Clenching the Fists of Dissent did on The Blackening but every track sounded strong and powerful and all seven tracks appeared to have moments of utter Machine Head gloriousness.
When Robb Flynn and the guys are on their game they are such a brutal, beautiful force.
On to the second play, the first track, and a typically in-your-face title: I Am Hell. This starts with a choral passage for a minute or so before the guitars and drums crash in and Robb Flynn roars "I am Death". You gotta love him, haven't you?
The slow, crunching pace then gives way to a lightning drum fill and everything is full on in that Machine Head way we love so much. The guitar interplay between Flynn and Phil Demmel is as exemplary and as thrilling as ever while drummer Dave McClain manages to not sound like every other metal drummer around. I think its because he doesn't feel the need to bludgeon you into submission with relentless double-bass drums. Sure, he uses them but he uses them well and only when the time is right for each passage of each song.
Its a great opening, but we've come to expect that from Machine Head.
Moving through second track Be Still and Know and third track Locust I'm hearing all the things I want to hear on a Machine Head album. I don't want to dissect every track - that's for you to savour for yourself when the album comes out - but cumulatively I'm experiencing a warm glow that comes from one of my favourite bands clearly still firing on all cylinders.
I'm not sure Machine Head have been fully appreciated over the years. The first album was one of the great metal debuts of all time but a lot of people never forgave them for The Burning Red and Supercharger was a bit of a disappointment - although I guarantee if you go back and play either album tomorrow you'll find some classic Machine Head moments on both of them.
But I still remember playing Through the Ashes of Empires for the first time and being completely blown away by its focus, its fearlessness, its sheer strength of material. I'm not sure we had any right to expect such a spectacular return to form. Then of course everything was reinforced with The Blackening.
So, three truly great albums out of six. I think that's pretty fucking impressive.
Back to the seventh.
Fourth track on Unto The Locust is This Is The End on which Robb Flynn sounds especially pissed off, which is always a good sign for us fans. Fifth track Darkness Within is probably the most intriguing track on the album. An insistent strummed guitar builds behind Robb Flynn's most plaintive vocal on the album. He's actually a pretty darn good singer, an under-rated feature of most metal bands.
Penultimate track Pearls Before The Swine piles riff upon riff in a smorgasbord of metal fury which leads directly into...some kids singing.
Okay, not exactly what I expected but Machine Head have earned the right to do as they please and so final track Who We Are seems to be their version of Judas Priest's United. In between the kids singing and the strings that close the track we get more Machine Head mayhem so I'm happy enough.
Darn. Looks like I have dissected the whole album after all. Hey ho.
I tell you this. I cannot wait to get the CD. Downloads and iPods are all well and good but metal was made to be enormous and I am already anticipating playing Unto The Locust on a proper system through my huge fuck off speakers so I can really enjoy the power and fury of Machine Head.
It may not be quite as good as The Blackening or Through The Ashes...but it succeeds admirably on its own terms and confirms Machine Head as one of the great metal bands.
As if they weren't already.
Saturday 20 August 2011
In praise of singing that would not, thank fuck, win X Factor
I really loathe the kind of singing that wins X Factor. That Mariah Carey-type caterwauling makes me vomit. It all sounds the same - think Leona Lewis and that Burke girl - and its all shite.
So as I sit here listening to the fourth Peter Gabriel album, one of the greatest albums of the 80s and any other decade frankly, I started thinking about singers who would be booed off the X Factor stage because their voice doesn't fit the norm but whose voice can, at times, make me weep with joy.
Here's just a few to be going along with:
David Bowie - Teenage Wildlife off Scary Monsters. You could pick virtually anything by Bowie but his singing on this particular track is wonderful.
Peter Gabriel - The Family and the Fishing Net from the aforementioned fourth album. Obviously, I could choose any number of Gabriel tracks.
Thom Yorke - Let Down off Radiohead's OK Computer - in my opinion the album of the 90s. How anyone can find Yorke's gorgeous, plaintive, heartbreaking voice tedious or depressing is beyond me.
Paul Buchanan - absolutely the whole of the Hats album by The Blue Nile. This man has the voice of an angel. If you've never heard of The Blue Nile seek them out immediately. Hats is in the top five albums of the 80s to be sure.
There you go, just four. Four wonderful vocal performances that would have the X Factor judges looking at each other in bemusement, ignorant fuckwits that they are.
That's a bit harsh. I guess they're just doing what they're told.
Feel free to suggest some more. If nothing else, it makes you play some things you might not have played for a while, and that's gotta be a good thing.
So as I sit here listening to the fourth Peter Gabriel album, one of the greatest albums of the 80s and any other decade frankly, I started thinking about singers who would be booed off the X Factor stage because their voice doesn't fit the norm but whose voice can, at times, make me weep with joy.
Here's just a few to be going along with:
David Bowie - Teenage Wildlife off Scary Monsters. You could pick virtually anything by Bowie but his singing on this particular track is wonderful.
Peter Gabriel - The Family and the Fishing Net from the aforementioned fourth album. Obviously, I could choose any number of Gabriel tracks.
Thom Yorke - Let Down off Radiohead's OK Computer - in my opinion the album of the 90s. How anyone can find Yorke's gorgeous, plaintive, heartbreaking voice tedious or depressing is beyond me.
Paul Buchanan - absolutely the whole of the Hats album by The Blue Nile. This man has the voice of an angel. If you've never heard of The Blue Nile seek them out immediately. Hats is in the top five albums of the 80s to be sure.
There you go, just four. Four wonderful vocal performances that would have the X Factor judges looking at each other in bemusement, ignorant fuckwits that they are.
That's a bit harsh. I guess they're just doing what they're told.
Feel free to suggest some more. If nothing else, it makes you play some things you might not have played for a while, and that's gotta be a good thing.
Friday 20 May 2011
Saturday 14 May 2011
Review of The Last Caress of Light by Darkest Era
Ooh, proper singing. I'd forgotten what that sounded like.
Much as I've come to terms with cookie monster growling et al it makes a nice change to hear someone actually singing their heart out. And on The Last Caress of Light, Darkest Era's excellent debut album, we get heart as big as a house.
The band are from Northern Ireland and their Celtic roots provide the foundation to everything they do, infusing the music with passion, honesty and conviction.
First track The Morrigan teases before a rousing roar kicks things off. The double-bass drums pound along merrily and there's a great guitar break. A morrigan appears to be a "a goddess of battle, strife, and fertility", giving a clue to where Darkest Era's lyrical inspiration comes from. This is the perfect opening statement.
Next track An Ancient Fire Burns launches straight in and already you realise that this band believe implicitly in what they do and they do it superbly.
The middle three tracks contain more soaring guitars, pounding drums and convincing vocals in an immensely satisfying way but then Darkest Era pull out the stops for the final three tracks.
The epic start of To Face The Black Tide is full of fire and brimstone before settling back into a more reflective passage. Then the band really hit their straps. Krum's vocals are superb...best new rock vocalist I've heard in a long time; plus we have a new female-drummer hero. Stand up Lisa Howe...not literally though.
Poem To The Gael is a traditional-type Irish folk song and its beautifully done. It paves the way for the closer, The Last Caress Of Light Before The Dark, all 11 minutes of it. An acoustic start continues the feel from the previous track but then the guitars and drums fire up and we are on a journey, drawn along by the force of Darkest Era's will. Its an adventure, fraught with danger but with redemption and glory in sight.
The playing by the whole band is exemplary and this is a magnificent way to finish. I will have to pootle along to the Barfly in September if they are half as good live as they are in the studio.
Other reviews have mentioned Thin Lizzy, in particular Black Rose, but I think the band that this album most reminds me of is Amon Amarth. Not that Darkest Era are remotely black metal but because it is obvious that they, like Amon Amarth, are very proud of their heritage. I read that Darkest Era remind other reviewers of Primordial, another Irish band, but I know nothing about them so I'll have to leave that one hanging.
Furthermore, Darkest Era are rousing and jolly in much the same way as Amon Amarth are. Jolly is probably not a cool epithet for a metal band but what the hey.
Its pointless to predict that a metal band is going to be "big" because it doesn't mean much anymore but I reckon Darkest Era will be a hit with metal heads around the world but are also accessible enough to have a more widespread appeal. And I mean that very much as a good thing.
This is splendid, epic rock music played with an passion and intensity that is remarkable for a first album.
Darkest Era have made their mark.
Much as I've come to terms with cookie monster growling et al it makes a nice change to hear someone actually singing their heart out. And on The Last Caress of Light, Darkest Era's excellent debut album, we get heart as big as a house.
The band are from Northern Ireland and their Celtic roots provide the foundation to everything they do, infusing the music with passion, honesty and conviction.
First track The Morrigan teases before a rousing roar kicks things off. The double-bass drums pound along merrily and there's a great guitar break. A morrigan appears to be a "a goddess of battle, strife, and fertility", giving a clue to where Darkest Era's lyrical inspiration comes from. This is the perfect opening statement.
Next track An Ancient Fire Burns launches straight in and already you realise that this band believe implicitly in what they do and they do it superbly.
The middle three tracks contain more soaring guitars, pounding drums and convincing vocals in an immensely satisfying way but then Darkest Era pull out the stops for the final three tracks.
The epic start of To Face The Black Tide is full of fire and brimstone before settling back into a more reflective passage. Then the band really hit their straps. Krum's vocals are superb...best new rock vocalist I've heard in a long time; plus we have a new female-drummer hero. Stand up Lisa Howe...not literally though.
Poem To The Gael is a traditional-type Irish folk song and its beautifully done. It paves the way for the closer, The Last Caress Of Light Before The Dark, all 11 minutes of it. An acoustic start continues the feel from the previous track but then the guitars and drums fire up and we are on a journey, drawn along by the force of Darkest Era's will. Its an adventure, fraught with danger but with redemption and glory in sight.
The playing by the whole band is exemplary and this is a magnificent way to finish. I will have to pootle along to the Barfly in September if they are half as good live as they are in the studio.
Other reviews have mentioned Thin Lizzy, in particular Black Rose, but I think the band that this album most reminds me of is Amon Amarth. Not that Darkest Era are remotely black metal but because it is obvious that they, like Amon Amarth, are very proud of their heritage. I read that Darkest Era remind other reviewers of Primordial, another Irish band, but I know nothing about them so I'll have to leave that one hanging.
Furthermore, Darkest Era are rousing and jolly in much the same way as Amon Amarth are. Jolly is probably not a cool epithet for a metal band but what the hey.
Its pointless to predict that a metal band is going to be "big" because it doesn't mean much anymore but I reckon Darkest Era will be a hit with metal heads around the world but are also accessible enough to have a more widespread appeal. And I mean that very much as a good thing.
This is splendid, epic rock music played with an passion and intensity that is remarkable for a first album.
Darkest Era have made their mark.
Sunday 1 May 2011
Review of Mammal by Altar of Plagues
Okay, so the only thing I know about this band is that they are Irish. I’ve not heard anything by them before so we’ll have to see whether that’s a good or bad thing for the purpose of this review.
If you’ve read anything else I’ve written you’ll notice I don’t like to use genres as a simple way of describing a band. For a start, most of them are too simplistic but also I don’t understand half of them.
You’re either a metal band or you’re not.
Altar of Plagues are a metal band. The guitars are for the most part grungy and noisy, the drums are often ferocious and the vocals are…well, the human equivalent of grungy, noisy and ferocious.
First track “Neptune is Dead” lasts, good grief, over 18 minutes long. It starts off with some atmospheric guitar then kicks off with some frantic drumming and shouting and riffing. I wonder if this if this is Altar of Plagues’ MO. Halfway through we move into a less ferocious phase. There’s not a great deal of light and shade as such but to be fair its not unenjoyable. What this band seem be doing is creating a landscape, an atmosphere of uneasiness, of darkness, and I found it pretty agreeable. Its not what I routinely want my metal to be, but sometimes its good to be out of your comfort zone.
“Feather and Bone” features some impressive-sounding ambient guitar before getting pretty crunchy. Its also got an interesting, unsettling quiet passage with some piano and acoustic guitar. This has turned out to be my favourite track on the album although its hard to say what elevates it above the others.
“When the Sun Drowns in the Ocean” begins with some traditional Irish keening (vocal lament) which really establishes the haunting atmosphere. The track is like a soundtrack for a movie you really wouldn’t want to watch on your own.
“All Life Converges to Some Center” closes the album and follows a path now established through the previous three tracks: unsettling, challenging, bold. And the guitars are terrific. Altar of Plagues seem to know the path they want to be on and are striking out admirably.
After a couple of plays I have now gone on the web to try and find some context for Altar of Plagues and the other band that keeps cropping up is Wolves in the Throne Room. I don’t know anything about them either but listening to some tracks on YouTube I can recognise that Altar Of Plagues are somewhere in the same ballpark.
For the purpose of this review I’ve now listened to Mammal more than half a dozen times and its getting better every time I play it.
Go immerse yourself…but don’t play the album in the dark, on your own.
Which, of course, means do.
If you’ve read anything else I’ve written you’ll notice I don’t like to use genres as a simple way of describing a band. For a start, most of them are too simplistic but also I don’t understand half of them.
You’re either a metal band or you’re not.
Altar of Plagues are a metal band. The guitars are for the most part grungy and noisy, the drums are often ferocious and the vocals are…well, the human equivalent of grungy, noisy and ferocious.
First track “Neptune is Dead” lasts, good grief, over 18 minutes long. It starts off with some atmospheric guitar then kicks off with some frantic drumming and shouting and riffing. I wonder if this if this is Altar of Plagues’ MO. Halfway through we move into a less ferocious phase. There’s not a great deal of light and shade as such but to be fair its not unenjoyable. What this band seem be doing is creating a landscape, an atmosphere of uneasiness, of darkness, and I found it pretty agreeable. Its not what I routinely want my metal to be, but sometimes its good to be out of your comfort zone.
“Feather and Bone” features some impressive-sounding ambient guitar before getting pretty crunchy. Its also got an interesting, unsettling quiet passage with some piano and acoustic guitar. This has turned out to be my favourite track on the album although its hard to say what elevates it above the others.
“When the Sun Drowns in the Ocean” begins with some traditional Irish keening (vocal lament) which really establishes the haunting atmosphere. The track is like a soundtrack for a movie you really wouldn’t want to watch on your own.
“All Life Converges to Some Center” closes the album and follows a path now established through the previous three tracks: unsettling, challenging, bold. And the guitars are terrific. Altar of Plagues seem to know the path they want to be on and are striking out admirably.
After a couple of plays I have now gone on the web to try and find some context for Altar of Plagues and the other band that keeps cropping up is Wolves in the Throne Room. I don’t know anything about them either but listening to some tracks on YouTube I can recognise that Altar Of Plagues are somewhere in the same ballpark.
For the purpose of this review I’ve now listened to Mammal more than half a dozen times and its getting better every time I play it.
Go immerse yourself…but don’t play the album in the dark, on your own.
Which, of course, means do.
Review of Everyone Into Position by Oceansize
Writing a review for an album that came out six years ago is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.
Instead of listening to each track and jotting down some notes about odd time signatures, explosive guitars, tender vocals and layers upon layers upon layers, I am just sitting back with my eyes closed soaking it all in and marvelling – for the umpteenth time – at how fantastic Oceansize are.
Were. Still can’t get used to that.
I mean, if I tell you that track four ‘Music for a Nurse’ starts with guitar using a delay effect, how can that possibly convey the utterly mesmeric quality of it and how beautiful the entire 8 minutes of the track are?
If I say that track three ‘A Homage to a Shame’ explodes from the speakers / headphones in a fury of guitars and off-kilter beats does that in any way describe how totally thrilling it is? No surprise that this track has been one of the high points of the live set ever since.
And as for the closing track, ‘Ornament/The Last Wrongs’…I’m not sure any words can do justice to its grandeur. As it turns out, it was this track that they closed with when I saw them last year, so it is this track that will be the last track I see Oceansize ever play live. Which is fitting.
Released in 2005 Everyone Into Position was Oceansize’s second album and shows the band becoming even more adventurous and ambitious. There’s also some commercial success with fourth track ‘Meredith’ being used in the TV show The O.C. and the aforementioned ‘Music for a Nurse’ used in an O2 advert for a while. I still recall the first time I realised I was hearing Oceansize on the telly. My first thought was, I hope they are getting paid enough to guarantee a third album.
Lyrically the album is as impenetrable as a lot of modern rock lyrics but that could just be me being a bit dim. And, after all, when have rock fans ever worried about lyrics. With the exception of Rush, of course.
I don’t need to detail every track. I’ve mentioned some highlights but truth be told, Everyone into Position is pure Oceansize all the way through and probably the one you’d play to a mate to try and get them into the band.
Instead of listening to each track and jotting down some notes about odd time signatures, explosive guitars, tender vocals and layers upon layers upon layers, I am just sitting back with my eyes closed soaking it all in and marvelling – for the umpteenth time – at how fantastic Oceansize are.
Were. Still can’t get used to that.
I mean, if I tell you that track four ‘Music for a Nurse’ starts with guitar using a delay effect, how can that possibly convey the utterly mesmeric quality of it and how beautiful the entire 8 minutes of the track are?
If I say that track three ‘A Homage to a Shame’ explodes from the speakers / headphones in a fury of guitars and off-kilter beats does that in any way describe how totally thrilling it is? No surprise that this track has been one of the high points of the live set ever since.
And as for the closing track, ‘Ornament/The Last Wrongs’…I’m not sure any words can do justice to its grandeur. As it turns out, it was this track that they closed with when I saw them last year, so it is this track that will be the last track I see Oceansize ever play live. Which is fitting.
Released in 2005 Everyone Into Position was Oceansize’s second album and shows the band becoming even more adventurous and ambitious. There’s also some commercial success with fourth track ‘Meredith’ being used in the TV show The O.C. and the aforementioned ‘Music for a Nurse’ used in an O2 advert for a while. I still recall the first time I realised I was hearing Oceansize on the telly. My first thought was, I hope they are getting paid enough to guarantee a third album.
Lyrically the album is as impenetrable as a lot of modern rock lyrics but that could just be me being a bit dim. And, after all, when have rock fans ever worried about lyrics. With the exception of Rush, of course.
I don’t need to detail every track. I’ve mentioned some highlights but truth be told, Everyone into Position is pure Oceansize all the way through and probably the one you’d play to a mate to try and get them into the band.
Friday 22 April 2011
Review of Effloresce by Oceansize
This is how I got into Oceansize:
I was flicking TV channels when I stopped on VH-1 or something similar. A video was playing. The drums were choppy and the guitars crunchy. I watched until the end but that was no more than 45 seconds. The title and artist came up. ‘Catalyst’ by Oceansize.
Meant nothing to me, but instead of shrugging and moving on there had been something in those 45 seconds that made me immediately get on the computer where I discovered the band was from Manchester and the track was from an album called Effloresce, which had come out the year before.
I called a friend who worked in a record shop and asked if he had a copy. He did and he said he’d pop one in the post. The following day Effloresce arrived.
My life changed.
After the initial play, my first thought was Tool meets Radiohead. Tool for the noisy bits and odd time signatures and Radiohead for the understated passages.
By the second play of Effloresce it was obvious that that description barely scratched the surface of what was actually a bold, ambitious, dense, heavy, tender, teasing, thrilling album. And that Oceansize were a bit special.
Second track ‘Catalyst’, where this all began, starts with broody, crunchy guitars that you hope presage a monster riff…and boy do they. Then the guitars drop out and tender, crooning vocals make an appearance before another build up, another drop out, always keeping you interested, always fooling you about where the track will go next.
Fourth track ‘Massive Bereavement’, a second shy of ten minutes, trips along merrily for the first half then explodes into a frenzy of tormented vocals and furious guitars before the last minute or so is just a glorious riff-fest building to an abrupt, dramatic climax.
Bear in mind this was Oceansize’s debut album. But instead of merely showing promise or potential Mike Vennart (vocals/guitar), Steve Durose (guitar/vocals), Gambler (guitar), Jon Ellis (bass), and Mark Heron (drums) gave us a band already fully in control of its destiny, brimming with self-belief and confident in its desire to push rock into fascinating places.
Some of this must come from having such a magnificent drummer as Heron, whose skilful and creative playing underpins everything Oceansize do, both when they are blowing out your speakers and whispering softly into your headphones, both of which they do brilliantly.
Gentle, sometimes quirky, passages punctuate the album, creating a seamless flow of music and making you aware that the running order, an often under-appreciated aspect of the whole listening to an album experience, is absolutely perfect, complementing the light and shade of all the twelve tracks as well as within individual tracks themselves.
Amputee shows Oceansize’s effortless grasp of dymanics as well as capacity to rock out and quickly became a live favourite while the album finishes with three tracks, all over eight minutes, that leave you slumped in your seat, speechless at Oceansize’s genius.
Its maybe not as immediate as later albums but that’s no bad thing. Effloresce’s layers upon layers mean it requires a lot of plays to take in and fully appreciate everything that’s going on.
You feel Oceansize could be capable of writing a soundtrack for the fiercest, action-packed Hollywood blockbuster or for the most subtle, understated of movies. A soundtrack for life itself.
At various points throughout Effloresce it feels like Oceansize already has.
I was flicking TV channels when I stopped on VH-1 or something similar. A video was playing. The drums were choppy and the guitars crunchy. I watched until the end but that was no more than 45 seconds. The title and artist came up. ‘Catalyst’ by Oceansize.
Meant nothing to me, but instead of shrugging and moving on there had been something in those 45 seconds that made me immediately get on the computer where I discovered the band was from Manchester and the track was from an album called Effloresce, which had come out the year before.
I called a friend who worked in a record shop and asked if he had a copy. He did and he said he’d pop one in the post. The following day Effloresce arrived.
My life changed.
After the initial play, my first thought was Tool meets Radiohead. Tool for the noisy bits and odd time signatures and Radiohead for the understated passages.
By the second play of Effloresce it was obvious that that description barely scratched the surface of what was actually a bold, ambitious, dense, heavy, tender, teasing, thrilling album. And that Oceansize were a bit special.
Second track ‘Catalyst’, where this all began, starts with broody, crunchy guitars that you hope presage a monster riff…and boy do they. Then the guitars drop out and tender, crooning vocals make an appearance before another build up, another drop out, always keeping you interested, always fooling you about where the track will go next.
Fourth track ‘Massive Bereavement’, a second shy of ten minutes, trips along merrily for the first half then explodes into a frenzy of tormented vocals and furious guitars before the last minute or so is just a glorious riff-fest building to an abrupt, dramatic climax.
Bear in mind this was Oceansize’s debut album. But instead of merely showing promise or potential Mike Vennart (vocals/guitar), Steve Durose (guitar/vocals), Gambler (guitar), Jon Ellis (bass), and Mark Heron (drums) gave us a band already fully in control of its destiny, brimming with self-belief and confident in its desire to push rock into fascinating places.
Some of this must come from having such a magnificent drummer as Heron, whose skilful and creative playing underpins everything Oceansize do, both when they are blowing out your speakers and whispering softly into your headphones, both of which they do brilliantly.
Gentle, sometimes quirky, passages punctuate the album, creating a seamless flow of music and making you aware that the running order, an often under-appreciated aspect of the whole listening to an album experience, is absolutely perfect, complementing the light and shade of all the twelve tracks as well as within individual tracks themselves.
Amputee shows Oceansize’s effortless grasp of dymanics as well as capacity to rock out and quickly became a live favourite while the album finishes with three tracks, all over eight minutes, that leave you slumped in your seat, speechless at Oceansize’s genius.
Its maybe not as immediate as later albums but that’s no bad thing. Effloresce’s layers upon layers mean it requires a lot of plays to take in and fully appreciate everything that’s going on.
You feel Oceansize could be capable of writing a soundtrack for the fiercest, action-packed Hollywood blockbuster or for the most subtle, understated of movies. A soundtrack for life itself.
At various points throughout Effloresce it feels like Oceansize already has.
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Oh man, I miss Oceansize...
The band which has given me the most pleasure over the past six years is Oceansize, a rock band from Manchester. Over four albums Oceansize has produced the most exhilarating, exciting, glorious rock music and given live performances of such thrilling energy I still had faith in music in a world saturated with autotuned X-factor bilge and happy slappy rap garbage.
Which is why I am so fucked off that Oceansize has split up. Not just disappointed. Honestly fucked off.
Oceansize is - was - something truly special. Oceansize had so many facets - on MySpace the band described itself as Progressive Death Indie - that you didn't know where it was going to go but you knew you were going to follow it to the ends of the Earth.
Oceansize even did some tracks I wasn't that keen on, but that too was part of their genius. In the same way that I think OK Computer is better than The Bends because its high points are so high, so the best bits of Oceansize take it into a world of its own.
Silent/Transparent from Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up.
Trail of Fire from Frames.
Ornament/The Last Wrongs from Everyone Into Position.
Incredible, life-affirming, heart-pumping rock music.
There is - was - no-one like Oceansize.
We have not been given a reason why Oceansize has split. Which is fair enough. Oceansize don't owe us anything. Sure, I bought all the albums and went to the gigs but I didn't do that so that I would be reimbursed. I did it because listening to Oceansize's music improved the quality of my life. And we all want that, don't we?
And even if there was a reason for the split, would it help? I don't think so...even though part of me really wants to know why.
Maybe one of the problems is that Oceansize didn't realise just how good Oceansize was. Maybe Oceansize don't fully appreciate the impact they have had on a number of rock music fans around the world and splitting up is no big deal. No, that's ridiculous. Even if the five members are glad the band is no more, in the way you are glad to be out of a bad relationship yet still mourn its ending, they couldn't be that flippant about their demise.
Or maybe the opposite is true. Maybe the five members felt - rightly - that they had made the best rock music of the last ten years but fame had still eluded them so what else was there to do but quit? But I'm pretty certain they were not doing it just for the fame. I believe they were doing it to make magnificent music, which they achieved admirably.
Since the announcement a month ago I haven't been able to listen to any of the albums. But then last night I listened to the first one, Effloresce, on headphones and today I've played the other three. Redundancy has its perks.
For the last four weeks I actually told myself that there was no point in listening to Oceansize anymore, seeing as it didn't exist. That is crazy. I still listen to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Obviously.
But the thought of listening to Oceansize recently has actually pained me. So I didn't. Now I have. And, of course, am loving the music as much as ever, albeit with a bittersweet taste now that they are no more. And it has encouraged me to write this, which may or may not be a good thing.
Perhaps it is ridiculous to mourn the end of a rock band.
I don't think so. Music, apart from my wife and son, is the most important thing in my world so I am experiencing a genuine sense of loss that there will be no more Oceansize albums, that there will be no more Oceansize gigs to go to.
I'm sure Messrs Vennart, Heron, Hodson, Ingram and Durose are happy with their decision and I trust they will go on to make more great music in their lives.
But it won't be Oceansize. It can't be. And I just can't be happy about that.
Which is why I am so fucked off that Oceansize has split up. Not just disappointed. Honestly fucked off.
Oceansize is - was - something truly special. Oceansize had so many facets - on MySpace the band described itself as Progressive Death Indie - that you didn't know where it was going to go but you knew you were going to follow it to the ends of the Earth.
Oceansize even did some tracks I wasn't that keen on, but that too was part of their genius. In the same way that I think OK Computer is better than The Bends because its high points are so high, so the best bits of Oceansize take it into a world of its own.
Silent/Transparent from Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up.
Trail of Fire from Frames.
Ornament/The Last Wrongs from Everyone Into Position.
Incredible, life-affirming, heart-pumping rock music.
There is - was - no-one like Oceansize.
We have not been given a reason why Oceansize has split. Which is fair enough. Oceansize don't owe us anything. Sure, I bought all the albums and went to the gigs but I didn't do that so that I would be reimbursed. I did it because listening to Oceansize's music improved the quality of my life. And we all want that, don't we?
And even if there was a reason for the split, would it help? I don't think so...even though part of me really wants to know why.
Maybe one of the problems is that Oceansize didn't realise just how good Oceansize was. Maybe Oceansize don't fully appreciate the impact they have had on a number of rock music fans around the world and splitting up is no big deal. No, that's ridiculous. Even if the five members are glad the band is no more, in the way you are glad to be out of a bad relationship yet still mourn its ending, they couldn't be that flippant about their demise.
Or maybe the opposite is true. Maybe the five members felt - rightly - that they had made the best rock music of the last ten years but fame had still eluded them so what else was there to do but quit? But I'm pretty certain they were not doing it just for the fame. I believe they were doing it to make magnificent music, which they achieved admirably.
Since the announcement a month ago I haven't been able to listen to any of the albums. But then last night I listened to the first one, Effloresce, on headphones and today I've played the other three. Redundancy has its perks.
For the last four weeks I actually told myself that there was no point in listening to Oceansize anymore, seeing as it didn't exist. That is crazy. I still listen to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Obviously.
But the thought of listening to Oceansize recently has actually pained me. So I didn't. Now I have. And, of course, am loving the music as much as ever, albeit with a bittersweet taste now that they are no more. And it has encouraged me to write this, which may or may not be a good thing.
Perhaps it is ridiculous to mourn the end of a rock band.
I don't think so. Music, apart from my wife and son, is the most important thing in my world so I am experiencing a genuine sense of loss that there will be no more Oceansize albums, that there will be no more Oceansize gigs to go to.
I'm sure Messrs Vennart, Heron, Hodson, Ingram and Durose are happy with their decision and I trust they will go on to make more great music in their lives.
But it won't be Oceansize. It can't be. And I just can't be happy about that.
Monday 28 February 2011
In praise of...
In metal circles it seems popular to slag off Metallica for:
I was listening to RTL and MOP on headphones last night. Probably the first time I've listened to them all the way through for two or three years.
Hetfield was still only 20 when RTL came out, Hammett was 21. They produced music that changed metal forever.
Without Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets there wouldn't have been...well, almost every metal band that has ever been since.
Something to bear in mind.
- "selling out" - no, I don't know what it means either.
- releasing Load and Reload which a lot of fans didn't like - not me, I liked them very much...Bleeding Me off Load is absolutely one of Metallica's finest tracks.
- making the St.Anger album and accompanying movie "Some Kind of Monster".
- the crusade against Napster.
- simply not being as good as they once were.
I was listening to RTL and MOP on headphones last night. Probably the first time I've listened to them all the way through for two or three years.
Hetfield was still only 20 when RTL came out, Hammett was 21. They produced music that changed metal forever.
Without Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets there wouldn't have been...well, almost every metal band that has ever been since.
Something to bear in mind.
Friday 25 February 2011
Oceansize are no more
Just heard the news that Oceansize has split up. I know they are just a bunch of guys in a band and that its not the end of the world...but it feels like it.
I got into them six years ago and over the course of four albums and a bunch of gigs they have been quite simply the greatest British rock band and a band that were special to me in a way that only a select group of bands, or possibly a select group of bands, has been.
It would not be appropriate to say that I am inconsolable but this has sure ruined my weekend.
I got into them six years ago and over the course of four albums and a bunch of gigs they have been quite simply the greatest British rock band and a band that were special to me in a way that only a select group of bands, or possibly a select group of bands, has been.
It would not be appropriate to say that I am inconsolable but this has sure ruined my weekend.
Friday 11 February 2011
In Mourning "Monolith"
Monolith sounds a good metal name, doesn't it? Well, I'm here to tell you that the album Monolith by In Mourning, a Swedish band pretty new to me, is as good a metal album as I have heard since...the last really good metal album I raved about.
If you like Opeth, and what right-thinking person would not, then you will love In Mourning. Its both brutal and beautiful, melodic and monstrous, and epic, without just being Opeth.
What is it about Swedish bands? Opeth, Meshuggah, Soilwork, Amon Amarth et al. And now In Mourning must be added to the list.
Go out and buy...okay, stay in and click a couple of buttons on Amazon...and buy Monolith immediately. Then, like me, you'll have to try and get a copy of their first album Shrouded Divine, which I listened to on we7 and it sounds equally magnificent.
Then all we have to do is convince the band to come and play in the UK.
If you like Opeth, and what right-thinking person would not, then you will love In Mourning. Its both brutal and beautiful, melodic and monstrous, and epic, without just being Opeth.
What is it about Swedish bands? Opeth, Meshuggah, Soilwork, Amon Amarth et al. And now In Mourning must be added to the list.
Go out and buy...okay, stay in and click a couple of buttons on Amazon...and buy Monolith immediately. Then, like me, you'll have to try and get a copy of their first album Shrouded Divine, which I listened to on we7 and it sounds equally magnificent.
Then all we have to do is convince the band to come and play in the UK.
Thursday 20 January 2011
Songs you don't like by bands you love
I love Oceansize. That is no surprise to anyone who knows me or anyone who has read previous blogs. I mean, I really love Oceansize. But still I don't much like the first track on their most recent, otherwise marvellous, album 'Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up'. And there's a track* on their last album that, while I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate it, it does kinda rub me up the wrong way.
So I started thinking about other tracks I don't like by bands I love. Rush are my favourite band and have been for thirty years. I love all their albums - as anyone should - but I've never much cared for "Red Lenses" off Grace Under Pressure (1984) or "Scars" off Presto (1989). Which is fine. Two tracks from over twenty albums is pretty good going, although even then I still feel a little guilty.
Blue Oyster Cult have always been in my top 3, but there's a track called "Debbie Denise" on 'Agents of Fortune' (1976) (otherwise known as the album that's got "Don't Fear The Reaper" on) that is pretty ordinary. Likewise, half the tracks on Club Ninja, but that's a pretty poor album anyway.
So now I'm gonna go off and find other tracks by some of my fave bands. And play those songs. And probably not dislike them as much.
* " An old friend of the Christy's" off 'Frames'
So I started thinking about other tracks I don't like by bands I love. Rush are my favourite band and have been for thirty years. I love all their albums - as anyone should - but I've never much cared for "Red Lenses" off Grace Under Pressure (1984) or "Scars" off Presto (1989). Which is fine. Two tracks from over twenty albums is pretty good going, although even then I still feel a little guilty.
Blue Oyster Cult have always been in my top 3, but there's a track called "Debbie Denise" on 'Agents of Fortune' (1976) (otherwise known as the album that's got "Don't Fear The Reaper" on) that is pretty ordinary. Likewise, half the tracks on Club Ninja, but that's a pretty poor album anyway.
So now I'm gonna go off and find other tracks by some of my fave bands. And play those songs. And probably not dislike them as much.
* " An old friend of the Christy's" off 'Frames'
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