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.
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