Cycopl

metal

even though I was really fucking drunk when I did my last update (I don't really even remember typing it), the statement still stands.

I've been lagging behind on my metal gathering so I've been trying to catch up a little. Here's what I got so far:

Soulfly - Dark Ages. There is a band out there called Soulfly that was supposed to be great. It was founded by lead singer/guitarist Max Cavalera, who quit Sepultura. He was the creative driving force behind sepultura, and sepultura was soo good, so Soulfly had to be awesome, right? Nope, every Soulfly album was just an attempt to re-create Sepultura's last album "Roots". I didn't even think Roots was that great so Soulfly was never that great. BUT, I would have to say that this album, Dark Ages, is different. There are lots of traces of older Sepultura in there, and it's great. It tells me that Max Cavalera hasn't given up on writing good metal and it makes me happy.

Brainstorm - Liquid Monster. I actually downloaded this album like a year ago, but it was a promo album and it had a little thing in each song where some guy said "you are listening to Brainstorm Liquid Monster coming out blah blah 2005". That just kills songs for me. This is an awesome album though, it really caught me off guard because I had never heard of the band Brainstorm. They are generally classified as power metal because of their lead singer, but it doesn't feel like power metal. They are heavy, but very melodic, and the singer actually sings. I consider power metal to be really fast-paced and melodic, and most of the songs on this album are pretty mid-tempo. It's a really good album, good enough for me to go out of my way and find it again just so I can have a good version of the album.

Kalmah - The Black Waltz. This was an anticipated album for me. I started listening to Kalmah about a year and a half ago, and I have been pretty hooked on them ever since. They are in that Finnish metal "scene" I've been talking about, and generally classified as sounding like Children of Bodom (like all Finnish metal bands). But these guys are definitely unique. They're a lot more traditinal melodic death metal than Children of Bodom (and probably every other finnish band I've heard with the exception of Wintersun), but they come up with melodies that stick in your head. Very haunting and catchy melodies. My one complaint about this album is that the singer doesn't seem to show as much range as their earlier albums. He uses the same low pitched growl as a base for all of their songs, sometimes switching to a higher pitched shrieking growl. I don't have any complaints about the growl/shriek combo, it's expected in european death metal. It's just that you didn't know what to expect from the vocals on earlier albums, but on this one it's a lot more consistent low growls. Don't get me wrong though, that doesn't kill this album, or even hurt it. This album is fucking amazing.

Ensiferum - Dragonheads. I've probably been anticipating this album more than anything I've mentioned today. First of all, it's new Ensiferum. Secondly, their old singer and songwriter quit the band to form Wintersun. I didn't know what to expect from the new Ensiferum. It's not a full album, it's just an EP with six songs, so it's probably meant to be a sampler of what Ensiferum will sound like on their next full-length album. First thing I noticed was, Ensiferum has slowed down a lot. Most of the songs on the EP are mid-tempo, as opposed to ensiferum's usual fast paced bass-snare-bass-snare beats. It still sounds like ensiferum, but you can tell that a piece of them has left, and you can hear that piece in Wintersun. This isn't a bad thing though, Ensiferum kind of has their own unique sound now. Their songs are easier to follow and hum along with now. Their old sound was epic, but now they sound epic in a different way. It's hard to explain. Their older songs brought forth the vision of vikings charging towards battle, smashing anything in their way. Their newer songs make me think of their journeys across the north seas, thinking about the battles that are about to come. They're still viking metal though, and they are still awesome.

Jesu - Jesu. I downloaded this album because so many metal sites gave it critical acclaim. I didn't really know what to expect, but it had to be good. What I didn't know was that this band is a continuation of a band called Godflesh. I wouldn't consider myself a fan of Godflesh, but I've had a CD by them since I was probably around 17 or 18 years old. I didn't like it at all at first, never listened to it. It wasn't until after I ripped my whole CD collection to MP3 that I started appreciating Godflesh. They are a very slow, experimental, atmospheric metal band. Most music is meant to be listened to in the foreground, but some is created for listening to in the background, and Godflesh and Jesu are prime examples of that. My best explanation would be Explosions in the Sky, but metal. Probably not something I would listen to a lot, but definitely something I could loop in the background while playing WoW or something.

Heed - The Call. Okay, this album kicked my ass. There was a band called Lost Horizon. They released two albums, and they were both amazing. The thing that stood out the most for me, was their singer. He had a very good and unique voice, he had very good range and could hit some really high notes. Anyway, after Lost Horizon's second album came out in 2003 or 2004, the singer and one of the guitarists quit Lost Horizon. It made me really sad, I mean, I loved that band. Later on I found out that the lead singer and guitarist went to form another band, called Heed. I thought it was a dumb name, and they didn't have any sound clips for me to listen to, and they didn't have an album out. I generally just forgot about them after that. Well, a few nights ago I was listening to Lost Horizon while I slept, and I dreamed about them. I know it sounds silly but when I listen to music while I sleep, sometimes I dream about the music. Anyway, I dreamed I talked to the former lead singer of Lost Horizon. I asked him, "Why did you quit Lost Horizon?" and he said something like "I formed another band.", and that reminded me about the other band. I forgot their name, but yesterday I found it again, and then I found out that they actually released and album in JUNE. So long ago. I tried to find a torrent and couldn't, but somebody on soulseek had it. I managed to download the album, and it's so awesome. My best definition would be that it sounds like newer In Flames (reroute to remain/soundtrack to your escape/come clarity), with the singer of Lost Horizon singing. It's an awesome combination and I listened to the album at least 9 times yesterday. Out of all of the albums I got recently, this is the one I am happiest about. It's a shame that this band hasn't gotten more recognitions, because it is really really good.

That's about it for now.

Posted by Joe at February 24, 2006 04:33 PM