 |
| "Man, this music is hot! ...Oh god!" |
Today’s entry is about some albums that I have been enjoying
over the year that I never got around to reviewing. Maybe I’ll get there in the
future, but for now I’ll have to settle with a small summary for each. I really
recommend giving every one of these CDs a listen. They are all fantastic in
their own way, and while they might have a couple minor issues here and there
they are really enjoyable. It should be noted that these records may not have
come out in 2012; they’re just albums that I have been thoroughly enjoying
throughout the year. But enough introduction; let’s get to the music!
 |
| Born Of Osiris, anyone? |
1. Fallujah: “The
Harvest Wombs”
Death metal at its finest, with a mildly unnerving title to
boot. This album is a stomping good time with unrelenting double kick and all
the chuggy-chug guitar that you could ask for. But what separates this album
from other death metal albums is that there are signs of intelligence behind
the sonic barrage. That may sound mean, but let’s be honest—sometimes bands can
get a little too far on the “br00talz” side and sacrifice good songwriting for
the sake of sounding heavy and extreme. Fallujah manages to bridge the gap
nicely: their sound is still delightfully heavy, but they also do interesting
things with their songs to break the monotonous chugging. Take the second song
on the album for example; partway through the band utilizes a phaser effect on
the entire track, making it sweep
around between speakers before going back to normal. It’s the little things,
you know? The album might be a little assaulting for people not used to the
style, but it’s truly a work of death metal art.
 |
| That History channel dude would be proud. |
2. The Haarp Machine:
“Disclosure”
Let’s get the bad out of the way here first. This band’s
main lyricist/songwriter is a huge conspiracy theorist, and therefore all of
the songs talk about pretty crazy stuff. There are lines about aliens and
choruses about government-created viruses for population control. However, it’s
not too obnoxious most of the time, and the good stuff greatly outweighs this
problem. What makes this album great is how it grooves throughout all the
songs. Disclosure has been called
technical death metal, but it’s not really like The Faceless or similar bands.
It really has its own style, aided by the surprisingly complementary addition
of a sitar that carries its own melodies behind all the metal. This, along with
the variation of vocals, fantastic guitar work, and overall heavy groove feel, really wrap up the album into a fantastic package.
And let’s face it: the song “Pleiadian Keys” is a classic.
 |
| Why hello there, ladies... You, uh, come to the duck pond often? |
3. Baroness: “Yellow”
Moving to more of a rock-style album, Baroness have
delivered probably their best record yet with this CD. It comes with the Green record as well in a two-disc
package, but in my opinion that one falls short of the genius that Yellow
exhibits. After the gentle opener, the groove starts and doesn’t stop until
eight tracks later when the album ends. The best part is that the album flows
so well, almost telling a story with the way the songs work together. Some of
my favorite songs this year are on this album, including “Take My Bones Away”
and “Back Where I Belong”; this whole album just simply rocks. I guarantee a
wider audience will enjoy this, more so than the other two I mentioned earlier
on in this entry, and it really is something that everyone can get into. There
is a possibility that the consistently harmonized vocals and their “yodeling”
style (seriously, that’s the best way I can describe it) could turn some people
off, but I personally think that it works well with the fuzzy guitars and rock
style. Plus, look at that album art! *whistles*… Just, uh… just kidding…
 |
| SOMEBODY didn't get the memo about the 1930s Dust Bowl... |
4. Godspeed You! Black Emperor: “Allelujah!
Don’t Bend! Ascend!”
Shifting gears to a far away point in the spectrum, we have
GY!BE’s latest release. This album is less of an actual “album” as much as it
is an experience; think Explosions In The Sky, but more abstract. I am
struggling in how to actually describe what this album is or how it sounds, but
it is really enjoyable. One will notice right away the sheer scale of the
tracks on this album, and this fact definitely contributes to the “experience”
feeling of the album by allowing the user to sink deep into the atmosphere of
the songs without being jarred back into reality by a new song beginning. It’s
amazing how this album can mess with you: I found myself wanting to skip ahead
in “Their Helicopters’ Sing” due to the unnerving dissonance that pervades most
of the song. But it’s all part of the overwhelming experience, and I would
recommend letting your imagination go wild while listening to see what your
mind can come up with for imagery.
 |
| Bungee jumping, anyone? |
5. Cloudkicker: “Musicistight”
(compilation)
It’s free. It’s 32 songs. It’s alternative rock stuff (for
the most part). It’s Cloudkicker. What else can be said? Mr. Ben Sharp put his
old music that was first released on MySpace up on his Bandcamp page for
everyone to enjoy, and it’s amazing to hear that sheer talent that this guy
contains. Most of the songs on here are just as good as his true LP releases,
and some of the ideas are even better. There are definitely spots here and
there where you can tell that these are rougher tracks, but it doesn’t matter
because they’re still fantastic. This is probably the most approachable out of
all the records that I have talked about today; with 32 different tracks to
choose from, there is definitely something for everyone in there. Some of the
more notable songs include “Bonhomie”, “Neoteric”, “Imbroglio”, and “Salmagundi”
(at least, those are some of MY favorites). While you’re at it, check out his
other stuff too. I honestly can’t promote this guy enough—he’s such a great
artist in his music and such a great guy outside of the music as well. If
anything, how can you turn down free music?
Well, there you have it. All of these are really enjoyable
entries that I sort of wish I had gotten around to reviewing. Maybe I will in
the future, but for now, get out there and listen!
No comments:
Post a Comment