Entry 932 - Machine Head - The Blackening

Style: Epic thrash/groove metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Rage and violence distilled into audio form

Thoughts: There is this phenomenon in metal that I've noticed time and time again. The band somewhere some how makes the decision to abandon their original sound and move into more commercial territory. This often has mixed results, some bands pull it off wonderfully, others not so much. Machine Head had one of those ventures with Supercharger, and the results were... less than desirable.

Supercharger was so bad that I gave up on the band, to the point where I completely wrote them off. Rarely if ever do band's release an album that bad and come back from it. It wasn't until I saw the cover of The Blackening that I was mildly curious about the band again. They released a few teaser moments and when I finally heard the full track of Aesthetics of Hate I was very interested in the album. 

The first time I heard this thing I was expecting a mediocre album... little did I know that I was going to be pummeled by a 10 minute epic opener. Clenching the Fists of the Dissonant isn't only an epic thrash song, it's a whole story woven into a single track. The music ebbs and flows like the band never had before.

The song starts out with an acoustic intro, much like the classic thrash albums of the 80's. From there the song turns into a huge behemoth of a track. Every moment from start to finish is killer. It's filled with razor sharp riffing, soloing, a huge acoustic breakdown in the middle and a massive groove metal closing riff. I never thought I would see the day that Machine Head went back to their early material, let alone surpass it. 

I have a notoriously hard time getting into thrash. It takes something pretty special for me to truly enjoy it. Machine Head have done just that with The Blackening. The album is more than just a thrash album, its an epic. It pummels me into the ground, it then gently lifts me back up only to smash my head back into the concrete again. It does all of this without a single shred of compromise or appeasement to the nu metal that was contained on Supercharger. I never thought I would say this but Machine Head broke the curse... they were able to come back from the brink of disaster.

Written September 3rd 2024

Entry 931 - Satchel Bearer - The Dead Leaves Strew the Forest Walk

Style: Dungeon synth, ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: The beauty of nature settles in as Autumn takes hold of the world.

Thoughts: I have been listening to this album pretty much since it came out. The record was always one of those "I'll get around to getting it when I'm ready." Well I suppose that day has come and this record is now in my collection.

I don't know why I waited so long. Satchel Bearer has created one of the most peaceful and introspective album's I've heard in the dungeon synth genre in quite some time. The music walks the line between the earthly realm and the celestial one. At points it is grounded so deep that the wights of the Barrow-downs would feel at home in their notes. Other times it is so routed in the night sky that the stars themselves sing their chorus. 

It's amazing how something as simple as a few notes played on a keyboard can evoke such deep feelings out of me. The music has a stillness to it that calms my soul. Like a calm stream in the middle of a still forest, this music creates a stillness in me. 

The music does not try to hide the fact that it is played with synths. What is amazing though is how those synths evoke the same feelings of peace and contentment that the acoustic versions of the same instruments do. The reverb, the notes and melodies played, the deep simplicity of the music... all of these things add to the wonder of The Dead Leaves Strew the Forest Walk. 

To call this a good album would be doing Satchel Bearer a great injustice. This is a phenomenal album, one that has reached into my very being and resonated with me in a way that few albums have. Outside of the awkward first track, the remainder of the album has created a great sense of contentment in my spirit. This is the reason why I love dungeon synth.

Written September 3rd 2024

Entry 930 - GODSPEED 音 - 栄​光​の​阻​害, 栄​光​の​阻​害

Style: Vaporwave, Barber Beats

Primary Emotions/Themes: Straight up barber beats lounge inspired goodness   

Thoughts: Coming home from a long day's work can be a brutal experience most days. There is nothing more than I want to do than to sit down, turn off my brain and listen to some music. Doesn't have to be complex. In fact it's probably better if its's something that can wash over me without me thinking too much about it. An album that I can just experience in the moment without seeking anything deeper. Godspeed has created one such album.

Thick atmosphere? Godspeed has you covered. Chill vibes? Godspeed's got your back. Creating music that knows exactly what it is and doesn't overstay it's welcome? This is your album my friend. 

Godspeed's second album is nothing short of the very definition of why I enjoy barber beats so much. It's chill, it's incredibly low key, it's the embodiment of what it means to take a load off your back and relax. The music embodies everything that I want when I turn my brain off and want music to wash over me.

It's not complex, it's not pretentious, it's just good vibes and it's wonderful. This is the epitome of relaxation, decompression, and simplicity. As such it has a permanent place in my collection. 

Written September 3rd 2024

Entry 929 - Monodrone - Faded Memories

Style: Vaporwave, barber beats

Primary Emotions/Themes: Chilled out lounge tunes with a huge dose of noir

Thoughts: I came here every night in search of my mark. The suspect was known to come here from time to time and this was the only lead I had. 

I hailed the dame behind the counter, she'd been here as long as I can remember. "Scotch on the rocks." I could barely get the words out of my mouth before the glass was slid into my hands... she knew what I wanted before I did. 

These Late Nights were killing me, I never knew where I was going to end up... this was the first stop of many for the night... and after half an hour I doubt my guy was showing up. I turned donned my had and turned my trench coat to the wind. It's gonna be a long night.

------

Monodrone has gone through many styles over the years, with this most modern turn being a foray into the barber beats sub genre of vaporwave. On Faded Memories our dear artist explores the depths of the noir sound as seen through the lens of a lounge band. 

The music found on here is a chilled out mix of different genres all smashed into a half an hour of beautiful music. Every song has a dark overtone to it, leading to the noir tint that the entire album shows. It would not be out of place in a detective movie of yesteryear.

The beats are the main driver of the album - as they should be. They propel the music forward as the samples and instrument weave the eerie atmosphere within the music. Sometimes I'm taken to a dive bar in black and white, other times I'm taken to a dark street alley where a murder has taken place. Other songs will transport me to a lonely street corner with a solitary man smoking under a flickering street light. 

Faded Memories is a fantastic barber beats album. It differentiates itself from so much of the crowd by creating a dark and mysterious atmosphere. This is what I want out of this genre, this is what the genre needs to stay healthy. 

Written August 22nd 2024

Entry 928 - Ghoest - The Sad Spirit

Style: Dungeon synth in the style of vaporwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: A slow march of undead soldiers to a tragic second death

Thoughts: We march ever forwards. Forwards to war. A war that has no beginning and no end. We march onwards, to a goal that we cannot see, or shall ever reach. We march and march with forever as our traveling mate and guide. 

What compels us to move forward? What is this constant urge to move? We do not know, yet we push ever forward. The slow beat of an unseen drum plods us along our path, in these endless ethereal plains. 

Hear the slow call of the spirits wailing in the distance. That is our goal, that is our doom. The slow rhythmic beat of the drum fueled by endless eons of torment, there is no beginning and no end. There is only an eternal now.

There is nothing that can be done to change our fate... nothing can be done to break this cycle. We are doomed. Doomed to this eternity... stuck here forever.. purgatorium? Nay... this is hell.

Written August 22nd 2024

Entry 927 - Dødheimsgard - A Umbra Omega

Style: Avant-garde black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The culmination of years of experimenting

Thoughts: I never thought they could do it. I never thought DHG could ever release an album that lived up to the flashes of potential that they had shown ever since Satanic Art and Trace of Reality... an entire album that put that mastery of avant-garde black metal on display. A magnum opus.

Five songs, the shortest being eleven minutes in length. There is a potential for a lot of ideas to be had in this album, and it does not disappoint. Nearly every single idea in the album makes sense in the context of the song. Even when the song goes completely off the wall, it never feels out of place... more like just an extension of the insanity that is DHG at this point.

The band blasts like they haven't in years. The band incorperates black metal riffs in ways that they haven't explored since Satanic Art. The band transitions seamlessly from experimental ambient, electronic sections, acoustic guitar breakdowns, and the aforementioned black metal seamlessly. This is all accompanied by Aldrahn's vocals. They deserve special mention.

The vocals contain every bit of the insanity that was present on 666 International... but they make sense here. The wails, the screams, the rambling... its all here, but it fits in the context of the song. The vocals match the music note for note rather than competing with them. 

That's really the key factor here, the music is in harmony with itself - even though it is so chaotic and erratic. The music has found balance with itself. It moves seamlessly from one chaotic moment to the next without skipping a beat. I have no other album in my collection that goes through this many random ideas so quickly, yet does it so flawlessly.

DHG have finally fulfilled the potential that they showed with the Satanic Art EP. A Umbra Omega is a masterful black metal album, and one that beats the hell out of almost all the avant-garde music in my collection. Ladies and gentlemen -  Dødheimsgard has f i n a l l y arrived. 

Written August 11th 2024

Entry 926 - Dødheimsgard - 666 International

Style: Avant-garde black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: What in the living nine hells is this?

Thoughts: Satanic Art is a masterclass in how to write odd ball black metal. It combined highly experimental riffs with just about anything the band could think of... and it was still black metal. They ended the album with a piano piece called wrapped in plastic. It ended a 17 minute tour de force, and left me hopeful for the future.

666 International starts out with the exact same piano piece as Satanic Art left us off with. The band starts blasting in with an insane riff and it seems like this is going to be a direct continuation of everything that Satanic Art started... then the music stops... and all hell truly does break loose.

When Shiva Interfere truly starts we have a slow drum beat with the snare drum sounding like a hammer hitting metal. The guitars are clean and have enough reverb on them to make them sound like they are in a huge cave. The vocals... are... unique. A combination of spoken word, wining, and black metal are what Aldrahn has in store for the listener. He's rambling on about whatever the hell is going on in his head and has no cadence with the music whatsoever. The keys are playing whatever the hell they want in the background in an attempt to create atmosphere.

I'm not even sure how this can be the same band that created everything that came before... even the highly experimental Satanic Art is nothing compared to this. This is one of the single strangest albums I've ever heard. It's all over the place. Sometimes it is pure black metal (Carpet Bombing), other times it's classical (Ion Storm), other times its pure insanity (Regno Potiri). I don't know if the album knows what it wants to be other than strange.

And strange is the operative term here. The band gets major points for trying something new, a lot of those points are forfeited though due to the chaos in the way that the album is structured. It never goes completely off the rails, it is still mostly musical... but man does it test the patience of the listener from time to time. 

I'm not sure what the band was going for here, but damn it there is nothing else like this out there. 666 International is nothing if unique. Many other bands experimented heavily around this time in the black metal scene, but DHG may have been the king of all of that. They never quite were this insane in any of the future albums, so 666 International remains as strange today as the day it was released. 

Written August 11th 2024

Entry 925 - Drudkh - Handful of Stars

Style: Atmospheric black metal...?

Primary Emotions/Themes:

Thoughts: Change. The one constant in the universe. Everything is always in motion, nothing is stagnant. Change is inevitable. Drudkh needed change. 

After eight albums most bands will have gone down one of several paths. They could have evolved well beyond their roots, branching out in directions never even thought from the early albums. The band can repeat the same album over and over again, never progressing yet never risking failure either. The band also be stuck in a sea of mediocrity, trying different things in a desperate plea to bring a spark, something fresh to their sound. 

Handful of Stars sees Drudkh changing their sound in the most drastic way in their entire catalog. The basics of what makes the band Drudkh is still present... but it's interpreted from a different vantage point. From the very first moments of Downfall of Epoch several things are immediately noticed: the guitar distortion/tone, and the structure of the music. 

The guitars no longer have an outright distortion on them, instead it has more of an overdriven sound... like you would find in '70's classic rock. The riffs are also no longer outright black metal, they are played in a more open chord fashion, and have significantly less aggression to them than any of the previous metal albums. 

The question is then, is this a good or a bad thing? I think that is highly dependent on the listener. For me, this is an absolute win. Drudkh had done the atmospheric black metal sound to death, and besides the excellent Microcosmos, the sound was starting to wear on me. I was no longer interested in the new Drudkh, I knew what was coming... until this one.

The four songs on this album, while less agressive, contain some of the most sorrowful and mournful sounds that the band has ever created. The guitars being more audible than ever before, along with a well played bass guitar makes these riffs some of the best that the band has created in a long time, probably since Blood in Our Wells.

Handful of Stars is the oddball in Drudkh's discography, and it's one of my favorite albums from the band. The fact that they took such a huge risk with the sound and it paid off so well is to be commended. Even if it didn't work out, I would still respect the hell out of the band for taking such a huge risk. Too bad they went back to their standard sound after this album. I would have loved to see some more experimentation.

Written August 11th 2024

Entry 924 - Drudkh - Microcosmos

Style: Intense atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The fulfilment of potential

Thoughts: In many ways Microcosmos is the fulfilment of a lot of potential that the band tried to tap into with their third album, The Swan Road. That album attempted to reach for a different sound and didn't quite get there... Microcosmos succeeds on all fronts where The Swan Road failed.

The key factor here is the drumming. Microcosmos has a different drummer than The Swan Road. So when the band incorporates blast beats again we have another chance to see how they sound in the Drudkh sound without the limitations of the previous drummer.

There is an urgency to Microcosmos that has been absent in all other releases from the band. A sense of great importance, that something important needs to be accomplished and accomplished in short order. The very first notes of Distant Cry of Cranes lets the listener know that this is something different. The blasting is tight, the riffs match the drums intensity with a rich fervor, and the wailing vocals match the music immaculately.

That's not to say that the entire album is full of blast beats, or has a great sense of urgency; it doesn't. It's one page in the many that make up Microcosmos. The tried and true elements of the band are still present: beautiful acoustic work, the great sense of mourning for those lost, the beautiful atmosphere that permeates every note. This is very much a Drudkh album. 

Outside of the intro and outro there are only four songs on this album, each one spanning well over eight minutes in length. These songs each feel like a chapter in a book, a book that recounts stories untold from years past. 

In a lot of ways Microcosmos is the fulfilment of a lot of the potential that the band explored on earlier albums. It feels like the correct implementation of blast beats into the bands sound, it also incorporates much of the sorrow that was found on Songs of Grief and Solitude into their metal aspect. By properly fleshing out these previously explored sounds the band has created something just a bit different. A spark of life in their sound when it was just starting to go stale. 

Written August 9th 2024

Entry 923 - Drudkh - Songs of Grief and Solitude

Style: Acoustic folk

Primary Emotions/Themes: The harvest has failed another year, we grow hungry and are forced to starve, there is no count to how many people have been lost

Thoughts: This was the Drudkh album that eluded me for years. I had heard everything before this, and everything after it for many years... but the acoustic album was never something I bothered to listen to. I was intrigued with the prospect of an all acoustic Drudkh album, but it either slipped my mind or I could never seem to find the CD when I was thinking about it.

I finally did pick it up for the first time in vinyl form a few years back. I didn't know what to expect, so I went in blind. I was pleasantly surprised by the collection of folky songs. The combination of guitar, flute, and traditional vocals were a pleasant surprise. 

To be honest I was hoping that it would continue the incredible sorrow filled feeling that Blood in Our Wells had honed, but that's not quite what is in store here. This feels more like something people would play around a fire as they recall stories of years past. The sorrow is there, but the deep sense of mourning is not. 

This is the type of album that I'll put on during a stormy night or a foggy morning. Something simple to compliment a time of reflection and contemplation. For that, this is a nearly perfect album.

Written August 9th 2024

Entry 922 - Drudkh - Blood in Our Wells

Style: Atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Wandering through a deep woods where thousands of years of history are contained

Thoughts: Blood in Our Wells got a lot of people talking about Drudkh when it first was released. I remember reading metal archives and this album seemed to come up in nearly every thread at the time. It was enough for me to check out the band and see what all the hype was about. 

Needless to say this album was my first exposure to Drudkh. I really had no idea what to expect. I tried to go in with tempered expectations, but based on how seemingly the entire metal community was obsessed with this album I let myself get a little excited. Was it going to be an all time great? Was it going to be album of the year? I had no idea.

To be honest my first few listens were a bit disappointing. The music droned on for what seemed like forever, the riffs repeated over and over again with no real progression. The vocals seemed one dimensional and didn't really accentuate the music as well as other black metal acts that I had heard in the past. I was pretty disappointed to be honest.

That was nearly twenty years ago... the question is how has the album aged after all that time? Well, my opinion of the album changed over time. Is this one of the best black metal albums ever written? No, far from it. Is it the best Drudkh album? No, but it is close.

Blood in Our Wells manages to convey all of the emotion, all of the sorrow, all of the suffering, all of the struggle, all of the loss, all of the hatred, all of the turmoil... every emotion that the band has ever tackled and heightens it... makes it feel more potent, more immediate. 

From the very first notes of Furrows of Gods I can tell that the band is intensely focused on delivering a focused and strong message about the state of their Ukrainian heritage. The guitars weep with those lost, the drums pound the importance of the message with every beat, the vocals howl and wail in mourning, the keyboards blanket it all with a veil of sorrow. 

This is not a happy album (as if the album title did not give that impression already). This is a chronicle of suffering and loss. Blood in Our Wells channels these emotions better than nearly any other album I own. 

Written August 9th 2024

Entry 921 - Drudkh - The Swan Road

Style: Atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Looking at a freshly prepared meal that looks and smells amazing, but you take your first few bites and something feels just a tad bit off

Thoughts: The early Drudkh albums are interesting... interesting good? interesting bad? I'm not sure that I've made up my mind about that yet. But they certainly intrigue me and keep me coming back to see if I truly enjoy them or if this is just another passing fancy.

One of the albums that has me perplexed is The Swan Road. This album feels like the direct continuation of Autumn Aurora... but it falls way short. At first I was conflicted... this album has all of the same components that made Autumn Aurora and Forgotten Legends so amazing: acoustic breaks, slow methodical riffs, emotion filled vocals, and a deep sense of heritage. 

As I came to accept over time is that just because you have all the individual makings of a great album, they don't automatically create a great album. Whereas in the first two albums there were a vast majority of good to downright masterful songs, The Swan Road contains a mix of good to poor songs. 

The major difference here is the drumming.  I'm not sure why the band decided to put blast beats in, but they did. The style of riffing that the band has developed to this point is quite frankly not conducive to blasting. On top of that the drummer does not have the precision to keep the blasting consistent for a long period of time. 

There are times when a little bit of sloppiness is actually good. Early Graveland and Judas Iscariot are prime examples of this. Here though, the band has a hypnotic style for there riffs, and the whole point is to get lost in the music. The inconsistency in the blasting pulls me straight out of that. It's unfortunate, and something that would be corrected on the following albums. 

Even with the drumming being subpar for a good portion of the album, the riffs themselves seem to be almost an afterthought with the quality that was shown on the first two albums. Almost like these were the left over riffs and the band decided to put these out before writing actual new ones. I hardly think that this is the case, but the album as a whole does not feel nearly as complete as the first two.

The Swan Road is a mediocre album. It's one that in a vacuum would be fine, but considering what came before and what comes after this album feels like a bit of a letdown for the legacy that Drudkh has created.

Written August 9th 2024

Entry 920 - Drudkh - Autumn Aurora

Style: Atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The glory of the fall, the changing of seasons

Thoughts: Birds call in the distance, the wind blows through the leaves... autumn is upon us. These sounds paired with an acoustic guitar is the prelude to everything contained within Autumn Aurora, and I can't think of a better introduction to the album than this.

Drudkh has a bit of a spotty discography with me. When they create a good album, its among the best in my collection. When they miss it's a pretty bad miss. Autumn Aurora leans much more towards the good side than the poor side of their musical spectrum.

Some of the songs are a bit lacking. Sunwheel is easily the weakest song on the record. The main riff feels a bit hollow in comparison to the riffs that I know the band can write. Even with the keyboards and layers the song still feels like it was incomplete or lacking one more layer to make it truly exceptional. It's not all bad though, the riff right around 5 minutes fills out the song nicely and creates a wonderful atmosphere. Maybe its the addition of the acoustic guitar or the chord change... whatever it is - if the song had this riff as the basis it would be a much stronger song.

Immediately after the weakest song Drudkh comes storming out with Wind of the Night Forests. Not only is this song one of the best on the album, it's one of the best that the band ever produced. Everything that was in Sunwheel is here as well: layers of guitars, thick keyboards as a backing instrument, slow but meaningful drums, layers of acoustic guitars, and other details hidden in the mix for the listener to find. It just shows how meaningful how all these things combined can become or how impotent they can sound if not structured correctly. 

Autumn Aurora sounds like the changing of the leaves. It sounds like the death of summer and the onset of winter. It channels the sorrow of years of loss and years still to come of suffering. There is no happiness here, there is no hope. This is a chronicle of the world and the brutal truth that resides in it. 

There is also beauty in sorrow, tragedy, loss. It's that beauty that Drudkh has tapped into here... instead of the absolute desperation, it finds the soul of the suffering and channels it into the wonder that is Autumn Aurora.

Written August 7th 2024

Entry 919 - Droidroy - 水中都市

Style: Drone ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: Lost in a city composed entirely of neon, rain, and dreams

Thoughts: I truly love ambient music. I fell in love with it years ago when Ulver was starting their wanderings into other genres. I fell off with the genre for many years, until I rediscovered dreampunk in 2019 and 2020. Droidroy ended up becoming a critical part of reinvigorating my love for the genre.

Droidroy creates music that is droney, dreamy, and infused with a large dose of cyberpunk. Like the best ambient it helps me paint a mental picture of the imagery the music is projecting. A direct line from the speakers into my brain as it were.

水中都市 has strong imagery. I'm taken to a place where the world is a bit hazier than the one we live in. A place where reality is a bit more obscured. A place where night always prevails over day. A place where the rain never stops falling. A place where time seems to slow to a crawl. A place where the city is lucid dreaming.

The music itself is just as obscured as the images that it produces. There are melodies here, but they are hard to make out as they are buried deep in the mix behind layers upon layers of ambience and samples. It's a record that truly rewards people who spend time listening actively. People who find value in listening to the album all the way through. It invites the listener in, and does not ever relent in its constant persist of dragging the listener deeper into it's clutches.

Droidroy remains one of my favorite artists associated with the dreampunk microgenre. It's small corner of the internet reminds me of why digging deep into the underground is worth it more often than not. You end up in places like an Underwater City.

Written August 7th 2024

Entry 918 - Dream Unending - Tide Turns Eternal

Style: Atmospheric death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Lost in a sea of dreams

Thoughts: Delayed guitars, slow chugging riffs, deep distant vocals, eerie melodies... this is the key ingredients to atmospheric death metal. Tide Turns Eternal has all of this in spades.

Dream Unending may be one of the most appropriate band names I've heard in quite some time. The soundscapes painted on Tide Turns Eternal are indeed both dreamy and seem endless in the way that they are presented. 

The melodies that are contained in Tide Turns Eternal sound both immediate, ever-present, and yet also distant and obscured. I love this effect. The melody will weave in and out like a wave and will ebb and flow just like the tide. It's a phenomenal effect, and it's used liberally throughout the album. 

The main riffs are meaty and powerful, yet they have that wide open cavernous feel that adds endless amount of depth to the atmosphere. This mixes nearly perfectly with the vocals... which are deep, expansive and have a metric ton of reverb on them. 

Put all of these individual components together and you have an album that has been stuck on my turntable for the better part of two days as of this writing. It's difficult for me to get into death metal these days, especially newer bands. Sometimes though there is a band that stands out, and Dream Unending is just that. They are a band that has reached beyond the genre boundaries to bring me over into its deep embrace. What a phenomenal debut album.

Written August 7th 2024

Entry 917 - Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

Style: Melodic doom/death, beauty and the beast

Primary Emotions/Themes: Sorrow turned to rage in musical form

Thoughts: When it comes to slow brooding doom/death metal it's hard to beat Draconian. Even though their debut album wasn't really to my liking, Arcane Rain Fell is one of the finest entries into the entire genre.

Draconian combines mournful melodies, slow brooding atmospheres, deep growls mixed with angelic female vocals. This is prototypical "beauty and the beast" metal, but it is done so incredibly well that instead of sounding like the stereotype it's one of the pillars that I use to compare all other entries into this genre with.

Over the course of these eight tracks these Swede's create some of the most oppressive, depressed, and outright devoid of hope music that I have in my collection. It's the type of music you would hear as the final moments of your life flash before your eyes. A dirge one would play for the loss of a loved one. The chorus to a life better off not lived. 

The song structure for Arcane Rain Fell is largely linear, but the melodies and atmosphere that the band has keeps the songs engaging. Even the incredible epic Death, Come Near Me feels much shorter than its actual runtime due to the skill that the song is put together and how well it flows. In many ways this song is a miniature version of the album itself. Full of melody, regret, and above all else - sorrow.

Arcane Rain Fell is a beautiful entry into the doom/death genre. The sheer amount of melody that is shoved at the listener at any given time makes the music incredibly easy to digest. The insidious part though is that these melodies work their way into my mind and threaten to dampen my mood on even the brightest of days. It proves once again that there is beauty in sorrow and tragedy.

Written August 6th 2024

Entry 916 - Dordeduh - Dar De Duh

Style: Atmospheric black metal, folk black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Getting lost in an unfamiliar forest, a combination of wonder and terror all at the same time

Thoughts: I was really excited when this album was announced. This was a project for the continuation of arguably the most integral part of Negura Bunget: Sol Faur and Hupogrammos. These were the guys that really amped up the traditional Romanian instruments in the later Negura albums and were often the primary song writers along wide Negru.

I was exceptionally hopeful that this project would pick up right where they left off in Negura Bunget... unfortunately, it does not. While the DNA of Negura is in here, the quality is not quite up to the standards set by the legendary albums such as 'n crugu bradului or Om. It's a few steps down.

All of the individual components are here: the quiet soundscapes, the dark ambience, the aggressive black metal, the ominous atmosphere. It seems that all of the attempts to put these together fall just short of greatness. 

For example E-an-na starts out incredibly ominous and slowly builds in to a vocal choir. Things keep building and building until... nothing happens. The song kind of peeters out and fades away. Flacararii has everything that a Negura song should have, up until and including their signature keyboard work... it just sounds hollow in comparison. When the band starts blasting, the atmosphere goes away and everything is lost.. including the intended aggression.

There are moments on here though where the band does realize all the potential that they have had in the past. Calea Rotilor De Foc is vintage Negura. It's a twelve minute epic that goes through several peaks and sonic valleys. There are traditional instruments used alongside the guitars, keyboards used to heighten the atmosphere, the vocals have a biting venom to them that has been lacking to this point. It's really what I wanted out of the album. It's one of too few examples of what these guys are truly capable of.

Is Dar De Duh a bad album? Absolutely not. Is it a great album? No, it falls short of that. It falls somewhere in between... and given the legacy that these guys have I can't help but find it disappointing. Fortunately though the follow up, Har, corrected all of these shortcomings and then some. 

Written August 6th 2024

Entry 915 - Doom

Style: Video game music, heavy ass metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Violence, pure, unadulterated, violence

Thoughts: RIP. AND. MOTHER. FUCKING. TEAR.

Entry 914 - Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History in Rust

Style: Post rock

Primary Emotions/Themes: Going out to the country side and walking along some abandoned farms, abandoned fields stretching as far as the eye can see

Thoughts: This album feels like an adventure. Exploring a long abandoned factory or farm... a place where there is a ton of history, but it's long been forgotten. Moving from one relic to the next, some of their functions lost to time... others immediately recognizable. And yet they all have long since lost their usability... it is a history in rust.

Do Make Say Think is a mostly instrumental post rock band that specializes in the ebb and flow that the genre is known for. They have the typical guitar, bass and drums that you would expect from any rock outfit, but they also have a wide variety of additional instruments mixed in. Violin, trumpet, saxophone, flutes, cornets... sometimes it seems like the list could go on forever. 

Of course not all instruments play at all times. The guitar is by far the most common instrument here, be it acoustic or electric. It sets the stage for all of the music on the album, the other instruments are used to compliment this to various degrees. 

A majority of the time the music is quite quiet and peaceful... akin to walking around a great open field. Sometimes though... sometimes the music swells into this marvelous crescendo, like a giant thunderstorm that's been brewing in the distance. 

I love the balance that this album has. There is a lot of the quieter moments... the loud moments are present but not always. They stand out as highlights of the album when they come in... and rightfully so. What this album does better than any others in the band's discography is find a balance between the two. Be it subtle melodies, or knowing what instruments to play when... the band just has a way of knowing what to do at the right times. This has not always been the case, but I'm really glad it is now.

If I only had the ability to have five post rock albums in my collection, this would be one of them. It encapsulates the wonderful musical journey that the genre can bring, and it does it so very well. It's not an album I listen to very often, but it's one that I enjoy nearly 100% of the time that I put it on... regardless of life circumstances around me. 

Written August 6th 2024

Entry 913 - Distant Worlds - III

Style: Orchestral video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: Nostalgia kicked up a notch

Thoughts: I feel like a lot of this release will be redundant with my previous entries on the Distant Worlds series. This is the last essential album that I have for that series of albums, so it is the last one I own. As much as I would like to delve into the other entries they don't have enough music that I love to justify the cost. So I-III it is. 

These records are some of the very first video game music records that I ever got. I got them at a distant worlds concert and they accurately replicate the sound that we heard years ago. I would like to go again sometime, but until that time comes I can relive my memories more accurately through these records.

Written August 5th 2024

Entry 912 - Distant Worlds - II

Style: Orchestral video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: Revisiting some of the greatest video game music ever created in an orchestral fashion.

Thoughts: Final Fantasy... arguably one of the greatest and most important video game franchises in the history of gaming - at least from the Japanese side. The music is as diverse and as epic as any I've heard in the medium, and the composer Nobou Uematsu is a legend in and of himself.

Seeing these iconic songs translated into orchestral form is something that few people have done correctly, fewer still have gotten it so right that it makes me want to go out of my way to listen to it. Arnie Roth has been instrumental in the arrangement of Mr. Uematsu's classic compositions. 

There are a lot of good songs on here but the clear highlight is the Dancing Mad medley that takes up nearly an entire side of the record. Hearing this in a full orchestral form along with a choir is one of the very few times where I feel like the original is surpassed. This is one of the most epic moments in VGM history (at least personally) and it is more than done justice here.

Distant Worlds contains some of the best VGM ever to be created in it. While I do still prefer the actual soundtracks in almost every instance, there are just a few on here that eek above the original. I don't need every entry into this series, but the first three have the essential songs off of my favorite entry in the series: FFVI.

Written August 5th 2024

Entry 911 - Summers Sons - Nostalgia

Style: Jazzy hip hop, atmospheric hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: The title says it all, nostalgia

Thoughts: Is there such a thing as atmospheric hip hop? I have no idea, but this album sure has me wondering. 

This is the only exposure I have had to Summers Sons, likely not the last after listening to this excellent release. Nostalgia combines simple beats with some lounge inspired jazz instrumentals and a hefty dose of atmosphere. 

The beats I've heard before, the jazz I've also got a few releases that sound like this. The vocals, well they are obviously British in execution, and have a wonderful cadence to them. Where the album really stands out though is in its atmosphere. 

Nostalgia feels like it was recorded in the mid to late 70's on the instrumentals. The vocals are clear as day, but the the backing sounds muted and a bit obscured. This combined with the wonderful arrangements makes this album have an atmosphere that is so thick that the world feels like it's being played from an old movie theater. 

There are small breaks in the music - points where the music just drops out for the briefest moment. This adds to the old feeling of the album and helps create that full, warm, and welcoming atmosphere. The lyrics themselves are full of thinking about family, legacy, and the wonders of youth. I love it all, and I hope to explore more of Summer Sons discography in short order.

Written August 5th 2024

Entry 910 - Shagor - Sotteklugt

Style: Black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes:

Thoughts: I mentioned a long while ago that I will be adding less and less metal to my collection as time goes on. I have so much of it that I feel like it's getting saturated, black metal in particular. Though it is my favorite genre, I feel like I have almost every entry into the genre that I need to call my collection complete. Of course there are some classics I don't have, but for the most part I'm done... even more so with newer releases.

For me to add a newer black metal album to my collection it has to be exceptional. I have to fall in love with it from start to finish, and nearly every moment has to be stellar. The fact that Sotteklugt came out just a few years ago should tell anyone reading this how much I love this album with those stipulations in mind.

This album has five songs on it. Each one of them unique. Be it the intense and maniacal riffing found in Respijt. Or the remorseful and longing clean vocals found in Nachtdwaler. Or the epic leanings of the closer Dodendans... these songs are excellent... no more than excellent, they are stellar. 

I've listened to this thing several dozen times at this point, and I simply don't get tired of this album. I knows exactly what to do and when to do it... and almost most importantly, how long to do it. These songs are perfectly paced, perfectly produced, perfectly nuanced and atmospheric as all hell. It feels like the songs were recorded in large building resembling a church or perhaps even a cave... somewhere where the music can reverberate nearly indefinitely. 

Shagor may be a one off project, but damn if it is the one that they put out is a good one. Is it wholly original? No, far from it... but it is executed so well and with such passion that it's nearly impossible to ignore the outcome. 

Written August 1st 2024

Entry 909 - Please Be Happy

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: A soundtrack that encapsulates the joy and pain of every day life

Thoughts: This is a soundtrack to a game I have not played. I do know the composer though, and she has created some great music in the past. Sarah Mancuso created the soundtrack for the Snowfall portion of Heart of the Woods, one of my favorite visual novel soundtracks in the last few years. 

Please Be Happy is such a beautiful collection of songs. These little ditties rely heavily on acoustic instrumentation such as a violin and guitar. God I love the interaction that these two instruments have together on this release. The music is so simple, and by keeping it simple the music resonates on a deeper level with me. 

The sense I get from this visual novel is that it's a look into characters lives as they go about their daily business. If that's the case then the music has captured that feeling perfectly. I can't think of a singular soundtrack or album that I own that feels as simple and as down to earth as the songs contained in this record.

I need to play this game. I think I would greatly enjoy it based on the music. From the wonderful acoustic work throughout the album to the sung closing song by Sarah herself, it's all a wonderful trip to a place where life is just a bit simpler... a bit happier.

Written August 1st 2024

Entry 908 - Lady Paradox and Gadget - Mood Swings

Style: Jazzy hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: A wonderful collection of songs about life executed with a lounge setting

Thoughts: Picture with me if you will. A small club with a jazz ensemble on stage. In this ensemble we have the usual suspects: a sax, a double bass, a piano, some percussion. We also have a few oddballs, a flute, a xylophone, and two hip hop vocalists.

This is largely the setup for Mood Swings. This is a cosey little album where the music feels intimate, both in a lyrical and musical sense. The lyrics seem to be deeply personal for both Lady Paradox and Gadget, their cadence is delivered with the utmost conviction which only draws me into the music further.

The music feels just as intimate as the lyrics. The instruments blend together in a way that they feel like they are played in a live setting. The melodies play off of the vocals much like they would in a small club, and the choices on what instruments are used and when to put in a solo are also exceptionally well done.

I am a huge sucker for jazz influenced music. Hip hop is such a good fit for a jazz mix up, the two styles were meant for each other. Gadget and Lady Paradox have thrown their hat into this field and I am very happy to have found it. Apparently this album is not well known, if this is what the hip hop underground has in store then I'm going to have to take a deeper dive.

Written August 1st 2024

Entry 907 - Highway Blossoms - Dawn

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: A cosey road trip with two lovers going across the country

Thoughts: What a wonderful little slice of life this album is. The music is so simple and so pleasant it matches the tambour of the visual novel perfectly. Small moments in time captured in musical form. Small memories that are forever immortalized in musical form. 

Dawn is not available for streaming anywhere, which is a damn shame. The music here brings out some of the best that Smoke Thief has written, and I'm glad that it got pressed into a permanent form. This is really best listened to back to back with the first Highway Blossoms record. The two of them together make for a nice audio journey over the course of about an hour. One that stresses the innocence of life and the freedom that we had in our youth. 

Written August 1st 2024

Entry 906 - Disembowelment - Transcendence into the Peripheral

Style: Funeral doom mixed with bursts of speed

Primary Emotions/Themes: A monstrous album that drags the listener down to the very depths of the earth and obliterates their very essence with its sonic prowess

Thoughts: The chronicle of The Tree of Life and Death begins with the flourishing of life. The spring flows and the tree grows bountifully and nourishes all that live around it. When the tree is in bloom the world is lively and vibrant. 

The Tree of Life and Death giveth and the The Tree of Life and Death taketh away. As the leaves die and the branches wilt so does the world around it. The water dries up, the ground spoils, the wells are poisoned, life ceases to be. What was once given has now been taken away by the slow decaying cycle of life. As is the cycle of life, as is the cycle of Disembowelment. Amen and amen.

Written August 1st 2024

Entry 905 - Diabolical Masquerade - The Phantom Lodge

Style: Black metal amongst others

Primary Emotions/Themes: It feels like walking through a medieval village town square and all of the chaos and entertainment that is going on around you is captured in a singular album

Thoughts: Diabolical Masquerade. This project defies categorization unlike any other. Blackkheim has a way of writing songs that have so many twists and turns that no one knows what's coming next. Even now, after listening to this craziness for years I still forget little moments he throws in every now and then. 

The Phantom Lodge is a collection of songs that are so off the wall, so unpredictable that trying to define this as one genre is nearly impossible. You get moments like The Puzzling Constellation of a Deathrune... melodic black metal at its best. Great ebb and flow, powerful melodies, a strong ambient middle section and a blasting end. This is followed up by Ravenclaw... which is a medieval fantasy of a song. Flutes, silly melodies, a jolly good olde time... until it's not. It has a sudden shift in the middle that feels like dark clouds covering over the fair and sours everything... that's all before the keyboard flutes come back in and transition us back into the festive atmosphere.

The album is a bit of a mess, like someone who had a ton of ideas and instead of editing them in ways that would be more cohesive he just threw them all in and called it a day. It's a lot to take in all at once, but at the same time that's what makes this album the wonder that it is. It's an adventure that never lets up... never shows all of its secrets until the very end of the album.

The Phantom Lodge and all the Diabolical Masquerade albums have the mysterious charm to them that modern day albums no longer have. I don't listen to it often, but when I do I'm consistently surprised by moments I forgot. Small epiphanies here and there that spark small moments of joy.

Written August 1st 2024

Entry 904 - Devourment - Obscene Majesty

Style: Brutal death metal/slam

Primary Emotions/Themes: A mire of shit strewn as far as the eye can see, there is nothing but filth, putrid muck and death... and it reeks of decay and rancid flesh

Thoughts: H o l y s h i t this is heavy. Holy mother of god this is disgusting. Sweet baby jesus and lord of all filth and putridity... this is one of the nastiest album's I've ever listened to in my life. 

There are very few records in my collection that I would consider crushingly heavy. Music that shakes my walls when I turn it up to a decent volume. This is not only one of those albums, but it could be the premiere one in my collection. 

When I put this on my sound system I feel every note, every slam, every drum beat. It's not just an audible experience, it's a physical one... one that few bands are capable of. One that Devouerment has mastered.

For the longest time I fell of with this band... I hated that Ruben moved to guitar. His performance on Molesting the Decapitated was one of the most insane vocal performances I've ever heard in my life. Nothing could ever have prepared me for that, and nothing has matched it since. The thing that got me interested in the band again was the fact that he had resumed lead vocal duties on Obscene Majesty.

Obscene Majesty is, in a word, brutal. I've used that word in the past, but here it takes on a deeper meaning. Here it's the embodiment of the word. The music is so incredibly inaccessible, so inexplicably heavy, so inhuman... that brutal is the only word that works. Even then I don't know if it's enough to fully encapsulate the full power of this album.

These riffs are so chaotic, so insane, they disregard all comfort that the listener has for comfort or safety. I can't distinguish individual notes. I can't figure out what on earth they are playing... it's just a tidal wave... a living mass... a blob of... noise? metal? music? I don't even know... but it's primal, and there is nothing else I have that sounds like this. It. Is. Brutal.

On top of this you got Ruben's vocals. Is this the craziness that's is the debut album? No. But god damn the guy can still do gutturals like no one else. He still slams with the best of them, and the band is better off for having him in the rightful place.

Fucking hell, every time I listen to this I feel something in me shift. Maybe it's my internal organs as they are rattled by the insane weight of these riffs. Maybe its my mind not being able to fully comprehend the combination of notes that the band produces. Maybe these guys are just on a different plane of existence. Whatever it is, this album fucking rips.

Written August 1st 2024

Entry 903 - Devouring Star - Antihedron

Style: Dissonant black metal with a hefty dose of doom thrown in

Primary Emotions/Themes: The same riffs repeated over and over and over again bludgeoning me into the ground with their oppressive weight.

Thoughts: Twenty five minutes, that's all you get with this one. Twenty five minutes to create three songs that are meant to slowly bore their way into my brain, scoop out all of the contents there in and expel them somewhere in to a trash heap.

The songs here are slow, they are heavy, and they don't progress much. They are meant to be static figures that slowly crush the listener with their inevitability. Like a massive monolith slowly falling on me, I can try to escape... but it's too large. No matter where I run I'm going to be consumed by this thing as it slams into the ground.

Antihedron isn't something I pull out very often, I prefer their full length albums for their variety. Sometimes though I do need a slower more focused effort. When that need strikes this is on my short list of EP's to pull out. 

Written July 30th 2024

Entry 902 - Deus Ex - Conspiravision

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: An update to one of the best video game soundtracks to ever be created. Science fiction incarnate.

Thoughts: Deus Ex is one of the finest games ever created. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise. The ability to choose your play style with such variety and every. single. one. of. them. being viable was something unheard of in the 90's when this came out... even now it's praised as a monumental achievement when games fully embrace this style of play. Well this is where I first experienced that, and my taste in games was forever changed because of it.

The game takes place in the near future where the world has become ruled by corporations, and humans sell their bodies as experiments to make ends meat. Terrorists run rampant at the blatant corruption in the government, and behind it all is the Illuminati. 

When you have such a dystopian future you need some good music to go with it right? Well that's where this soundtrack comes in. Conspiravision is a remix/re-imagining of the soundtrack from the original composers. I'm glad that this was done by the people who originally penned the songs, a move like that always helps inspire confidence in me that any updates will be done correctly... or at least in the spirit of the original.

The music in Deus Ex was a combination of beat driven electronic music that resembled a slower version of drum and bass (jungle at the time), ambient, and slower more melodic mood pieces. Everything was done with synths (as it should be), and it elevated the feeling of the game's most important moments.

Walking around the streets of Hong Kong feel like it was meant to be with the pulse of the music guiding me. It slowly fades away as I explore the slums or the upper regions for hidden items. The tension builds as a mission commences and I'm low on ammo, the music's slow pulse helps drive home the fact that I have limited resources and need to be more creative to get through this alive. The music explodes as I take on another android in a huge firefight, only one of us is going to come out of this alive and it damn well better be me.

Deus Ex remains a game that I enjoy playing to this day. While I don't have the original soundtrack, this is the next best thing. In some cases the synths are updated so well that I don't miss the original and all it's compressed glory. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go install the game again so I can play it for the eightieth time.

Written July 30th 2024