Entry 1270 - Smoke Trees - Inhale/Exhale

Style: instrumental hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: A bit obscure take on the instrumental hip hop genre

Thoughts: Inhale and Exhale are two short EP's from Smoke Trees. One occupies each side of this record. 

There are a lot of ways to do instrumental hip hop, some are easier to get into than others. This one is decidedly on the more difficult side. There are not easy loops to follow, the groove starts and stops suddenly, the samples are often obscured or don't really make sense. It's like it's daring you to take your time and sink your teeth in.

I enjoy taking on the challenge of Inhale/Exhale from time to time. Sometimes I need a palate cleanser of an album, one that forces me to focus in and forget whatever else I've listened to that day. This is that type of album. 

Entry 1269 - Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate - Mario

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: remixes and various renditions of Mario's themes throughout the years

Thoughts: I used to have a lot more of these Smash Ultimate records. I ended up selling nearly all of them just because I didn't like the way that the Smash versions of their music sounded. Mario was the big exception.

The way that most of these soundtracks work is that the remix team takes the origonal songs and adds guitars and other rock instruments to them. Most of the time this does nothing for me, in fact it actively makes the music worse. With Mario's songs though they didn't rockify them, rather they just updated a lot of the instruments. This approach is much better and I actually quite enjoy most of these renditions of the Mario soundtracks.

I haven't played a Smash game in ages, I thought I would give the music a shot... and ultimately (get it?) it fell short for me. At this point I only have Mario and Megaman left, and that is more then enough for me from the Ultimate series of records.

Entry 1268 - Super Smash Brothers - Melee

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: A collection of the non-character themes from the game

Thoughts: Melee... Smash Brothers Melee. I have a lot of memories about this game, I remember spending hours and hours playing this with my college buddies, trying to unlock every character, trying to get the best times in adventure mode. It was a great time.

The music was also I held fondly. When I'm revisiting it now though it doesn't have the same nostalgia that it used to. It's still fun for remembering the old days but the music doesn't stand up well on it's own. If it weren't for one of my loved ones digging this album as much as they do I likely would have passed on this one a long time ago.

Entry 1267 - slowerpace 音楽 - Barbershop Simulator

Style: barber beats, vaporwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: a soundtrack to a game that never existed, barber beats style

Thoughts: For a while now I've been enjoying the various stylings of Slowerpace. I kept hearing about this album that they created that was the penultimate part of their collection. That album was Barbershop Simulator.

The whole point of this album is to take the barber beats sound and mix it with a video game soundtrack style. It accomplishes that goal, but I can't help but feel like the album is lacking that little bit extra that I've come to expect form Slowerpace at this point.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but the album feels like it's missing that extra spark that the other albums in their discography have. The music perhaps sounds too samey, or too much like other barber beats artists. I don't really know, but it drives me nuts when I try to concentrate on it too hard. When I take the album in for what it is though, it's a fantastic journey through the streets of the barbershop simulator.

Entry 1266 - Slowerpace - 香り

Style: vaporwave, barber beats

Primary Emotions/Themes: Slowerpace's take on the barber beats genre without any gimmicks 

Thoughts: (Google flagged my original summary so I'm rewriting this)

Barber beats - good. Slowerpace - good. Slowerpace barber beats - best. 

Slowerpace is known for creating some dynamic and well themed albums that have a barber beats bend. These albums oftentimes go into themes around science fiction, video games, and anime. Here though they cast all that aside and create a straight up and straightforward album in the genre.

To call this groundbreaking would be inaccurate. Scent is simply content to be a barber beats album, no gimmicks, no fluff, no theme... just music - and it does a damn fine job at that.

It's always a curiosity of mine when an artist strips back all their usual layers and focuses on the basics. You get to see the artists pure take on the genre that they partake in. In the case of barber beats, Slowerpace is quickly differentiating themselves as one of the best in the genre. This album, and it's "to the roots" approach is a testament to how well put together this artists music is. 

Entry 1265 - slowerpace 音楽 - Lost In Space 宇​宙​の​冒​険

Style: vaporwave, barber beats

Primary Emotions/Themes: beats from the depth of space

Thoughts: Space is vast. Space is a frightening prospect. There is so much unknown, so much that science has not told us or has yet to discover. It is a great void where nearly nothing exists. Slowerpace is here to make that prospect just a tiny bit less scary.

Lost In Space is exactly as it sounds. It's a journey into the unknown reaches of the great dark. The melodies here sound like they are taken directly out of Carl Sagan's Cosmos, or some other space documentary. The synths are paired with lofi drum beats that you would expect from barber beats, and the combination is a lot more compelling than I would have ever expected.

As I continue my exploration of the barber beats genre, I am finding that Slowerpace's discography is one that is beginning to stand out. The creativity that they use to create these compositions is quite noteworthy. Again, all of this is plundered... but if they hadn't come out and said that blatantly I never would have known.

Entry 1264 - slowerpace 音楽 - Quintessence

Style: ambient, vaporwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: The shrine of life beckons me, I heed it's call 

Thoughts: Slowerpace is a vaporwave artist. I don't normally put those two terms together as many people how practice vaporwave plunder from other artists and add little to nothing themselves. That is not the case with Slowerpace. 

Quintessence was my first exposure to this project. It contains five tracks that are largely graceful ambient. The way that the music is created has soft synth pads falling like a morning dew from my speakers. Small pulses create some form of structure, much like a heartbeat would with any living creature. Finally soft melodies are played in this wonderful context to give my mind something to follow as the music washes over me. 

I don't know how much of this album is original and how much of it is plundered, but if you played this for me without any context I would say that this is a fine ambient album. By going off of their profile on bandcamp they say that almost everything is plundered. In some regards that's a shame because this is truly excellent. On the other hand the fact that I couldn't notice that this was plundered speaks mounds for how good Slowerpace is at what they do.

Entry 1263 - Sleepy Fish - Everything Fades to Blue

Style: lofi hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: Islands have vanished, lands have been swept away. Memories have sunken to the depths of the sea

Thoughts: For the third and final entry into the Sleepy Fish trilogy the artist has largely forsaken the guitar of the first two entries. In it's place we have slow piano and synth melodies that guide the music.

Out of all of the entries in this series this is the most typical lofi of the three. Despite this it still feels like a Sleepy Fish album. Somehow the music still has that sway of waves washing over head and guiding the listener to a sense of deep peace. Just goes to show that despite the medium, some artists are capable of creating wonderful music regardless of the limitations.

Entry 1262 - Sleepy Fish - Beneath Your Waves

Style: lofi hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: Velocities mapped out on paper now carried to the floor. Waters color when the sun breaks, warm days spent at shore

Thoughts: The Sleepy Fish trilogy continues with Beneath Your Waves. Compared to My Room Becomes the Sea this album has a distinct influence from indie rock. The guitar is still the main instrument, however we sometimes will get vocals singing nonsensical lyrics and the drums certainly feel like they belong in an indie band.

That's not the entirety of the album however. The guitar is still paired with other instruments that help bring this squarely into the lofi hip hop territory. Despite the indie rock leanings the album still has a way of calming me, of forcing me to drop my guard... allow myself to not be on edge. A rare thing indeed.

Entry 1261 - Sleepy Fish - My Room Becomes the Sea

Style: lofi hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: On a remote island in the middle of the sea, a young girl befriends a fish: a magical fish with shining scales that emits soothing melodies

Thoughts: I was recommended this album from an acquaintance long ago. At the time the record was only available at the secondary market for an unreasonable price... so when Chillhop announced a repress I grabbed it without a second thought.

Sleepy Fish to the surprise of no one plays lofi hip hop. What did surprise me though was the quality of the music that they produce... and the amount of original compositions they have with their music. Most of the album is guitar based, with chill riffs slowly strumming away as the waves soar above. 

Here below the oceans surface everything is calm. The sunlight shines through, the warms shines in and soothes me as the music lulls me into a sense of true security. 

Entry 1260 - Sjaeleangst

Style: atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Sorrow, deep heart wrenching sorrow

Thoughts: Take a moment to look at the cover of this album. Everything in the picture is hard to make out, but ultimately a visage does unfold the more one examines it. A quickly sketched portrait of what seems like an older person covering a child from the harsh winds surrounding them. This struggle against the elements, against life, is exactly what the music contained in Sjaeleangst's debut album sounds like.

There are four songs on this album, each one sounds like they were penned by someone facing the end of their life. The amount of emotion and pure sorrow that is contained in each one of these compositions is rare. Most of the tracks are largely black metal based, but there are some additional elements that pull the overall quality and emotional intensity of the music up.

A piano to start the song, an extended acoustic break, some rain falling during a moment of reflection. All of these things are found in between the black metal, and they help heighten the desperation of the album. Sjaeleangst's debut is a strong album. Not only does it attack the senses with an incredible sense of emotion, but it does so without a moment of weakness in the songwriting either. Very curious to see where this project goes from here.

Entry 1259 - A Silent Voice

Style: anime soundtrack, modern classical

Primary Emotions/Themes: a soft and moving piano driven glimpse into a slice of life

Thoughts: Full disclosure: I have never seen this anime. I was enthralled by the cover for whatever reason and decided to look up the music. When I heard it I knew I had to get the album.

A Silent Voice is largely a piano composition. Nearly every song  is a simple melody played with the lightest of touch on the piano. It's so delicate that you can hear the fingers lifting off the keys and the feet pressing and releasing the pedals. It feels so incredibly intimate, so pure. 

This soundtrack has a permanent spot in my collection. It's not because the movie is great, it's that the music is profound. Every time I listen to this I have to stop what I'm doing and take the music in, because it demands that of me. It demands that I slow down, forget about life for a minute and just be.

Entry 1258 - Silent Hill: 4 - The Room

Style: Video game music, ambient, rock, dark ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: a continuation of the legacy set by one of the best video game soundtracks ever

Thoughts: Silent Hill's soundtrack was largely industrial and noise based. Silent Hill 2 took this music and added melody and a deeper sense of atmosphere to the formula. Silent Hill 3 added vocals and even more diversity. Silent Hill 4 perfected what was started on 3.

The first four Silent Hill soundtracks are some of the best music in my collection. Silent Hill 2 in particular has some of my favorite music ever. Silent Hill 4 had some big shoes to fill when it came to the legacy set by the previous albums, I'm pleased to report that it lives up to the legacy of the previous three albums.

Like all of the previous entries the music here is dark, exceptionally so. Not just the kind of darkness that is so overt that it shoves it down your throat. No. This is more insidious. This is the kind of darkness that you don't realize is there at first, the kind that works its way in to your unsuspecting heart. By the time you realize what is happening it's too late, the music has taken hold and you are no longer safe... not that you ever were. 

Silent Hill 4's music is probably a bit more on the rock side than any of the previous entries, but that's what gives it it's identity. Each one of the first four albums in this series has it's defining characteristic, and this is the case for The Room as well. Easily one of the best albums in my collection, easily one of the best series of soundtracks I own... or don't own for that matter.

Entry 1257 - Silent Hill

Style: video game music, dark ambient, noise

Primary Emotions/Themes: pray you don't get lost in the fog

Thoughts: The Silent Hill soundtrack are some of the absolute best in all of video games. While the later albums show a more musical quality to them, the first soundtrack is largely noise and ambient in it's approach, making it a lot less accessible than the follow up albums. 

After the intro music, there really isn't much in the soundtrack besides industrial noises, screams, banging, clanking etc throughout the rest of the soundtrack. It really is as unsettling as the game is, especially considering how pleasant the other game soundtracks are in comparison. 

Silent Hill's soundtrack is not an album you put on to have a good time. It's not something that you would voluntarily listen to more often than not. It's a challenging album that borders on noise for most of it's run time. Listener beware.

Entry 1256 - Sigh - Heir to Despair

Style: Avant-garde black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: a culmination of everything the band has done in the past

Thoughts: Sigh has always done their own thing. I mean, who else would release a porn music influenced black metal song? It seems like this time though they kind of ran out of ideas and went with what they have done in the past instead.

Heir to Despair seems like a victory lap for the band. Everything here the band has done in the past, including the wacky keyboards, the weird saxophone interludes, the dual vocal approach... it's all been done before, just maybe not in these combinations. 

It's not that Heir to Despair is a bad album, quite the opposite. It's fun and it's quirky like all the other albums the band has produced. It just doesn't feel as off the wall or as innovative as some of the other ones. This feels like Hangman's Hymn going into Scenes from Hell, two albums back to back doing the same style. Good albums, but knowing the band's history a bit of a letdown.

Entry 1255 - Sigh - Hangman's Hymn

Style: Orchestral black/thrash 

Primary Emotions/Themes: what would happen if Slayer used an orchestra...?

Thoughts: Sigh truly have a unique discography in all of metal. Never in a million years did I see this album coming, yet I should have known that they would do some kind of album out of left field. We go from power metal to blackened thrash with a full blown orchestra, who would have known?

This is probably the most cohesive album that sigh released to this point. The entire album is focused on two things: creating kick ass thrash and pairing that with a full orchestra. The two don't seem like they would work together, but Sigh in their infinite genius find a way to make this work. 

This is also one of the shorter albums, but from the intensity of the music that shorter run time is warranted. Out of all the Sigh albums I own this one is probably the most fun to listen to, and unlike most of the other albums there isn't much subtlety or insanity to dig into. This is simply a cool metal album.

Entry 1254 - Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

Style: avant-garde black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: black metal that got high and started an acid trip at the same time

Thoughts: Whatever the band was on when they created this album, I want two truck fulls. Compared to the previous albums this is much more straight forward, but in the place of the randomness we have a hefty dose of trippy drug fueled music.

The basics of the music remain similar to the previous albums: simple chords and matching drums with an insane amount of keyboards played on top. This time though the keyboards are all analog and mimic their use in in 60's and 70's psychedelia music. 

Sigh always have done their own thing, and with Imaginary Sonicscape they continue that trend. The trippy keyboards are the star of the show and they never let up. In a lot of ways its comical, but the way that the music works its way into my mind it doesn't let up. Another entirely unique entry into Sigh's insane discography.

Entry 1253 - Sigh - Scenario IV - Dread Dreams

Style: avant-garde black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: everything you hear on this album is intended, any dissonance is the fault of the listener, not of the band

Thoughts: Sigh has to be one of the strangest bands on the planet. They have gone through several periods of various levels of experimentation, and perhaps none more so experimental than this album right here.

I don't know if experimental is the right word, the way that this album unfolds feels more like insanity than anything. There is actual music on here mind you, but the way that these tracks unfold is seemingly random at points. Things will just s t o p mid riff and then pivot to something completely different, even different genre's at points (listen to Black Curse). 

I've been listening to Sigh since this album came out and I've come to enjoy it with time. It's quirks are entertaining to play for people who are uninitiated and for those acclimated this stands as a period in the bands history where they truly were doing their own thing.

Entry 1252 - Shining - V - Halmstead

Style: DSBM

Primary Emotions/Themes: music that embraces the beauty of death

Thoughts: God damn... 

I'm not sure I'll have much to say on this album. The cover is very much the vibe that the music gives: sorrow, helplessness, the only way out is suicide. 

The music has it's own beauty through this sorrow, but man is this a hard album to make it through. The band pulls no punches with how much they want the music to drag you down mentally. Proceed with caution when listening.

Entry 1251 - Shantae - Risky's Revenge

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: a classic soundtrack to a game that withstands the test of time

Thoughts: Shantae has been around for what seems like forever. The first game came out on Gameboy Color, and the follow ups have come out every few years since. Risky's Revenge may be one of the better ones of the bunch.

As iconic as the game is the music shares the same level of notoriety. The melodies here channel the half genie's eastern half as well as fun melodies that are normally found from games about fifteen to twenty years ago. Like most of the game music that I enjoy the most, this actually sounds like video game music. It's created by synths and sound chips that were designed for one thing: to play video game music. The music loops like you would expect it to, and creates unexpected grooves by doing so.

Shantae's music is incredibly catchy and irresistibly infectious. I find myself grooving to this stuff whenever I have it on. I haven't played this game in a while, but every time I put the soundtrack on I want to dust off my DS and get at it again. Great game and soundtrack.

Entry 1250 - Shadowrun - Hong Kong

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: A fantastic mix of electronic music as well as far east Asian instrumentation

Thoughts: I didn't know what I was getting when I picked this up. It was on clearance and I grabbed it with a few other releases. I thought it would be a win if I listened to it more than once, I got way more than I bargained for.

Hong Kong is an excellent electronic album that offers everything from industrial ambience to music that is filled with the far east instrumentation. Even though I've never played the game I find myself enjoying the soundtrack greatly because of this. 

With most of the album being on the more ambient side the influx of different instruments helps keep the hour and a half long soundtrack varied and engaging. When it does move into the more active realm, the inclusion of these instruments helps move the music forward in unexpected ways by holding a melody that wouldn't be there without them or by offering a backing track that again would be lost without their inclusion.

Shadowrun Hong Kong is a fantastic album even without the game backing it up. When a soundtrack is this good it makes me want to check out the game, and indeed I have purchased it. Like everything though it's just sitting in my Steam library waiting for its fateful day to be booted up.

Entry 1249 - Shadow of the Colossus

Style: video game music, modern classical

Primary Emotions/Themes: An excursion of exploration in an unknown land filled with dangers beyond our understanding

Thoughts: Some soundtracks are built different. Some know exactly what to do and when to do it. Shadow of the Collosus is a game about finding giants and slaying them. The world that you are in is one that we are told starkly little about and we know even less about the giant's we are slaying are or what their function is.

The music found within the game match these emotions to near perfection. The music varies between a deep sense of mystery, triumphant orchestral surges, and a little bit of everything in between. If I'm honest here I highly prefer the sense of mystery that the game provides in its soundtrack, but every moment of this thing is pure gold. 

A soundtrack like this comes around once every few years. One that Transends the game it came with and creates an experience all it's own. Shadow of the Colossus it phenomenal both within the game itself and on its own. There are very very few soundtracks that reach this level, and Shadow... manages to reach these glorious heights effortlessly. 

Entry 1248 - Shade Empire - Omega Arcane

Style: orchestral black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: absolutely incredible drama filled orchestral black metal

Thoughts: I put the record on my turn table in anticipation. The needle drops and I eagerly await what is one of my favorite introductions to any album in my collection. Omega Arcane has begun.

Said intro belongs to the song Ruins, and there is not a better way to start the album. Stings start building tension and melody until everything releases about a minute in. The way the band handles this first song is perfect. It's eight minutes long and covers almost all of the major themes of Omega Arcane: intense black metal paired with strings and horns. 

Normally I would pass a band like this off as a Dimmu Borgir clone, and for the first few album's that's exactly what I did. In fact I never really gave Omega Arcane the chance it was due because of my experience with the earlier albums. Needless to say that when I did I was blown away. 

Omega Arcane is one of the better albums to come out in the last fifteen years or so. The intensity of the music paired with the majesty of the orchestra is a rare pairing. Elite stuff.

Entry 1247 - Sequestered Keep - The Land Beyond Dreams

Style: dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: epic dungeon synth that recalls the founders of the genre

Thoughts: Sequestered Keep is a project that has been near and dear to my heart for many years now. The way that they create music is one of the best in the entire genre of dungeon synth. Not only do they know how to create excellent self contained compositions, they do it with such grace and effortlessness that they have become one of my go to artists when I want classic dungeon synth.

Rarely do their songs exceed five minutes, and that is just about the prefect length for the way that these songs are created. Melodies that are reminiscent of the high renaissance era with a melody and counter melody going at nearly all points. The real joy here is the way that the instruments dance between each other and as such move the song forward in an ever increasing spiral. 

The more I get into dungeon synth the more I fall in love with the genre. It's so varied and diverse that I feel like I could listen to it endlessly. Sequestered Keep is one of many artists that I love, and they will remain so as long as I find myself enjoying this fascinating corner of music.

Entry 1246 - Septic Flesh - The Great Mass

Style: Orchestral death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The perfection of death metal fused with a full orchestra

Thoughts: Septic Flesh have had one of the most fascinating discographies to follow. Starting as atmospheric death metal and changing frequently to some experimental form of of the genre before creating a pop death metal album in Revolution DNA only to create a monster of an album in Sumarian Deamons immediately thereafter.

After that they broke up. I though that we had heard the last of them, until out of nowhere we got Communion. A decent but lacking comeback album compared to Sumarian Deamons. The follow up to that however, The Great Mass showed what the band was truly capable of in what seemed to be their new style: orchestral death metal.

 What. An. Album. this is. Holy shit. Not every song is incredible, but when the band is firing on all cylinders here, there is literally nothing that I can think of that is better. The title track is one of my favorite songs in any genre. Five Pointed Star utilizes violins in a way that I have not yet heard in other forms of music. Apocalypse matches the title tracks intensity note for note. The whole album is immense. 

This is the last album that Septic Flesh put out that I truly enjoy. The follow ups to this try to relive it's glory without getting anywhere near the intensity or the passion shown here. I do wish that the band would get out of this stagnation that they are in, but even if they never do we still got one top tier album out of it.

Entry 1245 - Septic Flesh - Esoptron

Style: melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: death metal with melody and exceptionally deep vocals

Thoughts: One could be forgiven if you gave up on this album early. The first proper riff of Esoptron is... not good. It sets a poor first impression of what otherwise is a phenomenal album. 

I love this album. It's Septic Flesh before they got all fancy with a full orchestra and complex song writing. This is death metal plain and simple, with Septic Flesh putting their own stamp on it through creative riffing and melodies. 

What the band does here is create a deep atmosphere with the guitars and then play a clean lead over them that's drenched in reverb. It's a rather unique sound that I haven't heard much outside of the early Septic Flesh albums. I really enjoy the effect, and it makes for an exceptionally consistent album - especially considering how experimental Septic Flesh was in their early days.

There are really two era's for the band. The first era ended with Sumarian Deamons... every album was different and experimental. The band was never content to have a singular style and in my humble opinion this is where they produced their best work. The second era started with Communion and they have been releasing the same album ever since.

Entry 1244 - Sentenced - Amok

Style: Melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: An album like none other, melody and aggression mixed in a way that no other band ever could

Thoughts: This is it. The last death metal album that Sentenced ever released, and oh man did they go out with a bang. 

If there is a short list of the best melodic death metal albums ever recorded, Amok has to be on that list. The riffs, oh man the riffs, are what make this album the masterpiece that it is. Any self proclaimed fan of melodic death metal can't listen to The War Ain't Over and not jam the fuck out to those riffs. And on top of that you have Taneli's unique vocals... it's melodic death metal perfection.

There's so much going on in these songs, no two songs are the same. No two riffs are the same. There's stuff that sounds like old school death metal, there stuff that sounds like rock and roll, there stuff that sounds like nothing else. It's a one of a kind album that stands head and shoulders above everything else the band ever released. 

Entry 1243 - Schammasch - The Maldoror Chants - Hermaphrodite

Style: Atmospheric black/death metal, ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: A brooding chronicle

Thoughts: The Maldoror Chants is a series of albums from Schammasch that embodies slow builds and exceedingly dark atmospheres. Hermaphrodite is the first in this series and is comprised of one song for the entire album. 

Atmosphere is a hugely important component to music for me. If an album is able to have a phenomenal atmosphere I'm able to overlook a lot of other things that may be wrong with the album. When that atmosphere is paired with excellent song writing... well you get the makings of an outstanding album. 

The atmosphere and songwriting that Sschammasch show on this album is one of the strongest that I have in my collection. It's slow brood is unlike anything else that they have ever written, and it leads the listener down a path of desolation and despair. It establishes the basis of the album early on and slowly builds upon it throughout the half an hour run time. 

The build continues and doesn't truly release until about 25 minutes in when the band finally goes full blast and release the tension that has been building. It's incredible and I wish more bands would explore this style of song writing. As the album ends a chant is given as the album winds down... a perfect ending for a near perfect album.

Entry 1242 - Savior Machine - Legend Part II

Style: There is no other album like this

Primary Emotions/Themes: A combination of ambient, metal, industrial, and experimental neo classical

Thoughts: What happens when you combine one of the most dramatic vocalists in metal with the composition prowess of Bruno Kramm of Das Ich? Well, you get one of the most unique albums in my collection.

Legend Part II is unlike any other album I've ever heard even those in the Savior Machine discography. Comprised largely of keyboard work resembling an entire orchestra with Eric's spoken word on top, the guitars and drums play a much diminished role in this opus. The entirety of the album more or less a classical piece that just happens to feature guitars from time to time. 

The star of the show here though is is Eric's voice. It soars above the music and is the one constant throughout. The album is long, and goes through many twists and turns before it finally finishes. There are points where the music is a bit lackluster, however when the music is at its peak (Behold a Pale Horse) it's some of the absolute best in my collection. A unique and ultimately rewarding album.

Entry 1241 - Satyricon - Rebel Extravaganza

Style: Industrial black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: A clinic on how to create fast black metal that takes no prisoners 

Thoughts: When the album started with an air raid siren I knew that Satyricon had changed. To this point they had been a pillar of the black metal sound of the early to mid 90's. Helping define not only the visual style of the period but also helped define how keyboards could effectively be utilized within a genre that would otherwise perhaps shunned them.

Rebel Extravaganza drops all keyboards, all mystery, all corpse paint, and some may argue the black metal as well. I still solidly believe that this is a black metal album, the riffing and drumming and vocals all are well within the black metal realm. This is however the start of the major shift for the band, and I would argue their last truly great album. 

The primary change here is the aesthetic and the atmosphere. Instead of a wholistic atmosphere that is filled out by keyboards and fast riffs, the band has instead chosen to have the guitars do all of the work for both the atmosphere and melodies (which have been greatly reduced). One thing that has not been reduced however is Frost's drumming. This album could very well be his best work from a technical stand point. These blasts are among some of the most insane yet stable I have ever heard.

Rebel Extravaganza is probably a controversial album. I tend to think that Volcano is where I start to take some issue with the band. They start losing what makes their sound their own there... though that could also be argued here... just to a lesser extent. Either way this is the last album in their discography that I own and I have no interest in exploring their discography further after this - I've tried, it's not for me.