Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel Review

Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel [Progressive Metal]

As an album, I can't say I enjoyed this more than their debut. Blastbeats and clean sections come marching in with no endpoint, and it's clear that the only direction this band has is in its non-metal movements. The metal sections are too generic for me. Vocals are far too monotonous. You will be forgiven if you haven't heard this band because they are relatively young. Their debut 'Portal Of I' was only released in 2012, but it's novelty of implementing a violinist into semi-Opeth soundscapes seemed to please many metalheads around the world. I enjoyed some of the songs there, though not initially. Till today, a fair portion of the album seems too self-indulgent. The violin, while providing some beautiful moments, never struck me as a 'metal' instrument. What I mean was that it seemed superimposed onto the progressive metal sound, and played mostly like a guest instrument rather than part of the song-writing process. An example of what I consider a great addition to the metal sound is Jørgen Munkeby's saxophone on Ihsahn's album 'After', which I implore you to listen to if you haven't already.

So does this album deliver? Song-by-song... which is tricky since the whole album is mostly three very long songs split up into 6 tracks:

1. Painters Of The Tempest (Part I)- Wyrmholes: Piano and violin. A well-written introduction. 
2. Painters Of The Tempest (Part II)- Triptych Lux: Two minutes of death metal suddenly interrupted by a jazz section with classical guitars and violins; it's jarring but not shocking to those who have already heard their debut. I wish, however, that the death metal moments of the song were written with more variety. It seems to be the same pattern of blastbeats and generic screams. This one song alone is further broken down to three very distinct parts, and surprisingly, they flow well. The abrupt changes are mostly within the individual parts. My favourite section has to be the last one, entitled 'Curator'. It's clearly marked out with hazy guitars and a pulsating bassline. The violin melody is actually well written in this one, which is more than I can say for half the songs on the debut. 
3. Painters Of The Tempest (Part III)- Reveries From The Stained Glass Womb: A flamenco instrumental. Again, the clean sections of the album are the only outstanding one's so far. While a great display of musical knowledge and prowess, it's mood is very different from the first two parts of the song. Not a fan of the inconsistency. 
4. Pyrrhic: Second full song on the album. This was a pretty good song throughout. Great riffs, an obvious motif with the violin and the rhythm section does a great job here. The violin is well-integrated, though not necessarily in a 'metal' way. Song has a sudden ambient moment, which doesn't feel forced, and in fact goes on to the violin-led end of the song, one of the stronger moments on this album. 
5. Devour Me, Colossus (Part I)- Blackholes: By this time the album verges on fatigue. Unlike bands like Opeth, who write structurally coherent songs without losing progression, this band seems to be more monotonous. Nothing seems to stand out in this song. 
6. Devour Me, Colossus (Part II)- Contortions: instrumental with the same piano notes from the first song. Well, it's still a pretty nice melody.

Also, the production is terrible. The mix does nothing to make the guitars sound heavy (possibly why the metal sections sound terrible), the drums are overproduced and have a thin sound. The violin is clear, but perhaps too clear; it's too jarring and steals all the limelight when it comes into place. Only the bass is done well. The DR8 is deceptive, seeing that the album has many instrumental/atmospheric moments that would skew the dynamic range towards the higher numbers.

The instrumentals are great, and 'Pyrrhic' is a good song, but the two other songs, 'Contortions' in particular, have far too little in them to justify their lengths.

★★★☆☆

Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails Review

Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails [Post Death / Atmospheric Death]

Such tasteful album art

If you haven't already heard the shitstorm that has been generated over the unbelievable amounts of compression on this album's production, I'd suggest you go over to sites like AMG or Metal-Fi. I will try to talk about the music at hand.

Moving past the terrible production, I quite enjoyed the ambivalent mix of technical showmanship and quite space (which then reroutes to the production, but oh well). This is my first entry to the band that started out with deathcore-ish elements and moved on to the more atmospheric 'The Harvest Womb' EP last year.

One thing that stands out is the outstanding songwriting by the band. With little maneuvering within the songs, the band has managed to spice up the stale tech-death structures which many bands tend to overuse. One technique is the use motifs, sprinkling the melody throughout the song in short bursts and different time signatures rather than using the melody as a main theme, a small but highly effective move that elevates the hooks on a song, hell, on every song here. Atmospheric sections are still grounded with heavy drum-n-bass, as opposed to full out atmospheres, and this gives the songs fluidity- without making it monotonous (yes, all you tech-death bands sound the same).

Another thing that comes out right off the bat is the heavy emphasis on melody - in technical death metal! Many of the songs are highly distinguishable, the most important being 'Sapphire', a song with a thick melody that never seems to tire out for all five and a half minutes because of how well the band has paced it. The ending track, 'Chemical Cave' simply overwhelms with you with melodies (not -solos-) that are instant and accessible despite the intricate musicianship, something I've found highly commendable on this album.

I'm still going to give this many spins, and my opinion may change as December draws nearer. As for now, I am highly impressed with the band's use of atmosphere and melody, something that may have been tried by many bands in the past, but never executed as well as the tracks on this album. The songs are peppered with numerous jam sessions that seem to have been written on the fly, but work well within the song itself without sounding too self-indulgent. Many times, bands of this genre forget that music is not about technical mastery of the instrument, but to express emotions with it. With most bands, I feel like I am listening to a bunch of robots, but not here.

I cannot give an official rating since the production still bothers me. It would be about 4.5/5 without taking sound into account. It's a 3/5 for me because of this production. What a bummer.

Voivod - Target Earth Review

Voivod - Target Earth [Progressive Thrash Metal]

Thrash metal and progressive metal together? The genre name is misleading, because the resulting sound is nothing like its parent genres. Rather its more like classic prog with extreme jazz fills peppered in between. So even though I put it as progressive thrash, I would like you to remain non-judgmental towards the name. The cover art depicts an alien and the sound sure as hell is alien. A heads up before I progress (heh), I have heard nothing from this band except for its apparent influence on modern thrash metal band Vektor, which in my opinion earns the title "progressive thrash metal", but let's not bother with genres and classifications anymore since all of these only exist in subjective conjugations.




One thing that strikes me about this album is that its not exactly 'heavy'. Not even close. Like mentioned earlier, it sounds more like classic prog with extreme jazz. Having said that, Jean-Yves “Blacky” Theriault's bass is an enormous, distinguishable presence on the album. It's interesting because while his skill isn't overwhelming, he provides a huge counter-balance to new guitarist Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain jazz sweeps. The drums are serviceable, not outstanding but decent. I am not sure what to make of Snake's vocals; they are not raspy and heavy or whatever, but there is no denying that his relatively friendly vocals make what would be a technical and complex album a lot more accessible. Time would tell whether I can stand the vocals, but for now songcraft and instrumentation takes centerstage.

Unique is a severe understatement for what you will hear on Target Earth. 'Kluskap Okom' opens with appears to be snorting and panting that lay down the rhythm for the album's first uptempo song. The riffs are not heavy, but rather intricate or even angular, so the songs maintain an air of progressive creativity and never sound metal at all. Having said that, there is a hell lot of progressive experimentation (opening the album with a nice bassline and immediately adding the vocals and guitar over it, rather than use the bassline to lead into the actual song like most metalcre / deathcore artistes do), and songs tend to have no coherent structure but flow by sections, and this is the main complexity of the album, and in that, the band excels. One song that comes to mind is the epic 'Mechanical Mind', which has four seperate parts that are of completely different moods and tempos but sound like one, organic, living song.

My frustration with the album is, however, the production. Because of the lack of a second guitarist, it sounds dry. And that is a pity because the songs are good but sound tired, especially since the band is trying to achieve a psychedelic sound, and that contrasts with the thrash moments. At this juncture I would bring in the band Vektor again, because Vektor has the sound Voivod would have been striving for, production-wise. The bass could have been given more treble so that it sounds like a second guitar, and not stand out because of the absence of a second guitar. Nevertheless, this band has my curiosity and I will definitely look at their back catalog.

★★★☆☆ Average - Half of alum is listenable

Featured Artiste: The Faceless

I had heard good things about The Faceless from a few friends over the past few months without actually listening extensively to their music (strange, because The Faceless are actually immensely popular in the death metal arena), so I thought that I should finally get down and check them out.

I must say that three days of listening almost exclusively to their music has been entertaining and enjoyable. The Faceless are the epitome of a modern metal band - they are at once youthful, energetic, heavy and technical and manage to straddle the fine line that separates each of those characteristics masterfully.



'Leica', off their 2006 album 'Akeldama', starts with an absolute bang and does not let up one bit. The pedants and purists (i.e. douchebags) among us might trash The Faceless for their '-core' sound in here, when in fact the band demonstrates that it is entirely possible to achieve a heavy and full overall sound despite the use of riffs that would admittedly be more readily associated with lighter genres like metalcore and screamo. Key to this is their layered riffing, which can be heard at various points such as 1:54 into the video. This song can be enjoyed at a superficial level; listeners who open their ears are likewise rewarded for their discretion by the band.



Akeldama's titular track takes on a slightly less structured and more experimental approach. The drum work in this piece is an absolute treat to listen to, especially at around the two-minute mark. The band's use of odd time signatures and syncopated beats is tasteful and catchy without being pretentious. The solos scattered throughout the song make for a nice touch without detracting from the main theme. All these are remarkable feats for a relatively young band such as this.



'Planetary Duality I' and 'Planetary Duality II', taken off the band's second album (titled - you guessed it - 'Planetary Duality') reflect the band's movement towards an even more experimental direction. The album itself is a concept album that depicts a reptilian race called The Illuminati and its control over the world, thus accounting for the random (and admittedly slightly annoying) human wails and gasps at the beginning of Planetary Duality I. I don't fancy this album as much as I do Akeldama, but I can understand what the band are trying to achieve with it.



This understanding is aided with the benefit of context: check out 'Deconsecrate' from their 2012 album 'Autotheism' and you will understand what I was talking about prior. The band is further pushing its musical and artistic boundaries with this album. 'Deconsecrate' contains much of what makes The Faceless so easily accessible but at the same time has new elements that give it a completely different edge to much of The Faceless's earlier work. The lightly-distorted intro and clean vocals aren't to everyone's liking (I especially did not dig the copious amounts of auto-tune splashed onto every single sung syllable), but the saxophone lines in the middle and the guitar solos make the song a more-than-worthy listen. 'Autotheism' is far jazzier than its two predecessors, thanks in no small part to the influence of one Devin Townsend. Many of The Faceless' longtime followers have expressed their disgust/disappointment over the band's latest album; I must say that while it is the least accessible among the three, it contains the most musical depth and variety.

Overall, the band (by extreme metal standards) are a pretty easy and refreshing listen. I would absolutely recommend new fans to first pick up 'Akeldama' and listen to it in its entirety, then grab both 'Autotheism' and 'Planetary Duality' and listen to those two in the mentioned order, or simultaneously.

Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma Review

Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma [Psychedelic / Black Metal / Black N' Roll]

Just when you thought you've heard the weirdest music in the world, these Pink Floyd worshippers from Greece who also happen to love black metal dropped the most original metal album I've heard in a while. Okay, it's not original, it's been done to death since the 60s, since, yeah, Pink Floyd, and the whole love for classic rock thing's been Opeth's new flagship for the past few records and so on. But to this day nobody bothered to make it fun and just plain easy to digest, without skipping the complexities of such conflicting music styles.


With funky classic keyboards, guitar solos that were clearly still inspired by Jimmy Page, and, surprise, black metal screams and blastbeats, this album drops any anger and kvlt theatrics other black metal bands have been tirelessly practising for years. Instead, it's laidback, trippy, and the kind that brings warm smiles during the cold holidays days ahead. What metal has clearly neglected for a very long time, in its persistent search for truth and breaking drumming speeds and over-the-top compositions, is some beautiful catchy melodies. Believe me when I say this album may even appeal to fans of radio pop music.


The black metal aspect does its job of keeping the 60s music sections energetic and tapping on its affiliations with youth. Yes, this is simply rock n' roll carried forth to the future, with enough twist to seperate it from Pink Floyd copycats in the wrong time frame. The music isn't sterile in production, in fact, there is a soft hitting warmth to it that really enhances its trippy and happy-go-lucky atmospherics. The variety of instruments here is mind-boggling, but more importantly, tastefully implemented, not overdone, not randomly inserted for poseur's sake. The piano that completes the main riff in 'When All Is Black' is a good example of this, it is part of the song and adds a dash of classy mystery to what could be potentially idiotic song in the hands of a Satanic barbarian. 'Mountains Of Horror' ends with a sad guitar section but is coupled with nice untriggered double pedals that keep it refreshing but also emotionally complex, and the keyboards never ever let up, drenching every space it finds with melancholic dread or funk. Clean vocals start off 'Let Your Devil Come Inside' and it's icy, but nicely done without theatrics.

My one complaint is the lack of hard metal elements, but hey, I listen to music, not just metal. I love this record.

★★★★☆ Good - Strong flow, immediately grabs you

Between The Buried And Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence Review

Between The Buried And Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence [Progressive Metalcore]





I was hesistant to listen to this album at first. As you know, Between The Buried And ME has a schizophrenic style that virtually tries to combine every genre of music together, though not as masterfully shocking as Mike Patton did in Mr Bungle, but with enough change to have many people label them as pretentious hipsters who are compromising musicality and trying too hard to shock audiences. I myself, being an Opeth fan, hated the sudden jolts and unskillfully crafted transitions, if any existed.

To my surprise, this album has a lot of improvement from the band's previous 'The Great Misdirect', which was a ironically apt title for the album. To the pros; Tommy Rogers finally sounds like deathcore vocalist and not a confused metalcore-screamo singer in the wrong music. Transitions, though still not as fluid, have become more pronounced and I rarely had a "How did just happen" moment while listening. Production sounds energetic and vital, which amplifies the schizophrenic nature of the music.

Despite the evident chaos of the album, there are numerous moments of brilliant creativity spliced in between every song and there. The inclusion of Nintendo music, some really soulful guitar moments (which also give the band a more mature appearance, at least slightly more than pretentious teenagers) really marks the surprises in this album. The definite album highlight is 'Melting City', with its funky keyboards, gentle fretless bass in the middle, and death metal explosions in its introduction, not mention the polyrhythmic musical outroduction that is sure to dazzle even staunch Dream Theatre fans.

This album is an absolute grower, and time will tell if it moves up the ranks or if I find it disgusting towards the end of the year. The fact that this year's competition includes heavyweights Krallice (whose album 'Years Past Matter' is getting better and better with each listen) and Blut Aus Nord, who have managed to mix creative music with masterful songwriting, doesn't bode too well for BTBAM. This is quite a phenomenal album albeit one for a limitted audience, but as for now, it will not stand out in the year's better releases.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average - Half of album is listenable

Enslaved - RIITIIR Review

Enslaved - RIITIIR [Progressive Black Metal] 

 

This album is, immediately, a flurry of musical segues that do not necessarily form a cohesive song all the time. This is within hearing the first two minutes of the first song and lead single 'Thoughts Like Hammers'. A screeching guitar note leads to tribal drums, wails and tremolo picked riffs, dies out, leads to the main verse with a between-groove-and-progressive riff and then out of nowhere comes organs and electronic synth, and then the next verse in clean, almost crooned vocals. Whilst this is sure to spell disaster in the hands of lesser beings like Between The Buried And Me, Enslaved manages to pull this off rather well. 

Getting far away from the simple song structures of 2010's 'Axioma Ethica Odini', the over-the-top theatrics of RIITIIR should not be alarming to fans of the genre. Having earned a lot of praise for their past few albums, RIITIIR created quite a lot of anticipation amongst the heavy metal press. Heralding a style of music that is also a precursor of the viking metal genre, Enslaved has become quite a progressive metal powerhouse after the emergence of Opeth in the first years of the 21st century. So does the album live up to its expectations? No. 




Like it's predecessor, Enslaved seems to be plagued by the same problems of blunt songwriting. Despite the obvious headway to 70s rock, the music lacks serious punch at vital moments, choosing instead to go for more of feel than technicality in their music. If that is the case, the song lengths have to be shortened. Songs meander on and on even after repeated listens, without enough distinction in between to be dramatically interested. 

This is still a very ambitious, grandious effort, but where Axioma Ethica Odini excelled even with the same elements, RIITIIR takes for granted the progressions of a song without sustaining interest from one movement to another. There are strong moments on the album, from the introduction song, to the obvious highlight of the album, 'Roots Of The Mountains', an album worthy of carrying forth the grandiosity of modern progressive metal. 

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average - Half of album is listenable

Krallice - Years Past Matter Review

Krallice - Years Past Matter [Avant-garde / Transcendental Black Metal]



When I saw this album being released, I thought it would be an E.P or compilation, seeing that their last album was only released last year (incidentally, also my album of they year). Still, I must press on with my reviews. A bit of background: 




Krallice is an American black metal band that was formed by jazz educated guitarists (Mick Barr played in legendary avant-garde jazz band The Flying Luttenbachers, performed for experimental pop band Animal Collective's live show and is signed to Mike Patton's record label whilst Colin Marston plays the 12-string warr guitar for technical-jazz-instrumental-metal Behold The Arctopus and is the bassist for technical death metal band Gorguts and avant-garde post-metal band Dysrhythmia). The band has been part of the recent backlash against 'hipster-black-metal', namely American black metal bands that disregard the genre's tradition of corpse paint, cynicism and anti-religion such as Deafhaven (punk/blackgaze), Liturgy [blackened math metal), Wolves In The Throne Room (transcendental folk black metal) and Castevet (blackened noisegrind). This album is definitely not going to change your mind on the 'hipster black metal' scene whatever you think of it, but Years Past Matter is easily one of the strongest metal albums of the year.

Firstly, the band takes musical proficiency to and insanely high level, which I daresay is unmatched except by Liturgy. There is almost no chord played here - every riff, every corner of this album is almost strictly tremolo picked, so quickly that they form their own melodies. This is a very jazz technique, although that genre isn't played on such a high speed like this band. The effect is what one can truly call 'transcendental', a huge wall of nothing but rapid guitar notes that seem to propel forth from an endless pit of a highly diverse cacophony of guitar noises. As if this is not enough to already scare the callow minds that are unaccustomed to such a ridiculous amount of skill, the two guitarists seem to play as if like symbiotic twins, creating a push pull dynamic between each other and bassist Nick McMaster, and when all three instruments are playing at different speeds and patterns and tones, the effect is truly overwhelming. The three guitars never ever rest, finding a portal to weave in a note or two, even at the moments when there is one guitarist riffing, the play with an urgency as if in eager anticipation of the next band member, creating a thick, claustrophobic texture that is truly unique to metal.

This brings me to the next point, the fervor and ferocity on this album is a reflection of the sheer passion each member has, ironically, for black metal. Basically, this is black metal separated to its unique trades; high pitched shrieks, thick enshrouding atmospheres, maniacal drums, tremolo picked riffs and philosophical themes. The album itself, even without distinguishable lyrics, is tightly based on metaphysics and cosmic mystery, as displayed by the album cover and title. And somehow, these themes bleed into context as each musical piece unfurls, with the titles simply being 'IIIIIII', 'IIIIIIII', 'IIIIIIIII' and so on. Even without obvious diversity in musical styles, the band has played around with structure and composition, writing strong individual songs rather than trying to mix various genres together like what every other progressive metal band right now is doing. This, is truly black metal, with its strict adherence to the same musical style. The key here is the moods triggered by the music, even with the same technique. The production is crystal clear, as opposed to the lo-fi on the band's previous album of the year 'Diotima', and the new sound gives Years Past Matter an overall lush atmosphere, with even some synth thrown into the mix. The greater emphasis on tremolo picked riffs creates a vibrant colourful sound, and riffs simply comes in waves of twenty seconds before breaking away and forming yet another new wave, before culminating in the tsunami that is the last two minutes of 'IIIIIIIIIIII', where the band finally plays in unison for an epic, grandiose conclusion. 

Thirdly, the band's emphasis on structure and composition rather than gimmicks and lame experimentation is an evolution of the genre, and for metal itself. Whilst we hear of bands toning down their music (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Dream Theatre etc.), or heavy bands just piling up on speed without getting any new intelligent ideas (Behemoth, Nile etc.), Krallice is altogether pushing further and further on the barriers of music. Up to this album, there has never been any challenging 16 minute track that completely pummels the listener not just with tonal ferocity but also complex time signatures that keep dissipating and reforming repeatedly in bursts of 20-30 seconds. Not only that, the confidence on Years Past Matter is apparent with an almost complete rejection of 'traditional' black metal passages which still lurked in 2011's Diotima (probably the lo-fi production). It seems Colin Marston's working with Liturgy on last years has definitely rubbed off in the 'slow-stop-speed up- slow- speed up' dynamics (which is most apparent in 'IIIIIIII'), and it is clear that the two bands are working hand in hand to create some of the most compelling music in the world right now. 

When I heard Blut Aus Nord's magnus opum 777 - Cosmosophy, I was pretty sure that my album of the year would be a clear winner. But with the sheer immensity of Years Past Matter, Krallice might just be my album of the year for two consecutive runs. 

Note, this album is really not for anyone. It is very extreme. 

★★★★★ Excellent - Undisputed classic for critical listening

The Faceless - Autotheism Review

The Faceless - Autotheism [Opeth/Devin Townsend/BTBAM/Mike Patton]





I will not say anything different from the thousands of critics on the Internet, this album is a mismash of Opeth, Devin Townsend (blatantly ripping off the song 'Deconstruction' on their song 'Autotheist Movement II: Emancipate') and every other progressive metal band that has basically mixed elements from numerous genres into their respective musical styles. Is this a good or bad thing?





The production is a very clean, crisp sound, which goes well with the Mike Patton-esque atmospherics (the circus elements in 'Deconsecrate' are pure Mr Bungle soundscapes). Guitar is amazing of course, as evidenced by the beautiful solo on 'Emancipate'. Drums, though not spectacularly remarkable, do service well to back the music. Vocals are puzzlingly immature, especially the clean ones. The death growls are what every fan of the band want but I find them very tiresome. This isn't Opeth.


Songwriting wise I could give them a high score, no doubt, these are powerful songs, but where is the originality? Given, this is the logical step from 'Planetary Duality' with the rise of more technical death metal bands, but you should be able to fill in with your own chops if you want to fill in the veteran's boots. This record is undoubtedly one that is full of promise, but is rather messy in presentation, rather than providing a full fluidity of tracks, and sections that do not juxtapose well together. For one, get rid of cheesy voice samples if you are going to do straight off death metal.


★★★☆☆ Average - Half of album is listenable

Featured Artist: Animals As Leaders

Animals As Leaders is a three-piece progressive/technical metal band comprising guitarist and frontman Tosin Abasi , second guitarist Javier Reyes and drummer Matt Garstka.

This all started when Abasi, having been noticed for his technical guitar work, was offered a solo record deal. Initially apprehensive, he nonetheless decided to take up the offer and thus AAL was born.

AAL has released two albums so far: their eponymous debut (2009) and Weightless (2011).



'Tempting Time', off their debut album, is perhaps the one song that catapulted Abasi (and the band as a collective) to relative fame. Its use of synth effects (particularly at the start of the song), odd time signatures, complex riff and rhythm work and brain-twisting guitar solos is characteristic of the band's overall direction on this album - an extremely technically-accomplished and musically-intelligent effort.

I personally recommend this band because its members, while being very skilled individual musicians, strive to make good, listenable pieces rather than attempting to show off their full range of skills. Each member's musical input adds depth and value to the pieces.



Another piece off the same album, 'Song of Solomon', shows this off well. While it does not feature any particularly mind-blowing solos (by Abasi's ridiculous standards anyway), it does contain some highly complex rhythm work courtesy of Reyes and previous drummer Navene Koperweis. The production and synth work is pretty neat too, a rarity among young-ish metal bands.

The second album, Weightless, goes in a different direction from the first, a testament to the 'true' progressiveness of the band. It's one thing for bands to be musically progressive in one album and afterwards stick to their trusted formula (hello, late Dream Theater) and another for bands to keep expanding their musical horizons and trying different things.



'An Infinite Regression' is probably my favourite track off their new album, and happens to be its very first track. The 'classic' AAL elements - complicated riffing, use of both clean and distorted guitar lines, technical drum work and copious shredding - are all there, but what makes this track 'belong' to Weightless instead of the earlier album is the section which starts at around 1:50 into the video. The fusion-jazz groove that kicks in is simply addictive; at the time of writing I have replayed this particular section of music at least five times. This is something you would not hear in the first AAL album (or any number of albums that Justin Bieber puts out, hehehe).



'Isolated Incidents' (actual song begins around 0:20 into the video) is rather different, at least in how it starts. The song begins with a slow, clean guitar intro and progresses into a clean, jazzy passage - again, a step in a new direction for AAL. However, at around 2:30 into the song, the music reverts to 'old-school' AAL, blazing solo and all. This is what I like about this album - it is easily identifiable as an AAL collection but distinct from its predecessor.

Overall, I find AAL to be a nice balance of technique and heaviness. AAL is, however, strictly NOT for headbanging to, unless you wish to experience for yourself what whiplash feels like. It is, instead, for you to grab a beer, put on, and sit back and enjoy.

- JE

Featured Artiste: Opeth

Opeth is a progressive death metal band that recently switched to jazz-influenced classic prog in their last album 'Heritage'. The next Opeth album can be expected around 2014, so I guess a feature two years before their next offering is apt. Opeth is anything but immediate, I myself had Opeth on my iTunes for a few months before I was suddenly engulfed in their music. Opeth's music can be described emotionally dense, with their songs usually interpreted as having several arcs across an average song length of 10 minutes. Opeth's most notable style is their shifting between harsh death metal growls and soft, beautiful acoustics while frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt's vocals always nail the mood of the passages accompanied. Rather than going on a few individual songs, I will go through Opeth's last ten albums in chronological order, because Opeth is focused on the bigger picture.


1. Orchid (1995)





The first Opeth album and already a critical success. Bands rarely display such maturity and musicianship at their debut but 'Orchid' could be considered the work of a veteran band. Twin guitar harmonies pervade this and the next album, but what was more interesting is the arrangements on the album. As stated earlier, the band already had powerful dynamics for music that was as soft as it was heavy. Though not as prevalent as in other albums, there was a tremendous amount of non-metal influences in 'Orchid' for it's time, a time when rednecks like Pantera were parading with their cowboy anthems and Slayer was at its peak and Metallica was selling out and KoRn entered the market. Opeth easily swept through them with this adventurous, ambitious and epic debut. Crowd favourites include the epic 'In Mist She Was Standing', 'Forest Of October' and the fantastic 'Apostle In Triumph'.

2. Morningrise (1996)





The guitars on this album are amazing. The drumming, though not as perfect as in the coming albums by Martin Lopez, was important in adding to the nuanced moments of the album. Johan DeFarfalla's bass was thick and complex, and the combined efforts of guitarists Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren, along with then drummer Anders Nordin created a suffocatingly thick atmosphere that was intensely personal, again another characteristic that separates Opeth from its peers. The music can be described as a well mixed balance between progressive, death metal, black metal and acoustic guitars (which are plenty in this album). Åkerfeldt's vocals are far from perfect, with the use of screams still pervading most of the album, and his singing sometimes cringe-worthy, but overall they do not spoil the music one bit, in fact, it's imperfections lend to the almost perfect dynamics of this amazing album. My second favourite Opeth album. There are not many standout tracks, seeing that there are only six in this album, but if I had to hazard a choice it would be the jaw-dropping 20-minute-long 'Black Rose Immortal', which features more riffs than complete albums put out by other bands at that time.



3. My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)





Opeth is a band that is all too familiar with change. This point of time marked the departure of Nordin and DeFarfalla. In came Martin Lopez, who recorded drums on this album while Åkerfeldt contributed bass for the album. Based on a story of a man who comes back from death to find his wife, 'My Arms...' proved to be a breakthrough for Opeth and set the tone for the next seven albums that would come it's way. Åkerfeldt started using more vocal effects that result in a monstrous death metal vocal performance. Song titles form the last words of the previous songs and flow into each other almost seamlessly. Drums are now more metal, with the usage of double bass considerably increased. There are many strong songs here but the quintessential metal track here is 'Demon Of The Fall'. The acoustic riff in the middle builds up enormous power before the electric guitars comes soaring in with Opeth's favourite riff, as Åkerfeldt screams out the the title of the song, before everything collapses for the sad, melodic ending as the protagonist sees the woman who he married flee from him as she sees him.


4. Still Life (1999)




Another concept album, this time of a protagonist in an older setting who was exiled for his lack of faith who returns home after several years seeking closure whilst getting friction from the town council. Opeth's music took an evil, ominous tone from here onwards, with the inclusion of Martin Mendez on bass (the oldest current member of Opeth after Åkerfeldt). This forms the classic Opeth line-up, and in typical fashion, 'Still Life' outshone it's predecessor in all elements. Åkerfeldt grows ever confident in his vocals, his singing the driving force behind the stunning, melancholic 'Face Of Melinda', which opens beautifully and ends on a powerful ending with soaring riffs. Opeth is more focused this time, with songs becoming shorter than in those of their first two albums. Guitar riffing, though not as memorable as on in 'Morningrise' and 'My Arms...' take a turn towards groove metal, perhaps with the increasing popularity of Pantera and Lamb Of God at that time. Still, songs like 'The Moor' and 'Serenity Painted Death' continued in Opeth's vein of progressive black metal tainted with unbelievable emotion. Fans were pleased, critics were pleased, the mainstream took a little notice, that is, until Opeth's next album.


5. Blackwater Park (2001)



A contender for the best metal album. Stunning. Mind blowing. Genre defining. This are tags reserved for the overrated thrash metal albums of the 80s and some classic metal bands like Maiden and Black Sabbath. But nobody expected a quiet metal band from Sweden to come up with such a phenomenal album. Currently Metalstorm.net's best album of all time, on top of Megadeth's 'Rust In Peace' and Metallica's 'Master Of Puppets'. This may seem absurd at first; how many bands actually have influence on as many bands as Dave Mustaine and James Hetfield did in the 80s? This criticism may be a little early. Firstly, 'Blackwater Park' sounds nothing like anything anybody recorded in the early 2000s, not even Opeth themselves. Whilst retaining their classic sound of contrasting dynamics, 'Blackwater Park' showcases perfection in all levels. Not a single second on the album is wasted. Take opener 'The Leper Affinity' for example; it starts off with a single distorted piano note, that bursts into an instantly memorable riff and Åkerfeldt's now perfect vocals, deep, brutal, menacing and without effects, effortlessly fusing the high rasps of black metal and the growls of death metals. The song changes riffs with immediacy and consistent timing, letting each riff sink into your head before logically progressing into the next riff, with guitar solos placed at the most unexpectedly apt timings, before the song slows down to acoustics, which sound random in text but seem perfectly obvious in sound, and Åkerfeldt reveals his new weapon - a beautiful singing voice as if from one of the classic rock bands of yesteryears. He is unrecognizable, chillingly beautiful and lost. He is one with the musical backing, and the song immediately takes a short return to death metal before breaking to a extremely cohesive, groovy, heavy and melodic jam before ending the same way it begins, with slow piano notes that pierce through a fantastically clean production by English progressive rocker Steven Wilson, whose love for jazz and obscure classic rock enshrouds the death metal wreckage of this album. And this is just the first ten minutes of the band. Audible bass, soaring guitar atmospheres, sudden piano notes, perfect vocals and riff after riff that land in the fine line between death, black and groove metal. Opeth mastered the art of transition between contrasting styles on this album, with the random time signature changes in the last four albums replaced by smart progressive bridges that give way to the next almost as if it's the most obvious music change. Top it off with poetic lyrics that are loosely based on the general decadence of the supposed citizens of "Blackwater Park" whilst finding time for an elusive storyline with characters voiced by Åkerfeldt's twin vocals and Wilson's affectionate, high croons (a combo that drives the chorus of the song that made me like Opeth, the ever classic 'Bleak'). Every song on this album is multi-dimensional, be it the Middle-Eastern riffs on 'Bleak', the folk-themed 'Harvest', the groove-oriented 'The Funeral Portrait', the suicidal beauty of 'Dirge Of November' and its intelligent structure, the crowd-pleasing anthem 'The Drapery Falls' or the final, 12 minute magnum opus title track, a track of tremendous power progression even during the brief repetition of acoustic riffs after two minutes, before giving way to a section which feature dual vocal tracks simultaneously running together, an effect usually used by pop stars. The result is a chilling vocal performance that simply increases the intensity of the song before the album reaches it's climax at the nine-minute mark, repeating the previous riff in acoustic guitars before every member of the band plays his part with perfect timing as Åkerfeldt spits forth his most remembered vocal part in an Opeth song 'Sick liaisons raise this monumental mark / the Sun sets forever in Blackwater Park', the guitarists go nuts together for a while before the song explodes and is instantly replaced with a slow fingerpicked riff that fades out. Amazing album and definitely the starting point of anybody interested in Opeth. This album has set the mark for almost all progressive bands in the underground, with Ihsahn, Ne Obliviscaris, Agalloch, Intronoaut, Enslaved, Slice The Cake, Be'lakor and many more following suit of this style.


6. Deliverance (2002)




Not exactly everybody's favourite and a majorly overlooked album that Åkerfeldt himself has confessed to dislike, 'Deliverance' is my favourite Opeth album. Whilst there is nothing much to comment because stylistically there is little change from 'Blackwater Park', 'Deliverance' which is meant to be the heavier twin of a planned two-part album diversifying their contrasting styles, showcases some very intelligent song-writing. Unlike the previous albums that presented itself to the listener with an almost juggernaut amount of elements with increasing build-up, 'Deliverance' presents the chaotic changes and progressions in a subtle, nuance manner, which probably gives an indication as to the apparent inaccessibility of the album. On the other hand, songs like 'A Fair Judgement' are some of the most instant songs ever made by Opeth, and the blues-driven guitar section and the multitude of solos in the middle could give even The Beatles a run for their money, and this is no exaggeration. The tile track features military drumming from the ever improving Lopez, and is up there with 'Demon Of The Fall' and 'Blackwater Park' as the heaviest songs written by Opeth (though the later 'Watershed' blows them away). The last two songs though, with their ever-progressing song structures, intricate riffs and harsh tones, are what I find the album's major strengths. This one album is up to your subjective tastes though.


7. Damnation (2003)




Personally for me, the most overrated Opeth album. This is the softer twin and their most experimental (until 'Heritage'), with no screams, no distortions and no blastbeats. Just. Pure. Acosutics. And. Singing. By no means a bad album, but rather less mature than their other works, probably because of the limitations imposed by the new instrumentation. Still, there is boundless creativity even with these limited tools. For one thing, this album cemented Opeth's proficiency outside the metal genre. Song length is cut down to better accommodate the obvious focus on this album - mellow emotion. Passion overflows from this album, and supersedes the initial monotone of the album. Songs like 'Windowpane', 'In My Time Of Need' and 'To Rid The Disease' feature so much painful angst in their quiet melancholic ways, while songs like 'Closure' and 'Hope Leaves' continue to break new ground for Opeth with their ever expanding musical direction and challenging son structures.


8. Ghost Reveries (2005)




Album number eight is Opeth's first venture on a commercial record, Roadrunner. And fears of a sold out album were immediately assuaged with the first single, 'The Grand Conjuration'. Opeth's change of style was immediately apparent. Featuring clockwork drumming and mature guitar riffs, Martin Lopez and Peter Lindgren give a memorable departing performance. 'Ghost Reveries' features the most accessible Opeth songs ever written, without sacrificing their humble beginnings. The long acoustic passages and electric guitar moments are here, the snarls and croons are here, the intricate rhythms are here. What has changed is their presentation. Whilst previous albums tended to drone on self indulgence, 'Ghost Reveries' meanders through its dense music with urgency and focus. The songs are extremely cohesive, each title presenting itself like a deep chapter of a intense novel. Similar sounding tunes, courtesy of newly added keyboardist Per Wiberg, float and linger around the claustrophobic layers of instruments as Åkerfeldt belts out lyrics that have accumulated poetic beauty over the span of a decade. Indian raagas, Latin drumming, layered vocals, Moog synthesizer solos, pianos and lush, dense atmospheres weave in and out of blastbeats, trademark screams and guitar solos that sound more from seasoned rock veterans like Clapton or Page rather than the usual shredfest from other metal bands. This isn't as much experimentation as it is a refining of the styles achieved in 'Blackwater Park' whilst taking note of the good points of the innovation in the last two albums. Opeth would have a major change in musical style after this album, but this is a fitting bookend to one of the most breathtaking bands in the metal realm. Standout tracks are obviously the opener 'Ghost Of Perdition', the epic 'Reverie/Harlequin Forest' and the emotionally painful 'Isolation Years'.


9. Watershed (2008)




After the exits of guitarist Peter Lindgren and drummer Martin Lopez, ex-Arch Enemy shredder Fredrik Åkesson and death metal drummer from Åkerfeldt's side project Bloodbath, Martin Axenrot are added to the band. This of course means that a general shift in sound will be expected, and the nature of the two new additions predicted that Opeth might drop their progressive sound for a more straightforward death metal fest with the usual shredded solos and bomb blasts. The reverse happened. The album starts off with an acoustic duet, a shocking introduction for a band that is already well recognized for its diversity, with the addition of female vocals at the second half a clear indication that this is a band that will not rest on it's laurels. Right after that, the sound of a vortex almost as if sucking in the chilling beauty of the album opener leads to Opeth's heaviest song. Devoid of even a whisper, 'Heir Apparent' features a band that makes intelligent use of its strengths. 'Heir Apparent' is such an intelligent song and unlike any other Opeth track, it features galloping riffs, Åkerfeldt's most menacing growls, cold blastbeats and even shredded solos, amidst acoustic guitar and orchestral arrangements (what?!). The contrsting dynamics have never been sharper, and the lyrics also become more powerful:

"A burden so great
Weighs heavy on old and withered beliefs
The swift solution crumbles
Beneath the mock notes of a masterpiece
Death in his eyes, waiting
Spiraling judgement, provoked in the rains"

And the song refuses to end this way, choosing instead to slide into a smooth jam that leads to the next curveball, 'The Lotus Eater' which is not only a deconstruction of metal dynamics but of general songwriting. It starts off with a hum, before bludgeoning forth with blastbeats with Åkerfeldt spewing forth not screams but icy cold SINGING, more like a pop star than a rock star. The screams are still there, but the real shock is the middle of the song, where the band members suddenly break off from the song as Åkesson's groovy solo leads to a weird, neo-funk-jazz section that comes out of nowhere. 'Burden' is classic progressive, with soulful singing and fantastic guitar and keyboard solos executed by Åkerfeldt and Wilberg, and an interesting outro with someone progressively detuning Åkerfeldt's acoustic riff. 'Watershed' has numerous minute details like these that add depth to the songs. The opus is of course the Led Zeppelin throwback 'Hessian Peel', a song that continues to push Opeth's boundaries whilst retaining the character of their roots, a rare feat for a band 15 years into their career. As again, Opeth prove to be peerless in their musical directions in an age of similar sounding bands.


10. Heritage (2011)




The album that decidedly chased away fans from the group's catalogue, and one of the strongest albums of last year. 'Heritage' is polarizing because it marks the band's rejection of death metal in it's entirety, embracing instead the progressive elements that have slowly made its way into the band's sound. That does not make it any less complex, in fact, 'Heritage' is dense and possibly more intense than the previous outing. Whilst Opeth albums are generally easy to execute on instruments, the songs here feature more technical elements, with polyrhythmic drum fills and blues guitars and great classical singing. Not sounding like 'Damnation', 'Heritage' explores fingerpicking and progressive riffs in the vein of 70s bands like Camel, King Crimson, Yes, Captain Beyond and Deep Purple, as seen in the unlikely Dio tribute 'Slither' which sounds like it came out of the 60s. Songs have a more gothic feel, and the album revels in its beauty despite its technical accomplishments, which isn't a very far throwback from the previous releases in terms of theme. The album has several memorable sections, choosing the preference for detail executed in 'Ghost Reveries' and 'Watershed' rather than the in-your-face arrangements of the band's past. Repeated listens reveal new elements in the album, especially in the drums department, with Axenrot sounding like he has never attempted death metal drumming in his life with his delicate jazz rolls and fills. This is quite contradictory, an album that showcases tha band's love for emotional depth despite it's almost complete rejection of its roots, which it playfully parodies in its album cover. Love them or hate them, Opeth shows no signs of slowing down with age and maturity. Let's see how the new album will sound and if Opeth have chosen the right path, or if Åkerfeldt chooses to go back to his roots. Standout tracks? Try the whole album.