Arcturus - Arcturian Review

Arcturus - Arcturian [Avant-Garde Metal/ Progressive Rock]

Amazing artwork

This is the first full album I've heard from this guys. Arcturus has been in my consciousness for a long time due to its stellar roster of members (namely I.C.S Vortex and Hellhammer in this current line-up). I remember trying to listen to one of their albums when Garm was still on vocals and remember being turned off by how odd they sounded. So I walked into this album expecting an equally weird album and am pleasantly surprised by how much I love it, hell, it might even go on to become one of my favourite releases of the year.

My files were downscaled to 16/44.1 from a set of 24/96 flac files, so for some reason my copies of the songs are a hell lot more dynamic than the CD master going around. The latter averages at DR7 while mine registers at around DR11 per song. Could be an error on my part (and would warmly welcome anyone to correct me in our cbox if my procedure was wrong) but in any case, the mastering and mixing of the album is fantastic. I still do not enjoy Hellhammer's hollow, triggered drums, but his drumming is very well portrayed by the mix because his speed is not compromised. There is some reverb in the drumming so you hear the force of his drumming. The orchestral elements are very well mixed too, sharp and atmospheric but never overtaking the guitars and bass. The band combines elements of symphony, electronics, long heartfelt guitar solos and extremely fast drumming without half assing any of the components; no laughing matter at all.

In terms of songwriting, the album is all over the place. There are some very by-the-numbers rock songs. Not exactly straight forward, but immediately accessible nonetheless (stuff like 'Crashland'). For me however, the album excels immensely when it rides out to strange song structures and instruments. Opener 'The Arcturian Sign' is one such example, with the insane double pedal that accentuates the tense moments of an otherwise operatic song. Another example is the Eastern influences on the heartfelt 'The Journey', or the Krautrock inspired keyboards on 'Warp'. Strange and left field, but well integrated without being too jarring. The songs are inconsistent tho, and I didn't like a few tracks, but then again, judging by most reviews online, the songs I preferred aren't well-liked by the majority either. Yes, it's a weird album, and this is where its strength also becomes its weakness.

In terms of vocals, I.C.S Vortex is still going to be a hard act for many to swallow. He has his strengths, but he sounds very limitted and forced in many of the songs. As I have said before, I am not a fan of perfect, polished vocals, so this doesn't bother me one bit. He conveys emotions, be it deranged, unhinged or even in the meditative 'The Jouney' (my favourite takeaway from this album if you haven't realised). The other instruments are really good, hard to judge on a technical level because that isn't the point of this band.




I am leaning in very favourably on this album, and this surprises me too.


Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase Review

Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. [Progressive Rock]

Steven Wilson should by now be well-renowned for being an accomplished composer and an even better producer (one of the best out there, check out his King Crimson remasters if you haven't). His last album, 'The Raven...' was well-received by many though I personally found it hard to connect with his music on an emotional level. However, Steven Wilson has compensated for that quite handsomely on this album, which I have been listening to for about a month. While not as strong as his previous efforts on the instrument side of things, Wilson has crafted 8 (or 11 if you count the segues?) memorable songs. A quick rundown on individual songs:

1. First Regret - 3 Years Older (DR11): Album starts off with a great classic prog number. It's surprisingly heartfelt from the get-go. Metal purists will be turned off from hearing a ballad as the introduction, though, as I was. However the song, as most songs on this album, work much better in the  context of the whole album. The latter track is a bit more upbeat and a better showcase of MArco Minneman's drumming.

2. Hand Cannot Erase (DR12): A pop song with a memorable, sweet chorus. Surprisingly accessible for Steven Wilson.

3. Perfect Life (DR11): Continues from the happiness that drove the previous song. The first half features some narration, but that slowly leads to a blissful and calm section where Wilson simply croons "We have got the perfect life" repeatedly. It's simple but gets the job done.

4. Routine (DR11): A very Pink Floyd-ish song (Ninet Tayeb's vocals remind of 'Great Big Gig In The Sky' from Dark Side Of The Moon). The song reminds us that the album is from the viewpoint of a woman. There's a very nice use of silence closer to the midpoint of the song that creates some tension before the song slowly comes back with a solo from Guthrie Govan (Opeth fans will like this). Despite the bright, polished sound, the song has a deep sense of melancholy. One of my favourite songs on the album.

5. Home Invasion - Regret #9 (DR11): the first track starts off with some staccato drumming from Marco Minneman and then a full jam from the rest of the band. This song is a little more rock influenced. 'Regret #9' is a full on progressive rock instrumental, ending with a decent guitar solo.

6. Transience (DR12): Melancholic at first, it turns out to be pretty positive in the end. The album is full of laid back, emotional tunes.

7. Ancestral (DR10): The big one. Clocking in at 13 minutes. The length might be grading to some, but the instruments are all on fire here (particularly the guitars). I love the heavier second half, a lot of great riffs and guitar licks.

8. Happy Returns - Ascendant Here On (DR10): Stars off with fading rain (perhaps as the link to the previous track). Beautiful, sad melody. Chad Wackerman does the drums here, so it's a lot more reserved than the previous songs but that lends itself quite well to this song. 'Ascendant Here On' is the same melody as 'Perfect Life' albeit in an angelic, quite tone, a beautiful way to end the album

The average dynamic range on the album is DR11, which is almost unmastered. It also allows for every instrument to be heard with clarity, and not a single band member goes to waste with the production, though one expects nothing less than excellence in this field from Steven Wilson. Some use of synth effects throughout that hearken back to Wilson's days in No-Man.

As a whole, the album can be a little too slow-paced for my liking, but that seems to be a trivial problem. This is one of the best progressive rock records I have heard, hands down.

Rating: 4.5/5

Opeth - Pale Communion Review

Opeth - Pale Communion [Progressive Rock]

It's kinda interesting to review this album. I have been a huge fan of Opeth, though that slowly diminished over the years (subtle hint). As with the last few albums, I will go through this one song by song first:

1. Eternal Rains Will Come - Not everyone's a fan of the abrupt introduction? I'm neutral to it, it doesn't really hamper the album in the long run. This song is actually a really good first impression on the album. For one, it's dynamic, a quality that was seemingly lost on Heritage (at least to me).
2. Cusp Of Eternity - The lead single of the album. This song is kinda meh for me. Mikael's crooning at the chorus is quite a nice touch, although he's been overusing this style ever since he discovered it in Watershed. It's in this song that you start to realize that Steven Wilson's production on the album is terrific, one of the best for this year. Song ends with a gorgeous guitar solo.
3. Moon Above, Sun Below - Things get quite tricky here. This song is terribly disjointed. The irony is that this song is structurally the most similar to the death metal style we've all loved in older Opeth. Mikael's vocal patterns here are weird, it's hard to put a finger on it. His technique is admirable, but his singing voice isn't convincing for the hard-rock approach they've tried to incorporate here. About the meandering, some nice bits here and there, otherwise a very skippable song.
4. Elysisan Woes - A ballad that's almost a wholesale copy of King Crimson. Wailing to keyboards. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's not the best execution here.
5. Goblin - My personal favourite on this album. It's a tribute to the 70s band of the same name. It's one the few times that everyone in the band plays with synergy, not just playing their parts but interlocking them. Very intricate songwriting, the kind of thing I expect from a PROGRESSIVE band. Martin Axenrot is on fine form for this whole album. I hardly find it surprising that my favourite song turns out to be an instrumental.
6. River - A surprisingly beautiful song on the album. Again, another hallmark of Opeth songs was the level of emotions invested in their songs. This song has a lot of that. It's heartfelt and earnest, and thankfully kept to a coherent 7 minutes.
7. Voice Of Treason - Another song that seems underwhelming to me. Mikael's singing is off (again because he doesn't seem to be able to input some personality in his 'rock' voice). Song meanders on and on, one or two riffs that stand out. Nothing else.
8. Faith In Others - Very reminiscent of their 'Damnations' era. A decent closer, but doesn't provide anything more interesting than the album's first half. I enjoyed the crooning at the end this time though.
9. I will not talk about the two bonus live songs, but they are pretty decent to listen to even if they do not contribute to the actual album.

As a whole package, the album feels much more fully realised than Heritage, but doesn't do anything to dissuade audiences who prefer their death metal era. Not that it's a matter of taste, but I find that Opeth's progressive rock era doesn't offer anything new. It's great 70s prog worship, but as with Heritage, I would rather hear actual 70s prog than this. The band has followed the textbook closely, and offered some intricate songs, but most of the songs are self-indulgent re-imaginations of the yesteryears. Mikael Åkerfeldt's vision is clear, but his execution is not there because he does not have a commanding voice. Quite the contrary, he has a beautiful, angelic voice well suited for acoustic passages and mournful songs, not the ballsy-attitudes he tries to bring to the table here. It's also deeply ironic that he gave up death metal for this kind of singing (although recent live shows reveal a more important reason- he has lost his growl). Martin Axenrot has to be praised for completely changing his game, his methodical death metal drum work has matured a lot, and his drumming is almost unrecognizable here. He inserts many fills throughout the songs, and he accounts for a large part of the tight playing here. Martín Méndez's hasn't done a great job here, he's probably still adjusting to the band's change of genres. Bass has been a hallmark of 70s prog and it's a letdown that he hasn't bothered to step up, even if he's been in the background for the most part in his Opeth career.

I am still trying to figure out how Fredrik Åkesson (guitars) and Joakim Svalberg (keyboards) contribute to this album. The latter especially, the keyboards are almost background fillers, automatic cues for a sappy ballad or a 'sad' moment in the song.

As mentioned earlier, the production is ace, at a whopping DR11. You wouldn't need to read this statistic; the magic is in the attention to detail when you hear it. Steven Wilson has been on a roll with his production duties lately, even if his singing is not up to standard in his own projects (huehuehue-).

So with all these said, it's with a heavy heart that I bestow this album a:

★★★☆☆

It's actually more of a 3.5, but we don't know enough coding to write that in. It's a decent album, but far from this band's best work.

Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) Review

Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) [Progressive]

Steven Wilson has completely outdone himself in this masterpiece of an album, his latest in his recent string of solo albums, collaboration on Storm Corrosion and sound production for progressive legends King Crimson, whose magic seem to have rubbed on to the soundscape of The Raven That Refused To Sing.

For one thing, the instrumentation is phenomenal, with a legendary team behind the prog frenzy; Marco Minnemann of Necrophagist fame behind the drum kit, Guthrie Govan on guitar, Nick Beggs on bass and Chapman Stick, Adam Holzman on keys and Theo Travis on the wind instruments, with Steven Wilson filling in the tributaries that seamlessly connect these musically talented individuals together. Add to that Alan Parsons (who produced Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon) and you have a milestone in progressive rock history.

What is inventive on this album is the compromise between melody and technical creativity; the product is as much  brain as it is brawn, and Wilson's songwriting, honed after years of songcraft in Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Storm Corrosion (and this is just in the recent years after his dream pop years), has drastically improved from the partial disaster that was Storm Corrosion. But moving on, for once, Wilson's melodies linger in the recesses of the mind long after the songs have ended, a testament to musicality rather than shock factor.

Wilson also stated that the songs were written with this band in mind; and the amazing thing on this album is the fact that the band member's singular identities do not stand out in any way of your consumption of the songs, and yet there is no denial of the song's genius and the instrumentation. It is this tricky balance that propelled bands like Pink Floyd and King Crimson to fame.

Also, Govan's guitar solos are downright beautiful and act as fantastic climaxes to 'Luminol' and 'Drive Home'. 'The Holy Drinker' blends solos from each one of the members but they do not clash in the form of a duel akin to modern day Dream Theater material. Also, there isn't any hard rock moment on the album, it as sleepy as it is lively, another tricky balance that can be attributed to the masterful sound production, which was reportedly not remixed at all (meaning that what you hear is live from the studio). The sound is sharp, warm yet spacey, and what else would you expect from the sound engineer of Pink Floyd and a prog nerd who has been restoring 70s obscure rock albums? Even if you're not a fan of prog, just listen to the fantastic sound, this is the best sound quality I have ever heard on audio.

By the time you hit the album closer and title track, it's apparent that Steven Wilson and gang have created something absolutely fresh by looking back to the hey day of progressive rock in the 70s as inspiration to create something absolutely palatable. This was an instant hit from its first spin and has only improved with repeated listens.

Beginning the year with a classic, here's to hoping for less trash at Buona Vista.

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

The Sam Willows - The Sam Willows EP Review

The Sam Willows - The Sam Willows EP [Decidedly Indie Rock / Gospel]

Welcome, it is certainly coincidental that today the Buona Vista Music blog reviews a band with a popular girl from a Buona Vista school. Sam Willows is a gospel rock band that shot to fame on the Straits Times as one of a growing number of local musical talent. But is the Straits Times a reliable source when it comes to music reviews for the instrumental connoisseur? Before we  move on to the actual EP itself, it's perhaps good to listen to the live covers that help propel the band to Fame:




Look at the way she looks at her heart throb.

The band prides itself in making 'unadulterated, unbound music', but a casual listen already shows a dominance in sound stage by siblings Narelle and Benjamin whilst guitarist Jon Chua puts up a subtle performance both aurally and visually. The band has obviously had fun in their videos and music, but does it live up to expectation?

Firstly, production: the sounds are fantastic, considering local standards. The sound of every string strum can be heard with perfect quality in the intro track 'Crown', which features the trio of siblings (the third being multi-instrumentalist Sandra Tang), with the cellos / violins having fantastic texture alongside the muffled vocals. The drums in the coming tracks are also well-managed, without being too bassy and sharp cymbal sounds, never overpowering the rest of the music. The choice of having the keyboard as a primary instrument as opposed to a background support baffles me, but I will take that as my own conflicting taste and not discredit the band for this choice.

However, songwriting is where the album gloriously suffers. For a band that tries to blend in multiple genres of music, there is sadly nothing here that you would never have heard before. Instead of creating something new with various influences, the sounds are mismatched with rough transitions, and it's evident the band is trying too hard to mix it all in. Vocals shift between all three vocalists with no significance, and vocal harmonies do not sound pleasant when all three vocalists are singing in choral lines with not much dynamic power, which adds to the gospel 'feel' but does nothing to hide the fact that the vocalists are unsure of each other's place in the sound. The 'whispering' vocal styles have no emotions like that of the band the xx, and this is no thanks to the massive amount of reverb on the vocals.



The EP technically only has four real songs: the intro and outro being the main song 'Glasshouse' with more effects. 'Crimson' has a pacing that is awkward because the singers are oblivious to the beat and sing out of sync, and when the music stops to let Narelle take centre stage, her voice lacks power. Her brother employs a crooning style which is dampered with reverb and the song has redundant guitar licks that do nothing to alter the mood of the song; definitely just put in for sake of 'transcending genres'. Similarly, keyboards flirt with the singers on 'Coming Train', with not a memorable lick or riff, and some decent soloing in the bridge that again, is out of place and would have done better on a more raw sound. The keyboards try to add some element of 60s swing but are not sharp or shrill enough. Sloppy. 'Nightlife' begins with an overly simple keyboard riff has a messy transition from quiet soul to indie rock (just some synth effect before Jon Chua's distorted guitars make their way to the song), collapsing before the guitarist even has time to make some proper licks and riffs, and ending with all three reverbed voices crooning away. This song also boasts some idiotic lyrics:

Goodbye, goodbye is not the end
Goodbye, goodbye is the end

And her hair falls in locks
And her hair falls in locks

I'll leave the night light on
I'll leave the night light on for you
In the witching hour
May the good Lord come for you

'Glasshouse' is perhaps the only good song on the EP, because it is the only song with a memorable riff, though repetitive. Jon Chua is perhaps only at home on this song, with no bad attempts to transcend genre and sticking to the strength of the chorus; it's sing-along chorus, quicktime drums and some really nice guitar. It's also the song where the vocalist shift in and out of stage with systematic cues at significant times.

As such, the EP is a glossy and beautiful box with the same action toy inside. You may argue that this band is doing something right by playing old school music whilst the rest of Singapore listens to mindless K-Pop, but that would only show the depth of your musical knowledge, wouldn't it? With bands like Rudra creating something original and creating waves internationally, this EP is something you would forget by tomorrow, unless, like a lot of guys I know, you just want to hear Narelle Kheng's voice for things other than musical purpose.

★★☆☆☆ Passable - One or two good songs, a bit of flow

____________________________________________________

JE's Take:

Just listened to The Sam Willows EP. Rather than writing a separate full-length review, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the band and their latest effort point by point.
Anyhow,

• The band members are obviously talented and capable musicians; all of them can carry a tune (except the lead guitarist, whose vocals cannot be commented on for lack of sample size) and play at least one instrument. Credit must be given to the band for trying its best to utilise the separate talents of each individual member rather than shoehorn the members into fixed roles.
• Vocalist Benjamin Kheng has a nice, mellow voice that brings to mind Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. Guitarist Narelle Kheng, who takes up co-lead and backing vocal duties, doesn't quite match up to her brother in this regard. The pitch correction and post-production on her voice at times get glaringly obvious.
• The EP is generally tremendously-produced. The opening track, 'Crown', however, has isolated incidences of clipping - whether this was deliberately done by the band I do not know but regardless, 'Crown' has a nice, layered feel to it because of that. 
• There are a bunch of worthy musical ideas and concepts littered throughout the EP, including the opening riff and breakdown of 'Crimson' and the chord progression in 'Coming Train' (including the delightfully tasty keyboard embellishments). However, the songs generally lack structure and come across as a bunch of ideas rather than as cohesive wholes.

Overall, the EP is a solid effort considering the relative newness and youth of the band members. It isn't extremely outstanding or memorable, but it does serve notice of the potential that lies within the band members. Strange as it may sound coming from me: I look forward to the band's first full album.★★★☆☆ Good - Half of album is listenable