EXPERIMENTAL/POST METAL

The new album of Maudlin Of The Well, is an album that makes you stick with it for months. There are parts where you can understand many influences from bands like King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Yes, but there is a thing that make this band unique, with no influences.

This album has all the traits of a classic progressive album: long songs, jazz, classic and psychedelic parts and great orchestrations. You can hear clear violins and cellos, great voice melodies and a band with 70s ideas. Also there is not only the great music you can hear, you can see a wonderful artwork from the vocalist Toby Driver, so unique, so prog paintings. Another thing that make the album masterpiece is the lyrics, that are really from another planet. Is like you read poetry. The sound is really clear, is a sound that suits to a masterpiece.

I hope this mastepiece will be released on CD soon. I propose it to anyone who like the serious creation, the unusual releases.

Idmen has quickly become a 2009 favorite of mine, albeit a bizarre one. With their sopohmore effort, Indukti unveils a textured improvement on their debut- S.U.S.A.R. While most of S.U.S.A.R. can be easily compared to the Thrak-era KC, Idmen dives a bit deeper into the sinister realm, due largely in part to some aggressive vocals. And although I can't get enough of this album, I can see why it gets such mixed reviews. Idmen is quite ugly at times, but occasionally that can be a good thing! Only three tracks have vocals (different singers on all 3), and only two of them are aggressive in nature, but very fitting. To my discomfort, countless metal bands use this approach, often ruining good music, or simply sounding silly and repetitive. Not here. Much like their debut, the musicianship it technical, excellent and precise...but that was really all S.U.S.A.R. had to offer. Effective and enjoyable, but not mind-blowing. Idmen is built on the same foundation, but far more interesting and uniquely haunting.

Sansara sets the tone perfectly, mixing instruments in a way that creates an almost foreign sound. Loud, in-your-face and surprisingly melodic. Tusan Homichi takes the strangeness to a new dimension, with some of the weirdest lyrics and vocals I've ever heard. Sunken Bell is a welcome interlude, short and pretty, and a necessary divide between Tusan Homichi and the album's tour de force: ...And Who's The God Now?!, which I shall review separately. The next two songs, Indukted & Aemaet, are similar in style to the mechanical sound of S.U.S.A.R. and latter day King Crimson. More "music" than "songs", if you will. Nemesis Voices seems slightly out of place on this record, but only slightly. The vocals are alarmingly similar to Tool's front-man, enough so that I had to check the liner notes to be sure. The song is good, but I feel like the music and vocals don't entirely match one another. Closing up beautifully is Ninth Wave. It carries the same foreign vibe as the albums opening, but in a much more enchanting way. An instrumental delight that I never wish to end.

...And Who's The God Now?! takes Idmen to a much higher plateau, and is easily one of the most compelling songs I've heard in a while. It is also much catchier than most of Indukti's material, but a beast nonetheless. From the opening tribal drumming, through the explosion of sound in the middle, all the way to the chanting and cinematic ending, this is a 5 star song! The combination of musical elements and vocals on this one are beyond captivating, and it's fighting it's way to the top of the "play count" on my ipod. ...And Who's The God Now?! is no mere song, it is a journey. (too much?)

Tracks 1,2,3,4 & 8 are the standout's, and this would be a 3.75 effort if not for ...And Who's The God Now?!, which deserves an extra star on its own. - 4.75 stars, rounded down.

Idmen may be hard to digest for many, but for me it is like a scab that takes the shape of something meaningful. Grotesque, charming, powerful and haunting, all rolled up into a musical experience that leaves me pleasantly uncomfortable.

Well, this ain't post metal. It is straight old style black metal. This album comes across as a cross breeding between Gorgoroth, Emperor's first album and the two first Burzum albums. Music as black as the devil's paintkit in other words. There are some subtle hints of melodies here too. Blut Aus Nord has as per usual incorporated some industrial elements too. But the musis on this album is basically straight black metal and more so here than on the first two Blut Aus Nord albums. That despite of the song titles which gave some hints of progressive elements. There are none of them here. None.

I actually think this album is pretty good. It is some of the heaviest, fastest black metal I have ever heard in my life and I know this scene pretty well. The album is best described in one word: Inferno. My main gripe is the lack of any progressive elements on this album and the lack of variation. But black metal albums like this should not have any variations. But this album is not for me.

2 stars

So here we are, album #2 of metal's maturing wunderkid's new sober project. The first album, Ki, was one of his most experimental albums. On this one, Addicted, Devy just wanted to make music that felt good. Townsend has sent out so many warnings (mainly to metal fans) that this was going to be just bubble gummy pop that you had to know he was secretly hiding something. That something happens to be the best album he's ever made in terms of pure musical pleasure. What I've always loved Devy for is his ability to make beautiful heavy music, something that is amazingly hard to find. On Addicted, he's tapped fully into that muse and the result is, at least for me, pure joy.

This is not Terria 2. It is not nearly as musically or emotionally complex. Instead, it points back to Ocean Machine, but with more insight into production, the world, and songwriting. Despite all that Devin has to offer, he enlists Anneke from the Gathering as a second lead singer, and her voice is an enormous part of why this album is so gorgeous. The songs she sings lead along (a new version of "Hyperdrive" and "Numbered") are highlight tracks, and Devin the engineer manages to merge the very different voices to great effect. Devin's voice (maybe related to the sobriety / no smoking thing) is perhaps the best it has ever been on record. He uses a wide breadth of timbres, but it his clear singing voice that is so amazing here.

The standout track is "Supercrush" which almost brings me to tears. Devy released a video of himself tracking the vocals, and even then you got a sense that the track was good. Here, with the two singers both at their emotionally dripping peaks, the song reveals itself as an immensely powerful piece that earns its name. Certainly, the whole album reverts back to Devy's signature "wall of sound" and as always there is so much going on that the listener can be overwhelmed or at worst distracted. Again, there is video of Devy walking through the ProTools tracks that is just breathtaking. But what is clear is that massive amounts of music are happening on this record that you can barely even hear.

This is not Devin's most ambitious or progressive record. But it has more love and joy than most artists' entire discographies. In an amazing 2009, this is among the best.

Post script...if you don't like Devy, this one is not going to change your mind. It's Devy taking his signature sound and honing it. But if you like his sound, get ready.

A Monday - A monday is the soft and mellow introduction. It sets the tone for the entire album, even in its relatively meager length. This has delicately layered Pink Floyd overtone.

Coast - Coast is flowing and free, breezy and cool. A wonderfully mellow song with some very pretty vocals by Devin.

Disruptr - This song is more layered and thick. It has a warm and brooding buildup leading into an almost overwhelming sense of hot and hateful coziness.

Gato - is a bit more rock oriented than the prior atmospheric selections. It is also the first introduction of Devin's female singing counterpart. The song is taut and slightly intensified, colliding deftly with the album as a whole.

Terminal has such a soothing and nonchalant cry of pale emotion. So warm and caressing.

Heaven Send - Heaven Send is the second duet. Its sustained build up is perennial with an inexplicable air of gospel. Variance is key, and each song has led with a quenched open palm of fervor. A Ain't Never Gonna Win - This one hasa more smoke filled haze of funky blues to salve the savage ears. With those quite electric guitars sliding along passionately and unerringly. Sliding along at almost the rate to slip on the buttered banks, however.

Winter - Colder, but still with an autumnal vestment of cozy clothed warmth. The song is withdrawn, restrained, and quaint. Not stark, but a smooth and windy ride.

Trainfire - With a locomotive drum roll, Trainfire commences and Devin portrays his best...Elvis impersonation? Another solidly smooth rocker, with Devin's key recording abilities to make even the quaintest of melodies artificially more appealing.

Lady Helen - Darker and more reverent in approach. This song has a solid main structure, but betrays the preliminary signs of unnecessary repetition for the album. Still, this is finely original and pleasing to the ears.

Ki seems to be a luring underture to the album in close. It features a mostly soft and accosted rain of wet blue pouring smoothly downward. It fittingly pulls the album into its final stretch before allowing itself to become needlessly repetitious and bland.

Quiet Riot - This is a fun little upbeat ditty. It has the most accented guitars lined against Devin's sweet singing. This also seems to be an unusual nod to the band of the same name, lyrically. Although I'd say it is quite musically estranged. The minimalistic piano motifs are chilling and the guitar rolls, breathtaking. A little simplistic for standards, but fine all the same.

Demon League - This wraps up the album with the same notes it started, soft and honey accents drenched in metamorphic clarity, and musically atmospheric drifting.

In all - Ki is a strange, yet oddly familiar move for Devin Townsend, and an excellent image for projection. The songs sluice together as a milky washing river. Nothing is poor or un-nurtured. Taken as a whole, Ki works like a more emotionally lifting Pink Floyd album, and Devin can sing. He proves much of his variability here. The album does become mildly repetitive near the end, but is a satisfying cup of musical honey.

Best Song - Hard to say

Worst Song -Demon League, maybe

**** Stars.

After listening to the album for a while I´ve come to the conclusion that this is probably my favorite album by Isis so far. It´s crushingly heavy when it needs to be while maintaining a very melodic edge all the way through. The vocals are both aggressive and clean melodic ones. There are many atmospheric post rock sections in the music and above all this album wins because it has got a great atmosphere and feeling. Compared to Panopticon, this album is not quite as groundbreaking but for me personally there´s more to enjoy about Wavering Radiant than there were about Panopticon. There are some added organ ( I think?) on the album which gives the album a nice organic sound. The melancholic almost shoegaze feeling in the music also adds lots of atmosphere to the sound.

The production on the album is warm and organic. I enjoy the bass heavy production even though my car speakers have a hard time handling the pressure.

Wavering Radiant is such a great album IMO. This album is one of the more interesting releases this year for me. A 4 star rating is well deserved. I like how Isis have developed their sound in the last couple of years and I´m sure we can expect even more positive changes in the future.

"A Pitcher of Summer" is probably the most easily defined song of Choirs of the Eye. It's got beautiful lyrics passionately (but imperfectly) sung, somber guitar notes, and a cool METAL outburst at the end. But it also contains no structure that I can discern, and has many lapses into tense silences. It's the shortest track here in Choirsland.

The aptly titled "The Manifold Curiosity" is a thing of beauty and terror together. There's poetry reading again, there are weird noises, and there's a section of multi-tracked violins (for the first time noticeable). Something that Kayo Dot never does on this album is repeat things unnecessarily. Once a section is over they move on. "Marathon" is a good example of this, there are many different sections of this piece and yet they all sound like they are part of the same "song". It's a pretty impressive feat.

"Wayfarer" is probably the most psychedelic on the album. And theres another excellent violin section in this song, along with some impressionistic guitar playing. Check out some of these lyrics:

Caves of candlelight with amethyst imbued, Opal skulls of opal creatures decorating tombs. Woods of columned water supporting ceilings breathing blue, Seascapes filled with poison, lonely, waiting for the few Final scarlet denizens to march into the scorching fumes.

Pretty cool, eh? Very ornate stuff. Almost Keatsian. Pretty prog rock too, for an experimental metal band.

My only complaint with the album is the last song, "The Antique". And while it's far from a bad song, it does take a while to get started. One could probably say that it stays most true to the post-rock method of quiet-into-loud, of all the songs presented. It also has the most coherent structure of the group too, with only a little metal at the climax.

For anyone who is interested in finding something that's somewhere in the middle of post rock and avant rock with a few metal and jazz flourishes I recommend you check it out. There is no sense here, but in its place is a great beautiful delirium, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

While grunge had severed the bloating head of hair metal in the early nineties, it failed completely in making rock and roll dangerous again. The inward looking Seattle boys gave us a new combination of sounds that opened up the realm of possibility, but there wasn't a lot of new music that would really scare the pants off your parents. Until Tool. The band had a few minor hits, most notably the two chord "Sober" with it's refrain of "Jesus blows his fking whistle," which set the stage. But it was AENIMA that made Tool what they are now, probably the most influential band in modern heavy music.

The band had evolved quite a bit musically, with the signature circular bass riff taking center stage, and drummer Danny Carey starting to shine more and more. The songwriting had gotten quite a bit better, and with songs like "Stinkfist" and "Hooker with a PP," Tool firmly made a claim for being the most dangerous band out there. Maynard James Keenan's simultaneously tortured, twisted, and intelligent lyrics appealed to a wide array of young audience members. His voice would develop quite a bit over future projects but the emotional delivery was at full force from the beginning.

The songs on AENIMA are very riff based, played in straight time, and sometimes repetitive. Tool had not yet embraced prog sensibilities as full as they would on the subsequent album, and probably wouldn't still be around if they had. AENIMA was just the right degree of weird for the time. As is typical for Tool, there are a number of strange transition tracks. Some are complete throwaways but it added to the vibe. It must also be noted that some of the riffs on this album are among Tool's best, most memorable.

AENIMA was extremely progressive but when it came out no one would have thought "prog." Maybe "art metal" but not yet the genre defining work that would come on LATERALUS, and album I actually find more uneven. This album is an essential part of the history of modern rock in general, but that distinction will have to wait an album when were in the prog arena.

In releasing another album, another evolution occurs. This can be said for almost every Anathema release, but 'A Fine Day To Exit' signifies the end of the doom phase for Anathema, a phase that (to this point) encompasses much of the band's history. 'Eternity' showed the band beginning to adopt 'post metal' into their mix; and this fine album shows yet another development in the bands sound; losing the metal for a more mellow and down-to-earth approach.

What used to be the band that innovated one of the most grim genres on the planet has now changed into something that I'm sure even the 'indie' kids could now appreciate. 'A Fine Day To Exit' is by no means a commercial album; but it does have alot more of an accesible sound than even the predecessor 'Judgement' had. What we have here are songs that resonate a warm but haunting art-rock sound.

As far as the songs themselves go, many of the songs are fantastic, with there being only a few moments of exception ('Panic' and 'Looking Outside Inside' both do very little for me.) Still, the band has seen better days. 'A Fine Day To Exit' has not the paralyzing moments of inspiration that 'Judgement' had, nor the overall album cohesion of 'A Natural Disaster' but it's a fine album for those looking for a good, melancholic art-rock album to get into, and a fitting gateway for one of the most emotive bands out there.

A perfect example of a four star album.