September 2014 Musical Review
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 1:20 am
It's that time again! September was another busy month for me with limited listening time, so some of the reviews here may not do the albums justice and I may revisit (and re-rate) later on.
Code Orange - I Am King I really like this album from the band that used to be known as Code Orange Kids. I expected the music to be shitty emo but instead it's much more hardcore. Could well sneak into my top 10 for 2014. 8/10
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden Falls into the category of"I need to listen to this some more" but as I've expressed elsewhere I don't really dig the vocals of this band, which is a barrier for me. I'm going to go with a 6 for now, but could increase over time. 6/10
Earth - Primative and Deadly I want to like this band, but whenever I try and listen I find them a little tiresome with no real energy. This album was no exception. 5/10
He Is Legend - Heavy Fruit Rock band from NC. Their last album was good, this one is much the same though not quite as good. 6/10
Ty Segall - Manipulator Good collection of fuzzy rock songs. 7/10
DJ Shadow - The Liquid Amber EP The first track was ok, the rest forgettable. 4/10
Opeth - Pale Communion I've expressed my opinions on this elsewhere, suggesting I like this album because it doesn't sound like the Opeth I remember. I still think that, and enjoy this album quite a bit. 8/10
Belphegor - Conjuring The Dead By the numbers death metal. Nothing to see here really. 5/10
The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream Seems to be collecting a bit of hype, so I thought I'd check it out. It's not a bad album, it has a nice vibe but it's not that great either. 6/10
Interpol - El Pintor Sounds like every other Interpol album, and I enjoy their older stuff but for the most part I didn't seem to connect with this one. 5/10
Eyvind Kang - Alastor: Book of Angels Volume 21 A nice album composed by John Zorn I believe. Good variety on the tracks with a SC3 feel in parts, and classical feel in others. I enjoyed listening to it, but I don't see myself listening with any regularity. 6/10
Karma To Burn - Arch Standon This instrumental band always rocks hard, and this album is no exception. High energy stuff rather than the usual slow post-metal shit around the place. 7/10
This Will Destroy You - Another Language Some of teh slow post-metal shit I was talking about. Quite an atmospheric album, but there's plenty of better examples of the genre out there. 6/10
Trans Am - Volume X I really dug this album and the way it melded synths with some great rocking moments. On my shortlist for the best of '14. 8/10
Defamer - Monolith of Filth EP Grindcore band from Queensland from memory. One of the better grind/metal releases I've heard this year. 7/10
Tricky - Adrian Thaws Not sure how to rank this album - there were some tracks I really enjoyed, and others just fell a little flat. I almost gave this a 7, but I think I'll go with a 6 for now. 6/10
Dark Space III I think this was one of Califums recommendations, I can't remember. Black metal for the most part. Some nice soundscapey stuff, but musical elements of the album didn't really do much for me. 5/10
U2 - Songs of Innocence I want to run, I want to hide. 3/10
Shellac - Dude Incredible You know what you're going to get with a Shellac album and this one is no exception. The first 6 tracks are great, but falls away a bit on the end. Really wanted to give this a 9, but not sure that I can. Still, it's my favorite album for this year. 8/10
The Tea Party - The Ocean At The End Maybe they should have gone for a long swim in it. 3/10
The Contortionist - Language I expected this to be some shitty djent metal like Tesseract or something, and while the djent part is true the shitty bit isn't so accurate. Ended up being a pretty decent prog-metal album, in which I liked like the keyboards. 7/10
Aphex Twin - Syro I've never been a huge AT fan in the past, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that I wasn't super impressed with this album. The genre isn't my thing, but it certainly sounds competent. 6/10
Iron Reagan - The Tyranny of Will Quality thrash punk where the average song length is about 1 minute. I have a soft spot for the genre, so good score ahoy! 7/10
Slapshot - Slapshot Hardcore punk band that I think have been around a while (maybe NYHC can comment). I enjoyed this album, but haven't really listened enough to render final judgement. For now 7/10
Lazer/Wulf - The Beast of Left and Right I purchased this album on the strength of one listen, so you know it's going to score well. Proggy, djenty rock/metal that apparently has various riffs ue both backwards and forwards. 8/10
Meshuggah - The Ophidian Trek Meshuggah sound almost identical live as they do on record, so you can imagine what this live album is like. It sounds great, but since live Meshuggah stuff is not rare by any means, I can't really justify giving this a great score. 5/10
Rush - 2112 I think I've probably listened to this in the past, though I have no real memory of it. Geddy's vocals shit me, but on their earlier albums they shit me less. This was an enjoyable listen and followup to me watching that Rush documentary. 7/10
Coming up next month: Robert Plant, Twilight, Decapitated, Electric Wizard, Philm, Sick Of It All Thom Yorke and a couple of Neil Young albums.
Code Orange - I Am King I really like this album from the band that used to be known as Code Orange Kids. I expected the music to be shitty emo but instead it's much more hardcore. Could well sneak into my top 10 for 2014. 8/10
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden Falls into the category of"I need to listen to this some more" but as I've expressed elsewhere I don't really dig the vocals of this band, which is a barrier for me. I'm going to go with a 6 for now, but could increase over time. 6/10
Earth - Primative and Deadly I want to like this band, but whenever I try and listen I find them a little tiresome with no real energy. This album was no exception. 5/10
He Is Legend - Heavy Fruit Rock band from NC. Their last album was good, this one is much the same though not quite as good. 6/10
Ty Segall - Manipulator Good collection of fuzzy rock songs. 7/10
DJ Shadow - The Liquid Amber EP The first track was ok, the rest forgettable. 4/10
Opeth - Pale Communion I've expressed my opinions on this elsewhere, suggesting I like this album because it doesn't sound like the Opeth I remember. I still think that, and enjoy this album quite a bit. 8/10
Belphegor - Conjuring The Dead By the numbers death metal. Nothing to see here really. 5/10
The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream Seems to be collecting a bit of hype, so I thought I'd check it out. It's not a bad album, it has a nice vibe but it's not that great either. 6/10
Interpol - El Pintor Sounds like every other Interpol album, and I enjoy their older stuff but for the most part I didn't seem to connect with this one. 5/10
Eyvind Kang - Alastor: Book of Angels Volume 21 A nice album composed by John Zorn I believe. Good variety on the tracks with a SC3 feel in parts, and classical feel in others. I enjoyed listening to it, but I don't see myself listening with any regularity. 6/10
Karma To Burn - Arch Standon This instrumental band always rocks hard, and this album is no exception. High energy stuff rather than the usual slow post-metal shit around the place. 7/10
This Will Destroy You - Another Language Some of teh slow post-metal shit I was talking about. Quite an atmospheric album, but there's plenty of better examples of the genre out there. 6/10
Trans Am - Volume X I really dug this album and the way it melded synths with some great rocking moments. On my shortlist for the best of '14. 8/10
Defamer - Monolith of Filth EP Grindcore band from Queensland from memory. One of the better grind/metal releases I've heard this year. 7/10
Tricky - Adrian Thaws Not sure how to rank this album - there were some tracks I really enjoyed, and others just fell a little flat. I almost gave this a 7, but I think I'll go with a 6 for now. 6/10
Dark Space III I think this was one of Califums recommendations, I can't remember. Black metal for the most part. Some nice soundscapey stuff, but musical elements of the album didn't really do much for me. 5/10
U2 - Songs of Innocence I want to run, I want to hide. 3/10
Shellac - Dude Incredible You know what you're going to get with a Shellac album and this one is no exception. The first 6 tracks are great, but falls away a bit on the end. Really wanted to give this a 9, but not sure that I can. Still, it's my favorite album for this year. 8/10
The Tea Party - The Ocean At The End Maybe they should have gone for a long swim in it. 3/10
The Contortionist - Language I expected this to be some shitty djent metal like Tesseract or something, and while the djent part is true the shitty bit isn't so accurate. Ended up being a pretty decent prog-metal album, in which I liked like the keyboards. 7/10
Aphex Twin - Syro I've never been a huge AT fan in the past, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that I wasn't super impressed with this album. The genre isn't my thing, but it certainly sounds competent. 6/10
Iron Reagan - The Tyranny of Will Quality thrash punk where the average song length is about 1 minute. I have a soft spot for the genre, so good score ahoy! 7/10
Slapshot - Slapshot Hardcore punk band that I think have been around a while (maybe NYHC can comment). I enjoyed this album, but haven't really listened enough to render final judgement. For now 7/10
Lazer/Wulf - The Beast of Left and Right I purchased this album on the strength of one listen, so you know it's going to score well. Proggy, djenty rock/metal that apparently has various riffs ue both backwards and forwards. 8/10
Meshuggah - The Ophidian Trek Meshuggah sound almost identical live as they do on record, so you can imagine what this live album is like. It sounds great, but since live Meshuggah stuff is not rare by any means, I can't really justify giving this a great score. 5/10
Rush - 2112 I think I've probably listened to this in the past, though I have no real memory of it. Geddy's vocals shit me, but on their earlier albums they shit me less. This was an enjoyable listen and followup to me watching that Rush documentary. 7/10
Coming up next month: Robert Plant, Twilight, Decapitated, Electric Wizard, Philm, Sick Of It All Thom Yorke and a couple of Neil Young albums.