Why is it that the ‘top 10 albums of the past year’ are almost always by bands which the author knew of already and wanted to check out beforehand? Perhaps because they’ve actually listened to them. ‘There were thousands of albums released this year, but fortunately enough eight of the best ten were released by bands which we already knew of and wanted to listen to.’ (‘It’s amazing how the Big 4 continue to release the best thrash [sp.] albums on a yearly basis!’) I doubt that most of us have sorted the wheat from the chaff in 1996, let alone 2011.
Still, the whole ‘top 10’ business is pretty perplexing. I can fully understand wanting to share some bands which seem promising from a given year, or who you’ve been listening to quite frequently, but I’m not certain how in less than one year you’d have gotten to know all of these albums well enough to not only state that they are quality, but quantify this quality in comparison with other good albums from the year. Perhaps if you haven’t listened to any other albums from the year, and have been very sparing with albums from earlier years, but in the first case it wouldn’t render the claim of being a yearly top 10 very convincing, while in the latter case it wouldn’t exactly say much for the value of your esteem for albums. Still, though, I suppose that 1-listen reviews are a common enough occurrence, so it shouldn’t be too surprising by this approach that 2 listens are enough for a precise ordering of albums in accordance with their inherent merit.
Nonetheless, as far as 2011 albums go, I… haven’t listened to that many? Of those which I have, there’s still only one or two which get regular circulation. That’s by no means going to be the final story, though, as generally the albums which I’ve listened to most from the years around 2008-2010 have only been discovered a few years or so after the fact. It probably has to do with my general band-seeking habits, which involve occasionally stumbling across a band somewhere in relation to a subject or style which I’m interested in, or just having them mentioned in an interesting context. There’s no real temporal tilt to it, is what I’m saying.
From what I have listened to, it’s mainly more or less established bands, or at least returning ones; Satan’s Host, Manilla Road, Arch/Matheos, that kind of thing. Satan’s Host don’t quite seem to have gained an ethos yet, so I’ll still have to wait for the album which illuminates to me their deep thoughts about Satan, while the Arch/Matheos hasn’t really done a lot for me as yet, though I’m still listening to it from time to time to try and see if it clicks. For now, it feels a bit like the two are still finding their feet with each other, and can definitely do better with time. I’m sure I’ve listened to a couple of the Portraits and Ghosts and the like, and this time could have been better spent. In any case, though, the point is that I haven’t listened to that much music from 2011, and most of it hasn’t quite impressed. You wouldn’t necessarily expect it to, however, given that these are basically just the albums which I’ve heard of, in other words the reunions and more hyped up bands, and neither hype nor reunion are generally good signs for a record’s quality. (But they are good signs for ubiquity on Top 10 lists.)
One album which did surprise me a fair bit, however, was ‘A Scarcity of Miracles,’ by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins, known also as a King Crimson ProjeKct. Now, it’s definitely closer to the Crimson of ‘I Talk to the Wind’ than that of ‘Red,’ in other words on the softer side of things, but at the same time a lot more elaborate in style compared to the simplicity and minimalism of songs like ‘I Talk to the Wind’ or ‘Islands.’ It’s a pretty distinctive record, in a way, and does a lot of interesting things which I’d like to write a post about in the near future, such as in its use of silence. In addition, it features the vocals of Jakko Jakszyk, who is not only very good, but also often reminds me of Ray Alder both in terms of sound and the use of subtle tone changes, and that’s always a good thing. I’ve been listening to this one a fair bit since discovering it, and I think it may well have the compositional nuance to last a while longer, although ultimately we’ll just have to see.
So, have you found anything interesting in the last year, which you could see yourself liking for a while to come? If so, it’d be nice to know, so feel free to discuss what you’ve found interesting in recent times. It may even help me to stop being trapped in the Middle Ages.
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In any case, though, the end of 2011 also means the beginning of a new year of metal (and, well, prog), and it seems a pretty promising one. OSI’s album sounds like it should be solid, and they’ve commented that it feels like one of their most coherent efforts. Fates Warning probably won’t match them, but freed from the necessity of creating an album of shorter songs for live performance, they should be able to improve and make something pretty interesting. If Cyriis’ SETI project was somehow released this year, by some faint chance, that would form a pretty great addition to what we already have. More quirky speedthrashprog metal!
(Also a DVD!)
A release which could well give any of these a run for their money, however, is this. The band, Ions, seems to have uploaded some pretty extensive samples in 2004, and then disappeared. This is quite unfortunate, as the samples which they’ve given seem to testify to a very high level of prog metal songwriting, especially on songs like ‘Orca,’ ‘Morphos,’ and ‘Matter.’ The ‘lighter’ (ie. simpler, not less serious) songs like ‘Crying’ and ‘Away’ also seem pretty tightly composed, while I like the almost Synchestra-esque passage which opens ‘Beneath my Feet.’ Their website title is also fabulous. In case you don’t recognize the personnel, it’s basically a project of some of the former members of the APSoG-loving prog band Greyhaven, featuring members such as their vocalist Brian Francis, who seems to have strengthened even further since then. The other main solo project emerging from the remnants of that group was Ethan Matthews’ Echo Us, although I believe that there was also some interaction between the two, such as Brian Francis helping Echo Us with their album covers. (Their thematic content is very similar, as well.)
It wouldn’t really surprise me if a project like this had ceased to be in the early stages, but in this case they at least sounded like they had some pretty decent recordings of their songs already down, or at least knew quite well what they were doing, which makes one wonder where they went. If anyone knows what’s going on with these guys, it’d be nice to know. If these guys were to release an album, it sounds like they have all the ingredients to make something rather special.
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In any case, though, I have a new Vektor album to listen to. See you.
5 comments:
Negative Plane's "Stained Glass Revelations" was one of the better albums from the year 2011 that I heard (not that I heard many). It feels like they established their niche with the first album and now showed us how far they can go with it. It has the potential to really grow on me.
Hell's "Human Remains" is very enjoyable album as well but since there is so much SHOW to it, it's hard to say how it's going to age with me. Very catchy, very theatrical and very slick. I'm just not yet sure what's left after the curtains close.
Also during the past year I've come to feel more personal about some older bands and albums I already knew or half-knew and had not given enough time to sink in. Especially in the progressive metal and techno-thrash fields. Mercury Rising, Vauxdvihl, Annon Vin, Secrecy, Kinetic Dissent, Believer, Maudlin of the Well, Heir Apparent..
Thanks for mentioning the Negative Plane album. I've looked over a couple of the songs, and it sounds like they've got a fairly interesting sound for this album. The only question is whether they can sustain it for an album's length. In any case, I'll give the album a full listen sometime soon.
Strangely enough, the title track of their album reminded me somewhat of a blackened version of the doom band Scald. It might be the lead work, I suppose. Did you get any similar impression? That track did seem a bit more 'doomy' than the rest, in some ways.
I've listened to Hell's album, but it hasn't really grabbed me much yet; or, at least, it did seem somewhat appealing on first listen, but since then hasn't done much. I mean, it does have some pretty solid, catchy riffs, and the vocalist isn't bad (though he doesn't sound nearly as demented as he seems to think), but their songs often feel like you have one catchy riff along with a verse, but nothing really to take it any further. In 'Plague and Fyre,' for example, you get a pretty good riff, but then the chorus doesn't really do anything for me, and ultimately the song just seems to come down to a decent riff which doesn't actually go anywhere. Yeah, it's not awful, and generally quite catchy, but I don't feel any real compulsion to listen to the songs.
Another issue is that it can often seem like almost a collage of things I've heard before from various genres, but in an inferior form. The vocalist? I've heard vocalists very similar a fair few times. The riffs? They may be unique in the sense of not being ripped from elsewhere, but they still follow a template for catchy riffs which doesn't sound particularly unique. A couple of choruses sound like the same ones you'd hear in every second Europower record. Innovation isn't necessarily a virtue in itself, but I generally like a band to have some sense of personality, and in a band like this it almost feels like at every moment I could just go off and listen to somebody else doing the same thing better.
I've heard that they're pretty interesting live, though, and I could imagine them being quite good as a live band. Still, I'll probably give their record a couple more spins to see if I can get into it a bit more. With catchier albums, sometimes it's just a matter of mood.
As far as allowing albums to sink in, that's definitely always worthwhile, and it's something I probably spent a large chunk of my time doing as well. Eclipse are a band that currently seem to be growing on me a fair bit, with their quirky stoner-prog-ish stuff on 'Slowsonic;' occasionally akin to Psycho Symphony in some ways, but significantly more accessible. Apparently they had released a couple of technothrash demos, so I'll probably be taking a look at those; I believe the band's put up mp3 versions of their albums and demos on their website, so it shouldn't be too hard. I've also been listening to a couple of Devin Townsend albums recently since getting into 'Ki;' earlier, I had thought of him as good, but not quite enough to get me to listen to his albums regularly, but since listening to 'Ki' I'm a bit more interested in the guy.
Your list down there makes it sound like it was probably an enjoyable year for you. Vauxdvihl's a band which is still sinking in for me somewhat; some of their songs are convincing, others don't quite seem to be yet. How was your experience with that album?
"Innovation isn't necessarily a virtue in itself, but I generally like a band to have some sense of personality, and in a band like this it almost feels like at every moment I could just go off and listen to somebody else doing the same thing better."
Ironically, I think they had more personality when they released those demos and a single in early 80s. Overall it seems that my experience with Human Remains relates yours.
"Strangely enough, the title track of their album reminded me somewhat of a blackened version of the doom band Scald. It might be the lead work, I suppose. Did you get any similar impression?"
Now that you mentioned it, it is kind of doomy and even in the epic way Scald's doom metal is. I can't go very far with the comparition because I haven't been able to really penetrate "Will of the Gods Is Great Power" just yet. I come back to the album every once in a while to see if something has changed though.
"Eclipse are a band that currently seem to be growing on me a fair bit, with their quirky stoner-prog-ish stuff on 'Slowsonic;' occasionally akin to Psycho Symphony in some ways, but significantly more accessible."
Heh, I actually heard Psycho Symphony the first time last year and liked it! I'm not sure how much their music means to me and indeed I haven't got to the bottom of it (I don't think that six months or so will cut it with this kind of music anyway unless you listen to it in nonstop mode) yet I cannot help but to love their skill and complexity. I guess we all have our weaknesses. I should probably then check out Eclipse as well. Totally new name for me.
Devin Townsend and his projects I cannot approach with being fair to it because of all the hullabaloo surrounding him. I'm also turned off by some of his views about his role as a musician. "It's just entertainment folks!"
I will probably give some of his albums a fair chance later on when everyone and their mother has moved to other things. Behind the times, as usual...
"Your list down there makes it sound like it was probably an enjoyable year for you. Vauxdvihl's a band which is still sinking in for me somewhat; some of their songs are convincing, others don't quite seem to be yet. How was your experience with that album?"
It was. Actually the last 2 or 3 years have been quite possibly the most influential time for me in a long time in the sense of artistic and philosophic discoveries tied to inner growth. On the downside - if you don't mind my honesty - last year was probably one of the worst for my depression. This in mind, Vauxdvihl has been helpful in many ways for me. To me, there are several highpoints in To Dimension Logic such as the title song, Separate Ends and Minus Absence but it's most convincing as a whole I think. The weaker moments (or what on surface feel less convincing) make some sense in the big picture. I think that part of it's magic is the fairly pleasant flow that gets to you especially if you let the album play on repeat for a few times. The first song starts with ambient-ish sounds and pleasant lull of a melody and some japanese (I have to ask a friend about what the voice says) and the last song ends with similar soundscape and makes the whole album feel like a daydream: a trip to the subconsciousness. This is not to say that I fully understand it because I don't. I'm not sure why I like it as much as I do but since I got into it it's been in constant rotation for me. I haven't been able to find the CD in reasonable price just yet but when I do I wish it'll include the lyrics because the parts I can hear clearly have worked for me.
"Devin Townsend and his projects I cannot approach with being fair to it because of all the hullabaloo surrounding him."
Yes, this had also put me off him a fair bit earlier. I believe that 'Ki' had been a bit unpopular among some of his fans because it wasn't heavy enough or something along those lines, although as far as I can see if you wanted to go into this record with the intention of making 'heavy' music you'd have to end up with something completely different. Still, it seems a lot more directly personal in tone, I suppose, than some of his earlier works, and given that I like albums like OSI's and 'A Scarcity of Miracles,' it seems quite close to that kind of music to me both in terms of style and substance.
The thing which I do like about Townsend is that he seems to have a pretty unique way of expressing things, in the same way as, say, Kevin Moore. He has, I suppose, a personality, and while I've found that this aspect could at times get almost obscured by some of the quirkiness of some of the earlier music, in 'Ki' even the more idiosyncratic forms of expression ('Beware the vat people, prepare the cat people,' 'How could heaven be so phonetical?') seem to have a greater impact. He almost does something similar to what I wrote about with OSI, creating symbols, phrases and images which gain associations through their musical context.
I'm still not really sure that I can relate to the 'Townsend is a musical genius' school, but from what I can see he does have a fair bit of ability when he's not being self-conscious and such. While I've found some things on records like 'Terria' and 'Synchestra' which I like quite a bit, there do still seem to be a few moments where he almost seems to be quirky because 'that's what he does.' There's also, as you allude to, the whole self-conscious quasi-postmodernism schtick which comes up from time to time, and does get fairly annoying.
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"Ironically, I think they had more personality when they released those demos and a single in early 80s."
From what I've heard of those, albeit not a great amount, this does seem accurate. I should probably give those a proper listen sometime, although I only really heard of Hell in the context of their recent release.
"Heh, I actually heard Psycho Symphony the first time last year and liked it! I'm not sure how much their music means to me and indeed I haven't got to the bottom of it (I don't think that six months or so will cut it with this kind of music anyway unless you listen to it in nonstop mode) yet I cannot help but to love their skill and complexity."
Yes, I can recall being pretty confused on first listening to them. I think I had only grasped them to some extent after I got into Sider, since in a strange way I suppose it gave me something to refer back to in understanding what Psycho Symphony were up to. It does seem that from time to time I've not really grasped a band until I've listened to another band trying to do something similar, maybe because I generally find it quite important to know what a band's trying to do when it comes to appreciating them. Has anything like that happened to you?
"I haven't been able to find the CD in reasonable price just yet but when I do I wish it'll include the lyrics because the parts I can hear clearly have worked for me."
One of the things which I do find appealing about Vauxdvihl is their lyrical content. They do often seem to have a fairly unique style in that, and it gives their album a nice sense of depth and personality. Indeed, just the lyrics of the opener, 'The Weapon,' seem to indicate that they're going in a different direction with things, that this isn't quite your usual prog metal record.
"On the downside - if you don't mind my honesty - last year was probably one of the worst for my depression."
I don't mind, no. Hopefully things get better for you this year. I'm not sure how much I can actually comprehend your situation, but good luck in getting past things.
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