Opeth - Heritage

01. Heritage (2:05)

02. The Devil's Orchard (6:39)

03. I Feel The Dark (6:40)

04. Slither (4:03)

05. Nepenthe (5:40)

06. Haxprocess (6:57)

07. Famine (8:32)

08. The Lines In My Hand (3:48)

09. Folklore (8:19)

10. Marrow Of The Earth (4:18)

11. Pyre (5:34)

12. Face In The Snow (4:04)

Seeing as I'm catching these guys live at Stubb's tonight, its only appropriate that I finally get off my ass and try to review this thing. I've been grappling with this album for a couple weeks now, and I've been putting off reviewing it because quite frankly I've been uncomfortable with the idea of committing myself to rigid opinion of it. Not something that usually bothers me.

To say that Heritage, Opeth's most recent offering, is polarizing would be the understatement of the year. Gone are the death metal vocals, the blast beats, the 10+ minute bone crushing opuses (opi?). In their place we now have swirling mellotrons, jazz-infused rhythm and percussion, even a flute makes an appearance. The clean vocals, which had taken 9 albums to work up to even a 50% share with the growl on the last album, 2008's Watershed, now reign supreme. What exactly in the hell is going on here?

That's not to say that this change is totally out of the blue. Over the past few albums, Opeth has continually worked toward a more and more progressive brand of metal. More mellow interludes, improved (and by now quite outstanding) clean vocals, more complex rhythm. Its just that up until now, Opeth's stylistic shift has been more about gradual change. Yes, a few years back they did produce Damnation, a 100% mellow, clean-vocal album. But that was tagged as more of a brief left-turn, an opportunity to do something completely different, almost a novelty. It was easy to accept, with the band's all-but-spelled-out assurance that the future still looked, more or less, heavy as shit.

In the case of Heritage, however, the stylistic upheaval seems to have a bit more gravitas. Strike that, a LOT more gravitas. Opeth is fully committed to this new sound, and in fact they seem majorly reinvigorated by the multitude of different directions available to them now. A sense of musical liberation absolutely permeates this album, and its this quality specifically that turned this particular skeptic into fanboy #1.

My first exposure to this album, along with pretty much everyone else, was the pre-album-release single "The Devil's Orchard". I thought it was OK, nothing particularly special, which in Opeth terms means I was essentially devastated. I wanted to be blown away, I wanted Opeth's newest track to pull me in, destroy me, spit me out, and leave me begging for more. I was left grasping at the notion that "The Devil's Orchard" was surely the oddball, and that the rest of the album would surely restore my faith. That idea was quickly dashed once I finally got my hands on the full album. I struggled through it the first time, unsure of exactly what I was listening to. Second time, same result. Third time through, not much better. At this point, I was starting to lose hope. There were a couple tracks that stood out as "good", a few as "tolerable", and a couple as "I never want to hear that again." But as tough as the going was, there was something, some quality about the album, that made me want to keep listening. While I was having trouble with the songs themselves, I was definitely caught by the organic sound of the album, and the sense of liberation that went along with it. It was the sound of artists creating exactly what they wanted to create, fans and critics be damned. And this made all the difference.

Massive understatement #2: this album is a grower.

Somewhere around the 5th or 6th time through, it all began to click. "The Devil's Orchard" had begun to feel pretty good, and "The Lines In My Hands" was definitely striking me the right way. I was also really digging the mellow bonus track "Face In The Snow". But these tracks are not particularly challenging, the former being a pretty straightforward rocker and the latter being a classic Opeth-style mellow number, complete with Akerfeldt's best crooning on the album. It was with "I Feel The Dark" that the tide really began to shift for the album as a whole. The acoustic intro with layered piano and mellotron, leading into a prominent plodding Mendez bassline, suddenly disrupted at about 3 minutes by a bout of heavy organ and guitar distortion, leading into alternating sections of acoustic twiddling and slow crunchy guitar, before fading out with some more layered mellotron, piano, and acoustic guitar. It all fit, impeccably. I began seeing it in the other tracks after that, and suddenly it was like I was listening to a whole new album.

As far as the individual tracks go, I would say that my favorites are "The Devil's Orchard" (ironic, I know), "I Feel The Dark", "Folklore", "Famine", and "Face In The Snow". "Heritage" and "Marrow Of The Earth" are short instrumentals, the former a beautifully executed instrumental piano piece, the latter consisting primarily of some quirky acoustic guitar. "Slither" is a fun romping ode to the late great Ronnie James Dio, and is probably the most out-of-place track on the album. "The Lines In My Hand" is the probably the easiest song to identify with for lovers of older Opeth, sounding a bit like a cut-down clean-vocal "Baying Of The Hounds". "Famine" is probably the most experimental track on the album, a sprawling prog-fest featuring guest percussionist Alex Acuna and some interesting flute placement, some cheesy and obvious (intro) and some fantastic and not-immediately-obvious (layered in toward the end of the song). "Nepenthe" and "Haxprocess" are really the only songs that I'm still working on. They're both pretty slow and deliberate, "Nepenthe" featuring an odd vocal melody that I can't quite come to terms with yet, and "Haxprocess" sounding very much like something left over from the Damnation recording sessions. Both songs may very well end up being tracks that I skip over, but, as with the rest of the album, both possess a subtle allure that keeps me listening, trying to find that hook or layer to pull me in.

Overall, I would say that this is probably Opeth's most ambitious work, and absolutely their bravest. Is it my favorite? Well, its still sinking in with me, but I feel pretty comfortable saying that no, its not ever going to be even close to my favorite. But its damn well earned my respect, and has bolstered my excitement for what this band can achieve in the future. According to Akerfeldt in the "Making Of Heritage" film that came with the album, typically everyone in the band is completely mentally and physically drained by the end of the recording process. With Heritage, this is the first time they actually feel renewed and excited about a new direction.

I can dig it.

The Albums Of 2009

Seeing as we're mostly through January already, I figured I better get my 2009 album list out before its completely irrelevant. Once again, I've continued the disturbing trend of buying fewer albums, this year reaching an abysmal 13 albums, plus one EP and one live DVD. I wasn't able to get to as many individual album reviews as I would have liked, which is unfortunate, for what 2009 may have lacked in quantity it surely made a noble effort to make up for in quality. Not to say the year was completely devoid of disappointment, certainly I found some of the albums a little frustrating. But overall, this year's list tends to skew toward the better. At their best, these albums represent monumental career achievements, but moments of brilliance can be found even at the bottom of this barrel.

1. Between The Buried And Me - The Great Misdirect: When BTBAM dropped Colors on us two years ago, I firmly believed a better album could not be written. Lo and behold, then came along The Great Misdirect, and all my assumptions about the universe were called into question. This is an unfathomably good album, displaying a further developed sense of maturity and experimentation fused with BTBAM's classic progressive metal chops. I've already written up a full review, so I won't go any further except to say that, three months after its release, I'm still having a tough time NOT listening to this album at every given opportunity.
2. Isis - Wavering Radiant: Until The Great Misdirect came along in October, this album was firmly holding on to the #1 spot in my tentative "albums of the year" list. On Wavering Radiant, Isis continues to show further improvement in song craftmanship that began with their previous release In The Absence Of Truth. Whereas on the older albums Isis relied primarily on either stark loud-quiet-loud dynamic or slow build-up with a single monolithic climax, they have finally begun to figure out how to "play in the middle". The songs tend to find a groove and work within it, finding smoother transitions to moments of texture or ferocity. The result is a collection of songs that somehow feel simultaneously fluid and structured, weaving from one brilliant moment to another.
3. Rodrigo Y Gabriela - 11:11: This duo blew me away with their self-titled debut effort, a relentless instrumental juggernaut of dueling accoustic guitar, executed to perfection. What remained to be seen was if they could avoid being so one-dimensional on their follow-up. On 11:11, Rodrigo Y Gabriela take a fantastic step forward. The overall pace is slowed down just a touch, and the songs are given a bit more time to breathe and develop. The instantly catchy melodies are still there, but are woven together in a bit more of a cohesive fashion, with careful consideration of transition. R&G also add a bit more flair on the production side as well, adding a few effects here and there, giving the material more depth. This all results in a sense of maturity about the album, and a feeling of warmth as opposed to just technical proficiency. Don't get me wrong, the classic 90-mph accoustical riffage is still ever present, but is blended nicely with the other elements to create a much more complete sound.
4. Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist: If I only considered the first 6 tracks from this album, it would be right up there duking it out with BTBAM and Isis for best album of the year. Alas, the last few tracks lose me a little, although that's not to say they are bad. I wrote up a full review, so I won't be exhaustive here. But anyone interested in seeing how much depth an eerie cello can add to a post-rock/metal foundation would be well advised to give this album a go.
5. The Mars Volta - Octahedron: Another year, another release from one of the most prolific bands out there. While most TMV albums in the past have consisted of high-energy progressive wailing with slower numbers occasionally mixed in, on Octahedron the band turns the tables. There are a couple tracks that get slightly noisier and faster, but on the whole this is an extremely mellow, atmospheric album, nicely showcasing Cedric's crooning vocals and Omar's brilliant knack for texture. While many may find this album too much of a departure to give it much credibility, I think its an admirable effort and an excellent listen.
6. Long Distance Calling - Avoid The Light: I wrote up a full review of this album, so I won't go into too much detail. But overall, this instrumental post-rock/metal offering was this year's unexpected surprise. Great execution and some serious chops. I'll be interested to see what this band comes up with next.
7. Russian Circles - Geneva: After what I thought was a decent but somewhat disappointing sophomore effort, Station, I have to say I'm pretty happy with Russian Circles most recent release, Geneva. This album does feature quite a bit of the mellower, more atmospheric type passages that they began tinkering with on the last album, but they've returned with a bit more grit and heaviness this time. Not as heavy and raw as their first album, Enter (which is still my favorite), but more polished and controlled. It gives the album a nice sense of maturity, while still packing a punch.
8. Mastodon - Crack The Skye: This was a tough album to rank. There are a couple tracks on the album that are absolutely epic, and represent what is probably Mastodon's greatest work. However, the rest of the album tends to suffer, it just seems to be a bit watered down. It still features much of their trademark progressive sound, just spread a bit too thin. Overall, the album is decent, but I can't help but feel a bit of disappointment everytime I listen to it. Full review.
9. Baroness - Blue Record: Baroness' second full-length is a solid effort from start to finish. While it doesn't have an amazing couple standout tracks like their first LP did, I think this album is more consistent and cohesive. I find that I like this album more each time I hear it. I will admit, however, that I still miss the uncompromising grit of their first 3 EP's.
10. Pelican - What We All Come To Need: A nice return to heavy form for these instrumental metal pioneers. If I could base my opinion of this album on just the first few tracks, this would probably rank up in my top 3. Track 3, "Ephemeral", is particularly good, probably my second favorite Pelican tune ever, behind "March To The Sea". The album wanes a bit toward the end though, and actually delves into atrocious territory on the final track.
11. Porcupine Tree - The Incident: This sprawling 1.5 disc set (LP and EP) features some fine material by Steven Wilson and co., and is a very cohesive work overall. In particular, I think the later half of the LP is an amazing stretch. My only complaint would be about the abundance of short segue'ish tracks, that seem to spread the meaty material out a bit too much.
12. Clutch - Strange Cousins From The West: This album is fairly solid, it just didn't grab me like their past few have. There are a few songs that I found to be excellent, in particular "Motherless Child", "50,000 Unstoppable Watts", "Minotaur", and "The Amazing Kreskin". But the rest, while not horrible, just underwhelms me a bit. Any Clutch fan, including myself, will find the album reasonably enjoyable, but its certainly not in the ballpark of such works as Blast Tyrant or Robot Hive/Exodus. I would even go as far as to say it can't touch the first half of From Beale Street To Oblivion.
13. L'Homma Puma - On Remplace Les Yeux Casses: This was another random album I just happened to come across. Its some fairly well executed instrumental progressive/post-metal. What caught me by surprise was how they occasionally incorporate electronic elements. The first track in particular throws a funky little electronic twist in the middle that complements the heavy riff very nicely. Some tracks do tend to drone on a bit, but there are a couple gems in there. I'll definitely be interested in checking out their future material.

Between The Buried And Me - The Great Misdirect

01. Mirrors (3:37)

02. Obfuscation (9:15)

03. Disease, Injury, Madness (11:02)

04. Fossil Genera: A Feed From Cloud Mountain (12:10)

05. Desert Of Song (5:33)

06. Swim To The Moon (17:53)

To fully appreciate the latest offering put forth by North Carolina progressive metal outfit Between The Buried And Me, you must first turn an eye, or rather, an ear, to their monumental 2007 release, Colors. Colors is, in a word, PERFECT, one of only a handful of albums to which I have ever had the audacity to apply that label. Sonically and conceptually, the album is an absolute masterpiece, the kind of work that makes a great band....legendary.

What pressure BTBAM was feeling in their attempt to follow that effort, I can only imagine. The band having set such a ridiculously high standard for comparison, it was nearly impossible, as a fan, to not have such equally ridiculously high expectations for their follow-up. So, it was with great anticipation, and I must admit a fair amount of dread, that I awaited their most recent release, The Great Misdirect. When I got my hands on it, I slowly unwrapped it. I put it in the player. And with one last sigh in a world where BTBAM could do no wrong, I pushed PLAY, knowing that my image of the band would most certainly be a bit tarnished, if only in the tiniest sense.

And as the sounds filled my ears, one thought rose above all others: NO. F@*%ING. WAY.

Oops. They did it again.

This is the point at which my brain....exploded. I let the album weave and ebb through me. I absorbed every riff and drum blast, every growl and whispered croon, every soaring, arpeggio-laden frenzy and every hauntingly beautiful texture. And when I had collected it all and calculated the sum of the parts, my entire grasp on logic lay defeated, crying and broken on the floor.

The Great Misdirect is not as good as Colors. Its BETTER. Better than PERFECT.....just does not compute.

In the month or so since this fateful day of logical liberation, I have been unable to stop listening to The Great Misdirect. In a wickedly unfair twist of fate, there have been 3 or 4 other solid albums released this fall that I would also like to give a proper review, but every time I attempt to give one of them my attention, I find myself physically incapable of getting through it before maniacally swerving back to BTBAM, like a demented, salivating crack addict.

Getting to the specifics of the album, there are six total tracks. Two of the six ("Mirrors" and "Desert Of Song") are shorter mellow numbers, while the other four are of the longer, more dynamic variety. "Mirrors" leads in with a nice lighter groove, lyrically setting the conceptual table ("close one eye, step to the side") to slide seamlessly into "Obfuscation", a full-throttle ass-kicker. "Disease, Injury, Madness" follows, also mostly of the heavier variety, but also featuring a beautifully eerie melodic section from about the 2 to 5 minute mark (shades of Opeth here). The transition out of this passage is one of my favorite moments of the entire album, as an isolated dirty bass line punctures the calm and segues directly into some gloriously meaty guitar riffage. From here, the album treads into more bizarre territory with "Fossil Genera: A Feed From Cloud Mountain". This track's opening few minutes feature Tommy Rogers' best Mike Patton impression, creating a sort of creepy carnival vibe, before launching into BTBAM's patented brand of frenetic metal. "Desert Of Song" is a gorgeously executed ballad, and is the song that has grown on me the most since hearing it for the first time. The lyrics and the tone convey a potent sense of guarded optimism, powerful and moving but not overly complex. This all leads up to the closer "Swim To The Moon", which is probably my favorite track on the album. This song is 17 minutes of full-bore energy, featuring a nasty chugging riff (very reminiscent of Tool) during the first half, and some of the most epic solo'ing Paul Waggoner has come up with yet in the latter half. The breakdown toward the end is absolutely crushing, with Tommy Rogers brutally ripping the line "Look into the picture" repeatedly from his chest. This culmination rivals (albeit does not quite top) the legendary breakdown at the end of the Colors closer, "White Walls" (which does still stand as my favorite individual BTBAM track).

As for the overall feel, there is almost too much to try to capture in words. It is most certainly the next logical evolutionary step from Colors. BTBAM continue their mastery of pummeling, constantly-shifting rhythms, and indeed most of the album is a meticulously executed progressive slugfest. But it is their ability and willingness to blend in slower, melodic passages that gives this album a true sense of maturity. Serving as much more than to simply create a loud-quiet-loud dynamic, these passages are brilliantly woven into the longer tracks to actually give them a greater sense of cohesion and purpose. Every song feels like story, examined from every angle before reaching a logical, and usually devastating, conclusion. And with the tracks strung together, the same can be said of the album as a whole.

The Great Misdirect is an utterly astounding album. If their song-writing continues to mature and evolve, the sky is the limit for these guys. As much as it pains my already throbbing head to say it, BTBAM have proven that they are capable of outdoing even themselves.

Long Distance Calling - Avoid The Light

Every so often, a completely random album by a band I've never heard of will somehow pop up on my radar and completely blow me away. Thanks to Soundweave, last year's such discovery was Vaalbara, a crushing work of early-Isis-style semi-instrumental post metal by the Ann Arbor outfit Supercontinent (who, sadly, has since disbanded). My latest unexpected surprise, also found through Soundweave, is Germany's Long Distance Calling, with their latest release Avoid The Light.

Tracklist:

01. Apparitions (12:17)
02. Black Paper Planes (7:17)
03. 359° (7:55)
04. I Know You, Stanley Milgram! (10:26)
05. The Nearing Grave (7:48)
06. Sundown Highway (9:11)

Upon my first liston, Long Distance Calling initially struck me as another run-of-the-mill instrumental atmospheric post-rock band (albeit a pretty good one), especially through most of the first track. But just as I was about to chalk them up as yet another Explosions In The Sky imitation, they did something that EITS has yet to ever do: they got heavy. Not just "lots of different sounds going on at once" kind of heavy, I mean they got down and dirty and rocked the opener out. My curiosity was piqued, and I decided I would give the rest of the album at least one shot, and see what else I may find. I didn't have to wait long. After a short ambient intro,"Black Paper Planes" came in with a thick and juicy riff, and I was sold.

To coarsely summarize, I would say the album sounds rather like a mixture of Explosions In The Sky and Russian Circles, with perhaps just a dash of recent Isis thrown in for flavor. There are extended lighter passages of melodic guitar work and subtle electronic textures, often punctuated nicely by quick drum bursts. But they are not afraid to turn the songs to metal territory, delving fluidly into passages of full-on riffage and double kick drum roll glory. The tracks all tend to meander a bit, changing rhythm and pace several times, yet still retaining a nice sense of cohesion. As a result, they tend to be on the longer side, all over 7 minutes and two of the six venturing into the 10-12 minute range.

As for particular highlights, I would say that "Black Paper Planes", "I Know You, Stanley Milgram!", and "Sundown Highway" are my favorite tracks. As is my nature, those also happen to be the three heaviest songs; and the devastatingly slick riff that highlights the first half of "Stanley Milgram" is my favorite moment of the entire album. "Apparitions" is a solid song, and a good intro to the album, sliding in gently with some nice light-ish guitar melody before introducing some grit. "The Nearing Grave", which actually features vocals (by Jonas Renkse from Katatonia, so I've read), was originally my least favorite track, mainly because it seemed to interrupt the nice progressive insrumental flow with something a bit more formulaic. However, the more I've heard it, it has actually grown on me quite a bit, and I find it to be very well executed for what it is.

Overall, I definitely highly recommend this album, especially for those already into the recent proliferation of instrumental progressive and post rock/metal bands. Though the genre is getting a bit flooded with sound-alikes, Long Distance Calling, in my opinion, definitely separates themselves from the pack with Avoid The Light. They show some solid song-writing and some serious chops. It'll be interesting to see where they go from here.

Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Life has been pretty busy of late, so I'm a bit tardy getting to a review of Mastodon's latest album, Crack The Skye.  The bright side is that this has allowed the album plenty of time to marinate, so I feel I can give my full opinion without worrying later that I've stuck my foot in my mouth.

Tracklist:

01.  Oblivion (5:47)
02.  Divinations (3:39)
03.  Quintessence (5:28)
04.  The Czar (10:54)
05.  Ghost Of Karelia (5:25)
06.  Crack The Skye (5:54)
07.  The Last Baron (13:01)

As with many bands, its tough to evaluate Mastodon's most recent offering without making constant comparisons to their previous works.  In many ways, Crack The Skye is exactly what you would expect, continuing trends that have been obvious over the course of their previous three stellar albums:  reduced overall pace, further emphasis on clean vocals and melodies, more studio polish, the near complete absence of any thrash.  All-in-all, upon first dip you might come to the initial conclusion that, by Mastodon's standards, this album is pretty accessible.  Perhaps even a little.....*gulp*.....poppy.

I must admit that my own feelings about the album are a bit mixed.  I can say that I absolutely think it is very good.  But, I must also say that there are moments that evoke a slight sense of disappointment, causing me to harken back to the intense, thrashy days of Leviathan and Remission.  Crack The Skye is certainly not perfect, there are moments that do fall a bit flat, ideas that seem to sort of stall.  But that's the risk of pushing into new territory, and with that risk also comes enormous reward.

At its pinnacle, Crack The Skye showcases Mastodon's finest and most ambitious work yet, coming primarily in the form of the album's two monstrous epics, "The Czar" and "The Last Baron".  For all that was to be feared about the slower pace, clean vocals, and polish, on "The Czar" Mastodon takes those qualities and infuses them with their traditional heavy roots and a quantum leap in song writing, creating a progressive epic unmatched by anything they've done since Leviathan's incredible "Hearts Alive".  Clocking in at over 10 minutes, the song effortlessly transitions from melancholy crooning to slick, upbeat riffage to heavy monolithic crunch.  Three songs later, "The Last Baron" and its full 13 minutes of mind-blowing epic glory arrive to continue the trend.  The smooth melding of an eerie mellow intro into a monolithic core of pure progressive bliss all culminates at the heart of the song, where it utterly disintegrates into fantastic self-indulgent, mind-warping jazz-metal wankery for about 20 seconds, before launching head-first back into the thunderous heavy charge.  Such a seamless collection of dynamic elements serves to place this track atop the heap just as quickly as "The Czar" had stolen the honor from "Hearts Alive".  

The other songs on the album are, for the most part, fairly good.  They certainly do pale in comparison to the two epic tracks, but they serve as a nice and necessary change of pace.  "Divinations" is definitely a stand-out track, a solid upbeat rocker featuring an extremely well-placed surfer-esque chord later in the song.  "Crack The Skye" is another standout, featuring the heaviest crunch to be found on the album, as well as an outstanding guest vocal performance by Neurosis' Scott Kelly.  However, its on the remaining songs, "Oblivion", "Quintessence", and "Ghost Of Karelia", that I find myself grasping for a bit more.  Each of these tracks feature slick timing transitions, solid riffs, and improved vocal melodies, but its here that I feel the studio polish has rubbed away a bit too much of the legendary Mastodon grit.  The songs shift and progress, but they somewhat lack bite.  The sense of power and intensity that Mastodon typically employs to drive a song home is spread just a little bit too thin.  They are good songs, I enjoy them well enough as I'm listening, but once they finish they're all but forgotten.

Overall, though, this latest offering is more than satisfactory, and showcases some of the most dynamic work Mastodon has ever put out.  Its yet another facet of a band that is still maturing and progressing with each album.  I eagerly look forward to their next step.

Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist

Trying to categorize Giant Squid's sound can be a bit tricky.  To be fully descriptive, you could call their style "ambient-progressive-sludge-post-metal".  But after a couple years of absorbing 2006's outstanding re-recorded album Metridium Fields, I felt comfortable enough with Giant Squid's ambient-to-heavy, sweet-crooning-to-screaming dynamic to simply settle with "post-metal".  Yes, there were many other elements in the mix, but in general, this label would do.

Then came The Ichthyologist.

Tracklist:

01.  Panthalassa (Lampetra Tridentata)

02.  La Brea Tar Pits (Pseudomonas Putida)

03.  Sutterville (Vibrio Cholarae)

04.  Dead Man Slough (Pacifastacus Leniusculus)

05.  Throwing A Donner Party At Sea (Physeter Catodon)

06.  Sevengill (Notorynchus Cepedianus)

07.  Mormon Island (Alluvial Au)

08.  Blue Linckia (Linckia Laevigata)

09.  Emerald Bay (Prionace Glauca)

10.  Rubicon Wall (Acipenser Transmontanus)

Last week, Giant Squid released their newest offering, The Ichthyologist.  Since the last album, considerable news had floated around regarding the departure of the original female guitarist/vocalist (Aurielle Gregory), the addition of a new cellist/vocalist (Jackie Perez-Gratz), as well as the relocation of the band from Austin to San Francisco.  All of this completely threw my expectations out the window, I had no idea what to expect.  It would be difficult to live up to the near perfection that was Metridium Fields, but regardless, I was pretty excited to give this new album a go.

As I began to dive into the album, I was initially very pleased.  The first two songs in particular are excellent, showcasing Giant Squid's talent for weaving heavy, climactic riffs around slower, plodding, mellower passages.  The potential of adding Perez-Gratz' cello is immediately realized on "La Brea Tar Pits", creating a kind of heaviness while retaining a warm, haunting quality.  Perez-Gratz is a fairly significant improvement in the vocals department, as well.  She handles the lighter, more soft-spoken vocals in a manner similar to how Aurielle Gregory had, but she doesn't have the pitch issues and seems more confident than her predecessor in stepping up and belting out a line or two when necessary.  Anyway, these first two are definitely my favorite two songs on the album.  After the two openers, the album progresses through a lazy lounger in "Sutterville", another excellent eerie-and-mellow-turned-slow-cruncher in "Dead Man Slough", and the energetic and somewhat uncharacteristically slap-happy "Throwing A Donner Party At Sea" (which is a re-tread from 2005's Monster In The Creek).

Whether the band intended it or not, I felt like the further into the album I got, the more the style seemed to be transitioning away from that of Metridium Fields.  While much of the first half of the album seems to simply infuse the new elements into their already established style (1 & 2, and partly 4), an increased focus on using more minimal atmospheric passages to create mood and space is hinted at and then begins to take firmer root through the latter half.  "Sevengill" begins this shift as a bit of a hybrid, remaining delicate and minimal for much of the song before reverting back to a heavy crunchy rhythm towards the end.  Its a very effective song, and another one of my favorites.  After this point in the album, however, the minimal atmospheric approach tends to dominate a bit more than the heavy material.  "Mormon Island" is easily the lightest track on the album, featuring only some light strings and an eerie banjo, with spooky higher female vocals floating through.  "Blue Linckia" is a decent track, using the cello to give it a bit more of a heavy feel without going to a full blown crunch.  "Emerald Bay" consists of little more than Aaron Gregory wallowing quietly over a slow bassline with some minimal drums.   The closer "Rubicon Wall" adds a little bit more of a crunch, but still maintains more of an overall mellow and minimal feel, with the strings making nice transitions between the passages.

Overall, I'd have to say that I do like the album quite a bit, although even after repeated listens I still find myself heavily favoring the beginning of the album.  The more minimal, ambient nature of the latter half is fairly well done, but it does not grab me like their heavier stuff does.  For times when I choose to listen to this album because I'm feeling like some Giant Squid, I'll probably hit songs 1-6 (possibly skipping 3) and 8, and skip the rest.  But for times when I'm in more of a diverse mood, where I've got the time to sit and relax and just take in the whole album as it comes, I'll enjoy listening to The Ichthyologist in its entirety.  Its not as incredible as Metridium Fields, but its a solid effort displaying some nice progression.  I'll still be very interested to see what Giant Squid comes up with in the future.

The Albums Of 2008

Its that time of year again, time to look back and reflect on the year's musical offerings.  Looking back through my 2008 acquisitions, I was astounded to find that I only purchased 14 studio LP releases.  A slow year for good music?  Perhaps my intake of music was hindered a bit by the arrival of my daughter in April?  Who knows.  Whatever the reason, the light load was nicely rounded out by a larger than normal haul of live albums and EP's.  And while there were a few misses with my studio LP purchases, the EP's and live material were all stellar.

========================

Studio LP's:

1. Opeth - Watershed:  To be fair, this year it was extremely difficult to pick a clear #1.  I actually toyed with numbering these first 4 albums as 1a-1d, since each one is utterly astounding.  But after shirking that idea and forcing myself to really choose, Watershed clearly rose from the pack.  I am at a loss to explain how the hell these guys are so damn good.  Album after album, Mikael Akerfedt and co. churn out pure progressive death metal bliss, everytime setting an impossible standard, only to somehow crush it on the next go 'round.  This album is no different, despite half the line-up changing since the last.  Once again, Opeth take us through a world of new textures and structures, all with that classic Opeth combination of delicate beauty and thunderous roaring fury.  They've somehow managed to take their monstrous sound to another level of complexity, and indeed "The Lotus Eater" and "Hessian Peel" have got to be two of Opeth's best songs of all time.  The entire album is a masterpiece, thoroughly satisfying from start to finish.  There is no way they can top this one.  Is there? 
   
2. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath:  Talk about an appropriately titled album, this album is relentless.  The first song "Aberinkula" comes flying out of the gates at full speed, and TMV takes it from there, keeping the high octane progressive rock coming almost non-stop for the full 75 minutes.  Practically every song is full of unexpected twists and turns, sudden stops and just as sudden leaps back into frenzy.  Seriously, you need to take a nap after listening to this album, its insane.  With such an emphasis on energy, its easy to overlook the depth to this album, as I will admit I was guilty of at first.  It took me several listens to really get into it, but the more I listened the more I could hear the jaw-dropping brilliance amongst the chaos.  I was particularly glad to see this, after their somewhat disappointing last album, 2006's Amputechture.  Its tough to ascertain whether or not this album is as good as the utter perfection that was their first two albums, Deloused In The Comatorium and Frances The Mute, but I would be hard pressed to put my finger on a concrete reason why it shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath with those two.
3. The Sword - Gods Of The Earth:  Since their flawless monolithic cruncher of a debut, 2006's Age Of Winters, I've been eagerly awaiting The Sword's sophomore effort.  This album definitely delivers the goods, and takes a nice step forward.  The thick, heavy riffs are still in full force, but they've been intertwined with some really nice progressions and smooth time signature changes.  The songs feel a little bit faster and more complex.  The only slight downside is that I think the production value could have been a tad better, the mix is a little off.  The highs are bit too far up in the mix, everytime there is a flurry of cymbals, its kinda right up in your face.  But no matter, its one juggernaut of an album.
4. Meshuggah - obZen:  After being blasted for programming the drums instead of playing them live in the studio on their last two releases, 2003's EP I and 2005's Catch Thirty-three (both dubbed by the band as "experiments"), Tomas Haake and crew return with a vengeance on obZen.  This is, in my opinion, Meshuggah's best album to date, the uncompromising raw power and drive of Chaosphere infused with the textures and subtle finesse of their recent experimentation.  The slick delivery yet undeniable punishing force of such tracks as "Combustion", "Bleed", and "Pravus" showcase what could possibly be the pinnacle of Meshuggah's brand of progressive math metal.  If they ever find a way of putting out an album that tops this, it'll probably kill me.
   
5. Supercontinent - Vaalbara:  I have to give a shout out to Soundweave for introducing me to these guys, hailing from the great city of Ann Arbor, MI.  This album delivers some brutal post-metal fantasticness, akin to early Isis or Pelican.  Also like early Isis, its mostly instrumental, although not entirely, as rough shouty vocal snippets work their way in here and there on about half of the songs.  Its not a perfect album by any means, but for a debut release its incredible.  I would say its better than Pelican's Australasia and not quite as good as Isis' Celestial.  That's some pretty heavy company, I expect good things from these guys.
   
6. Russian Circles - Station:  RC's previous release Enter, was a monumental feat of instrumental metal perfection.  And while that kind of debut sets impossibly high expectations, this sophomore effort holds up reasonably well.  It has some slightly longer mellow passages than what they featured in the first album, which balance out nicely with the heavy winding riffage.  Its not the classic album that Enter is, but its still an admirable effort.
   
7. Cranium - Phantasmagoria:  OK, now this is a FUN band.  Instrumental, heavy, fast, progressive, jazzy, and executed with a total disregard for time signatures.  I challenge anyone to find one single measure of 4/4 anywhere in this album (or in their previous album Pragmatics, for that matter).  These guys are sometimes hard to keep up with, but you gotta love that kind of energy.
   
8. Metallica - Death Magnetic:  As I detailed in fairly thorough fashion with my review of the album, a lot of emotional baggage came with this one.  The album most certainly has its flaws, but for me it signified enough of a positive turnaround for the band that I felt it deserved to crack the top 8.  Ah, the eternal hate-yourself-for-still-hoping type of optimism that only a true Metallica fan can appreciate.
9. Steven Wilson - Insurgentes:  I am a HUGE fan of Porcupine Tree, for which Wilson is the front man and main song writer, but I have never been much into any of his side projects.  This album, however, did pique my interest a bit.  There are a couple standout tracks that could easily have fit in on a Porcupine Tree album, but much of the album is a bit more mellow and ambient.  Its definitely a mood album, and its pretty rich with texture.  Its not anything that I will probably put on often, but its an interesting effort worth hanging onto.
10. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Calibration:  Omar's solo stuff does tend to be a bit more bizarre than his work with The Mars Volta, but this one is essentially a TMV album on electronic acid.  Its a pretty fun listen if you can sit through the passages of electronic weirdness, although I would say that its still not as good as his previous solo effort, Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo.
11. This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You:  This is their second album, and, like their first, its not a bad effort but its nothing amazing either.  While I like their style, which is in a similar vein as bands like Explosions In The Sky and Mono, I find that their execution still falls short of the standard set by the likes of those two bands.  But its solid enough effort to hold onto and throw into the mix
12. Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV:  While I have not been a fan of Reznor's material in a long time (see The Slip below), I will give him credit for this project, a double-disc consisting of 36 short minimalistic instrumental tracks.  Its a bit repetitive and won't get a ton of play, but it does show Reznor's long-lost ability to create some eerily haunting yet soft and spacious tones.  Interesting enough.
13. Autechre - Quaristice:  Slipping this album down to 13 is not intended as a slight, I'm just naturally not that into electronic music, particularly recently.  Autechre has typically been an exception in this regard, and this album is definitely interesting.  After several albums of long, mind-bending, obtusely evolving songs, this one is a bit simpler and more organic, with a greater number of shorter songs showcasing a variety of styles.
14. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip:  Also winner of the "Biggest Completely Predictable Disappointment" Award.  I don't know why I keep giving Reznor's albums the time of day.  I haven't loved anything by him in over a decade, but something in me keeps on hoping.

========================

Studio EP's:

1. Agalloch - The White:  As with the studio LP's, this was a tough choice.  Either of these first two could have been #1, but I decided to go with the Agalloch EP simply because its a bit more of an impressive endeavor.  Agalloch is no stranger to haunting, natural textures, but they really nail it here.  Most of the album is fairly minimal, mostly accoustic and instrumental, with well-placed eerie tones and audio clips.  There are no thunderous drums or heavy passages, like what Agalloch typically tends to build up to.  Overall, its mellower, with more of a focus on conveying a feel, a mood.  It all has a bit of an experimental feel, and in my opinion the experiment is a resounding success.
   
2. Red Sparowes - Aphorisms:  This easily could have been my #1 pick, and its possible that brevity, if nothing else, is what relegated this one to the second spot.  This EP consists of 3 songs, all in the 5 to 6-minute range.  And while I would not exactly call this a departure from the typical Red Sparowes style, it does have an increased sense of maturity.  The band showed great promise on their first album At The Soundless Dawn, and displayed impressive growth on their second full lenth, Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun.  This EP continues that trend, showing the band's ability to flow from melody to melody in an organic fashion, transitioning between highs and lows smoothly and with purpose.  If this is any indication, their next full length could be a monster.
   
3. The Company Band - Sign Here, Here, And Here:  Featuring Clutch's Neil Fallon on vocals, this 4-song debut EP indeed could be easily mistaken for Clutch at first.  These songs are fairly straightforward rockers, similar to Clutch's slightly earlier work, before incorporating a heavy dose of Hammond-driven bluesiness into their style.  Its a slightly simpler sound, but refreshing and fun all the same, its just good solid rock.  I will definitely be interested if this side project carries on in the future.
   
4. Tides/Giant - Tides/Giant Split:  Mainly, I bought this because I really like Tides.  The material here is nothing groundbreaking for them, but its well executed.  The 2 Tides songs are typical of their style, one 10-minute'ish slowly developing work of heavy instrumental post-metal goodness paired with a shorter, lighter track.  As a bonus, the 1 song by Giant is fairly good too, I may check them out in more depth someday.
   

========================

Live Albums:

1. Between The Buried And Me - Colors Live:  This might be the most impressive live album I've ever heard, simply because I never would have expected a band to replicate such a punishing and dynamic style as well as BTBAM does here.  Everything is in perfect balance, the heavy high-tempo parts, the lighter passages with keys, clean vocals, growling death metal vocals, the incredibly dynamic drumming, the fast-pace guitar solos.  Honestly, if you were to blindly jump into the middle of one of the tracks, you'd have to listen for a bit before you could tell whether it was the original studio album or this live recording.  The DVD footage is stellar, truly capturing the high-octane energy of a live BTBAM set.  In addition to covering the entire work of perfection that is Colors, the band plays a second set of 6 songs chosen by the fans, all performed with the same gusto.
   
2. Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Live In Japan:  This accoustic duo completely blows me away, I can barely keep up.  In this set, they roll through much of their debut album, as well as a couple covers, solos, and other songs.  Its impressive to hear them replicate their intricate yet extremely fast style live, especially all the percussive elements they create by wacking on the body of the guitar while playing.  The sound quality is astounding, and the playful interaction between the pair and the audience is nicely captured.  The package also includes a DVD, which contains an interesting short documentary, as well as some video footage of a couple songs from the performance.
   
3. Clutch - Full Fathom Five:  This is a pretty solid set, available in both CD and DVD form, with just a couple track differences between the two.  As always, the performances are high-energy and flawlessly executed.  Happily, the mix is a bit better than the last two live albums they released from a couple shows in Australia last year.  I would say this set still is not as good as my favorite live Clutch album, Live In Flint, Michigan, but its still more than satisfying for any Clutch fan.
   
4. Porcupine Tree - We Lost The Skyline:  A gorgeous in-store performance performed mostly solo by Steven Wilson.  The 8-song set covers a fairly wide span, reaching all the way back to The Sky Moves Sideways.  Unfortunately, he had to go and throw in "Lazarus", but that is more than made up for by awesome renditions of "Stars Die", "Trains", and "Normal".  "Normal" is a shortened version of the original, but the performance is mind-blowing, and it features a pretty funny anecdotal lead-in.  Its easily my favorite track on the album.

Tool Info For Ali, And Others...

Well, I haven't posted in a while.  But just today I was responding to an email in which my bro-in-law Ali had listed what Tool-related albums he had checked out.  If you know me, then you know Tool is one of my all-time favorite bands, and that I also have a tendency to ramble.  In keeping with my recent decision that "anything that I spend more than an hour on writing, automatically becomes a blog post", I'm going ahead and chunking the thing up here.

Enjoy, and be enlightened!  Or just have a Pop-Tart, whatever.  I don't think anyone reads this thing anyway, heh....

========================================

OK, lets sort this out.  As far as official "normal" releases, Tool has 4 studio albums, 1 EP, and 1 live/covers/miscellaneous album.  They are as follows:

Opiate (1992):  EP

• Opiate is pretty raw and straightforward, with pretty typical song structure and length.  The band's power and ability to rock is immediately evident, the songs mainly driven by anger and adrenaline.  The one deviation from this is the closing title track, which is a little more complex and restrained, and nicely foreshadows what was to come on their next album.  Overall, its a fun album to rock along to, its fast and angry and thrashy.  Not bad for their first effort, but definitely pales in comparison with the body of work that followed.
  

Undertow (1993):  Studio LP

• Undertow holds a special place in my heart simply because it was the first Tool album I heard.  (I went out and picked up Opiate immediately after I got this album).  I clearly remember my first time listening to it, loving the way it was different from anything else I had ever heard.  It was the first album I ever owned that really exposed me to music of a more progressive nature, where song structure and time signature were elements to be experimented with as opposed to being a safe and generic template.  Undertow is still a bit raw by Tool's current standards, but definitely took that first step in their evolution.  The songs still rock but in general are little slowed down, not as thrashy as on the EP.  As a result, they are a bit longer, averaging more like 6 minutes or so, and are a bit more complex in their shifts.  Its still an angry album, for sure, but the anger is channeled and controlled more.  The last track is a bit bizarre, ending with like 10 minutes of crickets chirping which I usually skip, and there is a song or two in the middle of the album that I find to be OK but sometimes will skip.  But aside from that, I love the entire album.  It was a great debut LP.
  

Aenima (1996):  Studio LP

• Aenima is the album that permanently secured Tool's spot forever as being one of my top 2 or 3 bands.  The overall consensus is that Lateralus is Tool's masterpiece, and I won't necessarily argue against that, but this one is still my favorite.  On Aenima, they really hit their stride with the musical complexity, but they still retain the dark and eerie tones of their early material.  The album does contain 3 or 4 bizarre segues between songs that I generally skip, but aside from that every song on this album is phenomenal.  Its a challenging album, I remember having to listen to it several times before it really sunk in, there is a lot to digest.  In addition to the musical complexity, the album is much more complex from a lyrical content perspective as well, delving into topics like Jungian psychology, theories on chromosomal and spiritual human evolution, subconscious struggles within the psyche, etc.  All of these are laid out in nice balance, the lyrics specific enough that you can determine on the surface what he's talking about, but poetic and vague enough to allow for a lot of metaphorical interpretation.  Its incredible, even after 12 years it still impresses me how much lyrical and musical creativity they packed into this album.  There are only handful of albums that I consider to be "perfect", and this one is right there at the top of the list.  (BTW, this album on vinyl is very hard to find, sealed copies typically going for $300-600 on eBay.  If you ever happen to run across a copy in good condition that's reasonably priced, like $100 or less, BUY IT.  I will reimburse you!  Will probably never happen though.)
  

Salival (2000):  Live/Covers/Misc. (+ DVD of their pre-Lateralus videos)

• This was an interesting release, which came out just about 6 months before Lateralus.  It contains 5 live tracks, a Led Zeppelin cover/reinterpretation, and a couple random weird tracks that I don't really ever listen to.  The opening track is a live version of the closing track from Aenima, called "Third Eye".  The sound quality is amazing, I actually prefer this version over the original.  The third track, called "Pushit", is also from Aenima, but for the first 7 or 8 minutes (yeah its long) they completely re-invent the song.  Its slowed down and fragile, its really well done, I love this version.  Also worth mentioning is track 5, "You Lied", which is actually a live cover of a song by a band called Peach, that Tool's bassist used to be in before he was in Tool.  Its a pretty cool song, slow and methodical with some cool harmonizing guitar.  This album also came with a DVD of all of Tool's videos up to that point, which was one video from Opiate, two from Undertow, and two from Aenima.
  

Lateralus (2001):  Studio LP

• As I said before, Lateralus is generally considered to be Tool's masterpiece, and while Aenima may be my emotional favorite, I cannot argue with this assessment.  In a word, this album is brilliant.  BRILLIANT.  The musical complexity is unparalleled, the time signatures are all over the place, and every song unfolds with a different structure.  What's most impressive about this album is that the music and lyrical content are pulled together into a common cohesive theme, and even more impressive, a positive theme.  The anger of previous albums has been transformed into aspiration, hope, and positive guidance, a vibrant depiction of our potential as a species.  The theme of "spiraling out" is prevalent both in the lyrical context of the album as well as the musical structure.  The title track even features the Fibonacci sequence as the time signature of its verses (the Fibonacci sequence is at the core of the mathematical concepts of the "golden spiral" and the "golden ratio").  As perfect as the execution is on this album, there are just a couple small inconsistencies.  One is a song called "Ticks & Leeches", which on its own is a good solid rocking track.  But it is a bit negative and angry, unlike the rest of the album.  I like the song, but it does seem kind of out of place.  The other is the closing track, which is a bit bizarre and I usually skip it.  This one does have an extended amount of silence before it though, so its as if the band did go out of their way to imply that this track is separate from the theme of the rest of the album.  Anyway, apart from those two tracks, this album is musically and conceptually a work of genius.  It would be difficult for anyone, even Tool themselves, to match this level of cohesion again.
  

10,000 Days (2006):  Studio LP

• 10,000 Days is another really good album, although its kind of odd in that while I like the individual songs, I do not find it as overall satisfying as the previous couple albums.  First, there are 11 tracks, but really its only like 6 songs.  Tracks 3 and 4 are essentially one long song, the final track is some ambient sound that certainly does not count as a song, and there are 3 other tracks that are essentially segues.  But, the songs that are there are very good.  Musically, the songs generally have more of an upbeat, rocking feel to them.  They are still heavy and display the complexity of previous albums, but feature less of the eerie tones and distortion of earlier stuff, particularly Aenima and before.  Lyrically, its the most straightforward album, the concepts are laid out without much interpretation needed.  In general, its easy to see why many have labelled this as Tool's "sell-out" album, but I really disagree with that statement.  The music is just as fresh and inventive as always, its just continually shifting and evolving as their lives are.  One thing worth noting is that Tool did achieve two of their best song climaxes ever on this album, on the title track and also on the trippy "Rosetta Stoned".  Both of those songs build-up, albeit very differently, to a point and then just utterly explode.  Good stuff.
  

OK, so as for the other releases you mentioned.

Tales From The Darkside (1994):  CD Single/Live

• Tales From The Darkside is a somewhat rare single for the song "Sober", from Undertow.  It contains the album version of the song, along with 8 live recordings of other Opiate/Undertow material.  The sound quality is not so great, so I really don't listen to it much.  It was printed in fairly low quantities, but not so low that its impossible to find.  I think I found my copy on eBay for like $20 or so, to give you an idea.  Not an essential addition to the collection by any means, but interesting enough for a fan.
  

String Tribute To Tool (2000-2005?):  Cover LP

• There are a couple of these floating around, and I'm pretty sure they are from the early 2000's, after Lateralus came out.  Amongst the Tool fan community, the opinions are pretty mixed.  But I can't really say, they've never piqued my interest enough to check them out.
  

Ultra Rare Trax (2001):  Miscellaneous

• I actually had no idea what this was, I had to Google it.  Once I found a description, I understood.  There have been various bootleg recordings and random Tool related tracks floating around the web for years.  For example, Maynard popped in on a Tori Amos performance (sweater and all), and sang one of her songs with her.  I've heard most of these tracks before, just never in one place.  Apparently someone gathered that stuff together and put it on a CD without the band's permission.
  

Rockabye Baby!  Lullaby Renditions Of Tool (2006):  Cover LP

• OK, this one wasn't on the list, but I've added it because its worth mentioning.  This is a collection of Tool songs performed very minimalistically using xylophones and other such mellow, chimy type instruments.  Most of the songs are from Lateralus, but they sneak a couple in there from Undertow and Opiate as well.  Some of the songs are fully interpreted from start to finish, others take a couple melodies from a song and just ride those, omitting other elements of the original.  Overall, its pretty well executed, I like it quite a bit.  And Leili seems interested when I play it in the car.
  

There you have it.  Hell, I might just make this my next blog entry  : - )

========================================

And so I did....

Death Magnetic

OK, here we go. I've been wanting to post about this for a while, but this particular topic comes with a lot of baggage, and I'm a bit unsure how exactly to tackle it all. Let's just let it rip and see where it all ends up.

So, Metallica recently released their new album, entitled Death Magnetic. I love the cover, shown below, for the sole reason that as a EE it kills me that they included the flux lines flowing to and from the coffin/grave. It cracks me up every time.


Tracklist:
01. That Was Just Your Life (7:08)
02. The End Of The Line (7:52)
03. Broken, Beat, & Scarred (6:25)
04. The Day That Never Comes (7:56)
05. All Nightmare Long (7:57)
06. Cyanide (6:39)
07. The Unforgiven III (7:46)
08. The Judas Kiss (8:00)
09. Suicide & Redemption (9:57)
10. My Apocalypse (5:01)

The Metallica Problem: The History

As I was listening to this album, the first Metallica effort that has piqued my interest since 1996's predominantly abysmal Load (very appropriately titled), I found myself facing the same quandary that practically every old-school Metallica fan faces: the near complete inability to judge this album on its own merit, without mentally alluding back to the glory of the 80's, the disappointment of the 90's, or the utter PR nightmare and subsequent mockery of the early 2000's. Of all the bands I've followed, none have gone through such a huge change in public perception. Their fall from the heavy metal throne has been historic: they've been deified, vilified, and crucified, all with good reason. They defined and perfected a genre with sweat, drive, and uncompromising will, only to abandon it in favor of a few lucrative years with a business model where marketing and mass appeal outranked any kind of creative progression. And at the end of their day in the sun, as public interest predictably shifted towards younger, more highly advertised acts, they spurned the opportunity to rekindle that fire, lesson learned, and instead chose to play victim and lash out. The result was a muddled mess of a record and a disgraced reputation, which nearly caused the band to implode completely and seemed to finally mark their tragic end. It all sounds so melodramatic, I know, but the magnitude of their original greatness combined with the significant bitterness from this eventual fallout is exactly what defines the core of The Metallica Problem.

For fans such as myself, The Metallica Problem ultimately manifests as the inability to define exactly how we feel about the band. We can't hate them for what they've become, their early greatness and profound effect on the metal genre is far too great to deny; but we can't unconditionally love them as we once did, they've put themselves on a golden pedestal and have become far too detached from what originally made them so great. We can't automatically give their new attempts the benefit of the doubt, the disappointments of their blatantly watered down commercial ventures are too fresh in our memories; yet we find ourselves unable to give up hope that maybe, just maybe, they will come to their senses and return to their devastating form. We find it difficult to listen to their golden era material without feeling a sting of regret; and what little decent material they have managed to put out in recent years is tainted by the belief that, had the band simply chosen to do so, it could have been so much better. This kind of emotional baggage is exhausting. Its enough to make me want to grab the band by the throat and throttle some sense into them. "Dammit guys, what the hell are you doing?? STOP BEING LAME! JUST.......BE COOL! GAH!!"

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, mainly this historically-skewed and factually-biased rant serves to clear my own head before any kind of objective-ish assessment can be made of any new Metallica material these days (and I suspect this kind of continual catharsis is necessary for many old Metallica fans). I perpetually hope that their new stuff will be as good as I know Metallica can be, while simultaneously fearing that it will be as bad as I also know Metallica can be.

Death Magnetic: The Review

That being said, what do I make of Death Magnetic? Being as objective as I can be, I will say this: it is good. In some places its damn good, in some its damn bad, but overall I would say that the album is solid. Naturally, it doesn't come anywhere near the first four albums, but its certainly better than Load/Reload and St. Anger. I'm not sure where it stands in comparison to the black album, its better in some ways but a little worse in others.

Sonically, the album is the best Metallica has done since ...And Justice For All. Most songs are pretty fast with a good amount of prolonged thrashing. Hetfield's rhythm guitar riffage is pretty satisfying and Hammett is finally let off his leash to go completely shred it. There aren't a ton of progressions within the songs, but when there is a bit of a riff or tempo change the transitions do tend to be nicely executed. There are a couple moments where Trujillo's bass comes in as a bit of a lead for a transition or an intro, and when these happen they are pretty cool. Mostly, though, the bass doesn't really stand out, and instead just plays a supporting role for the rhythm guitar. The drums are energetic, and punctuate the heavy rhythm nicely. Metallica has never been much into odd time signatures or anything, so the drumming has never been a defining element to their sound, but Ulrich keeps time well enough and sufficiently maintains the energy of the songs.

I would say that the only slight downside to the sound of this album is that they still don't have that serious, menacing tone that they had on the 80's albums. They're rocking hard, they're tearing things up, but the music doesn't have that intense sense of purpose and drive like it had before. It sounds more like they are just rocking for rock's sake, kind of a looser cowboy'ish "woo-hoo yeah lets rock" type attitude as opposed to the "we're angry, we're going to unleash the fury and you're going to feel it" type of attitude like what they originally had. I won't necessarily ding them completely for this difference in feel, I just mention it because it is one tangible difference that does remain. (The tone is still much better than the watered down "pop metal" attitude of the 90's stuff, though).

Vocally, the album is OK. Hetfield approaches the vocals the same way he did on the 90's albums, mainly a barking style that in some undefined way is not quite as good as on the 80's albums, with a few attempts at singing completely cleanly in there. The vocals don't really bother me much, he doesn't have an awesome voice, but I don't find it to be terrible either. However, while the vocals themselves aren't horrible, they do open the door for the major fault of this album, which leads me to my next point.

The main problem with this album is that lameness just seems to somehow creep in at times. Almost every song has one lame moment or characteristic that keeps the song from kicking ass from start to finish. For the most part, the lameness in question presents itself in one of two forms:

• Lame lyrics: sometimes the lyrics do reach a level of cheese that is hard to ignore. The lyrics are by no means all bad all the time, there are just moments where you think "that's really the best Hetfield could come up with?" Not to say he's ever been a master poet, but in the hey-day his lyrics were at least relevant to the topic at hand and nearly always clever. He always at least sounded like he was a pretty intelligent guy. He wouldn't ruin a perfectly good rocking moment by bellowing some cheesy cliche.

• Lame chorus/verse melody: there are times where a song will have a decent intro, and some really strong riffage and solo'ing, but the melody during the verse/chorus "core" of the song is just super weak. "The Day That Never Comes" is a good example of this. I like the lighter intro well enough, and the last few minutes of the song absolutely destroy, but I cannot stand the core of the song. ("The Day That Never Comes" is also a good example of Lame Form #1, Lame Lyrics. Just listen to the part that starts with "love is a four letter word", you'll see what I mean. Good grief.)
  

Its these kinds of moments that make Death Magnetic a bit of an exercise in frustration at times. They could have given the album a subtitle. For example:

• Death Magnetic: The Lyrically Erroneous
• Death Magnetic: Hetfield's Guitar (Yes!) vs. Hetfield's Mouth (No!)
• Death Magnetic: Pin The Tail (Lame Chorus) On The Donkey (Otherwise Ass-kicking Song)
• Death Magnetic: God, Kicking Ass Feels Good, But We Don't Wanna Lose All Those Reload Fans, Do We?
• Death Magnetic: The Amazing Instrumental Album That Wasn't
  

OK, that's enough poking fun for now. Despite those flaws, there are a lot of really solid moments, and a few pretty good songs overall. Here are my comments on the songs individually, recorded in a stream-of-consciousness fashion while listening:

• 01. That Was Just Your Life: Good intro, good and thrashy rhythm, barking style vocals for the most part. Chorus is nothing special, but it doesn't stand out and ruin the song. Guitar solo is fairly short, and pretty much keeps with the rhythm and pace of the song. No surprises here, but a solid start to the album. Solid song overall.

• 02. The End Of The Line: Intro is a little choppy. Rhythm during the choruses is nothing special, but the choppy guitar at the end of each verse is cool. Vocals are a little more drawn out than the first track, the chorus is maybe a little dumber, but nothing too bad. The stuttering guitar work leading into the solo is cool, and the solo progresses pretty nicely a few times before returning to the stuttering guitar. Song gets mellow for a moment and the vocals get a bit dumb here, with something about the "slave becomes the master." Grrr, they kinda killed their own momentum with that. Returns to the rhythm of the song and would end strongly if only Hetfield would stop yelling "end of the line." Decently solid song overall, though.

• 03. Broken, Beat, & Scarred: Another choppy intro, with a pretty nice slippery rhythm leading into the verses, and good crunchy rhythm during the verses. Unfortunately, the dumb lyrics kick in pretty quick, "what don't kill ya, make ya more strong." Nice rocking during the chorus, but again the dumb lyrics "show your scars, we die hard." Good crunchy rhythm leads into the solo. Solo is pretty damn cool, pretty straightforward ripping by Hammett, interrupted a couple times by the whole thing quickly deconstructing and then resuming. Rhythm actually progresses a little here, with a slight key change thrown in. Actually feels for a moment like an old-school 80's Metallica moment. Returns to the chorus and ends on a strong rocking rampage. Solid song, would be really good if it was instrumental.

• 04. The Day That Never Comes: Lighter intro, don't mind it so much, but it leads into extremely lame verses and chorus, of the power-ballady variety. Lots of the famous grunty Hetfield "-AHH!" appended to the end of each verse. Through the core of the song, this sounds just like what a Metallica parody would sound like. Halfway through the song, the rocking starts to kick in, giving hope, but then leads into really lame lyrics about "love is a four letter word". After some nearly intolerable yelling about "this I swear!", the song jumps into a jackhammer rhythm, following by some dual guitar stuff, then alternates between higher solo stuff and good crunchy rhythm, all at a pretty fast pace. If the whole song was like this last couple minutes it would be cool, but unfortunately more than half of the song is really lame, so I'll most likely usually skip this track. Another good instrumental candidate.

• 05. All Nightmare Long: Lame title, but good bass intro, jumping directly into really fast thrashy guitar stuff. Reminds me a bit of something from ...And Justice For All for a bit. Vocals during the verses are good, reminiscent of old stuff. Vocals during the chorus are a little more annoying, but don't completely kill it for me. Guitar solo winds around a bit and back into the rhythm, which progresses a little bit before jumping into some good jack-hammering guitar. Big pause, then back into the chorus. A little lame for a brief moment, but whatever, it passes and gets back to some good thrashy stuff and winding guitar before ending. Solid song.

• 06. Cyanide: Intro is OK, nothing special, leads into some pretty generic rhythm stuff. Verses are pretty lame, guitar is nothing special. Chorus is annoying, guitar riff during it is OK but doesn't last long. Major 90's Metallica moment in the middle where the guitars mostly melt away and its just a mellow bass line with Hetfield singing. I can't get into this song, the guitars are sometimes cool-ish, but choppy and brief. The solo rocks out a little more for a short bit, but doesn't really seem to have anything to do with the rest of the song. Then back into the core rhythm and more vocals. Meh, this song does nothing for me. It doesn't even have the over-compensation ass-kicking at the end like "The Day That Never Comes" does. I'll end up usually skipping this one.

• 07. The Unforgiven III: Given the title of this one, I fully expect it to be terrible, but I actually end up liking it. The intro is atrocious, a very generic string arrangement with some piano, and a horribly misplaced horn actually coming in at about 40 seconds. However, the bass comes in nicely at about a minute, and leads into the first verse. The vocals of the verses are a bit of 90's Metallica-ish, but the guitar riff during it absolutely rips, it really hits me the right way. The chorus is mellow, and a little contrived. Some people will definitely dislike this song and identify it with some of their 90's watered down stuff, but it actually works OK for me between the ripping during the verses. A little bit of cheesy "forgive me, forgive me not" lyrics, but that leads into some absolute shredding by Hammett with the same kickass rhythm rip going on. Back into the mellower vocals before ending the song, but it doesn't bother me. The lyrics are not too bad, the melody is slightly on the cheesy side, but I find it tolerable. Overall, I surprisingly really like this song, although I'm sure a lot of people will not.

• 08. The Judas Kiss: Good intro, reminds me a bit of their earlier stuff. A bit stuttery, reminds me a little of "Leper Messiah". Decent rhythm, barking vocals for the most part, with a little melody going on at the end of each verse that I actually like. Stuttery guitar leads into some good thrashy rhythm during the chorus, which stutters again and goes back to the core rhythm. Solo starts with some sweet isolated guitar, joined shortly by some solid stuttery rhythm, and then everything launches into some fast-paced rocking. Brief interruption by Hetfield yelling something a little cheesy about "I'm your new god now", and then back into the rocking solo stuff. The sonic tone of this song reminds me quite a bit of ...And Justice For All. Good song, I like this one quite a bit too.

• 09. Suicide & Redemption: Hey now, an instrumental song! I'm glad that they've gone back to including an instrumental song, and as I've mentioned above I think they would have done well to include more. This song has some good solid riffage, although its a bit disjointed for the first couple minutes and its unclear whether the song is actually going anywhere. Slides into a mellow bit towards the middle, with some nice solo stuff going on over lightly accoustic-ish rhythm, then into some nicely building harmonizing guitar work. Builds nicely up and then drops into some pretty mean grindy rhythm guitar with some slightly eerie toned solo guitar with moments of feedback for a bit. For a moment it sounds vaguely Tool-ish, then into some good wailing guitar. This is some really good stuff here, progressing through different rhythms punctuated by double-kick drums and lead guitar popping in and out, then back to the original crunchy rhythm. Nice. Song kind of gets choppy and deconstructed, then back into the original crunchy rhythm again on the way out. Excellent song, once it really got started. I really really like this one.

• 10. My Apocalypse: Nice powerful intro, leading into some good thrashy rhythm. Good barking vocals, chorus is short and sweet, no issues. After a couple quick verses, rhythm continues at good pace, with some nice winding guitar woven in there. Some quick good vocals, then a good solid solo with the same break-neck rhythm going. Goes into some nice stuttery guitar, followed by alternating vocals and winding guitar. Back to the normal verse-chorus structure at the end, with more ass-kicking rhythm. Song finishes off with some nice jackhammer guitar going on. This is a good solid end-of-the-album rocker, much in the spirit of "Damage, Inc." or "Dyer's Eve", I really like this track.

Overall, I must say that I do think this album is definitely a big step in the right direction for Metallica. And while the album is certainly flawed, overall I am enjoying listening to it. I can only hope, in that eternal Metallica fan hope/fear fashion, that they build on this. The ass-kicking has surely returned, the fire has been re-lit. There is a bit of cheese that needs to be wrung out of the lyrics and it would be nice to see a bit more deviation from the formulaic song structure, but this album definitely shows that these guys could truly pulverize again. It'll take just a little more recapturing of that classic uncompromising Metallica will.

Dare I say my faith in Metallica may be a bit restored, however slightly? Hmmm..... I am optimistic. Very cautiously optimistic, but optimistic nonetheless.