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.

Tool @ Nokia Theater, Dallas (07.25.2009)

Sara and I headed up to Dallas this past weekend to catch Tool at the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie. Having seen them three previous times since the release of their most recent album, 2006's 10,000 Days, I was more than a bit disappointed to learn in the week leading up to the show that the setlist was to be practically identical to those from the previous shows. But, as an overall experience, sonically and visually, Tool shows have always been an impressive spectacle, so I was looking forward to it nonetheless.

We got to the Nokia Theater right about 8pm, and spent a little time checking out the venue. The Nokia Theater is pretty new and very highly touted, and this was my first foray into the place. We easily got to our seats, which are the second best I've ever had for a Tool show (the best being pit seats at McFarlin Auditorium in Dallas in 2006, literally about 3 feet from the stage). We were in the first row of the second section back, with seats right on an aisle. Great view, just far enough away that we could take in the whole stage and backdrop and video screens, but close enough to see all the detail of the band members activities. Easy access, in and out, plus some hilarious bonus entertainment of watching security right in front of us handling some colorful characters throughout the show. The opener Tweak Bird was playing when we got there, but I didn't really soak in enough to generate much of an opinion.

At 9:05, Tool came on, and played until 10:50. Despite the fact that they only played 9 songs, the set did not feel overly short. The setlist (as expected):

1. Jambi

2. Stinkfist (extended)

3. Forty-six & 2

4. Schism (extended)

5. Lost Keys/Rosetta Stoned

6. Flood

7. Aenema

8. Lateralus (extended drumming with Tweak Bird drummer)

9. Vicarious

OK, let's beat that dead horse one more time. I do love all of these songs, don't get me wrong, but for crying out loud will they please change it up just a little. Yes, this set does for the most part nicely represent their back-catalog, but they always play the exact same songs from those older albums. It would not take much effort at all to vary it, just change up like 2 songs. Swap out one of the Aenima songs for "Eulogy" or "H", instead of "Schism" play "The Grudge", or something like that. I'm not asking them to bust out an epic track like "Third Eye" (although that would be killer), I'm just saying change up 2 songs and the set would feel completely fresh. Its entirely possible for them to do this, they simply choose not to and its difficult to believe that its attributable to anything but laziness. And as a longtime fan, I do find this choice to not make the effort a little insulting. (And while I'm kvetching, $40 for a damn T-shirt?? Whatever you may think of the setlist, that price is utterly unjustifiable.)

OK, let's get past that.

The sound was fantastic, the best I've heard since the aforementioned McFarlin show. As much as Tool does a pretty good job trying to get the sound right in their usual arena environment, being in a true auditorium makes a world of difference. Maynard's vocals could have probably been a tad higher, they tended to get a little lost in the mix sometimes, but everything else was very nicely balanced. Danny's drums were nice and crisp without overwhelming the sound, as was Justin's bass. But I was most impressed with Adam's guitar, which sounded utterly amazing. The crunchier rhythm stuff rocked without completely taking over, while the solos came through loud and clear.

The visuals were stunningly vibrant, as always, and perfectly synced to the performance. It was the same setup as before, with four screens spanning the back of the glossy white stage, two more screens farther out to the sides and forward, the huge backdrop hung farther back, and the unique three moving circular light assemblies that have been a staple of the shows the last three years. The lasers once again made a dramatic appearance, I believe first presenting themselves either during "Schism" or "Rosetta Stoned". I don't have the encyclopedic memory that others do regarding what video clips have been featured at what shows, so I really can't comment much on whether or not many of the visuals were new, but as always they lent an amazing extra dimension to the performance.

As far as the band's performance, everything for the most part was flawless. Danny, Adam, and Justin were working their asses off, and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Maynard seemed to take a while to work up to it, I thought he totally phoned it in during the opener. He also seemed to lose a bit of steam at the end, kind of just pacing around like he was bored during "Vicarious". In between though, he was pretty animated and into it, and overall he sounded great. The opening bullhorn shotgun vocals of "Rosetta Stoned" didn't come out so great though, it literally sounded like he was just shouting "robble robble robble" the whole time. Actually, knowing what a smartass he is, I suppose its possible he might have been doing just that, heh.

There was some interaction with the crowd. Maynard stopped a couple times in between songs to say thanks for coming out and to take care of each other and such. He did piss me off a little a couple times. First, at one point near the beginning of the show he said something about "Tonight this place is your home. So, welcome home.", and for just a split second I thought that maybe the cover tune that has been rumored for this tour (which at this point has still not happened) was going to be Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", which is one of my favorite songs of all time. Just for that one delusional moment, I was about to die, but then they just launched into either "Stinkfist" or "Forty-six & 2". The other time was more toward the end when he said something about "Yesterday was one thing, but today we're here and its different", and for a moment I was hoping he meant that the set would be different, but nay, they just went into either "Aenema" or "Lateralus". The best Maynard moment of the night though, was toward the end of "Vicarious" when all of a sudden Adam's guitar stopped. Maynard said "Adam broke a guitar string" (I think that's what he said), and he then proceeded to sing the remaining guitar part. It was pretty funny and definitely entertaining, very Ween'ish.

Overall, it was an excellent show. Whatever grumblings I may have, they were definitely tempered by the fact that Sara, who was experiencing Tool for only the second time, really enjoyed the show. She had been to the San Antonio show with me a couple years back and had said that she enjoyed it, but with the much better view and sound, she was much more impressed this time around. Seeing a show like this with someone less familiar with the band definitely puts it into perspective that, although I fear Tool will choose to never achieve as great a live show as I know they could, even at their most generic Tool blows away pretty much any other live performance you're going to find. And I guess that will have to do.

Isis + Pelican @ Emo's, Austin (05.19.2009)

I headed down to Emo's Tuesday night to catch Isis and Pelican as they passed through Austin. I hadn't been out to a heavy show since Opeth in October, so I was a bit overdue. Pelican and Isis are both bands that I've seen several times, both individually and together, so I knew I was in for a rocking good time.

The first opener was a band called Tombs. They came out and played 4 songs or so, about 30 minutes worth. Pretty typical thrashy metal stuff, screaming vocals, a little bit of funky progression. Overall not that impressive, songs weren't that interesting and it was pretty sloppy execution. To give them credit, they were definitely......I suppose enthusiastic is the word. Especially the drummer, he was all over the place. But it was nothing I'd ever follow up on.

Pelican came out next. Here is the set:

01. Bliss In Concrete

02. Ephemeral

03. Embedding The Moss

04. Far From Fields

05. Geometry Of Murder

06. Australasia

The sound was pretty good. Both guitars could be heard clearly, which is most commonly their problem. During the heavier parts, often their guitar work can get lost in the noise, so I was happy to hear that this was not the case for this show. The bass came through pretty cleanly, but I thought it was a bit low. There were parts where you would expect a bass line to be coming through, and you could kind of hear it, but you couldn't feel it much. No problems with the drums, they were setup nicely.

As for the setlist, I thought it was decent, not stellar but not bad. I'm more than a bit surprised that they played NOTHING from The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw. As I've said before, "March To The Sea" is one of the best live songs I've ever seen, and any Pelican show where it is NOT played is a tragedy. Also, "Far From Fields" was tucked in there, and they closed with "Australasia", neither of which I would have chosen from their respective albums. But, that being said, the set was fun enough, and well executed. Opening with "Bliss In Concrete" is a good choice, it is easily my favorite track from City Of Echoes, and it got the crowd in a good rocking mood. The really interesting part was the middle of the set, where they moved into new material from the Ephemeral EP, which was new for me. The songs had a little bit of a heavier feel than the City Of Echoes material, which I was happy to hear. I was particularly impressed with "Ephemeral", which was a somewhat short song for them at about 5 minutes or so, but it had some nice grooves and riffs that flowed together well, and the end of the song really packed a nice punch. "Geometry Of Murder" is another song from the EP, which is apparently an Earth cover. It was a bit more repetitive than the others, but again had a nice heavy grindy feel that went over well.

Overall, it was an interesting enough and well-executed set. I was able to talk to Trevor de Brauw for a few minutes before and after the show, and as the guys from Pelican always seem to be, he was very friendly and appreciative of the support.

Isis came on after that. Here is the set:

01. Hall Of The Dead

02. 20 Minutes/40 Years

03. Dulcinea

04. Threshold Of Transformation

05. Ghost Key

06. In Fiction

07. Hand Of The Host

08. Carry

(break)

09. Celestial (The Tower/Signal Fills The Void)

This was an EXCELLENT set! All but one song from Wavering Radiant was represented, as was one song from each of their four previous LP's. "Ghost Key" and "20 Minutes/40 Years" in my opinion are the weakest tracks from the new album, so I'd have been perfectly happy to trade those out for a couple more older songs. But overall they played my favorite track from each album, so I really can't complain.

As far as the sound goes, it was tip-top. For a band like Isis, with the dynamic elements they put forward, I would imagine that getting everything properly balanced is a bit tricky. I've seen Isis several times, and on many occasions everything kind of bled together into a wall of indiscernible noise. This appears to be turning around. I believe the last Isis show I reviewed, I stated that the sound was the best I'd ever heard from them. Well, I'm happy to report that this seems to have stuck. The heavy guitar riffage was crunchy and powerful, but gave way to the lighter guitar work and rich and vibrant electronic textures when necessary. Aaron Turner's mic was finally exactly where it should be, down a bit in the mix. The rough vocals were clear enough to pack a punch without being a distraction, and the cleaner vocal melodies felt nicely folded into the mix, such that they seemed to eminate from all around. Atmospherically, the vocals for this show were by far the most effective of any Isis show I've seen to date. As always, the bass and drums came through clearly, and really provided the basis holding everything together.

As for highlights, its difficult to say. Outside of the 2 slightly weaker tracks I mentioned above (which still were executed to perfection and very enjoyable), every song for me was a highlight. The new material from Wavering Radiant was superb, I was particularly excited that they played "Threshold Of Transformation", which is my favorite track from the album. And opening the show with the album opener "Hall Of The Dead" was a great choice, the steady plodding beginning of that song was a great intro to draw the crowd in. The classic slow-builders "In Fiction", and "Carry" were nicely sandwiched around the spectacular "Hand Of The Host", and provided a well-needed moment for the crowd to relax and catch our collective breath. And of course, polishing the whole set off with the full extended version of "Celestial" sent the crowd, which had been pretty rough all night, into one final peak of bludgeoning approval. As the latter half of the closer melted away into its soothing electronic textures, everything just felt right, like the whole set had been brought full circle.

Spectacular performance, one of the best Isis shows yet. Whenever they come back, I'll be there.

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.

What Does A Wolverine Look Like, Anyway?

Well, as most people know, a wolverine often looks like this:

Sometimes, when he is really excited, a wolverine can look like this:

But I'll bet you didn't know that soon, a wolverine might also look like this:

Yep, that's right, my next project at work has been internally labelled "Wolverine".  Oh boy, I better get this one right....

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.

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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.
   

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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.