Weekly Album: Week of 03/19 - 03/25 - I Never Knew You

This week I listened to I Never Knew You by End Of Seasons. Now I normally don't listen to Screamo/Post-Hardcore stuff like this. My emo listenings are more rooted in the 80s DC and 90s Midwest scene but both of those have elements that evolved into this style so I thought I'd give it a try. Truly I don't remember where I found this album, but wherever I did I'm glad it found me. This is a short and compact album that doesn't waste any time. The vocals are great, this vocalist has a perfect scream. The guitar work is about what I expect; Heavy and dissonant in some areas but still sometimes has some pretty, sparklyness to it. I don't have much to really say about it, it was a good album that had no fluff or filler in it. Straight to the point. The first half is a bit samey but the second half picks up a lot of the slack with some more variety. 7.5/10 album

 

Weekly Album: Week of 03/12 - 03/18 - Flowers

This week I listened to Flowers by Joan of Arc. Unlike a lot of the other bands I've listened to for these weekly albums, I am reasonably familiar with the work of Joan of Arc. I've listened to their first 4 albums and some other songs here and there. They were a band I didn't quite get at first, discovering them through their connection to Cap'n Jazz, who are one of my favorite bands ever. But after getting over the initial hump of the very different sound, I enjoyed them a lot more. Out of the albums I have listened to, I think I enjoy Live in Chicago, 1999 the most. Flowers, however, is giving that album a run for its money. This album has a lot of Joan of Arc staples, having some electronic songs like the opening track "Fogbow" or the even stranger "Fasting". It has the abstract lyrics, the layered instrumentals, and the harsh contrasts between songs and even within songs. But the thing that I feel sets this apart from the other albums of theirs I have listened to is the style and feel of the whole album. The whole album sounds a lot happier in a way as the songs feel more upbeat. "A Delicious Herbal Laxative", "Table of the Laments", and "Life Sentence / Twisted Ladder" showcase this the most, the last of them almost sounding like a normal indie rock song which is pretty rare for this band! It almost sounds like Dinosaur Jr. which is a comparison I never thought I would make with a band like Joan of Arc, but here I am. Flowers is overall a fun time, not requiring as much thinking and intensive listening as some of the band's other work (from what I have heard of them). It's a relaxed album that you can either throw on in the background while working or just listen to have a good time, and who doesn't love a good time? To quote the title of another Joan of Arc song, "If it Feels / Good, Do it" 8.5/10 album 

Weekly Album: Week of 03/05 - 03/11 - Millions Now Living Will Never Die

This week I listened to Millions Now Living Will Never Die by Tortoise. I chose to listen to this album as I had read about it in a Bandcamp Daily article about bands that influenced American Football. I was a little hesitant going into this, as this is considered a seminal post-rock album and I haven't exactly gotten along perfectly with post-rock in the past. I was very pleasantly surprised when I found an album that had a lot sonic links to some of my favorite 70s German bands like Kraftwerk and Neu! All the minimalism and repetitive nature of some of the songs very much remind me of those bands. The first half of "Djed" showcases this really well, but the whole album has these characteristics. Even with this, the album still finds a way for each song to sound unique, which makes it very interesting to listen to. A song like "Glass Museum", an indie rock-esque track which certainly echos what American Football would later do, sounds very different from the droning "A Survey" (Sidenote: This song gives me "Halwa" by Cluster vibes) yet they still have that sense of minimalism that connects them. These tracks are right next to each other as well, so even though there is this extreme contrast, Tortoise still finds a way to make them fit sonically. A big part of this album is the texture of the instrumentals, with a lot of synths and percussion instruments thrown in (the latter being appreciated as I am a percussionist myself) to serve in adding atmosphere and texture to songs. The album also just sounds beautiful, with the compositions benefiting very much from the very clean production. All these textural elements of the songs are heard crystal clear. 9/10 album

Weekly Album: Week of 02/26 - 03/04 - Melissa

This week I listened to Melissa by Mercyful Fate. Much like when I listened to Venom's Black Metal this is another classic metal album that escaped me in my metal days. While an album from the same era of metal, Melissa is a very different album. One of the most notable things from the album are the vocals. King Diamond switches between singing in a pretty standard vocal style for this kind of metal to singing soaring high notes. This is a positive and a negative, for when he is just using that high range for one note it sounds amazing! But when he is using that range for an extended period of time, it can sometimes sound a little thin and whiny. It doesn't happen extremely often, but it happens enough that it detracts from the album a bit. The riffs on this album rule. They are still kind of in that older style of metal but they innovate enough to where they sound very fresh. Another hallmark of this album is the structure of the songs. This seems to be the start of songs in metal having parts that just sound wildly different from each other. The obvious example of this is in what is sort of the centerpiece of the album, "Satan's Fall". That song has so many sections that sound very different to each other, creating great contrast within the song itself. I can see how this album would go on to influence thrash and death metal bands, as that is something common place in those styles. One of my favorite parts of this album are the guitar solos. The guitars overall have such a great tone, but when they solo those guitars sing! The solos themselves are fantastic sounding, very intricate and well put together. The ones that standout the most to me are the intro solos on "Into the Coven" and "Melissa". The neoclassical style of the former's solo especially gets me with that acoustic guitar in the background. Overall, this was a great listen and a good look into metal history. 8/10 album