What Are You Listening To?

Yeah, they hit the neofolk thing with their own flair and worked out pretty well.

Turmion Kätilöt - Silmät Sumeat

This new record hits all the sweet spots TK are known for.

Shining - 8 ½ - Feberdrömmar i vaket tillstånd

And we were barely 17, we were barely dressed

Mississippi Bones - American Surreal

Vulture Industries - The Tower

Of the Wand and the Moon: Shall Love Fall from View?

Mandatory neofolk, in my opinion

Gwonam wrote:

Of the Wand and the Moon: Shall Love Fall from View?

Mandatory neofolk, in my opinion

Haven't heard it yet, will pick it up. He's always been a fantastic artist.

Alcest - Nous Sommes L'emerude

Les Vouyages De Lame gets better almost every time I revisit it.

been listening to lots of ozzy-era sabbath lately

Heave away- The Fables

Protest the Hero - Volition

Album of the year. I've always been a fan, but holy shit I was expecting Scurrilous version 2.0 (which would have been just fine with me, I seem to be one of the few who thinks it's just as good as their previous efforts) and they hit me square in the fucking face with this monster instead, leaving me to pick my jaw up off the floor. Hook after hook after hook: soaring vocal ones, blazing guitar ones, funky bass ones... a seamless stream of audio perfection. They took the high points of Fortress and Scurrilous, with a little of the more aggressive side of Kezia and married it into something magical. There simply aren't words to do it justice.

Fortress is my favorite by them. I was underwhelmed with Scurrilous, but I never gave it enough listening time. Maybe i'll check that out

LOR wrote:

Fortress is my favorite by them.  I was underwhelmed with Scurrilous, but I never gave it enough listening time.  Maybe i'll check that out

If Fortress is your favourite, then you'll love Volition: it has more in common with that than Scurrilous.

sweet. I actually just gave scurrilous a relisten last night. was still underwhelmed. had its moments though

Dio - Dream Evil

Backworld: Lies and Lullabies

This song kills any joy instantly. I love it.

One of the greatest choruses ever committed to tape...

Kings of Convenience - Misread


Great stuff to chill to after a tense and stressful day at work. Probably up byd's alley

Recently discovered Finnr's Cane, freaking fantastic post black metal.

Surprisingly good stuff there, Axe. I'll have to get on that Finnr's Cane record. Have you heard the new Vàli record? I figured that would be your cup of tea. This record feels much more despondent than Forlatt did, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Genesis - Return of the Giant Hogweed

Gwonam wrote:

Surprisingly good stuff there, Axe. I'll have to get on that Finnr's Cane record. Have you heard the new Vàli record? I figured that would be your cup of tea. This record feels much more despondent than Forlatt did, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Oh yeah, I'm loving it. Forlatt is probably my favorite neofolk release currently so I was stoked to get my hands on his new material. Forlatt is everything I want out of neofolk. Skoglandskap is fantastic as well, and I definitely agree that it seems a lot more bleak. I'm glad it wasn't Forlatt II.

I love Sinatra- but some of his Christmas songs I keep hearing at work are pretty bad

Persefone: Zazen Meditation (Spiritual Migration)

This is one of my albums of 2013 and will be reviewed within the next week or two.

Gwonam wrote:

Persefone: Zazen Meditation (Spiritual Migration)

This is one of my albums of 2013 and will be reviewed within the next week or two.

I honestly thought it was a step back for Persefone... each album has become increasingly metalcore tinged, and the progressive touches have become gradually watered down to pompish keys. Core is still by far and away their best album.

Core was a hiccup because Persefone as a whole sucks.

Well, that took the wind right out of my sails. This might be why I have such a hard time presenting material I enjoy to a community: it's inferior and often only becomes the subject of ridicule to where I regret making the decision to share any content whatsoever. Call it sensitive if you like, but this is the sort of thing that frays communities.

I must humbly disagree with you both, nevertheless. Spiritual Migration breaks away from Core's over-synthesized muck, Shin-ken's outright mediocrity and Truth Inside the Shades was a freshman attempt at keyboard melodies in a metal-dominated lineup at best. It features progressive builds that I haven't seen from the gurus of the genre since their heyday and some of the most evocative songwriting I've experienced listening to the genre. To compare the albums is like apples to oranges and I'm of the conviction that this is a step forward for them. It's the album they were waiting to write ever since they broke out and started experimenting by throwing every possible time signature and key at the compositions. Now that they have a paradigm to go by, it seems as if they have their ducks in a row.

You can by all means continue to disagree, but it's getting a little cumbersome to see "well, this sucks" without any real rebuke. You're entitled to your opinion, but it's a little irritating to basically be told my music choice is inferior. I'm not asking anyone to like what I like - just be constructive for fuck's sake. It's quite a discouraging atmosphere.

Well I gave a few brief pointers for my thinking, but I shall elaborate further. For the record, I like Persefone and have recommended them numerous times on the forum, but the direction of the last two albums is not for me.

I'm not sure how you can call Core muck and rate this album, given its massive, blatant faults. Let's begin with riffs. Oh wait, there are none, especially as you get deeper into the record. It's metalcore chugging (with intermitent breakdowns) with a few licks and a lot of pointless wankery (note some bands can use technicality to enhance their riffs with a melodic sweep or such, however this is not such an instance). Overall there is no lasting sense of progression or style to the guitars, and some of the transitions are truly dismal. Solos are so bland that they needn't have bothered.

You call Core over-synthesized when the keys on display here are generic pomp and bombast when they come to the forefront, for most of the album you're lucky if you notice them in the first place. At least they had character on Core.

My main problem with this album is that they've diluted their identity even more. By going more technical and less progressive (a massive distinction that I don't think people seem to get) they've lost something that made them standout. There where points on this album that I thought I was listening to Hope for the Dying.

There are other minor failings such has the vocals (which has always been an issue with Persefone) the clinical production, lack of bass presence etc... all in all it just didn't do anything to excite me.

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - The Animals

This song can easily get stuck in my head for days. I am very prone to liking raspy vocals with the echo effect.

Gwonam wrote:

Persefone: Zazen Meditation (Spiritual Migration)

This is one of my albums of 2013 and will be reviewed within the next week or two.

That's one release I have neglected this year. I need to acquire it soon and give it a few spins. Core and Shin-Ken both had their moments of wondrous musicianship

Dead Letter Circus- The Catalyst Fire (album)

holy fuck i'm loving these guys. put on a hell of a show, wish I was more acquainted with their stuff before I saw them.

australia is gonna take over the music world I think soon. lots of cool bands are coming from there

Goddamn I love this album so much...

I think I'm in love with Annie Clark

A shame that's probably the last Strokes record that will be worth anything.

The Contortionist - Oscillator

i can't stop listening to this song. HELP

The Tragically Hip has some great songs, and then others are just brutal. I actually think World Container is a good album

Just got the new Rush Concert DVD of the tour I went to see over the summer with GeneParmesan. The sound is great for some guys pushing 60, but the video kinda sucks sometimes from an Iron Maiden effect, needlessly jumping from camera to camera every other second.

When are you going to see her again?

breakyoudown wrote:

When are you going to see her again?

Maybe next month

Danzig II: Lucifuge (album)

Definitely the best Danzig album, and one of the best heavy metal records of all time

The Cure - Lovesong

Yep. Still an incredible band.

Axe wrote:

The Cure - Lovesong

Yep. Still an incredible band.

That's a sick song.

Have you ever seen The Wedding Singer? Adam Sandler sings a really emo song and he says "I was listening to The Cure a lot writing this." Best part of the movie

according to spotify, taxers listening to Hell right now

Hell is good and I found out that they released a new album.

One of the simplest riffs yet one of the greatest.

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES AXE.

I love that song to death.

Devin Townsend Project, figured I'd check it out

Red hot moon- Rancid