October Tide: Rain Without End Review

Hello guys!

We’re now on the second leg of my music review tour, and I’m keeping the theme of artists I haven’t covered. The weather is rather bleak where I am right now, and what better way to keep that feeling of bleakness around that with one of the most soul-crushing albums I’ve ever listened to. Granted I find this album flawed, but there’s still good things here. With that said, let’s take a look at the first album of Katatonia’s side project, Rain Without End by October Tide, and see if it’s any good.

1997 Original Cover

2008 Re-Release Cover

Background
First formed in 1995 by Katatonia’s vocalist Jonas Renkse, and their at-the-time guitarist Fred Norman, October Tide continued the same death/doom metal tradition as the main band, Katatonia. Rain Without End, their first album, was released in 1997, and had a re-release on November 10, 2008. It should be noted that this is the only October Tide album to have Jonas Renkse on vocals. Their three subsequent albums had completely different singers, thus having completely different tonal changes.

Songs
12 Days of Rain (“***”): We begin this dreary album with, what else, more rain! 12 Days of Rain, to be exact. This song sound exactly like something you’d hear during a torrential downpour: slow & bleak instrumentation (Except for the end, when it picks up the pace), singing that sounds like thunder, and keyboarding that creates some very haunting sounds. This song is a great way to start off Rain Without End, but it also leads into the album’s main problem...

Ephemeral (“***”): You might recall from my Ozzmosis review from late April of last year (Click “***” to read it) that my problem with it was that because of using nothing but ballads, it all felt the same. While there aren’t any ballads on this album, there is a same-ness to all of the songs on here. True, the instruments are all played differently on each song, but the overall tone & feel is completely the same (If not, pretty damn close). With that said, the quality of Ephemeral isn’t bad at all. The instrumentation is nice, and Jonas Renkse’s singing still sounds kickass. I just wished that this song didn’t sound like all the others on here.

All Painted Cold (“***”): Okay, maybe there’s one song on here that’s a tiny bit different from the rest of the music on this album (With the exception of track number 5, which is considerably different, instead of being just a little different). All Painted Cold decides to do things in reverse, the beginning & middle have the instrumentation faster instead of slower, and Jonas’s singing starts fast instead of slow. I could do a joke where I say that All Painted Cold was played/sung in reverse, but I honestly can’t. It’s not a bad song, it really isn’t, but I wish that it didn’t sound like (Almost) everything else.

Sightless (“***”): Alright, maybe there’s more than one song that sounds a little different from everything else. In the case of Sightless, it’s a song that’s stuck right in the middle of two other tunes (Despite being after the two tunes in question). It seems to have the tone & feel of Ephemeral, while it has the speed & ability to change pace like All Painted Cold does. This creates a rather bipolar song, but at the same time doesn’t necessarily make it a confusing song to listen to.

Losing Tomorrow (“***”): If Losing Tomorrow wasn’t on this album, chances are I would have stopped listening. Coming in at a little over 2 & a half minutes (2 minutes & 35 seconds, to be specific), this song also sounds like it comes from a completely different album! With that said, Losing Tomorrow is incredibly chilling. Jonas Renkse has a very haunting voice, as it sounds like he’s singing from beyond the grave, and the instrumentation is a equally disturbing yet beautiful combination of soft drumming, keyboarding, and I believe there’s guitars in there as well. If you want your spine to tremble, listen to Losing Tomorrow in the dark.

Blue Gallery (“***”): Just like Sightless, Blue Gallery is another bipolar song. In this case, it has the slow moments of Losing Tomorrow, the speed changing capability of All Painted Cold, and Ephemeral’s atmosphere. As with Sightless, this makes for a confusing listening experience, but I don’t find this one as enjoyable.

Infinite Submission (“***”): Okay, alright, so there is another song on here that’s different from everything else besides Losing Tomorrow! Although the vocals are on part with just about the other songs, Infinite Submission is a very slow song most of the time. It never really speeds up except at key moments, and even then it doesn’t last long. This is a very sludgy song, and a bleak kind of sludge at that!

Overall Impression & Rating
Man, I’m so conflicted by this album!

On the one hand, I have the entirety of Rain Without End on my mp3 player, and I listen to it from time to time when the mood strikes me. Each of the songs have a great beat to them, and the overall quality is nice. My biggest problem is that all of the songs sound exactly the same. If Losing Tomorrow wasn’t on here, you’d swear that each of the other songs were just pieces of one whole song. Still, Rain Without End has some good music on it, and if you can get past the same-ness of it all, it can be rather enjoyable.

Rain Without End gets a 7 out of 10.

See you all next time, when we’ll all be under the thumb of the technodiktator. Until then, stay Otaku!



***
Quick Tidbit: I’ll be posting up reviews starting the 1st of every month from now on (You may have noticed this trend started last month).

My Top 10 Favorite Album Covers

Hey there!

Before I begin the second half of this part of the review tour, I thought I would take a mini-break, before I selected the bands I’ll cover in February. In keeping with the theme of music this month, I wanted to show you all some of my favorite artwork for album covers. I think you’ll find it to be a interesting list, considering that some of these album’s I’ve already covered, and some you may see in the future (Hint Hint). Until that time, enjoy my top 10 album covers.

10) Funker Vogt: Navigator

Ironically enough, I almost wasn’t going to put this cover on the list. The main reason is that it’s not all that interesting. The making of the cover feels incredibly basic, almost as if it was made in a day or two. With that said, I like what they made: A bleak set of docks lies in the background, a lone lighthouse standing on the shore, and a submarine sailing out into the ocean for war. Coupled with a dark sky & sea, the artist & album name up front, and the artist’s symbol smack dab in the middle. It’s not the most complex, but it’s a cool cover regardless.

9) Turmion Katilot: Technodiktator

It’s such a same that the band that occupies the number 9 spot on this list isn’t popular in the United states, because they’re a damn good band! Evocative music, warped stage antics, and bizarre album covers form a strange (But awesome) band. Technodiktator’s album cover just continues the strangeness of Turmion Katilot. For starters, the floor in the background looks like it was taken from a disco club. You’ve got old-school boom boxes blasting brutal beats (Try saying that 5 times fast!), and you have the Technodiktator himself taking the center stage, complete with a disco ball head (Which oddly enough has a gramophone horn for an ear....spitting out steam....weird, isn’t it?). A damn good album, and a damn good album cover!

8) Judas Priest: Turbo

Considering the reputation of this album, you’d think that it wouldn’t be on any favorite/best of lists. While not perfect, the music on Turbo is solid enough that I enjoyed a couple of the songs. The cover of Turbo, however, is definitely a plus. Doug Johnson, an artist at the time, had previously works on two of Judas Priest’s previous albums, Screaming for Vengeance & Defenders of the Faith, and you can tell that he had a hand in Turbo’s cover. Colorful & sleek, you can just get the message that the cover is conveying.

7) Unheilig: Phosphor (2001 Version)

I wasn’t kidding in the Phosphor review when I said that the original album cover was much better than the 2009 version. The 2009 cover, while stylish & well-done, feels very creepy. Der Graf is straight in front, and it looks like he’s walking right towards you. I don’t mind that style of artwork, but it’s the way his eyes make you feel. They’re really soul-piercing, and very unsettling. The original version is much less artsy. It’s just a black background, with the band’s name & title in the upper left in yellow-white letters, and you see Der Graf in the upper right corner. He kinda looks like a warlock as he’s casting a spell, which is always badass in my department.

6) October Tide: Rain Without End (1996 Version)

My number 6 is a conflicting choice for me. Not because of the cover, but because of the music on the album. Without getting into details, it’s all sounds the same (With the exception of the 5th song, but that’s for a future review). That said, the artwork for the original edition is one of the most beautiful, with the 2008 re-release coming in not that far behind. The 1996 edition is another simple one: there’s a small grove of trees, and a torrential rainstorm coming down. What makes this cover really lovely is that it’s drawn/painted. It’s really beautiful, and heavily invokes the feelings of sadness & loss very well.

5) Type-O Negative: World Coming Down

Among Type-O Negative, World Coming Down was a conflicting album. Pete Steele (R.I.P.) felt uncomfortable because of some of the songs (Particularly the soundscape Sinus), but Josh Silver thought the music was mixed well. As for the cover of the album, it’s a very dark sight. Using the typical green & black coloring that the band is know for, you see a shot of New York City (Including the World Trade Center, which was still up at the time), as well as the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. With the way the coloring is, the imagery takes on a very bleak pallor, and the feeling of depression immediately floods your mind. Given the emotional content of this album, the cover of World Coming Down is incredibly fitting.

4) Moonspell: Wolfheart (Both Versions)

It was really tough to choose between both versions of Wolfheart’s cover, as I thought both of them were awesome. So in the end, I decided to give the both of them a spot. The original version is simplistic, but badass: it’s just two wolves dukeing it out, with the band’s name and album title right below. The re-release goes more for a mystical approach: the background is nearly pitch-black, with the only source of illumination a full moon. Right in front of the moon is a group of wolf’s heads, and with the way they’re placed, it makes them look like a snarling & bloodthirsty hydra.

3) Rammstein: Mutter

I was very tempted to leave Mutter off the list, simply because the cover of this album is in somewhat bad taste (Ironic, given what’s in number 5 and number 3). The cover is completely dominated by the head of a fetus, and it doesn’t give you any clues as to whether it’s alive or dead. Considering the name of this album, along with the song, I get why they went this. The reason that Mutter’s cover is so high on this list is because Mutter was the first heavy metal album that I’ve ever owned. There’s a lot of fond memories surrounding this album, so I had to give it this spot. Speaking of fond memories...

2) Ministry: Rio Grande Blood

The only reason that Rio Grande Blood’s cover is number 2, and not number 1, is that it’s rather dated. Not the music mind you (We’ll get to that at a later day), because the music is still great! The reason why I say that the cover is dated, is because it contains the imagery of former president George W. Bush. He’s nailed to a cross, wearing a crown of thorns, and the lower half of his body is dunked in an oil barrel. Surrounding him are all the signs & controversies of what was wrong with the government at the time, and to a lesser extent still is. While it’s still nice to poke fun at Bush, there’s now plenty of newer juicy targets to laugh at & humiliate.

1) Metallica: The Black Album

Let’s take a trip through time: It’s 1991, and a four-year old me is looking at my mom & dad’s music collection. I’m flipping through, looking at all of the various covers amongst the Cassettes & CDs. After looking through them, I finally come across this simplistic monstrosity. The black background sent chills up my spine, the name of the band in silvery letters in the upper left corner was staring at me, and the snake, though barely visible, made it’s presence known to my soul. I still see that snake in my dreams from time to time, as it’s hissing echos in my ears for the rest of my time.

So there are my favorite album covers. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, and maybe you’ve discovered an album or two by looking at this list.

See you all next time, when we’ll begin the second leg of my music review tour. Until then, stay Otaku!

Justin Carmical: a.k.a. JewWario (R.I.P.)

Jesus Christ, I've been having the specter of death hanging around me lately!

Alright, a little rewind is in order. This past Wednesday, I went over my Mother's deceased friend's house, and helped out her husband (Nick is his name, if you were wondering) move a dead llama out of the barn. Nick was doing okay, but I could see the look in his eyes that he was just wrecked. Hell, I didn't even refuse the 15 dollars he gave me, in case he lost his temper! To make his situation even worse, another animal (A goat) died on Thursday. I was supposed to go over and help bury the body, but due to a family matter on his side, and how bad the weather was supposed to be this weekend, the burial was delayed until another day. However, the death of these two animals pales in comparison to the tragedy that I have just recently learned about.

On January 23, 2014, fellow gamer & reviewer Justin Carmical, better known by his reviewer name JewWario, tragically took his own life by gunshot. I know little about what transpired, except that he locked himself in his bathroom, while his wife was begging him not to go through with it. Sadly, things did not turn out well.

Justin, you and I have never met. Fuck it, I rarely watched your videos. With that said, when I did watch one of your videos (Whether it was by yourself, or in one of your many crossovers, doesn't matter), I could see the love and passion shine through, not to mention the immense amount of respect that you had for your viewers. While I didn't meet you on this planet, when I get up to the heavens above, I'm sure to game with you once in a while.

I know this is another sudden post, but I couldn't bare to not talk about this. If you would be willing to take a couple minutes out of your schedule, please check out the links below. It would mean a lot to myself, not to mention his friends, family, and fans.

http://thecinemasnob.com/2014/01/25/justin-carmical.aspx

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/site-news/general-updates/42083-a-farewell-to-justin-carmical-jewwario

http://www.gofundme.com/6groao

To anyone who has read this, thank you very much. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day/night.

Unheilig: Phosphor Review

Hello everyone!

Mindstrip was a.......interesting album. It wasn’t by any means horrible (It’s actually one of my favorite albums), but it’s perhaps one of the bleakest I’ve ever heard. Fortunately for today’s album, we won’t be delving into dark matters (Not on a massive scale, at least), and instead we’ll be embracing a more colorful pallette of emotions. We’ll be feeling love, sensuality, fear, the unknown, hope, and many others. So, sit back, relax, and take a look at my review for Unheilig’s first album, Phosphor.

2001 Original Release

2009 Re-Release

Background
Taken from the wikipedia page:

“In 1999, together with Grant Stevens (writer of the song “Everlasting Friends” featured in a Holsten Pilsener commercial on German television) and José Alvarez-Brill (Wolfsheim, Joachim Witt, De/Vision) the foundation for Unheilig was laid by Der Graf.

The single "Sage Ja!" (Say Yes!) was released on Bloodline Records in 1999, shot straight into the German DAC charts and became a club smash. In February 2001, the debut album “Phosphor” came on to the European market again on Bloodline/Connected Music.”

There are two other things about this album from Wikipedia, and they’re rather strange facts. For starters, the artwork for Phosphor was taken from the video Sage Ja (Click on the example below, and you’ll notice the similarities). The other strange fact about this album is more puzzling, and that’s the fact that Phosphor is the only album in which English was used. Apart from some singles and remixes, Der Graf hasn’t sung in English since.

Songs
Die Macht (The Power)(“***”): Phosphor starts off with Die Macht, a slow & surprisingly gothic sounding song. The instrumentation is slow throughout the whole tune, composed mainly of guitars, drums, and a piano/keyboard combination. Again, the instrumentation is slow, but they keep a steady pace, and the mood they make is both dark & passionate. Der Graf’s singing matches the instruments: slow, ponderous, yet melodic, and full of emotion. An interesting song to start off this album, if you ask me.

Willenlos (Will-Less)(“***”): Talk about whiplash! Willenlos is the exact opposite of the opening song. For starters, it’s not slow like Die Macht was. It opts for a faster pace/beat, and sound at home in a techno/dance club. Secondly, the instrumentation focuses mainly on the keyboard, which creates a variety of sounds in this song. Drums & guitars take a back seat, but they can still be heard. About the only thing that’s somewhat similar to Die Macht is Der Graf’s singing. He still sings in a soft voice, but the speed of his singing matches up to how fast the instruments play. Overall, a good song to dance to.

Ikarus (“***”): The first song on this album sung in English, Ikarus is basically a romanticized version of the Icarus myth. The instrumentation goes in a gothic direction, incorporating darker tones & chanting, but it has a faster pace that’s not typical among gothic songs. The singing is well done: Der Graf goes between loud, low, and soft tones in a very fluid manner, without stumbling at any point. Pretty impressive, if you ask me!

Sage Ya (Say Yes)(“***”): There’s a reason why this song was chosen as the single off of Phosphor. Firstly, it feels like another song that’s great for the dance floor in the clubs. It’s fast, intense, and the balance between the drums & guitars, not to mention the keyboard, is just perfect! Secondly/finally, we have Der Graf’s singing. There’s a great deal of power in his voice, and he goes between soft & loud at the drop of a hat. Simply put, this is one song that you don’t want to listen to when sitting down!

Armageddon (“***”): Armageddon is to me a good, and a bad song. It’s good in that the singing is still great. Der Graf and his backup have great voices, and they shift their tones just as fluidly as they did in Ikarus. However, the song is bad because it sounds very similar to Ikarus. While the beats are different, they still keep the same mood and atmosphere from that song. Considering the amount of variety on here, it’s rather surprising.

My Bride Has Gone (“***”): My Bride Has Gone is perhaps one of the most emotional songs on Phosphor. For starters, it’s about someone’s bride (Der Graf’s bride, perhaps?) dying. Who wants that? Secondly, Der Graf’s voice never becomes loud at any point. He goes for a soft & mournful tone when he sings, and if he was to get louder in any way, it would ruin the mood of the song. Finally, the instrumentation accompanies the singing nicely. It also doesn’t raise it’s volume, but at the same time keeps a steady intensity, and incorporates some gothic elements like Ikarus did. Keep a tissue around when you listen to this!

Komm Zu Mir (Come To Me)(“***”): Just like Armageddon, Komm Zu Mir is a good & bad song. It’s good because the instrumentation & singing are top-notch, but it’s bad because it sounds too much like another song (In this case, Komm Zu Mir sounds a lot like Sage Ya). Despite this problem, Komm Zu Mir is my favorite of the German-speaking songs on Phosphor, with Sage Ya not that far behind.

Close Your Eyes (“***”): Close Your Eyes is a very simple song. The beat hardly changes, the vocals are heavy but emotional, and the instruments are also simplistic but powerful (They go for more of a percussion-focused sound this time around). This song also seems to be positive than some on Phosphor, but you need something nice to balance out what’s bad.

The Bad and the Beautiful (“***”): If Close Your Eyes was simplistic, then this song goes for more of an epic route. Der Graf’s singing in this sounds like he’s reading a tragic winter’s poem, as evidenced by his shifting between soft & melodic, to loud & tormented. This “epic” tone is also evidenced by the instrumentation: you have guitar and drums, but there’s also bells/chimes, and orchestral accompaniment. It all adds up to a beautiful song that you can’t afford to miss.

Discover the World (“***”): Out of all the English-sung songs on Phospher, Discover the World is perhaps my favorite. It has a simple beat, but it knows how to dip into the metal side of things when it needs to. Der Graf’s singing in this is just great: He keeps his voice at a even level throughout the whole song, but knows when to change it at the right time. Finally, Discover the World just hits me in the right place. I can’t quite explain why, but for some reason it seems to resonate with me.

Skin (“***”): Skin marks the end of the English-sung songs on Phosphor. This song is both nice, but creepy as well. It’s nice because Der Graf really seems to convey his feelings in this song. He wants to be a girl’s shield/courage/etc, and the instrumentation seems to back up these sentiments. What I find creepy about Skin is that he wants to do be my crawling into said skin. There’s been plenty of songs that sing something like this, but for some reason it seems strange here. Maybe I’m overreacting, maybe not.

Stark (Strong)(“***”): If you ever needed a sad-sounding song to end a movie, then I suggest you listen to Stark. Throwing out the guitars, drums, and keyboard, this song instead relies on some beautiful piano work and cellos. Der Graf’s singing in Stark sounds as if the angels have descended from Heave, and decided to sing for us. Granted that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but his voice sounds about that perfect. If you need a cry, then listen to this.

Overall Impression & Rating
I’ve seen this comment (worded in various ways) in many Unheilig videos, and that’s “Like Rammstein, but classy”. I definitely agree: while I enjoy Rammstein very much (Hell, they’re my number 3 band of all time!), more often than not they come across as basic, and perhaps a little sexist. With Unheilig, he has that raw intensity, but he’s able to supplement his music with emotion and melodies that aren’t the norm for industrial metal. If you want a more classy kind of industrial artist, find Unheilig, and put Phosphor into your CD player.

Phosphor gets a 8.5 to 9.2 out of 10.

See you all next time, when we’ll look at some of my favorite album covers. Until then, stay Otaku




***
If any of you were wondering, I vastly prefer the original 2001 album cover to the 2009 version. It was a perfect contrast to the various emotions of the album, whereas the 2009 re-release cover made me feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe it’s the fact that Der Graf has very piercing eyes. Who knows?

Government Kills Net Neutrality, We All Pay the Price

Hello fellow Otaku. It's been a little bit since I've posted up something else during my "normal" schedule, but considering what I've watched (And the information within what I've watched), I'm going for it.

It's very evident that the Internet is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. Hell, it's practically vital in this country! The Internet manages businesses, provides information both positive & negative, gives access to an ungodly variety of services, and allows little blogs like this to stick around so people can see it. In recent years, it has come under attack from the government in horrible ways. SOPA and CISPA are just two of the most popular, recent, & brutal (Not the good, heavy metal kind of brutal) ways that they have tried to bring the Internet under it's bloated and corrupted thumb. While they have been defeated due to some old-fashioned activism, there is a much darker threat on the horizon. A threat that makes SOPA and CISPA look like little specks of dust floating in the light.

Once of the most important things protecting your rights on the Internet is something known as Net Neutrality. To put it simply, Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, and modes of communication*. This basically allows your access to the Internet to be unaffected by influences from the various companies, who want to dictate what kind of information you can view, and/or how much of it you can view. Recently, there's been a ruling against the FCC's net neutrality rules, and it reads as follows:

"Given that the Commission has chosen to classify broadband providers in a manner that exempts them from treatment as common carriers, the Communications Act expressly prohibits the Commission from nonetheless regulating them as such. Because the Commission has failed to establish that the anti-discrimination and anti-blocking rules do not impose per se common carrier obligations, we vacate those portions of the Open Internet Order."

This is quite possibly one of the most terrifying things to recently happen in politics. With this ruling, this will allow the various providers to dictate what you can view, and how long you can view things. This is the kind of ruling that destroys the right of the people, and gives the companies unfettered control over something that should be controlled by everyone. This is a threat to internet rights/freedom in the United States, and rights/freedom in general. I don't really like to get political (The last time I did was back in 2012 before the election that year), but under the circumstances, I'm making an exception. Please, do everything in your power to spread the word about this travesty. Right below are a couple links that will help in this task, including one in where I found the ruling result.

http://gizmodo.com/federal-court-invalidates-net-neutrality-rules-sides-w-1501028467?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

http://act.freepress.net/sign/internet_FCC_court_decision2/

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/restore-net-neutrality-directing-fcc-classify-internet-providers-common-carriers/5CWS1M4P

http://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home

http://www.fcc.gov/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEZihk3MWE8

Please gentlemen Otaku & lady Otaku, spread the word! We can't let the Internet become controlled by those who see nothing but dollar signs. Before I conclude this post, I want to leave a music video here for you. The moment I heard about this ruling, it immediately came into my head. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWKfXxwmYpQ

See you all next week. Until then, stay Otaku!




*
Taken from Wikipedia's Net Neutrality page.

Suicide Commando: Mindstrip Review

Hello guys & gals!

Normally I make all kinds of jokes when I do my reviews & such, but today’s subject is putting me into more of a serious mood. The music that’s on today’s album travels down a different road: it’s filled with themes & imagery of atheism, bloodshed, violence, and bodily harm to one’s self. If you are still willing and able, then please sit down and enjoy my review of Suicide Commando’s successful album of 2000, Mindstrip.

Background
Taken from the Suicide Commando website:

“2000 without any doubt became the most successful year in Suicide Commando's career so far. In May Suicide Commando returns with a first single "Comatose Delusion", taken from their forthcoming album. This single brought Suicide Commando to the absolute top of the international alternative scene. Even more success gained the 2nd single "Hellraiser"! Both singles reach the N° 1 position in the German alternative charts (DAC). In October Suicide Commando finally releases their long awaited "Mindstrip" album (available as a limited boxset as well), which also reaches the N° 1 position in the DAC album charts. The CD also is released in the US via Metropolis and is getting an amazing response. End of 2000 Suicide Commando start their "Mindstripping 2000" tour throughout Germany.”

Songs
Jesus Wept: Johan Van Roy, the founder of Suicide Commando, must have been a big fan of the first Hellraiser film, because you hear some audio from that movie before the song kicks in (Click on “***” to watch the scene in question). It’s a nice lead in to Jesus Wept, as the song would fit on an album for the movie very well. It’s methodical yet slick, bloodthirsty, and has a great beat. While I’ve listened to plenty of songs that were uncomfortable in some way, Jesus Wept is particularly spine-chilling. Be sure that the lights are on when you listen to this, and chances are you’ll be fine.

Hellraiser (Psychopath 01-version)(“***”): Despite being the second single off of this album, it’s the first song I think of when I put my earbuds in. I’d wager that this song is perhaps the most recognizable off of Mindstrip, and for good reason. To start out, it has a incredible beat to it. Johan Van Roy makes things intense, sinister, and oddly enough, adds a sense of sensuality to Hellraiser. In addition to the sounds, the lyrical choices complement what you’re hearing. There’s not much in the way of lyrics themselves, but what he selected is really bloodcurdling. Add his voice into the mix (I don’t think he’s the greatest singer on the planet, but does he have the intensity down pat), and you have a song that great for the dance floor.

Body Count Proceed (“***”): With Body Count Proceed, we run into Mindstrip’s main problem: some of these songs sound older than they actually are. In defense of this song, this songs much closer to the album’s release than some of the others. As for the musical content, there actually isn’t that much to talk about. It’s just one beat that repeated over & over, with only certain moments having another beat placed in that also repeats (But only until the singing or audio comes back in). The singing is particular strange, as the sound effect applied to the vocals makes interpreting the lyrics slightly difficult. Not a horrible song, but one that may be easily forgettable for some.

Raise Your God (“***”): Another song on Mindstrip that has audio from the Hellraiser films (Click on “***” to watch the scene in question), Raise Your God is just as intense as Jesus Wept was. However, it runs into the same problem as Body Count Proceed, in that it sounds older than it actually is. I don’t really want to repeat myself, so if you want to know what I think of this song, just look at the one I previously mentioned.

Mindstripper (“***”): Just by hearing the beginning of this song, you’d think that I would say that this song sounds older than it actually is, and you’d probably be right. To tell the truth, I almost was gonna say that Mindstripper sounds older than it actually was. After listening to the song once or twice, I’m reluctantly not going to say it’s old. While the sounds feel like they come from the 90s, it’s constructed & displayed as if it was from the early 2000s. It’s eerie, and makes for another song that you’d expect to find in a Hellraiser soundtrack.

Run (“***”): Now here’s what is perhaps the oldest sounding tune off of Mindstrip. I would argue that Run almost sounds like a song that would be more at home on Suicide Commando’s first album Critical Stage, and I actually like that album! The sound effects used were grating on my eardrums (It sounded very scratchy, and it was loud enough that I had to have my volume turned down. It worked...barely), and the vocals suffer from the same problem that was from Body Count Proceed. I wouldn’t say that Run is a bad song, but it’s the one that I least enjoy off of this album.

Comatose Delusion (Overdose Shot Two)(“***”): Although this was the first single off of Mindstrip, this is actually the second song I think of when I listen to this album. It’s not that I think the song is bad, because that’s far, far from the reason why. This is one of those songs that’s straddling between two time frames, and doesn’t know which one to pick. There’s times where certain sounds sound like they come from the 90s, and other times there’s sounds like those that come straight from the turn of the millennium. The singing is pretty much the same throughout the whole song, so I don’t really have a good/bad opinion about it. 

Blood In Face (“***”): I was gonna consider putting Blood In Face in the same category as Mindstripper, but after listening to the first couple seconds, I’m going against that thought. Yes, this song sounds older than it is (Again, it’s sounds like a song that would have been included on Critical Stage), and some of the sound effects add to this age feeling, but due to the production methods of the time, it makes Blood In Face sound not quite as old as it feels. Less early 90s, and more late 90s.

Love Breeds Suicide (“***”): I’m quite surprised that Suicide Commando didn’t decide to have a third single off of Mindstrip, because if he did, then I’m certain that it would be this song. For one thing, it sounds very fresh & new (As fresh & new as any techno/industrial/aggrotech song from 2000 that is). Johan Von Roy doesn’t seem to use any of the techniques from the 90s in this song, and even if he did, it’s very hard to tell. The vocals are very clear for the most part, although the effect that’s applied to it might make you mishear a word or two. If I had any complaint about Love Breeds Suicide, it would be that it doesn’t conclude the album. Speaking of songs that conclude albums...

Slaves (“***”): I like this song! It’s got a great beat, the vocals are distorted but the emotion is clear, and overall is one of my favorites off of Mindstrip. However, I don’t feel that this is the right kind of song to end this album. It seems to have the same problem that Comatose Delusion has (Sounds like it’s from two different time frames), and it doesn’t know which side to pick. It’s also doesn’t seem to have that finality that Love Breeds Suicide has, but it’s definitely very bleak and depressing. Overall, Slaves isn’t the right song to end this album, but it’s still a good song!

Overall Impression & Rating
Mindstrip is not the kind of album for those who are all bright & sunny (Unless you’re bright, sunny, and maybe a little twisted). Mindstrip is the kind of album for people who’ve seen so shit, and have gone through some rough times. It’s bleak, it’s dark, it’s violent, and it showcases one of the world’s most talented electronic/industrial/aggrotech artists. If you would like an alternative to the standard techno-style music, then give Mindstrip a bloody chance.

Mindstrip gets a 8.5 out of 10

See you all next time, when I’ll look at something a little more classy. Until then, stay Otaku!

Empyrium: Songs of Moors & Misty Fields Review

Hello!

It’s another day within my little music festival, but now we take a trip, from Sweden, to the beer-infused country of Germany. Keeping to the genre, today’s review is from another Folk Metal band, and one that’s considerably more substantial (I’ll get to that later) than last week’s offering. So get comfortable, maybe grab a tankard of mead, and look at my review of Empyrium’s 1997 classic, Songs of Moors & Misty Fields.

Background
Taken from the Wikipedia page:

“Elaborating on their previous full-length album, A Wintersunset... released a year before, with Songs of Moors... Empyrium delve into a more sophisticated intricacy of what is sometimes called "romantic metal", offering a complicated mix of percussion, flutes, bass guitars and synths, together with its will-be trademark deep baritone male vocals performed by Schwadorf himself (who also plays virtually all the instrument parties, except for keyboards).

The album contains some of Empyrium's longest tracks (e.g. Track 3), presenting a more epic-like musical texture. By many the album is deemed as a true masterpiece of melancholic, dramatical metal.

Songs of Moors and Misty Fields is the last doom metal album by Empyrium. Their following two albums, Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays (1999) and Weiland (2002), are purely acoustic.”

Songs
Where Shadows Grow Longer ("***"): We begin this album with a short, but rather beautiful song. It decides to opt out of the heavy metal genre, and embrace the folk genre fully. There’s light guitar work that sounds reminiscent of lute playing, flutes, and some very beautiful piano. The singer’s voice never goes into the loud or growling modes that you’ll notice right after this song, and instead sound more like he’s reading from a poem. In fact, this whole song sounds like a trip back to medieval times, where knights rescued fair maidens, and jousting was common. A beautiful track to start off the album!

The Blue Mists of Night ("***"): Now we’re off into some metal! Right away your greeting by some fast guitars & drumming, not to mention a voice that goes from soft whispering, to a sort of low growl. After that things slow down, and some piano chimes in, along with a voice that’s both soft yet intense. From there the instrumentation takes over (Singing in rarely heard after the halfway point), bombasting you with more drums, more guitars, and some soft flute playing. Still some fantastic work!

Mourners ("***"): You know things are going to be intense when the first things you here are flutes, and some soft but steady drumming. Even then it still works up to the actual intensity, adding in guitars that increase in volume over time, and of mildly soft singing. Then, when you’re not expecting it, Mourners throws off the covers, and becomes a bombastic spectacle, where the instrumentation becomes loud, and the vocals gain an aggressive edge. After some spectacle, it goes back to it’s quieter phase, then back to the spectacle towards the end. It’s great to see a song go between two phases, and not sound forced in the process.

Ode To Melancholy ("***"): This song is incredibly bipolar. The first half of it goes between fast & slow rather frequently, with the tone of the instrumentation & singing changing just as fast. This also marks the first time in this album (At least for me) in which an orchestral accompaniment arises amongst the other instruments, despite a actual lack of an orchestra. Still, the illusion is impressive, and the title of this song is rather fitting to the overall tone of everything.

Lover's Grief ("***"): Of all the songs on Songs of Moors & Misty Fields, this one’s my favorite (With the last song being a close second). For one thing, this go for a much softer sound, despite many portions of the song having loud instrumentation. On top of that, Lover’s Grief has the most flute usage than any of the other songs, and I find it’s inclusion to be interesting. Finally, the lead singer for the most part keeps his voice toned down, and really conveys the feeling of grief, making this song all the more beautiful.

The Ensemble of Silence ("***"): We conclude Songs of Moors & Misty Field with my second favorite song off the album. As with Lover’s Grief, there’s a more softer sound with the instrumentation, and the singing in the beginning is incredibly haunting. The lead singer opts to whisper rather sinisterly, almost as if he was a ghost. Eventually, the song gets loud like in Lover’s Grief, but the singer keeps his voice low (For the most part). In the end, we have the guitar and drums carry us off into the dark unknown.

Overall Impression & Rating
Though Paganhearted from Vintersorg was a good release, I feel that Songs of Moors & Misty Field is a better album. It’s got a short but extra song, and the play time is much longer as well (20 minutes & 24 seconds from Vintersorg to Empyrium’s 44 minutes & 49 seconds). Plus, Empyrium is able to infuse it’s music with more folk elements, not to mention applying other aspects of metal as well. If you want your folk metal to have more depth, then buy this album.

Songs of Moors & Misty Fields gets a 9 out of 10.

See you all next time, when we’ll take a look at one of the more violent musicians to ever grace my blog. Until then, stay Otaku!

Vintersorg: Hedniskhjärtad Review

Welcome to 2014!

I hope that your holiday was filled with presents, food, and fun. I definitely had a great time, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the new year brings!

As I said in my last post of 2013, I would be starting off a music review festival. For the months of January & February, I’ll be reviewing albums from bands that I haven’t examined on this blog yet. Some of the bands are well know, while others are a little more obscure. Today’s album comes from a band that’s relatively well known, but has changed many times since their beginnings. With that said, let’s look at the first release of Swedish folk/black metal band Vintersorg, and see if it still carries weight.

Background
Taken from the back of the booklet (Written by Andreas Hedlund, the band’s leader):

“Me and some other guys started this project as a full line-up band under the name "Vargatron" (Wolfthrone) in the winter of 1994. The whole idea was to create a style foundated in Black Metal, but using mostly clean vocals, and just some parts with the ordinary grim vocals. Nowadays it's quite common, but back in '94 it was not so many bands with these ideas. As time passed by some line-up changes occurred, and at the end the whole project was put to rest in the summer of '96. But my interest for the songs I wrote back in '94/'95 for "Vargatron" was still strong so I decided to continue the project as a one-man band. As I then was the only member, I simply changed the band name to "Vintersorg". From the beginning this MCD was supposed to be a concept album, because of the strong musical relations between the songs. But I found it hard to get the same emotions lyricwise because of the fact that they're mostly from '95 and just some newer, but anyway I think they all stand behind the record title "Hedniskhjärtad". Even if the most songs are old I hope you'll still find 'em enjoyable.”

Songs
Norrland (North Land)(“***”): There’s a bit of deception used in this song, but in at good way. For the first few seconds your treated to some folk-sounding guitar work, accompanied by some soft drumming, and it all sounds nice. About the 50 second mark it all goes away, and is replaced by heavy drumming & guitars. On top of that, there’s also Andrea’s singing along with it, and it’s a little unusual. Despite not knowing a single word of Swedish, his voice is actually very crisp and clear, despite a couple seconds in the middle and end where he sings in a more gravely voice. It all sounds very good, and it only gets better from here.        

Stilla (Silent)(“***”): Like Norrland, Stilla’s beginning is quite deceptive. You still have the soft drumming & guitars like in the first song, only this time you have a beautiful female voice singing (This voice also appears in other places throughout the tune). The song goes to it’s heavy instrumentation mode much sooner than Norrland, and in a change from the previous tune, Mr. Hedlund does growl while he sings. It almost sounds as if he’s singing an epic Swedish poetic ballad. His voices sounds very deep when he sings in this, and you’d almost expect to hear this in a Viking Hall, with roudy warriors drinking mead & feasting their hearts out.

Norrskensdrömmar (Aurora Dreams)(“***”): If Stilla sounded like a song you’d hear amongst the Vikings, then this one sounds like something you’d listen to during a mountain climbing experience. It’s very sweeping, the drums & guitars are well-paced yet heavy, and the singing strikes a balance between clear & growling. Although this song isn’t one of my favorites off of this album, I certainly don’t hate it at all, simply because of how well made it is!

Hednaorden (Heathen Order)(“***”): This is the only song off of this album that I don’t like, and for two reasons, with the first is that there’s no build up to the heaviness. The first three songs had a buildup before things go heavy, but this one just dives head on into it, and it sounds (At least for me) very chaotic. Secondly, the instrumentation sounds the same for a fair majority of the song. The only time it ever changes is right at the beginning, and right at the end. Even then, the change only lasts for a short time. The only parts of it that I do like is the singing, as the growling & normal voice work is balanced, and the guitar strings at the end have that kind of sorrowful beauty you don’t find often in metal. 

Tussmörkret (Twilight)(“***”): We conclude Hedniskhjärtad with this song, and it is my absolute favorite off of the album (With Norrland and Stilla being incredibly close seconds). For one thing we have buildup, only this one goes for a buildup with heavy instrumentation being used. Secondly, Andreas Hedlund uses his clearer singing voice throughout a majority of the song (There’s only 2 instances where he decides to growl things out instead, and those moments are short). Finally, Tussmorkret sound like it was released much more recently than the other four songs, thus sounding more relevant, so to speak.

Overall Impression & Rating
If I had a single complaint about this little album, it would be that it’s literarily....little.

With just 5 songs, the amount of material on her is quite slim, and the running time doesn’t help much either (It comes out to 20 Minutes & 24 seconds, if you were curious). With that said, it’s what’s in the songs that makes things shine. While you can find familiar elements of black metal, it how those elements are implemented that creates a nice listening experience. If you can somehow find a physical copy, or a link where you can download Hedniskhjärtad, then I highly suggest you do so.

Vintersorg: Hedniskhjärtad gets a 8.5 to 9 out of 10

See you all next time, when we’ll look at another folk metal band. Until then, stay Otaku!



***
Little piece of trivia: Hedniskhjärtad translated means Paganhearted.