13:22 - Zaphod @Lit. And yet people keep giving them attention...
12:13 - Jaeryd17 Just got back from the Opeth concert in Tucson, AZ. Good good good good good good. Good.
10:16 - Spirit Molecule Cool review Willy, I'm still giving the album a couple more spins online. I think there are some cool parts but overall it didn't do much for me. But heck, the production is awesome. Got this nice big sound with all the layers
08:41 - Lit. >Implies they weren't already the scum of the earth before.
08:14 - huascaman [link] ...Picketing a funeral? --- these baptists have officially transcended human garbage status.
07:38 - Moose Revocation's upcoming fifth studio album will be self-titled I see. I really dislike when bands do that. Oh well, still very much looking forward to it.
07:08 - LeChron James steroid use clouded his judgement? yeah, okay. see ya there.
01. The Eternal Quest 02. Ballad Of The Shipwrecked 03. Great Cosmic Disorder 04. A Lost Cause 05. The New Era Of Darkness 06. There's No Shadow Without Light 07. Entering The Seventh Gate
Sometimes music can get your attention and set you up for a new experience but fail to proceed anywhere. The latest release from black metal outfit Sear Bliss has this effect, it is geared toward an experimental melodic black induced with brass instrumentation which unfortunately keeps shooting itself in the foot.
This album has its oddities; attempts to craft strange atmospheres such as the thickly jazzy and symphonic swerving of "The Eternal Chaos" or "Ballad of the Shipwrecked," which has appropriately added sounds of water in motion and the creaking of wooden planks. Yet, whatever interesting pieces they manage to compile and spread throughout the album are fitted to an ultimately bland melodic vein. Prone to a repetitiveness that draws heavily on the attention, it really requires an effort to continue through the duration of each track. With that said each track does have its own peculiar characteristics but not nearly enough to make them clearly distinguishable from that pervasive monotony.
This is true especially of the latter half of the album which bears little in the way of anything that extends beyond the lethargy which the album is prone to. The vocal work performed by Nagy on this album doesn't seem to help either, whether of the harsh or clean variety they add to the drag considerably, rarely presenting themselves in enough differing ways to break the spell of an inescapable drudge. The closing track "Entering the Seventh Gate" is an exception, offering some nasally variation to the vocal work which, when coupled with backing whispers and the gradual relinquishing of black metal riffs creates a bizarre effect. The clean vocals on tracks like "A Lost Cause" have a becoming charm and an almost crooning style and entice you into an environment which is ultimately unsatisfying.
As far as black metal goes this has an irregular charm about it aided by the melodies which are emboldened with a digestible avant-garde touch. The only wall which you are likely to encounter will present itself once you delve a significant distance past its intriguingly murky surface and discover its monotony.
I dunno if you know this band aside from this album at all and I have NOT heard this one yet so idk how does it compare but most of their previous stuff (especially Phantoms) have been really decent so if you liked the positive stuff about this you might want to check it out.
I dunno if you know this band aside from this album at all and I have NOT heard this one yet so idk how does it compare but most of their previous stuff (especially Phantoms) have been really decent so if you liked the positive stuff about this you might want to check it out.
This was my first experience with the band but from what I've read on the web there seems to be a general agreement that this one deviates a fair bit from what they've done before. It will be interesting to see just how different it is.
