JonoBlade
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Posts posted by JonoBlade
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https://mydyingbrideofficial.bandcamp.com/album/a-mortal-binding
Listened to this a few times today. I liked it more immediately than The Ghost of Orion, which I came to really like eventually.
A bit more stripped back and hits the spot as MDB always does.
There was an announcement the other day that they pulled out of MDF for some cryptic reason, but they are pretty reliable for being unreliable. I was considering going to the Icon 30th anniversary gig with them opening a few months ago but they pulled out.
NP: cattle decapitation - death atlas
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6 hours ago, Arioch said:
It's going to be thrashering in my ears this morning!
"The Thrashering" would make a much better band name than the lame Kings of Thrash. Or Kerry King for that matter.
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11 hours ago, markm said:
Thanks Jon, I appreciate your being open. I should say yes, this is a really fucking weird album, but to heavy music fans who try to expose themselves to a reasonable share of "weird af metal" it may not seem that weird since the album came out in 1996 and a lot of weird shit has come out since then.
The album is interesting on multiple levels, but is a challenging listen, so be forewarned. It's "a lot" as the kids like to say. From what I can tell, it's become kind of a cult classic in expero-weirdo-droney music. It's nearly 2 and half ours long. I find it best let the whole thing wash over me. I'll put in a queue on Sonos or play it in my car and listen to it shorter sessions.
There is no grand concept or over arching theme other than the what you, the listener bring. Some people describe it as a dream. I find the first disc makes more sense to the way I process music as tangible; very diverse. The second disc, gets more, well, weird and abstract sounding with more extended ambient drone pieces and to my sensibilities, is the sound of madness. But Gira states that it's just a collection of assorted material spanning 1981-1996. His liner notes states Soundtracks’ song sources included “hand-held cassette recordings to found sounds, to samples, to loops, to finished multitrack recordings.”
I found this quote just now: Wider and craggier than the Grand Canyon, as epic in scope and testament as the St. James Bible, as weirdly and quirkily diverse as the Beatles’ White Album—that’s the description I gave to producer/multi-instrumentalist Rieflin, who said, “Yeah, that about wraps Soundtracks up nicely,” he says with a soft laugh. “Plus, it seems to go on for-fucking-ever. It’s as if it never ends.”
Gira would later go on to say that when they reunited and recorded the Seer in 2012 (my entry point and one of my favorite albums of all time), the Seer was the culmination of everything they had tried to do.
Listening to Soundtracks for the blind in the last 24 hours makes me appreciate the evolution from SFTB to the trilogy (The Seer, To Be Kind and The Glowing Man). The trilogy is more cohesive. I love the trilogy , but I also really dig this earlier, cruder, more rudimentary attempt to distill Gira's vision. It's just a special album I come back to once a year or so. It's also significant to me in the influence I hear in the other experimental artists like guitarist Tim Hecker and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Swans have such a diverse discography and sound palette. This is one important piece of the Swans Rubik's cube. Masterpiece or self indulgent crap? We each get to decide. I think it's pretty rad.
Ok. Ok. Bought sight unseen/ sound unheard off bandcamp because I'm going to have to download it for the plane.
I have The Seer and like a lot of it. But as @Thatguy says... They go on a bit.
Sometimes I wonder if this stuff is really for people that smoke a pipe and wear a cravat, but I like to be involved and not miss out on a cool soundscape.
I had that Neurosis + Jarboe in my wishlist but never made it to a purchase, which is weird because I'd typically get anything with the neurosis name on it. Although, apparently not Scott Kelly anymore.
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6 hours ago, markm said:
Swans/Soundtracks for the Bind (1996)-It's been said by many, that in a career of making weird albums, this is the weirdest album Swans ever made. love it or hate it-and fans fall on both sides of the fence (I am on the love side) there is nothing like this album. The album that was the final straw breaking the Swans for 14 years. They reformed in 2010'ish and they came to more general notoriety in 2012 with their massive trilogy beginning with The Seer in 2012 which garnered a great deal of praise in all music internet sites that cover left of field experimental music, which is when I discovered them. 2012 was when I got into headfi and hifi gear, put together a proper listening system and started following the machinations beyond metal.
At any rate, Soundtracks for the Blind (2 discs, 4 LPs) and 26 tracks is a herculean listen at over 2 hours. It's long been a favorite for fans of experimental rock music. Some would say it's been eclipsed post 2010 in terms of what Gira strove to achieve-some kind of transcendental music that pulls from many genres. It's an album that requires patience, there is over indulgence and bloat to be sure, but I find the entire experience utterly compelling.
The roots to Soundtracks predates 1996 some 10 years to the beginning of the Swans existence and is as you might guess, conceived to be the soundtrack to movie that never existed. There's quite a bit ambient music and overall vibe of ambient drone on this album, but also explosive music and field recordings, and creepy, voyeuristic voice tracks. I believe Gira and Jarboe both recorded people in their lives with mental and physical health problems to create a sense of watching a film designed to give the listener a feeling of discomfort. The album is unsettling and beautiful. Much credit has to go to Jarboe, Gira's long time collaborator who has one of the most elastic, powerful, beautiful and at times brutal female voices in experimental music.
In fact, the entire album has a combined effect of surrealist experience-reminiscent of a bizarre David Lynch movie and other worldly experience beyond the capacity to explain in words.
The voice overs create a sense of watching a haunting documentary of some corner of the underbelly of twisted human existence-ne'er do wells living sordid, utterly depressing lives-something that draws me in, repels me but I just can't take my eyes off the screen--- or perhaps, turning to look at the multi car accident on the other side of the highway-traffic backed up for miles, emergency vehicles, cars burning, bodies on stretchers....and you just can't restrain yourself from slowing down to look at the carnage.
There is nothing that I've heard that sounds like this album.
That is some write up and endorsement. I am soon to be taking a 17 hour flight to Perth and it sounds like this will get me most of the way there.
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12 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
You know that Wode album is from 2017, right? Love the first two Wode albums. The last one from 2021 not so much. Not aware of any new one incoming, but I miss a lot of announcements like that.
I remember now... I got the first two Wode albums and like them well enough, but the 2021 one is (still) £666 on bandcamp to download, so fuck those guys.
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8 hours ago, JamesT said:
I saw your comparison of Verminthrone as being similar to PanterA, and that's all I needed to hear! Checked them out immediately and I now have "The Cull" in my library. Fantastic album with sick, heavy groove. Doesn't get better than that for me! I also hear some similarities to one of my top 5 bands of all time - the mighty Crowbar!
Oof. You're gonna hate me (as if, you are incapable of hate in your heart), that Crowbar played at the same local pub where I saw Verminthrone last Monday and I didn't go! I was keen to see the local opening band Abraxian but, since I don't know Crowbar at all, the ticket price was just a little too much to be worth it.
Kind of regret it, but I'll get over it.
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23 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
Saturday AND Sunday posts from Johnny Blade?!? To what do we owe the pleasure of your weekend company sir? Has your wife left you? Or maybe she just left you alone with the daughter to go visit family, or she went out shopping with the girls and they stopped off for wine spritzers or lattes or something?
On Saturday my flatmates were watching rugby. I set up a new audio interface and switched to Windows 11 to solve some problems it was having. Finally started working. I then went to a gig in the evening, but not quite worth reporting. A local band Verminthrone, (The Cull | Verminthrone (bandcamp.com)) which sounds like it would be black metal, but closer to Pantera. Meat and potatoes. Decent. The opening band was Electric Wizard worship (Industrial Nightmare | Voidlurker (bandcamp.com)) but just a little too simple for me. The guitarist lost his pick before the last song and played with a credit card. You couldn't tell the difference. My favourite part was the knob twiddling guitar effects feedback over drum and bass that they finished with. That was pretty cool.
Sunday was fairly uneventful. Played mini-golf. Point being, I found occasion to write something on this here forums.
Oh, big name drop, on Friday night I had quite a long chat with Karl Sanders from Nile. It was like we'd been buddies forever. Nice bloke.
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3 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:
Time Ghoul riding My Little Pony
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4 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
I'm gonna need your list though Jon-O. What's your best of Preest compilation track list?
I don't really do compilations. I'll just have to choose a roughly favourite from each album.
Winter
Dreamer Deceiver/Deceiver
Dissident Aggressor
Heroes End
Hell Bent for Leather
Steeler
Desert Plains
Fever (yeah, I know)
The Sentinel
Out in the Cold
Blood Red Skies
Night Crawler
Cathedral Spires
Feed on Me (scraping the barrel, but I always thought this was pretty catchy)
Loch Ness (the most ridiculous song in a career of absurdity, but musically cool)
Nostradamus
....I don't have any favourites after that because they all blend into one amorphous mass of generic, if perfectly serviceable, filler.
Nostradamus and Future of Mankind would have been a pretty reasonable way to go out.
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5 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
Alright then, so taken from across their whole catalog?
Living After Midnight
Hot Rockin'
All the Priest I could ever need in roughly 74 minutes, so it should fit on a CDR. (remember those?) If the Ripper fits you could throw that on there too.
Oof. I actively dislike those songs. Always seemed like they were trying too hard to write hits in those moments and definite album low points for me (which on Point of Entry is saying something). The writing team in Priest were too influenced by external trends and a dream of being popular (which is hard when you are as ugly s they are), whereas you can just tell that someone like Iommi wasn't interested in what others were playing. He's still in business, so would rather be popular and successful than not, but stayed truer to original mission statement.
I take issue with @markm piling on Ram it Down though. That came out just as I got into Priest and, as such, was amazing/life changing. And it was obviously better than Turbo, even for someone who'd been into Bon Jovi the year before. Turbo was Priest trying to write Bon Jovi songs and failing so bad, mainly because no one (and certainly not a Halford and a KK) can be as dreamy as Jon and Richie.
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17 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
So you guys are saying (metaphorically of course) that the album is all tits and no ass?
In this respect I'm definitely an assman. Gotta save the best 'til last.
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Np: Ahab - The Coral Tombs
I was talking to someone the other day about The Cart & Horses (because they lived round the corner) where Maiden played it's first gig. Although for years I thought it was The Ruskin Arms. I even played there years ago.
Anyhow, reading today about the literal birthplace of metal, where Sabbath first played. Turns out it is closed down but is still standing.
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41 minutes ago, navybsn said:
Had the same thought. Album lost steam about halfway through. Still a solid effort for a bunch of geezers.
@markm had me about to pick it up, but I guess I'll wait a little longer. It will appear to lose steam because it's too long. Or at the very least if it is soon over you won't feel you had to endure too much filler.
I was looking at logistics of driving to see them on Tuesday because the current set list does look pretty cool. But I doubt I will be able to drum up the enthusiasm.
12 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:Well I'm no Cath-O-lick, but I believe the Priest is usually the dude who hears the confessions, not the one doing the confessing. But you can still make your confession to a slaughtered priest you know Jon. He won't hear you obviously because he's dead, but you can still unload your burden on him. We know you have much to confess Jon. And the best part for you Jon-O Blade, the real silver lining here, will be that the dead priests reportedly don't give much penance at all, they're notoriously very lenient. Couple-a Hail Marys and a genuflect or two and you'll be right back to your evil sinful ways
That's a fair point. Although don't priests have to confess to someone further up the hierarchy? Only the pope would be unable to confess but presumably it is a perk of office to be autoabsolved.
You're wise not to go licking Cath without consent.
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11 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
Slaughtered Priest - Confess Your Sins, Greek black/thrash speed metal attack 2012
How would a slaughtered priest confess his sins? It's a little late for that.
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5 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
As much as I love Superunknown (and I do love it, one of those handful of normie albums I will defend til the death) but as much as I've always loved that one I could never really get into Badmotorfucker. And I had that one first too. I liked Feeling Minnesota and Rusty Cage I guess, but that's about it, you can keep the rest. I liked a few songs off Down the Upside too (but just a few) and then did they even do anything else after that? Weird to me though how so many people seem to wanna rank Badmotorfucker ahead of Superunknown.
I think I'm gonna need to dig out both from the garage and have a listen, because it has been a few years. Superunknown is probably the definitive Soundgarden masterpiece, but I still enjoyed the hell out of Badmotorfinger at the time. I guess it was the wailing Jesus Christ Pose which played (overplayed) endlessly on a student TV station I had a show on - which I love but old goats will hate.
Edit: nope, I'm full of shit. Turns out I had both CDs in a pile behind me. I must have got these out a year or so ago...probably on a prompt from the last time Soundgarden came up.
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2 hours ago, Arioch said:
Power Trip - Nightmare Logic (2017)
I mentioned this yesterday. So I'm not posting a Youtube video this time 😉
I only discovered Power Trip last week. I like the Thrash groove the band develops on several tracks. It makes you want to headbang.
They seem to be reforming and continuing which is great to see.
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Went to Cattle Decapitation on Friday night. The highlight was probably not the gig but meeting up with a mate and going to the pub afterwards until 1am, which is pretty much unheard of for me these days. Luckily I didn't have to get home afterwards, but nearly missed the last northbound tube to where I was staying.
Anyway...to the show:
I missed the first band but saw the whole set from 200 Stab Wounds. Slave to the Scalpel | 200 Stab Wounds (bandcamp.com) Enjoyable, if unremarkable, fairly old school death metal.
As is the curse of opening acts, the guitar tone was pretty muddy so I just concentrated on watching the drummer. By the end of the set the balance was pretty good. I will give this a few listens and probably pick up on a BC Friday.
The next band was Signs of the Swarm. Absolvere | Signs of the Swarm | Unique Leader Records (bandcamp.com)
Oh dear. I believe this is what the kids call "deathcore." The above link doesn't quite capture what I took away from watching this band live. Every song was a prolonged breakdown. Each breakdown a raging torrent of breakdowns, flooded with rivulets of breakdowns, cascading into a waterfall of more breakdowns.
The typewriter drum sound and one trick vocal delivery, interjected with "circle pit" was so distracting I couldn't derive much enjoyment from this. Others around me seemed to "get it" but I was minded of the discussion of Slipknot on that other thread. This is metal made by AI for people that think lots of tattoos and flesh tunnels equate to talent. Tasteless.
Earlier in the day I had been genuinely worrying that I was just liking too much stuff I was listening to lately. I have been enjoying the shit out of the likes of post black Underdark and surf rock King Gizzard wondering if I was losing perspective. But this band renewed my faith in misanthropy.
The main event, Cattle Decapitation, is a band I hadn't even heard before a few months ago. I had always assumed they were some joke grind band, but the AOTY accolades for Terrasite were too frequent to ignore. I am a convert, and had picked up a few other albums to cram for this gig.
Luckily for me, I seem to have picked the albums they decided to pull pretty much the whole set from. There was only one, perhaps two, tracks I did not recognise.
I have the same gripe about the drum sound as Signs of Breakdowns mentioned above. Triggered to the point of distraction and outright offense, so that it removes any soul from the kit; I just can't fathom why any band would want this sound. 200 Stab Wounds' drum sound was so much better.
Apart from that, CatDecap were great. Vocal delivery was about what I knew it would be - flawed but so difficult to pull off live I was not expecting perfection. Still Travis Ryan is a great front man that did not once feel the need to request a circle pit or wall of death or make any other cliched idiot frontman comment. All class.
Lead guitar work is excellent with tasteful solos. Great bass tone. Rhythm guitarist had great hair and tight jeans.
From photos, it is obvious that unless I can fly, pics were taken from a balcony which was almost too steep of an angle, but a good vantage point. I stood in the same spot for 3 hours so as not to lose my place.
Finished at 11pm which vindicated my decision to stay in London rather than try to get home on a slow train and risk waking up in Crewe or Glasgow.
But, as mentioned, highlight of night was probably talking metal with buddy I don't see that often. He'd bought an autographed Terrasite LP, the bastard.
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I agree with what @Nasty_Cabbagesaid about image over substance.
But there's also a bizarre psychology to many metalheads about popularity delegitimizing a band.
I remember hearing the debut and thinking "the drumming is quite good and a little different, vocals are a bit annoying... but maybe I could like it" then realising that it seemed to be popular among more fairweather metal fans that want to be seen to look the part but are not interested in discovering new music.
You could find a ton of Slayer or Metallica fans like that I suppose, but those bands had more of a genuine impact when they hit the scene.
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3 hours ago, navybsn said:
No idea King Gizz had pumped out another one. Not sure how anyone can keep up with these guys. Seems they drop something every few months. I'll have to check this out.
It's not new. In fact over 10 years old. But, it's true their bandcamp page is pretty cramped with releases.
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9 hours ago, JamesT said:
Metallica - "Hardwired...to Self-Destruct"
Judas Priest - "Firepower"
My second favorite Priest album of them all. A triumph from start to finish, without a weak moment, much less a weak track. A couple more days until "Invincible Shield"!
You're a crazy bastard JT. I don't know why anyone would listen to these beyond a few weeks after the release cycle, but I salute you.
I am going nuts this week and combing through my bc wishlist...even buying stuff NOT on bandcamp Friday. What am I like?
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I think it's the logo that I liked and prompted me to listen again. And, hell's teeth, I am really enjoying this. It reminds me a bit of Deafheaven in parts because there is some indie type vibe to bits of it.
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Not metal like the PetroDragonic Apocalypse one, but still cool.
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48 minutes ago, markm said:
Thx Jon, what IEM's R U rockin?
Hilariously I had to investigate what I actually have. I think they are these:
In-Ear Monitors : Evolve Classic In-Ear Monitor (acscustom.com)
I would have done research at the time to find customs made in UK*, but the units themselves and case have no identifying model number on them (just ACS on the case). I got them July last year. They were a bit uncomfortable at first but now its fine and seal really well. Likewise, the initial sound quality wasn't that amazing but they sound great now.
It was a similar experience when I got both Shure 530s and Earsonics SM64s - i.e underwhelming to begin with, but eventually you wonder how you lived without them.
When the HD-650 crap out I will probably invest in some higher end studio headphones, but not until they are totally beyond repair. I'll be due some new ear pads soon but otherwise they're in good shape.
*alas no one makes drivers in this country. Even Knowles (US supplier of drivers to ACS) has offshored production. Although, I think Earsonics do make their entire unit in France....but start at double price of the ACS.
My studio monitors (Focal) are affordable and made in France.
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On 3/1/2024 at 9:15 PM, AlSymerz said:
After only one listen I'm okay with it. There is a lot going on there and given some of the songs are 15 years old they might have taken some polishing to get over the line. There is nothing ground breaking there and he's still very much Iron Maiden's singer so expecting something too much different would be silly. Quite a few people seem to not like the new (old) version of If Eternity Should Fail, but I don't mind it. It's probably over produced, over engineered and terrible sounding to many but I don't mind what I've heard so far. I'll give it another listen and see where I sit.
The link I posted doesn't seem to work anymore so maybe it was a bogus BC account. It is the genuine music though, I listened through on Friday and bizarrely it is still in my BC wishlist so listening again now.
I quite like the intro track and If Eternity Should Fail. But not groundbreaking, as you say.
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On 3/2/2024 at 2:32 AM, JamesT said:
I appreciate the teaser, my friend! As is my way, I haven't listened to any of the singles ahead of album #19 from my favorite traditional metal band in history. I just can't do it, especially as far ahead of the release date as they put out that very first single (back in October). I'm just not diving into the new material 5 months before the album comes out. So, for me, the new album will be completely brand new from start to finish, and I cannot wait for next Friday!
I have heard rumblings that Halford hits some notes that are reminiscent of the "Painkiller" days, which I find absolutely mind-boggling, given that he's into his 70's now. Glad to hear that the rumors are true! You have filled my metal heart with an even greater level of eager anticipation for "Invincible Shield" - something I didn't think was possible. I'm indebted to you for that.
That is admirable. Not sure I have any bands left where I have a self imposed media blackout but understand the principle.
In the old days it was fairly irrelevant because Judas Priest was unlikely to release a single (let alone several) before the album that I was likely to hear.
You would hear a new album was coming out and hope you beat your mates to the record store to pick up one of the few copies.
I remember when Painkiller was released, rushing down at lunch break from school. ... And then having to wait to get home to actually play it.
I'm not sure when I am going to hear the new priest. I'll wait for your review, divide the enthusiasm by 10 and then maybe be not too disappointed.
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11 hours ago, markm said:
I'm considering. :
- Bowers & Wilkins P7 Wired (lowest profile of the bunch)
- Hifiman Sunandra
- Sennheiser HD 660, 650 or Sennheiser 6XX(not low profile)
- Meze 99 (not low profile)-I know Navy is a fan of these
If anyone has experience with any of these, holler!
I've been using HD 650 for years. Been through several cables because I kept stepping on it and tripping.
Not at all portable and they're open back. but sound good. I think I got them originally because they're considered neutral and suited for mixing.
Anything more expensive than that would be diminishing returns for me.
I paid up for custom iems and don't regret that at all, but still a fraction of what some must spend.
What Are You Listening To?
in Forum Games
Posted
Don't worry man. You'll love it.
I couldn't tell you whether it is more doom or death/doom. It sounds like everything else MDB have done in the last 20 years.
Their output is generally very consistent and a bit interchangeable so I tend to distinguish by production choices. I hated the drum sound on Feel the Misery which is an otherwise decent album. I didn't think the layered vocals on The Ghost of Orion were right for it, even though they sounded good
I can't fault the production (or at least nothing stands out) on the new one so, since it otherwise still sounds exactly like what I would expect of MDB in 2024, it's a win.
Notable perhaps that I didn't think the lead single/video a few weeks ago was anything special... but I've been enjoying listening to the whole album the last few days.