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What Are You Listening To?


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3 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

I'm really looking forward to hearing this. I have some guitar stuff to finish up here before I can take in new music. What do you think of it?

Was too tied up in work to enjoy it so have parked it.  There’s few bands nowadays whose releases are of any real importance to me.  Only Gorguts and Ulcerate actually excite me at the prospect of new material. I need to use my day off on Sunday to spend quality time with this.

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Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still - I still can't get more than halfway into the digital copy of this record without my fucking chaotic life getting in the way.  But each listen to (approx.) the first four tracks makes me yearn for the hour I can sit without any distraction and just listen to this in full.  I sense an increase in melody this time around (more like a seepage as opposed to an infusion) but the trademark wall of noise that crashes into me with every Ulcerate album is still as tall and as heavy as ever.

I guess given the quality of Vermis and then Shrine of Paralysis a small part of me is waiting with a sightly flinched expression on my face for the band to drop quality, but based on the limited attention I have been able to dedicate to this record so far there's no dip here yet!

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Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still   ...another (unsurprisingly) great album from these guys. More recognizably melodic than the last couple but very similar in the way it feels overall. The songs don't really differentiate themselves on first listen, and the vocals are as monotonous as usual, but that was to be expected. Phenomenal guitar and drum performances, lots of inspiration to be found. Hooray for Ulcerate.

Zhrine - Unortheta   ...I think I didn't give this album enough credit when it came out. Obvious comparisons to be made with other Icelandic groups as well as Ulcerate, Deathspell Omega, etc, but it's not a knockoff - moody yet energetic, intense yet accessible, dynamic but cohesive, nicely paced and carefully put together. The recording isn't great, but it's listenable. Their live show was superb, still stands as one of the best I've seen in recent years.

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On 4/28/2020 at 5:40 AM, FatherAlabaster said:

Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still   ...another (unsurprisingly) great album from these guys. More recognizably melodic than the last couple but very similar in the way it feels overall. The songs don't really differentiate themselves on first listen, and the vocals are as monotonous as usual, but that was to be expected. Phenomenal guitar and drum performances, lots of inspiration to be found. Hooray for Ulcerate.

Zhrine - Unortheta   ...I think I didn't give this album enough credit when it came out. Obvious comparisons to be made with other Icelandic groups as well as Ulcerate, Deathspell Omega, etc, but it's not a knockoff - moody yet energetic, intense yet accessible, dynamic but cohesive, nicely paced and carefully put together. The recording isn't great, but it's listenable. Their live show was superb, still stands as one of the best I've seen in recent years.

 

On 4/27/2020 at 7:52 PM, MacabreEternal said:

Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still - I still can't get more than halfway into the digital copy of this record without my fucking chaotic life getting in the way.  But each listen to (approx.) the first four tracks makes me yearn for the hour I can sit without any distraction and just listen to this in full.  I sense an increase in melody this time around (more like a seepage as opposed to an infusion) but the trademark wall of noise that crashes into me with every Ulcerate album is still as tall and as heavy as ever.

I guess given the quality of Vermis and then Shrine of Paralysis a small part of me is waiting with a sightly flinched expression on my face for the band to drop quality, but based on the limited attention I have been able to dedicate to this record so far there's no dip here yet!

Really enjoying this, but you have to be in the right 'head space' to get through it. I'm surprised its listed as having a DR of 6..really sound less jarring (production-wise) than Shrines.

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10 hours ago, True Belief said:

 

Really enjoying this, but you have to be in the right 'head space' to get through it. I'm surprised its listed as having a DR of 6..really sound less jarring (production-wise) than Shrines.

I agree. That's Ulcerate for you -- they have a lot going on but it's all pretty similar and it's easy for it to blend together. Not a lot of distinct landmarks to point to along the way. I only listened on headphones but I thought it sounded great, certainly not hard on the ears. It didn't sound squashed to me. I wonder how that rating was measured.

NP: Katatonia - City Burials   ...argh, I can't listen to this right now, I'm trying to wake up and it's all lullabies and dad rock. It's keeping the coffee from working.

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I've been listening to a lot of early Paradise Lost and early Katatonia lately. Specifically GothicIconDance of December Souls (OF COURSE), and Brave Murder Day, and some of Katatonia's early b-sides.

Something I discovered today which I never knew is that a demo of 12 exists. I've known for years the "real title" of that song was Black Erotica, but this is the first time I've heard the demo. Wow, what can I say, except why on earth did they get rid of that clean intro and the keyboard?? Like everything this band did during that era...beautiful. Love it. I do believe I prefer it over the studio version.

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