Jump to content

What Are You Listening To?


khaos

Recommended Posts

Septicflesh - Codex Omega   ...welp, that's a Septicflesh album and no mistake. No surprises here - they capitalize on the dark cinematic feel of Titan. Nearly all of the rock-based riffs and hooks are gone. Lots of heavy, stompy midpaced parts with dark chromatic melodies, nice use of choirs, and thankfully the clean male vocals are kept to a minimum. Enjoyable first listen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

I'm checking out "Novembrine Waltz" now. I know I've listened to them a little bit before, but I couldn't recall their sound. The combination of vocal styles (and especially the clean melodies) really remind me of Daylight Dies, they must have been an influence on DD. A little sappy at times, but really good.

The later albums I was playing are a bit more progressive, but I can hear what you mean regarding Daylight Dies. The way they shape their melodic progressions and have them flow into one another is really similar, so I wonder if they are fans of Novembre.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Novembre - Materia

Novembre - The Blue

Stunning progressive gothic metal, I have no idea why this band isn't more popular. Should appeal to fans of everyone from Moonspell and Paradise Lost to Devin Townsend and Opeth. 

 

How good is their cover of The Promise on Materia! Better than the original imo. Great band. Their latest URSA was one of my highlights of the year. 'Winter 1941' off Classica is stunning. Such a good band.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 28/08/2017 at 2:53 AM, BlutAusNerd said:

Novembers Doom - Amid Its Hallowed Mirth

Novembers Doom - For Every Leaf That Falls

Novembers Doom - Of Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers

Novembers Doom - The Knowing

Novembers Doom - To Welcome the Fade

Novembers Doom - The Pale Haunt Departure

Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir

Novembers Doom - Into Night's Requiem Infernal

 

When I was first getting into doom/death, I used to hold this band in high regard. Playing with them live shattered my rose colored glasses when they turned out a horrible performance with exclusively newer material, which I've never liked as much as the old stuff. It wasn't until then that I realized how fucking horrible their lyrics are, and I'm not sure how I missed it before. I don't read lyrics usually, but his enunciation is so clear that it makes all of that sappy, cheesy bullshit that he's droning on about hard to ignore. I still enjoy their melodies a great deal, and some of their riffs from their older albums, and the vocals themselves are pretty good, but I would now consider them to be easily the weakest formative doom/death band from the US. Add to that their descent into modern metal boredom with To Welcome the Fade, stripping the doom from their sound and leaving only bland chugging gothic melodeath in its wake. I don't hate their new albums and still find enough in the melodies to not completely want to get rid of them, but they're right on the cusp of hitting the recycle bin. I'm not sure if my tastes have changed that much or if I was just blind to their shortcomings before, but I'm now completely baffled that they became so popular.

I usually love 'chugging gothic melodeath', but I agree 100% about Novembers Doom. They're one of those bands that I think I like but then when I put on one of the three or four albums of theirs that I own, I'm always quickly disappointed. I like certain parts of 'The Knowing'  but even that's pretty boring, and I don't have anything before that, so my judgement is based mostly on their newer material. Albums like 'The Novella Reservoir' are so boring. There is just nothing happening there. 

And quite frankly, if I can't get into the mid-paced gothic chug then there's a serious problem with it....

 

4 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Septicflesh - Codex Omega 

Man, this album cover has put me off in a serious way. I don't know how I'm going to overcome it and I haven't ordered this album yet. I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and just deal with it. Maybe there's a special edition that has an alternative cover or something....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Requiem said:

I usually love 'chugging gothic melodeath', but I agree 100% about Novembers Doom. They're one of those bands that I think I like but then when I put on one of the three or four albums of theirs that I own, I'm always quickly disappointed. I like certain parts of 'The Knowing'  but even that's pretty boring, and I don't have anything before that, so my judgement is based mostly on their newer material. Albums like 'The Novella Reservoir' are so boring. There is just nothing happening there. 

And quite frankly, if I can't get into the mid-paced gothic chug then there's a serious problem with it....

 

Man, this album cover has put me off in a serious way. I don't know how I'm going to overcome it and I haven't ordered this album yet. I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and just deal with it. Maybe there's a special edition that has an alternative cover or something....

The Knowing and For Every Leaf That Falls are their best releases, but Amid Its Hallowed Mirth and Of Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers are worth hearing, even if the lyrics induce some hearty cringes. There was a time when they played doom/death, and they did a good job of it, even a great job on the two I mentioned. However, they lost the need for a second guitarist and a bassist when To Welcome the Fade dropped, just writing simple strums and chugs with lame progressions. It's not offensively bad, and the occasionally nice and memorable melodies and vocal lines (despite how lame the lyrics are) keep me from totally wanting to part with them. They solely played that material when we played with them, and Paul had to use an iPad to remember his lyrics while they flaccidly chugged away with no purpose in sight. That's what really put me off of them and made me evaluate their albums more sternly, but even at their best, they can't top Morgion, Avernus, Dusk, Winter, Autopsy, Ceremonium, Mindrot, or the slew of other great doom/death bands from the US. If they're just going to keep writing trite modern metal cliches, the least they could do is remove "doom" from their name, since it's been over 15 years since they last resembled the label. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 31/08/2017 at 9:44 AM, BlutAusNerd said:

Novembre - Materia

Novembre - The Blue

Stunning progressive gothic metal, I have no idea why this band isn't more popular. Should appeal to fans of everyone from Moonspell and Paradise Lost to Devin Townsend and Opeth. 

Ok now we're into Requiem territory. Novembre have long been one of my favourite bands.

I have to say that these two albums you mention here are my two least favourite of theirs, especially 'The Blue', which I think has a production that makes the album really hard to listen to. It's strangely over produced and sounds a bit synthetic. The songs are very good though. 

Albums like 'Novembrine Waltz' (2001) and 'Classica' (1999), however, are amazing, with the former actually being one of my favourite albums of all time. I waxed lyrical about it in the 'Classic Gothic Metal Albums' thread (or whatever it's called) in the Gothic Metal forum. 'Novembrine Waltz' has a perfect production in that it's not overproduced like 'The Blue' and 'URSA' , and the songs breathe and flow a lot more than I feel that they do on 'Materia'. The hooks on 'Novembrine Waltz' make my lovelorn heart weep in memory of azure Mediterranean skies. 

Their first two albums 'Wish I Could Dream it Again' (which got the old 're-record' treatment, which, like every other time, didn't improve it) and 'Arte Novecento' are also really good, although a little primitive. Check out their cover of 'Stripped' on 'Arte Novecento'. For some reason I really love it. 

As for their comeback album 'URSA', it's pretty good but a little disappointing. The production is really fuzzy for some reason. Maybe fuzzy isn't the right word. It's just a touch too luscious or something and suffers from the same issues as 'The Blue'. Also the vocals are also soooo slippery and flat. I don't quite understand why Carmello is signing like that. He fancies himself a singer too, as I've seen live photos where he isn't playing the guitar... bit of a worry. There are some cool hooks on 'URSA' but overall it wasn't quite worth the wait. 

'Novembrine Waltz' and 'Classica' simply rule. Everyone should check 'em out if they haven't already. 

Edit: I forgot to mention that I have a 'Novembre' beanie that I wear proudly and have for many years. I feel that this is something important that I need to communicate to give a better sense of my feelings for this band. 

10 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

The Knowing and For Every Leaf That Falls are their best releases, but Amid Its Hallowed Mirth and Of Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers are worth hearing, even if the lyrics induce some hearty cringes. There was a time when they played doom/death, and they did a good job of it, even a great job on the two I mentioned. However, they lost the need for a second guitarist and a bassist when To Welcome the Fade dropped, just writing simple strums and chugs with lame progressions. It's not offensively bad, and the occasionally nice and memorable melodies and vocal lines (despite how lame the lyrics are) keep me from totally wanting to part with them. They solely played that material when we played with them, and Paul had to use an iPad to remember his lyrics while they flaccidly chugged away with no purpose in sight. 

An ipad?! That's probably the lamest thing I've heard a supposedly emotional band doing. "Gee I can't remember how I feel about all this, let me check what I wrote..." Also if you want to know how annoying "flaccidly chugging away with no purpose" can be, just ask my wife about my bedroom performance. Thank you very much.  

Edited by Requiem
Forgot about my hat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, Requiem said:

Ok now we're into Requiem territory. Novembre have long been one of my favourite bands.

I have to say that these two albums you mention here are my two least favourite of theirs, especially 'The Blue', which I think has a production that makes the album really hard to listen to. It's strangely over produced and sounds a bit synthetic. The songs are very good though. 

Albums like 'Novembrine Waltz' (2001) and 'Classica' (1999), however, are amazing, with the former actually being one of my favourite albums of all time. I waxed lyrical about it in the 'Classic Gothic Metal Albums' thread (or whatever it's called) in the Gothic Metal forum. 'Novembrine Waltz' has a perfect production in that it's not overproduced like 'The Blue' and 'URSA' , and the songs breathe and flow a lot more than I feel that they do on 'Materia'. The hooks on 'Novembrine Waltz' make my lovelorn heart weep in memory of azure Mediterranean skies. 

Their first two albums 'Wish I Could Dream it Again' (which got the old 're-record' treatment, which, like every other time, didn't improve it) and 'Arte Novecento' are also really good, although a little primitive. Check out their cover of 'Stripped' on 'Arte Novecento'. For some reason I really love it. 

As for their comeback album 'URSA', it's pretty good but a little disappointing. The production is really fuzzy for some reason. Maybe fuzzy isn't the right word. It's just a touch too luscious or something and suffers from the same issues as 'The Blue'. Also the vocals are also soooo slippery and flat. I don't quite understand why Carmello is signing like that. He fancies himself a singer too, as I've seen live photos where he isn't playing the guitar... bit of a worry. There are some cool hooks on 'URSA' but overall it wasn't quite worth the wait. 

'Novembrine Waltz' and 'Classica' simply rule. Everyone should check 'em out if they haven't already. 

Edit: I forgot to mention that I have a 'Novembre' beanie that I wear proudly and have for many years. I feel that this is something important that I need to communicate to give a better sense of my feelings for this band. 

An ipad?! That's probably the lamest thing I've heard a supposedly emotional band doing. "Gee I can't remember how I feel about all this, let me check what I wrote..." Also if you want to know how annoying "flaccidly chugging away with no purpose" can be, just ask my wife about my bedroom performance. Thank you very much.  

Nice assessment of Novembre, I figured they were your flavor. I don't have their other albums, just the two, but I dig them both, especially The Blue. I don't have a problem with the production at all, I actually really like how it sounds. It's really bright and full without sounding digital or plastic, and let's their progressive writing and melodic evolutions shine through the heavy low end. Maybe I'll like the older ones better, as I often do, but I'm pretty happy with these two either way.

And yes, it was unbelievably lame. He had an iPad mount hooked to his mic stand, and at one point between songs, Larry started playing the opening melody to For Every Leaf That Falls. Paul shut him down quickly, saying "I don't even remember that one". They're your fucking songs dipshit, how do you forget them? Mike took to another forum and bitched about how bad the performance was, not knowing that Paul was a member of this forum, and he got a response. Paul said that he thought they tailored their set for a doom metal festival well (despite playing exactly zero doom metal songs) and didn't think they had a bad performance. He also mentioned that he was on some kind of medication that made his memory suffer, so he had to use the iPad to remember his lyrics. I'm not sure about the validity of all of that, but at the very least, he seems unaware that he's been moving the band in the wrong direction for years. I appreciate the joke and laughed about it, but even if you're pushing rope, you're not as impotent as this performance was. ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wintersun - 'The Forest Seasons' on youtube. 

It sounds pretty good. It's just been so long between drinks that I don't even know if I want to buy this album or not. I have the first two sitting up there in my collection, but I don't even know if I'm a Wintersun fan or not. Am I even listening to music? Or is this just a bunch of computer files? Is it possible to be a Wintersun fan? Who are all these people contributing to the crowdfunding campaign? What will Wintersun HQ be like? What planet did Jari come from? So many questions...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Requiem said:

 

Man, this album cover has put me off in a serious way. I don't know how I'm going to overcome it and I haven't ordered this album yet. I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and just deal with it. Maybe there's a special edition that has an alternative cover or something....

What bothers you about the cover? It's not wildly incongruous or out of the norm for their stuff, even if it's asymmetrical and they messed with their logo a bit. Seeing as you love their newer stuff, I'd think you would be all over it regardless of the artwork. I've listened to the stream twice and enjoyed it, but I don't know how often I'm going to be in the mood for it.

NP: Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Join Metal Forum

    joinus-home.jpg

  • Our picks

    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 10 replies
    • I
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
      • Reputation Points

      • 3 replies

    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 4 replies
×
×
  • Create New...