Tool - Fear Inoculum (Album Review)

If any album would drag me out of my extended hiatus from this blog (it's been over a year since my last review), it would be Tool's first album in thirteen years, Fear Inoculum. To be honest, I became really, really burnt out with writing reviews because the process - listening, taking notes, writing, and publishing - became overbearing with work and school schedules taking priority. I was working on a post for my album of the year list for 2018 that I never finished (this list was still published on my Instagram, as it is every year). I also found myself placing technical skill and musical excellence over the actual enjoyment I received from listening to music in the first place, which, as one might expect, defeats the entire purpose of writing reviews and running a music blog in the first place. I'm back, however, and I intend to write reviews more frequently, although they will not be nearly as comprehensive or long-winded as those I have published before. 

I don't really think that Tool needs an introduction, nor do I think that the hype and hysteria around this album among the general public needs to be addressed either. Personally, I have been listening to Tool since I was a kid (thanks Dad), and Tool has always had a solid place in my musical development. As a result of this, along with the monstrous amount of hype around Tool's first release in over a decade, I was skeptical of Tool's new album. I wasn't sure if it would meet my expectations, along with the expectations of millions of others on the internet with similar concerns. I purposefully walled myself off from any sort of information about the album until such information was released by the band. I didn't listen to the live versions of any songs from the album before I had access to the whole album (these songs being "Invincible", "Descending", and "Chocolate Chip Trip"), as I didn't want to take anything on until I had access to Fear Inoculum in its entirety. I don't regret this decision at all. Fear Inoculum is a monolithic achievement that displays not only musical maturity, but also crystal clear production, a clear sense of direction, and, perhaps most importantly, acknowledgement from Tool that they have a clear understanding of themselves as musicians. Fear Inoculum not only lives up to the expectations that I had for a Tool album in 2019, but exceeds them. 

The album starts off with the title track, the first single that released from the album. "Fear Inoculum" features a gradual introduction, displaying a subtle, more mature Tool. Justin Chancellor's bass tone on this track (on this entire album in its entirety, for that matter), is absurdly clean. Danny Carey's drumming, less progressive and more tribal than on other tracks, is also clean and crisp. The verses of this track slowly build up the massive choruses, which then of course leads to an excellent bridge pass the six minute mark. This song follows a generally traditional song structure, well, as traditional as one can get within a 10 minute time-frame. This song serves as a great introduction to what will come on Fear Inoculum, and while not my favorite on this album, is an excellent track all together. 

Following the title track is "Pneuma", the first entirely new song(to everyone else who has listened to the live songs and the first single). "Pneuma" serves as, for all intents and purposes, the spiritual successor to "Schism" from Tool's 2001 album Lateralus. The heart and soul of this song is Chancellor's bass riff, which follows a brief guitar intro by Adam Jones. I am not quite sure what you would call the section of the song that occurs around 5:40, but this section (which repeats a few times throughout the song) is not only extremely heavy, but is a masterful display of some of the absolutely insane drumming on this record. Adam Jones doubles down on Chancellor's essential riff after his guitar solo in this song, only leading to what I would describe as a breakdown of sorts at the nine minute and forty second mark. This flows effortlessly into the final chorus in an excellent display of musicianship from Carey, Jones, and Chancellor. Finishing off with another section like the one that occurs at around 5:40, then slowing to silence, this song is concluded almost perfectly.

The next major track on the album (after the segue "Litanie contre la Peur"), "Invincible", has grown on me significantly since my first listen. This song is unique because Maynard James Keenan seems to be absolutely introspective on this song. While the lyrics directly address a "warrior struggling to remain consequential", these lyrics metaphorically reflect the situation that Tool finds themselves in with the record at hand. This track is about getting older and recognizing one's place in the world, especially in reference to Tool's place in the current music industry. A great deal of people have lobbed insults at the band over the release of this album, with Keenan even receiving death threats during the recording process, yet this song is about not only persisting, but acknowledging the past. The instrumental aspects of this song follow suit: starting off with a mid-tempo section and gradually growing heavier and faster throughout the song , reinforcing Tool's resilience and strength at around the six minute mark, the song begins to really take its full form, with Adam Jones having an excellent solo perfectly placed in the mix. Eventually, the song reaches its instrumental climax, a breakdown that is one of the heaviest moments on the album, one that absolutely blew me away, and continues to blow me away, even after over a dozen listens. 

Following "Invincible" is another segue, "Legion Inoculant", and then "Descending", another song that was played live before the release of the album. "Descending" features one of my favorite guitar solos on the album past the seven minute mark. This is one of the most progressive and melancholy tracks on the album, displaying Tool's well known cohesiveness. Everything seems to make sense with regards to this track. I won't say much more about this track because I feel that any description that I may have may not accurately capture the movements and progressions that take place, as well overall atmosphere that is wrapped around this song like a warm, fuzzy, progressive blanket. Go listen. I think you'll like it.

"Culling Voices" is a slow burner, up until about the half way point that is. Keenan's hushed refrain of "don't you dare point that at me" becomes more aggressive, leading to a heavy instrumental breakdown and finale. This is my least favorite track on the album, yet it is still an excellent song in its own right. 

"Chocolate Chip Trip" follows, an instrumental track only consisting of odd synths and drumming by Danny Carey. This track is essentially a trippy drum solo and is a welcome reminder that Tool is still really, really weird. I love it. 

"7empest" is the final track of the physical release and the final real song on the album. This track harks back to Tool's past, sounding like a mix of what you would find on all of the band's previous releases. Adam Jones' guitar work shines above all other tracks on this album on "7empest" with his aggressive, biting tone doubling down on everything heavy Tool has ever written. Especially after the eleven minute mark, Adam Jones flexes on all of us how much better he is at writing great music than all of us losers. This song is not only the best song on the album, but is certainly one of the best that Tool has ever written. It is also the most accessible song on the album, which is surprising at its almost sixteen minute length. This track harks back, more so than any of the others on the album, to the days of Opiate and Undertow, where we saw Tool at their most aggressive, raw, and unfiltered. From the moment that Adam starts playing after the short, soft intro, you know you're in for a ride, especially when you hear Keenan state "Fuck, here we go again". I love it. It's not only refreshing, given the current musical climate with bands of Tool's renown and impact, but it is transcendental. If Tool had just released this song, even after a thirteen year gap, I would have been entirely satisfied. 

Everything about this album works. The production on the drums is the some of the best drum production I have ever heard. The production on the album in its entirety is the best I have heard all year. At this point, I may sound like I'm geeking out or just lobbing praise at the band, and that's because that's exactly what I'm doing. This album is phenomenal, a modern-day masterpiece in progressive metal. Even after all the years of musical exploration, from Death Metal to Death Grips, Industrial to New Wave, from Underground Hip-hop to Baroque Pop, this is one of the best albums I have ever heard. 

10/10. Did you expect anything different?

At The Gates - To Drink From The Night Itself (Album Review)

Out of all of the extreme metal scenes that have occurred across the world, such as the NWOBHM, Florida death metal, NWOAHM, and Norwegian black metal, the Gothenburg melodic death metal scene is one of my favorite. At The Gates, In Flames (pre-2000's), and Dark Tranquility all release some excellent albums in the 90's that certainly would classify as some of my favorite music ever put into existence. It's great to see that Dark Tranquility and At The Gates are still making music in the vein of what they were releasing back then, and modern material from both bands has been stellar. At War With Reality, from At the Gates, was one of my favorite albums of 2014, and Atoma, from Dark Tranquility, was in my top 10 for 2016. At the Gates are perhaps one of my largest musical influences when writing music and are certainly one of my favorite groups in general.
My first encounter with At the Gates was one of total awe, soon after they released At War With Reality in 2014. I couldn't comprehend Tomas Lindberg's voice, as I had never really heard anything like it. I was intrigued and went out and bought the album soon after, with it now being one of my favorite metal releases of this decade. Despite the criticism of it being Slaughter of the Soul part two, I certainly believe it holds on its own and has a great rage of qualities that lead this criticism to be false. With To Drink From The Night Itself, however, I was initially very skeptical due to the departure of Anders Bjorler. After listening to the album multiple times, I'm pleasantly surprised with the musical direction and cohesiveness of the album, albeit being slightly disappointed with relatively standard feel of some of the tracks.

The album starts out with a pretty standard instrumental intro track, then is quickly followed by the first song released from the album, the title track. "To Drink From The Night Itself" really excited me at first, but the more I listened to it, the less excited about this album I was. It just sounded to me as if it were a just a rehashing of "Blinded by Fear" from Slaughter of the Soul, which was certainly a problem. When the album dropped however, I came to appreciate this song, as it does exactly for this album what "Blinded by Fear" did for Slaughter of the Soul, except slightly less effectively, that being a powerful musical introduction to the content of the rest of the album (Disclaimer: Slaughter of the Soul is one of my favorite albums ever written, so any comparison carries a heavy weight in discussion). The lead guitars on this track, performed by new guitarist Joan Stahlhammer, certainly are a highlight. Jonas is a spectacular guitarist in his own respect, performing with another band with many members of At the Gates, The Lurking Fear, and with Bombs of Hades and God Macabre. The man has an undeniable track record and is a perfect fit for At the Gates. That being said, there is really nothing unique about this track and I am curious as to why they chose to use it as the lead single.
The next song is "A Stare Bound in Stone", where the album's brooding, thick sound really starts to take shape. On my first few listens I didn't really "get" this song, meaning I didn't see any real value to it, but I have come to appreciate it much more, especially the latter half of the song, which contains what I guess would be considered a bridge, even though it dominates this entire half of the song. Interesting guitar play occurs between Jonas and Martin Larsson, with some chilling choir vocals occurring behind this section, which builds and grows as the song comes to a close.
"A Palace of Lepers" is a great song, but is unfortunately formulaic and rather bland in terms of song structure in the first half. The guitar work is really spectacular, as well as the atmosphere, in the second half of the song, just as in the previous track "A Stare Bound in Stone". This is certainly a result of the formula of most recent At the Gates tracks, which is an unfortunate downside some of their post-reunion material. Every member of the band really shines in most of these songs, but the predictable song structure really weighs the band down.
"Daggers of Black Haze" fortunately rips this structure into shreds. This song is perhaps the most beautiful song on the album, featuring a proper guitar solo (the first from Jonas in this group), strings, and a real representation of the atmosphere that At the Gates were shooting for on this album. I enjoy the underlying lead guitars present in the track, as well as overall complete feeling that the track has. Compositionally, this song is excellent, featuring some of the best bass playing on the album as well, notable past the one-minute and thirty second mark. I don't know who was doing the sort of growled gang vocals present in this song, but that is something I have never heard from At the Gates before, and also something I would like to hear more of.  The aforementioned guitar solo is underwhelming, yet, at least shows what Jonas is capable of, and has me excited for future albums with Jonas. Reportedly, he came in late to the writing process and unfortunately did not get to contribute much to the writing of the album.
"The Chasm", instrumentally, sounds like a typical At the Gates song, but the guitar solo and conversational growled vocals featured in the last minute of the song make it one of my favorites on the album. This guitar solo is worlds better and more unique than the one featured on "Daggers of Black Haze", and really sets Jonas apart from his predecessor. I say this not meaning that he is a better guitarist than Anders, this solo just certainly doesn't sound like anything Anders would have written. The growled vocals are also unique, much different than the normal style that Tomas uses. These vocals are much less raspy and monotonous, and instead are much more close to Mikael Akerfeldt's growls during his time with Bloodbath. They are certainly more closely aligned with a traditional death growl than Tomas's growl, which would be considered more of a mid than a low, in extreme metal vocal lingo. This makes me question as to if Tomas is even the one doing these vocals, which are similar to those on the last track, or if another band member is doing them. Either way, keep it up At the Gates.
"In Nameless Sleep" is a pretty great track, but I can't help but feel it would have worked better on At War With Reality than on this album. Then again, a great deal of this song is just one large guitar solo... so... I have to love it. I can't help but be more excited about what Jonas has to write on the next album. I greatly appreciate the musical direction this album is going in, but can't help but feel that the vision isn't completely executed on this album. The atmosphere is reminiscent of their older work, which was much more traditional death metal than their newer work. I mean that statement not that in terms of production or anything of that sort, just that overall composition is more like The Red In The Sky Is Ours than anything they have released since. It's much less melodic and instead much more jagged.
"The Colours of The Beast" is certainly the darkest and probably most traditionally heavy song on the album. It's much less fast, much more heavy hitting, and much more brooding. I didn't think I would ever hear a song this slow from At the Gates, but this is absolutely a standout track on this album, a great implication of where the band is headed. There still exists some classic At the Gates moments, such as the signature tremolo picking guitar work around the chorus, yet I wouldn't even classify this song as melodic death metal, and if I couldn't recognize that it was At the Gates, I wouldn't even expect that the band was a part of the Gothenburg scene (maybe only influenced by it). Given the criticism of repetition that At War With Reality received, this is great news.
The verses of "A Labyrinth of Tombs" are unfortunately very formulaic, yet the instrumentation in the chorus is infectious. This song also utilizes the same sort of growled gang vocals used in "Daggers of Black Haze". I like this song (I haven't ever heard an At the Gates song I haven't liked), yet I think it may be one of the least unique songs on the album, along with the title track and the following song, "The Seas of Starvation", which really feels like moody At the Gates by-the-numbers.
"In Death They Shall Burn" is a great song as well, but again, is rather weak excluding the last minute or so of the track. Standard, and rather formulaic, I can't help but be disappointed with these last few songs before the outro track.
"The Mirror Black" combines the traditional song and the instrumental outro into one track excellently. It starts out with an instrumental section reminiscent of something off of The Jester Race from in flames, but transitions into strings and a choir. This track is incredibly beautiful, and I wish they had done more like this on the rest of the album, although I'm sure At the Gates has no desire to become a symphonic death metal band. The latter half reminds me of some of the most beautiful classical music I have ever listened to (I'm sure my labeling of this section as classical is incorrect, but I'm also sure that you, the reader, will understand this mistake).

The production on this album is much warmer, less mechanical, and less crisp than its predecessor, and while some have complained about this, I enjoy the production. At points, it can be muddy, and not crisp enough, which is a downfall. The band itself is spectacular, and this album features amazing playing by all members. The musical direction, especially evident on "Daggers of Black Haze", "The Colours of the Beast", and "A Stare Bound In Stone", is greatly appreciated, and makes me have hope for the future of At the Gates.
However, this album contains some filler, that doesn't present anything new in the world of At the Gates. This includes "A Labyrinth of Tombs", "Seas of Starvation" and "In Death They Shall Burn". Lyrically, this album is great, although certainly seems to be piggybacking off of some ideas from their last album, which can be seen by simply looking at the song titles from both albums side by side. There are a great deal of similarities.

I'm both impressed and disappointed with this album, and for that reason I am giving it a 7.0/10.

Sleep - The Sciences (Album Review)

The strangest thing happened on April 20th. I was sitting in the library on campus, ready to leave and go home for the day, but first I felt the need to listen to "Dragonaut", for whatever reason. It was 4/20 after all and I love me some Sleep. I went on Spotify and searched for Sleep only to find that they had released The Sciences, their first album in nearly two decades, without any sort of announcement. Seeing that a new Sleep album existed alone deemed it impossible for me to go home without listening to the album. And so I did, twice in one sitting.
I shouldn't need to introduce Sleep, but I will. Sleep are a critical stoner/doom metal band that are known for infusing a sound akin to Black Sabbath with actual marijuana leaves. I knew that Sleep was going to release a new album some time this year, and while I was looking forward to it, I had my worries. For example, I did not know how Sleep was going to fare with a more modern production sound, as the massive analog sound was part of what made Holy Mountain so spectacular. I also had concerns with drum sound, as this is Jason Roeder's first album with the band. I think drumming is often overlooked in many stoner bands, and some doom bands, yet Sleep has always had spectacular drum work, courtesy of former drummer Chris Hakius, who retired from music entirely. Perhaps my final and most relevant concern was simply that it was a comeback album from a twenty year hiatus in recording music. A lot can happen in twenty years. Comeback albums can be either underwhelming and lead one to wish that a group had never reformed (Illud Divinum Insanus, I'm talking about you), or may be spectacular and show some sort of growth in the time off (Monotheist, At War With Reality, or even Black Gives Way to Blue).

However, Sleep's new album certainly deserves to be in the second category, as The Sciences does everything I could possibly ask of Sleep in 2018. The album starts off with an instrumental intro, which takes its title from the title of the album. This intro doesn't really add much, but it certainly makes you antsy to hear something significant, teasing some guitar work from Matt Pike. After the introduction lies the first real song, "Marijuanaut's Theme", which certainly sets the mood for the rest of the album. Riffy, groovy, and thick, this track is infectious and contains many references to Tony Iommi, which are always welcome. This song features a bass solo, which is nothing short of one of the most fitting bass solos I have ever heard. Al's bass tone is one of my favorite bass tones of all time, both in Sleep and in Om. It's so massively laced in the mix that it's impossible to ignore and serves as a crucial part of Sleep's sound, on this album and previous records. Another interesting factor of this song is the use of a layered guitar solo by Matt Pike, where the layers are easily discernible and compliment each other. I absolutely adore this technique and feel that Pike puts it to use perfectly. The drums on this track carry weight, perhaps more weight than I expected, but are not as prominent in the mix as I would hope they would be. This is rather constant throughout the album spare a few points.
The next track is "Sonic Titan", which Sleep has been performing live for years. However, I can't help but feel that this studio version is much better than the versions I have heard live, which is another point in favor of this album. This song is much more hypnotizing, more psychedelic than the first, and once again features a spectacular layered guitar solo. The interaction between the bass and guitar parts really impress me on this track, especially during the guitar solo. It all sounds so flawlessly crafted, with the exception being the lack in power of the drums, yet I do feel that this track is much better than the last in that regard.
"Antarcticans Thawed" is interesting because the main riff isn't really much of a riff at all, but really two chords. However, the way that these chords are spaced out and bounce off of the bass playing really makes the section behind the first verse sound much more complex than it actually is. The guitar tone, as always, is impeccable. Matt Pike, both in Sleep and in High on Fire, has always had a spectacular, vintage sounding tone that is the result of a Gibson Les Paul and a hell of a lot of Orange amps. The lyrical content of this song is interesting, as it explores Arctic, seafaring themes. This is certainly the most doom-like, slowest song on the album, also being the longest, clocking in slightly past the 14 minute mark. The guitar solo at around the ten minute mark is, unlike the previous few on this album, only a single track comes out even in the mix with the bass and drums. This solo is perhaps the best I have ever heard from Pike, and I find myself listening to the solo by itself much more often than I have most other solos on the album. It is icy and desolate, and certainly fits right in with the overall atmosphere provided by both the lyrics and the music. The relationship between the story told by the lyrics and the music itself are impeccable on this track, if not some of the best I have ever heard from Sleep.
"Giza Butler" contains many references to Black Sabbath, most notably in the name, a play on Geezer Butler's name. Certainly the most catchy song on the album, with Al Cisneros' vocal delivery reaching a peak on this album (it was great on other tracks, but done best here). The album starts out with a rather psychedelic section, perhaps one of the more unique pieces of the album. The lyrics of this song are infectious, particularly "The pterodactyl flies again/O'er emerald fields", which I swear I will have written as my epitaph (or simply written in a bio on social media, which is much less extreme than the former option). Every time that I listen to this song, I can't help but chime in with "Marijuana is his light and his salvation".
"The Botanist", the closing track, is certainly the most progressive song on the album, featuring an acoustic backing with lead parts being played throughout the track. Given how this song is framed, I feel the drum mixing is most appropriate on this song. This song features another excellent solo from Matt Pike, amidst a song that is almost entirely composed of guitar solos. Its a fitting, moody end to the album, leading to the close with a section composed of quiet, desolate guitar wails and a constant bass rhythm, and finally closing with guitar wails that fade into silence.

The production on this album, in regards to guitar, bass, and vocals, is nearly perfect. I can't think of any moment where I would change any part of any of these elements, in terms of volume, effects, or mixing. However, as previously mentioned, the drums are a small issue. The drums don't pack the necessary punch, but rather just seem quiet and reserved. While there are standout moments, like on "Antarcticans Thawed" and on the ending of "The Botanist", I feel that the actual drums themselves, not the cymbals, are far too quiet. Jason Roeder is an amazing drummer and has displayed his talents greatly with Neurosis, but can't help but feel that he is either being held back or is holding himself back, for whatever reason on this album. That being said, this, oddly enough, doesn't take much away from my enjoyment of the album. Another minor complaint is that two of the songs were written during the writing of Dopesmoker, "Sonic Titan" and "Antarcticans Thawed", meaning that there are only a few songs that are entirely new material, yet, again, this doesn't really take away from the album itself as a work of art. Sleep managed to keep their essential sound even with the use of a more modern production, with various band members bringing in elements from their other bands and projects: Pike's High on Fire, Cisneros' Om, and Roeder's Neurosis. With this trio of excellent musicians and the superb album they have put out, Sleep have solidified their place again the monolithic leader of stoner/doom metal, and have put themselves forth as relevant in their release of such new, excellent material.

9.0/10

Breaking Benjamin - Ember (Album Review)

Perhaps some of my best childhood memories involve listening to Breaking Benjamin and playing Halo 2. Thus, Breaking Benjamin will always have a soft spot in my heart. There is something so likable about some of their material, and while I don't necessarily think that they have ever reinvented the wheel, they are definitely much more interesting than anything else going on in modern rock (Five Finger Death Punch should stop making music). I really appreciate a great deal of their older material, mainly their first and second albums, Saturate and We Are Not Alone, but most of that is probably nostalgia.
I have heard the two lead singles for Ember - "Red Cold River" and "Feed the Wolf" - on my local mainstream station many times in the past few months and was honestly shamelessly incredibly excited. Breaking Benjamin is certainly my mainstream rock guilty pleasure, so to hear them actually using some interesting harmonies and different production certainly got me excited. I was happy to hear some singles that were heavy and not... sappy. I hate the sappy, wimpy emotional choruses that Breaking Benjamin songs often contain, especially present in song "Angels Fall".

These two singles just happen to be the first few songs on the album (after a meaningless intro track). I really appreciate what these songs did with the use of unclean vocals at certain points, which Ben has done in the past, but he actually uses them more often on these two songs than I think I have ever heard him do before. At the same time, he also uses some interesting harmonizing clean vocals that he has also used before, but never to this extent. These two singles were truly excellently produced as well, as can be expected by a band with this kind of budget, yet the production was above that of many of their peers in the pool of radio rock mediocrity. The mixing was excellent, with the bass being audible and present, guitar tone being on point, and drums having the right amount of punch needed to support the rest of the band. The music - in terms of composition - doesn't really push any boundaries, but that's not really expected with singles anyhow.
The next song, "Tourniquet" keeps this track record up, with a great chorus and interesting lead-rhythm guitar play, something I loved about old Breaking Benjamin but haven't really noticed since Aaron Fink left the band. I like this song a lot, with it being one of my favorites from the album.
"Psycho" starts off great, but then goes into about a half-sappy chorus that doesn't bother me nearly as much as the atrocious lyrics. I know Breaking Benjamin is known to be repetitive with topics and lyrics, but for Christ's sake, "Into the hollow I let go / I see the darkness close in / Into the silence I become / I am the faith forsaken" is the most worthless combination of words I have ever read. At this point, I will take anything over anything that features "silence" or "darkness" or "hollow". That being said, this song does have redeeming factors in its instrumental elements. This band does have a problem with ripping riffs from itself, or simply rearranging older riffs in order to fertilize the soil that cultivates their new riffs, which is evident in this song.
The next track "The Dark of You", is even worse. This one is quite sappy, quite quiet, and once again features pretty horrible lyrics.
"Let go / When all has come to life / We live, we breathe, we die / They call me to the light / Forever lost in time / With every dream we find / We feed, we burn, we lie / The fall of humankind
The everlasting light"
YIKES.
"Down" is pretty much Breaking Benjamin by the numbers: pretty harmless and repetitive, half sap/ half heavy. Not much to be said about this one, except that the repetitive lyrics strike again. Ben mentions being buried alone, which made me realize how much this man is obsessed with either being buried or just the word bury. Here are some examples:
"Failure" : "We bury the sunlight"
"Feed the Wolf" : "Bury me in the cold light"
"Bury Me Alive" : .... "Bury me alive"  duh?
"Down" : "Faceless and buried alone"
Keep in mind, all of these were exclusively from this album and the last.
Ben seems to be obsessed with other words as well, such as "light", "cold", "life", "broken", "bleed" and "crawl".
There goes my childhood.

"Torn in Two" is not bad. Kinda repetitive in its structure, but one of the better songs on this album. Again, Ben mentions some of his words, perhaps quite humorously, one of the lines is "Broken, I crawl back to life". The album, solely based on the lyrics, gets to be kind of laughable at this point. The music is solid, perhaps the only redeeming factor, as Ben isn't even using any of those interesting vocal techniques earlier mentioned. I do like the way he sings "two" however, kind of a random element to point out, but I'm really trying to stay positive here guys.
"Bleed" makes me furious, solely because of the opening riff. This riff is nearly identical to a riff from Love and Death's debut album, the opening riff from "Watching the Bottom Fall". Taking into consideration that Jason helped produce Love and Death's album, this is understandable, but still not excusable. I can understand ripping off a riff from your own band, but this really seems to be recycling in the worst kind of way.
"Save Yourself" is below average and contains more lyrics about dying. A fun noodley riff is present, yet this just sounds like something I have heard before.
"Close Your Eyes" is decent. I like the near-end song breakdown, as it definitely throws a wrench in their formulaic strong structure, but this is offset by "hold on, just hold on" being a key portion of the chorus, when Ben was crooning about holding on two songs before in "Torn in Two". They don't even reincorporate these ideas in an interesting way, they just reuse them shamelessly. It's kind of pathetic.
"Vega" the instrumental outro, is one of the most interesting songs on the album. If the entire album sounded like this instrumental outro, I would dig it.

I was really looking forward to this album, but it fell victim to cliches, repetitive lyrics, boring composition, and no sense of direction. I enjoyed the heavier direction, production, and mixing, as well as the first three songs, but that's about it.
3.9/10

Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name (Album Review)

I know that it has been quite awhile since I have written a review and I firmly believe that there is no better album to get me back to the swing of things than this release. I don't say that because it will be difficult to review or that it is easy to pick apart, but rather that it is very easy to praise. I can assure you that when I compile my album of the year list at the end of this year, this album will surely find its way on there. I am sure that all of those close to me are tired of hearing about this album, but I am nowhere near tired of listening to it.

I first discovered Rivers of Nihil back in 2015 with their release Monarchy. I quickly fell in love with that album, with "Sand Baptism" being one of my favorite songs of that year. I then stumbled on to their first album, The Conscious Seed of Light, released in 2013, which I did not like nearly as much as Monarchy but still liked nonetheless. I had always appreciated the band, but more of with occasional listening rather than true obsession. Little did I know, in 2015, that the band I discovered because of a silly video with a man in a sun costume would release one of the greatest progressive death metal albums of the decade. I became extremely excited for this release upon listening to the first single released from this album "The Silent Life". My excitement was furthered by "A Home", the next single released and one of my favorite songs off of the album.

Where Owls Know My Name is a journey. It is an entire listening experience and I would highly recommend setting aside time in your day to enjoy this album. Starting with the clean, soft intro track "Cancer/Moonspeak", I was intrigued. This track contains clean vocals, a first for Rivers, a bass track and keyboards. This track, like most intro tracks, is rather unimportant. The next song up is "The Silent Life", which starts off with a unique, almost dissonant guitar riff and exceptional bass work. This quickly transitions into the main riff for the album, which will get stuck in your head worse than "Poker Face" would have back in 2009. Thank you Brody Uttley and Jonathan Topore for bringing this riff into existence. Lead vocalist Jake Dieffenbach's unique death growls come in, with the song progressing to a bridge next. Around the three minute mark, however, this song takes a turn that many tech-death bands do not bother to take- a slow mid-section with a saxophone solo that blends so seamlessly one forgets they are listening to tech-death at all. This mid-section takes you to a different realm, then you are brought back to reality at around the four minute and twenty second mark, where the guitar solo flawlessly transitions into an extremely heavy, blaring section. More saxophone is played, this time with this grindy, heavy riffing, but then the song is brought full circle, with the main riff being brought back.

The progression in this song alone illustrates the complexity of this band. Its transitions, progression, and overall flow are flawlessly executed. Should I even bother doing a track by track, if this song represents what this band has to offer so well? Yes, because this album has so much more to offer. The next song, "A Home" contains a less progressive, stand-out structure, but is much more catchy. The chorus of this song is extremely catchy, a statement often not said about any sort of death metal, especially not tech-death. This song contains clean vocals by bassist Adam Biggs - who also provides backing death growls in the chorus - in the bridge of the song. The bass work on this song is exceptional, as well as the drumming by new drummer Jared Klein, who is absolutely insane behind the kit. This is especially noticeable during the chorus of the song.

The next song on the album is "Old Nothing", which definitely has the band showing that these clean vocals and saxophones do not necessarily mean that they are getting any softer. This song contains some of the best guitar work on the album and guitar tones that remind me of Fallujah on their most recent album, Dreamless.
 One time I read that Rivers of Nihil were like a more technical Fallujah, but did not come anywhere close to the level of atmosphere that Fallujah contained on their albums. I hope whoever wrote that comment (on a YouTube video many years ago) listens to the next song on Where Owls Know My Name, "Subtle Change (Including the Forest of Transition and Dissatisfaction Dance)" and then tries to keep the same opinion. This song contains incredible atmosphere, especially with the section that could be considered the chorus. This song also contains an interesting, two retro-inspired organ solos, two guitar solos (the second of which is incredible), and another saxophone solo. This is one of my favorite songs on the album and has a lot to offer, but actually contains the only problem I have with the entire album. Around the two minute and thirty five second mark, when the keyboard solo erupts into the first guitar solo, the guitar tone is harsh and unappealing in comparison to the smooth keyboard solo previously heard. Otherwise, this song is flawless and features an excellent section that is reminiscent of black metal in its midsection, particularly Emperor, with the hyper-saturated keyboards. This section is much appreciated, coming from the fact that I am a massive Emperor fan. All of that being said, this is certainly the most multi-faceted song on the album and undoubtedly Rivers' most ambitious.

Next up is the instrumental interlude "Terrestria III: Wither", which sounds like it could come right out of a video game soundtrack, particularly the most recent Doom. On every album, Rivers has an instrumental "Terrestria" track, each with its own subtitle. "Terrestria III" contains industrial influences, with the use of strings and a guitar solo. To be honest, the members of Rivers of Nihil could make an entire side project out of industrial-influenced instrumental music like this and I would fully support it. Hell, I would fund the production of the album if need be.
After this interlude is "Hollow", which is by far the most straightforward song on this album and the most like Rivers of Nihil's past material. Next is "Death is Real", which I believe is certainly the best display of the quality of production of this album. Listening to the intro of this song in my car blew me away, almost literally. It is consisted of loud, massive guitars playing single chords in a linear fashion, but perhaps best displays the excellent production of this album. The guitars sound so powerful on this song, the bass is prominent and a key player, and the vocals are monstrous. Near the end of the song is a tapping bass solo with some synths that is incredibly pleasing to the ears.
Next is the title track, which is like a combination of "A Home" and "The Silent Life", but still a standout track (aren't they all?) nonetheless. This is followed by the outro to the album, "Capricorn/Agoratopia", a wonderful track that does exactly what a final song should do, wrap all of the sounds up in a wrapping paper and light them on fire. It's a fitting ending, as the song slows down with some saxophone for the final minute and a half or so.

The production on this album, as previously mentioned, is phenomenal. The guitars are percussive and direct, the bass is beautiful, and the drumming is organic. This is one of the best produced albums I have ever heard, and certainly Rivers of Nihil's best produced (and perhaps best in general) album to date. Apart from the brief hiccup previously mentioned, I cannot think of a point where this album falters. There are no weak transitions, no moments where the vocals are too low in the mix, no moments where I feel the bass is left out. I am utterly blown away by how well this album is produced, as it sets a standard for future album releases within the genre that now must be up-kept. The dynamic range of this album is less than some, but still sufficiently impressive. To be honest, a greater dynamic range would not make me enjoy this album any more. The atmosphere on this album is spectacular, especially among other death metal bands. The use of saxophone is not overbearing and is welcome, especially with one of my favorite released from last year, White Ward's Futility Report containing saxophone in almost every song and the band containing a full-time saxophonist.

The subtle intricacies of this album, such as the use of keyboards or synths in some places, or clean lead guitar notes played in others, is really what puts this band on another level for me. Whenever bands include these sorts of elements, I go crazy for it. The guitars on this album are so layered, so flawless, and so expertly calculated that is has me concerned that they will not be able to top it in the future.
I sure hope they do.

I am giving this album a 10/10. with the brief hiccup I mentioned truly not being considerable in my final opinion of the album. This album is a modern classic. A true game-changer for progressive music, a sign that metal is a constantly evolving genre that will hopefully never become stagnant. This album has a little bit of everything, from organs to saxophones to violins to blaring downtuned guitars and growling, this is a diverse masterpiece.

The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir (Album Review)

Coma Noir has definitely received the most plays out of any album I have reviewed thus far. To be frank, this album has serious album of the year list potential. I don't normally like to just throw that around, especially when we are not even a quarter of the way through the year yet, but I'm very impressed with this release. I had heard excellent reviews of the previous work of The Atlas Moth, but before listening to this album had no experience with the band.

Coma Noir doesn't really have a specific genre (a recurring theme in albums I have been reviewing of late), but I would place it in the same realm as Neurosis, primarily sludge with a wide array of diverse sounds placed throughout. The second song on the album, "Last Transmission from the Late, Great Planet Earth" seems to channel both Converge and Coheed and Cambria, a statement I really never thought I would make. The primary guitar riff, as well as the lead parts played along with it, almost perfectly combine the best work of the two bands mentioned above. The title track, on the other hand, brings the band towards more of an extreme metal sound, particularly with the quality of harsh vocals. That being said, this album does seem to be very chorus heavy, with "Galactic Brain" having a clean chorus that anyone would want to sing along to.

I think that the first half of the album really shines, with perhaps the most diverse track album being "The Streets of Bombay", which contains clever guitar riffs and the most dynamic range on the album. "Galactic Brain", as mentioned before, is another standout track in the first half of the album. The main riff of "Galactic Brain" seems to be greatly influenced by some of the riffs off of Epicus Doomicus Metallicus by Candlemass, particularly "Solitude". "Actual Human Blood" contains a section that reminds me of a sped up Pallbearer, starting around the two minute and thirty-four second mark, with a rhythm guitar and a lead guitar playing two harmonizing progressive sections that sounds rather amazing.  Every song in this half is rather distinct and unforgettable, really incomparable to much else being released so far this year.
The first half of the second half of the album (I know, a bit confusing), starting with "Smiling Knife", is a pinch less compelling. "Smiling Knife" reminds me too much of a song that would come off one of Converge's last two albums for me to really think it is as good as any of the songs off of the first half. "Furious Gold" is also by no means a bad song, but has a great deal of Mastodon influence, which is especially noticeable around the two minute and fifteen second mark in this song. The main riff to this song is, to be frank, heavy as hell, and I really appreciate this song simply for that fact. This song also has some great lead/mini-solo points, but these points also seem to be seeping with Brent Hinds influence. I think that the best piece of the entire song is perhaps the shortest, which starts around the three minute and fifteen second mark. This section contains a distant, reverb heavy guitar passage over a thundering bass and drums that reminds me of a psychedelic Behemoth.

This brings me to the worst song on the album, "The Frozen Crown", which has a sort of camp to it that can somewhat be compared to some of the work of the great Devin Townsend Project, but not really at all. The general production on this song, with its melodic parts and heavy use of synths, reminds me of all of the worst parts of DTP.  I wouldn't even mind this song if it didn't have the "Hey do you ever wonder, if your brain's been disconnected, it would say I'm disconnected?" section in it, which is repetitive and makes me cringe. This album would definitely be around a 9.5/10 if it weren't for this terrible, cringeworthy section. The lead section at around the three minute and forty second mark, as well the echoing "BAH"'s in the background at the three minute mark remind me of a worse "March of the Poozers" off of DTP's Z2.
The last song on the album, "Chloroform", started out as one of favorites of the album, with the clear death-doom sound during the first three minutes (think Paradise Lost), with slow drums and slow, booming guitars, but falls flat around the three and a half minute mark. This section contains a clean sung section which starts with the normal clean vocals that repeat throughout the album, but quickly goes into this very strange, extremely deep line that is rather indescribable without simply hearing it for yourself. Its really, really, stupid however, and when L. Saunders from Angry Metal Guy described it as a "brief , goofy vocal hiccup", I think he found the best words to put to this section. The rest of the song after this section is not bad, but it unfortunately does not recover.

I adore the production on this album. Its clear, in your face, and direct, but it isn't too loud. The guitar tone of all three guitarists really shines and the bass is clear and consistent. The drumming of David Kush is strong and potent, but is perhaps the least inventive element of the band, but I think that is simply because of where the band finds itself musically. It resides in the middle of all of the various, psychedelic, hardcore, and extreme metal influence that this album takes in. The psychedelic influence is strong and unique, creating an interesting presence on an album that could most traditionally be described as sludge. I really appreciate both the high, screeching harsh vocals Stavros Giannopoulos, which find themselves in the middle of Travis Ryan from Cattle Decapitation and Jacob Bannon from Converge. I have heard that some find these vocals monotonous, but I wholeheartedly disagree. The clean vocals, while less unique, definitely do add some depth to the music. Some of my favorite moments on the album are clean vocal passages on "The Streets of Bombay" and "Galactic Brain".

Apart from the few moments when I really don't like this album, I really LOVE it. I have listened to this album probably over a dozen times in the past week and really can't stop listening. I love the lyrics and the subject matter of this record, as well as the experimental, multifaceted approach. For some odd reason, the progression of the album and the degree to which this group experiments with their sound reminds me of Anaal Nathrakh, who I am anxiously awaiting a new album from.
I'm going to give this album an 8.5/10, as I really love it, but "The Frozen Crown" prevents me from giving it any higher score.

Beach House - Lemon Glow (Song Review)

I shouldn't love Beach House as much as I do. I was introduced to this duo back in 2015, when I first started to branch out of music that wasn't just guitars and screaming (I really love guitars and screaming, though). Bloom and Depression Cherry remain my favorite Beach House albums. These albums remind me, for no apparent reason of time spent on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, or more broadly, of summer in general. It's particularly odd because I don't think I've ever listened to a Beach House album repeatedly during summertime, nor have I ever listened to Beach House while in Ocean City. Strange how the mind works sometimes.

I like "Lemon Glow" a little too much. It's a more forward, potent dream pop song with a heavy dose of eerie synths and pleasant, albeit also eerie vocals of Victoria Legrand. It's not pop in the traditional sense by any means; if you think it is even remotely comparable to Katy Perry, please give it a listen.  I think its one of my favorite songs from Beach House, as it is Beach House doing Beach House best. It almost reminds me of some songs off of Ulver's last album The Assassination of Julius Caesar, particularly "Nemoralia" and "Transverberation". The synths sounds like they could have been played on the same keyboard, and the drums near the end of the song remind me greatly of Ulver, to the point that I legitimately thought that "So Falls the World" was about to play.

This is my first song review, so my scoring cannot be compared to my album reviews, seeing as how an album is an entirely different medium than a song. I'm going to give this song a 9.0/10 and am really looking forward to the coming Beach House album.