ksck85

[ksck85]

Thoughts On Music From 2016

2016 took away David Bowie, Prince, and a bunch of other musical legends. This sucked, but it didn’t stop a ton of really good music from being released. This will be my annual list of albums I loved the most, but I’ve realized that for me, ranking them in a linear fashion is not the proper way to convey how i felt about each album. Just as the year has seasons, I also listen to music in seasons. Something I love in the beginning of the year isn’t going to sound as fresh and exciting later on, when I’ve latched onto another band or genre. So instead of counting down I’m going to just write organically about the music I listened to throughout the year.

Leaving off from last year’s blog, I was still extremely excited for ‘Gore’ by Deftones. The first single, “Prayers/Triangles” introduced a new sound. It was much more focused on the atmospheric, Cure-esque tones that have bridged their raw, heavy roots. Unfortunately, most of the songs on ‘Gore’ don’t match that balance of intensity and beauty. “Hearts/Wires,” “Xenon,” and “Phantom Bride” still hold up solidly... 

...Around this same time, Fallujah (who made my 2014 list) released��'Dreamless.’ I jammed this constantly for a couple weeks. I could not get enough of this album. I thought it not only followed 2014′s “The Flesh Prevails” but expanded on it. The production is cleaner, the songs are masterfully constructed (again), and it’s heavier than ever. They also continue to display amazing musicianship that ranges from face-melting technicality (“Scar Queen”) to layers of tranquility (“Dreamless”). This was definitely one of the finest releases of the year.

Every year there seem to be a few bands that come out of nowhere, or return from a long absence, or frankly, just intersect with my attention span for the first time. Enter Cult of Luna, with their Julie Christmas collab “Mariner.” To be clear, I was down with Cult of Luna before, but hadn’t really gone deep on any full length. I caught the first single, “The Wreck of S.S. Needle,” and decided to plow through the album when it was released; Another one I couldn’t stop listening to. Julie Christmas’ vocals haunt as they weave between screams of C.O.L.’s vocalist (yeah, not going to google and pretend I know his name), and the 5 songs dominate over 50 minutes...

...Then there is Thrice, a band I am intimately familiar with. ‘To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere’ is their first album since 2011, and the first one I paid attention to since 2005′s ‘Vheissu’ honestly. It took a few listens, but I eventually fell in love with this one. Dustin has an amazing touch with his scruffy folk voice, and can belt out choruses like on opening track “Hurricane” like nobody else. Dustin’s always had a way with words, and his songwriting prowess is on full display in “The Long Defeat” which is the most beautiful song on the album...

...And speaking of intersecting my attention span for the first time, where did this Gojira album come from?  I think Gojira has been suggested to me by Spotify as similar to just about every metal band I love, but I ignored them so many times my eyes started to glaze over. Until this year, when I said “I should probably just listen to this one song woa it’s actually good!” ‘Magma’ was a surprisingly (for me) great album. Following a progressive metal formula, they rely on big rhythms from guitar and drums and arc chanting vocals on top of them. The drums are the highlight, and they were recorded as such. This album flows through the drum kit, with the guitars following it’s lead. “Pray” is the best track and I am so glad I gave this band a chance.

The Summer months came, and I set my music from Spring to a simmer, sprinkling in some hip hop here and there. I find it harder to write about hip hop albums, but Kanye’s ‘The Life of Pablo’ was probably my favorite. A little bit of Schoolboy Q (Dope Dealer, doh!) and Aesop Rock were fun listens as well. While this was going on I began to heavily anticipate 2 albums  Opeth (!!!) had announced ‘Sorceress’, the next chapter in their rebirth as prog behemoths, and Meshuggah revealed that they were about to unleash 'The Violent Sleep of Reason' on an unsuspecting public. ‘Sorceress’ continued to preach the virtues of prog and justify Opeth’s move away from death metal. Mikael Åkerfeldt continues to develop, tweak, and improve the band’s sound and he keeps getting better with age. The title track “Sorceress” brings in some of the heavier sounds that some Opeth fans surely miss, but transforms them to align with where the band is today. It’s a pretty seamless transition, and it continues on “The Wilde Flowers.” My 2 favorite tracks are “Strange Brew” and the psuedo closer “Era.” “Strange Brew” blends psychedelic with their classic prog, building to a guitargasm climax at the end. Not much more to say, my favorite band put out another fine album.

I hardly had a chance to digest that Opeth record when Meshuggah’s arrived. Wow. Every Meshuggah album pummels, but this one felt heavier. The opener “Clockworks” contorts my mind. Thomas Haake cannot seriously be a human being with the way he plays the kit. I don’t normally put on Meshuggah for the melody or finesse, but I found both at the end of “Stifled” into the beginning of “Nostrum.”

Continuing metal’s resurgence in 2016, Insomnium! Man, I forgot about this band until I stumbled on one of the new tracks. ‘Winter’s Gate’ ended up being maybe my favorite metal release of the year. It’s pretty straightforward swedish melodic metal, but I was totally into it. This was my most air-guitared album of the year. 

After all that metal, I dug hard into Jimmy Eat World’s ‘Integrity Blues’ and determined that they are still one of the best hook-writing bands still out there. This album came with a purpose, like they wanted to prove a point. Definitely one of the best of 2016. The first time I heard “Pass the Baby” I was caught off guard. I didn’t know what to think. Is Jimmy a blues-rock band now? No, they just figured out how to throw a sick riff into all that beautiful melody. Nice! “Through” has to be the laziest song title ever, but it's also somehow catchier than the de facto hit “Sure and Certain.” 

By late November and early December, I’m rarely thinking too much about new music. It’s a weird time to release stuff. Do we consider it a 2016 release even though everyone already made their ‘best of’ lists? Anyway, good to see NIN making music again. ‘Not the Actual Events’ is an improvement over the disappointing ‘Hesitation Marks’ from 2014, but it’ll be overshadowed by the other surprise Trent dropped on Christmas: ‘The Fragile: Deviations 1′ which is only available on vinyl :(. The Fragile is one of my favorite albums of all time. Holds a very, very special place in my heart. For once I was actually wishing I was a vinyl collector. I did make my way through a youtube bootleg, and hearing all those songs as instrumentals is such a cool experience. The bonus unreleased stuff was great too, especially the alternate intro to “We’re In This Together Now.”

And that’s pretty much it. You made it. I can’t believe you actually read all that. In case you didn’t, here’s a running list of the albums I mentioned:

Deftones - Gore

Fallujah - Dreamless

Cult of Luna/Julie Christmas - Mariner

Thrice - To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere

Gojira - Magma

Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo

Opeth - Sorceress

Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep Of Reason

Insomnium - Winter’s Gate

Jimmy Eat World - Integrity Blues

NIN - Not The Actual Events & The Fragile: Deviations 1

[ksck85]

2015: my favorite albums

I had a list of bands who were releasing music in 2015 that I anticipated and expected good things from. Sylosis, Ratatat, The Sword, and Deftones headlined that list. That list ended up largely disappointing (the former 3 put out albums I just wasn’t as into as I thought I’d be, and Deftones ended up pushing their release to early 2016), and instead I ended up really loving some stuff from bands that aren’t in my wheelhouse normally. It’s good to branch out now and then, and 2015 was definitely a branch out year.

Between The Buried And Me - Coma Ecliptic

This album came out and I ignored it for a couple months. BTBAM had been one of those bands I sort of moved on from. I still revisit their early stuff (Silent Circus, Alaska, Colors), but had gotten bored by recent releases. Anyway, I decide to give this album a chance for some reason, and it just hit me. They aren’t doing anything new or groundbreaking here. It’s just really well done. They dove head first into the prog metal genre a while back, but this one feels more composed, more simplified (as much as prog can be “simple”), more refined. It’s a great listen all the way through, and I rarely got lost or confused by any of it. Standout tracks include “The Coma Machine” “King Redeem/Queen Serene” and the closer “The Velvet Room.”

The Story So Far - The Story So Far

Pop punk usually doesn’t catch my ear too often, but as soon as I hit play on the opening track “smile” I get a wave of anticipation. The feedbacking guitars and the syncopated taps on the drum rims draw me in, and when the chorus hits I’m just instantly sold. The best thing about this album is how important the guitar work is. I’m always a sucker for rhythm guitar that stands out, and their riffs are ALL rhythm. The intro to “Mock” is one of the catchiest guitar riffs I’ve heard in a while. I’m glad I gave this band a chance, as the rest of their catalog is solid (and even better in some cases). The one criticism is that the album as a whole loses steam in the last few tracks, but not enough to make me walk away from it. 

Lights Over Bridgeport - Trenches 

This band just keeps improving with each release, which is really difficult to do. I thought “Prayers and Eulogies” was an awesome step forward, and wondered how Trenches would sound against it, and it’s just better in every way. The opening song “Restless” begins with an energy I haven’t heard from these guys before. “True North” is a lovely anthem that can’t help but lodge itself in your head. Such a catchy chorus on “Almost.” The closer “Leaving In July” is a beautifully mature song. There’s so much restraint and simplicity in the way they write their music that is just amazing. The moment right after the first chorus where you hear 2 hard down beats and the drums make you think the riff is going to be stretched out for a couple bars, but then they just cut it off and return to the verse riff. Brilliant stuff. They don’t overindulge or fall in love with any one part of their songs to risk derailing the whole piece. Can’t wait to hear what’s next for these guys. 

Strung Out - Transmission.Alpha.Delta

Like most Strung Out fans, I never really connected with the albums after Exile In Oblivion. I considered that to be the pinnacle of the Strung Out experience. Transmission.Alpha.Delta showed me that this band still writes amazing music. Again, this was an example of a band just dominating in the style they are known best for. That trademark guitar riffing in the opener just sucks me back in and reminds me how good these guys still are. The highest praise I can give this album is that it doesn’t lose steam. Every track has something I love, and the album closes beautifully on “Westcoasttrendkill.” It was really nice to have these guys back in my ears.

Pentimento - I, No Longer

Unexpected favorite of the year. My first listen through this album - and my first introduction to this band - I came away impressed but also curious. Most of the songs were mellower and slower than I usually like, but at the same time I didn’t really mind. I was told that this was a conscious difference from the previous release, so I listened through that and found myself really appreciating the slower pace and the focus on really, really good songwriting on I, No Longer. A song like “My Solution is in the Lake” would usually never hit my radar, but it’s one of the best songs of 2015. Of course there are a handful of quicker songs like “Sink or Swim” and “Slow But Sure” sprinkled throughout. In a year that was pretty lacking from my go-to genre of Metal, bands like Pentimento filled in nicely and helped expand my tastes a bit further.  

BONUS LATE-COMER:

Better Off - Milk

It’s almost unfair to put this album on my list because I literally heard it for the first time 5 days into 2016, but I can’t help it. IT’S SO GOOD. This album takes you through several environments while still maintaining a cohesiveness that keeps it from breaking into a collection of individual songs. The general vibe reminds me of late 90s post-rock like Failure, Hum, Quicksand, etc. There are poppier moments on the first few songs, punkier moments in the middle, and sludgy moments near the end. “Bella Disorder” and “Spinning” are definitely my favorite 2 songs. They go so well back to back, and both have massive energy despite slower tempos. Also, the album artwork is just so fitting. The most delicious quadruple-decker PB&J I’ve ever seen. What would make it better? A cold glass of MILK.

OTHER STUFF:

As mentioned at the top, The Sword’s High Country didn’t do much for me, but they definitely pulled off that shift to a more classic rock sound. A handful of a songs on the record were good, but all in all just not quite enough. Ratatat returned with Magnifique, and I was intrigued by their first single “Cream on Chrome,” but the rest of the album didn’t live up to that song. Sylosis built a ton of hype for Dormant Heart and it was close to making the list, but it was a step down from their last album creatively. Counterparts released Tragedy Will Find Us and I loved listened to this album, but I didn’t spend enough time with it. Since most of their songs follow a similar tone and structure, it was difficult to distinguish track from track. It just kind of runs together. Definitely a solid album, though. I liked a lot from Doomtree’s All Hands, but there were a few duds that lost me on the album as a whole.

[ksck85]

My 7 Favorite Albums of 2014...

This is my first Tumblr experience. I've done Top 5 lists in the past but never had a comfortable home to post them, so here I am. Bumped the list up to 7 this year. Without further ado, these are the 7 albums of 2014 that I enjoyed most.

7. Black Crown Initiate - The Wreckage Of Stars

I had just discovered these guys' EP when shortly after I found out they were releasing a full length. First track "A Great Mistake" blew me away. This is what I wish Between the Buried and Me had become. Great progressive death metal sound with catchy, heavy riffs and brutal vocals. The clean singing doesn't detract for me, which is sometimes a deal-breaker with these types of bands. What stood out to me was just how punishing this band can be. They are technically brilliant and great songwriters, but they can really bring the pain on breakdowns. There is some serious vocal range on display, here. Mid-range screams are the norm throughout most of it, but the drop to guttural during select heavy parts. Standouts for me are the aforementioned Great Mistake, "The Human Lie Manifest" "The Malignant" and "Purge" 

6.  Soreption - Engineering The Void

Recency bias could have pushed this album off the list, as so many great albums came out later in the year, while this one was released early. I had to go back to this one to remind myself of how awesome it was and why it was in heavy rotation for several weeks after its release. Engineering The Void passes all of my criteria for what I look for in a good metal record; it's heavy, it's got great riffing that gets stuck in your head, and the production is fantastic. The crisp, crunchy guitars shred over precise, technical drumming, and brutal vocals. "Breaking the Great Narcissist" is one of my favorite metal songs of the year. That outro w/ the guitar solo is just.. my goodness. I love the slower tempo on "Utopia," and the title track that closes this album is absolutely brutal.

5. At The Gates - At War With Reality

A lot of people were disappointed with this album because it didn't meet lofty expectations. Not me. Sure, 'At War With Reality' doesn't forge new ground or ignite an entire sub-genre of metal the way 'Slaughter of the Soul' did when it came out, but this is At the Gates in their purest form, with impeccable precision and immaculate production. The production really is the key. On "Order From Chaos," they blend together layers of clean guitars and drums leading into the vocals. It's definitely the most progressive song on the record. I love the tempo changes of the drums in "Upon Pillars of Dust". I usually replay the first 40 seconds of that song several times it's so good. I think people are overlooking how good this album is. I wasn't expecting something new, I was expecting At the Gates to sound like At the Gates. They are still the undisputed kings of Swedish melodic death metal.

4. Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails 

Sometimes with more technical bands, their speed and precision can get lost on me. As impressive as it can be, I still need a hook of some sort to make it memorable. This band brings that to the table. 'The Flesh Prevails' is a brutal record, but it's beautiful, too. One of my favorite songs of the year, "Carved From Stone," stands out with the lead part wailing recklessly over the fast rhythm guitar & drums. Throughout the album there's this weird, moody atmosphere that peaks when you get to the interlude "Alone With You." The guitars take a breather in favor of female vocals and rolling waves of synth. It leads right into the almost ballad-like instrumental, "Allure." Just a stunningly beautiful stretch of music.

3. First Aid Kit - Stay Gold

Right around the end of Spring and the beginning of Summer, I fell in love. I was already familiar with First Aid Kit after 2012's The Lion's Roar and I was anticipating the new album after the lead single "My Silver Lining" was released. I could not take my ears away from the haunting sound of Johanna and Klara's perfectly harmonized vocals. I listened to this album for literally 2 weeks straight. I'm not kidding, I didn't listen to any other music except for First Aid Kit for 2 weeks. The absolute highlight of the album and my pick for song of the year is "Cedar Lane," which begins subtly w/ minimal instrumentation and then builds a beautiful chorus before ripping your heart out with the coda repeating the line "How can I break away from you?" It nearly brings me to tears. I'm not usually one to fall head over heels for folk music, but First Aid Kit is an outlier. 

2. Abysmal Dawn - Obsolescence

So this normally doesn't factor too much into how high I rate a particular album, but would you just look at that artwork for a second? Wow. I mean. Can't say that didn't play a role, but the music sure does speak for itself, too. This is old school death metal, and there is not a weak moment on this entire album. Every song rips my face off and keeps my attention. The writing is insane on "Devouring the Essence of God," The riff-work is divine on "Inanimate" (not to mention the best music video of 2014!). The production is just right for this style. Even the song titles are great. I would nominate "Loathed in Life - Praised in Death" for best song title of 2014. This album was suuuuuuper close to being #1 for me. This and the next album are basically 1a and 1b, but I put Abysmal Dawn #2 simply because #1 holds a special place in my heart.

1. Opeth - Pale Communion

I'm going to get this right out of the way: I'm an Opeth fanboi. Always have been, probably always will be. But I must confess when 2011's 'Heritage' came out, I wasn't that into it and was a little bummed by Opeth's shift away from heavy tunes to a more classic-prog-rock sound. 'Heritage' did eventually grow on me, but I still wasn't expecting to enjoy 'Pale Communion' as much as I did. If this is the kind of album they are capable of with their new sound, they can keep on proggin' because 'Pale Communion' is a masterpiece. Mikael Akerfeldt is a songwriting wizard, but I think even he had started to run out of things to say with heavy music, if only temporarily.

If 'Heritage' was an exploration, 'Pale Communion' is the maturation thereof. The opening track "Eternal Rains Will Come" begins with this groggy organ noodling around a syncopated rythm, and then they hit you with the guitars and it's like 'YES!' THIS is the sound I was hoping for. A song like "Elysian Woes" is perfect for showcasing Mikael's angelic singing voice. I loved "Goblin," a tribute to the old 70s prog band. One of the most daring and risky songs on the album (and I say daring and risky in the context of a metal band with metal fans writing classic rock tunes) is "The River" which begins with harmonized vocals that could have have been lifted straight off a CSNY record. The song meanders like a river flowing from the mouth, eventually getting faster and more robust and sounding a bit more Opeth-y by the end. Definitely one of the best songs they've written in YEARS.

I was fortunate enough to see them live in early December and even though they've got two of these "prog" albums in their catalog now, they still reach back and play heavy stuff live. The new stuff goes just fine with the old, despite the vast difference in style. It's all still OPETH.

Notable Songs & Albums That Didn't Make The Cut: 

Röyksopp's "The Inevitable End" was infectious, but it really tapers off after the first half. "Skulls" & "Monument (The Inevitable End Version)" are brilliant ... This may be unpopular, but I actually enjoyed the new In Flames record "Siren Charms." Say what you will about their evolution into pop-metal, but they can still write a damn good chorus ... Everytime I Die got my attention again with "From Parts Unknown" ... Aborted makes good death metal, even though I don't care for the shtick. "Cenobites" is a helluva track ... Mogwai's "Rave Tapes" was another example of me returning to a group I'd left behind years ago. I loved the track "Remurdered" from that release ... **UPDATE** totally blew it on Lantlôs, guys.. "Melting Sun" is a fantasic album, and one I completely overlooked. It might belong in this top 7 somewhere, but I didn't give it enough time, so it goes down here as a VERY honorable mention. Peace.