Keep of Kalessin - Reptilian

Here's a weird one. I first heard these Norwegians when I got their last album, Kolossus, as a gift shortly after its release. It struck me as an odd, but very good, modern black metal release. The arrangements were epic and the playing was intense, though not especially heavy. The production seemed to emphasize the song over the guitars, but it was still recognizably Black Metal, and after a few casual listens, I found myself digging in. Watching the accompanying DVD of the making of that record was illuminating... where you expect grim/serious black metal dudes to be behind the creation of such albums, these guys came off as... dorky. With this follow-up album, the dorkiness has come to the fore.

dragons up your ass

With Reptilian we've got an 8 song dragon-based concept album. If Blashryk registers a 4 out of 10 on the black metal nerdometer, this shit tips the scales. I'm pretty sure Kolossus was a vaguely conceptual record detailing the rise and fall of some kind of empire, whereas Reptilian follows the journey of a dude who taps into the "power of the dragon tower" (actual chorus refrain) to transform into a dragon. I think. Actually I think Keep of Kalessin have had dragon-themed imagery around for awhile, as the cover of Kolossus had a solitary reptile claw, presumably that of a dragon. It probably has to do with the fictional world of Earthsea, from which KoK draw their name. However, singing about dragons from what's essentially a young-adult fantasy series seems like something even Blind Guardian (whom I love) would balk at.

Imagery aside, the music has changed quite a bit as well. Guitarist and songwriter Obsidian C has always been a shredder. His is a distinct style, and he's been called on as a touring guitarist for Satyricon in the past. Here he steps into the limelight and fully embraces a slew of new power metal inspired techniques. Melodic black metal is nothing new, but the riffing on hand here is some kind of hybrid-riffing: a mixture of traditional tremolo-picking and the melodic gallop of bands like Stormwarrior (also highly recommended) and Helloween. And there are choruses. Melodically speaking, they're fairly strong. Nothing as egregious as the cheesy synth-driven melodies of Dimmu Borgir or other "corny" melodic black metallers. But the lyrics would make a dwarf blush. "Grant me the power of the dragon tower" is a tough sell when set against a black metal backdrop. It rankles the grim bits of your soul, and once you start squirming in your seat its hard to find that happy place that leads to truly inspired headbanging. The final track, at 14 minutes, is also a bit of a snore to get through. It could be 6 minutes shorter and I wouldn't mind.

That said, all is not bad. The guitar playing is uniformly excellent, and as mentioned, the melodies are strong. Had the band chosen darker subject matter this could have been a greater success at bridging two styles together. As it is, its more like a black metal record that power metal fans might like, rather than the reverse. But their ambition is certainly inspiring, and even if I might not be able to take it seriously, I'm sure I'll keep this in casual rotation for the summer.

 

Sepultura - Schizophrenia

The brutal truth keeps slapping me in the face: I don't have the time in my day, the focus required, or the fire in my belly to stay on top of this page as much as I'd like to. I'll stop trying to pretend I'll ever do this as a serious, frequently updated, or well-thought-out capital-b "Blog"... and just post about some shit I listened to, and what I thought of it. I imagine that'll mean a flurry of short posts then radio silence for a bit. So be it.

Good and ripping Brazilian thrash! If you ever research this album, say on metal-archives, you'll find countless mention of the "riff-tornados" contained within this early thrash/death beastie. And those other internerds are right: the riffs dominate, without a doubt. What strikes me about the early (read: good) period of Sepultura, is how much they anticipated the direction death metal would soon take. Sure, they were a thrash band, but the execution was more brutal than your typical thrashfest, in both riffing and vox. It's akin to the deathier bits on Reign in Blood, I guess, but it still feels heavier (blasphemy?), and to my ear, a bit closer to early Possessed and Death. The instrumental track "Inquisition Symphony" is amazing in that its by far the longest thing here, and even without any of Max's barked vocals, it simply plows onward without becoming boring. In fact, this is probably one of the best "riff-tornados" in all of thrash: it simply never lets up, thrashing and sawing from section to section, riff after riff, into riff-tornado history. Ah, the riff-tornado. Such a stupid expression reserved for an awesome creation.

I'm not a Sepultura diehard by any means -- my first exposure came through Chaos AD back when it came out, and I hated it then, and still dislike it now. And Roots may be a classic to some, but it ain't my bag, that's for sure. But the early 'thrash' period contains some stellar albums: Arise is one of the best thrash albums I've ever heard, Beneath the Remains is also very strong though I'm somewhat less familiar with it, and Schizophrenia belongs right alongside those seminal works. The sound isn't as pristine or as refined as they'd get later, but its a welcome trade-off for energy and brilliant riffing. Highly recommended.

Throbbing of the Skull

Sinus infections / head colds are pretty brutal. Millions of tiny germs working in concert to extinguish me. Bleh. Been exploring Nocturnus' The Key this morning but my head hurts too much for in-depth analytical bloggery. Quick summary: crazy blend of science fiction keyboards (and matching lyrics to boot) and thrashy old-school death, with just a bit of Cynic-reminiscent processed vocal madness. The first song reminded me of Skeletonwitch in a really weird way, but the rest was way more death metal. Good shit, brutal and weird.

Blasting: MASSACRE

Primitive death scratches such a particular itch. Upon first (and second) listen, I didn't get into Massacre. When I approach a new album I often run aground of my expectations: on the one hand are the high hopes based on contextual knowledge, but on the other, what my ears are physically accustomed to at the particular moment that I first hear the record. Perception of production suffers from this more than anything else. Old school death metal, and a lot of older metal in general, often suffers on first listen when juxtaposed against anything with 'modern heavy' production. Subtlety and nuance become more apparent on repeated listens. Unfortunately, much of our formative opinions are based on initial impact. In this case, the guitars sounded fizzy but not particularly punishing. This first misguided listen came immediately following an album I know inside out: Heartwork by Carcass, which sports a clean but crushing melodeath sound. The antithesis of From Beyond. Massacre's songwriting felt too simple in comparison, too generic. It wasn't HEAVY enough. Nothing leapt out and ate my face. My metal receptors weren't wired to receive the true thunder.

Skip a few months forward... my head full to the brim of tech-death, blackened jazz prog, epic power metal... an old school blast sounds perfect.

This past week in general I've been poring over old-school DM -- in anticipation of seeing Cannibal Corpse this Thursday, who, I'll admit are not one of my favorites on record (live they kill, this I know). Playing From Beyond at the tail-end capped off the run nicely. The riffs are straightforward but THEY ARE pummeling, the time signatures and drumming aren't overly complex, but the songs DO deliver. It's all about frame of mind. Its easy to see why vocalist Kam Lee is so revered... I was only familiar with his much-later Denial Fiend material (awesome, as with most anything on Ibex Moon!), but his voice with Massacre is the epitome of death-growl perfection. Its hard to wax descriptive about this particular brand of death metal when both its strength and weakness is its simplicity. If you like this sort of thing and are in the mood for it, it'll scratch that itch, no questions asked.

One thing in particular I love: creepy/cheesy intros, a perfect example appearing on "Chamber of Ages". While not instilling fear or dread in the way Massacre probably intended, I'll defend haunted-house synth-troductions to the end. They contribute immensely to the fun, and impart character simply by existing. When the bulk of an album is atonal, straightforward thrashing, a hint of melodic atmosphere in between songs goes a long way. The nostalgic factor also can kick up the enjoyment factor, while calling to mind the time/place that spawned the material in the first place. Reminds me of an old $30 skateboard of mine, adorned with a horned demon skull and requisite lizard crawling out of the eye socket. Evil by numbers. Fantastic.

My copy includes the Inhuman Condition EP, which marks a slight change of direction, but is of equal quality. The riffing feels a little cleaner, the songs are slightly longer, and there's a more pronounced lead guitar presence, whereas the bulk of From Beyond is rhythmic blasting. The Venom cover is fun, and I didn't realize that was actually Cronos singing until I looked it up. Oddly the combination of a traditional pre-death vocal with Rick Rozz's guitar made me think of Obituary. It's well worth the price of admission, along with the entire album as a whole.

REBIRTH

I was dusting the cobwebs from a forgotten list of bookmarks and found this sitting here. Sudden thought: why not resurrect an old page that died before its time? Any attempt at writing these days feels like a resurrection of its own anyhow. The previous post -- dating back a full 2 years -- was an awkward, extended joke: my head was in a different space, and the website I was writing for just before encouraged that kind of shit. I'll leave it up as a reminder of what and how not to write, as I proceed into new territory.

This post is already feeling a bit dry in tone, though I'm sure it won't last long, if I actually proceed as planned. My inane brand of humor will probably seep through the cracks once I get my sea legs back and reacclimate to pulling words out of my head. For now I'm content to simply state my intentions: the repurposing of this blog as a place to ruminate and wax analytic on all things musically extreme. Though I'd like to focus primarily on metal -- and my tastes these days are running mainly in death metal, early grindcore, black metal, death/doom, and technical thrash -- I'll probably lapse and talk about other shit as well. And again, while this might feel pretty serious at the moment, I should state up front that I enjoy the laughably stupid side of metal as well. I legitimately like Blind Guardian. Honestly. I may not be a die-hard, but I like several aspects of the metal world, and that stuff will probably also appear on this blog. Simply put: it's all fair game.

The title of this blog, for anyone wondering, comes from a Glenn Branca symphony, famously made up 0f 100 electric guitars. Seeing it performed live at the Disney Concert Hall a few years back, the effect was jarring, and the physical sensation of utter discord left a definite impression. I probably won't spend much time writing about actual noise (though I just scored some old Whitehouse stuff), as my tolerance is pretty low, but I liked the name, and I stole it, and that's that.

Let it be known: I don't claim to have any expertise on my chosen subject, not at all. I'm merely a fan, and someone who spends a good chunk of my days thinking about metal, driving around listening to Immolation or Dark Angel or Electric Wizard or Godflesh, and I think I'd like to write about it. I play music actively (specifically bass guitar), but I'm neither sufficiently technically proficient nor infernally inspired to play metal properly. Some day perhaps, but not yet.

And that's where I'm at. Let's see what happens.

The Maiden-Head

Best to tear it quick, before there's time to reconsider; if done quickly enough, with enough force, the risk of exsanguination can be virtually extinguished. The hymen I speak of resides between my typing fingers: a fine, opaque film, not unlike those found on merfolk or mutants or even platypi, only more esoteric, less corporeal. The figurative maiden-head.

As I type these first painful words -- I feel as if I'm giving birth to myself; it's just this side of sick --I become acutely aware of the vast layers of sediment and drifting detritus that have nestled their way into the cracks inside my mushy little mind. You -- out there reading this (though you're probably not, not really) -- can't see the process behind the painstaking selection of each typed word, the mid-mind battle over minutiae... you might assume it's casual, but I assure you (pretend I'm shaking you by the shoulder for emphasis whilst I restate myself emphatically): "I assure you!", it ain't. The wheels have gone soft, the axle's greased with rust, grit, and fibrous growths of immaterial nonsense, which is to say, it's not very greasy at all... the spinning, whirling machinations of higher thought are slowing in their once incalculably quick revolutions. I'm even throwing in mindlessly inane "big" words so as to divert attention from the real problem; if my sad little plan has worked, then I've already lost you along the way, and you're left unable to follow my miniature train-set of thought.

Alas. You, whom I conjured in the first place, o imaginary reader -- in my mind you possess the greatest mental faculties and the highest of high intelligences, vastly superior to my own meager, quotidian intelligence (there! I hope I used that word incorrectly to further illustrate my point, and if I didn't, perchance I stumbled onto the proper usage through sheer dumb luck [I won't even check dictionary.com], then I've surely made myself look moronic enough by digressing for this long) -- you, dear reader, know exactly what I'm rambling on about... Which is, as you know: nothing.