The Batlord

I know, i'm just trying to make sense of the sentence itself. "I could make this music myself by only taking twice as long as Merzbow himself took to make it?"

__________________

grindy

The more I think about it, the less I can explain that sentence, although it made perfect sense to me on first read.
That's some quality post-modern **** right here.

__________________
A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

TechnicLePanther

Put it in an art gallery.

__________________
Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN

SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.

grindy

I'm on it.
Pretentious people like me will eat it up.
Gonna get rich.

__________________
A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

TechnicLePanther

I forgot about this ****. Alright then, let's do it.

Album: Anthology II: Links from the Dead Trinity
Artist: Akphaezya
Genre: Progressive/Avant-Garde Metal
Suggested by: mythsofmetal
Familiarity: None.

1. Preface - Yup, it's weird. I like it. It's sort of funky. Oh yeah, this is really good. A bit light, but still good.

2. Chrysalis - Oh, alright. This song immediately endeavors to displace my last statement. It starts out very strong, and continues in this fashion. But, man, this is some of the best stuff I've heard since I started doing these. They have growling and female vocals put together. It's very good. It's definitely very chaotic, but it's still awesome. Goes into this jazzy section about a minute and a half in. This is also very good. It's just everywhere at once. A bit System of a Down like. A bit like Dream Theater. Just imagine every prog metal song ever, just with female vocals. It's that.

3. Beyond the Sky - A calm acoustic song, it's a welcome change of pace. About halfway through, the chaos takes over again, but something about it isn't quite chaotic. Like, it's chaos, but there's somebody pulling the strings. Everything is so masterfully crafted. The vocals are a bit hard to understand, but if I knew the lyrics, I could probably pick them out. Towards the end, the contemplative quietness comes back. The vocalist really likes to scat as well. It's cool.

4. Khamsin - It's got this spooky scary skeletons feel at the start, but then the distortion comes in, and **** gets real. Very Dream Theater-like. Like, Jordan Rudess could be playing all of the keys. The guitars aren't as focused on perfection as the keys, but they work. As usual, the vocals are almost impossible to understand, but they fit nicely with the music.

5. Reflections - Reflections - It's almost groove metal now. The bass is really rhythm focused, and the percussion is really good too. Sometimes the vocals are their own thing, and sometimes they're a part of the percussion, and OHMYLORDTHISISONEOFTHEMOSTAMAZINGTHINGSIVEEVERHEAR D!!! It's really good. The guitar solo at the end is great too.

6. Awake - I actually totally missed this song. I'm just sitting here listening, and everything is so perfect I'm not snapping out of it.

7. The Great Vortex of Kaltaz - Piano intro is great. The way the main riff comes in is awesome. The main riff is awesome. Loud, and all over the place, it's totally amazing. This album is attempting to hit all facets of metal. It's just too good.

8. Secret of Time - This one is just as awesome as the last.

9. Stolen Tears - Instant segue right into this one. Just a calm little song, but instantly rejuvenated my interest in the album. The guitar interacts beautifully with the vocals. I can hardly believe how beautiful it is. Awesome.

10. Transe H.L.4 - Very jazzy. Pretty quiet. Just some drums and vocals, but it serves as an awesome buildup to the next song.

11. The Bottle of Lie - A bit of a latin feel to this one. All of a sudden, the guitars cut in, reminding me this is a metal album. Different sections represent pretty much everything about this album, just going over it again in a new and unique way. Just like much of the rest of the album, different sections flow right into each other, and work swiftly with the transitions to improve the feel of the song. No matter what they do, it works, and it works well. This album is absolutely amazing. After that, it's quiet for a while, and then a strange spoken word part comes in. No complaints, as it enhances the mood, but I really have no idea what's going on in this album anyway, so it can't finish off nothing.

12. The Old Reflections - This is a bonus track, as I understand, but I have no idea why, as it seems like an excellent closer to the album. Sounds like later Tool. It's even more awesome than the rest. Amazing close.

There are twists and turns around every corner with this album. Rather than just being good, it meanders about, experiments, and basically does everything in its power to hold your interest. I can find nothing wrong with this album. I love it.
OVERALL RATING: 10/10

__________________
Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN

SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.

mythsofmetal

That's good that your experience of it turned out well. I figured that you would like it more than the first album I recommended, but wasn't sure by how much. It's great to see it getting a 10/10 though, and I wasn't quite expecting it to get that but I can't complain because that's even better.

That album really does have a good amount of variety, but it importantly also comes together quite well as a whole, and is one of those concept albums where I actually see the value in listening to it from start to finish. It's certainly a favourite of mine, and the vocalist is one of my favourites in general, but may be my favourite female vocalist. Also, if you didn't know, plenty of those harsh vocal screams and growls are performed by her. I can tell that the ones in Chrysalis, and The Great Vortex of Kaltaz (which is my favourite from the album) are done by her. The ones in that bonus track I'm unsure about, and some spoken vocals like the ones at the end of "The Bottle of Lie" I just can't imagine are hers for fairly obvious reasons, but I think she does pretty much all the rest of the vocals except in maybe a couple other places I'm forgetting about. Their official youtube channel (which is just their band name) uploaded some live videos of performances of songs from their two albums if you're interested to see her performing her singing at some point.


Also, here's my new rec. AEnigma by In Vain. Ænigma | In Vain

TechnicLePanther

Last of the batch.

Album: Live Im Roxy
Artist: Zehnder Kraah Trio
Genre: Avant-Garde Jazz
Suggested by: grindy
Familiarity: None.

1. Krahe - This is almost orchestral. Totally not what I was expecting. The vocals are absolutely excellent. Remind me of an opera singer. Oh, man. This guy is an awesome multitonal singer. The simple accompaniment is great as well.

2. Ane Dane - This one starts out very fun already. The way Zehnder uses his voice is awesome. Instrumentation is spot on. Not much else to say. It's a really interesting, engaging song.

3. Introrau - A bit of yodeling at the start here, mixed in the multitonal vocalizations. I assume the "intro" part in the title literally means "intro".

4. Oh Rauru - This one is a bit more melancholy than the previous three. The song rapidly changes key, and shifts from major to minor in the process. This is some really professional stuff. Totally awesome. Just percussion at the end, masterfully put together.

5. Wat Ju No - Did I point out that up to this point, all the lyrics have been in German (I think)? Anyways, this one is partially or completely in English, but it's a bit hard to understand. It's still just as beautiful, and in my opinion even better. The songs on this album have been perfect up until this point, so let's hope to keep the train going. The vocalizations get a bit weird towards the end though.

6. Chummer - Sounds like accordion this time. His voice is awesome too. It's surprising he can create so much atmosphere with just some chords on the accordion and his voice. I'll be really impressed if I find out he's playing that Zehnder is playing the accordion as well as singing. Wow, that was actually pretty incredible.

7. Hotten Totten - This one is a bit more rocking. Feel like it could be some weird synthpop song until his voice comes in. He's putting on a low growly voice for this one. Of course, all of the music is acoustic too. Guess I should point that out. Wait, is he burping? Yup. He's definitely belching a bit in this song. This guy has a complete mastery over his body. There's a bass solo in this one. It's definitely the most amazing upright bass work I've ever seen. Overall, another great, innovative song.

8. Ju Wel - More awesome bass work. That's really all, but it's so awesome that it totally negates the element of only having one instrument. This bass (it may be two, but whatever) carries the tone of the entire song on its own. That is the sign of an amazing songwriter.

9. Stifeli In - Into the final third of the album, there's a small spoken word introduction to the next song. It's pretty good, as there's some musical accompaniment as well. I have no idea what's happening, as it's in German, but I know it's good. The audience is loving it, at least.

10. Stifeli On - Pretty slow, with multitonal vocalizations at the start. All of the sudden, it picks up the pace. There's some yodeling, and then it slows down again. Absolutely amazing, this is. After a few more lyrics in German, and the return of the original bass line, it comes to a quiet close.

11. Pygmajo - Virtuosic accordian playing. This one is pretty uptempo compared to the last one. Still acoustic, still awesome. There's a very slow and very cool ending part. This is really awesome.

12. Heleriau - Jazzy and groovy, this song is a perfect closer to the album. It's very upbeat, and makes me want to dance in my seat. Awesome.

I can literally find nothing wrong with this album. Going in, I was expecting something almost unapproachable. Coming from both grindy and Germany, it seemed like the perfect combination for ear rape. However, as it turns out, this is the best album I've reviewed yet. While any album without any flaws will receive a 10/10, I've just now decided to allow some albums to go above and beyond, if they just absolutely blow away all of my expectations. Therefore, for its limitless creativity, and wonderful composition, I'm giving this one an exceedingly good score. Seriously, just listen to this album.
OVERALL RATING: 12/10

__________________
Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN

SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.

grindy

Cool, didn't expect that much love.
I was really not sure how you'll take to this one.

BTW, apart from the first song (which is a classical song by Schubert) there aren't any real lyrics. He sings a word or two sometimes which sound a bit like Swiss German (or in the case of "Wat Ju No" English), but nothing definite.

And in Chummer he does indeed play the accordion as well. Here's a video:

__________________
A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

TechnicLePanther

I have never encountered a conversation that was put on pause for so long, and then brought back. Well, the answer is no. There are no real alternate-dimension beards. I don't have one, so that's proof.

__________________
Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN

SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.

Trollheart

Just spam, don't worry about it. She was looking to increase her post count so she could post her crappy little link. She's gone now.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018