Music Banter - View Single Post - Your favourite albums and what they mean to you

Ninetales · 08-09-2013, 12:41 PM

Awesome topic. Im currently attempting to write about some of my absolute favorite albums which *might* be actually published so i dont want to put those ones here. But good thing I have many favs

Ill start with one of my fav black metal albums.

Autumn Aurora by Drudkh (2004)

I think a decent portion of the black metal I listen to gives me a sense of being lost. Some of them giving off a crushing and bleak darkness from which all hope is lost. I mean it's called "black" for a reason, right? But Autumn Aurora is a little different.

I guess Ill spoil everything by saying it has a wonderful autumn vibe to it (Sorry if you couldnt get that from the name and cover). The intro (Fading) is just a guitar and some birds chirping. It's as if you just woke up in a nice forest with plenty of rest. And unlike the feeling of most black metal albums of its ilk, there's no darkness. It's broad daylight. You're alone, but not frightened. The sun is shining! And as the album progresses it seems like it takes the form of a full day. But that sense of being lost is always there, even if it's hidden in the beginning. Birds may be chirping but you dont know where you are and you dont know how to get out. The daylight just provides the perfect ounce of hope that you'll get out eventually. But as the day (album) moves on that hope starts to slowly weaken. That fear that was not present when the sun was rising is slowly starting to creep in. Being alone and lost at night is only better than actually coming to realize that that is exactly what's going to happen to you. Hope breeds a worse kind of fear.

Ive become obsessed with albums that have strong ties to nature, which I think is how I fell in love with black metal to begin with. The atmosphere that surrounds Autumn Aurora is perfectly depicted in the album cover. I find Autumn Aurora to be pretty calm, but frightening at the same time. It's beautiful, but it also has this uneasiness to it. It doesnt barrage you with fast strumming or frenzied drums (infact the drumming is fairly tame comparitively which plays to the whole atmosphere of the album). It's very repetitive and why shouldnt it be? It gives off the affect of wandering through an unknown forest, seeing the same looking trees over and over.

My personal feelings towards an album very rarely has anything to with specific instruments or "technical ability" or whatever. I love atmospheres, interesting sounds, etherealness. I dont really have much nostalgia attached to the albums I love. This makes me think of forests, but not one specifically or any certain memories of one Ive been in. Maybe that's why I love it so much. It gives me very vivid images and themes. I love interpreting music in my own way, rarely taking literal lyrics into account but just focusing on the imagery of the entire piece.

So ya, that's what Autumn Aurora means to me. Black metal for the daytime.

08-09-2013, 12:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
Ninetales Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: livin wild Posts: 2,179	Awesome topic. Im currently attempting to write about some of my absolute favorite albums which might be actually published so i dont want to put those ones here. But good thing I have many favs Ill start with one of my fav black metal albums. Autumn Aurora by Drudkh (2004) I think a decent portion of the black metal I listen to gives me a sense of being lost. Some of them giving off a crushing and bleak darkness from which all hope is lost. I mean it's called "black" for a reason, right? But Autumn Aurora is a little different. I guess Ill spoil everything by saying it has a wonderful autumn vibe to it (Sorry if you couldnt get that from the name and cover). The intro (Fading) is just a guitar and some birds chirping. It's as if you just woke up in a nice forest with plenty of rest. And unlike the feeling of most black metal albums of its ilk, there's no darkness. It's broad daylight. You're alone, but not frightened. The sun is shining! And as the album progresses it seems like it takes the form of a full day. But that sense of being lost is always there, even if it's hidden in the beginning. Birds may be chirping but you dont know where you are and you dont know how to get out. The daylight just provides the perfect ounce of hope that you'll get out eventually. But as the day (album) moves on that hope starts to slowly weaken. That fear that was not present when the sun was rising is slowly starting to creep in. Being alone and lost at night is only better than actually coming to realize that that is exactly what's going to happen to you. Hope breeds a worse kind of fear. Ive become obsessed with albums that have strong ties to nature, which I think is how I fell in love with black metal to begin with. The atmosphere that surrounds Autumn Aurora is perfectly depicted in the album cover. I find Autumn Aurora to be pretty calm, but frightening at the same time. It's beautiful, but it also has this uneasiness to it. It doesnt barrage you with fast strumming or frenzied drums (infact the drumming is fairly tame comparitively which plays to the whole atmosphere of the album). It's very repetitive and why shouldnt it be? It gives off the affect of wandering through an unknown forest, seeing the same looking trees over and over. My personal feelings towards an album very rarely has anything to with specific instruments or "technical ability" or whatever. I love atmospheres, interesting sounds, etherealness. I dont really have much nostalgia attached to the albums I love. This makes me think of forests, but not one specifically or any certain memories of one Ive been in. Maybe that's why I love it so much. It gives me very vivid images and themes. I love interpreting music in my own way, rarely taking literal lyrics into account but just focusing on the imagery of the entire piece. So ya, that's what Autumn Aurora means to me. Black metal for the daytime.