No update yesterday at all, as I spent my entire day here with my sister, where she still remains and will be for the rest of the week
so double update today, beginning with this:
And on to August. As I write this, it
is August, and only less than halfway through, so I have a limited selection to choose from. I'm gonna try this one.
Genexus --- Fear Factory --- 2015 (Nuclear Blast)
Introduction: I know basically sod-all about this band. I think I may have heard one song once, and I think it had growly vocals, which of course at the time turned me off exploring their music any further. This is their ninth album. Oh, and they're American.
Track-by-track
1. Autonomous combat system: Very “Terminator”-like sounds to open, then a dark voice which is presumably warning against the rise of the machines or something, heavy dramatic guitar and maybe keys? Then it takes off at lightspeed, the drums not so much machinegun as ... as ... as, well, something a lot faster and harder. Vocal is not bad to be fair: more a kind of Araya style than that really dark, deep growl I find so hard to understand. Some clearer vocals too on the chorus. Yeah, not bad.
2. Adonized: These guys have quite a way of throwing a great hook into the chorus of a song which is otherwise what I believe would be termed as br00tal, at least from a technical standpoint. It's almost like listening to two different songs. Really interesting. Kind of a semi-industrial feel to some of this too.
3. Dielectric: This definitely sounds orchestral at the beginning. Decent song, at least the chorus part of it. Very heavy guitar work.
4. Soul hacker: Good heavy punch to get this one going; very aggressive.
5. Protomech: Sort of a hard electronic feel to this, with hammering percussion and another roared vocal, more kind of industrial shape to it. Very interesting ending, on slow, soft piano.
6: Genexus: Another example of the vocalist singing like a lunatic for the verses then either he, or someone else not credited, doing a totally relaxed vocal on the chorus.
Tres weird.
7: Church of execution: Kind of a sub-Slayer clone, though there is some pretty impessive guitar in it. Nothing much else though.
8. Regenerate: Kind of a progressive metal feel to this; the chorus saves it, otherwise it's just the same as the other tracks
9. Battle for Utopia: And this has a big industrial intro, great chorus again
10. Expiration date: Longest track, and this seems like it may be “clean vocals” all the way through? Oddly, it seems to be a slow track; not a ballad, but not really what I could call a cruncher either. Almost, almost as if Daughtry went metal...? Best track here by a long way. Very atmospheric, with some fine piano.
Conclusion: I wouldn't write off Fear Factory --- their unusual usage of vocal styles certainly helps them stand a little apart from the crowd --- but much of this album seems to be just heavy, aggressive metal, which is fine, but you need something a little different to make it stand out. The final track kind of achieves this, and I may end up looking into them a little more. Or not.
Well, as I write, August is just about over so it's time to check the list of newly released albums since I last looked, and there are a few. I've heard this get bad reviews, but I've never actually listened to one of their albums, so let's see what impression it makes on my ears.
Immortalized --- Disturbed --- 2015 (Reprise)
Introduction: Sixth album from Disturbed, and their first in five years. I'm sure you all know who they are, but I don't, so let's just check: they come from Chicago, are a four-piece and began life as Brawl in 1994, changing their name and their sound around 1997 when they also released their first album under the Disturbed name. There appears to be no place for longtime bass player John Moyer, who has been with them up to this point since 2005's
Ten Thousand Fists. Unofficially, it would appear he was “working on other projects” and not involved in the writing for this album, which may signal the end of his involvement with Disturbed. All his parts are played this time out by lead guitarist Dan Donegan.
Track-by-track
1. The eye of the storm: Short one to get going with, just over a minute, an instrumental with some really nice guitar, certainly highlights Donegan's skills on the frets.
2. Immortalized: Bursting out now as expected; vocal is not as harsh as I had expected, kind of Hetfield-like. Good decent song, rocks along nicely and a great guitar line. Good start.
3. The vengeful one: Slower, more angry with a marching kind of beat, snarling guitar. This is, I believe, the first single from the album. Interesting change there before the chorus; goes all almost acoustic. Getting really into this I must say.
4. Open your eyes: Oddly, kind of reminds me of Threshold! Very anthemic and very heavy but a great hook and melody.
5. The Light: Some nice keys opening this song, first time I think I've heard them used on this album. Another very memorable track.
6. What are you waiting for: Faster, bit more aggressive but this is still what I guess the majority of people here would describe as “Trollheart's kind of metal”, and I was expecting something much rawer and harder to get through.
7. You're mine: Really nice synth and I think e-bow introduction to this; then it has a kind of new-wave/industrial feel to it. S
hit, it even sounds a little poppy! Not sure about this one to be honest.
8. Who: Meh, that was pretty empty. Forgotten before it's even over. Still, first track yet that hasn't impressed me. Okay, second.
9. Save our last goodbye: Yeah, like this one too. Great stuttering guitar. The usage of the phone is perhaps unfortunate as one of the criticisms of this album seems to be that Disturbed are “phoning it in”, and here they're literally doing that. Meh, I like it though. Piano near the end and the soulful vocal is great.
10. Fire it up: Okay, about forty seconds of this is wasted on nonesense, talk and a drum tuneup? Not bad once it gets going though. Vocal is softer on it, though it toughens up in the second minute. Basically it's okay but not anything terribly special.
11. The sound of silence: Now this is though. I can't believe they took on the Simon and Garfunkel classic. And didn't mock it or metal it up. They actually retained the balladic nature of it, even moreso than the original. Lovely. Great piano leading the song. Gets really passionate near the end, very very effective. Superb in fact. I think they may have used an orchestra on this. Oh yeah, this is going blue.
12. Never wrong: It's okay but after the sublimity of “The sound of silence” it's hard to get excited about it. Pretty excellent guitar solo all right. The rapid-fire vocal delivery is good too. A lot of frustration in the song.
13. Who taught you how to hate: Good heavy closer too.
Conclusion: Everyone seems to think this is a weak album. I can't comment on that, as it's the first time I've listened to Disturbed, but for my money it's a very decent metal album and I don't have much bad to say about it. Were I to listen to more of their output, would I change my mind? Maybe. But for now, this is certainly going down as one I'm glad I listened to.