Trollheart

Title: Slaughter of the Soul
Artiste: At The Gates
Genre: Death Metal
Familiarity: Zero; have heard of them though
Recommended by: The Batlord

Expectations: Loud, noisy, fast, screechy or growled vocals, hopefully some good guitar solos. Absolutely no ballads, and I don't really expect to hear cello or harpsichord either.

1. Blinded by fear: Sort of sounds like someone scraping metal on metal (yeah) and a spoken vocal before it kicks up and hammers along. Vocal, to be fair, is not half bad; I can make out what's being sung. Decent start all right.
2. Slaughter of the soul: Like the trundling riff on this, thumps along really well. Just nothing really standing out to me at the moment. All good, just nothing particularly great as yet.
3. Cold: Has a kind of dramatic, almost warrior feel to it. I'm told this has one of the best neo-classical guitar solos in the subgenre. Interested to hear that. Oh, is that it? Ah, no, this has to be it, at exactly two minutes in. That's some fine shreddin', boy! Think this one earns its Green. Yup.
4. Under a serpent sun: Oh and this is going Green too. Really like this. Glad to see they've shaken themselves out of that sort of samey slump they were in earlier and started playing decent, recognisable songs that are separate from each other. Love the solo here. Eat it Batty: I like solos, so what?
5. Into the dead sky: This is an unexpectedly beautiful instrumental, and if there were lyrics I would have to take it back about there being no ballads on the album. Superb.
6. Suicide nation: Man, this one tears along with a real sense of menace. Love it. The guitar just rips ya up the middle!
7. World of lies: Has a punchier, almost Slayer feel to it.
8. Unto others: Like the kind of staggered guitar approach here (don't ask: I know as much about playing guitar as I do about car engines!) and it struts along really nicely.
9. Nausea: Faster and angrier; great fretwork.
10. Need: More kind of a romp in this; oddly enough I hear elements of Manowar. Shut up Batty, I do. Is that a triangle at the end?
11. The flames of the end: Keyboards opening? Keyboards? More like progressive metal here, even progressive rock! Is this an instrumental? Oh now listen to that guitar bite in! ****ing excellent! Love this one.

End result: Melodic death metal (or any death metal) is not normally my thing, as you all know, but yeah: I can see why these guys are so highly rated and respected. After the first two tracks disappointed me somewhat I really got into it and it was a great ride.

So, Love or Hate? Another Love.

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Trollheart

Title: Do You Know Who You Are?
Artiste: Texas is the Reason
Genre: Emo/Hardcore
Familiarity: Zero
Recommended by: bob

Expectations: Hardcore has not been kind to me, emo perhaps marginally moreso. Bob let me down with his last rec so I don't know: perhaps redemption is on the horizon?

1. Johnny on the spot: Good rocking start anyway; some hardcore vocals are way too screamy for me but these seem just fine. Good stuff; nothing terribly special I'll say at this point, but enjoyable certainly. Lot of energy.
2. The magic bullet theory: Again, it's okay but it's not making me want to drop a Green.
3. Nickel wound: Started off in an interesting kind of low-key way, built on a rather nice melody. Yeah, it's okay.
4. There's no way I can talk myself out of this one tonight (The drinking song): Pretty damn long title! Again a nice slow buildup then sort of swings along with some pretty powerful guitar. Okay, this one can have a Green. Best so far of a pretty meh lot.
5. Something to forget: Unfortunately, the title is appropriate. I can't remember the track once it ends.
6. Do you know who you are: Okay now this is special. Is this an instrumental? Really effective use of different guitars, very introspective in tone. Like this one a lot.
7. Back and to the left: This isn't bad either; has some personality and character about it. Throw a Green on this one too.
8. The day's refrain: Yeah, it's kind of getting better now as it goes towards the end. Really nice vocal here and a good melody, not so acerbic as some of the opening tracks. Gets pretty spectacular in the last minute or so.
9. A Jack with one eye: And a good powerful, and indeed memorable, closer.

End result: Started really badly. Not badly, but unremarkably let's say, then I began to warm to it and by the end I could see the attraction. Still wouldn't be too interested in going any further with the band, or even possibly replaying this, but not a waste of my time, as it seldom is with bob.

So, Love or Hate? Thought I would be doing well to stretch to a Like, but hell, I'm giving this a Love.

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Trollheart

Title: First Impressions of Earth
Artiste: The Strokes
Genre:
Familiarity: Zero. Yes, zero. Wanna fight about it?
Recommended by: The Identity Matrix

Expectations: Everyone knows The Strokes, right? Wrong. I know OF them, but have never heard a single song. So sue me. Mind you, this is the first rec from The Identity Matrix, and he (it?) was really gushing over Jeff Wayne, so I had better be nice. Or not. Lets hit play. Oh, interesting to see seventies star Albert Hammond's son is in the band.

1. You only live once: Kind of sounds a little like The Cars to me, good beat to the song. Is this where YOLO comes from? Like the guitar work, very sharp but very melodic. Vocal is definitely very new wave. Catchy song.
2. Juicebox: Love the Peter Gunnesque bassline that opens this. Very uptempo and a little frenetic. Different vocal entirely. Same guy? It would seem so. Good range then. Some of Hammond's guitar work here is really frantic, almost verging on metal at times, and the vocal skates the edge of punk without actually falling in.
3. Heart in a cage: Was expecting a ballad, got a rip-roaring rocker that I absolutely love. Such energy and fun. First Blue, may not be the last.
4. Razorblade: This is really whimsical. The high fluting guitar really makes it. Cool. Great hook, though it sounds suspiciously familiar... ah yes. “Oh Mandy! You came and you gave without taking...” Cheeky, guys! Cheeky!
5. On the other side: Another great bassline and a song that trundles along really well, sort of like a happy march or something. Really like this one. Are these two songs about suicide? If so, they're the happiest songs about that subject I've ever heard.
6. Vision of division: Didn't think I'd like this one but as it went along I really got into the angry and frustrated vibe of it.
7. Ask me anything: There's an odd kind of minimal new-wave thing about this; sounds like violin and I'm told that's mellotron though it doesn't sound like it. Pretty depressing song, first that's come across to me that way.
8. Electricityscape: This is much better. Boppy, uptempo, though again I feel the main melody is familiar. Can't place it this time however. Nice midsection.
9. Killing lies: This is pleasant, but nothing special, and I feel to a degree that the album is tapering off slightly now as it heads towards the end.
10. Fear of sleep: And another very familiar melody. Very powerful song, you can really hear his passion in the vocal and the guitars just batter.
11. 15 minutes: Great blues ballad. Maybe we're back on track? Oh, okay: not a ballad. Just kicked into third gear. Nice.
12. Ize of the world: This really has a tremendous amount of energy in it, some excellent fretwork from Hammond, and I think my previous comment about the quality dipping can be seen now to have been in error. Totally abrupt ending is odd, literally stops mid-word?
13. Evening sun: Real sense of The Divine Comedy in this one. Very breezy.
14. Red light: And another bouncy uptempo one to end.

End result: A lot better than I had expected. Some very good songs, even if they do seem to occasionally filch melodies and ideas from other songs.

So, Love or Hate? This would have to be a Love. Three in a row!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

The part before the guitar feedback was actually from a soundtrack to a homemade horror movie that one of the members had tried/was trying to film.

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Trollheart

Ah, I see. That makes a certain kind of sense now.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Title: Still Bummed
Artiste: Nouns
Genre: Emo/Punk
Familiarity: Zero
Recommended by: Machine

Expectations: Not much: I see the words “noise rock” and “emo punk” thrown around in the description of their music, none of which appeals to me. At least all the songs are short.

1. Dogs: Somewhat less frenetic than I had expected; quite relaxed guitar intro in fact. Very melodic. Didn't expect this at all. More like indie rock at the moment. Will probably kick up in a minute ... well yeah, but still pretty cool when it does. Sort of a marching beat to it, good vocal with good backing vox. Some really new-wave synth is odd and yet doesn't seem out of place. Yeah, enjoyed that. Lyric is hilarious.
2. Still bummed: Short, frenetic, still very damn good.
3. School bus: Starts off as a real emo song, slow and emotional, then kicks, almost literally, into a raucous “we ain't gonna take it” style slice of chaos, then back to the reflective guitar and emo stuff. Good juxtapositioning.
4. Conch: No such emo in this one; bouncy and exuberant from the off. That weird little Casio-like keyboard going again.
5. Yaw: Another nice little gentle guitar here, reminds me of “When love breaks down” by Prefab Sprout. Wonderful vocalise; runs along on a really gentle swaying balladic theme. Well, for about half the song, then it kicks into life on punishing drums and harder guitar.
6. Dumped: Now that's some stark piano, and a hollow vocal for the first few seconds, then it just explodes with emotion and drama. This would be the emo in emo/punk I assume.
7. Way: Bassy single piano notes and a narrated vocal. Interesting. Then heavy slow crashing drums and just the piano until one hell of a wounded vocal comes in. Strong organ joins in and the recording returns.
8. You're not the one that I want: Another fragile piano with vocalise, very slow and morose. Really nice guitar in this.
9. The graduate: Alternates between stripped-down guitar and more solid synth and piano, good closer.

End result: Really expected to be writing a harsh review of this and ranting at Machine for wasting my time, but I'm quite surprised to find I really liked everything here. If this is what emo mixed with punk is like, maybe I should open my ears to more of this.

So, Love or Hate? Thought it would be Hate, or maybe Meh, but I have to admit, it's worth a Love of anyone's money.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Machine

Very glad you enjoyed this. I wasn't sure if it was really up your alley, but I figured it was accessible enough for anyone to get something out of.

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boost my ego

listen to me stroke my delay pedal

ever wanted to hear death grips songs... but they're acoustic? me neither.