Trollheart's Discography Rec Thread

[mythsofmetal]

I'm going to suggest that you check out Sigh's discography for this thread/project as my single request. Here're the titles and some info on all of their full-length albums (plus one other which I'm probably mentioning in vain, and I'm fine if you don't want to take it,) laid out in chronological order. I know that you're taking them chronologically, but I thought that adding descriptions might make it a bit exciting to see what you may be getting into before you start to listen to one.

Spoiler for A Little Bit Lengthy Description of Sigh's Albums:

Scorn Defeat (1993) -- This is their most pure black metal sounding one, but it also has some doom metal and neo-classical sound to it.

Infidel Art (1995) -- This has a good bit of black metal in its sound, but the doom metal and neo-classical influences are more pronounced here in some ways. There is some more apparent ambience in this one than their debut, plus some folk influence, and other new additions to the band's sound.

Ghastly Funeral Theatre (1997) -- You might not want to do this one, as it is an EP due to its length. If you haven't noticed so far, the first letter of each album is spelling out the band's name, and this EP goes along with that pattern, so I kinda consider it a main release from them, although it is short. It has a further developed sound too. It's pretty different as a good portion of the neo-classical influence has been relegated to a keyboard piece and some other briefer moments than the previous album, so this is largely a bluesy blackened heavy metal album with a bit of folk, jazz, noise and other influence.

Hail Horror Hail (1997) -- The previous album and this one are typically where its considered that they became somewhat of an avant-garde metal producing band. This one takes it a bit further I would say. There's a good portion of neo-classical, jazz, doom, heavy metal/hard rock, ambience, and black metal scattered throughout. There's also some industrial like stuff, a thrashier song, and a lot of other interesting turns and sounds that this album explores.

Scenario IV: Dread Dreams (1999) -- This one is similar to Hail Horror Hail but has some unique experimental stuff to it not really found as is on Hail Horror Hail. This album is very heavy metal with a black metal and eclectic experimental edge basically.

Imaginary Sonicscape (2001) -- I know that you've already done this one and think that it's a great experimental/psychedelic heavy metal album with a decent bit of black metal influence. Your positive reaction to this album is a significant reason why I think that rec'ing them here is a good idea as I think that you will probably like at least a good portion of the rest of their discography.

Gallows Gallery (2005) -- This also has a lot of psychedelic influence. If I remember correctly it's also the first album to use real saxophone rather than synthesized sax. This one also has pretty much completely clean vocals instead of the mostly harsh vocal stuff of their past with some occasional doomy or operatic male vocals, or different female ones. The vocals here are quite quirky though, so it might be a little off putting. This album is kinda like the psychedelicness of Imaginary Sonicscape plus power metal and more jazz, then also with some other tracks which have some more proggy synth stuff as well as some other tracks which have a kinda old-timey band/orchestra sound to it and other various eclectic additions.

Hangman's Hymn (2007) -- This is not exactly a back to basics album as they never really had this exact sound, but it's much simpler and almost conventional in a way, though it still isn't really conventional, just relative to their other stuff it is. This is like German thrash/speed metal with some black metal and with a major neo-classical layer over-top. Some say the styles here don't blend so well, but I think it's mostly alright, though some songs work better than others. There're also some kinda out-of-the-blue jammy sort of bluesy hard rock-like guitar solos which are a little off-putting at times, but I think they work from a certain perspective, but I tend to not like this album as often as their others due to some of these slight issues.

Scenes from Hell (2010) -- This is the first album that features their full-time femal vocalist/saxophonist member; Dr. Mikannibal. This one has a lot of some different orchestral stuff to it, I'm sure that it has a unique name, but I can't quite put my finger on what the style's called. There's also much more black metal, death metal, and doom metal on here than some previous albums which had gone into more of a heavy metal realm. Though there's still a very good amount of psychedelic stuff with keyboards and effects, plus a good amount of jazz and heavy metal in their sound still, too.

In Somniphobia (2012) -- This one has more heavy metal in its sound than the last one. It also has a lot more apparent prog and jazz in its sound. There's also more apparent ambience at times even as the previous one also had its apparent times and not so apparent times. Despite its jazziness I think that this will probably be one of your favourites from them. As with all of the others (except Hangman's Hymn) since Ghastly Funeral Theatre/Hail Horror Hail, expect there to be quite a number of twists, turns and various different stuff in its sound which I'm not mentioning here.

Graveward (2015) -- I see that you're doing this for that 2015/2016 albums thread, but here's a description for what it will be like for when you get to it either for that thread or for this one. In a sense it's similar in theme and direction to Hail Horror Hail which used ambience and noise among other things to create a horror movie sort of atmosphere, but this one goes for it with a different production and uses different styles at times to achieve a similar feeling. The production is somewhat odd, at times the higher frequency synthesizers/noise/keyboard parts and orchestral stuff gets quite loud at times, so if you find yourself wondering about that, know that it's not just you which has found it that way. I don't mind it much myself although I sometimes feel compelled to turn the volume down on some rare occasions during the album due to how loud some keyboard synths get compared to the rest. Though, otherwise I think the production is unique and interesting, and there's a lot of different stuff going on and done well which serves to tactfully achieve the atmosphere they were going for, and it's not just atmospheric, there're a lot of catchy easily accessible melodies scattered throughout which should be enjoyable for you. Also, one particularly new thing to their sound for this album is the guitar work (particularly the solos) got a lot more technical with their new guitarist You Oshima. (For other wonderings of what this album might sound like; it covers a lot of the genres they've already explored but it uses them sometimes in somewhat new and different ways or combines pieces of what they've already done differently to create a new whole, pretty much. The orchestral stuff is quite pronounced here, there's parts where the doomy stuff takes more of a main role briefly, there's dreamy psychedelic stuff and harsher psychedelic/noise stuff, there's various types of folk and jazz influence, there're parts where the heavy metal "rocking" side comes out, and of course there are many parts with neo-classical/proggy/jazzy keyboard. There're also many different vocal styles used here too.)

[Trollheart]

Originally Posted by mythsofmetal

I'm going to suggest that you check out Sigh's discography for this thread/project as my single request. Here're the titles and some info on all of their full-length albums (plus one other which I'm probably mentioning in vain, and I'm fine if you don't want to take it,) laid out in chronological order. I know that you're taking them chronologically, but I thought that adding descriptions might make it a bit exciting to see what you may be getting into before you start to listen to one.

Spoiler for A Little Bit Lengthy Description of Sigh's Albums:

Scorn Defeat (1993) -- This is their most pure black metal sounding one, but it also has some doom metal and neo-classical sound to it.

Infidel Art (1995) -- This has a good bit of black metal in its sound, but the doom metal and neo-classical influences are more pronounced here in some ways. There is some more apparent ambience in this one than their debut, plus some folk influence, and other new additions to the band's sound.

Ghastly Funeral Theatre (1997) -- You might not want to do this one, as it is an EP due to its length. If you haven't noticed so far, the first letter of each album is spelling out the band's name, and this EP goes along with that pattern, so I kinda consider it a main release from them, although it is short. It has a further developed sound too. It's pretty different as a good portion of the neo-classical influence has been relegated to a keyboard piece and some other briefer moments than the previous album, so this is largely a bluesy blackened heavy metal album with a bit of folk, jazz, noise and other influence.

Hail Horror Hail (1997) -- The previous album and this one are typically where its considered that they became somewhat of an avant-garde metal producing band. This one takes it a bit further I would say. There's a good portion of neo-classical, jazz, doom, heavy metal/hard rock, ambience, and black metal scattered throughout. There's also some industrial like stuff, a thrashier song, and a lot of other interesting turns and sounds that this album explores.

Scenario IV: Dread Dreams (1999) -- This one is similar to Hail Horror Hail but has some unique experimental stuff to it not really found as is on Hail Horror Hail. This album is very heavy metal with a black metal and eclectic experimental edge basically.

Imaginary Sonicscape (2001) -- I know that you've already done this one and think that it's a great experimental/psychedelic heavy metal album with a decent bit of black metal influence. Your positive reaction to this album is a significant reason why I think that rec'ing them here is a good idea as I think that you will probably like at least a good portion of the rest of their discography.

Gallows Gallery (2005) -- This also has a lot of psychedelic influence. If I remember correctly it's also the first album to use real saxophone rather than synthesized sax. This one also has pretty much completely clean vocals instead of the mostly harsh vocal stuff of their past with some occasional doomy or operatic male vocals, or different female ones. The vocals here are quite quirky though, so it might be a little off putting. This album is kinda like the psychedelicness of Imaginary Sonicscape plus power metal and more jazz, then also with some other tracks which have some more proggy synth stuff as well as some other tracks which have a kinda old-timey band/orchestra sound to it and other various eclectic additions.

Hangman's Hymn (2007) -- This is not exactly a back to basics album as they never really had this exact sound, but it's much simpler and almost conventional in a way, though it still isn't really conventional, just relative to their other stuff it is. This is like German thrash/speed metal with some black metal and with a major neo-classical layer over-top. Some say the styles here don't blend so well, but I think it's mostly alright, though some songs work better than others. There're also some kinda out-of-the-blue jammy sort of bluesy hard rock-like guitar solos which are a little off-putting at times, but I think they work from a certain perspective, but I tend to not like this album as often as their others due to some of these slight issues.

Scenes from Hell (2010) -- This is the first album that features their full-time femal vocalist/saxophonist member; Dr. Mikannibal. This one has a lot of some different orchestral stuff to it, I'm sure that it has a unique name, but I can't quite put my finger on what the style's called. There's also much more black metal, death metal, and doom metal on here than some previous albums which had gone into more of a heavy metal realm. Though there's still a very good amount of psychedelic stuff with keyboards and effects, plus a good amount of jazz and heavy metal in their sound still, too.

In Somniphobia (2012) -- This one has more heavy metal in its sound than the last one. It also has a lot more apparent prog and jazz in its sound. There's also more apparent ambience at times even as the previous one also had its apparent times and not so apparent times. Despite its jazziness I think that this will probably be one of your favourites from them. As with all of the others (except Hangman's Hymn) since Ghastly Funeral Theatre/Hail Horror Hail, expect there to be quite a number of twists, turns and various different stuff in its sound which I'm not mentioning here.

Graveward (2015) -- I see that you're doing this for that 2015/2016 albums thread, but here's a description for what it will be like for when you get to it either for that thread or for this one. In a sense it's similar in theme and direction to Hail Horror Hail which used ambience and noise among other things to create a horror movie sort of atmosphere, but this one goes for it with a different production and uses different styles at times to achieve a similar feeling. The production is somewhat odd, at times the higher frequency synthesizers/noise/keyboard parts and orchestral stuff gets quite loud at times, so if you find yourself wondering about that, know that it's not just you which has found it that way. I don't mind it much myself although I sometimes feel compelled to turn the volume down on some rare occasions during the album due to how loud some keyboard synths get compared to the rest. Though, otherwise I think the production is unique and interesting, and there's a lot of different stuff going on and done well which serves to tactfully achieve the atmosphere they were going for, and it's not just atmospheric, there're a lot of catchy easily accessible melodies scattered throughout which should be enjoyable for you. Also, one particularly new thing to their sound for this album is the guitar work (particularly the solos) got a lot more technical with their new guitarist You Oshima. (For other wonderings of what this album might sound like; it covers a lot of the genres they've already explored but it uses them sometimes in somewhat new and different ways or combines pieces of what they've already done differently to create a new whole, pretty much. The orchestral stuff is quite pronounced here, there's parts where the doomy stuff takes more of a main role briefly, there's dreamy psychedelic stuff and harsher psychedelic/noise stuff, there's various types of folk and jazz influence, there're parts where the heavy metal "rocking" side comes out, and of course there are many parts with neo-classical/proggy/jazzy keyboard. There're also many different vocal styles used here too.)

Yes! Good one. I know you suggested I do this for Metal Month III. I'll definitely add this.

[Tristan_Geoff]

Melvins? Maybe just the studio albums and not the spin-off ones (Melvins 1983 and Melvins lite, even though those are really good too) or ones featuring Jello. That'd be easy enough, if not just time-consuming. Just be glad you don't have to do Buckethead.

[Plainview]

I think writing off any and all instrumental artists is a bit rash. You're basically denying a load of genres and amazing music. Fair enough if Eno is too much but I'd rethink that rule. For instance, I'm thinking of reccing Tortoise, who make great instrumental albums

[Trollheart]

Originally Posted by Tristan Geoff

Melvins? Maybe just the studio albums and not the spin-off ones (Melvins 1983 and Melvins lite, even though those are really good too) or ones featuring Jello. That'd be easy enough, if not just time-consuming. Just be glad you don't have to do Buckethead.

Well, technically I don't have to do anything, as I've allowed myself an out in this thread, unlike "Love or Hate?", where it's generally accepted that unless I've heard it before or have some good reason not to, I take whatever rec comes my way.

Melvins? I don't know. I'm not terribly interested in them and I think I heard one of their albums, which did not impress me. Let me look: hmm. I don't know. 24 albums? It's a lot, and I do want to do complete discogs. Let me think about it.

Actually I think I'd really enjoy Buckethead, but I only have one lifetime...

[Trollheart]

Originally Posted by Plainview

I think writing off any and all instrumental artists is a bit rash. You're basically denying a load of genres and amazing music. Fair enough if Eno is too much but I'd rethink that rule. For instance, I'm thinking of reccing Tortoise, who make great instrumental albums

I told you already: I can't review instrumental albums that well, and I'm not going to undertake to review a whole discog of instrumentals. Sorry but if you don't like it I don't care. That's the way it's going to be. I want music to write about, not just listen to. Accept that or move on.

[Anteater]

Queensrÿche
Peter Gabriel
Hall & Oates
Faith No More
Pagan's Mind

Just a few I'd be interested in seeing your analysis on.

[The Batlord]

Bathory. Only twelve albums.

[Tristan_Geoff]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Well, technically I don't have to do anything, as I've allowed myself an out in this thread, unlike "Love or Hate?", where it's generally accepted that unless I've heard it before or have some good reason not to, I take whatever rec comes my way.

Melvins? I don't know. I'm not terribly interested in them and I think I heard one of their albums, which did not impress me. Let me look: hmm. I don't know. 24 albums? It's a lot, and I do want to do complete discogs. Let me think about it.

Actually I think I'd really enjoy Buckethead, but I only have one lifetime...

Cool. Wasn't exact how this thread worked. And ai think Buckethead is upwards of 200 albums at this point? I wouldn't force on you.

[Trollheart]

Originally Posted by Anteater

Queensrÿche
Peter Gabriel
Hall & Oates
Faith No More
Pagan's Mind

Just a few I'd be interested in seeing your analysis on.

See that's what happens when you're late for meetings, Ant! I said ONE discography per member! Actually, I'm doing PG in my long-delayed "Brothers in Prog" series, so choose one other if you want.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Bathory. Only twelve albums.

Will add. Thanks for not suggesting Cannibal Corpse or The Rotting Vagina of an Impaled Virgin or whatever.

Originally Posted by Tristan Geoff

Cool. Wasn't exact how this thread worked. And ai think Buckethead is upwards of 200 albums at this point? I wouldn't force on you.

I'd love to do BH but there is no possible way, unless I want to be halfway through his discog on my death bed....