The Album Club 2017

Anteater · 05-09-2017, 07:17 PM

Thought you might find this helpful innerspaceboy, and great review.

Quote:

Taken from a recent interview on the Metal Hammer site:

"But the most stirring songs on Ocean Machine are those that confront that cruel plane of existence head on. Life, a sonically uplifting rumination on the preciousness of existence, and Funeral, a hymn-like address punctuated with desperate cries, were written following the death of 16-year-old schoolmate Jesse Cadman. On the evening of October 18, 1992, he was senselessly stabbed.

“He was killed walking home by a group of kids that wanted his hat,” says Devin quietly.

Though Devin and Jesse weren’t close, Devin was good friends with Jesse’s sister. He also played in local band Grey Skies, of which Jesse was a fan. When it came to organising his funeral, the Cadmans asked Devin to speak in church – something that left an indelible impact on him.

“I hadn’t experienced death in a tangible way prior to that, so when we went to the funeral and I had to speak, I remember I hadn’t anticipated they were gonna bring the body out, and I just panicked,” he says. “I couldn’t cope with it, and I wasn’t alone in that, either. It was a real heavy time for a lot of people, because it was our first experience with that sort of thing, and it was senseless. It affected my teen years profoundly.”

Jesse’s parents became involved in youth work and politics, and Devin is moved to learn that his mum, Dona Cadman, has publicly spoken alongside the mother of her son’s killer. “It’s a testament to the parts of the human condition that are worth fighting for,” he says."

Full Interview - The story behind Devin Townsend's Ocean Machine: Biomech

innerspaceboy · 05-09-2017, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Thought you might find this helpful innerspaceboy, and great review.

Thanks! Great stuff! I always love a bit of context with my music!

Blank. · 05-10-2017, 09:32 AM

My review.

Seventh Wave - We start out with somebody talking about some shit which moves into some interesting riffing. So far so good. Vocals come in and they aren't that great. I could do without these.

Life - Starts with similar riffing to the last song and then a snare roll comes in to make... something generic. Nothing to fascinating happening. Kind of boring really.

Night - Starts with some alternative riffing, that gets into more generic shit. I'm kind of getting a Marilyn Manson vibe from this... but not as good.

Hide Nowhere - Same story as the last two songs. Boring, generic, and not doing a whole lot for me.

Sister - This starts kind of different but interesting. Frankly the guitar is getting lost in all the noise. There is so much going on that nothing is really aloud to stand out. It feels like a big jumble of noise rather than an interesting take on music. Strongly dislike this song.

3 A.M. - No to these vocals. This guy is not good enough on his own to carry a track with his vocals. Music is coming in and drowning him out a bit.

Voices in the Fan - Ok, and here we are in an industrial track. It's much better than the rest of it so far. Actually might call this one good.

Greetings - This one has a cool intro. In the situation of this song it builds nicely to a fairly satisfactory pay-off.

Regulator - Hell of a lot heavier then all the other tracks so far. I'm headbanging along to this one a bit.

Funeral - A lot of these songs try so hard to be larger than life then fall flat on their face in the process. This song is no exception to the rule.

Bastard - Has a nice riff going on. Good track so far. Track goes on too long and the larger then life feeling is a failure at times.

The Death of Music - Hear some people whispering in the background with a soft drum beat happening. The vocals are coming in... Gosh, that is drenched in reverb. Not feeling this. Found this song to be boring.

Thing Beyond Things - Pretty good song. Has that larger than life feeling but doesn't fall flat on it's face. The scream though just fucking made me jump. Hahaha

Final Thoughts: Album is pretty boring and generic. The mixture of Alternative metal and progressive metal is usually an awesome mixture, but this manages to miss the mark and be a rather boring album.

☆☆1/2

Anteater · 05-10-2017, 10:02 AM

It's like you went in to review a Pink Floyd record but you were expecting Motorhead or Big Black.

Blank. · 05-10-2017, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

It's like you went in to review a Pink Floyd record but you were expecting Motorhead or Big Black.

Whatever you have to say to convince yourself that I was being bias.

Anteater · 05-10-2017, 10:53 AM

Just watching you two (AKA you and Frowny) miss the mark so spectacularly on a classic like Ocean Machine: Biomech makes this whole club worth it honestly. I was expecting it, but you guys went above and beyond.

05-10-2017, 09:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
Blank. Jacob Sartorius Join Date: May 2016 Location: Dank memes Posts: 4,033	My review. Seventh Wave - We start out with somebody talking about some shit which moves into some interesting riffing. So far so good. Vocals come in and they aren't that great. I could do without these. Life - Starts with similar riffing to the last song and then a snare roll comes in to make... something generic. Nothing to fascinating happening. Kind of boring really. Night - Starts with some alternative riffing, that gets into more generic shit. I'm kind of getting a Marilyn Manson vibe from this... but not as good. Hide Nowhere - Same story as the last two songs. Boring, generic, and not doing a whole lot for me. Sister - This starts kind of different but interesting. Frankly the guitar is getting lost in all the noise. There is so much going on that nothing is really aloud to stand out. It feels like a big jumble of noise rather than an interesting take on music. Strongly dislike this song. 3 A.M. - No to these vocals. This guy is not good enough on his own to carry a track with his vocals. Music is coming in and drowning him out a bit. Voices in the Fan - Ok, and here we are in an industrial track. It's much better than the rest of it so far. Actually might call this one good. Greetings - This one has a cool intro. In the situation of this song it builds nicely to a fairly satisfactory pay-off. Regulator - Hell of a lot heavier then all the other tracks so far. I'm headbanging along to this one a bit. Funeral - A lot of these songs try so hard to be larger than life then fall flat on their face in the process. This song is no exception to the rule. Bastard - Has a nice riff going on. Good track so far. Track goes on too long and the larger then life feeling is a failure at times. The Death of Music - Hear some people whispering in the background with a soft drum beat happening. The vocals are coming in... Gosh, that is drenched in reverb. Not feeling this. Found this song to be boring. Thing Beyond Things - Pretty good song. Has that larger than life feeling but doesn't fall flat on it's face. The scream though just fucking made me jump. Hahaha Final Thoughts: Album is pretty boring and generic. The mixture of Alternative metal and progressive metal is usually an awesome mixture, but this manages to miss the mark and be a rather boring album. ☆☆1/2