Death Metal Album Club

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 10-17-2017, 10:59 AM

i'm listening now.

Trollheart · 10-17-2017, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwertyy

i'm listening now.

I'll be listening once I've done with Thievery Corporation...

Trollheart · 10-17-2017, 12:49 PM

Diary About My Nightmares - The Mean Hour

Well I'm bored already by track one and – hmm. Interesting use of a female vocal here; not the first time such a combination has been used by any means, but on a death metal album not so much. Guitar work on this track (“What Controls Us”) is pretty sweet and there's a nice melody to it, though the next one just blasts out of the gate at a mile a minute and a spat vocal that sounds like the guy is having a seizure. So, we're back on track then! “Deliverance” it certainly is not. Jesus this is boring. Well that didn't take long. Next!

Thelonious Monkey · 10-17-2017, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Something tells me he'll be incommunicado and doesn't even remember he's in this thread. You there, Thelonious Monkey?

I said I was out ages ago.

Trollheart · 10-17-2017, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thelonious Monkey

I said I was out ages ago.

Hey everyone! ThelMonk is gay!

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 10-17-2017, 02:15 PM

gonna ditto on what TH said. except i felt the album started strong. there was something there from the get, and the vocals felt really powerful. however, as things progressed, it didn’t feel like they took that momentum and did anything with it. i can’t say i came into this expecting something groundbreaking and life changing, but variety is the spice of life, and this lacked it. not a bad band, and a track at a time i would say i enjoyed it. but sitting down and listening to the whole thing is a task and i frequently found my mind wandering.

2.5/5

Trollheart · 10-17-2017, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwertyy

gonna ditto on what TH said. except i felt the album started strong. there was something there from the get, and the vocals felt really powerful. however, as things progressed, it didn’t feel like they took that momentum and did anything with it. i can’t say i came into this expecting something groundbreaking and life changing, but variety is the spice of life, and this lacked it. not a bad band, and a track at a time i would say i enjoyed it. but sitting down and listening to the whole thing is a task and i frequently found my mind wandering.

2.5/5

That might be Alzheimers.

What was I saying? I think my mind wandered: come back here, you!
That might be Alzheimers.

Or it might be Alzheimers.
Maybe even Alzheimers.
I'm getting up for school now, ma! Jeez!

~~MicShazam~~ · 10-17-2017, 03:48 PM

I know this band, but I'm not familiar with this album in particular. I own an album of theirs named Forbidden Anger and I even think it's quite good. It has a bit more of a melodeath vibe to it than this album does, I'd say.

Having listened a couple times to The Mean Hour, I'd say I'm a bit disappointed. It's just not quite as well composed as I'd like, and some of the vocal style detours just don't really work here. I really enjoy the first four tracks, so that's something. There's some good moments later on the album too, but it doesn't grab me like Forbidden Anger does.
It seems there's too much staccato chugging here and not all that many interesting ideas to go around for the length of the album.
I enjoy the vocals of the regular vocalist, but there's a song somewhere into the album where this dude comes in and... kind of ruins the moment.
I like the production on the album. It recalls 90's metal albums to me. Something I really enjoyed about that time was that there didn't seem to be some reigning trend in metal production/mastering during that decade, so each album from every band sounded damn near unique.
A lot of 90's metal also has way fatter bass than all those usually quite thin 80's metal albums, and this particular album can boast that too. There's some pretty sweet grooving between the guitars and bass at times here. The drummer needs to learn some more tricks. The drumming is tighter than on the album I own, but also less varied. Not an improvement and he's the weak link here, even if the drums work really well on each track in isolation from the whole.

I'm not ging to be as hard on this as other posters understandably are. I've got a soft spot for this band already and sort of enjoy their sound.

6/10. Forbidden Anger is way better, but I doubt I'll convince anyone to listen to it.

EDIT: I hate the fact that Die Alone would have been pretty sweet if not for that ****ty vocal feature during the chorus.

Wpnfire · 10-17-2017, 04:52 PM

Who's picking the new one?

~~MicShazam~~ · 10-17-2017, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wpnfire

Who's picking the new one?

"Bastard of Young", who I don't think I've seen in here since this thread started?
I don't think he can be expected to show up.

In that case, you would be next.

10-17-2017, 12:49 PM	#293 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Diary About My Nightmares - The Mean Hour Well I'm bored already by track one and – hmm. Interesting use of a female vocal here; not the first time such a combination has been used by any means, but on a death metal album not so much. Guitar work on this track (“What Controls Us”) is pretty sweet and there's a nice melody to it, though the next one just blasts out of the gate at a mile a minute and a spat vocal that sounds like the guy is having a seizure. So, we're back on track then! “Deliverance” it certainly is not. Jesus this is boring. Well that didn't take long. Next! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-17-2017, 04:52 PM	#299 (permalink)
Wpnfire Dragon Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Kansas, United States Posts: 2,744	Who's picking the new one? __________________ Last.FM My RYM Ratings *My Glitchwave Beta Profile*

10-17-2017, 03:48 PM	#298 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	I know this band, but I'm not familiar with this album in particular. I own an album of theirs named Forbidden Anger and I even think it's quite good. It has a bit more of a melodeath vibe to it than this album does, I'd say. Having listened a couple times to The Mean Hour, I'd say I'm a bit disappointed. It's just not quite as well composed as I'd like, and some of the vocal style detours just don't really work here. I really enjoy the first four tracks, so that's something. There's some good moments later on the album too, but it doesn't grab me like Forbidden Anger does. It seems there's too much staccato chugging here and not all that many interesting ideas to go around for the length of the album. I enjoy the vocals of the regular vocalist, but there's a song somewhere into the album where this dude comes in and... kind of ruins the moment. I like the production on the album. It recalls 90's metal albums to me. Something I really enjoyed about that time was that there didn't seem to be some reigning trend in metal production/mastering during that decade, so each album from every band sounded damn near unique. A lot of 90's metal also has way fatter bass than all those usually quite thin 80's metal albums, and this particular album can boast that too. There's some pretty sweet grooving between the guitars and bass at times here. The drummer needs to learn some more tricks. The drumming is tighter than on the album I own, but also less varied. Not an improvement and he's the weak link here, even if the drums work really well on each track in isolation from the whole. I'm not ging to be as hard on this as other posters understandably are. I've got a soft spot for this band already and sort of enjoy their sound. 6/10. Forbidden Anger is way better, but I doubt I'll convince anyone to listen to it. EDIT: I hate the fact that Die Alone would have been pretty sweet if not for that ****ty vocal feature during the chorus.