When we say “modern Swedish metal band”, we mean a lot of different bands, but not In Flames. Nobody expects anything from this band because the period from 2006 to 2015 is a dull tune-up, rarely diluted with something interesting. And only album Battles (2016) showed that these guys still know how to create something really interesting. And now we see their new album.
My Rating: 69/100 Best song: Deep Inside
No, I will not discuss all cause and effect - all this has long been done. I'll just start discussing the album. I'll start with composer. There is little variety here. Methods for solving artistic tasks can be called interesting, but their use is too simple, trivial. It seems that initially it was not planned to release an album, but there was a desire to somehow remind the whole world that the group still exists. Here you can hear something melodious, but on a very low guitar tuning (Drop A#). Also about half of the album is occupied by modern patterns.
Vocalist's work is superb. I usually confine myself to a few words when discussing such great specialists. This case is no exception. Here is not just a good job with all the accompanying shades. The only awkward moment is a weak variety. Here extreme techniques on a verse and clean on chorus.
Instrumental parts are monotonous. Work is great, but it's also difficult to hear the diversity. An intense melodic part in tracks 3 and 7, as well as an acoustic guitar in tracks 5 and 12 - that's all you need to know about diversity. In this album, guitar riffs can be divided into two types: more similar to metal (1, 3, 8, 10, 11 tracks) and more similar to metalcore (2, 5, 6, 7, 9 tracks). However, this separation is not very obvious. Maybe because of a very low guitar tuning, maybe due to the fact that initially there was one or two drafts. Anyway, this detail turned out to be pleasant. Rhythm section - here the diversity is even less. The bass, as usual, is hard to hear in the mix. Bass was marked only in track 10, where you can hear a strong attack. However, with drums, things are better. Very intense patterns pass through the entire album from beginning to end, giving listeners a wild pleasure.
Such a great talent is not afraid of change - he himself creates them. However, it's high time to recognize that they will never repeat their best work - album The Jester Race (1996). Now they are just following the already known path, following the current trends. Yes, after the album Come Clarity (2006) this release looks relatively fresh. But I see no reason for positive review.
Showing posts with label sweden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sweden. Show all posts
March 7, 2019
August 16, 2018
Methane - The Devil's Own (Review)
Southern metal from Sweden - a few years ago I would take it as a joke. But today in my entry a band from Sweden and USA.
My Rating: 75/100
I doubted for a long time whether it was worth writing a review for this album - it would be difficult for me to describe such release, and already a year and a half have passed since the release. Nevertheless, I will do it. Here we hear thrash / groove metal. This is all that can be said about the genre, since it's difficult to find something unique here. Nevertheless, audition left a pleasant impression.
It's noticeable here that the composer did not try to show something very complicated. He just did what he can do. No show-off's, just honest skill. Here is a fairly logical choice of methods for solving an artistic tasks without surprises. Actually, the result speaks for itself - during listening you want to drink beer and shake your head. Also, influence of classical metal bands is very noticeable here. This is expressed in a classic guitar tone - a tube amplifier with skreamer. Someone might say that this has already become boring - in 80s there were enough bands with such sound. But this particular sound has a special charm.
The picture is supplemented by vocalist. In general, vocal parts are performed well - a lot of experience is felt. Yes, vocalist is not always perfect - in 5th track the performance of the vocal parts is somehow too cautious. You can also notice that much attention was paid to lyrics.
Instrumental parts are not very difficult - most of the emotions are caused by the lyrics. Nevertheless, there is something to say about instrumental parts. Guitar sounds cool. It would seem nothing complicated, but it causes great emotions. It's noticeable that there are many tracks for guitar and for each track, the re-amp was done differently (for example, more gain on second guitar). Also in one of the tracks on different tracks the vibrato is performed in different ways. Such pleasant little things leave a good impression of composition as a whole. You can also notice a very intense rhythm section. However, for such music is characterized by a high-intensity rhythm section. But this is not the usual bass drum's grinding in the style of Dave Lombardo. There is a very large variety of drum patterns. Yes, drummer is a cool dude.
Guys know how to do something - they do it. And they do it well. Yes, there are not enough very many shades in composer's work here. Yes, it was possible to compose more new songs for full-length album. But overall, album leaves a pleasant impression. Yes, there are few new songs here. But I hope that in the future this will be more.
My Rating: 75/100
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| Source - amazon.com |
It's noticeable here that the composer did not try to show something very complicated. He just did what he can do. No show-off's, just honest skill. Here is a fairly logical choice of methods for solving an artistic tasks without surprises. Actually, the result speaks for itself - during listening you want to drink beer and shake your head. Also, influence of classical metal bands is very noticeable here. This is expressed in a classic guitar tone - a tube amplifier with skreamer. Someone might say that this has already become boring - in 80s there were enough bands with such sound. But this particular sound has a special charm.
The picture is supplemented by vocalist. In general, vocal parts are performed well - a lot of experience is felt. Yes, vocalist is not always perfect - in 5th track the performance of the vocal parts is somehow too cautious. You can also notice that much attention was paid to lyrics.
Instrumental parts are not very difficult - most of the emotions are caused by the lyrics. Nevertheless, there is something to say about instrumental parts. Guitar sounds cool. It would seem nothing complicated, but it causes great emotions. It's noticeable that there are many tracks for guitar and for each track, the re-amp was done differently (for example, more gain on second guitar). Also in one of the tracks on different tracks the vibrato is performed in different ways. Such pleasant little things leave a good impression of composition as a whole. You can also notice a very intense rhythm section. However, for such music is characterized by a high-intensity rhythm section. But this is not the usual bass drum's grinding in the style of Dave Lombardo. There is a very large variety of drum patterns. Yes, drummer is a cool dude.
Guys know how to do something - they do it. And they do it well. Yes, there are not enough very many shades in composer's work here. Yes, it was possible to compose more new songs for full-length album. But overall, album leaves a pleasant impression. Yes, there are few new songs here. But I hope that in the future this will be more.
March 13, 2018
10 guitar riffs that changed my life
Recently saw Jared video, in which he talks about the 10 guitar riffs that changed his life. Today I decided to tell you about it too. So, 10 guitar riffs that changed my life.
I will not describe all causes and consequences - this will not be enough for one blog entry. The only thing I notice is that at first the complexity gradually increased, then the notion "genre" ceased to exist for me at all.
- X-Japan - X (Power Metal/Speed Metal).
- Slayer - Black Magic (Thrash Metal).
- Trivium - Pull Harder On the Strings Of Your Martyr (Thrash Metal/Groove Metal).
- In Flames - Artifact Of The Black Rain (Melodic Death Metal).
- Lamb Of God - Redneck (Groove Metal).
- Bullet For My Valentine - Hit The Floor (Metalcore).
- Bullet For My Valentine - Ashes Of The Innocent (Thrash Metal/Metalcore).
- Killswitch Engage - My Last Serenade (Metalcore).
- Periphery - Insomnia (Groove Metal/Progressive Metal/Djent).
- Kino - Peremen (Post-Punk, New Wave)
I will not describe all causes and consequences - this will not be enough for one blog entry. The only thing I notice is that at first the complexity gradually increased, then the notion "genre" ceased to exist for me at all.
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