Trivium - What The Dead Men Say (Review)

As you can remember, I rarely listen to music from USA. However, I recently received a newsletter on my email with a proposal to listen to Trivium new album. Also in some of my recommendations on Youtube there were several covers for songs from this album. Well, this means that today we will have very cool guys from America.

My Rating: 84/100 Best song: Bending the Arc to Fear

Service Yandex Music determined that the song Sickness Unto You is similar to Open the Hell's Gate (EACH OF THE DAYS) - that’s all you need to know about how such algorithms work.

And then we will act. I read a lot of articles on art and culture. And often I notice one point among the authors: a magnificent train of thought, but the emphasis is ugly. Something like this can be said about this album. Obviously, the guys wanted to make a very technical and very complex album, but at the same time still make something attractive to average listener. And just then, with such a desire, some uncomfortable feeling begins. For example, this is noticeable in the album structure: an increasing intro, then three very powerful tracks, and then the 5th track, which seemed to me too difficult to understand. On track 6, I wanted to turn off this album. A pleasant surprise was that the 7th, 8th and 9th tracks were the best in the album. And the last track seemed to have been made just to somehow end the album. In general, the impressions of the album are positive. There is no sense of incompleteness that I usually have after such albums.

The vocalist is flawless. There is a weak variety of vocal techniques - it's noticeable that the idea prevails here, and not the vocalist's skill's shades. However, the voice is very strong, which, coupled with sharp lyrics, gives a tangible effect. However, there is one interesting point. It consists approximately of the following: from the point of view of instrumental parts, it's extreme metal, but there are few extreme vocal techniques. It might look strange, but it looks interesting here.

Instrumental parts: this situation is twofold. On the one side, riffs are very hooky and very groovy. For example, I liked the main riff from Catastrophist so much that I immediately wanted to tune my guitar on Standard A# and play it. It can also be noted that riffs have a very high technical complexity: I didn't immediately understand how this is played and this is a pleasant fact. On the other side, in some segments you can hear stroking the power chords using the simplest alternate picking technique. I think this is a negative point - I didn't expect this from these guys. Now about the rhythm section. Bass has a pronounced upper part of tone. Because of this, the bass is clearly audible in the mix - this is a nice detail, especially when you listen through cheap headphones. However, the bassist doesn't have a lot of interesting parts - I can’t single out one thing. Drums - everything is pretty predictable here. Here you can hear very intense drum loops. However, it's not possible to tell too much about drums - the composer's attention on guitars is noticeably too much.

Usually mainstream rock bands completely disappoint me. Yes, this can be understood: in the modern world, popularity requires far from what experts say. But these guys are one of the very few exceptions. They have such a high skill level that their flaws can only be felt. Specifically, in this album, a big bet on the general idea and on guitars is noticeable: sharp lyrics and difficult riffs. Whether this bet has played or not - perhaps everyone will decide for himself. But I can say that this album is cool.

Dream Theater - Distance Over Time (Review)

Unfortunately, the names of many artistic personalities eventually turn into a brand, not a guarantee of high art. For music critics, each new release of famous metal bands is a reason for discussions on such topics. And today I will tell about epic release of famous band.

My Rating: 84/100     Best Song: Pale Blue Dot

About Dream Theater said enough before I was born. However, even in the new album there are interesting things. If I described every thing worth attention, then I would get about 30,000 characters (with the usual length of 3000 - 3500). However, the first thing you notice is a very epic general idea. Everything is so epic here that you can write a lot of words about each song. Especially about the song Pale Blue Dot, which was probably inspired by that famous photograph of Earth from Saturn. However, there is also something more poppy here. I also listened to a version from Spotify with a bonus track. The bonus track was not understood by me.

Composer's work is excellent. Here are very well chosen methods for solving artistic tasks. It's noticeable that a lot of attention was paid to instrumental parts. Very, very much attention. Complexity and simplicity are wonderfully interwoven with emotions, resulting in epic constructions. We have to admit that composer is a true master of his craft. Even not the most successful songs (5 and 6 tracks) and frank quickie (10 track) sound great.

But about vocalist can be said a little. It's noticeable that vocalist perfectly performed his work - voice is quite strong. But in the end, it looks a bit weird. As if vocalist just walked up to microphone and did his job. How else to explain the weak variety of vocals with such a long experience?

Instrumental parts - there is a lot of room for thought, but, unfortunately, for this one blog entry will not be enough. However, first of all I would like to mention the guitarist. Usually, after name “John Petrucci” everything becomes clear - a guitarist of such a high level cannot do something bad. And this is reflected in album: guitar parts - this is something incredible that is difficult to describe with the help of words. Moreover, this atmosphere of “something incredible” is felt in every segment of each song. There are interesting riffs on extended range guitar and long guitar solos. Bassist is great too. Bass is hard to hear in the mix, but you can still see very interesting bass lines here. In some songs the bass has a very strong attack and this gives the songs a special charm. Keyboards - here there are interesting parts of organ in tracks 7 and 9. Also, track 8 consists almost entirely of a piano. Otherwise, I expected more. Drums - I also expected more. But there is still an interesting set of rhythms.

To say “this is just good work” means to insult such a great talent and experience. But it seems that these guys are stuck somewhere in the 90s: not at all parts it looks like classical metal, and the modern patterns here are not presented in the best light. Perhaps the readers will think that I was brought up at mallcore and I can not objectively describe such releases. But one thing is certain: Dream Theater has long been a brand. Work of these guys is excellent, but we already heard this in the 90s. And riffs on extended range guitars don't greatly complement this picture. Well, the work is done.

Flotsam & Jetsam - The End Of Chaos (Review)

Most of the famous USA metal bands are very predictable. This can be understood: when you see that some scheme brings profit, there is a great temptation to use it again and again (sometimes only by changing some shades). Initially, I thought about Flotsam & Jetsam in the same way - what can a band that has existed for 38 years show what's new?

My Rating: 68/100      Best song: Prepare for Chaos

Unfortunately, I was not mistaken - nothing new can be seen here. The general idea of ​​madness, chaos, strong personality has been exploited by Western metal band for more than 40 years. Needless to say, this has already have a dry mouth? However, this is a rhetorical question. Here you can hear patterns characteristic of thrash metal: triplets on guitar, skank beat on drums. Also here you can see patterns characteristic of power metal, which are not limited to some inserts of something melodic. I can't say that this combination is very common: I can only remember two bands that I constantly listen (Lujaneeza and 1/3 of Aldious songs). Well, this is a nice detail.

Composer's work is also enjoyable. There is a lot of experience here. But composer's experience is used rather trivially: only patterns without attention to shades. That is, the sound is very powerful, but the public has heard similar patterns many times.

Vocalist's job is also good. It's noticeable that vocalist also has good abilities. But the main part of vocalist’s work is aimed at maximum compatibility with the overall structure. Here the vocalist is not a separate person, but just another element of the overall structure. Such shade spoils the impression of his work.

Instrumental parts - everything is very predictable here. Here composer is trying to portray diversity. Keyword is “trying”. Guitar riffs are not very complex. Even during the audition, I realized how it's played (although I am not a professional). But in general, guitar riffs look very powerful. Rhythm section is also very powerful. It's noticeable that bass was given a lot of attention. Unfortunately, not the composer paid much attention to the bass, but the sound designer - only reamping is good here. However, drums are incredible. Here is a high intensity drum patterns. The main part of the impression is drums.

Yes it's beautiful. Yes, it's powerful. But this is just another repetition of successful model. This is one of the reasons why I don’t like famous Western bands - not enough just to drive at full speed, sometimes road can be bumpy. Those who miss the NWOBHM or some mallcore kid can listen to it. But for aesthetic person it will be just another release from the West. Guys did everything right, but the absence of many shades significantly spoils the impression of the album. Album was not even helped by a hint of conceptuality. Well, the review is generally neutral, but I feel sorry for the time spent.

My favorite riffs on 7 string guitar

Despite the fact that I listen to a lot of music, few of my favorite bands play on 7 string guitars. In this post I will list my favorite riffs on a 7 string guitar. I think this would be a logical continuation of the “My favorite %itemname%” lists. As usual, I will list them in the format:

• Project name - Song title (genre, guitar tuning)

So, let's begin.

• Rie Aka Suzaku - Dreaming Eyes (Heavy / Power Metal, Standard B)

Let's start with something easier. The first experience with a 7 string guitar - and immediately a great song. Excellent talent.

• HETEROGENEOUS ANDEAD - Demise of Rein (Melodic Death / Thrash / Symphonic Metal, Standard B)

I consider the newest album of this band controversial and ambiguous. However, I liked one riff.

• SoundWitch - Suzy the Mouth (Industrial Metal, Standard B)

I categorically don't recommend this band for listening. But I liked one of the riffs.

• Amiliyah - Serpent (Gothic / Industrial Metal, Standard B)

I included band Amiliyah for a very cool overall concept. But most of all I liked the riff of this song.

• Alphoenix - Give Me Fire (Melodic Death Metal / Metalcore, Standard B)

But I have been listening to these guys since the time when they were called MyProof.

• Isao - Gravity Core (Progressive Metal / Instrumental, Standard B)
• Cube-Ray - Golf (Progressive Metal / Instrumental, Standard B)

Phrase “instrumental progressive” often gives rise to a lot of jokes about “zeros”, especially when the guitarist plays on extended range guitar. But Fujita-sensei is one of the few who really knows how to play such music.

• Levrage - End Of Time (Thrash / Groove Metal / Metalcore, Standard B)
• Levrage - Lost Nation (Thrash / Groove Metal / Metalcore, Standard B)
• Levrage - Playing With Fire (Thrash / Groove Metal / Metalcore, Standard B)
• Levrage - Life Is Calling (Thrash / Groove Metal / Metalcore, Standard B)

One of the few bands from USA that I constantly listen.

• Inescapable Dehumanization - Dishonored (Brutal Death Metal / Deathcore, Drop A)

“East" is not only Japan. An example is this band from Kazakhstan.

• Nocturnal Bloodlust - V.I.P. (Metalcore / Deathcore, Drop A)
• Nocturnal Bloodlust - Malice Against (Deathcore / Djent, Drop G)

And I could not miss the real masters of their craft.

This time the list turned out to be more voluminous - 13 pieces.

The most brutal guitar plug-in

Previously, extreme bands recorded guitars on the classical scheme - studio, amplifier, microphone, guitarist. But in the processing such a result it takes a very long time to hide errors. Or they made perverted experiments in the process of re-amp - only most popular (vintage and similar) amplifiers and pedals exist in VST format. But now there was a plug-in that allows you to get a very brutal sound.



Nice job. The result you can hear is that this sound is very suitable for the deathcore or djent. Comments are superfluous.

Currently, this plug-in is not available for purchase, only pre-order is available. But for those who have pre-ordered, access will be 2 days earlier than for general public.

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

Source - amazon.com

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.

Wireless headphones: Sven vs JBL

"Portable electronic device for audio data playback" - is that we say after word "headphones"? No. Headphones today are not just another device. It’s more like a separate philosophy. It’s not difficult to guess that now the lowest segment (up to 99 USD) is very saturated and it's very easy to make mistakes here. There are also frank shit and quite good models.

Today I decided to compare 2 pieces of wireless headphones worth up to 99 USD. For this I chose Sven AP-B450MV and JBL T450BT. These are pretty strong opponents.

Sven AP-B450MV

Peoples from Finland don't have a mad desire for luxury. They believe that luxury is a medieval fun for degrades person. For this reason, all products of Finnish companies - this is maximum quality at lowest price. No bells, no whistles. No extra charges for letters on package. As for the company SVEN, I have known them for a long time. On keyboard from this company, millions symbols were printed, and thousands of hours of game sessions were held. On one keyboard. And now, when the mass market can offer wireless headphones, I will choose this company.

Price - 1900 rub (30,8 USD).



JBL T450BT

Is there a good sound on the membrane at 32mm? Five years ago I would call it blatant lies, but now it's possible. It's not that much to say here, since large companies are big because they do everything and always are good. As for this particular example, I really liked the idea of ​​"dressed and pressed". No unnecessary movements. He dressed, pressed, and listened.

Price - 3500 rub (56,8 USD).




So, I already compared the design. And now I will compare the sound of these models. I will compare the sound of low, medium and high frequencies, as well as the timbre of the most commonly used instruments in metal music. For this I alternately play several different tracks on phone. Here is the list.

• Absolute - Instinct Of the Beast (Hard Rock/Heavy Metal)
• Longinus - Evil & Blood (Heavy/Power Metal)
• Light Bringer - Noah (Symphonic/Power/Progressive Metal)
• Rie Aka Suzaku - Last Enemy (Speed/Power Metal)
• Aldious - Eternal Delusion (Thrash/Power Metal)
• Horrific Disease - Lord Of Avengement (Thrash/Death Metal)
• Infernal Revulsion - Contra-Mi(Nation) (Brutal Death Metal)
• Each Of The Days - This Burning Blood (Metalcore)
• Nocturnal Bloodlust - Malice Against (Deathcore/Djent)

At once it’s possible to tell, that for price sounding of both models excellent. But there are some differences.

Headphones from SVEN

Advantages:

• Interesting design.
• Excellent price / quality ratio.
• Uniform reproduction of all frequencies. No problem.
• A 40mm speaker is a very good solution.
• Versatility. Suitable for many tasks. Listen metal or watch movie - these headphones will always be gorgeous.
• You can connect two devices at the same time: one by BT, the other by 3.5.
• Several buttons are combined into one. Play, pause, next track, previous track, increase volume, decrease volume - this is all one button.

Disadvantages:

• The case needs to be cleaned often.
• Manufacturer claims that the battery lasts 10 hours. In the actual case, charge lasts for 6-6.5 hours.
• Very sensitive to radio noises and sudden movement of coupled device. It's not recommended to move quickly during use.
• It's also not recommended to move quickly because of the very fragile structure. Yes, in our time, any electronics is quite fragile. But here some headband parts of are made of very thin plastic, which significantly increases the likelihood of breakage.

Headphones from JBL

Advantages:

• Minimal design. It's simple - put it on his head and pressed the button.
• Design makes it possible to very fine-tune the device under your head.
• Very pronounced upper range parts.
• Radio noises does not matter.
• They also need to be handled with care, but not as with the previous model.
• Manufacturer claims that the battery charge lasts for 11 hours and it's very close to reality.

Disadvantages:

• Lower range part is poorly audible. Yes, manufacturer claims some "special" sound, but good hearing can not be deceived.
• The 32mm speaker has a good sound, but I can not say that its use is a good idea.
• Not suitable for music with a high-intensity rhythm section. Even when listening to thrash, power or speed metal, something is already being felt. And extreme music in these headphones turns into an violent mosh.
• No wired connection - can not be used when battery power is off.

Well, earlier I stated that these are very strong opponents and choice is not always obvious. But my choice is made. Guess which one?

Virtual Guitar Processors: POD Farm vs Guitar Rig

Not all people are owners of a large living space - to keep the amplifier and a large number of effect pedals, everyone can not. But everyone, who plays guitar, want a good sound. Virtual processors can help here. I compared two popular virtual processors and today I'll tell you about results.

POD Farm from Line 6

Manufacturer of guitar equipment has now entered the virtual space. For comparison, version 2.59.0 (build from February 14, 2017) is taken.

Advantages:

• Very high-quality emulators with very little CPU resources.
• Very simple setup: you choose the elements and play.
• It's impossible to make a mistake. You just choose the elements of your sound and play.
• Emulator cabinet contains an emulator of 4 microphones (can be used only separately), as well as a simple tool to adjust room size.
• Can be divided into two channels and used separately or together. For example, this can be useful for rhythm (emphasizing low frequencies, more gain) and for solos (high-frequency underscores, less gain).
• Can be used as a vocal processor.
• It's not necessary to connect via a professional audio interface. To connect the built-in audio card on your computer.

Disadvantages:

• Quality is lower compared to the next.
• There is no possibility of recording. It's possible to make friends with sequencer, but for this you need to copy *.dll files to folder "vst plugins".
• A lot of similar elements of the tone block. I never saw the difference between the "modern" and "vintage" delays.

Guitar Rig from Native Instrument

When it comes to Native Instrument, comments are always superfluous. For comparison, version 5.1.0 (build from March 22, 2012) is taken.

Advantages:

• "Made in Germany" and "Quality" are synonyms. And this product is no exception.
• A very convenient CPU usage monitor. At the time of exceeding 100% the program is automatically turned off.
• You can switch between low and high quality.
• You can very fine tune your tone. Immediately is a huge number of well-known instruments for forming a tone.
• There are very rare and specific effects. For example, UFO effect - this sound can not be described.
• A lot of extra tools. For example, you can export your result as wav file. Or import the previously recorded riffs and see how it will sound.
• Also there is a very convenient metronome, in which you can even test your sense of rhythm. So convenient that I decided to highlight this as a separate item.
• For each amp, there is a separate cabinet emulator and two separate microphone emulators (condenser or dynamic). But the company's emulator cabinet contains emulators of 8 different microphones, which can be used both together, as well as separately.
• Compressors / limiters are just fantastic.
• Opportunity to divide into two channels. There are three types of separation: from side and in middle, from below and from above and also the classical division into two channels.
• Volume pedal can be controlled by any external device. I did it for this purpose to customize the gamepad for PS2.

Disadvantages:

• This is not a toy for beginners. It's very difficult to learn and adjust.
• It's very easy to make a mistake. Elements are from top to bottom.
• It behaves inadequately when connected through the built-in sound card on computer / laptop.
• Realism is good, but only up to a certain point. If guitar is not connected to computer, then all the time you hear a rattle and crackling.
• It's impossible to make friends with sequencer. However, this is compensated by the possibility of recording.
• It requires a lot of CPU resources. That is, if CPU has less than 4 cores and the clock frequency is less than 2.0 (Intel), then forget about it.
• Divide into two channels is possible, but this requires a very long time to set up. And it's not always what I wanted.
• Only one amp for bass, and bass sound is tuned in a very specific way.

I think choice is obvious.

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.

1. X-Japan - X (Power Metal/Speed Metal).
2. Slayer - Black Magic (Thrash Metal).
3. Trivium - Pull Harder On the Strings Of Your Martyr (Thrash Metal/Groove Metal).
4. In Flames - Artifact Of The Black Rain (Melodic Death Metal).
5. Lamb Of God - Redneck (Groove Metal).
6. Bullet For My Valentine - Hit The Floor (Metalcore).
7. Bullet For My Valentine - Ashes Of The Innocent (Thrash Metal/Metalcore).
8. Killswitch Engage - My Last Serenade (Metalcore).
9. Periphery - Insomnia (Groove Metal/Progressive Metal/Djent).
10. 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.

LevRage - The Culling (Review)

I rarely listen to Western metal. Modern model of Western metal music gets bored very quickly. Among Western countries, I prefer those in which music is a bad source of profit (for example, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Poland). This makes musicians produce rare, but very interesting releases. In USA it's difficult to find interesting bands because of their large number.

My Rating: 84/100

Source - soundcloud.com/levrage

Nevertheless, it's possible. Today I want to review band Levrage and their new single "The Culling". I really liked album "Lost Nation" and now I wanted a sequel. And sequel appeared recently in the form of a single. Allegorical cover art promises us topics that it's impossible to keep silent - these topics are always interesting. As for music, here we again hear thrash/groove metal with strong hardcore influence. Overall structures leaves a pleasant impression. The single track from this release reminded me of track Pushing Resistance from album "Lost Nation": here listener captures the overall structure, but a few shades are taken into account. I can not say that this release is made better than previous. Well, it's difficult to fly higher every time.

Rather strong voice of vocalist and very honest lyrics is the first thing to notice. Vocalist is good - here we hear harsh, screaming and clean. Voice and combination of vocal techniques is not unique, but I can not remember who it might look like.

But instrumental parts I can not call very interesting. In instrumental parts it's difficult to find anything interesting, except for a few riffs with pinch harmonics (near the end). Even drums - constructions does not differ in variety, although this is typical for this genre. But some shades give a sense of professional work. Here you can feel good composer's work: there remains a good aftertaste.

Well, there's only one track, so I can not write much about it. Good or bad, everyone will decide on their own. But this band had good potential from beginning. And now they again show an excellent skill level. I hope next release will be a worthy continuation of album "Lost Nation".

8 string guitar vs 6 string guitar with Digitech Whammy

Let's imagine this situation: you want to play on guitar with very low tuning. But you only have a six-string guitar with a standard E tuning and a regular string set. Having a more guitars is too expensive, each time changing the strings is too expensive, and also long. Here this device can help. It costs 200 USD.



Great job. You may notice that the sound is very different, although the notes are completely identical.

Theoretical explanation is quite simple. Imagine several units of some material of different sizes. A similar attack force is applied to them. The sound will be different in frequency and something else. This "something" is called "timbre" - the coloring of sound, reported to it by overtones, resonances, ect.

It's the same with strings. After attack, not one frequency is formed, but a whole set of frequencies, at the peak top there will be exactly that frequency that you wanted. Who does not understand about "peak" - google "Gauss distribution." Actually, difference in sound is due to construction features. 7 and 8 strings are thicker than 5 and 6, that is, the oscillations will be different. And, if we can lower the basic note, then we can not affect the oscillations (overtones, resonances). Yes, there is deeper processing of frequency, but this is another topic.

So, let's sum up. Advantages of 8 string guitar:

• Sound is more natural.
• Wider range.
• You look very cool with this.

Advantages of a 6 string guitar with Digitech Whammy:

• Less weight.
• Frequency changes in real time - it's very suitable for experimental music.
• You don't need to have several guitars with different tunings.

What to choose? You decide.

Kevin Lytle - Trial And Error (Review)

Well, first days of year are not presented with any new releases. Therefore, we will consider something released earlier. Recently on Twitter, I came across the account of an interesting musician Kevin Lytle. Also, I recently found out that he has an album about which I will tell today.

Source:
kevinlytle.bandcamp.com

My Rating: 75/100

I will not be write with pathos like "I am very rarely surprised, but ...". I'll just say that album is pretty good. When I finished listening to this album, I couldn't say anything about it. Really. I am currently writing this review, but I don't know what to write. I was very surprised by methods of artistic task solving: minimum quantity, but used to maximum. Guy just plays guitar and sings. Thats all. There are no borders, no labels, no prejudices. Here I remembered phrase of Mikhail Kalashnikov "Creating a simple is harder than creating a complex".

Do I need to say the album turned out to be interesting? I think this is superfluous. An even, monotonous narrative with rather deep texts permeates this album from beginning to the end. Because of this, album has its own special, oppressive atmosphere. At first it seems that this is quickie. Until we hear a voice. First of all, it should be noted that vocalist does't use all his abilities. Here we hear a monotonous narrative - this is by no means the pinnacle of mastery. But here vocal parts amazingly accurately emphasize the lyrics. An exception is 4 track - vocal technique can't be appropriate for this lyric.

Instrumental parties don't shine with any particular originality and complexity. Fans of a technical playing here will not find something interesting. But they are composed very accurately, supplementing the voice and lyrics. The only inconvenient moment is traced in tracks 7 and 9 - instrumental parts are poorly compatible with voice. Nevertheless, I very rarely hear such an accurate solution to an artistic task. Therefore, a detailed description of instrumental parts is quite difficult.

For the reasons stated above, I can't accurately describe this album. What can I talk about, if I couldn't even genre name? But it made a great impression on me. Formulated the task and performed it - this is simple. Someone might say that it's boring. But this is real skill.