I'm here with the newest batch of album releases. It's not really that September had that many more great records - more so that there are loads of releases in September for some reason. Fall fashion? Fall albums? Is it like the summer season and Christmas for movies? Unfortunately, this also means I have no way of properly listening to them all, what with the semester starting and a shitload of university work to be done. I listened to about a dozen new albums, but narrowed it down to these seven - for some reason or other, these were the ones I listened to the most.
Amorphis: Under the Red Cloud
(I cry tears of joy looking at this album art. Is there a vinyl? Someone buy me a vinyl.)
It's unfortunate that this album was the first I listened to in September, because it meant I could hardly listen to anything else. It's not perfect, and not even near the best Amorphis have ever done, but it's still so good - this opinion brought to you by my absolute bias towards the genre. Surprisingly, it grew on me even more as I listened. If there's one album you listen to from this list, let it be this. It's on Spotify and everything.
Iron Maiden: The Book of Souls
The one album I didn't listen to all that much even if I probably should have. Not because it's not good, but I think it's still somewhat towards the middle of it all - which is still Iron Maiden, sure, but coupled with the monstrous length, it's just hard to get through. There are wonderful moments though, and it did plunge me into an Iron Maiden phase (not nostalgia, cause hey, I'm younger than their golden era).
Riverside: Love, Fear and the Time Machine
Every now and then, I don't just veer from metal in the direction of unholy metalcore and other electronic blasphemy, but towards the more progressive. Is it something even the elites would more easily stomach? Probably. This record's pretty fun, even if, for me, too mellow for prolonged listening.
Bring Me the Horizon: That's the Spirit
(the album art itself should be an indication of going full alt rock)
As much as I complain that I never get to talk with other 'metalheads', that might be better. They would hate me for listening to - this? It's so far from metalcore now that it might not even be offensive anymore. (More on metalcore later though.) It's straight up modern alternative rock, overproduced, poppy. (Everyone hears Linkin Park in it and there might be some truth to that.) But I'm still young and I still feel like this isn't so far from speaking to me. And it's just fun to have something upbeat from time to time, something which might make me wanna sway to the music.
My Dying Bride: Feel the Misery
How fitting it is to listen to this while working on projects? Homework? Anything? It's a good, maybe even beautiful piece of doom, probably palatable to non-hardcore fans of the genre as well. The album as a whole is pretty well-composed, which means for one that it's quite enjoyable to listen to from start to end, even if you might not quite remember the individual songs afterwards.
Crossfaith: Xeno
This is just the opposite of the previous one. Composition be damned, it's a pretty hectic jumble of fast and disorganised songs, which is kind of the point with Crossfaith. If metalcore is an abomination, this is straight up murder; electronica smeared onto the charred remains of metal. The kind of music which either energizes you or makes you angry, both which could be potentially useful during all-nighters. (This is obviously a recurring theme with me.)
Parkway Drive: Ire
And onto the straight-up metalcore in the ways of olde. Nothing surprising here - in many ways, this is a very safe album, but hey, that's metalcore for you. (Number one argument against metalcore being metal, I think.) As per usual, I'm mostly into the ballad-y songs - the more active ones awfully blend into a white-grey mass, I'm afraid.
Gloryhammer: Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards
(mmm would you look at that? it's like a car wreck, only more beautiful)
And the funniest, most ridiculous of them to end it all. It's purposefully over-the-top, which makes it all the more delightful (not like I don't already listen to Sonata Arctica unironically). It's prefect because it's exactly how it was intended to be and how it should be. Metal can be fun, and power metal a thousand times so.
No comments:
Post a Comment