Metal Reviews

La Dispute - Wildlife

over and over and over again

Koop - Koop Islands

Koop Island Blues is way better than any song has a right to be.

I listened to Kamelot's "The Fourth Legacy" right after I woke up from the expedition. Why didn't Khan sing the latin parts? I think perhaps he relied on backstage tapes a bit too much.

Another spin.

Bravo you, MDB. I haven't even gotten to the five minute mark ebd is hyping and I'm loving it.

/\ Listening now.

It was pretty solid, no? I think I had written the group off as simply doing uninteresting things but that was different. I don't know what to make of those almost-sludgy moments. Can't remember if they had ever written a track that long but unlike Reverend Bizarre that flew by for twenty seven minutes. It may be because the latter is much more minimalistic but MDB's track had a great pace to it.

I've always been a bit of a fanboy for these guys (unlike their famous peers, they stayed metal), but even I'll admit they lost me for huge stretches in the middle sections of albums like Gods of the Sun, "34.78%" and A Line of Deathless Kings. But to release something like this...20 years after forming? Still relevant, still with good ideas.

Their previous longest track was the 14 minute Return to the Beautiful/Return of the Beautiful which was released on their first album and then redone on Dreadful Hours.

It's good, very good. Like most metal tracks that go on more than 10 minutes, however, it could easily have been split... that moment around the 15 minute mark was a good candidate. But I'm more than happy with it, and MDB, as ever.

Fair enough. I agree about the middle section, but it starts very well and ends very well.

Must go on a MDB spree at some point.

NP:



Chiefly because bloody Spotify had me convinced they had a new album out, but it turned out to be some bunch of new-age wankers.

Eh, I rarely listen to tracks, not in an album form so whether it is one mp3 or two won't phase me.

Obviously, you can't go wrong with a Rush live album but it seems to me Geddy's voice is tiring a bit.

Really? Saw them live on this tour, no complaints. Obviously will get the DVD when it's out over here, been looking forwards to it.

His voice was never good live IMO. I think the first two live albums were overdubs for the most part. I think he has a tough time switching between head and chest voice so he goes all out falsetto chest voice on tour when it is anything that is even a little bit of a stretch for his head voice. He has expressed concern for singing in any head voice though because it causes headaches when you sing on the negative axis as Geddy does (this is done by pulling air from your forehead, for lack of better terminology)

I know exactly what you mean though, he has always been such a good chest falsetto singer that it is identical to his head voice over a generous amount of range so it is very very difficult to tell. James Hetfield used to be in the same category until he saw what must have been the worst vocal coach of all time. There are certain times when you can switch back and forth and avoid breathing which is useful and if you are lucky enough you can overdub both and create pure golden tone.

Geddy's falsetto is just now starting to get weaker which is astounding. That's all this is. I think it would be asking a lot for him to switch back and forth like he does in the studio to get a perfect sound. That is the only complaint I have about Rush is that Geddy takes the easier way of singing live and it is not as perfect as it was the eight hundred and fifty million times I heard the song from the record.

For the record, Geddy is one of the best singers ever when he's recording an album. He is as good as any of the operatic virtuoso types because of the difficulty and precision of his articulation. He's the best of his generation in my book.

(Technical note: a falsetto that does not sound "breathey" because it is closed at the apex is still considered falsetto in my book even though falsetto is technically a tone and not a technique)

10-4

Beethoven - Symphony 2, 5 & 9
Unleashed - Hammer Battalion

Yes, really.
Just listen to the chorus of Time Stand Still.

Possibly best DM album of the year for me. So great.