Metallica // ReLoad

Album: Metallica - ReLoad (1997)
13 tracks / 76:04
Acquired: June 2008

Guitars, vocals: James Hetfield
Guitars: Kirk Hammett
Bass: Jason Newsted
Drums: Lars Ulrich

Many people claim that after Metallica started downplaying their quick and technically challenging thrash metal roots, starting with their 1991 album Metallica, and embracing the growingly popular alternative rock sound with deep, simple and groovy riffs, the quality of their music started to decline. Tremendously.

I beg to differ.

Though I prefer their earlier thrashy material, and I admit that their more alternative-y records have lots of weak stuff in them, I also think that they recorded some of their greatest songs during that era. Not all, or even most of, but some. The band that recorded these songs don't sound like the band that blasted away ferocious thrash metal in the 80's, but nevertheless, their best songs of the 90's are great alternative rock / metal songs by all standards.

I admit that the Metallica's albums of the 90's are not my favorite ones, but I don't diss them that much. All of them contain several great songs, and the fact that these songs are radio-friendly and accessible tracks, not 8-minute thrash epics, don't make them any less great. Only different.

Now, let us dissect and analyze bit by bit the third and last one of the three 90's Metallica albums.

1. Fuel (4:30)
(Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

The album kicks in with speed and energy in the form of fiery "Fuel". Really a 90's metal classic, not especially that good or special, but instantly recognizable due to the raw, tough-guy vocals of James Hetfield.

One could argue that this is pretty far from the artistic vision the band had in the 80's, but dammit, this is simple yet effective rock-metal that rocks, liked it or not.
8/10

2. The Memory Remains (4:39)
(James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

Slower, groovier ballad-y song with thick riffs played with a fat guitar tone. The slow groove combined with the heavy atmosphere makes this song automatically one of the best rockers on the album, but the eerie bridge section with haunting guest vocals by Marianne Faithfull make this song easily an instant classic.

An accessible, catchy and radio-friendly Metallica track that showcases the band at its best during the 90's alternative era.
10/10

3. Devil's Dance (5:19)
(James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

Another slow groover, based heavily on the simple drums-and-bass pulse by Lars Ulrich and Jason Newsted. However, the song just drones and chugs on without getting really anywhere, lacking both the catchy hooks of the previous songs and the interesting song structure of their earlier works.

A duller track, of which the only noteworthy aspects are the strong, even vitriolic vocals of James Hetfield.
6/10

4. The Unforgiven II (6:37)
(James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett)

The tracks fools the listener by beginning exactly the same way as "The Unforgiven" in the Metallica album. However, the song itself kicks into heavy riffery instead of clean broken chords.

This track is a counterpart to "The Unforgiven", which has heavy verses and clean chorus sections. This one has clean verses and heavy choruses, instead.

This one's another one of my biggest favorites of the alternative-Metallica, being simple, moody and thunderous rocker with James Hetfield at his best. And I want to point out how the title is referenced cleverly in the lyric "...are you unforgiven too?"
10/10

5. Better than You (5:22)
(James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

The machine-like introduction and rumbling drums remind me more of industrial metal bands like Rammstein and such than Metallica. However, the once the verse is introduced, the song catch up the tempo and brings in the energy, although the choruses slow down back to the rumbling of the beginning.

A song that really didn't bring anything new to the table. A simple rocker that jumps back and forth with slower and faster pieces for its 5-minute duration, without really presenting anything more creative than the verses and the choruses. Another one of those pretty insignificant songs.
5/10

6. Slither (5:13)
(Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

The song opens with a riff that instantly reminds me of "Master of Puppets", though it is evident that this song is going to be another groovy rocker, not a speedy thrasher.

The song itself rumbles nicely with those low, groove-metal-y riffs, but instead James Hetfield sounds like he is more trying to imitate other singers than singing with his own voice - so full it is of those weird mannerisms previously unheard of.

One of the album's better songs, but still lags far behind the best hit tracks.
7/10

7. Carpe Diem Baby (6:12)
(Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

A slow, bluesy rocker. Though this song makes your head nod approvingly to the rhythm, the song really just flows in from one ear and out from the other, having no hooks to latch onto something while in there.

Another powerful, slow song without any aspects that would make on to return to this song time after time. Not a bad song, but it is also hard to find anything noteworthy from it, either.
6/10

8. Bad Seed (4:05)
(Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

A song with a title that most likely nods toward Nick Cave and the rest of his band.

A tad faster than most of the other songs on this album, "Bad Seed" is still a mid-tempo groover, tops. And another one of those songs one tends to remain rather indifferent about. Just like the couple tracks preceding this, this one's not a bad song, albeit a rather dull one. It's just hard to find anything worth of interest here.

And James Hetfield is not a member of Cave's band, no matter how loud he would sing so.
6/10

9. Where the Wild Things Are (6:54)
(James Hetfield, Jason Newsted, Lars Ulrich)

Finally a song with something a bit more interesting as an introduction. Also, when the song kick in, it reminds me a bit of "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" from the 1988 album ...and Justice for All. But only a bit. Then the song kicks into regular ReLoad groove metal.

However, the song exhibits some slight moments here and there that bring variation to the numbing ReLoad pounding; often them being clean guitars, but also odd harmonic resolutions and mood changes come in.

Not a catchy hit song, but definitely from the stronger end of the ReLoad material. Only if there was less Kirk Hammett's wah wankery in the closing section.
8/10

10. Prince Charming (6:05)
(James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

"Prince Charming" begins with riffs that nod deep to the heavy metal bands of the 70's, notably Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

The song itself is nothing like that, unfortunately. It sounds more like slowed-and-watered-down thrash of their 80's albums, spiced with classic hard rock guitar licks. The song might be a good attempt from Metallica to return to their thrash roots by combining it with their slower, thicker material. However, the song really doesn't "kick ass", as some would say, and the only reason it somehow works, is that it is noticeably faster than the rest of the album, bringing in much needed energy. As a single song without the rest of the album, the song serves very little purpose.
6/10

11. Low Man's Lyric (7:37)
(James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

Another song that differs greatly from the general mood of the album. Beginning with a quiet, clean and quite hopeful introduction, but once the drums kick in, the song takes a turn to more gloomier, sorrowful atmosphere.

As a lengthy, moody ballad that doesn't sound anything like the other songs of ReLoad, "Low Man's Lyric" is a great song,working also on its own nicely, being one of the strongest efforts on the album. It would have been also a great closer track of the album. Now it kinda gets crushed by the rockers surrounding it.
9/10

12. Attitude (5:16)
(James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

Well, the album returns to the regular rumbling. The song is another one of those a bit faster-paced tracks, but unfortunately it also gets drowned in the sea of grey indifference. This song has attitude, as the title states, but it doesn't help it be memorable. After the song is over, I will fail to remember any single aspect of the song. Except that most likely James Hetfield sang something that ended with a "hey-ye-yeah!"
5/10

13. Fixxxer (8:15)
(Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich)

The album's final song opens slowly, with steady bass pulse and a distant wah lead (making it highly probable that Kirk Hammett is responsible for it), before moving into a slow, swaying riff.

The song is not as dull and uninteresting as the most of the rockers of this album, but eight minutes for a song like this is pretty much and it manages to carry it to the end just barely. It's not a bad song, but it could've worked with a length a little shorter. For example, I didn't really see the point in the section with heavily effected vocals.

An ok way to close the album, but I still think that "Low Man's Lyric" would've fared better.
8/10

***

Final verdict
The album is not as lousy as many people think it is. It's obvious that I'm not going to score these songs as "1" simply because they are not 80's thrash metal, I'm scoring the songs based on their merits as enjoyable tracks, whatever the history of the band. Although a long history helps one to put things into perspective, but I'm not vehemently claiming that Metallica has done nothing good since the 90's began, even if I prefer their earlier material.

The biggest problem of this album is its repetitiveness. It has some great songs, some of which are even my Metallica favorites, but over a half of them are songs composed of chunks of indifference. They are not bad songs - I have a hard time finding aspects that are bad in them - they are just dull, and I have hard time discerning one from another.

The album could've worked better with a shorter length; without the songs that seem to be there only because of their filler material role. In its current shape, ReLoad is an album that has some of the greatest alternative rock / metal songs of the 90's, but is also riddled with material that serve no real purpose.

Score: 72/100

ISIS

(1997-2010)My definitive lineup:
Michael Gallagher - Guitars
Jeff Caxide - Bass
Aaron Turner - Vocals, guitars, artistic vision
Aaron Harris - Drums
Bryant Clifford Meyer - Guitars, electronics, keyboards

Many people hail the American ISIS as the progenitor of the genre that is now labelled as "post-metal"; a style of music that combines massive and slow riffs from doom and sludge metal with soft, lightweight and psychedelic drones that originate in post- and progressive rock. While this may not be the whole case, it is pretty close to the truth.

The band that really has given the birth to post-metal, is Neurosis, that has for its existence played its own brand of sludge (a style that combines the heaviness of doom metal with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk) by fusing it with slow, psychedelic elements. Still they were considered a sludge band, albeit an original one. Instead ISIS was originally nothing more than a band imitating Neurosis. However, as time passed, ISIS first happened to create their own unique sound, and then began to fuse it with heavy influence from atmospheric post-rock. The result was neither sludge nor post-rock, but a combination that was bigger than its two constituents separately. It was metal that could be first as heavy and thick as doom metal, and next as beautiful and ethereal as post-rock.

The first album that could be considered as "post-metal" is ISIS's first full-length album, Celestial (2000), but it relied so much on Neurosis-y sludge and so little on post-rock-ish atmospheric material, it could be argued that the first true post-metal record was the 2002 follow-up, Oceanic, an impressive blend of psychedelic prog-rock drones and crushing metal riffs.

Most defining elements of ISIS's music have been Aaron Turner's sparse growling vocals, that work more as an instrument of their own instead of being lead vocals in the front, massive guitar riffs and sections that create an immense wall-of-sound, that are contrasted with dreamy, effects-heavy, psychedelic drone sections, and the melodic bass lines of Jeff Caxide, which regularly use the upper register to bass, giving it more prominence and emphasis. Also, from the first full-length album, ISIS's records have been somewhat thematically coherent concept albums, although Turner's cryptic, dreamy lyrics leave pretty damn much to interpretation.

Since the band's inception, the majority of the vocal output has been delivered in death-metal-ish growls and roars, but little by little, Turner included also his clean singing into the mix. His clean vocals got better and better as he gained more confidence in singing, their 2006 album In the Absence of Truth being probably the best example of his clean vocals.

The way I found the band was back in early 2006, when last.fm - one of my favorite websites - suggested ISIS to me based on my listening habits. Back then, the suggestions were pretty reliable (unlike today), so without a second thought I downloaded their then most recent album, Panopticon, and thought I'd give them a shot.

With only the first seconds of the first track, "So Did We", I was blown away. Quite literally too, with its bombastic opening. The sheer massiveness and heaviness combined with those soaring, graceful melodies had me instantly hooked. Since then, I've regarded ISIS one of the foremost interesting modern bands, and not just in the genre of metal, but in music in general. And I guess I am not the only one who thinks so, because as of late, loads of bands influenced by these guys have started to appear; some nothing more than boring ISIS clones, others creating something new and interesting from the material ISIS originally put together. Though ISIS are now gone, as they decided to call it quits a year ago, in 2010, the post-metal front seems to be still pretty fresh and lively, and it seems that even though there will probably be no new albums from this band, their legacy will live on and there will be numerous good post-metal records to come.

***

My top-10 list of songs that are worth checking out:
Carry
Celestial (The Tower)
Dulcinea
Ghost Key
Holy Tears
In Fiction
So Did We
Syndic Calls
Weight
Wrists of Kings

***

Reviewed albums:
Wavering Radiant (2009) - 83/100

ISIS // Wavering Radiant

Album: ISIS - Wavering Radiant (2009)
7 tracks / 54:05
Acquired: May 2009

Vocals, guitars, artwork: Aaron Turner
Guitars: Michael Gallagher
Guitars, keyboards, electronics: Bryant Clifford Meyer
Bass: Jeff Caxide
Drums: Aaron Harris

All songs written by ISIS

For half a decade, ISIS has represented all that is good in modern music to me. That is why it was no wonder that I was awaiting Wavering Radiant pretty damn eagerly back in 2009. Maybe it was because my expectations that this album felt a little bit downer to me.

Sure, it has these incredible movements and an atmosphere beyond comparison, but also it feels that the songs are lacking a direction and there are too many parts that feel just indifferent. Sections that you could change and no-one would notice a difference. It feels as if this album was composed of awesome parts, but with gaps that needed filler material to fill the void.

Compared to their two previous releases, it doesn't feel as crushing and intense as Panopticon, nor does it have that meandering and fluctuating feel to it, unlike In the Absence of Truth. However, I also want to point out the evolution the band has made since their early, sludgy EPs. They don't just exploit the simple yet effective quiet-loud-quiet formula, and Aaron Turner's clean vocals are better than ever, having reached a level of maturity pretty much unheard before. But despite this, the songs have a somewhat indifferent quality to them. They are hard to get into, and once you do (or you feel like you do), there really is not much to them.

But considering that I have listened to this album only a couple of times through and through, the rest of the time listening to the songs separately, I might be holding on to faulty impressions that have no real basis. That's why it seems that a review of this album is the right thing to do for me. Maybe I'll even discover an album I have really never listened to before.

1. Hall of the Dead (7:39)

The album opens with the repetitive, droning "Hall of the Dead". The harsh growls of Aaron Turner stir up no cries of cheering, but the clean vocals sound more mature and polished than in previous records. However, they sound somehow weak and even off-key at times.

The whole first introduction feels a bit weak and tired, until the first mood change, which is followed by a massive, simple yet amazing riff, supported by a Hammond organ, that evolves into a dreamy, psychedelic drone in which the trebly, delayed bass guitar creates the most of the atmosphere.

The song has many great moments, but remains somehow incoherent in places, and as a slightly weak performance, does not work that well as the opening track. Even Tool's Adam Jones in additional guitar can't manage to make this song awesome.
7/10

2. Ghost Key (8:29)

The first, unreal notes of this song are superb, taking the listener straight into some another realm, right before bringing them back with massive, roaring post-metal crush.

"Ghost Key" contrasts the lightweight, dreamy parts with immense heavy parts one after another until progressing further into the song, in which the prog-rock-influenced psychedelia parts fuse with the heavy sections into one, massive opus.

This time Turner's clean vocals work really well with the song, becoming more an instrument of their own than a distinct vehicle of delivering lyrics to the listener, unlike the growls and roars, which are more on the front, instead of blending into the song.

The structure of this song seems more coherent and well-defined, the parts seeming to come more in a logical order instead of seeming to be made of random, unlinked riffs played in succession. One of the stronger efforts of Wavering Radiant
9/10

3. Hand of the Host (10:43)

The biggest song of the album begins slowly with ethereal guitar swells, that little by little expand into the drums and trebly bass lines, until reaching the repetitive, crushing riffery and Turner's beastly roars.

Past those, the song brings in weird, syncopated drum rhythms and some nice clean vocal work by Turner. The song really begins its meandering road, with quiet ups and massive, crushing downs, upbeat melodies and dark, gloomy chords. Especially Jeff Caxide is doing a lot with his bass in this song, creating awesome, pulsating bass rhythms that are interesting both rhythm- and harmony-wise.

The song covers a broad spectrum of both styles and atmospheres, being really a caleidoscope of modern metal music. Though a bit too expansive, as if not having a real picture what it really wants to be, I must still give credit to these guys creating material this original and impressive.
8/10

4. Wavering Radiant (1:48)

Another song with support from Tool's Adam Jones - this time in keyboards.

With the unreal, waving atmosphere, its title really fits it. A nice moment to relax before moving on to the final three tracks.

However, as I see it as an interlude, or an introduction to the next song, I don't see the need to give it a score of its own.

5. Stone to Wake a Serpent (8:31)

This tracks opens just like "Ghost Key", alternating with the lightweight and the heavy parts, before progressing on to more interesting stuff.

Once again the guitars create harmonic tension while Turner's clean voice leads the listener with his simple but hypnotizing clean voice, until the song reaches its massive and still groovy riff section that is decorated with Bryant Clifford Meyer's otherworldly keyboards and Hammond organs. At first the following growly parts don't seem that great, but then the band surprises the listener with yet another amazing, crushing riffs.

Although this song is hypnotic and impressive, really one of the best on the album, I can't shake the feeling that this song is just "Ghost Key" dressed into new clothes. Whatever, pretty great song nevertheless.
9/10

6. 20 Minutes / 40 Years (7:05)

The penultimate track opens with deeper tones and darker atmosphere than the previous ones have. Once the vocals arrive, I have that feeling once again that they are not as great as they could be, growls being too in front and cleans being too feeble, somehow lacking in feeling and emotion.

However, the riffs under Turner's vocals are great, meandering and mesmerizing. They rumble on with a hypnotic pulse, until finally changing into a lightweight, psychedelic section that little by little starts to become heavier and heavier without losing its ethereal quality.

To this date, I've regarded "20 Minutes / 40 Years" the most boring song of this album, probably due to its lack of obvious hooks (unlike eg. the introductions in "Ghost Key" and "Stone to Wake a Serpent"), but now I'm seeing that it is really a slow opener that flows effortlessly from one piece to another, retaining its well-hidden red thread that really is there - one just has to look for it.
9/10

7. Threshold of Transformation (9:53)

This song doesn't try to slowly grow up - it simply kicks into the face of the listener with an assault of low-tuned riffs interspersed with muted, prog-metal riffs in odd times.

Although there come sections in which the heavy metal elements are stripped off and Jeff Caxide takes the lead with his bass melodies, the song remains pretty heavy and oppressive throughout, rumbling on with unrelenting pace and force. Especially the final heavy moments around the 5-minute mark are pretty impressive.

Then the song lulls back into a dark, dreamy and intense section in which a single distant guitar lead guides the listener through a hypnotic, pulsating atmosphere created by the rest of the band, until reaching the final climatic section in which Aaron Turner closes the album with his clean singing.
8/10

***

Final verdict
Even after listening it through once again, Wavering Radiant remains a bit incoherent and feeble effort when compared to ISIS's earlier albums. The sounds and melodies are clever, some of the riffs are thicker than ever and Aaron Turner has obviously learned to sing better.

Also Jeff Caxide and Aaron Harris create intricate, mesmerizing pulses with odd rhythms, while Bryant Clifford Meyer's keyboards have risen to unforeseen prominence, and I must admit that when he doubles the massive guitar riffs with a Hammond organ - it sounds pretty damn cool.

But however, many times it feels that despite all these great aspects, the band is lacking ideas in songwriting: the songs feel like collages of different, unrelated sections that are just stitched together, making the songs feel a bit disjointed, and even though there are no really awkward transitions, sometimes it just feels that the following section doesn't sound right after the previous one.

Also Turner's vocals are a bit of a problem for me. Although he sings more cleanly than ever, I have thought that his raspy, unprofessional voice was one of the major appeals of their sound. Also his beastly roars have been awesome, as they have been in the background, working more as an instrument of their own, instead of delivering the lyrics. Now the growls and roars are prominent, attacking the listener, and in my case, disrupting the atmosphere and overall listening experience. Luckily lyrics-wise this album is once again of the guaranteed ISIS quality, Turner's texts being multi-layered, dreamy phrases, full of difficult metaphors and strange images.

Overall this album sounds that Wavering Radiant is an album more delicate and sophisticated than their previous efforts, but on the other hand, it probably would have been better without the growls and massive heavy riffery - at least in this scale. Many times it feels that exactly these moments shatter the intense atmosphere that the band had just created during a course of several minutes - an aspect that was never a problem in the earlier works by this band.

ISIS quit a year after releasing this album. I don't know if it was because they realized they had run out of ideas and there was no need to discover the wheel once again, or if they thought that it's good to quit while you are in the top. Whatever the answer was, it's a bit of a disappointment that the amazing albums didn't reach the level of awesome the previous albums had set. Though this may sound too hard. This is not a bad album, far from it. In fact, this is a pretty enjoyable ISIS record. The only problem with it was that maybe I just had expectations too high, and the album didn't meet them.

Score: 83/100

Meshuggah

(1987-)

Pic by Micke Sandström

My definitive lineup:
Jens Kidman - Vocals
Mårten Hagström - Guitars
Dick Lövgren - Bass
Fredrik Thordendal - Guitars
Tomas Haake - Drums

Meshuggah are one of the few bands that make me consider Sweden as the "Land of Metal" in the stead of Finland. The Finnish might be born with metal in their blood and it seems that 4 out of every 5 new bands in Finland are playing metal, but when the Swedes play metal, they do it like no other band. And really, there is not a single band in the world that would come close to being as awesome as these silly Swedes.

And not to mention the dozens and dozens of bands that have named Meshuggah as their influence. These Swedes are also the true progenitors of this sub-genre of metal known as "djent" - a brand of metal involving very downtuned guitars playing odd, angular riffs (this description sounds meshuggah-y, no?)

Having discovered Meshuggah back in 2005, during the aftermath of just-released Catch Thirtythree, I really did not see the point in their music. What I had heard, Meshuggah was the most awesome death metal band ever. But to me, they had just all these weird, off-beat rhythms and a vocalist whose voice made even my throat hurt. This band sounded like a rabid orangutang that was trying to play metal. During an earthquake. In a hurricane.

But then it hit me. A major portion of this band's appeal lies in the hands of their drummer, Tomas Haake. Literally. While his kick drums follow the strange, angular, off-beat rhythms that the guitars chunk away, his hands keep a constant 4/4 beat with the cymbals and the snare drum. So practically, the band just plays in a simple 4/4 time with seemingly irrational and random syncopation that actually follows often complex polymeters. And on top of delivering these amazing rhythms, Haake also writes the majority of their lyrics and is responsible of their artwork and design, thus being probably the biggest driving force behind the band.

In addition to their highly complex rhythmics, they are very known for their incredibly low-tuned instruments. Originally they played thrash metal not unlike early Metallica, but quickly their sound started to change with 7-stringed guitars that could reach pretty low notes. These guitars were in turn down-tuned, to reach notes even lower and lower.

During their 2002 release, Nothing, the band had gained then-experimental 8-string guitars that could reach notes so low that they were previously reserved for basses only. Alas, these guitars proved to be faulty; they could not stay in tune at all. However, the band got quickly their hands on 8-string Ibanez guitars that seemed to work like a charm - this being deduced from the fact that the band re-recorded Nothing in 2006 with these new guitars, and they have played with them since.

But bar the few early, thrashy records, Meshuggah's timeline can't be really divided into "eras", but instead to different albums. Their earlier records have been full of somehow complex, yet often pretty straightforward songs, up until Destroy Erase Improve (1995), in which they began to really emphasize the complex rhythms. Chaosphere (1998) was again more straightforward, but faster and more aggressive, whereas Nothing (2002) was slower, groovier and thicker. I (2004) and Catch Thirtythree (2005) were long, sprawling records that consisted of single, continuous pieces that were divided into several movements.

Their most acclaimed album to date, obZen (2008), was a fusion of their more straightforward and aggressive stuff and their slower, more complex and groovier stuff, delivered in a perfect and balanced marriage of their best sides. It has both those raw, angry, thrashy songs, and those thick and groovy tracks with ever-so-odd rhythms and polymeters.

Regarding the evolution of the band, which has remained constantly evolving and always interesting, I'm starting to get a little bit impatient on their new album, scheduled to be released in early 2012...

***

My top-10 list of songs that are worth checking out:
Bleed
Combustion
Dancers to a Discordant System
Dehumanization
Future Breed Machine
I
Neurotica
New Millennium Cyanide Christ
Rational Gaze
The Mouth Licking What You've Bled

***

Reviewed albums:
Catch Thirtythree (2005) - 72/100

Meshuggah // Catch Thirtythree

Album: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree (2005)
13 tracks / 47:18
Acquired: April 2010

Vocals, guitars, bass, drum programming: Jens Kidman
Guitars, bass, drum programming: Frederik Thordendal, Mårten Hagström
Drum programming, vocals: Tomas Haake

Catch Thirtythree is pretty an experimental album even for a band as experimental as Meshuggah. For those who don't know, the Swedish oddballs of Meshuggah are distinguished from other metal bands by the deep, thick sound that comes from their incredibly low-tuned guitars and their penchant for writing songs with really off-beat rhythms that are centered around a 4/4 core beat maintained by the drum cymbals.

However, the songs themselves are usually quite normal, with intros, outros and a general length of three to seven minutes. Instead Catch Thirtythree is one, more or less seamless piece that can be regarded even as one, single song with length of more than 40 minutes. The album is divided into 13 songs, but they are not songs per se, but instead sections - thematical changes of their own - that have been titled.

Unlike in other Meshuggah releases, the drums on this album are not recorded live drums, but instead programmed ones, created with drummer Tomas Haake's drum machine, Drumkit from Hell. However, this fact does not make this album any less amazing.

The only problem the listener might face when approaching this album is the fact, that one continuous suite of crushing, polyrhythmic death metal is quite a big chunk to swallow. Honestly. We shall see how I will manage.

1. Autonomy Lost (1:40)

Opening suddenly with a slow, sludgy, and heavily syncopated groove track, "Autonomy Lost" sets the mood of what is to come. However, containing only a short bridge section in addition to its "verse" riffs, this section really doesn't progress anywhere, being mostly of this one riff.
6/10

2. Imprint of the Un-Saved (1:36)

Continuing seamlessly with the bridge section of "Autonomy Lost", Catch Thirtythree starts gaining momentum slowly and steadily. However, this section has only minimal difference with the first one, being almost a repetition of the first one with only slight variation.
6/10

3. Disenchantment (1:45)

The sludgy and groovy riff continues with ever-so-subtle variations in both the guitars and the drums. However, an abrupt stop with semi-whispered vocals bring in the first real change in the song.
7/10

4. The Paradoxical Spiral (3:13)

The riff ceases with a long guitar break that finally evolves into the traditional, angular Meshuggah riffery. Also Jens Kidman seems to have gained some fury and anger behind his voice, giving the odd rhythms and complex drums strong support.
8/10

5. Re-Inanimate (1:04)

This short section continues in the same style as "The paradoxical Spiral" but with less anger, being a more restrained movement with long, rumbling bass breaks and more quiet vocals.
7/10

6. Entrapment (2:29)

"Entrapment" introduces the fierce vocals in the vein of "The Paradoxical Spiral", but also introducing more complex and more angular riffs on which Frederik Thordendal plays a screeching, atonal guitar solo, before progressing on to a slow, repetitive sludge riff. "Entrapment" is the first section that could work even as a song on its own.
9/10

7. Mind's Mirrors (4:30)

"Mind's Mirrors" works as a bridge movement between the first and second movements of this massive song. It begins with rumbling, detuned, distorted bass that reminds me more of some massive beast than an instrument, before moving on to a spoken word section with heavily synthesized vocals.

The last part of "Mind's Mirrors" is a quiet interlude with a clean guitar playing single notes and a drony bass supporting the accompaniment, until crashing down with, heavy, discordant shift in the end.

Seeing this as an interlude, this really doesn't work as a single song on its own, being pretty drony with nothing really happening.
5/10

8. In Death - Is Life (2:02)

The latter half of the album is introduced with angrier, more intensive riffing in a higher tempo. This sounds most like the Meshuggah of the obZen era. Really intense and heavy stuff with a driving and surprisingly groovy riff.
8/10

9. In Death - Is Death (13:22)

The album progresses into the lengthiest track of the album. "In Death - Is Death" is a massive section, which begins with fits of Jens Kidman rage, really angular riffing, very abrupt stop rhythms and everything. During its course it progresses with numeral mood and style shifts, delving and evolving those odd riffs, rhythms and harmonic textures with buzzsawing guitar leads. However, it does not remain as a constant rumbler as it has a couple of short pauses, one even with very odd guitar synth -like sound - yet never leaving those odd polymeters behind until it returns to the lengthy, dark-yet-jazzy clean guitar -movement introduced in Mind's Mirrors, that grows steadily in intensity, before rumbling on to "Shed".
8/10

10. Shed (3:35)

For a short moment Meshuggah plays at full blast, before moving on to more restrained, muted riffery with raspy, croaked vocals. "Shed" is a heavy-yet-rather-quiet section when compared to the rest of the tracks, yet retains that incredible, massive and oppressive atmosphere throughout its length.
7/10

11. Personae Non Gratae (1:47)

"Personae Non Gratae" kicks in after a minimal pause that might fool some people to think the album has reached its end.

The riffs keep evolving without a notice, and suddenly you realize that once again here is a riff that sounds like all the rest of what I've heard, yet I'm sure I haven't heard it before.

However, this section does not stir any positive nor negative feelings, and remains as yet another rather faceless section of the album.
5/10

12. Dehumanization (2:57)

And suddenly the atmosphere changes yet again, and this time it feels that they have reached the level of intensity, anger and pure extreme they haven't visited yet. Really, I think that "Dehumanization" might just be the heaviest stuff they have ever composed.

The riffs and rhythms are incredibly heavy yet groovy, and they work as perfect accompaniment to the angriest growls and screams Jens Kidman has probably ever performed.

One of the sections that works on its own perfectly, though ending abruptly due to its segue to "Shed".
10/10

13. Sum (7:17)

The final section of the album is more or less a continuation of "Dehumanization" with the level of anger and intensity slightly decreased and instead replaced with more massive wall of sound and harmonic textures.

Finally the album visits the quiet dark-jazz phase for the third and final time, wrapping the massive album up.
8/10

***

Final verdict
Reviewing Catch Thirtythree like a normal album is not an easy task, due to its structure of a one seamless song that is divided into three or four separate movements (the first half, "Mind's Mirrors", the middle part and the final two songs). However, even Meshuggah themselves have said that this album should not be regarded as a traditional full-length album but instead an experiment following the 22-minute I-EP, that consisted of a one single song.

The problem is that should I have viewed and scored these sections as whole movements instead of the shorter sections divided by the band? Now it felt that some sections seemed to be too short and could have worked better if I had regarded them as a clump of sections instead of several ones. But seeing as I don't want to divide this album into my own, arbitrary movements, I'm going to score it as it is - a song of 13 sections.

As a continuous, 40-minute-plus suite of death metal, the album is pretty big a task to listen through even for a fan of Meshuggah, mostly due to the amount of repetition, but also because of the feeling of monotony that begins raising its ugly head sooner or later. The jazzy and dark interludes create much needed variation to the songs, but become rather dull when they last for too long. They work as great interludes when used inside a song, but only for a duration of a couple of bars. My interest begins to fade when these movements start to take several minutes.

The album is full of intricate, angular rhythms, odd and exciting riffs, and incredible vocal output but as a whole it is maybe too much for me. There is too little variation for an album of this length to remain interesting from the beginning to the end. Though I need to point out that the lack of live drums is not noticeable - sound-wise this album does not really differ from the other modern Meshuggah records.

Score: 72/100

Diablo

(1995-)My definitive lineup:
Aadolf Virtanen - Bass
Heikki Malmberg - Drums
Marko Utriainen - Lead Guitars
Rainer Nygård - Vocals, rhythm guitars

I really don't have a real connection to Finnish Diablo; only to their third album, Eternium, which I discovered when it was released; and a handful of other material. I really don't know why, because I find their brand of low-tuned heavy metal quite neat and listenable.

The stuff they play is pretty easily recognizable - the instruments are tuned to low B (That's pretty deep. Not Meshuggah-deep, but deep nonetheless.) and most songs are based on heavily syncopized and offbeat guitar riffs on which Marko Utriainen harmonizes often jagged and angular melodies. Their influence especially from Meshuggah is clearly audible in some songs, and one could say that their music is mainly Meshuggah simplified, composed to fit a regular metal song structure and finally spiced with melodic influence from such Gothenburg metal bands, as Dark Tranquillity and early In Flames.

Also Heikki Malmberg's drumming is worth of a note - usually he does not follow the Tomas Haake tradition in which the kick drums follow the offbeat guitar riffs while the hands maintain a steady beat in crotchets, but instead holds a steady pulse with a regular drum figure, and occasionally throws in impressive fills, figures and solos. His playing style supports the style of Diablo's music, which is angular yet relatively simple, and he doesn't seem to have the need to show off - unless he is given a chance, in which his drum prowess is often presented.

The same goes with the guitar leads of Marko Utriainen. His guitar solos and leads are usually not that impressive if only technical aspects are regarded, but his sense of melody and harmony is superb, and frequently the solos bring out qualities from the songs that would've been absent without the solo. They offer surprising twists in melody, are often simple enough to be "singable", and are also many times cleverly harmonized with a second lead guitar, bringing about a very recognizable tone to his playing. As with Heikki - it also feels that he knows his instrument through and through, but he plays what fits their music without the real need to show off.

The only person I have really nothing special to say is their bassist, Aadolf Virtanen. His bass lines usually do nothing more than double the guitar riffs. Only when the guitars are quiet, his deep, rumbling bass can be heard, creating a thick, oppressive atmosphere to the songs. The only aspect he is somewhat remarkable though, is his stage presence in their concerts. I've seen Diablo once live, in 2006, and then the only one who was putting up a real show was Aadolf, not staying one moment in one place. Good for him!

Probably the only one I have less flattering things to say is Rainer Nygård, the man in charge of the vocals and rhythm guitars. I have nothing bad to say about his guitar work though, the riffs are amazing (though I've understood that Marko Utriainen is responsible for the most of them), but his vocals are not that great. Some of his shouts and screams are impressive, and also his growls verses with lower register work ok, but mostly his vocal output is delivered as grunts that are uttered in this strained, tough-guy fashion, that really don't work that well. Though as they are more like strained singing instead of full-on screaming, Rainer can control the pitch of his voice, enabling him to "sing" vocal melodies, but this grunted singing really doesn't work for me. I'd prefer either real singing, or out-and-out screaming, or both, not something in-between, at least in this fashion.

Well, Diablo might not be everyone's cup of tea, either due to Rainer's vocals, or if one considers them just a Meshuggah band with all the interesting stuff taken out or yet another band that plays those repetitive chugga-chuggah riffs, but I consider them one of the most interesting mainstream metal bands in Finland, and they are worth checking out both due to their terrific-yet-simple guitar melodies and great groove. They are not trying to re-invent the wheel; they are just good at what they do.

***

Reviewed albums:
Eternium (2004) - 80/100

Diablo // Eternium

Album: Diablo - Eternium (2004)
11 tracks / 43:43
Acquired: October 2007

Vocals, guitars: Rainer Nygård
Guitars: Marko Utriainen
Bass: Aadolf Virtanen
Drums: Heikki Malmberg

I discovered Diablo some six or seven years ago, back in high school. Well, actually, I have never really discovered Diablo; I just heard a couple of their songs that were to my liking. Some time later I learned that all these songs were from their then-recent album, Eternium, and thus I discovered the rest of the album too. But it never really went past that. Later on I have heard some Diablo songs that aren't from Eternium, but none of them so far have been that different from the songs on this album, so I haven't had any real need to discover the band more; I've been pretty content with this album.

I bumped into a second-hand copy of Eternium in 2007 with a very reasonable price (like 3 or 4 euros), and I bought it without a second thought. Even though Diablo has never been a band of great importance to me, I guess this album deserves its place in my CD collection, what with its somewhat enjoyable metal tracks and all.

1. Symbol of Eternity (3:54)

A distant Henry Theel -loan turned into a Finnish tango opens the album, which suddenly turns into a crushing Diablo songs. The basic Diablo elements are all there: verses with offbeat chugga-chuggah-riffs, melodic choruses, aggressive vocals, intensive drumwork, everything.

A semi-catchy song with surprisingly nice groove. Not the best one, but surely one I can easily enjoy.
9/10

2. Read My Scars (3:42)

The theme riff that opens the song is rhythmically rather odd, and I guess Meshuggah-influences are haunting just behind the corner. The verses are cool with their screeching lead guitar lines, but Rainer Nygård's screams don't always cut the mustard.

The song has a short section before the guitar solo for a drum-solo-ish part in which Heikki Malmberg showcases his talents.

"Read My Scars" has some pretty neat moments, but as a whole it really isn't my favorites - probably because of the pretty predictable and repetitive chorus.
7/10

3. Queen of Entity (3:51)

Opening with a short guitar intro that brings me back to Metallica's "Blackened", but unlike in ...and Justice for All, you can really hear the bass rumbling when the song starts - at least when the guitars are playing.

But that's where the similarities end; this is not thrash metal delivered at break-neck speed, this is immensely heavy, groovy metal. At least until the chorus, in which the machine gun fire of two bass drums take lead with female vocals.

Though the song feels a bit too short, as if ending too soon, it has much parts that create interest and variation when compared to the regular Diablo tracks: sudden double bass drums, female vocals, and even a disco-style hi-hats emphasizing the weak beats. A nice rumbler.
8/10

4. Lovedivided (4:26)

Opening with an open string melody by Marko Utriainen that bows to the direction of Gothenburg melodeath bands, this song quickly opens to be another Meshuggah-esque track, especially the low guitar djents in the pre-chorus sections.

Despite the angry vocals deliver their message with intensity, they don't sound that great but more like strained tough-guy grunts, which I don't fancy that much.

Nevertheless, "Lovedivided" is one of the strongest efforts on the album, with its simple yet memorable chorus, recognizable melodies and nicely varied sections. Simple but effective metal, someone could say.
10/10

5. Faceless (3:19)

Faster and aggressive, breakdown-heavy song that as a retrospect seems to be a predecessor to the modern American thirteen-in-a-dozen metalcore bands. There are both those rapid, muted guitar riffs doubled by kick drums and low-and-deep chugs more reminiscent of slower Meshuggah tracks, but the song is pretty dull and lacks something that would really make the song interesting. The only thing that actually makes this sing better than those crappy modern metalcore songs is the guitar work of Marko Utriainen, and especially his distinctive soloing style.
6/10

6. The Preacher (3:14)

Opening like a regular stadium-sized metal anthem, the song is really kickstarted with a grunt that you can hear probably anytime and everywhere in Finland; "voi perkele!"

A regular song that delivers all Diablo has to offer: chugging riffs, intense drumming, deep bass, raging vocal grunts and distinctive guitar melodies. Nothing really special, yet this one's a good, tight package.
8/10

7. In Flesh (3:10)

A groovy, heavily syncopated riff works as the main motif of "In Flesh". Fierce, mid-tempo songs like these are the ones that really earn the "groove metal" label for this band.

Kicks ass and smacks other bodily parts around as well, and despite not being that special nor catchy, has still earned its place in this album.
7/10

8. Black Swan (4:40)

Growing from a haunting intro to a heavily syncopated chugga-chuggah metal song. For me, this song is a Diablo classic that has all their elements in their rightful places and they are just in right proportions each.

Especially the guitar solo is excellent - it's not a performance of technical superiority, but instead an awesome combination of surprising turns in melody, rhythm and harmony performed with a sense of style; it supports the harmonic structure of the song, really fitting it and making it many times better than it would be without.
10/10

9. Omerta (3:23)

Opening slowly with clean guitars, evolving into a neat instrumental track, this one feels as if it is a Diablo rendition of Metallica's "Call of Ktulu".

It rumbles deep in the register of low B, having cool, a bit subdued guitar leads, that are guiding the song throughout but still not being in the face of the listener all the time.

The last part of the song fades away with very Diablo-ish riffing that somehow remind me of the coda riffs of the metallica instrumental "Orion".

One of the most varied songs on the album, and the lack of vocals really fit the mood of the song, making it one of the best "Eternium" tracks.
10/10

10. Shape Shifters (4:13)

"Shape Shifters" glides seamlessly from the final notes of "Omerta". A bigger gear is kicked in as the song rumbles on with rage and a tempo slightly faster than usual.

The verses are not that special, but the fierce half-time chorus does a lot, as well as the vigorous solo/mid-section. Not one of the best, but also not from the weakest end either.
7/10

11. Reptiles (5:19)

The slow and rumbling "Reptiles" closes Eternium. Its drawback is that it seems to rely more on churning riffing than on guitar leads, which probably results in its downfall, because even though it has several different sections, in the end they sound pretty similar, because they are mostly just nothing more than riffing.

Even the guitar solo fails to raise any interest, it being less melodic and more just rapid notes in succession. A pretty bland song to close the album.
6/10

***

Final verdict
Though Eternium is far from my favorite metal albums, it is still surprisingly cohesive package with tight and fierce metal. Full of low, chugging and churning riffs embellished with ofttimes clever and interesting guitar leads, their style of groovy and churning metal often manages to delectate me.

Probably their weakest spot lies in Rainer Nygård voice. At times his fierce shouts and growls are good, or even outright great, but most of the time his lyrics are delivered in a strained, tough-guy-style grunting, and combined with Finnish not-that-perfect pronunciation of English, they are not that pleasant nor impressive when compared to Rainer's vocalist peers.

Vocals aside, this album is very good and intensive, and very worthwhile of checking out especially for fans of Meshuggah and Gothenburg melodeath bands, due to Diablo's uncanny ability to combine the low, djent-y riffs with interesting melodies and harmonies. The songs of Diablo may not be as technical as the works of these aforementioned Swedish counterparts, but yet they frequently work like magic.

Score: 80/100

THE BACK HORN

(1998-)
My definitive lineup:
菅波栄純 (Suganami Eijun) - guitars
岡峰光舟 (Okamine Koushu) - bass
山田将司 (Yamada Masashi) - vocals
松田晋二 (Matsuda Shinji) - drums

Slowly but steadily have THE BACK HORN become one of my biggest favorites from Japanese bands. Having discovered them through Project J back in late 2003, I've followed their evolution with some interest for almost a decade now. Originally they were a pretty regular punk band, somehow distinguished by their outstanding, passionate lead singer, 山田将司 (Yamada Masashi).

During their early days Masashi's vocals were not that special, but they quickly evolved to become perhaps the most defining aspect of the band's music - his emotional singing carries out all the pain, anguish and sorrow he has written in his lyrics, ranging from soulful, passionate singing to a hoarse, raspy holler, to an excruciating scream. Many times I've just listened to their songs, wondering how he can reach that level of fierce emotion, oft times sliding smoothly from a soft singing to an agonized scream with ease.

The songs themselves are stylistically mainly punk, punk rock or alternative rock (especially punk during the early days), often also verging on the early 90's grunge music, but frequently they also incorporate jazzy elements to their music, such as extended seventh chords in a place where one would expect nothing more than a regular triad, and many times the songs have sudden shifts in mood or style in the middle of a song, creating sudden moments of surprise to a song that would seem quite regular beforehand. This also makes their songs very distinct from each other yet remaining stylistically similar. However it seems that as of late, they have started to downplay their more fiercer side in favor of more lighter and accessible sound.

Their instrumental side is mainly based on a power-trio lineup - consisting of a bass, drums and a guitar - but occasionally Masashi joins the rest of the guys with a secondary guitar, accordion or a harmonica. Though these guys responsible of the instruments form pretty impressive a trio, and I respect their often quite minimal yet always skillful and effective output, I need to bring special attention to 岡峰光舟 (Okamine Koushu); their bassist that was for a long time just a guest musician, before being promoted to a full-fledged band member. His incredible, fluctuating bass lines, that ofttimes borrow from different styles of jazz music, are pure balm to my ears whenever they can be heard. He has also that incredible sense of style that not every song is full of blistering bass work, but instead he throws in a neat bass fill here and there, otherwise just doing his job as a regular bassist. This makes it feel that he is not all over my face, but he has the uncanny ability to remind me now and then how great bassist he really is.

Though they might be too raw and punk to people who are used to lighter styles of music, whereas they might be also too raw and punk to people who are used to heavier brands of metal, I strongly encourage anyone who has a place in their heart for music that is strongly emotional and passionate, disregarding other aspects of musical styles. It might not be your stuff, but the chances are that with a little effort you will find a new, amazing band. You don't need to worry if you don't understand a word from Japanese lyrics - the vocals tell it all.

***

My top-10 list of songs that are worth checking out:
雨 (Ame)
何処へ行く (Doko e Iku)
ヘッドフォンチルドレン (Headphone Children)
未来 (Mirai)
涙がこぼれたら (Namida ga Koboretara)
生命線 (Seimeisen)
サニー (Sunny)
惑星メランコリー (Wakusei Melancholy)
野生の太陽 (Yasei no Taiyou)
夢の花 (Yume no Hana)

***

Reviewed albums:
太陽の中の生活 (Taiyou no Naka no Seikatsu, 2006) - 65/100

THE BACK HORN // 太陽の中の生活

Album: The Back Horn - 太陽の中の生活 (Taiyou no Naka no Seikatsu, 2006)
11 tracks / 52:11
Acquired: August 2011

Vocals, trumpets, accordion: 山田将司 (Yamada Masashi)
Guitars, background vocals: 菅波栄純 (Suganami Eijun)
Bass, background vocals: 岡峰光舟 (Okamine Koushu)
Drums, background vocals: 松田晋二 (Matsuda Shinji)

Suddenly the random number generator picked my newest acquisition - the 6th album of one of my favorite Japanese bands, which I obtained like two days ago! I really haven't listened to this album much beforehand, and I really wanted only because it had some fairly ok songs I knew. Otherwise I have had an impression that it isn't as good as the earlier albums are. Well, we'll see about that in a short time.

At this point I really have nothing to say about that album, except that its cover art is pretty, um, striking. Let's just say that I've seen album covers that have been a bit more impressive.

1. カオスダイバー (Chaos Diver, 4:50)

The album begins with a song that sounds quite massive compared to regular The Back Horn (from now on abbreviated as TBH) standards. The guitar melodies are nice, simple yet memorable, and once again Masashi manages to take unsuspected corners in his vocal melodies, but somehow this song doesn't quite cut the mustard. It feels as if the band are holding themselves back.

TBH is especially a band that can express raw, unrestrained emotions with impressive energy, and though I am aware that not every song of theirs is flooding with anger and sorrow, this track could have used some.
7/10

2. アポトーシス (Apoptosis, 4:51)

The calm, drowsy introduction suddenly explodes into a regular rocker. However, also this song feels that they are lacking in the feeling department. Especially Masashi's vocals don't feel as amazing as they have used to. The screams in the bridge and coda sections come quite close, but still no cigar.

A quite energetic rock song that fails to stir up any big emotions for me.
5/10

3. 証明, (Shoumei, 4:38)

A slower, groovier song, that actually has a really nice beat. Also Masashi's vocals seem to have put on a spurt and have reached the level of emotion their music deserves. Especially the raw energy of his voice in the chorus really hits the spot. Once again he sounds like the singer whose fierce voice got me hooked on their music some eight years ago.

Also worth pointing out is that in this song Koushu, the bassist, seems to play as much stuff as the rest of the band combined. Impressive bass licks all over the place.
8/10

4. ホワイトノイズ (White Noise, 5:08)

A lighter, more upbeat song. The raw anger from Masashi's voice is gone, but the emotion remains. The vocals range from light whispers to stirring falsettos, and the song rolls on easily, showcasing the more beautiful, gentler side of TBH.

Though the song does not reach the pure awesomeness of their best upbeat songs, such as "夢の花" ("Yume no Hana"), it is a quite strong performance nonetheless.
8/10

5. 世界の果てで (Sekai no Hate de, 4:38)

Another upbeat, fresh song (of which vocal melody reminds me of a song by Finnish band Eleanoora Rosenholm, "Suljetun osaston astronautti"), but somehow lacks once again in the awesome department.

It's a nice song, with pretty, hum-along vocal melodies, but once again it fails to make me feel anything more than a mild interest. It's not a bad song, but I know this band can do a lot better.
6/10

6. 天気予報 (Tenki Yohou, 3:11)

Suddenly the band kicked in the weird gear. The main motif is a weird, clean guitar melody, which is played over spoken word sections by Shinji their drummer. Chorus section is a short, distant and echoed section sung by Masashi. The song closes with a chorus part accompanied with an accordion.

I really don't know what to think after this. I guess the band wanted to have fun, or something. Still, not my cup of tea.
4/10

7. ファイティングマンブルース (Fighting Man Blues, 4:15)

Opening with heavy, crashing introduction, which progresses with a fuzzy, groovy, Them Crooked Vultures -like stomping verse.

It's a groovy track, as if like being very heavy blues, having its fair share of raw anger, but also showing some more melodic and catchier sides. Not really their best work, but shows that there was music not unlike the stuff Them Crooked Vultures played many years before that band was formed.
7/10

8. ブラックホールバースデイ (Black Hole Birthday, 5:35)

One of their hit singles opens with a melodic bass line before the other instruments kick in, and the song grows into a rumbling, dissonant monster.

The song is unfortunately rather repetitive, with its quite dull, discordant verse and adrenaline-heavy punk-chorus. In my opinion the song lacks many of the melodic aspects
that make the band amazing, and only part that I really enjoy in this song is the rumbling half-tempo section in the end, otherwise this is pretty "meh" to be released as a hit single. This album really has better songs than this.
6/10

9. 浮世の波 (Ukiyo no Nami, 4:25)

This song seems to borrow a lot from the American punk-rock contemporaries. The chord progressions are definitely regular TBH, but the chorus section and some riffs bring a legion of American punk rock bands into my mind. However, this is really not a bad thing at all. The song manages to be rather ok and catchy throughout, and though is nothing that special, it still is quite interesting and pleasant a track.
8/10

10. ゆりかご (Yurikago, 5:19)

Ok, this song begins with one of the most retarded drum figures ever, and the drums stay prettu much unchanged throughout the song.

Despite that, the song rolls nicely on its own, being mostly a lightweight, pop rock song, before moving on to the heavier, fuzzier mid section and solo, that make the song suddenly a much more impressive and more massive track.

Nevertheless, the song doesn't remain that splendid, though the mid section does a lot. In the end it is one of those songs that don't move me one way or the other.
5/10

11. 初めての呼吸で (Hajimete no Kokyuu de, 5:15)

Beginning with heavily distorted bass line, and ultimately evolving into a regular TBH song, "Hajimete no Kokyuu de" is an ok way to close the album. Though at first Masashi's vocals seem to be jaded and bored, they garner suddenly much energy when the chorus section comes.

I'm just not sure if they should have moved this song closer to the beginning - now the album's stronger moments are interspersed all over the album, but they are cut off with weaker tracks. Should it have been better if all the great tracks were in the beginning, or is it good this way when they are evenly spread?
8/10

***

Final verdict
My hunch was right - this album was not up to par with the older albums by The Back Horn. In many songs it seemed that the band was lacking in ideas or direction, and though some songs had potential, they didn't manage to grasp it, making this sound mainly like watered down shadow of the older TBH.

Though some of the songs are also pretty boring as compositions, the major foible is the voice of Yamada Masashi. Up until their previous album, ヘッドフォンチルドレン(Headphone Children), his voice has been the driving force behind the whole band, capable of ranging from soft whispers to painful screams, really capable of delivering intense emotions with them. In this album, it seemed that either his voice has weakened, or he was keeping it back for some stylistic reasons or something. Whatever the case may be, the result was that the album was far less impressive than the others have been, unfortunately.

太陽の中の生活 (Taiyou no Naka no Seikatsu) is not outright bad album; just rather dull and very plain one. It may have its place in the CD shelf, but it is not in the top of the "must-buy albums" list.

Score: 65/100

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

(1994-2003, 2010-)
Past and present members:
Thierry Amar – double bass, bass
David Bryant – guitar, tapes
Bruce Cawdron – drums, percussion
James Chau – keyboards, harpsichord, guitar
Fluffy Erskine – film projections
Aidan Girt – drums, percussion
Norsola Johnson – cello
Karl Lemieux - film projections
John Littlefair – film projections
Efrim Menuck – guitar, tape loops keyboards
Mike Moya – guitar
Mauro Pezzente – bass
Thea Pratt – French horn
Sophie Trudeau – violin
Roger Tellier-Craig – guitar
Grayson Walker – accordion

The Canadian Godspeed You! Black Emperor (commonly abbreviated to GY!BE) is often regarded as the godfather of post-rock, a musical genre encompassing numerous different styles that are centered on instrumental, or mainly instrumental music that is mostly played with traditional rock instruments (eg. drums, bass and guitar).

GY!BE is not the progenitor of this genre, as there are several bands older than them that have played instrumental music that can be regarded as post-rock, but GY!BE is definitely one of the most important influencers on this whole genre of music. Their music is not simple, riff-based instrumental rock music, but instead draws heavily influences from classical music and minimalism, and the songs are often composed of various movements, in which the motif is varied throughout. GY!BE was also one of the first bands to expand their instrumentation from a simple rock outfit to a one sharing common elements with classical music orchestras - throughout their existence they have had various bowed instruments, brass and percussions in addition to their electric string instruments and drums. This adds to their classical sound very much, and together with their massive, often well over 20-minute compositions, they are as much a contemporary classical orchestra as a rock band.

Also, due to their song lengths, GY!BE is not music for people with short attention span - modern post-rock songs are often quite short, somehow riff based compositions, whereas in GY!BE songs the band can easily spend several minutes playing just two chords, adding things and taking stuff away, developing the harmonic texture and mood of the song, making it probably a bit dull to the people who enjoy mostly short and easy post-rock songs, and very boring especially to the people used to standard radio hit singles with a sing-along chorus and catchy riff.

GY!BE has always been a very impressive band live. In addition to the samples and album liner notes, their political, left-wing stance is often represented through the film loop projections in their concerts, and their film projectionist is also regarded as a full member of their already extensive lineup. The band performs in a semi-circle, facing each other instead of audience, and they usually make very little contact with the attendees, becoming completely absorbed in the music.

Their guitarist, Efrim Menuck, is often regarded as the "leader" of the band, but this role is not actually that of a real band leader, but one that comes from him being one of the original founding members the person usually communicating with the media. He, however, has many times expressed his views as a rock idol, and usually, when performing with Silver Mt. Zion, he communicates with the audience with really down-to-earth fashion, discussing current topics, as if just being one of the crowd.

GY!BE ceased all activities in the early 2000's, and many believed they had really quit, although they had stated that it was only an indefinite hiatus. Then, suddenly, in 2010 they announced they would be performing once again, and even I managed to see them live in early 2011. Currently they are believed to be writing new material.

***

My list of songs that are worth checking out:

Well, they haven't really done anything not worth checking out.

***

Reviewed albums:
Yanqui U.X.O. (2002) - 96/100

Godspeed You! Black Emperor // Yanqui U.X.O.

Album: Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O. (2002)
5 tracks / 75:00
Acquired: July 2007

Guitars: David Bryant, Efrim Menuck, Roger Tellier-Craig
Bass: Thierry Amar, Mauro Pezzente
Drums: Bruce Cawdron, Aidan Girt
Cello: Norsola Johnson
Violin: Sophie Trudeau

I discovered the Canadian instrumental band Godspeed You! Black Emperor (henceforth abbreviated as GY!BE) some five years ago, back in '06, but it took me almost a year to come across one of their records (well, I wasn't really looking for them, just hoping if you could stumble across one). It was this one - the last album they have recorded to this date.

Yanqui U.X.O. is somewhat unlike the previous works of the band. The album has less ambient sounds than the previous ones, and the songs are long, instrumental rock epics that go under a single title, whereas their earlier works have relied much on field recordings and the songs have been composed of several, specifically titled movements that together make a massive song - not unlike classical music.

I haven't really decided on my favorite GY!BE album, because every single one of them is pure bliss to my ears, but if I really have to put my money on one, I'd pick this one. Though their debut album, F♯ A♯ ∞, contains "East Hastings" - my favorite post-rock song of all time - I guess this album is the one I enjoy most from the first moments to the last fading notes.

1. 09-15-00 (Part One) (16:27)

Opening with complete silence, this song starts to grow and evolve into a surreal, sprawling soundscape of dreams. After several minutes of this movement, the mood shifts and the song's pulse becomes more pronounced with subtle differences in drumming and bass lines. In time, they cease, giving way to a melancholic string instrument melody, that marks the end of the first half.

The second half begins with a quiet interlude in to which a cello, a violin and finally a guitar join in, one after another. The quiet and calm atmosphere starts to crumble as the intensity grows along with distortion, dissonance and increasing tempo. After ten minutes, this song that was reminiscent of modern classical music interspersed with electric guitars, has evolved - slowly, steadily, and without warning - into a massive, galloping instrumental rock epic - until coming to an almost complete halt.

During the course of final minutes the song manages to grow once again into massive, majestic proportions, that grow and grow, until the song reaches its discordant climax and wailing, crumbles back into silence.

A massive masterpiece, showing the true colors from the band. The amazingness of this song - and this band - doesn't come from clever riffs or insightful lyrics; it comes from the interplay of those instrumental textures, that weave themselves into each other, creating whole world within the frame of one single song. Almost every movement is impressive, touching or simply pleasing, yet it would be impossible to put them in an order. This band can express more feelings and impressions within one song that a normal band could during one album - or even a career.
10/10

2. 09-15-00 (Part Two) (6:17)

Length-wise, this is a real GY!BE hit single - it is their shortest song after the 5-minute "Sunshine + Gasoline" on Amazenine 7"-split - and the only track clocking under 10 minutes on any of their official full-length records.

"Part Two" is a lot calmer than "Part One", mostly consisting of reverbing bass chords, chiming guitar notes and ambient noise over a quiet cymbal beat. It isn't such an emotional rollercoaster as the first part was, but instead a quiet and dreamy transition track or outro.
9/10

3. Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls (20:42)

Beginning with muted and delayed guitar figure, this song slowly begins to sprawl and unravel all around. Instrument after another join in, creating melodies, rhythms, harmonies and textures that overlap, intertwine and support each other.

Then suddenly you realize that the song has grown into majestic proportions, being a massive, rumbling giant, smashing everything around it with such a power and force you can't fathom where it really comes from. And it continues, and it continues, and it continues, and it fades.

The song progresses on with a very Stravinsky-esque loan into a movement, that could easily be a GY!BE-rendition of The Rite of Spring. The band remain in this funereal procession movement for some time, bringing up slowly a texture after another over it, playing with the atmosphere and intensity, until the mood begins to progress further.

Yet the oppressive march movement dominates the majority of the song, making it feel like as if you are falling down, without ever hitting a surface, almost like a slow-motion soundtrack to a dream in which you keep falling. However, the song finally ends with massive, crashing coda section that finally dies away, leaving a bass and the string instruments playing, like a small house band playing over a scene of great destruction.

"Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls" is maybe a slightly too repetitive or long, to make it to my favorite tracks, but still it remains incredibly impressive when regarded as a whole.
9/10

4. motherfucker=redeemer (Part One) (21:22)

And thus begins the biggest mammoth of the album - the majestic first part of "motherfucker=redeemer".

Beginning with quiet chimes becoming more and more frequent, the song itself rolls in very slowly. After several minutes, a distant riff of several guitars playing each other starts to emerge, repeating this circling pattern over and over again, being suddenly joined by surprisingly fast-paced drums and strings.

The motif of this movement is varied over and over with a constant and fast pulse of drumming, becoming more and more complex, growing and sprawling, becoming in the end a massive, orchestral wall of sound, led by a sorrowful violin melody, until it feels as if it can't withstand its own weight and starts to collapse, crashing.

The song calms down and slowly progresses on to the next section, still maintaining that steady drum beat for a while, until it dies too, leaving nothing but echoing guitars that play broken chords over each other.

For a small eternity, the band moves nothing from there, just painting aural sonicscapes with guitars, until a high-pitched, desperate lead melody emerges and leads the song to its closure.

A breathtaking masterpiece, that first wears the listener down with the vigorous first part, and then gives a long moment to catch breath with the ethereal last part.
10/10

5. motherfucker=redeemer (Part Two) (10:10)

The album closes with the second part of "motherfucker=redeemer" that is only half in length compared to its bigger sibling - a short and radio-friendly 10-minute hit single (by GY!BE standards).

The long, calm section during the previous song was well placed and well needed, for the song quickly evolves into an exhilirating pulse of bass and crashing drums, backed by heavily effected guitar buzz.

The song gains more speed and force as it progresses through the main section, becoming the fiercest and rawest song of the whole album, as if releasing all the anger and pressure that had been building along the album.

As the song, and the album, are reaching the end, the song grows even more before exploding into an ocean of noise that begins to die out, slowly, until being suddenly gobbled up by an abrupt ending.

The final track of Yanqui U.X.O. is definitely more straightforward and "rock" compared to the rest of the album, but also succeeds in bringing the album alive after songs that have been very dreamy and minimalistic, before a stylish close.
10/10

***

Final verdict
This album - or any work of this band, for that matter - is not music for a person that has an attention span of an average chicken. With one exception, the songs exceed 10 minutes - three out of four easily - and they can circle round a single motif for more than an average pop song's length. Most parts are very minimal, having a very simple structure, and the appeal of the songs comes how the band can play with those simple parts, putting ideas in, taking them out, evolving them on and on, until you realize you are listening to something completely different from moments ago.

Yanqui U.X.O. is generally not as highly praised album as their earlier works, due to its obvious lack of samples, but the way I see it, the band have let the songs speak for themselves, not letting other people's voices come in the way.

It is also angrier, more raw and more straightforward than their earlier works - still, with over 20-minute epics, they are pretty far from MTV material. Though for a listener not used to post-rock or classical music, listening to this album might be as boring as watching paint dry, but with any appreciation to skillfully crafted music, that grows and evolves almost like a living being, this album is a must.

Score: 96/100

The Offspring

(1986-)
My definitive lineup:
Ron Welty - Drums
Gregory "Greg K." Kriesel - Bass
Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman - Guitars, background vocals
Bryan "Dexter" Holland - Vocals, guitars

I'm not sure, but it might be that there is no other foreign (=non-Finnish) band that I have listened to for this long.

I discovered The Offspring back in '98, when I saw their music video of "All I Want" in the TV. During the next year and a half, I saved money and bought three of their albums (Ignition, Smash and Ixnay on the Hombre). During that time they released Americana too - one of their most successful albums to date - which I wanted to buy too, of course, but my sister had bought it first, and I thought there was no need to buy two identical CDs for one household (a philosophy I have discarded years ago).

However, it's a little bit odd how I got hooked on The Offspring so much. After all, punk has never been - not before nor after I discovered the band - to my liking. I guess it might've something to do with the melodic songwriting of the band, and the fact that even if Dexter Holland tends to favor more aggressive output in punk vein over regular singing, it never hasn't been really atonal screaming, but more like a holler with a melodic aspect. I admit that not everyone finds Dexter's vocals that tolerable, but they are fine by me, and actually one of the biggest elements that have made their music so enjoyable to me. After all, his vocal melodies are also one of the major elements of their music in general - though the chord progressions in their songs might have more than three power chords, they're still pretty punk, which means the progressions can end up being pretty dull over a course of a single song. That's where Dexter's vocal melodies kick in - they are not that original, but they are more or less catchy, easy to sing along, and they really can create depth to a song that could have been pretty simple and repetitive otherwise.

Another defining aspect of The Offspring's music is the use of Noodles's background vocals - most of the time only as simple whoah-whoah hollers - which may look simple on the paper, but in reality they add more to the song one could think of. Many times Dexter and Noodles harmonize their vocals cleverly, creating melodic harmonies not unlike the one's in the music of eg. The Beatles - only in a lot more punk fashion.

Originally The Offspring were pretty punk. In a really punk way. However, their music has had a melodic side from the beginning, and they began to emphasize it early on. In time their albums got more and more melodic - and that way, more accessible and radio-friendly - up until their fourth album, Ixnay on the Hombre, in which they began to incorporate more punk-pop songs (as opposed to pop-punk, which is just catchy, radio-friendly punk) to their albums. In these songs the punk had been almost completely stripped off, and what was left was this punk band playing annoying pop tunes.

However, the band did not turn into a pop band, their albums just began to have more and more pop songs. In turn, the rest of the songs started to make more metallic edge - Smash and Ixnay were pretty heavy punk albums, but punk nevertheless, but their 5th album, Americana, began to incorporate a sound that borrowed some heavy metal aesthetics.

Their subsequent albums continued to spawn more punk pop hits and songs that were more metal and less punk. Once their 6th album, Conspiracy of One, was released, it dawned to me that Americana was probably their last album that would interest me. Occasionally I have heard some their newer songs, but not a single one of them has managed to stir up any more interest in me. They have lost the thing that appealed to me in the first place, and though I may pay some interest in the new albums they release, one of them has been really my thing. I prefer to keep my metal as metal and my punk as catchy, melodic punk.

***

My top-10 list of songs that are worth checking out:
All I Want
Amazed
Dirty Magic
Gone Away
It'll Be a Long Time
Kick Him When He's Down
Pay the Man
Self Esteem
The Kids Aren't Alright
The Meaning of Life

***

Reviewed albums:
Ignition (1992) - 77/100

The Offspring // Ignition

Album: The Offspring - Ignition (1992)
12 tracks / 37:23
Acquired: September 1998

Vocals and guitars: Dexter Holland
Guitars and backing vocals: Noodles
Bass: Greg K.
Drums: Ron Welty

All music by The Offspring unless noted otherwise.

As a kid, back in the late 90's, I saw the music video of "All I Want" by The Offspring on the television. I had never heard of them, nor had I listened to any punk music before, but that song made me pay some attention to it. After I saw it again once or twice, I decided that I really wanted to buy their album.

Unfortunately our local record shop had no copies of the album that had that specific song (Ixnay on the Hombre), so instead I had to buy an album I had no idea of. (You know how it is? As a kid you just had to buy something when you decided to do so - even if it wasn't something you originally wanted!) From the three albums the record shop had (the eponymous debut album; Ignition; Smash), I randomly picked the second one.

At first I was disappointed, for the album had no songs as catchy as the aforementioned "All I Want"; instead the songs were more raw and unpolished. However, after giving it a bunch of more listens (I really didn't have a choice - this was one of my, like, 5 CDs!) I gradually grew to like it, and find out that some of the songs were actually catchy as hell. Although the album never made a great big impact on me, it gave rise to the urge to buy me some more Offspring albums - some of which then did.

1. Session (2:32)
(The Offspring, Kristine Luna, Jill Eckhaus)

The album opens with an unforgettable way: a series of "fuck"-exclamations are shouted after which a bass-drum heavy drumming kicks in.

Buzzsawing guitars, frantic drumming and catchy chorus - this song has it all that made The Offspring famous some years later. The song might not be as polished or mature as their later works, but it does its job as a kick-ass intro track very well.
9/10

2. We Are One (3:59)

The song progresses into a bit slower track that seems to be more rock than punk. It is another regular Offspring track, with a chorus that relies as much on background vocal harmony hollers as on lead vocals.

I've listened to only two tracks and I'm starting to feel like a 12-year old again. Oh the nostalgia.
8/10

3. Kick Him When He's Down (3:16)

When I was kid, this song became quickly my favorite song from this album. The band does seem to have a knack with catchy punk-choruses, but this song has also that one aspect that really defines The Offspring so well represented: simple, yet interesting vocal melodies over a quite-simple-but-still-more-than-just-three-power-chords-chord progression. These melodies might not be that ground-breaking, but they are perfect for singing along and making the songs so damn catchy.

Though "Kick Him When He's Down" might not survive against the later Offspring hits, I still think that it is one of their greatest tracks - it wasn't even a surprise to me when I learned that back in '95 this song was released as the only single off the album.
10/10

4. Take It Like a Man (2:55)

This song is a tad heavier than the three previous tracks. The vocal melodies spiced with background hollers compete with catchy guitar riffing, supported with energetic drums and numerous snare fills.

Though not that memorable a song, still a strong performance.
8/10

5. Get It Right (3:06)

Musically this song is clearly more punk than rock, which is not that much my thing, but once again the chorus with background hollers along with a short bridge section save much.

Though not my favorite track, it's still to find any weak spots from these songs. Be it nostalgia, be it skillful work of composition, but after almost 15 years I still find this album enjoyable.
7/10

6. Dirty Magic (3:48)

A song that is as much 70's heavy metal that it is punk - with its ominous, clean guitar chord progression it sounds like Black Sabbath have composed a song in a faster tempo. And put a punk singer in the place of Ozzy.

And all this is complimentary. A well-balanced blend of classic metal and punk rock works really well for me. Noodles really shows how he is capable of noodling with his guitar - there are no blistering guitar shreds or incredible jazz chord inversions, only simple chords and melodies, and it all works like a charm. I wish they composed more songs like this.
10/10

7. Hypodermic (3:21)

Back again into those punk standards. Composition-wise this song is as punk as it gets, but Dexter Holland's vocals come into rescue once again.

Although this song would've been a lot more boring without those easy and catchy vocals, still they can't save everything, and this song doesn't quite cut the mustard. Oh well, we're already half-way through the album, I guess a weaker song at this point of album is acceptable.
6/10

8. Burn It Up (2:42)

In my opinion "Burn It Up" is another weaker performance. It sounds as if the band used up their energy during the first half of the album and now they're getting tired. The song is a bit too-straightforward (yes, I know I'm listening to punk rock here) to my taste, and though catchy, the chorus is a bit too asinine.

The song might be a classic to the 12-year old me, but not all classic are good.
5/10

9. No Hero (3:22)

Well, back again to those regular Offspring chord progressions. The band seems to be at its best either when they experiment with surprising song elements or when they don't emphasize their punk side that much.

"No Hero" is quite punk, but it has also many other elements that balance it out to be an entertaining track - surprising guitar fills and a drum breakdown, to name the most obvious ones. Not the best track of the album, but definitely on the better side.
8/10

10. L.A.P.D. (2:45)

Back to the no-brainer department. The menacing riffs are too repetitive and the vocal melodies as are absent. The biggest emphasis on the song seems to be on the lyrics lashing out the L.A. police department, but unfortunately the musical side has been left rather disregarded.

Maybe the band might have thought that these lyrics need a song simple enough to make them cut through, but unfortunately I'm not a fan of songs this punk.
5/10

11. Nothing from Something (3:00)
(The Offspring and Marvin Fergusen)

Once again a not-that-special Offspring standard. Both the chorus and the verses have semi-catchy choruses, and there are enough different parts to keep me interested, but on a whole, the song doesn't quite make it with the best songs. In a nutshell; an ok song.
7/10

12. Forever and a Day (2:37)

The album closes with an energetic tune that is surprisingly very reminiscent of their later works (and by that I mean their late 90's stuff). Catchy hollers, engaging riffing and simple-yet-working chord progression - this song is a great way to end an album, leaving a good aftertaste.
9/10

***

Final verdict
Well, I'm probably a little bit biased with this album - I'm not really a big fan of punk music. I prefer musical aesthetics over the political and ideological ones - the elements that most of punk music is all about. That said, it's even a little bit odd how The Offspring hit me even in the first place. However, it did, and especially with this album. Currently it is one of my oldest albums (in terms of owning it, not by release date), and probebly the oldest one I have bought with my own money.

Their trademark gimmicks are well represented already here in Ignition, their sophomore album - Dexter Holland's clever vocal melodies, strong output from background vocals, and chord progressions that don't always rely on a regular three-power chords -progression, but include also chords and more varied chord progressions (although this doesn't make them a prog rock band either!)

The majority of the songs are not that deep and mature, but the direction they are taking is becoming more and more evident during the course of the album; some songs clearly showcasing the elements that would end up well-represented in the following albums, Smash and Ixnay on the Hombre. Though there are some simple punk tunes in the album, there are also some clever and catchy tracks that combine the tempo and raw power of punk with the more varied sound and aesthetics with rock music. Songs like these are the ones that hooked me to their music big time.

Well, punk might not be everyone's cup of tea - and especially this form of "punk rock" that The Offspring well represents, combining raw punk music with more melodic songwriting, resulting in a more accessible, radio-friendly music. However, this album retains its roots deep in the punk aesthetic, and despite the catchy pop appeal found in some songs, there are no real punk-pop songs in this album. The album is just full of well-written, accessible punk rock, that really hits the spot if it just finds one.

Score: 77/100