Album Review: Code Orange - I Am King

Time for a new album review of an album that came out a couple of months ago already (I know I'm a bit late on this one but who cares). The new Code Orange album I Am King is a mix of metalcore and hardcore with a hint of sludge. The sounds are familiar to any fan of Converge as the album was released by Converge's frontman Jacob Bannon's own Deathwish Inc. and produced by none other than Bannon's bandmate, guitarist Kurt Ballou.

I came to I Am King completely blind (or preferably deaf), without knowing or hearing anything about the band and I was pleasantly surprised with the rich but raw guitar and bass sounds and some mindblowingly great production by mr. Ballou. The compositions instantly trigger memories of classic Converge albums like Jane Doe to my mind. The songs are heavy but also cleverly composed with unique twists throughout the album. Little things like tempo and time signature changes make things interesting for me in this album. Of course typical metalcore-breakdown riffing can be heard on I Am King but it's not abused too much in my opinion.

The vocals on this album are greatly performed by three of the band-members: drummer Jami Morgan and guitarists Eric Balderose and Reba Meyers. Their vocals range from screaming and shouting to spoken-word kind of muttering and even clean singing.

While Kurt Ballou did a great job engineering and producing this album it almost, just almost falls to the point of being overproduced, especially with the drum sounds in my opinion. The bass drum sounds really flat and lifeless, though that's what it's supposed to be like I guess. To me it just feels like a plug-in bass sound. More unique drum sounds could've made this album an even more enjoyable experience.

The overall energy of the album is ungodly big. Each song brings something new to the table, and that's saying a lot in genres like hardcore and metalcore which are filled with bands that copy each other to the grave.

Favourite songs: I Am King, Slowburn, Bind You
8/10

- Matti

Album review: ∞ - Emme Näe Elämää

Wow.. I've been waiting for this album for quite a while already and finally it's here. The new ∞ (eight) album Emme Näe Elämää feels like a fresh breath of cold air after their earlier masterpiece Näyt Kauas from 2012. The new album seems to continue from where the last one left yet the sound seems to head more towards the screamo elements mixed with post-rock and away from post-metal when comparing the two. 

Eight sticks to the same elements sound-wise in this album as the last one. The vocals are as great as they were last time with melancholy-filled moaning and screaming that really give me the chills. Not only are the vocals improved, so are the instrumentals; drum and bass sounds are varied and dynamic ranging from quiet and distant to crushing and shrill. 

"Kuinka kauan kestää toukokuun lumi?"

Compositionally Eight keeps it's quality with utilising varied elements of alternative genres. The post-rock-esque crescendos and clean guitars mix once again perfectly with the contrast of crushing style of hardcore. I was personally intrigued by the little bit of noise in the outro of the song Tuntemisaisti. Even some always-welcome blast beat action was carried out in the climaxes of the songs Kuuron Laulu and Juostaan Ylös Vuorelle. Kuuron Laulu features more aggressive and fast-paced riffs in the first half of the song. It then takes a long time building up to a crushing ending with blast beat and tremolo riffing. 

The lyrics of the album are very poetic with themes of solitude, dreams and a lot of metaphorical storytelling. I especially love the lyrics of Lohdutusseremonia which seems to tell of life and death and dealing with loss. The whole song is a melancholic piece which starts with a sad melodic guitar and a groovy drum beat. The song alternates between soft and hard with a great crescendo in the middle of the song which then comes apart and goes back to where the whole song started. 

As a fan of post-rock, hardcore and post-metal this album doesn't let me down the slightest. Every song is a story and an adventure to experience. 




Favourite songs: Lohdutusseremonia, Kuuron Laulu, Antakaa Meidän Nukahtaa

8.5/10 

Clearly one of this year's strongest albums to me. 

Panopticon - A Throwback To A Greater Time

It's time to talk about my all time favourite album: Panopticon by ISIS. Ipecac Records put out a remaster to celebrate Panopticon's 10th anniversary earlier this year and I've been going back to that numerous times during the summer. To me the remaster wasn't such an improvement over the original as I thought it would be (considering the Celestial remaster a few years back from ISIS) but of course I enjoyed the album as much as the good old Panopticon from 2004. All the changes I noticed after a good amount of listened between the two versions was that the synths seemed to be clearer and more upfront in the remaster and some of the vocals seemed to be pushed down a bit. 

Anyway, I was here to talk about my opinions on the album itself. First of all I have to tell, the artwork of the album is absolutely and completely amazing and fits the themes of the album perfectly. Whenever I listen to the album all I can think of are industrial settings and blue (I wonder why??).

Panopticon starts out with So Did We, which I consider the epitome of ISIS to me. The structure of the song is beautiful. The creeping guitar sounds and tight drums accompany each other amazingly and the eerie but still aggressive vocals are nicely blended to not be the lead "instrument" of the composition. The so-called breakdown of the song where the harsh riffing cuts down and the clean guitar melodies paint a gorgeous landscape only to progress into the last crushing riff of the song which always send chills down my spine. At the end of the song I feel somehow pumped up for the rest of the album which I know is going to be as amazing as this was.

Backlit starts out a lot friendlier and progresses through the song with both quiet and loud points to a groovy break with and awesome baseline. The song also ends with a bang. Aaron Turners vocal performance is shining in Backlit as he changes back and forth with clean and harsh vocals. At this point I also have to mention the raw-like drum sounds which play a huge role in the album's grooviness. 

Next comes In Fiction which is one of the bands most notable songs with a great music video. The song's structure is a basic post-rocky post-metal song structure which starts out quiet and continues to grow until a breakdown which brings the song to ground level once again. I have to mention the moment when the drums shift to a hit on the snare rather than a sidestick is a great point in the song. The breakdown isn't the end of the song though as it teases you by raising the momentum bits at a time only to grow to a crushing guitar riff. The song ends by going back to it's opening motions, the clean melody.

The next song, Wills Dissolve is the shortest song in the album and it starts with an eerie clean motion followed by a groovy drum beat. The same theme continues with a distorted guitar and more heavy drumming. The vocals hit the song just barely after the four minute mark with a raspy clean melody. The rest of the song progresses to a heavy ending which crushes even harder than the earlier songs. 

Wills Dissolve ties well with the next song Syndic Calls which continues straight from where it was left. The guitar groove in the beginning has stuck in my mind since the first listens. The crescendo towards the end of the song is what post-metal is to me, distorted sound which somewhat still sounds like the most beautiful thing in the world. 

The opening riff of Altered Course shows how a good groove can be made with just a guitar and the drums. After the bass hits the song it becomes even more groovy. The song makes me nod every time I listen to it. Altered Course feels a lot more philosophical (if you can say that of an instrumental song) than the other songs. The melodies and the construction seem thought provoking and interesting. 

The ending track Grinning Mouths sums up all the feels of the album; the sadness, the energy and all the blue colour in the world. The song starts with a very creepy guitar melody.  When the heavy hits of crushing guitars and toms hit the scene only to carry the song on to the next section which - to everybody's surprise - isn't a crushing riff but a continuation of the creepy sound. Only after a brief break is the song lifted up and up to the heights of the sky. The tremolo melody leads the song to the heavy riffage and harsh vocals. After that comes the moment which is a very non-ISIS-like move; a sudden break to a strumming chord. The next riff is probably one of my favourites from the whole album accompanied by a perfect distorted melody. The same motif continues through the rest of the song which ends to a bang. 

That concludes my thoughts on Panopticon, an album so meaningful to me. I remember the day my brother introduced the album to me. The same day (or a couple days later) I just had to buy the CD and listen to it many times through. I can't wait to find an album to top Panopticon, though it seems highly improbable.

 

-Matti

Indie Shoutout vol. 5

Cassie is a Finnish post-rock band with much potential to grow over the barriers of ordinary post-rock. Their newest release is an EP titled Old Light which was released February 2014. The band's sound is very typical for the genre with dreamy guitar leads and long crescendos. The female vocals which are not so typical for post-rock bring a nice touch and the sound of the lead vocalist Sofia Thurén fits the sound of the band so well. Believable and beautifully emotional lyrics are a key point in the vocals also.

Old Light EP

Post-rock is known for bringing "non-rock" instruments to the mix and so does Cassie with the inclusion of a string quartet. The almost-a-cliche "post-rock tremolo" -sound is amazing combined with the tremolo violins in the opening track of Old Light. 

The first track simply called Old Light Is a pretty typical post-rock song with a long crescendo which erupts in the end. What makes this track for me are the beautiful vocal melodies and the AMAZING quest appearance of Callisto-vocalist Jani Ala-Hukkala. Being a huge Callisto fan I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw he was in this track. His screams create a post-hardcore-ish vibe to the high-point of the track.

The second track Keep Your Kings In The Back Row starts out with a nice groove. The song has a nice tone to it with the strings bringing a nice touch of comfort. The track is very enjoyable and beautifully arranged to the point of myself failing to see any (even minor) problems.

"You are so afraid of life and I only have courage for myself"

The EP ends with a track titled White Waves. The track starts with a bang which sounds much like a Caspian song but then it continues with a beautiful melodic and dreamy part. The vocals carry the song towards the calming latter half of the song which starts out with a guitar lead. The song proceeds to a beautiful "explosion" of vibrantly colorful sounds again much like a Caspian song and continues to an even more tough part with a slow blast beat which erupts the whole song. The track ends and the listener is left with a complete expression of the bands sound. 

Overall the EP is a great piece of art with much potential for the future. What comes to the quality of composition, arrangement and production the sound of Cassie is on par with bands like Caspian, Explosions In The Sky and other epitomes of post-rock. The vocals are a major pro from me and I just fell in love with the vocal melodies of the album. The Old Light EP made me take a closer look on the band's earlier stuff which i have earlier considered as too cliche'd. 

I hope Cassie continues their effort to make more amazing releases and wish them luck on their tour which takes place both in Finland and the UK.

Love

- Matti

ps. more stuff coming soon as I'm done with my matriculation exams.

Garage Festin fiilistelyt! - Big feels @ Garage Fest

Kävin lauantaina fiilistelemässä Kerubin Garage Festissä Death Hawksia enkä ole vieläkään päässyt yli bändin ylivoimaisesta live-esiintymisestä! Happoisen psykedeeliset progekappaleet iskivät kovaa ja syvälle. Soundi-lehti ei turhaan valinnut Death Hawksin kakkosalbumia vuoden 2013 parhaaksi kotimaiseksi albumiksi; bändin lavaolemus ja kappaleiden tiukka progressiivinen soundi ansaitsevat arvostuksensa.

Olin koko keikan ajan aivan fiiliksissä lävitseni tunkeutuvasta musiikin virrasta ja pyrin vain antautumaan musiikin katkeamattomalle tunnevyörylle. Koko yleisö tuntui olevan kuin transsissa.

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Last Saturday I went to Kerubi Garage Fest to see and feel Death Hawks and I've yet to get over the band's outstanding live-performance! Their acid-filled psychedelic prog songs hit me hard and deep. The Soundi -magazine didn't pick Death Hawks' second album as the best Finnish album of 2013 in vain; the band's stage presence and tight progressive sound surely deserve it's appreciation.

I was super hyped all trough the show from the flow of music going through me and I just tried to surrender myself to the continuous flow of feelings I received from the music. The whole audience seemed as if in a trans of some sort.

Indie Shout Out vol.2

Toinen loistava löytö tänä syksynä oli suomalainen yhdenmiehen bändi/projekti Stars As Lights, jonka uusin julkaisu As If Time Had Stopped on huikea kymmenen kappaleen post-rock teos, jossa jokainen kappale kertoo oman tarinansa.

Stars As Lights on jyväskyläläisen Lauri Paavolaisen sooloprojekti. As If Time Had Stopped on kaikkine post-rock -kliseineenkin juuri täydellinen taidepläjäys minunlaiselleni musiikin ystävälle. Albumi erottuukin joukosta edukseen juuri sävellyksen ja tuotannon puolesta. Koko albumi on rauhoittavan kaunista kuunneltavaa alusta loppuun eikä yksikään kappale kuulosta samalta. Albumin kokonaisuus tuo mieleen Explosions In The Skyn alkutuotannon.

As If Time Had Stopped kuuluu ehdottomasti tämän vuoden parhaimpien post-rockjulkaisujen joukkoon Sigur Rósin ja God Is An Astronautin uusimpien albumien rinnalle.

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Another great discovery from this fall was the Finnish one-man-band/project Stars As Lights whose newest release As It Time Had Stopped is an immense ten track post-rock work in which every track tells its own story.

Stars As Lights is the solo project of Lauri Paavolainen from Jyväskylä, Finland. As If Time Had Stopped is just the perfect piece of art for a music lover like myself even with all its post-rock cliches. The album sticks out from the crowd with its amazing compositions and production quality. The whole album is restfully beautiful from the beginning all the way until the end and none of the songs sound too much alike. The album as a whole brings to my mind the earlier works of Explosions In The Sky. 

As If Time Had Stopped belongs easily to the top post-rock albums of the year alongside the new albums by Sigur Rós and God Is An Astronaut. 

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Also the artwork is absolutely amazing! :)

- Peace And ΓΟΛΕ - 
Matti