Well, first of all I didn't know about this thread, that's why I didn't participate. I like the concept and I hope this thread will stay alive.
I also apologise in advance to
BW, because while I can say I
enjoyed the album, I can't say I actually
liked it, let
alone loved it. I tried to be as open-minded as possible, but this really isn't what I search for in metal. See below on that.
What suprised me at first was the length of the tracks - these are often
very short, aren't they? Doesn't help me to think they are all truly finished and fully baked, but I
admit that's mostly prejudice. Mastodon or System of a Down have a lot of short tracks and a lot happens within them... still it felt like a swarm of intro tracks at the beginning. Nitpicks - not important.
I admit I'm not all that knowledgeable about melodeath (apart from certain bands) and I wouldn't tell apart metalcore from deathcore if they danced in front of me naked, but this is not really a type melodeath I know or would appreciate. When I think "melodeath", I think more or less of melodic, slightly Maiden-ish type stuff, slightly faster and more technical, with growls. At least that I got from my admittedly brief affair with Arch Enemy. Other than that, I know and like Amon Amarth and some Children of Bodom stuff (which this also doesn't remind me)... and that's pretty much all. Oh, and Pete Wildoer, either in Darkane or on those LaBrie solo albums. Yes, I have listened to early At the Gates and Be'lakor, but I don't remember them all that much.
However this here album doesn't sound like any of the above to me. Yup, there are some harmonies and snippets of melody here and there, but in general it's very monotonous in its approach and much less melodic than I expected.
I don't like the sound of the drums - I'm a n00b and don't understand production, but this here sound is the same one I hate about Mangini's work in DT - I'm not sure whether you call it "triggered" or whatever, but it's really off-putting to me.
In fact, the drum sound and the "rhythmic" nature of the music remind me of some of the "technical" bands like Meshuggah, who use that sound to focus on the weird rhythms etc and also sort of marginalise the melody.
But this is not a true technical album, so it feels kinda empty in that regard.
Even Black Dahlia Murder at least keep it more interesting by being so mind-blowingly brutal (for a melodeath band, that is).
From time to time it even sounds a bit... nu-metalish? maybe? to me (which is not meant as an offence, as I don't really see the need to demonise the genre - one of the bands I dipped into in the past 7 days is Deftones and I like them a lot - also,
Roots are great, whatever anyone might have to say about it), but maybe that's the metalcore influence I can't quite recognise.
That said, it definitely has its share of good riffs and melodies and solos. The first song that I genuinely enjoyed was Momentum, then I recall liking Trial & Error, Terra Nil, E.M.D.R. and the title track and that's probably it. These five songs I'm actually looking forward to playing again in the foreseeable future.
Put together, it's kinda "middle of the road" for me - not melodic enough for me to remember/enjoy/have an emotional response to and not heavy or "wanky" enough to compensate for that. I'll probably give it another listen soon, just to see if it stays with me or fades away. I'll post any significant development here, if there'll be one.
Oh, and also
This is definitely the worst death metal album I've heard.
First of all: dude, seriously? In the genre of
The Unspoken King, Illud Divinum Insanus or
Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler (or, hell,
Carnivorous Erection, why not?) you pick this one?
Second of all, from the rules
2. Keep it positive with each other. You can dislike the album all you want! But be respectful of others opinions.
to which I would consider it a common decency to at least try to politely
explain why would you spit out such a harsh statement, especially since
BW was obviously championing the album and cares about it a lot.
But whatever.
As for the nomination (a death metal album to teach a person to death metal) - that's easy, Opeth -
Ghost Reveries.
