NOW PLAYING

@JudasMyGuide
Otherland - agreed about A Twist in the Myth being good. It has the catchiest hooks by far and more variety than the other post-Nightfall albums. It took some time but I grew to love every song on it, Otherland was actually the last one cause the chorus is too bombastic for me. Everything else though is great, feels like Fly in a lot of ways.

And Then There Was Silence - suffers heavily from the production, more than ATitM I'd say. There's just too much going on there, and the frenetic nature of the song doesn't help. The individual parts range from good to high-points-of-the-discography, but too often it sounds like this:

They got it a lot better with the At the Edge of Time epics imo.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I know it's not all that popular to like A Twist in the Myth in general (and yes, the production and mixing are quite ghastly), but not only do I not feel that way regarding the album in general, this particular song is among my absolute favourites by the band.
It might be for cryptic reasons connected with the fact I tend to get a certain type of emotion therefrom, which is an approach that altogether resigns from perpetuating the notion of there being any semblance of a reviewer's objectivity, but you have to do what you have to do, right?

Fun fact, this was one of the songs I had in my nominations list for the Greatest Metal Song Cup... and it was one of those that left very, very late (in fact, one of the lastest songs to be eliminated), the primary reason being both me and wifey thinking it lacks the "general appeal", beyond my own personal preference.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to reading Tad Williams.

Click to expand...
I love the album, and Otherland is actually my second favorite BG song only behind Noldor. Awesome stuff.
 
GhostofCain said:
I have tried really hard to like modern Saxon, but I think that they are trying too hard to sound too heavy. Good albums, don’t get me wrong, but they do not touch me, they leave me completely cold. Their early 80s output is a different story, featuring some of the best British metal albums of all time.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think the same as you. Musically is interesting with guitar solos and some riff here and there. They're enjoyable and solid sometimes. I can't stand Byford vocals and whistles. Lyrically is ridiculous sometimes. With lyrics like standing on a queue song…come on! They're releasing albums every year but it's like they stuck in the NWOBHM trying to do always the same.
 
The_7th_one said:
View attachment 31265

Artist: Virgin Steele
Album Title: Guardians of the Flame
Release Date: 1983 (40th Anniversary)
Style: Metal
Rating: 4/5
Click to expand...
Underrated band. With some really cool and some strange ideas. The first and the last song on this album are great.
The_7th_one said:
Yeah, I think the same as you. Musically is interesting with guitar solos and some riff here and there. They're enjoyable and solid sometimes. Lyrically is ridiculous sometimes. With lyrics like standing on a queue song…come on! They're releasing albums every year but it's like they stuck in the NWOBHM trying to do always the same.
Click to expand...
I like their recent heavy output (although it sounds like Priest), but their 80's sound is best for them. Their late 90's heavier sound is also better.
Spot on about your last comment.

Sacrifice is a nice album with 5 very good songs.
 
I'm envious of some non metal bands and how they sound live.
This is one example I'd like for some metal bands, including Maiden.
By the way I would like Maiden would play live in a studio like this band with people or just them for streaming or for a DVD or something.

 
1699258891065.png1699258912866.png

I've been listening to these two lately, so I think it's Between the Buried and Me rant time. On paper, I should love them from first listen: Contrasting clean and heavy passages like Opeth, virtuosic like Dream Theater, genre-defying like Others by No One, wacky like Devin Townsend. All artists I rate highly. And yet, BTBAM just don't do it for me.

The guitars just don't. stop. playing. An endless barrage of 8th note shredding. It's either that or a breakdown for the heavy parts. I couldn't tell you if there's a traditional riff somewhere in there. It makes the shifts between heavy and clean parts too sudden as well.

The shouted vocals do their job, but the cleans are devoid of any feeling. It feels like they treat it as just another melodic instrument and could have been replaced by a clarinet, had the lyrics not been a strong part. There's a reason we differentiate between instrumental and non-instrumental music...

The crux of it all, is that I feel like I'm listening to classical music disguised as metal. Catchy passages are few and far between. The focus seems to be on tonality and structure. I mean, just listen to the ending solo of White Walls and tell me that Symphony X is the neo-classical band here. I'll try exploring their discography more, but right now, I enjoy reading the scores more than listening to them.
 
____no5 said:
@Vaenyr hey do you recognise this one?


Βασίλης Παπακωνσταντίνου -Για Μένα Τραγουδώ, that's why it says "παίζει ένα τραγούδι του Chris de Burgh παλιό"
Click to expand...
Of course! And it's not the only one. Δεν υπάρχω also uses the music of a Chris de Burgh song.
 
Vaenyr said:
Of course! And it's not the only one. Δεν υπάρχω also uses the music of a Chris de Burgh song.
Click to expand...

Wow I totally forgot about this one I thought Πριν το Τέλος was, but no this is an Italian songwriter, greatest Βασίλης’ ballad by the way.

Listening to Jerusalem again, I think the urban theme of Vassilis is more fitting and also except the wonderful music /vocal performance of Chris de Burgh the lyrics seem Alexander the Great-ish, accuracy-wise; I mean, from what I remember Saladin was a winner and also very moderate character. And wasn’t a Saracen my god haHahaha. Actually he wasn’t even an Arab, he was Kurd.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top