Thoughts on all my blind purchases for last year...

[Alberto]

...for a grand total of 4 releases!


- Madder Mortem / Eight Ways (2009)

I'm finding hard to express how I feel about this CD. Madder Mortem has been one of my very favorite acts for years now, their first 3 discs especially hold a cherished spot in my collection (and their debut "Mercury" battles with "Mandylion" as the best doom release I have). 2006's "Desiderata" was the first album of theirs I had problems connecting with, so I was a bit anxious to hear their next effort.
While "Eight Ways" brings no revolution to MM unique, unmistakable style, I think a lot of it sounds fairly different from the majority of their older material - in a way I'm not quite able to describe. For sure, the general vibe of the music here is even less oppressive than "Desiderata", which in turn was on the whole less oppressive than any of the first 3. It seems MM are experimenting more and more away from their doom roots, which is a shame as far as I'm concerned. As for Agnete's vocals, well, she's always been a major strength of this band... On EW, she does a couple of things I find annoying: she often sings in her lovely quiet, intimate style, but sometimes goes for a quasi-piano-bar approach that I don't like (most notably in the opening verse of track #1); and, she pushes her voice a bit too much in a few places in the first half of the disc.
I think that almost every track here offers something interesting, frequently something great, even. That said, there are probably only a couple of cuts that I like from start to finish. For me, the album gets better the further it goes on, the second 6 tracks being much more enjoyable than the first 6. Favorite tunes include "Life, Lust & Liberty" and "The Flesh, The Blood and the Man" (arguably one of their most "progmetal-oriented" compositions to date). Much of "All I Know" would feel at home on "Mercury" (and this track also features that super-cool melodic squeaking/ringing guitar solo).
This release only confirms that Madder Mortem is a fantastic band. Kudos to them for trying several new things within the framework of their trademark sound (which was already quite unique in the first place). Even though not all of "Eight Ways" sits well with me, it's an interesting listen to say the least. Hard to believe, but I think these guys are defying categorization now even more than they did in the past.
http://www.myspace.com/maddermortem


- Porcupine Tree / The Incident (2009)

I loved both "Deadwing" and, to a lesser extent, "Fear of a Blank Planet", not to mention several other recent projects where Steven Wilson has been involved in one way or another, so this new double album by Porcupine Tree was an automatic purchase for me... On "The Incident", PT has retained its well-known distinctive sound - however, the metal elements that had beefed up the band's previous couple of releases have been significantly toned down, which is a shame in my opinion. This album goes back to employing plenty of extended "quiet" parts - but in doing so, it sounds remarkably different from earlier PT efforts anyway, as most of the calm sections here focus more on the melodies than on psychedelic soundscapes, turning out to be more akin to Blackfield's material than to "Signify" & co.
The meat and potatoes of this release is represented by disc 1, featuring the album's title "song cycle". Even though it's far from being a complete success, I think this is quite an enjoyable piece of music on the whole - and I also think it works decently as a cohesive composition (musically, at least - I'm not too sure about the lyrical themes). There is no shortage of good melodies and, when some part is starting to sound uninteresting or too repetitious (as in "The Incident" track), you can always count on some exciting drumming to save the day! Indeed, Gavin Harrison has grown to be my current favorite drummer: not only he (with good help from Wilson's guitar) nails some killer grooves particularly in the second half of the disc, but his playing is generally interesting even when he is not supposed to get the focus. And speaking of guitars, I think SW put out some of his best solos on this album (this coming from someone who is usually not very interested in guitar solos). I won't comment too much on CD 2: I would say the four featured tracks range from forgettable to ok, none of them thrilled me too much.
All in all, "The Incident" is a rewarding listen, clearly not essential but a nice addition if you liked recent PT output and you don't mind a mellower take on that style.
http://www.myspace.com/porcupinetree


- The Gathering / Accessories - Rarities & B-Sides (2005)

Of course I'm cheating here, for this one doesn't really qualify as a "blind purchase"... I decided to buy this release primarily to finally own a legit copy of "Adrenaline", and also because often I cannot choose whether to listen to "Mandylion" or "Nighttime Birds" and this compilation comprises material from both sessions.
Well, "Accessories" has really exceeded my expectations - especially disc 1: besides "Adrenaline" and an awesome alternative version of "Third Chance" (a tune that has steadily grown to become one of my favorite TG songs), I was ecstatic about Slowdive's and Dead Can Dance's covers. Anneke sounds strangely off-key in the first verse of the opening live track "In Motion #1", all featured live material is otherwise enjoyable.
I'd say this release comes highly recommended to all early-Anneke-era The Gathering's fans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhjRzSLJmsw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1eG2YbXvm8


- While Heaven Wept / Vast Oceans Lachrymose (2009)

Here it is, the long awaited follow-up to the excellent "Of Empires Forlorn". Tom Phillips & co. aren't exactly the most prolific guys in the music business and treat us once again to quite a short release: less than 43 minutes, including 8+ min of instrumental "outros" (sort of). But the important question is: are these 43 minutes *good*?
So far, "Vast Oceans Lachrymose" has polarized fans more about the "is it doom or not" debate, rather than about its quality, which has been acknowledged by the vast majority of the listeners, I believe. First of all, I think it is important to say that, no matter the subgenre-tag, this album still sounds unmistakably While Heaven Wept, with all their signature glorious melodies. There's no doubt that the doom stylings that have always been the core of WHW sound have been mitigated and integrated into a traditional melodic metal frame - whether they are still prominent enough to call this release "doom" seems a fairly futile dispute to me (I personally tend to answer "yes", for what it's worth). The early-Fates Warning references are apparent in the guitar work in several parts of the disc (just listen to the first 30 seconds off "Living Sepulchre"), and really resonate when new vocalist Rain Irving goes into total Arch-worship mode in the wordless chorus of "To Wander the Void".
Speaking of vocals, I have always loved Tom's vocal tone, so I had many concerns about the change in the lineup. I'm sure I heard Altura back in the day, but frankly I don't remember anything about Rain from that era. I think he does a great job here, and thankfully his overall delivery is not too dissimilar from Tom's (even though this impression may partly come from the fact that WHW vocal melodies are so distinctive). That said, I still believe I would have liked VOL a tad more with Tom on vocals, as his voice just hits something special in me.
Following "Of Empires Forlorn", "Vast Oceans Lachrymose" had a difficult task to achieve, and it doesn't disappoint. Although I'm not loving it as much as OEF, I think it's a totally satisfying disc, another exquisite instance of While Heaven Wept's personal interpretation of how melancholic metal should be done.
http://www.myspace.com/whileheavenwept


As for 2010, the albums I'm looking forward to (though most of these will still be "try before buy" things) are:

Anathema / Horizons (this *will* come out, right?)
new Chaosweaver
new Dark Suns (?)
Fields / Hollow Mountains
Lyriel / Paranoid Circus (out in late 2009 in Germany)
new Mortal Love (?)
Pain of Salvation / Road Salt
Shaolin Death Squad / Five Deadly Venoms (out already, not heard yet)
new Stolen Babies (?)
Therion / Sitra Ahra
new White Willow (?)
"new" Wintersun (????...)
new Wolverine

Symphony X have also announced they *are* finally working on new material, but I'm not holding my breath...
And I see no sign of anything new coming from (among others) Sleepytime Gorilla Museum...

Alberto

[Wounded Land]

I was a little disappointed with The Incident at first. I still don't think it ranks up among their best albums (and coming after the superb Fear of a Blank Planet it can't help but look worse than it is). I've warmed to it considerably with repeated listens, though.

NP: Magma Emehntehtt-Re (<===the shit)

[George]