Flash Flash Revolution - View Single Post - An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

EzExZeRo7497 · 05-18-2014, 10:29 AM

I'm so tired. I think I'm burning out, might take a day break or two. Anyway.

May 18th, 2014
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1973 by Seirom
The album opens up wonderfully with Strands of Golden Light, a space ambient track which slowly progresses to black metal. It starts off clearly empty, with a few lone stars here and there. Once the stars become brighter, it feels as if the order was disrupted. The entire space starts to accelerate and it becomes a chaotic yet beautiful atmosphere. The destructive sight of spinning stars and supernovas and the birth of new nebulae... beautiful. The aftermath of it is just breath-taking.

In tracks like Never So Lost, The loud distorted instruments and noise just blend in wonderfully to create this atmospheric wall of noise. I do have a soft spot for distorted walls of noise, especially ones which I can relax in. The wall is so massive here, so it consumes me quick. Even when I can't feel the wall anymore, I'm greeted with the emptiness of space. The sounds of noise are still there, just not as prominent. For some reason, the juxtaposition is beautiful. There's nothing on the inside, but very dense on the outside. Not sure what quite clicked there, but it worked.

Unfortunately, the album goes down from there for many reasons.

Instead of following the cold and barren drones of the first two tracks - it takes more of a blackgaze approach. More towards Deafheaven instead of Alcest, at least instrumentally. From then on, it becomes a mixed bag of tracks. For example, As Hills and My Dear are incredibly cheesy. The upbeat melodies and all just don't click with me. I couldn't listen to it for a long time without skipping. In contrast, 1973 has a denser sound and is more shoegazer than the track above. While the sample of a female voice is rather unnecessary, it's still quite a pretty sight. The textures are fantastic and it really shines in the overwhelming bleakness of the album's environment. Bit of a shame that it's only 4.5 minutes though, far too short.

Other than the blackgaze/atmospheric black metal tracks, these drone/ambient tracks don't seem to hold a light to the first two. Forever is a respectable attempt to keep the album as hopeful as the other two tracks. However, it is too explicit in its approach. It's too warm on the outside. I can't say that it's as pretty either, it's too bright to really feel its details. At Night does a better job by being more subtle in its approach. It's still a little too warm, but I think it did a good job at creating a new atmosphere. The sounds of birds is a nice addition too - which presents that there's still life in space. There are some tracks that are incredibly bleak too, such as To Disappear. They're decent for the most part, but there are many artists that did better. It's a pretty sight though, despite all its melancholy and grotesqueness.

Throughout the rest of the album, Changes seems to be the only track that matches the first two tracks. Most of the blackgaze tracks are uninteresting and too cliche. The ambient tracks are decent for the most part, but nothing spectacular. They're either too short, too cookie-cutter or simply uninteresting. I can't say the atmospheric black metal elements compliment most of these ambient tracks either, the drums become too clunky and bold. I could barely feel the ambience already since they're so thin, and the drums just destroy what's left of the atmosphere.

All in all I just think that this album is confused. What direction is it trying to go? Drone? Blackgaze? I'm unable to tell. This does mess up the soundscapes too - at one point it's very bright and then the next track is like pure darkness in comparison. This makes the album feel fragmented and incoherent. Normally I wouldn't lose that much enjoyment, but this feels like an album that would've been fantastic conceptually. An journey through space and its subtleties? That's a great idea! Unfortunately, it wasn't executed so well. A little disappointed, but there are worse.

Album Highlights: Strands of Golden Light, Never So Lost, Change
Track Average Rating: 2.83/5
Overall Rating: 5/10
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Hvis lyset tar oss by Burzum
Varg Vikernes is a man famous and infamous for many things. He is infamous for murdering the guitarist of Mayhem, a fairly large black metal act, along with burning of churches. His philosophy is generally immoral and all in all evil. In contrast, he is famous for being one of the largest black metal acts ever. During his imprisonment, he has released three albums. His most known however, is Filosofem. It is an hour long album filled with undying hatred and anger, almost unpleasant. The fact that Vikernes has used abysmal equipment to produce this as well enhances this mood. It's dark, it's relentless and disturbingly amazing. However, I'm not talking about Filosofem. I'm talking about his other seminal album - Hvis lyset tar oss.

The first track opens up with Burzum's typical raw sound, but it's not heavy. It's still just as horrifying as I imagined it to be though, almost sinister. After that, it dives into heavy black metal that we all know and love. This doesn't seem to die down at all, it feels like the sprite of hatred itself is walking and roaring in anger. You see it cause destruction to everything it touches, especially at the guitar solo. You see it rip apart everything, and literally everything. By the time its onslaught stops momentarily, you can hear cries of mercy. The entity shows no remorse however, and continues destroying figures in the most gruesome ways possible. Almost disturbing.

The second track shows the sprite more enraged. It's far angrier than ever before and the flames behind it are engulfing the forest behind the sprite. The sprite doesn't seem to move as much though, it's just standing there shouting. It looks like it's harnessing energy, but I don't see the flames getting bigger. Ironically, they're getting smaller. Unfortunately, that's what the track mainly provides. I didn't enjoy this too much, but the guitar tones are great. However, the track is too stationary. It doesn't do anything for me other than see this sprite enraged. The energy does change at points, but I was expecting a linear upward slope in energy. It's just too inconsistent in energy to really work for me.

Honestly by the time the third track started I thought it was starting to drag. Filosofem was at least very engaging with its varied sound. The first three tracks of Filosofem do convey the same emotion, but they were executed in different ways. This album is generally relentless pummeling. It just feels brutal for the sake of being brutal. It doesn't have too much to offer, other than a hard-hitting sound. While it is intriguing at first, it could only get so far before it starts to become stale. Maybe I'm not in the mood for black metal, but I'm not too sure. From what I recalled, Filosofem was just a lot more interesting overall.

The last track is Tomhet. It sounds remarkably similar to the other ambient track in Filosofem, but a lot brighter. It's nowhere as meditative, in fact the raw sound just makes it hard to concentrate. It's quite jarring even, it's hard to really imagine any soundscapes with this. This doesn't stand out to me as a track that you listen to consciously though. When I close my eyes to relax, it becomes a lot more serene. It lulls you to sleep, but in a very peculiar way. Instead of warm drones, you're hit by this synthetic ambience. It's odd, but it oddly works just as effectively.

The synthetic raw sound dies off after a while and becomes more of a meditative one. It's great for the most part, but the high notes of the flute interferes quite significantly. It snaps you out of that meditative state, which is quite frustrating. I'm not sure what Burzum is trying to do with this track altogether, but it sounds nice. It's not an ambient track that I'd visit again, but I wouldn't mind sleeping to this if someone was playing it.

Can't speak too highly about this release. It doesn't feel very innovating - the ideas here are dragged for too long. More variation would be nice, but as it is it doesn't appeal to me that much. I was pretty underwhelmed by the album overall too, I was expecting a far more emotional sound. All I could see is just a concentrate of hatred into one figure, but not the entire atmosphere. Though the album as a whole is decent, it couldn't click with me as much as I'd like it to.

Album Highlights: Det som en gang var
Track Average Rating: 3.25/5
Overall Rating: 6/10

Done with my backlog for now. I do have one album left, but it's 2 hours long. I don't really want to listen to that along with another album at this point of time.

05-18-2014, 10:29 AM	#86
EzExZeRo7497 ⠀ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Singapore, SG Age: 26 Posts: 6,858	Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away \| 365 Album Challenge I'm so tired. I think I'm burning out, might take a day break or two. Anyway. May 18th, 2014 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1973 by Seirom The album opens up wonderfully with Strands of Golden Light, a space ambient track which slowly progresses to black metal. It starts off clearly empty, with a few lone stars here and there. Once the stars become brighter, it feels as if the order was disrupted. The entire space starts to accelerate and it becomes a chaotic yet beautiful atmosphere. The destructive sight of spinning stars and supernovas and the birth of new nebulae... beautiful. The aftermath of it is just breath-taking. In tracks like Never So Lost, The loud distorted instruments and noise just blend in wonderfully to create this atmospheric wall of noise. I do have a soft spot for distorted walls of noise, especially ones which I can relax in. The wall is so massive here, so it consumes me quick. Even when I can't feel the wall anymore, I'm greeted with the emptiness of space. The sounds of noise are still there, just not as prominent. For some reason, the juxtaposition is beautiful. There's nothing on the inside, but very dense on the outside. Not sure what quite clicked there, but it worked. Unfortunately, the album goes down from there for many reasons. Instead of following the cold and barren drones of the first two tracks - it takes more of a blackgaze approach. More towards Deafheaven instead of Alcest, at least instrumentally. From then on, it becomes a mixed bag of tracks. For example, As Hills and My Dear are incredibly cheesy. The upbeat melodies and all just don't click with me. I couldn't listen to it for a long time without skipping. In contrast, 1973 has a denser sound and is more shoegazer than the track above. While the sample of a female voice is rather unnecessary, it's still quite a pretty sight. The textures are fantastic and it really shines in the overwhelming bleakness of the album's environment. Bit of a shame that it's only 4.5 minutes though, far too short. Other than the blackgaze/atmospheric black metal tracks, these drone/ambient tracks don't seem to hold a light to the first two. Forever is a respectable attempt to keep the album as hopeful as the other two tracks. However, it is too explicit in its approach. It's too warm on the outside. I can't say that it's as pretty either, it's too bright to really feel its details. At Night does a better job by being more subtle in its approach. It's still a little too warm, but I think it did a good job at creating a new atmosphere. The sounds of birds is a nice addition too - which presents that there's still life in space. There are some tracks that are incredibly bleak too, such as To Disappear. They're decent for the most part, but there are many artists that did better. It's a pretty sight though, despite all its melancholy and grotesqueness. Throughout the rest of the album, Changes seems to be the only track that matches the first two tracks. Most of the blackgaze tracks are uninteresting and too cliche. The ambient tracks are decent for the most part, but nothing spectacular. They're either too short, too cookie-cutter or simply uninteresting. I can't say the atmospheric black metal elements compliment most of these ambient tracks either, the drums become too clunky and bold. I could barely feel the ambience already since they're so thin, and the drums just destroy what's left of the atmosphere. All in all I just think that this album is confused. What direction is it trying to go? Drone? Blackgaze? I'm unable to tell. This does mess up the soundscapes too - at one point it's very bright and then the next track is like pure darkness in comparison. This makes the album feel fragmented and incoherent. Normally I wouldn't lose that much enjoyment, but this feels like an album that would've been fantastic conceptually. An journey through space and its subtleties? That's a great idea! Unfortunately, it wasn't executed so well. A little disappointed, but there are worse. Album Highlights: Strands of Golden Light, Never So Lost, Change Track Average Rating: 2.83/5 Overall Rating: 5/10 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Hvis lyset tar oss by Burzum Varg Vikernes is a man famous and infamous for many things. He is infamous for murdering the guitarist of Mayhem, a fairly large black metal act, along with burning of churches. His philosophy is generally immoral and all in all evil. In contrast, he is famous for being one of the largest black metal acts ever. During his imprisonment, he has released three albums. His most known however, is Filosofem. It is an hour long album filled with undying hatred and anger, almost unpleasant. The fact that Vikernes has used abysmal equipment to produce this as well enhances this mood. It's dark, it's relentless and disturbingly amazing. However, I'm not talking about Filosofem. I'm talking about his other seminal album - Hvis lyset tar oss. The first track opens up with Burzum's typical raw sound, but it's not heavy. It's still just as horrifying as I imagined it to be though, almost sinister. After that, it dives into heavy black metal that we all know and love. This doesn't seem to die down at all, it feels like the sprite of hatred itself is walking and roaring in anger. You see it cause destruction to everything it touches, especially at the guitar solo. You see it rip apart everything, and literally everything. By the time its onslaught stops momentarily, you can hear cries of mercy. The entity shows no remorse however, and continues destroying figures in the most gruesome ways possible. Almost disturbing. The second track shows the sprite more enraged. It's far angrier than ever before and the flames behind it are engulfing the forest behind the sprite. The sprite doesn't seem to move as much though, it's just standing there shouting. It looks like it's harnessing energy, but I don't see the flames getting bigger. Ironically, they're getting smaller. Unfortunately, that's what the track mainly provides. I didn't enjoy this too much, but the guitar tones are great. However, the track is too stationary. It doesn't do anything for me other than see this sprite enraged. The energy does change at points, but I was expecting a linear upward slope in energy. It's just too inconsistent in energy to really work for me. Honestly by the time the third track started I thought it was starting to drag. Filosofem was at least very engaging with its varied sound. The first three tracks of Filosofem do convey the same emotion, but they were executed in different ways. This album is generally relentless pummeling. It just feels brutal for the sake of being brutal. It doesn't have too much to offer, other than a hard-hitting sound. While it is intriguing at first, it could only get so far before it starts to become stale. Maybe I'm not in the mood for black metal, but I'm not too sure. From what I recalled, Filosofem was just a lot more interesting overall. The last track is Tomhet. It sounds remarkably similar to the other ambient track in Filosofem, but a lot brighter. It's nowhere as meditative, in fact the raw sound just makes it hard to concentrate. It's quite jarring even, it's hard to really imagine any soundscapes with this. This doesn't stand out to me as a track that you listen to consciously though. When I close my eyes to relax, it becomes a lot more serene. It lulls you to sleep, but in a very peculiar way. Instead of warm drones, you're hit by this synthetic ambience. It's odd, but it oddly works just as effectively. The synthetic raw sound dies off after a while and becomes more of a meditative one. It's great for the most part, but the high notes of the flute interferes quite significantly. It snaps you out of that meditative state, which is quite frustrating. I'm not sure what Burzum is trying to do with this track altogether, but it sounds nice. It's not an ambient track that I'd visit again, but I wouldn't mind sleeping to this if someone was playing it. Can't speak too highly about this release. It doesn't feel very innovating - the ideas here are dragged for too long. More variation would be nice, but as it is it doesn't appeal to me that much. I was pretty underwhelmed by the album overall too, I was expecting a far more emotional sound. All I could see is just a concentrate of hatred into one figure, but not the entire atmosphere. Though the album as a whole is decent, it couldn't click with me as much as I'd like it to. Album Highlights: Det som en gang var Track Average Rating: 3.25/5 Overall Rating: 6/10 Done with my backlog for now. I do have one album left, but it's 2 hours long. I don't really want to listen to that along with another album at this point of time. Last edited by EzExZeRo7497; 05-29-2014 at 08:56 AM..