An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

[choof]

got two album recommendations:

Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Summvs
AsphyxZero - AsphyxZero's Soundcloud Grabbag

[EzExZeRo7497]

I've been wanting to listen to Summvs for a while now, I'll add that.

also fuccin soundcloud grabbag

[Crazyjayde]

One day I'll be able to stand trance metal. Until then I'm just going to moan about how much of an uninspired concept it is.

Also I can't wait for a Summvs or Insen review. And I also can't believe how constant you are at making reviews. Kind of wish FFR peeps could hop on it more.

[t-rogdor]

yo ez
you should listen to uh
Eleh - Floating Frequencies / Intuitive Synthesis
it's a comp album of 3 EPs and it's kinda rough to find online so hmu if you need a link to it
it's good

oh and M8L8TH - By The Wings Of Black

[EzExZeRo7497]

Added. Managed to find a link, not sure if it's all three parts or not but since it's 200 MB I'm assuming that it's the entire compilation.

[t-rogdor]

one i have is 260mb but as long as there's 3 CDs (or eight songs, whatever you want) then yeah you good

[EzExZeRo7497]

May 30th, 2014
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Fantasma Parastasie by Aidan Baker & Tim Hecker
Aidan Baker is an insanely prolific artist - with a total of 92 studio albums. His music style is generally ambient and drone, but he plays some drone metal as well. I'm not too familiar with his works, so I can't talk too much about them. However, I do know quite a bit about Tim Hecker's. Tim Hecker is a Canadian drone (if you can call it drone) artist, well-known in the drone community for many albums. Namely, Harmony in Ultraviolet and Radio Amor. Tim Hecker has yet to disappoint me - I gave Virgins and Harmony in Ultraviolet 8s. Those are the only two albums I've listened from him, though. I don't know if Fantasma Parastasie will be as good, or worse.

Phantom on a Pedestral shows Tim Hecker's signature style of music quite well. It's noisy, it's loud, but it's pleasant. Almost reminiscent of Whitecaps of White Noise II, which is my favourite track from Harmony in Ultraviolet. The sound feels so clunky, yet so free-spirited. It's evil, but with many hidden hints of serenity. These juxtapositions are truly wonderful - something that many drone artists can't seem to replicate, other than Tim Hecker himself. There are some moments that felt iffy, like the bulging guitars halfway through. I'm assuming that it was Aidan Baker's contribution to the track, which is quite detrimental. But regardless, the rest of the track is wonderful. This bleak and chaotic world Tim Hecker has created is most definitely not new, but it still is a refreshing one.

Hymn To The Idea of Night isn't as aggressive as the first track. It's hard to compare it to anything, but it's a cross between Belong and some piano pieces. I'm kinda unsure what to think of it, but it is a very pleasant sound. The sounds of intense feedback are beautiful and create this melancholic aura. The first track has already set off the landscape, and this further enhances it. It's really depressing... but I feel so comfortable in this faint wall of noise. I could sleep in this world forever.

I'm not too fond of Aidan Baker's contributions to this album. Auditory Spirits doesn't quite sound like anything Tim Hecker would make. The sounds are nice, there's no denying that. That's all there is to it, however. It isn't quite something that catches my attention - nor does it affect me on a cathartic level. Not too content with that, but it could be way worse.

Gallery of the Invisible Woman is by far the loudest track. Not just in terms of content, but how it presents itself. It almost sounds like someone screaming and is filtered so heavily it nearly becomes noise. The sound is huge, dark and almost majestic. It's so overwhelming... but it's so empty once you let it consume you. The sound outside is still there, but there's something else inside of that wall of noise. Something... more innocent. More crystalline. You soon realise that inside this ugly wall of noise, contains a beautiful landscape of nature. It's not quite as beautiful as something like Pop, but the change in atmosphere was neat. Great track, but not the best.

These tracks are very different from each other. It'll take me a very long time to cover through all of them since there's so much to talk about. Dream of the Nightmare is probably one of the most beautiful works Tim Hecker has done. The sounds here feel so sincere - so sombre in its execution. It feels as if whatever force it was in the previous track is now crying. Its tears are almost fascinating. The pristine sound of genuine sadness is something that I haven't heard in a long time.

In contrast, Fantasma-Parastasie just clears up what's left of the album. Everything you've listened to is quite frankly, a fantasy. Nothing has really changed - you just left your body and entered a surreal depersonalised state. However, you don't feel anything in this loomy world. Even the minute sounds of animals don't faze you anymore. You feel completely schizoid - nothing quite hits you the same way as it used to.

Excellent album. I would love to give this a high rating, but there is a noticeable portion of the album that I'm not a fan of. Specifically Skeleton Dance and Auditory Spirits. They detract too much from my experience to really give this album anything higher than an 8 for me. The rest of the tracks are amazing though, but not good enough to really eclipse the detriment of the two tracks. We all can't be winners, though. Sorry Tim Hecker, your average rating is now below 8.00.

Album Highlights: Phantom on a Pedestral, Dream of the Nightmare
Track Average Rating: 3.71/5
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
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Ao No Exorcist Original Soundtrack 1 by Hiroyuki Sawano (recommended by Zageron)
Hiroyuki Sawano is one of the biggest anime soundtrack artists, along with Yuki Kajiura and a couple others. He is responsible for the OSTs of a couple of popular anime series - namely Guilty Crown, Attack on Titan and Kill la Kill. While I can't say that I enjoy the anime that I've listed, their soundtracks are a different story. It would be closed-minded to dismiss their soundtracks just because the anime isn't up to standard. The Guilty Crown original soundtrack is pretty good, for example. Not going to talk about those soundtracks though... I'm going to talk about Ao No Exorcist. I have not watched the anime - haven't really interested me anyway.

Exorcist Concerto First Movement is a fairly typical anime OP, at least I think that's an anime OP. Mika Kobayashi's voice is quite pleasant, but not my cup of tea. Not really a fan of most OPs in general though, j-pop is a very mixed bag for me. The second movement is more hard-hitting, almost reminiscent of video game music. It's actually really catchy, it definitely caught my attention. It reminds me of Metal Gear Solid, almost. At least, it's reminiscent to a game that requires stealth. The orchestration compliments the track quite nicely. Third movement is more tribal, nothing too spectacular. It's alright though. Fourth track is great. Reminiscent of a boss battle - energetic and also quite critical. It's good, most RPGs should have boss battle themes like that. Most of them feel too overblown in orchestration, which does ruin the "epic" experience. This isn't necessarily epic, but it's a nice change.

The variation here is outstanding. It has more variation than most anime soundtracks out there. Just based on the first five tracks alone, the variation is quite impressive. It easily outmatches soundtracks like Steins;Gate's, or even Tsubasa Chronicle or Madoka Magica. In fact, it's probably up there with a couple of video game soundtracks - which are substantially larger than this album. In one track you'd be hit with really loud and majestic orchestration, and the next you'd be treated to this nice little ambient ballad. Easily one of the strongest parts of the soundtrack.

Now for the negative aspects - most of these tracks drag on for a longer time than they should. The average length of each track here is 4.5 minutes. That's a very long average length for any type of soundtrack. In comparison, Madoka Magica's average length is around 2 minutes. Not going to deny that Hiroyuki Sawano has tried to make these tracks as fresh as possible though. Most of these tracks progress considerably, but they don't seem to go anywhere. They just have the intention of being long for the sake of being long. Doesn't quite help that some of these tracks don't click with me too well, too. They end up being too long-winded for my taste.

Album gets considerably weaker towards the latter half - maybe because it's not as intense as the first half. They're usually too upbeat for me to enjoy. Either that, or they're nowhere as memorable as the tracks in the first half. They're not really bad to listen to though. I just think there are other soundtracks that I'd much rather listen to than this. If the album was as memorable as the first half, it'd probably be up there as one of my favourite soundtracks. Doesn't quite make the mark on me.

I don't really have much to talk about when it comes to soundtracks, it's not like talking about an album. If you want to talk about a soundtrack in depth, you'd have to bring the media into context. You can't really talk about a soundtrack like To The Moon without bringing in what the game is like. Most soundtracks, including this one, only have tracks that really don't provide anything else but what you're hearing without the media. That seems to be the biggest problem with soundtracks in general however. They only serve to be complements with the original media. There are many oddballs out there - like the Saya no Uta and Byousoku 5 Centimeter OSTs, but they generally have this issue. Same goes for this one, I can't see any thematics when I'm listening to this. Mainly because I haven't watched the anime yet, I could imagine.

RYM doesn't have a track list, so I can't put track ratings there. I'll put it here instead:
2.0/4.5/3.0/3.5/3.5/3.5/3.0/2.5/2.5/3.0/2.5/3.5/3.5/3.0/3.0/3.5/2.5

Variety is most definitely there, but consistent quality isn't. There is considerable room for improvement here. The biggest flaw for me is that these tracks don't quite fare well by themselves. Other than Exorcist Concerto Second Movement, I don't think I'd listen to the soundtrack again. There are some good tracks here for sure, but the ones that I liked are outmatched by a couple of other tracks. Not the worst soundtrack by any means, in fact it's pretty above average for anime soundtrack standards. Anime soundtracks aren't very good altogether though - most soundtracks from visual novels are better. Mainly because there isn't as much emphasis on animation than the sound.

Album Highlights: Exorcist Concerto Second Movement: X
Track Average Rating: 2.92/5
Overall Rating: 6/10

[YoshL]

For the fun of it (preferably in this order, I can get you the first 2 in like a week when I'm home)

Faux paz - busy work
Faux paz - crisis control
Faux paz - rev

[EzExZeRo7497]

Added.

May 31st, 2014
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Hymn to the Immortal Wind by Mono
I don't think I need to talk too much about Mono. One of the biggest acts from the land of the rising sun, they are masters of the crescendo. One of the largest post-rock bands as well, rivaling the popularity of Sigur Ros and Mogwai. They have made many successful albums - but one that struck me personally is Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain. The landscapes are very bleak - one of the most depressing albums ever created. It hits you harder and harder with darker shades of melancholy - it makes the smallest crescendo feel like earthquakes. It is my favourite post-rock album of all time, and there are a couple of people in this community who feel the same. Hymn to the Immortal Wind is another post-rock album from Mono, but with modern classical elements.

In contrast to You Are There, Hymn To The Immortal Wind feels sounds a lot more magnificent. You Are There is like a trek to the top of a snowy mountain - while this album is your experience on the summit. Ashes in the Snow sets off the mood for this album. It's vast, it's intimidating but also beautiful. You feel cold and desolate, but the sounds of falling snow is comforting. You eventually succumb to your own fear and shiver - but the snow embraces you tighter. The crescendo in this is just wonderfully heartbreaking. The crescendo is like you breaking through your anxiety and everything - you feel unstoppable. The energy the crescendo has... is unbelievable. It's most definitely not the loudest, but it's certainly one of the strongest. You feel like you have the power to not just destroy, but create. The guitars are weeping, but soon their sadness turn into bewilderment. You feel like you're off the ground as the crescendo becomes stronger. In fact, you are flying. You fly off to the dark abyss - waiting whatever waits you.

Burial at Sea is like watching a funeral at sea from a bird's eye view. You watch the faces of people sobbing. The entire place just seems very bleak. As the coffin is shifted from land to sea, their emotions start to spike. They start to cry and scream - while others constantly try to hold back their tears. The more the coffin descends, the more everyone weeps. The emotions cut short once the coffin sinks into the sea. The atmosphere feels baffled, confused. No one has really expected to be in this situation. When they get back into their senses... their emotions start to form this collective sadness. They cry in unison, for their lost one. Not just sobbing, everyone is hugging and crying onto each other's shoulders. It must've been someone that was very dear to them. You've never seen such care for someone before. You couldn't help but feel tears - which further enhances the bleak environment. The moment was quite short-lived... but it was a traumatising one for sure.

I would love to write more of these, but I'm really sleepy. Didn't get enough sleep today. Anyway, Hymn to the Immortal Wind is a journey through the land. Ashes in the Snow is a really good track, it really fazed me - especially at the crescendo. Burial at Sea and Slight Flight, Sleeping Dawn are more depressing - but also magical. The orchestration makes it feel like a fairy tale. They aren't as good as the first track, but they're still pretty. Very atmospheric, but the details seem blur. Not to say that I didn't get the effect - I most certainly did. I just can't feel the intricacies as much as I wanted to. While PPMMR has made up for it through its extremely visceral effects, Hymn to the Immortal Wind doesn't do it as much. It's a respectable attempt though.

This album is really just Mono doing what they usually do. There are some differences from their older albums - particularly the orchestration, but nothing too fresh. People would normally call this a flaw, but I'd disagree. I have mentioned before in a review that not all uninspiring albums are bad. Most of them are, but this is an exception. Mono is good at what they do. They might be some of the most generic post-rock bands out there, but they are one of the best. No average post-rock band will make something as magnificent as this. They won't make a track like Pure As Snow. The sounds are layered with so much catharsis and wonder, they sound far from generic. The template is generic for sure, but that's it. I don't see a reason why they should be put down because they are uninspiring in terms of structure. There are already many good experimental post-rock bands out there like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I don't see a reason why Mono should try something different if they're good at what they do.

Have to admit though, they can only go so far before the album starts to become a little bland. None of the other tracks really seem to top Ashes in the Snow. They're usually not powerful enough, or just not very memorable. Pure as Snow is a good attempt, but it's not quite there. The tracks are good for sure, but I could listen to something else. Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain isn't as bland, though it does feel a little slow at points. That album had many standout tracks, however. They are tracks that I will come back and listen to again and again. Hymn to the Immortal Wind doesn't quite have them. It is a problem with albums that are supposedly "generic", though. There are almost always albums that are better, and the weaker albums end up being replaced.

Better than You Are There for sure. This album is far more interesting and engaging. Nowhere as good as Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain, but I think that's a spectacle they will never top. This is a great album however, there is no denying that. The sounds are beautiful and create quite the atmosphere. I just think there's a lot more to be desired in this. They're not cathartic enough. There are a couple of moments in the album which really shine, but they're so brief. The last 3 minutes of The Battle To Heaven feel like a punch to the chest, for example. The rest of the album just feels outmatched by other post-rock acts. Ah well, there will be flaws in every album. That's what makes every album different, I suppose. Hymn to the Immortal Wind is a good album. If you want to start on post-rock, this is one of the best to start with. If you're more experienced with post-rock, you wouldn't find this too spectacular. But if you're into pretty atmospheres, by all means go for it. This album might very well be one of your favourite albums.

In short I just really like Ashes in the Snow. There should more tracks like that, I'm a little disappointed that there aren't any other tracks that are similar.

Album Highlights: Ashes in the Snow, Pure as Snow (Trails of the Winter Storm)
Track Average Rating: 3.64/5
Overall Rating: 7/10
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Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver.1.28 by Ground Zero (recommended by noname219)
*checks genres on RYM*
...Oh dear.

Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver.1.28 is a sound collage/musique concrete album. Never listened to any sound collage album, nor have I listened to musique concrete. At least, not for long periods of time. I'm not quite sure what this album is about - but I know what a Peking opera is. It's essentially traditional Chinese theatre, usually complemented with dance and acrobatics.

The first track is your typical Peking opera, just repeated over and over. It progresses to form a more chaotic wall of noise. More and more layers of operas are added to the mix and it just doesn't stop building. It keeps building up more and more to the point that it's hard to tell what's going on. Unfortunately it doesn't quite hold my attention - there's not really much that interest me here. Too much going on. It's not really unpleasant sounding, just not interesting. It's noisy for the sake of being noisy. I'm not too sure how I could approach this album, however. I most certainly cannot approach this like how I approach something like ambient.

I think by the time I've reached the third track I've realised that this isn't a serious album. Ground Zero is obviously having fun while doing this. The sound is insane and extremely playful. Elements of free/avant-garde jazz and noise, all embedded into this mish-mash of sounds. I don't think I can really talk about these tracks - I'd be understating its insanity. This is a ridiculous album, to say the least.

Just not the type of insane that I want. It feels far too goofy. I do want to hear something interesting in this wall of noise. It just feels very lackluster - although it's so noisy. These layers of noise aren't always unpleasant, but they're incoherent. They're too random and experimental to really form any cohesive experience. The sounds are quite interest for a few seconds, then it just gets bland. Some of them eventually become grating to hear - I could feel my stomach ache or something in one of the tracks. Really not a good sign when that happens.

Paraiso 1 is one of the better tracks here. It is also the least experimental. It's quite pleasant, with the busy but soothing sounds of instruments. There's a female voice which looms every now and then, but not that bad. It's very melodic in its approach - almost feels like post-rock. That is, up to the latter half. It goes back to avant-garde material after that. The latter half of Paraiso 1 is harsh noise, but it's a lo-fi recording. Kinda nice to listen to, actually. Might be because the recording isn't as grating as some of the other samples so far.

But the rest of the album... not for me. Too free-spirited and playful for me. The jazzy parts are nice, but they only sound pretty. Either that, or they get covered by more incoherent sampling. I don't really feel anything from the album either - so there's no cathartic value there. The album is just too silly to enjoy. It is an interesting album though, but it feels so unfocused to be enjoyable. It's not really as intimidating as what the genres say though. It's far more accessible than many other experimental albums.

Grand Pink Junction Ballad might very well be one of the most hilarious tracks ever made though. I couldn't stop laughing at the screaming samples.

Album Highlights: Paraiso 1, Grand Pink Junction Ballad
Track Average Rating: 2.22/5
Overall Rating: 4/10
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That's all for this month. Tallying up ratings and all now.

In order of how much I enjoyed the albums this month:

1. Gas - Pop - 8.0
2. A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Winged Victory For The Sullen - 8.0
3. Aidan Baker & Tim Hecker - Fantasma Parastasie - 7.5
4. Harmonium - Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison - 7.5
5. The Flashbulb - Solar One - 7.5
6. Fennesz - Black Sea - 7.5
7. Celer - Engaged Touches - 7.5
8. The Flashbulb - Nothing Is Real - 7.0
9. Eluvium - Copia - 7.0
10. Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind - 7.0
11. Loscil - Plume - 7.0
12. Karkwa - Le volume du vent - 7.0
13. Various Artists - Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center: 1961-1973 - 7.0
14. Les Cowboys Fringants - La grand-messe - 7.0
15. Shiina Ringo - 加爾基 精液 栗ノ花 - 7.0
16. Damu the Fudgemunk - How It Should Sound Volume 1 and 2 - 7.0
17. William Basinski - Variation for Piano and Tape - 7.0
18. Utabi - Manchurian Candy - 6.5
19. Ametsub - The Nothings of the North - 6.5
20. My Dead Girlfriend - Underdrawing For Three Forms Of Unhappiness At The State of Existence - 6.0
21. Utada Hikaru - Deep River - 6.0
22. Venetian Snares - The Chocolate Wheelchair Album - 6.0
23. Squarepusher - Hard Normal Daddy - 6.0
24. Hiroyuki Oda - Revive EP - 6.0
25. Hiroyuki Sawano - Ao no Exorcist Original Soundtrack 1 - 6.0
26. Asuna - Flowers - 6.0
27. Alias Conrad Coldwood - OFF Original Soundtrack - 6.0
28. Bohren & der Club of Gore - Black Earth - 6.0
29. Burzum - Hvis lyset tar oss - 6.0
30. Speaker Gain Teardrop - Particle Protocol - 6.0
31. Capsule - More! More! More! - 6.0
32. Sleep - Dopesmoker - 6.0
33. Seven Lions - Polarize EP - 5.5
34. Ryuichi Sakamoto - 1996 - 5.5
35. The Unguided - Hell Frost - 5.5
36. Kollegah - Kollegah - 5.0
37. Seirom - 1973 - 5.0
38. EUS - Tras el horizonte - 5.0
39. Delain - April Rain - 5.0
40. Serph - Heartstrings - 5.0
41. Med Lin - I am a terrible man. - 5.0
42. 65dayofstatic - Wild Light - 5.0
43. Various Artists - Up - 5.0
44. Lowercase Noises - Blake - 5.0
45. Noveller - Red Rainbows - 5.0
46. Clark - Body Riddle - 4.5
47. Venetian Snares - My Love Is A Bulldozer - 4.5
48. Tiny Tim - God Bless Tiny Tim - 4.0
49. Blood Stain Child - Silence of Northern Hell - 4.0
50. Reizoko Cj - Dark Side - 4.0
51. Decrepit Birth - Diminishing Between Worlds - 4.0
52. Young Galaxy - Ultramarine - 4.0
53. Ground Zero - Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver.1.28 - 4.0
54. Eyeliner - LARP of Luxury - 3.5
55. Boston - Boston - 3.0
56. LegitMusicProducer - Legit Christmas - 2.0
57. Lil B - Rain in England - 2.0

Average rating: 5.76/10

Best albums recommended:
- Fennesz - Black Sea
- Karkwa - Le volume du vent
- Various Artists - Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center: 1961-1973

308 albums to go. I'll slow down for a bit for the next few weeks because I have examinations to prepare for. I have lots of time to finish this, though. Well over 210 days to go...

[choof]

ooh that pekinese album sounds interesting

[r]

Oh if you do my recommendation the album comes with translations to english, korean, chinese, etc. Also some nice music videos. You should listen to them for the stories. Change things up a bit :P

Two of the songs whenever you do them :P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAZzLZbwRTE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJrofmDpTXs

[t-rogdor]

oh also cLOUDDEAD's self titled album
it's esoteric and airy and good as hell

[EzExZeRo7497]

June 1st, 2014
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YT // ST by YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN (recommended by ninjaKIWI)
Psychedelic rock/progressive rock aren't genres that I venture often. It feels like you're on a mountain, and Raccoon Song is just the beginning of what's yet to come. The entire album is quite surreal and dark. Normally I'd be slightly anxious, but this album isn't quite something to be intimidated by. The sound is large for sure, but it's a bit comforting. Not in an ambient sense - I'm not quite sure how to explain that. Psychedelic sense, I suppose?

Very unique. Yt // St combines progressive rock, psychedelia and some oriental elements to create this sound. A sound that I can describe as different. Surprisingly enough, they create a very coherent experience. Oak of Guernica for example, combines dream pop and progressive rock. It sounds quite pretty - but it's a little too short-lived. It's slightly under three minutes long, I'd want that to be longer. It feels as if the idea hasn't quite nurtured yet. In addition, I haven't really heard anything like it.

Even the pictures I get from this album are hard to describe. The landscapes are in some inversely-coloured landscape, similar to the album cover. It's really odd, not many albums do that. The movements are very aggressive, far harder than any prog-rock or psychedelic rock album I've listened to. Honestly just labelling the album as mainly progressive rock or psychedelic rock would be absolutely ridiculous. This album shouldn't have an arbitrary genre tag on it. It's too different from their influences.

The instrumentation in almost of these tracks are top-notch. I am a sucker for distorted guitars, and this album has a lot of that. Drumming is insane, especially in the latter half of Reverse Crystal // Murder of a Spider. It's large, it's ominous, it almost feels like thunder. The latter half of the track just feels like one huge thunderstorm. It's a beautiful sight - but at the same time it's so odd.

The album is short, 31 minutes long. There is a considerable amount of variation here, though. You have progressive rock, psychedelic rock and stoner rock in the first four tracks alone. The fifth track is predominantly J-pop - but it's not like Shiina Ringo or Utada Hikaru. The heavy instrumentation would make those comparisons invalid. While not my cup of tea, it's an interesting track. Actually, I can probably say the same for all of these tracks. They are all interesting in their own ways - and that's what makes this album so unique.

Incredible combination of many genres that I'm very unfamiliar with. What really makes this album stand out is that it's very unique. At the same time, it is also the same reason why I don't enjoy it as much as I really should. It is a very odd sound - one that I am completely inexperienced with. It doesn't click with me as well as something like shoegaze. This album seems like something that would grow onto you, albeit very slowly. It's a little too much for me to like at the moment. It doesn't really faze me, but that's probably because I haven't let it sink in yet. It's a very interesting sound though - I just haven't reached that familiar ground. Maybe I'll get to this album some other time. I still think it's a decent album as it is. Some of these tracks are quite nice to listen to, despite the harshness.

Album Highlights: Crystal Fortress Over The Sea of Trees
Track Average Rating: 3.14/5
Overall Rating: 6/10
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sHimaU / Goreshit / Sub-69 Split by Various Artists
There are a couple of albums that are in my music player that I want to clear up, that's not in my backlog. This is one of them. This album is a compilation of tracks by three artists - namely sHimaU, goreshit and Sub-69. Not too familiar with sHimaU and Sub-69, but I think most people here know goreshit. Reactions to his music here are quite mixed - but I think he's alright. Not the worst, but most certainly not that great. I haven't listened to his lolicore works recently, though.

I'm going to talk about goreshit's contribution to the album first. Twintail Tsundere is a hard hitting speedcore track, with loli samples. Lolicore, essentially. Not very good, it's a little similar to Daddy Can Change. Thankfully, it's quite short. It's not unpleasant to listen to though, just very unimpressive. There's a couple of better speedcore tracks to listen to.
Toromi Hearts 2, however, is really good. It's very catchy for the most part, far more melodic than most of the tracks here. The last minute or so is a little unnecessary, but it's not that bad. I could listen to it, it's a good closer to the track. Exxxcaliborg is similar to Twintail Tsundere - another short hard-hitting track. Not too quite fond of that, but the sample used in Exxxcaliborg.error is funnier, so it's better. The last track is happy hardcore which is really uninteresting and bland.

sHimaU is most known for his brutality in tracks more than anything. His contribution to this album shows it. Take Me Grandpa is very noisy and honestly really enjoyable. The main problem are the loli samples though - I don't really see a reason why it should be there. There's really nothing more unfitting than what he used for this. Loli Curse is alright, but it gets a bit too noisy. The track honestly would've been much nicer if it was generally the first minute. Or at least, some subtle breaks instead of something so hard-hitting. The sound is generally good, but not what I hoped. Crash My Pinches is good, but nothing spectacular. Other tracks aren't really worth talking about.

Sub-69's contributions are generally uninteresting. There's too much emphasis on the lolicore sampling, but not enough on the actual harshness. It's not aggressive enough, I expected something much harder. Just having hard bass isn't quite enough, especially for something like breakcore or speedcore. The samples are okay though, HxTxF has samples of Happy Tree Friends which is a little funny.

Not very impressed, also a very replaceable album. Toromi Hearts 2 is really the only track that you should come back for. The rest are uninteresting overall. Most of these lolicore tracks have already been outdone by other artists. Namely Reizoko Cj, goreshit and odaxelagnia. There's usually too much emphasis on the sampling component, rather than the actual sound. These breakcore tracks are usually uninteresting and uninspired. There's usually one component in good breakcore that stands out. Xanopticon has ridiculous structures, Dev/Null has insane sounds, clonepa combines jazz and breakcore in a brilliant manner... I could go on. Nothing stands out here. Loli sampling can only go so far. If anything you'd probably get arrested for accusatory child molestation.

(Not saying that lolicore is for pedophiles, nor does it encourage pedophilia though. That's just stupid.)

Album Highlights: Toromi Hearts 2
Track Average Rating: 2.44/5
Overall Rating: 4/10

[L.B.D.D]

wtf who recommended shimau and goreshit

fujiyama gangsta breaks is one of shimau's best stuff and it's not on the split

qq

[EzExZeRo7497]

No one recommended sHimaU - I just picked it on my own will. I just review some albums that I have in my music player sometimes.

[Coolboyrulez0]

CBR - i'm done trying

anything over a 2 rating would be retarded

[EzExZeRo7497]

Originally Posted by Coolboyrulez0

CBR - i'm done trying

anything over a 2 rating would be retarded

l m f a o

Now We Know Why Aliens Are Afraid of Visiting Planet Earth is actually not bad for mashcore (dancecore?) standards, the rest range from bad to okay. I can't give it anything below a 2 (out of 10), I really don't hate it that much. It's so silly though lmao. Maybe a generous 3.5 or something for almost trying.

[Coolboyrulez0]

on a more serious note here are some more i'd like your opinion on, really like most reviews so far.

Machinedrum - Room(s)
xi - Agartha
Benefit of the boomerang - Many strings attached
Vorpal - ~The End
clonepa (vs umio & miii) - the goat god's city cousins

[EzExZeRo7497]

Added the first four albums. You exceeded your shortlist limit though, would you like to swap Many Strings Attached or The End with any other album?

As for The Goat God's City Cousins, it's solid for the most part. 40 Dozen Dead Birds and its remixes are top-notch. Miii's tracks are great, Umio's tracks are decent. Clonepa is good, of course, but he has done better. I'd probably give that a 7/10, Libera Me De Mort Aeterna, Courroux and Pasdedeux are better albums.

[Coolboyrulez0]

take out kollegah and drink the sea since thats a dupe. if something still needs removal, take out last step.