Friday, 30 March 2012

Let's Listen to: Chthonic - Takasago Army

I bought this album earlier today, and I thought it would be cool rather than just listen to it and write a rambling review that goes nowhere, I'll play it through and give my thoughts on it as it goes on.Of course you'd all love to see my well-reasoned, clearly thought out points about the album in the style of which you know me for, but mixing it up is always fun. I don't know any songs on this, so consider it a blind run. (deaf run?) But without further ado, Takasago Army people!
But first, the cover sleeve. The first thing I saw on the bus home. Alongside the lyrics it gives you a brief history lesson on the actual Takasago army that served under Japan during WWII. Reading this just makes me realise how Chthonic's stance on Taiwanese independence has allowed them to really break out across the Metal World. But enough stuff not about the music, here's the music!
The Island: Starts off with some distant-sounding flute, like it's up in the mountains. The synths are playing your typical tension-building malarkey with incredibly fake orchestral samples, but the chord pattern works well. Ah, now we're getting the Erhu in on this, another of Chthonic's most notable quirks. So, I guess that was a cinematic-style opener, and nothing more.
Legacy of the Seediq: ...And as expected, we're treated to low-end guitars, double bass pounding and the distinctly Taiwan melodies. The vocals start off all guttural, which isn't what I expect for this essentially Black Metal band, but they get into the higher range soon enough, and it sounds piercing and evil. Now we've got a chug-a-lug breakdown, something I feel I should hate more than I do, but their unique instruments keep it interesting enough, and the vocals are interesting while not being completely unintelligible. For an album's opener, I was expecting something faster and more blistering, but you have to wait until about 3 minutes for it to really ramp up with dense chords, manic drumming and DAT ERHU. ALL THE TIME. Another breakdown here, but it's got some nice tom beats fleshing it out. In summary, a fairly mid-paced song that opens the album nicely, but I've yet to see if this feel will be sustained throughout. If my other Chthonic album, Mirror of Retribution, is anything to go by I'll be expecting plenty more cinematic elements, loads of ridiculously high-pitched shrieking and cool fast parts to really get a crowd going.
Takao: If I recall correctly, this is the single off this album. I'm only guessing though, and not beothering to check. About 50 seconds in we really start hearing melody for the first time here on the guitars, and they work well in unison with the keyboard and erhu. There's a fairly hardcore-sounding moment at 1:30 with only drums and Ling shouting in his lower register. The chorus now, and it sounds like there's clean vocals under all the screaming! Then again, with the traditional instruments worked in so well, I wouldn't expect them to put on something that wouldn't work as a beautiful contrast. Okay, now there's some Taiwanese lyrics clean sung, and give off some Tyr/ Ensiferum vibes from me. Pretty sudden ending, but that's fine. A catchy, punchy song like this needs a succinct ending to avoid it meandering.
Oceanquake: Quick drum fill, and we're into vocals that sound even less like their black metal roots, and something you'd hear from some London HxC band tearing up the Underworld. Don't worry, as we're back into the shrieking and scratchy guitars soon enough. It seems for this album they've tried working in other sounds, but only briefly as they return to their core sound that has served them so well. There's a really cool tempo change at 2:10 when we get some epic horns coming from the synths and a pounding rhythm from the other instruments while we get some crowd-raising chanting, then the first guitar solo. Nothing special, works well as counterpoint to the riffs and has some nice licks, but all over a bit too soon. Another rush to the finish, and we're into the next song.
Southern Cross: For some reason, I had the bizarre urge to listen to a bit of Hatsune Miku before starting this song. Odd. We've got an intro similar to the album's opener, with atmospheric flute, but instead of orchestra, we've got a really groovy number, with a triplet pattern in the guitars and drums which really gets my head banging, despite my efforts to keep typing my thoughts. This song is really doing it well for me, I have to say. The guitar line dances across the finger board, the drums are precise and battering and the vocals make me wnat to join the ranks of the eponymous soldiers. The chorus has really clear words, making it very easy to sing along to. The guitar solo is much longer than on the last song, and really allows the guitarist to explore ideas, even with a harmony part that feels lifted out of a Dragonforce piece. This is easily my favourite song so far as it doesn't resort to one-note breakdowns or delegating the melody only to the erhu, giving other parts a chance to shine.
Kaoru: The intro sounds like souls creeping towards you in the misty mountain caves, before pumelling you with the drums beating down like a hailstorm. This is easily the heaviest song so far, with plenty of chug and blast-beats. Something I just noticed I'm missing on this album: The bass. I'm trying to pick it out in this song, and I can barely hear it, and even then it's just doubling up the guitar part or droning the root note. At 2:20 we get a brief moment of respite, before relaunching the assualt with some blistering fills and superb licks. We've got some more clean vocals which, according to the booklet, say were taken from an old Taiwanese song from the 40's, and they've worked it in well. I'm guessing when they recorded the vocals around the 4:00 mark, the singer was getting pretty tired as they sound more torturous than ever, but how he manages the harsh contrast between high and low growls really is a sight to behold, as well as some creepy whispered lines near the end.
Broken Jade: This song doesn't feel like it's going to be a super-fast number. Still, no problem with that. After the beating I got from Kaoru I need a moment of respite. This doesn't mean it doesn't sacrifice their sound either, as we've got the lovely Taiwanese melodies layered on top of each other as the vocals soar above the mix. During this song's breakdown we hear some plucked strings, possibly from a violin, but they serve the same purpose as the erhu has done earlier in the album, albeit far more percussive. It's at this point in the story that the titular army begin to suffer, and the second half of the song we see that reflected in the music. Somehow it feels even more minor and oppressive. Maybe that's my ears tiring though. But you can't deny the crushing attack of the line "We're coming for you all!" A devastating guitar slide, and we have an instrumental interlude while a radio broadcast from the war plays over the song, but eventually the vocals overpower it, a striking metaphor for the fighting spirit of the Takasago (If I ever say something that pretentious again, then God help me as I pry my eyes from my sockets.) It turns out I was wrong about this being slower though. But I would expect some tempo change in a 5-minute song.
Root Regeneration: Hmm, another minute-or-so interlude. More flute which I'm now familiar with, and some soothing water sound effects in the background. Come on guys! I would expect to hear this on album to put you to sleep! But wait, now we've got some ominous voice reading something in a language I can't understand. In trying to keep my typing speed up with this album, I can't check what he's saying. Never mind, next song.
Mahakala: Whoah. This song is black metal up your corpsepainted arse! Plenty of tremolo, oodles of blasting and epic screams. I can imagine just how this song would be used live to suddenly jump into after the previous song ends.I'm really feeling the groove on the track, and I think that intro pulling me right in my the scruff of my neck plays a big part in that. There's a really cool riff that sounds a more evil '80s Metallica (or any thrash band, really) about 2:40 in, and I'm resisting the urge heavily to headbang till my neck goes sore at it! While this song isn't necessarily bad, I can't really think of much to write about without feeling like repeating myself even more.
Quell the Souls in Sing Ling Temple: The final chapter in the story of the Takasago army has a suitably epic climax, fighting the Chinese army outnumbered by the thousands, fighting to the very last man in a grand act of defiance.. If Chthonic fail to match how incredibly metal that sounds, I'll be extremely disappointed. So let's press play and see what happens...

EVERYTHING WENT AS WELL AS EXPECTED! The drums are loaded with wonderful fills, the vocals are borderline painful to listen to, and the incredibly layered sound really pounds at your eardrums in the best possible way. This is closer to an "elephant marching" riff than anything else here, and while It's not much like that Gojira sound really, I can't think if anything else to call it. The guitar solo is decent enough, but doesn't do anything he hasn't done earlier on the album. And now we've got a calm in the storm with that percussive string instrument and erhu, before launching into a triumphant riff that reminds me of the finest power metal. Ling is really giving it his all here, before handing it over for a final guitar solo and a mad dash to the finish line, drums keeping it driving forward all they way. Here you can really feel the heart and soul of the band working together to create the sensation of being launched in your seat towards glory, and it makes me feel epic!

I will always like an album more on a second and third listen, no matter what genre so to have so many good first impressions is a clear sign that this is a worthy entry into Chthonic's discography. Nothing is particularly overused, the musicians all showcase their abilities superbly and the songwriting is sharp and fierce, fitting in excellently with a striking tale of the Taiwanese ideal fighting against oppression from Japan.
Just as a heads-up, I'll be going to Bloodstock this year where Chthonic are playing, so come find me! Buy me a beer and we'll chat!
...Please buy me a beer, I won't be 18 until November.

Thursday, 29 March 2012

Cannibal Corpse - Torture

So it seems I'm going back in time, at least to the beginning of the year.
Also I'm on holiday as of tomorrow so that "Every Day" bit is actually going to start applying. This review will be shorter, as so many of you people pointed out to me that Koloss was quite rambling and didn't talk about the album too much.
So Cannibal Corpse. Most important Death Metal band still going. They have a legacy a mile wide of obscene lyrics, incredibly graphic cover art and visceral songwriting. The first thing that you notice with Torture though is the cover art. After the ho-hum cover of Evisceration Plague and the pointless one for Kill, it's so nice to see one of their albums to carry on the tradition set by covers like Tomb of the Mutilated, Butchered at Birth and the Wretched Spawn. Once you remove the cover slip designed to protect the little kiddie's minds as they look through HMV's metal section for Black Veil Brides, you can notice:
  • Some poor fella's face peeled from the skull with the greatest "Oh shit." expression on his face I've ever seen.
  •  A woman who's had some sort of foetus reinserted into her womb.
  • A rat nestling inside someone's exposed intestines.
  • That all these poor souls have been strung up on barbed wire. Imagine that for a second, hanging by your wrists with barbed wire.

OH SHIT indeed, my friend.
As a little experiment on the side, now imagine a thin wire, glowing red-hot being slowly pushed down your penis-hole. SLOWLY. Funny how you can recall the sense of pain so well, isn't it?
Either way, the artwork is wonderfully brutal and accurately sets the tone for the aural assault that you're about to subject yourself to. As ever, the boys don't fuck around with getting the album going, so they open with a double salvo of "Demented Aggression" and "Sarcophagic Fury", featuring a relentless, full-on battering from the battery of Paul Mazurkiewicz, a feat seemingly impossible at his age. Then you've got the guitars and bass that you've come to expect from a Cannibal Corpse record: Really fucking fast, fingers dancing on the fretboard and sounding like a rusty chainsaw while they're at it. Then they pull a curveball. Simply put, "Scourge of Iron" is slow as cricket matches. If I were to draw a comparison with a song from a previous album, I would compare it to the title track of their previous effort, Evisceration Plague. But unlike that song, this song is astounding. How Cannibal Corpse, one of the most intense bands outside of Grindcore, manage to put in a song this slow and nail it? A Remarkable achievement, and real credit to Eric Rutan for overseeing this album, as he's found a place for everything in the mix wonderfully whilst getting the best sound out of Rob and Pat's instruments.
Of course when I said earlier that the band are known for their obscene lyrics, the only people who still hold that opinion are those who know the name in passing. With the departure of Chris Barnes, so went the ridiculously over-the-top content. We all know now that there's not going to be another "Necropedophile" or "Meat Hook Sodomy", but I believe the lyrics are better now, the vocals included. Say what you want about the raw appeal of Barnes' super gutturality but the Corpsegrinder just has considerably more clarity in his voice, a greater range and a far stronger stage presence. This comes flying out at you in full force (save for the live performance bit) on Torture, as every line has been rehearsed, tried and retried until it fits best with the music and is as sonically clear as possible, much to the album's credit. This is no longer the young Cannibal Corpse with minimal production and sloppy performances, this is a tightly-oiled engine with complex time signatures, blistering solos and a charismatic frontman leading them all!
The rest of the album though, does not seem to manage the same level of intense assault that you get in the first 2 tracks. Maybe it was just my fatigue, in which case I MUST GROW STRONGER, they all kind of slip by. Past "Encased in Concrete", I can't recall any guitar lines or any lyrics bar the song title, save for one moment. The absolute pinnacle of the album comes on the 8th track, "The Strangulation Chair" where about 2 minutes in you hear an unbelievable bass solo straight from hell. I've always admired Alex Webster, and to hear such a perfect showcase of his talent is marvellous.
But even with the songs kinda falling into a routine, I still have to marvel at the songwriting on this throughout. Torture has some of the most complex riffs, solos and counterpoint between instruments I've seen from Cannibal Corpse ever, and they still manage to keep the songs razor-sharp and incredibly tight! From a musician's standing (ie MY stand point) this is a wonderful example of how to write Death Metal. It makes you bang your head, run into other people, marvel at the dizzying complexity and eat babies. So yeah, buy that!

Friday, 23 March 2012

MESHUGGAH- KOLOSS

So there's this blog thing. I've been meaning to start one up for a while, and today I figured I could get started. This is because one of my absolute favourite bands are currently streaming their new release online. Assuming you're the kind of person who prefers to read titles before articles, you should have noticed this album is by Meshuggah, second only in my eyes to the mighty prog giants that are Dream Theater, but more on that at a later date.
I was first introduced to Meshuggah by "that metal kid". You know who it is, the guy who stubbornly refuses to conform to the point of pointlessness and takes every opportunity to remind of the greatest genre of music. Since I agree with him on that front, I'm good friends with "that metal kid" and I'm actually seeing Meshuggah with him on 20/4 in London. He played me their most famous song, Bleed and I was taken aback by how different it sounded. He'd previously introduced me to bands such as Amon Amarth, Children of Bodom and Ensiferum (3 bands who would later appear on the same bill on one unforgettable night) but all those bands combine heaviness with a clear sense of melody and strong, hooky riffs. This song seemed to eschew all that, but not in the Mathcore sense of extreme dissonance and high-energy chaos.Bleed instead felt as though all the emphasis had been put on rhythm. Everything from the drums to the guitars to even the vocals had the sense that they don't need arpeggiated runs to improve the song, only this insanely groovy pulse that had a seemingly impossible drum beat underneath.
So I was hooked Meshuggah's sound, their songwriting and their technical ability from that point onward, but now I feel that I should start talking about the album in the bloody title. Koloss is the band's 7th full-length release in 20 years and 4 years after their previous opus, ObZen, and with every album they've tried to evolve their sound into something fresh, and for the most part this has worked well. But with Koloss I can't really tell what the great evolution is. I can clearly point out the stylistic differences between Nothing's complete focus on poly-rhythms and Catch-33's focus on one continuous composition, moving through and developing musical motifs. But when you take ObZen and place it against the new opus, I can't tell you that any songs would sound out of place if you switched the track listing around. Not that I have a problem with that; I will always be in the mood for an AC/DC or Manowar binge, but Meshuggah hold a special place in the metal scene as constant innovators, pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an extreme band in the modern world. Unfortunately this unique pedestal they've been placed on has meant an entire scene of copy-cats and lazy musicians has built up around them, almost causing them to be swallowed up in the process. If you take a look at Got-Djent's ranking of band popularity, Meshuggah are only 3rd, with acts like TesseracT and Born of Osiris ready to overtake. This is like seeing a list of Thrash bands with Anthrax and Sodom placed above Slayer! Furthermore these young upstarts (I say unironically at the grand old age of 17) have been integrating many more elements into the core Meshuggah frame such as Deathcore. To many new listeners who've been introduced to the more teen-friendly appeal of, say, Veil of Maya, they may find Koloss actually stripped back to the point of redundancy. "Where's a clean chorus?" "Hey, you want to get off the bottom string, Frederik?" I can anticipate these kids saying, to which I will reply with a punch to the face in the shape of I am Colossus!
Yes, for all its lack of a clear path forward for the band and the apparent ability to ignore the entire Djent scene that's built around it, I still think this Album easily stands up with their finest output. As I felt with the recent Cannibal Corpse record, Torture, Meshuggah don't seem to have truly evolved, merely pouring all their effort into tight, concise songwriting (Something I clearly need to look at with regards to my review writing!)  The riffs across the board are brimming with the infectious groove that Meshuggah have defined themselves on since the turn of the century, whilst still maintaining that 4/4 beat in the hi-hat that avoids the problem other progressive acts like Animals as Leaders and Protest the Hero have, where no matter how heavy it is, the odd time signatures are impossible to headbang to! To contrast this, there seems to be a growing emphasis on simpler songs without all the poly-rhythmic head-fuckery. It started with ObZen's all-out thrash opener, Combustion, and it seems to continue into this album with Swarm, but it feels less like the barn-stormer its spiritual predecessor was.
In fact, the whole album is much slower than ObZen. It feels like they've taken the tempo of Nothing, the melodies of Catch-33 and the intensity of ObZen and fused them together in this unholy concoction, and it works very well. I read elsewhere that this could be the album to get stoned to this year, but having never tried such substances I can't hold any authority on that topic. But I can tell you it will inspire the legion of drummer's a Tomas Haake's feet to play ever more complex beats, the poets among you will revel in the deep metaphors crushed by Jens Kidman's inhuman vocal performance but most importantly Koloss has the pounding, thick textures that make you want to bang your head and cause harm to something.

I will defend Meshuggah to the ends of the Earth, but I think that Koloss deserves all the praise you will hear from it. Buy the album, go see them live (either with Animals as Leaders in the UK or with Decapitated in the US) and be prepared to have your head smashed in by the pummeling groove monster that is Meshuggah!