2009年 Apr 23日 Thursday, 7:18

Song of the Day - 21st of April 2009:

Morbid Angel - Visions from the Darkside from Altars of Madness

Those who don't frequent death metal don't realise the intense variety of style, composition and sound that exists within the genre. Great things have been done with death; it has been taken in many directions, and many more opportunities for development still exist. However, as far as the classic dm sound goes, no-one really ever beat Altars of Madness, not even Morbid Angel themselves (although their following albums were also brilliant and brought some new elements into the mix). It would be hard to find a song that isn't insanely awesome on this album, but 'Visions from the Darkside' is by far my favourite. It represents everything that old-school death should be - excellently dark, but not too serious lyrics, ballistic fun trash riffs, relentless drumming, and hellish solos.

Song of the Day - 22nd of April 2009:

The Faceless - Leica from Akeldama

The faceless are a tech-death type band, with a little bit of core influence. However, their approach to melody is unique and makes them stand out in comparison to some other similar bands that just get a little tiring. It would be hard to explain exactly why, but perhaps its because they don't try to be Gorguts mark XXVII by jamming as many insanely dissonant intervals and syncopated rhythms as possible, instead deciding to focus on a particular melodic style/theme to each composition and then building the flashy technicality around that. 'Leica' itself is probably one of the more flashy tracks on the album, but it is still well structured, and the fact that they achieve this much technicality while still keeping the song under control is what makes it stand out. Also, there is the tightest little kick drum accelerando motif in the bridge, which is something to absolutely marvel at.

Song(s) of the Day - 23rd of April 2009:

Debauchery - Butcher of Bitches from Back in Blood and Angus & Julia Stone - Here We Go Again from A Book Like This

Well, maybe these seem like fairly contrasting choices for song of the day, but I'm in a mix of moods, so I've been jumbling the heavy with the light. Firstly, 'Butcher of Bitches'. I can't honestly say that this is a particularly good song, because its so simple. But its just ridiculously fun. The riff is like something from AC/DC detuned, slowed down a little and deep fried in distortion. The vocals are not particularly evil, but they're quite bludgeoning, and unlike almost any other death metal song, there is no mistaking, even for the untrained ear, the chorus lyrics: BUTCHER. OF. BIIIT-CHEZ. BUTCHER. OF. BIIIT-CHEZ. BUTCHER. OF. BIIIT-CHEZ. SLAAAAYER OF….. SLUUUUTS!!!! Stupid. Really fucking stupid, but so much fun. Onto 'Here We Go Again'. Angus & Julia Stone are an amazing duo, one of the few players in the Australian acoustic scene that seem to have some stories worth telling and a style that isn't tacky and irritating. My favourite tracks on the album are probably the more obscure ones, like Stranger and Another Day, but today I really enjoyed 'Here We Go Again' - it is just so simple and relaxing, and the instrumentation is great - reminds me of the stuff on their EP's. Julia's voice is beautiful and the lyrics still set a great scene even if they're not quite as emotionally wrought as some of the others on the album.