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khaos

By khaos
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Slayer - Hell Awaits, 1985   Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion, 1985  

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Immolation - Acts of God (2022) Number eight on my end of year list that if I am being honest, the boredom of being unable to do much of anything with COVID has led me to do an end of y

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6 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

Thy Darkened Shade - Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya (2023)

 

 

Really liked this album last year. It wields the same kind of dramatic gravity that so many symphonic black metal bands try for without the "symphonic" elements. Keyboards imitating strings and especially brass is almost always going to set you back a little bit just because of the different inflections the instruments it's mimicking are capable of. This has that same kind of energy without the use of symphonic elements, but through careful arrangement and allowing each instrument to do what it does best. Good choice all around.

3 hours ago, Yannis said:

Macbeth - Vanitas

 

I hate to be 'that guy', but what does any of this have to do with Macbeth? I know it's their band name and not all of their work needs a direct dramatic connection to the play, but even taking that into account it's still a long way off from invoking the feeling and themes of one of the greatest pieces of fiction in the entire English language. I might be more open to this sort of thing if they were a little more aware of their clear limitations inborn into this style and skill level. There's an over-the-top excessive element to most metal that they're probably going for, but in choosing Macbeth they really just shoot themselves in the foot by drawing highly unfavorable comparisons. It's like seeing Rolland Emerich direct a film adaptation of Paradise Lost.

Also I really dislike the growled/spoken word double tracking here. Yes, there is a percussive element to even spoken word passages, but when paired up with the growls it comes off as forced, and sort of clumsily staggering all over the place instead of operating naturally as speech. That's kind of a minor complaint I guess since these guys are by no means the only band to make this mistake.

I guess that all sounded sort of harsh. Just don't invoke Macbeth and you'll likely be judged by a more fair standard. That's the real lesson here.

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