Addendum to my previous Iced Earth ramblings: while I enjoy the Something Wicked story, I do wish Schaffer would give Set Abominae a break song-wise. He makes an awesome mascot, but we've had three albums straight with Set involved in some fashion (Framing Armageddon and The Crucible of Man were all about him, and two songs from Dystopia continue the story). Honestly, I was fine with the story provided on Something Wicked This Way Comes, expansion wasn't really that necessary since Set's just a mascot, after all. :/
He looks like he'd be a pretty tough Diablo III enemy though.
Anyhoo, re-listening to Ceremony's Tyranny From Above and loving it. It's like the forgotten Sinister album. Furious blasting death metal, kind of like Suffocation and the aforementioned Dutch band but with a lethal dose of melody arising through the carnage.
He sounds more like Matt Barlow and John Greely thrown in a blender to me, but I see where you're coming from. I sort of wish Stu would dip more into his sound from Into Eternity, some occasional death-growls wouldn't sound bad with IE at all.
I'm really sick of harsh vocals being shoehorned into almost every conceivable subgenre of metal.
edited 9th May '12 6:04:10 AM by WoolieWool
Out of Context Theater: Mike K "'Bloody Pussies' cracked me up"Same. I get the feeling that bands assume that if they have harsh vocals in their not so harsh music they're automatically death/black metal or that they're adding extra "heaviness" to the songs when more often than not they sound like pointless add-on's that don't do much aside from stick out awkwardly and make a style lose its flavour.
edited 9th May '12 11:32:01 AM by StillbirthMachine
Only Death Is RealI personally like clean or operatic singing in most cases, and growls that I can actua,ly understand the words to. Those weirdass high-pitched growls are never good, and screaming can only be pulled off by a few people (most of whom are named Bruce Motherfucking Dickinson).
Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-Clean/operatic vocals all the way for me. of course, I'm not a real metal fan so I don't really count :P
Growly/screamy lyrics are a garnish, not a sledgehammer. at least in what I prefer to listen to.
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"Doublepost because Suid Akr A now has a page that needs love.
edited 10th May '12 3:20:31 PM by Exelixi
Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-Mentioning those two bands specifically actually helps me sum up my feelings on low-pitched growls. Renato Gallina is one of my favourite harsh vocalists ever, whereas I find Craig Pillard* really dull. Basically, low-pitched growls are hit and miss for me, and I tend to prefer them when they're a bit more varied.
*
last.fm | RYMI generally prefer clean vocals, though I can get behind Soprano and Gravel combinations.
edited 11th May '12 11:25:03 AM by Balmung
Man, I fucking love Iron Maiden. Throughout their career, many bands have tried to surpass them, but all have failed. They are and always will be the Iron Fucking Maiden, the kings of metal, etc etc etc.
Mura: -flips the bird to veterinary science with one hand and Euclidean geometry with the other-
Except many elements of their sound - the high-pitched operatic vocals, harmonised guitar parts, and fast tempos - were introduced into metal by Judas Priest before Maiden even had a record out.
Priest never had to 'try to surpass Maiden'; it's the other way around. Maiden followed in Priest's footsteps.
edited 11th May '12 4:37:36 PM by MidnightRambler
Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...

Galloping riffs are cool and all but they really lose their charm when they're seemingly the only riffs you know anything about. I like them as much as the next Iron Maiden fan but please I.E., use them in moderation and contrast them with other riff-forms.
I'm pretty okay with the production on Born of the Cauldron; it's supposed to be rough and raw, just like their music and subject matter. It's also a lot more distinctive than the usual spotlessly clean treatment most power metal gets.
I can definitely hear similarities between Manilla Road and Cauldron Born although the two sound very dissimilar to me. Manilla have a heavier 70's influence and weirder, more wandering song structures as well as a more spastic style while Cauldron Born sound more technical and advanced, bearing many more hallmarks of established USPM favourites.
If Manilla Road gets such a page, then Cirith Ungol should too. I could help or rather advise for the former but my actual knowledge of tropes is rather lacking.
Also, general thoughts on Encyclopaedia Metallum? I registered for it yesterday and uploaded my reviews for ''Under The Black Cross'' by the Dutch Pentacle
and ''Thanatopsis'' by Vex
from Texas.
edited 7th May '12 4:19:19 PM by StillbirthMachine
Only Death Is Real