Hmm, didn't like the first song, but I'm really liking the second one. Very creepy, and yet strangely beautiful. The drum work is just great.
The opening of the 3rd track sounds like an epic track from Final Fantasy (That's a good thing by the way.) The vocals are kinda annoying though. I think this one is moving at too slow a pace. Oooo, nice guitar solo. Very atmospheric, a lot of this album sounds like a soundtrack in my opinion. And I really like soundtracks.
Woah, the 4th track. Now this is more like it again! Some great guitar work, very 60's/70's-ish, brilliantly fiddley. The track really becomes brilliant when the other singer comes in to sing in the bridge though.Her voice is great! It's a shame she doesn't sing more throughout the album. I'm having trouble describing what I think this sounds like, this whole album reminds me of something, but I can;t put my finger on it. I was really not expecting this album to be this good...
Gaaaaah, I can't describe the 5th song!!!! This is hard, the album is just so weird. I mean, what's with that keyboard? It's like it's from a different band, like Deep Purple...
And this one sounds like 60's soul music...
This album is frustrating, I'm gonna take a break to listen to Jizz in my Pants
Ok I'm back, just listened to the last few songs, and I'm still confused, this is gonna need more listens. By the way, I didn;t like the last track at all, I felt it was a very weak finale.
edited 27th Feb '11 7:45:58 PM by Drpepperfan
Not many people realize, 50 Cent is half man, half cossack. - Ross NobleI'm sorry, I haven't even listened to the album yet. First there was the forum weirdness, then there was a thunder storm that shut me off from doing anything online. This is the first time I've been able to visit the forum since I last posted. Comments soon.
Video Game Census. Please contribute.I'm gonna try to listen to the album tomorrow.
"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."I was at work or napping earlier today.
It's odd; I'm in the same boat as Zudak, but I feel quite differently about this. At first, the mix of Biblical language and clearly heterodox content made me think this was a bunch of atheists deliberately mocking Christianity. I decided to get more information before I got pissed off, so I google searched and found out about the Process Church. And that actually made it better. Whoever wrote these songs (probably) genuinely believed them, so I can respect the faith even though I disagree with the theology.
That said, this isn't music I'm going to share with my family or friends anytime soon.
edited 28th Feb '11 7:43:13 PM by MetaFour
Everyone seems to be commenting on the subject matters of the songs so far, which is unusual to me as I thought the most noticeable part of this album was the actual music itself, which I was really suprised with. From the name of the band and Metafour's description, I thought I would hate it, but no, I really liked it! I still can;t quite describe i tthough, still needs more listens.
I'm not too affected by the subject and lyrics, as I'm not really interested in religion at all.
Not many people realize, 50 Cent is half man, half cossack. - Ross NobleWell, thanks for linking me to this, Meta Four... I don't think it's creepy, but it is sort of my thing. More intentionally culty stuff like Current93 and AKLO has darker music to go with any lyrics. I'm never good at hearing lyrics, but it seems like fairly normal devotional stuff with some names and/or roles changed. The music's nice, though, darker than I'm used to for gospel, but does it pretty well. All in all, I should lurk this thread more.
Oh, Abaddon's different.
Actually on listening better, I can see how it might be creepy, with the talk of purification and so forth, but it still doesn't bother me.
edited 28th Feb '11 10:59:28 PM by Tzetze
[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.I'm at the first track and I'm liking this. The band has energy and great instrumental skill.
Ok, now, the second track is not that good. Around the middle it's better, but still. The third is similar to the second, with little progress. I can't stand the style and the mood of the fourth, it's annoying.
The fifth track lacks energy, the sixth is a bit better, the seventh is finally interesting and good.
The eighth is slow but OK, and the ninth is a boring finale for the album...
All in all, judging by the first track only, this album should've been much better. It had nice points, but overall I found it mediocre.
"We have done the impossible and that makes us mighty." - Malcolm ReynoldsThere's a bit of a dichotomy to my opinion about this - I like the way it's put together, from a musical standpoint, and it doesn't sound bad at all. But then come the lyrics, and even knowing more about where they come from and the meaning behind it, I can't get into it. This might sound strange, but I think I'd like this a lot more if it was in a language I didn't understand, because it'd just flow into the music and I wouldn't think about it separately.
Okay, might as well pop my thoughts up now that there's some good discussion going on.
Obviously, with an album that chooses its subject matter like this one, that's always going to be a contentious point - some people are going to like it and some people are going to dislike it, and some people probably aren't going to be all that bothered about it at all. But what I really like about this album is the atmosphere of the thing - and while the lyrics go a little way towards contributing to it, you could change them and I think the album would retain that. To me, the album has a very '60s feel to it, as well as a gospel edge - the instruments contribute to that and Jex Thoth's vocals (which are utterly fantastic, by the way) are perfect with their sound too. But it has a sort of dark, humid air to it as well - to me, it sounds like the darker side of the '60s. It points more towards the fact that some of the people taking lots of drugs during that time were doing some very, very strange things, rather than the whole 'flower power' view of the decade. I like that about this album. I also like that the instrumentation is so well done – the faintly jazzy gospel drums, the sound of the electric guitars, often sitting in the background and letting the vocals take the lead, and the gorgeous, lush vocal arrangements themselves, which have some brilliant harmonies and a few melodies that really stick in your head. But the music always has a slightly menacing edge to it, something darker just behind everything – it's even there on the upbeat tracks, like Glory Hallelujah – and the Lyrical Dissonance only serves to bring that further forward. Personally, I love it.
I will actually agree with most people in saying that In the Time of Abaddon was a very weak ending to the album. But I have to say just about every other song on the album is very well done, whether they’re rocking out a bit on the first track, being all moody (like on Hymn of Consecration, the highlight of the album for me) or sounding a bit more like standard gospel rock – The Saints Shall Inherit the Earth being the standout of those tracks for me. I'll finish up by saying yes, the subject matter and the style of the album makes it a bit of a strange one. But they managed to pull off the lyrics with a musical style that really does fit with them. It grew on me a lot, maybe it'll do so for you too.
edited 1st Mar '11 9:23:41 AM by SunshineWerewolf
I've got a lot of stuff going on right now so I may be a bit slow with by review of this one.
Quick thoughts: I really like this album. It manages to be subtly psychedelic, something very few bands can pull off, and it's a great historical document.
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.Sunshine, this album makes me think you'd like Woven Hand and Sixteen Horsepower, if you haven't already heard them.
In fact, I recommended Mosiac by Woven Hand for the previous round, and hardly anyone could say anything about it. It's the least-reviewed album in the entire thread to date.
Hmm, this album reminds me of 16 Horsepower in tone and subject matter, but not really musically; 16 Horsepower is a lot less slick and more country-influenced. Granted I only really know their 1st album.
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.

The Other Wiki's article is interesting.
And the discussion page
is slightly unsettling.
Man, Tzetze should have joined. He's normally all over this stuff.