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LuckyRevenant ALMSIVI from The Flood Since: Jan, 2001
ALMSIVI
#1126: Mar 2nd 2011 at 3:30:43 PM

Okay, I'm definitely going to listen to this album tonight. Definitely. I would've already but I had a lot of homework to do.

"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."
arks Boiled and Mashed Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Mu
Boiled and Mashed
#1127: Mar 2nd 2011 at 4:59:07 PM

First impression.

I don't know what to think of this yet. The subject matter kind of gets in the way. It makes me wish this were in a foreign language so I wouldn't have any understanding of what was being said.

The music itself reminds me of some goth music I've heard. It spends the entire time sounding just slightly off kilter, which I know is intentional. However, the production values on this album are much higher than the goth tracks I listened to. The sound is much denser and better balanced.

It's interesting musically, but I'm not sure yet whether it will stand up to multiple listens. That's going to take a little longer. I'll do that on my own time, though. I'm going to choose a new album when I wake up. It seems most everyone else has had their say. Hopefully I'll be able to stay with the group this time.

Video Game Census. Please contribute.
LuckyRevenant ALMSIVI from The Flood Since: Jan, 2001
ALMSIVI
#1128: Mar 2nd 2011 at 5:21:46 PM

Okay, review time.

First song, not bad. Fun stuff. Can definitely understand why someone would initially think it's Christian rock. Of course, the "Gods" kinda y'know ruins the whole monotheistic thing. Kinda getting a nice 60s feel to it. Like that. Not seeing what's so creepy about it yet.

Second song. Water of life. Dune????? Man, I wish. I should write a Dune-themed concept album. Anyway, still fun. Psychadelic rock indeed. If the whole album is like this, I'll probably end up liking it quite a bit.

Third song. Still not creepy.

Fourth song. Saints shall inherit the Earth. Wonder what they define saint as.

Sixth song sounds gospelly. Fun.

Seventh song. Long. Liked it, though. Not as much as some earlier songs.

Final song. Great start. Great end. Really liked it.

Final thoughts: I liked how this album was kind of like a droney psychadelic rock. Quite fun. I also really like the girl's voice. Fits very well with the overall sound of the album. As for the lyrics, um, they were culty? I dunno. I didn't mind. Interesting, kinda esoteric. Still don't understand why people thought this album was creepy, but whatever.

I'm not sure I'd really ever sit down and listen to this album all the way through again, which is a bit of a shame, but I really did enjoy it overall. The only songs that really stood out to me were Glory Hallelujah, In The Time Of Abaddon, and Glory to the Gods in the Highest.

I also kinda want to look into these people more.

Also, I was listening to this album while reading about Islamic pre-heresies  *

was pretty bizarre.

"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."
steampowered Phonomancer Since: Jun, 2010
Phonomancer
#1129: Mar 2nd 2011 at 9:09:03 PM

Sunshine Werewolf said it best, I think. This album sounds like the dark side of the 60s- when I hear it I think of Charles Manson, Altamont, etc. Psychedelic, yet really creepy. I like the instrumentation, but I think the strength of the album hinges on its vocals, which are both awesome and unsettling. It helps that the band seems to really believe what they're saying instead of just singing it. I'm not sure I'd enjoy this band as much if they were singing their own lyrics- the album seems like it wouldn't work nearly as well without the themes. As it is, though, I enjoyed it a lot. The musical equivalent of a really good horror movie.

[up] By the way, there is a concept album based on Dune by some band called Nero. I don't know if it's any good, but I keep running across it when searching for the electronic artists Nero. http://www.last.fm/music/Nero/The+Dune+Concept+Album

We must move forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.
merton defiance from my heart to yours. Since: May, 2009
defiance
#1130: Mar 2nd 2011 at 9:54:15 PM

Reading criticism of this album, both here and in various other places around the internet, the main question people have about this is, "Is this for real?" My answer: kinda. The question remains, though: what would posses a bunch of psych-rock nerds to cover the hymns of an obscure 60s and 70s religious movement?

One thing this album is most emphatically not is a hipster piss-take. Even if Sabbath Assembly perhaps doesn't respect the content of these songs (more on that later), they certainly respect the music. The thing that grabs me most about this music is that, for an album of quasi-satanic hymns by people who've been involved with Sunn O))), No-Neck Blues Band, and Six Organs of Admittance, this album is remarkably normal-sounding. It's got some psychedelic tinges, such as the raga rhythms on "Glory to the Gods in the Highest" and the queasy organ on "The Power that is Love", but mostly these songs are backed with a pretty standard pop-rock sound. The vocals, though powerful, sound almost syrupy-sweet. Yet that adds some power to this album, I feel; had it been loaded down with a bunch of drone and psychedelic effects, the album would've come off as trying too hard. Instead, the music is allowed to breathe and to assert itself, and it benefits.

Besides, the inherent strangeness of adapting hymns to a rock format is psychedelic enough as it is, giving the entire affair a very devotional air (as I'm sure was the original intention). Indeed, these are some damn catchy hymns, and it's good that Sabbath Assembly saved this music from languishing in obscurity. This album is, if nothing else, a great historical document.

That, in fact, is this album's main problem: it has trouble becoming more than a catchy historical document. When singer JEX sings, "Recieve our devotion, Lord Satan," it really doesn't feel to me like she's actually devoted to Satan. This, for me, robs this album of a lot of its emotional content. Many of the previous reviewers in thsi thread have talked about how creepy this album is to them, but I'm not hearing it. To me, this album is like looking at the gravestone of a stranger: you feel as if it's an important symbol for someone evoking memories and emotions, but to you it's just a stone with a name on it. For an album about orgiastic devotion to a deity, there is very little religious feeling—of any kind—to be had here.

Still, I can't say I didn't enjoy this album. It's great music. It just didn't hit me, mainly I think because it didn't hit the people making it.

Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.
Drpepperfan So Great, So Powerful. Since: Feb, 2010
So Great, So Powerful.
#1131: Mar 3rd 2011 at 1:47:33 PM

Woah, Arks sure is sleepy 0_0

Overall, I'd give this album 7.5/8 out of 10. And yeah I know I haven't given a rating to any of the other albums so far, but I dunno, just felt like it this time.

edited 3rd Mar '11 1:48:04 PM by Drpepperfan

Not many people realize, 50 Cent is half man, half cossack. - Ross Noble
arks Boiled and Mashed Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Mu
Boiled and Mashed
#1132: Mar 3rd 2011 at 2:44:10 PM

Whoa, arks sure is sleepy.

Cute. Also, I fixed it for you.

Random number generator says "5", which is Necessary Response - Blood Spills Not Far From the Wound, suggested by Morven. I guess we'll see whether or not he's still with us.

edited 3rd Mar '11 2:44:42 PM by arks

Video Game Census. Please contribute.
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#1133: Mar 3rd 2011 at 5:54:24 PM

Morven's feeling a bit under the weather. I'd understand if he doesn't feel able to participate for the immediate future.

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#1134: Mar 3rd 2011 at 6:06:19 PM

I'm around.

edited 8th Jan '12 8:43:47 PM by MetaFour

A brighter future for a darker age.
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#1135: Mar 3rd 2011 at 7:05:20 PM

Works for me.

Wicked223 from Death Star in the forest Since: Apr, 2009
#1136: Mar 3rd 2011 at 8:57:00 PM

I think I'll do a track-by-track breakdown this time.

Track One: Pretty good mood-setting piece, especially the chanting near the end...

Track Two: Don't really like the beat in the beginning. It starts sounding sorta Depeche Mode-y for the rest of it. The lyrics are BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW pretty depressing here. Don't ya care about me, dadadada nothing else changes...

Track Three: The synth-line for this song might as well have been the same as the first one for all the difference it made, but the choir in the background is pretty nice. Also, are all the lyrics on this album going to be about failed relationships? That's gonna get pretty tiring, if it is...

Track Four: Well, it's not about a failed relationship, so that's a plus. The synths melodies here are really not doing anything for me here.

Track Five: Pretty nice instrumental here, minus the phasing/fading thing in the background (what's the name of that effect, anyhow).

Track Six: For some reason, I can't think of any words to describe this song. It's good, though.

Track Seven: Really digging the chimes/strings in the background here. Lyrics are standard stuff, though they're a little above the rest of the album.

Track Eight: Pretty nice vocal effect here, and other stuff, I guess. Sorry, this track slipped almost completely beneath my notice.

Track Nine: This one did too, but I did like the lyrics toward the end of this one.

Summation: I suppose this was well-executed for what it is; dark, melancholic electropop, but it honestly just isn't my preferred listening material. I couldn't really get into any of the songs, the melodies felt too... disjointed? Dunno what the term is.

edited 3rd Mar '11 8:57:37 PM by Wicked223

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!
Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#1137: Mar 3rd 2011 at 9:07:52 PM

I count ten tracks; did you miss one?

A brighter future for a darker age.
Wicked223 from Death Star in the forest Since: Apr, 2009
#1138: Mar 4th 2011 at 7:23:16 AM

I kinda petered out after the ninth one.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!
Zudak Since: Dec, 1969
#1139: Mar 4th 2011 at 12:44:10 PM

I can see this being played at a rave or something. It is a bit Depeche Mode-y too.

Or maybe, like, if Depeche Mode got together with Nine Inch Nails and did an album.

edited 4th Mar '11 12:51:08 PM by Zudak

MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#1140: Mar 4th 2011 at 5:11:44 PM

Synthpop, huh. Liking it so far.

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#1141: Mar 4th 2011 at 9:12:19 PM

Necessary Response was a side project of the industrial musician Daniel Graves, whose main project is Aesthetic Perfection. Most of that latter project's music features the distorted vocals typical of industrial; Necessary Response was where he put out the clean-vocals stuff he wanted to do, in a synthpop/electro vein. This was the only album released, in 2007. The project was ended in 2009.

I saw them (he toured with backup musicians, though the studio work is solo) live long before I bought the album, and it's been in pretty constant rotation in my favorites since.

A brighter future for a darker age.
Zudak Since: Dec, 1969
#1142: Mar 4th 2011 at 9:14:55 PM

I liked it a lot more than I thought I was going to at first.

arks Boiled and Mashed Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Mu
Boiled and Mashed
#1143: Mar 5th 2011 at 1:31:25 AM

Well, I listened to it and it was.. okay?

I'm not sure what to say about it. There was a hook and some of the musical ideas sounded interesting. There were some parts where I was thinking it was put together well, but it kind of really just fell flat for me.

The pounding drums didn't help much. I will say that. They were a little bit overpowering.

Video Game Census. Please contribute.
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#1144: Mar 5th 2011 at 3:35:32 PM

This is good stuff, but probably not one I'll add to my collection. I like synthpop, and I like melancholia, and I like melancholy synthpop, but the downer content of these lyrics was overbearing for my tastes. I'm not normally one to pay much attention to lyrics on the first or second listen, but on tracks like "For All the Lost" and "Dying in the Worst Way", they're impossible to ignore. I'd probably like this more if he was singing in a language I don't know.

My preferences aside, this was good. I even liked it better on the second listen than the first, which is generally a good sign.

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#1145: Mar 5th 2011 at 4:28:25 PM

You're just not enough of a Goth, dude. For me, with that musical background, nothing that particularly bothers; it didn't strike me as any more so than the depressive end of NIN, for instance, let alone a bunch of more obscure stuff.

A brighter future for a darker age.
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#1146: Mar 5th 2011 at 5:31:11 PM

I'm getting the impression that... let me state this in the form of an analogy.

goths : depression :: metalheads : Satan worship

How accurate is this?

edited 5th Mar '11 5:35:53 PM by MetaFour

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#1147: Mar 5th 2011 at 6:19:21 PM

About the same degree of accuracy. As in, there are plenty of non-depressed Goths, just like there are plenty of non-Satanist metalheads, but the prevalence is a lot higher than in the general population.

And the thing is: listening to depressing stuff, for many people who are clinically depressive, cheers them up. It certainly does for me.

Oh, read what was at your link (wrote the above before that) and yes, being wangsty is also part of the schtick; they're probably not as depressive as that for real. It's just what's done in the scene.

edited 5th Mar '11 6:21:55 PM by Morven

A brighter future for a darker age.
steampowered Phonomancer Since: Jun, 2010
Phonomancer
#1148: Mar 5th 2011 at 6:35:00 PM

I liked it. The formula of angsty goth synthpop got a little old by the end, but it started off really strongly with the pulse and agression of "Spilling Blood." I'm sure the alternate universe me who owns a cool cyberpunk nightclub plays that song all the time.

I also liked "This Distance" a lot, though it took more than a few cues from Nine Inch Nails. The vocals on the album sort of bothered me, but that's more of a personal preference- I'm not a fan of that particular vocal style. I didn't have a problem with most of the lyrics, they may have been a bit melodramatic, but everyone needs good angst music.

Overall, a good, not great gothic synthpop album that doesn't seem to do anything challenging or different but does what it does pretty well.

We must move forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#1149: Mar 5th 2011 at 7:14:37 PM

And the thing is: listening to depressing stuff, for many people who are clinically depressive, cheers them up. It certainly does for me.
That makes perfect sense. I don't think I'm clinically depressed, but I frequently find myself getting cheered up by downer music. It's just, there's different kinds of downers, and this particular one isn't my taste.

edited 5th Mar '11 7:15:11 PM by MetaFour

arks Boiled and Mashed Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Mu
Boiled and Mashed
#1150: Mar 7th 2011 at 7:16:48 AM

After much hemming and hawing (I was wondering if there might be other people who might have something to say) I have decided to move on. Random number generator says "2", which is The Dingees - Rebel Soul Sound System. This was suggested by Meta Four. In other news, I feel like the end of this round is in sight. I've been organizing my "to rec" list to make sure I remember what order I'm doing what.

4 albums left.

Video Game Census. Please contribute.

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