Norway’s Leprous already have an impressive résumé; they are two time finalists in the Norwegian Rock Championships, singer/keyboardist Einar Solberg was in Emperor during their 2006-2007 tour and Leprous was selected by Ihsahn to be his backing band in support of Opeth (which was unfortunately cut short). Signed to Sensory Records, Tall Poppy Syndrome was released on May 5th.
I don’t really know how to best describe Leprous’ sound. It’s progressive, it’s avant-garde, it’s experimental. But above all, it’s awesome. The varied list of influences come through (including Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Devin Townsend, Mike Patton, Ihsahn, Seal, Björk and some classical composers) but Leprous doesn’t really sound like any of them, the closest comparison I can think of would be something like Arcturus. But better.
Samael has covered a lot of ground over the past twenty years or so, gradually moving away from their black metal origins. As they have progressed through the years, Samael included more elements to their albums, honing their skills and crafting a sound that has remained recognizably Samael throughout, with subtle touches that come through upon repeated listens.
Originally devised as a ‘virtual band’ playing a tribute to Samael’s origins, the band decided to release Above as Samael instead of as a side project. This album has been described as being a kind of missing link between Ceremony Of Opposites and Passage.
Thanks to Cormorant for posting about this in a blog. Long before Chuck Schuldiner’s Death, there was another, based in Detroit. A trio of black musicians, they changed their sound in the early 70’s. Initially funded by Columbia, their untitled album unfortunately faded into obscurity until recently (and has since been given a name).
Today is officially “Record Store Day”. Is there an album you’ve wanted to get your hands on? Go get it, but instead of trekking to War-Mart/Target/Best Buy/Sam Goody/Hot Topic or whatever, go visit our local record/music shop. Well, if you still have one in the area.
And don’t let the name fool you, today shouldn’t be only about the vinyl, although some stores have events and appearances planned that do involve records.
Without FUSE TV, I had to rely on the internet to see what I missed and didn’t want to wait until next weekend to possibly see a repeat on FUSE’s site. I didn’t see it all, but I saw most of what I wanted to see. Thanks be to YouTube!
Over the years, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has spread out into different areas of music, which is what they’ve needed to do. However, this also seems counter to the name, being more of a Music Hall Of Fame than the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Naturally, people will question including the likes of Grandmaster Flash, Madonna and Run-DMC, but the same might be said of including metal bands like Black Sabbath or Metallica, though the connection to rock and roll is more obvious with metal. That’s not to say that rap doesn’t have a connection – but to many, hard rock and metal is closer to rock and roll.
I think the HOF needs an overhaul and a hard look at what it is they’re doing now versus what they’ve done in the past. I do think that the inductees, past and present, are worthy of recognition, among many others that get passed by. At least this year’s ceremony was held in Cleveland, where the actual Hall Of Fame is located, and will return there on a more regular basis.
I haven’t done anything on here in a while, so I figured I’d jump in again.
Personally, I think last year is going to be hard to top. However, I haven’t paid as much attention to what’s coming up in 2009 as I did at the start of 2008. I’ve had to cut back my purchases over the past few months, so I haven’t looked at what’s coming with much enthusiasm. Some of these are repeats that didn’t get finished or released last year. But on the plus side, Chinese Democracy isn’t on the “upcoming” lists anymore.
I almost missed out on this one. Even though it came out back in June, I’m going to cover it now anyway.
Israel’s Amaseffer comes out of the gate with a very ambitious project - a trilogy of albums that tell the tale of the Exodus.
Slaves For Life is the first of the three and is Amaseffer’s debut album. It covers material ranging from the Hebrews’ bondage in Egypt, Moses’ life as an Egyptian, his exile in the desert, and ends with the ten plagues – leaving the Exodus itself for the next two albums. The story should be well known to most people – even if the extent of that knowledge comes from “The Ten Commandments” – so it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out what’s going on or at what point the story is at if you don’t know Hebrew, which is used throughout the album (but breathe easy, the album is mostly in English).
At first glance, female fronted Finnish folk metal may come to mind (say that three times fast), but that’s not quite an accurate description for Kivimetsän Druidi’s music.
Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder is Cradle Of Filth’s eighth full length studio album (and 13th release overall). As has been the case for all but Bitter Suites To Succubi, this isn’t the exact same lineup as before, with Martin Skaroupka sitting behind the drum kit this time, replacing Adrian Erlandsson.
After several false starts and rumors for the past few years, the album that no one thought would ever see the light of day has finally been unleashed. At a cost of at least $13,000,000 (plus whatever Axl had to pipe into its creation after Geffen took the checkbook away), Chinese Democracy has been a work in progress since 1994.
