New Album: Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind) The Crafty Ape

With a band like Crippled Black Phoenix, I know of no way to accurately describe their sounds - both off past albums as well as current ones. Their music is different on each release, but somehow keeping the core 'feel' of CBP all the same. If I had to make a stab at labeling them (as I've attempted before), they are a blend of post-metal, ambient sounds, doom, and folk, into an one-of-a-kind sound.

I put Crippled Black Phoenix's release last year, I, Vigilante, on my 'Top 20 of 2010', a choice I still stand behind. While their earlier albums had a slight problem of uniformity (songs were often jarring in combination with the album as a whole), I, Vigilante was a much more accomplished work. I think this is due to the smaller track-listing off that album then the others, with only six songs while most of their other releases are over ten. This more concise selection, 'trimmed the fat' of their previous releases, with little truly ambient songs and sections then otherwise seen, and it is in this direction I hoped the band would have followed.

Weekly Dose of Prog: Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist

With a vocal style reminiscent of Serj Tankian (of System of A Down if I have to make the distinction for anyone), Giant Squid plays a style of new progressive metal. melding the prog with jazz and atmospheric elements, bringing it just a hair's width short of post-metal. There are sounds of strings (cello I believe), keyboards, and other unique sounds - sometimes just a droning melodic melody - that really bring it into a totally different vibe.

I'm not going to lie, the only thing that initially attracted me to this band is the album artwork to The Ichthyologist. Look at it (to the right), that is some awesome shit, and I've said so before. There is another version of the album artwork floating out there (see below), which makes me wonder which is the original, but honestly I don't care, this one is perfect for me.

Weekly Dose of Prog: VYGR - Hypersleep

VYGR is a new band that has been getting a lot of press of late; and while I discovered that they are a bit light on the progressive aspect, several other reviewers hailed their style of music as very much progressive in nature. This is what led to the group being this week's 'Weekly Dose of Prog,' but whichever way you look at it, I'm glad I got a chance to hear Hypersleep.

You see, while VYGR (pronounced Voyager) have progressive tendencies, they really fall more into the post-metal aspect of the genre. The songs have a tendency of being long and drawn-out (not a complaint), mixing in sludge and doom for good measure. This is the style of sludge I like by the way, the vocals are growly but semi-understandable and go with the music very well. It's not like the growing trend of pointless screaming and incomprehensible growls that have become so popular nowadays. It reminds me of Baroness, only less prog and much more doom-oriented.

5 Quick Album Reviews

I've recently joined the family over at Ripple Music. They've been nice enough to send me some music for review (as well as connect me with the JPT Scare Band, who sent me a shirt and their entire discography, way to go there guys!), and a new outlet to gain some readers. If you haven't had a chance to check them out, I strongly suggest you do so, they review pretty much anything, from old to new, and any range of rock/metal. It's a lot more varied then The Guide is, so if you have eclectic tastes like me, there is bound to be something interesting there for you to enjoy.

Thinning The Herd - Oceans Rise
As a group that describes themselves as a "soulful brew of grunge-fueled, blues-driven, stoner-infused rock," their self-description hits the nail on the head pretty solidly. The songs off of Thinning The Herd initially strike me as a mix of early-era Clutch and the alternative/post-grunge of Alice In Chains. Even though Oceans Rise drift away from that original analysis, it is this thought that continuously pops up throughout the album. Overall the album is tuned-down, making it all sound very dark and oppressive, probably more so then the lyrics would normally have come across as, but I have to think that this is the purpose. Songs that do pop-up ahead of the group, do so because of their more melodic tendencies. An underlying theme to the music (at least to me) is a semi-garage and/or noise rock fuzz and overexposure of the instruments and vocals. Songs like the title track, "Defiler," "Binge," and "My Wake," all have more in the whole 'musical' department, a little more groove, a little more tune. If you find yourself forlorn at the end of the 90s grunge/alt-metal era then definitely check out Thinning The Herd, you will not be disappointed.

5 Quick Negative Album Reviews

Even though I listen to so much music, the quality overall is pretty damn stellar. Only a handful of albums and artists ever raise my ire. Because of this, I'm grouping what little I didn't like together. It makes it easier for me, and I hope, for you.

Mahatma - Gilgamesh

Pretty much every time I listen to an instrumental band - of any genre - I always draw reference to the Cloudkicker article I wrote a while back and the good and bad with instrumental bands. I really need to write a stand-alone article about this subject, but until then just know that Mahatma embodies what is bad with the instrumental genre. The majority of their songs on Gilgamesh are droning, repetitive doom songs, with the same rhythm repeated seemingly endlessly for eight or nine minutes. The opening track “Blood On Uruk” is a perfect example; when I was listening to this song, I mistakenly thought I had chosen the first track from the Under The Sun album, Man of Sorrow (which will get a review here soon). While I thought it was “Stride” (the first track off Man of Sorrow) I was ok with it, because it sounded like the intro for a movie, when the hero is walking up a road with the credits spliced in. I figured it to be an intro piece, and the fact that it was that repetitive and dull didn't matter, because soon the good music would chime in. Eventually I figured out it was Mahatma I was listening to, and my expectation that the album would get better was cast aside. The disc did not get any more interesting when it moved to the second track, and most of the album fell into this, dull and repetitive, category. The only two songs that stood out in any way were “Enkidu's End” and “Find The Sacred Herb.” The former was a good rock song, it was energetic and had several different melodies and styles, while the latter was more akin to the rest of the album, but it had some sweet grinding guitars, just simple chugging throughout, but it made the whole picture work. The rest of the disk, just throw it away, or use it for background noise for TV or movies, when you just need some filler while the characters talk or drive or something.

Awesome Websites: Tooting Bizarre

Found this one through my blog connections, TootingBizarre.org is a British record label's website, but this is no ordinary record label. You see this one gives all of the music they have away... for free! They have fourteen acts and thirty one albums/EPs for you to enjoy. The groups span a bunch of genres, from doom and post-metal, to folk and hip-hop. There is a little for everyone, so why not give it a look?

Now, I did scoop some artists up, but I haven't had a chance to listen to them at all yet, but the artists available include:

50ft Panda - Stoner/sludge/prog (3 Albums)

Diefenbaker - Folk/neofolk duo (4 Albums)

Mayors of Miyazaki -Math rock/hardcore (2 Albums)

Montana Pete -Punk/funk (3 Albums)

Olid - Prog/Doom supergroup from members of 50ft Panda, Mayors of Miyazaki, and Thumpermonkey Lives! (1 Album)

Part Rocket -Instrumental post-rock - I tried downloading this one but for some reason it wouldn't work for me, but give it a try (4 Albums)

Shinju - Pop or something, didn't give this one too much attention (1 Album)

Stonasaurus - Underground Hip-Hop (1 Album)

The Device - Techno/electronica (3 Albums)

The Doghouse Riley Band - Garage rock with humor (1 Album)

Thumpermonkey -Prog/experimental. Solo act before Thumpermonkey Lives! (2 Albums)

Thumpermonkey Lives! -Post-metal, prog, sludge, etc (2 Albums)

Todger -  Prog-stoner (3 Albums)

Tooting Bizarre - A live album of acts that are apart of TootingBizarre.org (1 Album)

 

Just sharing the love.

5 Quick Album Reviews

The year's final installment

Agalloch - Marrow of The Spirit

Hauntingly beautiful meets downright dark. Agalloch has always been a mystery to me. I love them, but they are unlike 99.9% of the other music I hear. I don't much care for black metal, the only groups I listen to being the 'classic' black (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond and Celtic Frost (in certain parts)), but for some reason Agalloch breaks through these barriers. I think it's because I see them more as folk metal, then true black metal. Their albums cross several genres, black, folk, progressive, symphonic, and post-metal have all been attributed to the group. It all fits. Marrow of The Spirit continues on the group's previous style; the songs are mixed with haunting beautiful strings and pianos, ear-shattering thrash, and wailing vocals. It's an experience that is difficult to accurately describe, it is something you will just have to try for yourself. The vocals don't take the main focus of the record, and I think that is another reason why I like Agalloch; they seem to be - at times - another instrument, adding to the layer of sound. The songs are all long, multi-layered and part pieces, with almost everyone changing styles throughout. It's hard to choose favorite tracks, as the songs sometimes fall onto the sword of most long songs; they have good segments, and some not-so-good segments, and while Marrow of The Spirit doesn't have this dragging effect too much, it is still there, taking away from the whole sound. This effect is seen more on the later songs, "Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires" and the final, "To Drown," with the last song, being an instrumental, effected the most. Other then this, there is no complaint. I love this group, and they fall way outside my normal comfort zone - but I always say every genre has a few good bands - and sometimes you need something like that. Go out, get Agalloch, all of the albums, and feel the experience of the group.

Top 20 of 2010: 11 - 15

This seems to be the more predominately 'stoner' segment of the Top 20 of 2010, but hey, it's all in alphabetical order, so it's of no fault of my own.

11. Monster Magnet - Mastermind (See Review)
Mastermind is one of the best releases in the long list of Monster Magnet albums. It is regarded (by myself and most other reviewers) as a return to the classic era of the group, along the lines of Powertrip or Dopes To Infinity. In my mind, while it doesn't have the few songs that act as hooks for the rest of the album (as most other Monster Magnet albums do), the overall song quality within Mastermind is much more level. I've been a long time listener of Monster Magnet, and while I like their spin-off act, The Atomic Bitchwax, a bit more, the group has always had a soft spot in my rock and groove heart. AllMusic already has a posting of the next Monster Magnet album, The Lowdown (albeit, it's not much), to be released sometime in 2011. If this is a full studio album, not a 'best of' or a live album, then it will be the quickest turn around for Monster Magnet LPs sense their first two (Spine of God in '92 followed by Tab...25 in '93 - which was really an extended EP but it's over 55 minutes long so I count it). After the superb release in 2010, I am with baited breath, waiting for this supposed album.

New Album: The Ocean - Anthropocentric

Also seen on Heavy Planet: 

After my write-up of the superb Heliocentric, I was expecting something sonically akin to it with The Ocean's next release, with mixed success. Anthropocentric, the second full-length release by the band, follows it's predecessor... sort of. While Heliocentric was a venture into the unknown, merging sounds and thoughts together in creative ways, Anthropocentric is more angry sounding, focusing more on the NWOAHM influences then anything else. While they do try to mix in songs into the mix, most notably "The Grand Inquisitor III: A Tiny Grain of Faith" which is beautifully haunting, they are just few and far between. While the album is still good - a really good collection of head-banging material - it isn't what I wanted following the wet-dream that is Heliocentric.

New Album: The Ocean - Heliocentric

Also seen on Heavy Planet:

I threw on Heliocentric, what I thought was The Ocean's newest album (until I saw they had just released Anthropocentric), just to have some background noise after I got home from a dull day at work. I just wanted something that would fade into the background as I checked my email and chatted with the roommate. After the first song or two I realized that I had stumbled upon something different.
Where most post-metal albums (the ones I've heard anyway) tend to be atmospheric and trance-like, Heliocentric was the opposite. It contained songs with full thoughts and structure, Not only that but it also had songs of different composition and instrumentation mixed in. It wasn't the same old picture rehashed track after track.

New Band: Crippled Black Phoenix

Another band I discovered through AngryChairs, Crippled Black Phoenix is a supergroup, containing members from famous post-metal groups such as Iron Monkey, Gonga, Mogwai, Electric Wizard, Godspeed You Black Emperor! and others. While the post-metal tag is fairly accurate, it does not fully explain the complexity of the sounds of Crippled Black Phoenix. There are many progressive elements, psychedelic, industrial, stoner to an extent, it's almost impossible to collect it all under one heading, which is why post-metal they will remain.
The group has had numerous members - 27 is wikipedia is to be believed, there is not a lot of information about this band out there (Their official website is in shambles, allmusic.com only has half of their discography - hence the sketchy linking) - and has several vocalists on any one record, both male and female. It gives the group's albums a really odd sound, with all the eclecticness of instruments and vocals. Some songs are slow, doomy songs with almost no vocals, while others are upbeat rock and roll songs. Some are filled with a male's clean vocals, some with a woman's gentle wail, and others have a harsher version of both styles within. Each song of off each album seems to be headed into a different direction. It sounds like it wouldn't work, and for some parts it doesn't, but for the most part it all works together great.

New Band: Baroness - Out of My Comfort Zone

If anyone was to look through all my music I listen to, and all of my posts on here, there would be certain patterns emerging with what sounds I enjoy: I like mostly melodic music of a heavy variety. There are a few thrash bands that make the cut, but it is mostly genres like power, New Wave of British Heavy Metal, doom/sludge, and - most recently - stoner. I have never been a fan of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, it's just too screamy, which also leaves out anything with -core on it. But one band that is an odd screaming band (but not NWOAHM or hardcore) that I really enjoy is Baroness.