[Nacher]

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Originally Posted by DarkAngel Ava Inferi - Burdens I listened to this several times, very good mid tempo doomlike somber vibe with some nice female vocals mixed in at key spots, very effective and overall a great album, Enverxis gets extra points for mentioning this. Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain Newest album is greatness pure and simple, a masterpiece! Very nice mixture of music and vocal styles keep things very interesting, brings back raw elements from debut Pale Folklore and seamlessly integrates them in a more complex progressive soundscape, very heavy undercurrent almost like Tool at times but much more complex and varied, other times you float away in a midnight sky like a dark Pink Floyd. Somewhat similar to newest Opeth "ghost" album, but this is even better! Like Opeth mixes in high quality death vox and clean vocals to creatively acheive desired atmospherics, very skillfully done. If you don't own this buy it now, your pathetic life is worthless without it!

Now someone's stealing the credit! I mentioned Ava Inferi like three times in here, before Enverxis was brave enough to pick it up. Seems like my recommendations are being ignored, as I have mentioned THREE times the new Thyrane album being available in the U.S, and DarkAngel still doesn't have it!

Yes, and Silentium - Seducia is worthy as well. Somewhat like Altum.

Haven't heard the new Agalloch yet, but seems like I have no choice. I'll see if I can pick it up somewhere.

 

[Enverxis]

Yes I was going to mention that Nacher was actually the one that is due the credit. Great album!

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nacher Now someone's stealing the credit! I mentioned Ava Inferi like three times in here, before Enverxis was brave enough to pick it up. Seems like my recommendations are being ignored, as I have mentioned THREE times the new Thyrane album being available in the U.S, and DarkAngel still doesn't have it! Yes, and Silentium - Seducia is worthy as well. Somewhat like Altum. Haven't heard the new Agalloch yet, but seems like I have no choice. I'll see if I can pick it up somewhere.

OK Nacher was the original source for Ava Inferi, good call.......I am aware of new Thyrane album but no rush since I have all previous albums to hold me over.

BTW is new Thyrane as good as previous works? Any change in style?

Agalloch......OMG still can't believe how great "ashes" album is, waiting to hear other impressions but I don't think I am exaggerating how good it is!

 

[Nacher]

New Thyrane is much like Spirit of a Rebellion, but the tracks are more "compact". Instead of long repetition, they are shorter and a bit more straightforward. I really like how this album has a strong rock "groove" despite it's almost black metal sound. Often synth black metal lacks a rhythm and drive, but Thyrane totally excels in those. At first the album sounded a bit medicore or lacking ambition, but soon I really started to appreciate it. Definetly better than Hypnotic, most likely better than Spirit of a Rebellion and hard to compare to stylistically different Symphonies of Infernality. Anyways, it's a-class modern synth black metal. Not ambitious or progressive like Emperor or such, but almost the best stuff after Dimmu - EDT in it's genre.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Regarding Agalloch's Ashes Against the Grain:

First thing's first; I have not heard Pale Folklore yet, but I am working on it

This is a great album! No, it is a friggin' outstanding album!!! It really has that "epic" feel to it. I really like the vocals much more on this album than on The Mantle. On the previous record, the clean vocals are not really my style because they sound kinda like a monotonous version of the lead singer of Midnight Oil. On this album, the clean vocals are more melodic and expressive (I REALLY like expressive vocals), at least compared to the last album. I get two very different feelings from both albums. With the last album, I really got that feeling that I was out on the woods in the Pacific Northwest with fog and all that good stuff. I could see how, even though the album was great, I still got an American feeling to it, not that it is a bad thing, but it "feels" that way. I do not get that at all with this album. This one has much more energy to it, heavier riffs, and a more Opethian feeling to it. If I did not know where these guys were from, I would have thought they were from Sweden or Finland. This album sounds like it came straight out of a Scandinavian forest, and if there is not a greater compliment for an album I have yet to hear it!!!

One thing I did not particularly care for with The Mantle was the handful of songs like they could have closed out the album, or in other words, songs that made you feel like the album was ending. It's as if they wrote three or four great closing songs and appended them to the end, one after another. On the other hand, this album flows very well. All of the songs are right where they need to be and do not sound out of place. Oh, the first two songs of the trilogy are awesome! What an incredible buildup to the final minutes!! I really wish it ended just like that. The last song is total nonsense and should have been left off. Ending songs like that NEVER work, not for Tool, not for anyone.

Overall, MUCH better than The Mantle. This is a killer album. I am so glad that I got the limited edition version. Now I do not know what to do: all of my thoughts and opinions of this album are based on a 192kb/s version of the album I got off the net. I heard the album has better mixing than the previous albums, but I do not want to open my copy of the album, LOL. Maybe I will search for a .flac version. All that aside, this album has one of the best endings of any album I have ever heard (NOTHING will beat Opeth's BWP though).

Eight fingers, two thumbs, and ten toes WAY up!!!

 

[Nacher]

Guys.. seriously! You have to stop! I still haven't found the limited edition of Ashes Against the Grain anywhere. Argh. I'm getting a really compulsive need to buy this album ASAP.

 

[Enverxis]

why don't you buy it from the USA ? It's cheaper

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nacher Guys.. seriously! You have to stop! I still haven't found the limited edition of Ashes Against the Grain anywhere. Argh. I'm getting a really compulsive need to buy this album ASAP.

LOL, sorry

 

[en480c4]

Well, I guess I'll chime in about Agalloch's Ashes Against the Grain...

I'm fairly new to Agalloch, so I don't have a lot of time into their previous efforts. With that said, Pale Folklore hit me in a way that The Mantle just didn't. I don't know, I just connected with it the first time I heard it, and that has only grown. The Mantle is a strong effort, and arguably technically superior in terms of production. But Pale Folklore still floors me whenever I listen to it. It's very much like how I feel about Opeth's My Arms, Your Hears versus later albums. The later albums have the polish that MAYH may lack, but they lack that "magic."

Well, I have to say that Agalloch has managed to do something I've waited for in vain from Opeth... They've managed to capture the "feel" of an earlier album while taking advantage of the benefits of an obviously much more impressive production. Ashes Against the Grain manages to grab me on its first listen much like Pale Folklore was able to. I definitely need more time with Ashes... to get a firm grip on it, but I'm very impressed with it, and I think the accolades it's receiving here are well-founded.

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by en480c4 Well, I guess I'll chime in about Agalloch's Ashes Against the Grain... Well, I have to say that Agalloch has managed to do something I've waited for in vain from Opeth... They've managed to capture the "feel" of an earlier album while taking advantage of the benefits of an obviously much more impressive production.

I'll second this.

I don't have acual copy of Ashes Against the Grain yet (it arrives tomorrow) but I can definantly agree on this after listening to it only a few times; related to Opeth who, IMO havent been able to improve on the first four albums with album "feel" in their newer four albums, close comer would be Damnation however.
I actually think that Morningrise has the best production job out of all the Opeth albums, it mighn't be technically superior sonic wise to Ghost Reveries but all instruments can be heard and focused on, while Ghost Reveries is a bit overproduced and sometimes the bass guitar is drowned out and the lead and rhythm guitars are hardly ever distinguishable from one another (besides left and right with a short delay ... it seems like one guitarist with channel spanning)

Another note: Giving Nightwish - Oceanborn a few spins and it's actually quite good/listenable compared to Wishmaster, Once (crappy cheese metal).

 

[MrFaust]

at the suggestion of one Kerry King, I'm currently listening to Demiricous' O.N.E. CD. It's awesome. But then again they are a straight up Slayer clone. I actually like this cd alot more than Christ Illusion. Anyone else checked them out?

 

[Nacher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis I'll second this. I don't have acual copy of Ashes Against the Grain yet (it arrives tomorrow) but I can definantly agree on this after listening to it only a few times; related to Opeth who, IMO havent been able to improve on the first four albums with album "feel" in their newer four albums, close comer would be Damnation however.

Guys, SERIOUSLY! I've already gotten the message, lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis Another note: Giving Nightwish - Oceanborn a few spins and it's actually quite good/listenable compared to Wishmaster, Once (crappy cheese metal).

I have always liked Nightwish - Oceanborn. It's actually a really good metal album. It's clear that it's made in the time when Stratovarius and Children of Bodom were really popular in Finland, so it does have some similarities in sound. Anyways, back in those days Nightwish was a metal band with interesting songs and guitar riffs. Nowadays it's way too mainstream for my liking.

 

[Skrying]

I love the start of the latest Agalloch album, that pure sound, its really a mind blowing way to start such an album. It just gels so well with everything. And then Falling Snow, talk about the perfect song.

In fact, for about the last two weeks I do not believe I"ve listened to anything else music wise. Its been nothing but Agalloch. I threw in some of The Mantle and a tiny, tiny bit of Pale Folklore just to compare Ashes to their previous works and I must say the band has changed so much yet has maintained the feeling of the soul behind their music.


BTW: Does anyone have any clue where you can get XXXL (yes, 3 Xs) metal shirts? I hate being big, just because I'm over 6'4" doesnt mean you have to hate me.

 

[scottder]

Gah, you guys are trying to make me go out and get this album. I haven't listened to any other Agalloch....what can I expect?

 

[scottder]

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Originally Posted by Skrying BTW: Does anyone have any clue where you can get XXXL (yes, 3 Xs) metal shirts? I hate being big, just because I'm over 6'4" doesnt mean you have to hate me.

Hard to find XXL too.

(I am 6'5" round 300lbs)