Tool - Lateralus

Genre: Progressive Metal
Name: Tool
Album: Lateralus
...Mention this to me

Simply put, Tool are one of the most progressive bands of all time.

Just take a look at the time signatures they use. "Schism" is written, according to the band, in 13 over 16 (or 6.5/8, depending on the band member), and then later goes into 11/8. "Lateralus" was written in a complex set of shifting signatures: 9/8, followed by 8/8, then 7/8, then back to the start.

However just using weird time signatures would not be progressive enough. The subject matter must be, in and of itself, completely bizarre. "Lateralus" is the perfect example of this. It has been assigned various interpretations; ranging from LSD to alchemy, but the most common one is the human quest for knowledge. This is mirrored by references to the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ration, a famous mathematical sequence, incarnate in the letter "Φ". The observant among you will have already noticed one: 987, hidden in the repeated time signatures, is the 17th number in the sequence. On top of this, Maynard, the singer, has carefully controlled his vocal work. Consider these lyrics:

Black
And
White are
All I see
In my infancy
Red and yellow then came to be
Reaching out to me
Lets me see.
There is
So
Much
More that
Beckons me
To look through to these
Infinite possibilities
As above so below and beyond I imagine
Drawn beyond the lines of reason
Push the envelope
Watch it bend*

The syllables for each line fit the sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 8, 5, 3. But as if that were not enough, the timing itself is perfect. Maynard begins singing 97 seconds in. Put that in minutes, and you'll find that it can be written as 1.618 (give or take): the golden ratio.

I could just leave it at that. But there's so much more to say, like how the drummer thinks he can only drum well with a carefully forged gong inscribed with obscure symbols hanging behind him, and bases his patterns on the universal hexagram, or a bassist who has synaesthesia and thus paints songs, rather than writes them. I could go on for hours, pages, entire essays on the subject. However, instead, I shall simply finish by comparing Tool to liquorice. An acquired taste, but an unforgettable one, of which everyone who loves can never get enough.

Summary: Difficult, confusing and complex progressive metal, but excellent, and definitely worth the work.

Lyrical Themes: Obscure, and occasionally NSFW (not here). Includes drugs and human pursuit of knowledge

Rating: 9/10 - recommended

Track listing:

1. The Grudge
2. Eon Blue Apocalypse
3. The Patient
4. Mantra
5. Schism
6. Parabol
7. Parabola
8. Ticks and Leeches
9. Lateralus
10. Disposition
11. Reflection
12. Triad
13. Faaip De Oaid


Download


*Lyrics never officially published; just another example of Tool being ridiculous. Apparently, they have too much impact on the meaning of the song.

Also worth noting - comparisons that I had for Tool while writing this review were Marmite, Liquorice (made the cut), Onions and Parfait. I'm incredibly hungry.

Dual Review: The Ocean - Heliocentric and Anthropocentric

Genre: Sludge Metal, Post-Metal
Name: The Ocean
Album: Heliocentric & Anthropocentric, 2010
Look what's evolved from the primordial Sludge...

UPDATE: now includes instrumental versions

I remember the day rather clearly. I was striding through the now-closed record store, tall, educated, aloof, and weighed down by my younger brother was far more interested in Beiber and Akon than Slayer or Ahab. He was tired, bored, and irritated, so I had to choose my CDs more hurriedly than usual. In a fit of annoyance, he handed me one and said "Get this one. The cover spins." That was all I needed - both I, and, shortly enough, the CD were sold. That CD was Heliocentric, and it was my first encounter with The Ocean Collective, and I have never looked back.

Heliocentric is the first of 2 albums designed to "critique" Christianity, and is focused primarily on the history of the Catholic church and its sins, cataloguing the deaths of "heretics", amongst other things; however, they clearly didn't think people would realise this, and had to put in a disclaimer:

"FIRMAMENT contains words adapted from the King James Bible, Genesis 1:6-20. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT OF THE LUMINARIES contains words adapted from I Enoch 72:2-5. No, this does not mean that we are believers, trying to convert you to join the Church of the Hangman..."

Musically, it is quite diverse, ranging from the coarse and heavy tracks such as "Metaphysics of the Hangman" to elegant, jazzy piano pieces like "Epiphany", combined with a full string quartet, saxaphones, trumpets and trombones and even a vibraphone. Vocally, too, it is excellent, with screams offset by elegant and quiet singing, with well-written, albeit misleading lyrics.

Anthropocentric was, therefore, always going to have a tough act to follow. Focused more on theological problems, it emerged a far heavier, and less diverse album, with the brass instruments removed, and the strings now reduced to the three musketeers, rather than the four seasons. However, although it was an album based almost entirely on raging aural infernos, when it finally decided to allow us a breath of air, "Wille Zum Untergang" was a reflection of perfection: a slow build, steadily increasing as the guitars danced elegantly around each other, and the snare work became slowly more complex - it was magnificent, the epitome of post-metal, the perfect yin to the yang of "She Was The Universe" and other crushing tracks.

The vocals tended more towards screaming in this album, but had a great lyrical range, drawing from sources such as Lord Byron, Friedrich Nietzche (how could they not, given the subject matter?) and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. However, if you will excuse a brief theological aside, they hardly stand up to close scrutiny. Take, for example, the song "Heaven TV", which claims that heaven will be an empty white sphere, and then uses that idea to attack Christianity. There is no basis for that at all: indeed, the bible describes heaven as not a sphere but a city, and a square one at that. Elsewhere, Staps relies on tricks of the tongue to score cheap points. Whilst none of this detracts from the music, it does leave a somewhat bitter aftertaste, knowing that the lyrics are flawed.

However, one does not buy CDs to be educated on the meaning of life - except, perhaps, for self-help audiobooks. Musically, these CDs are amazing, far greater than I had expected or even dreamed when I picked the first one up that day. The perfect balance of heavy sludge and light, introspective guitar, this is what post-metal should be, and I recommend it most highly.

Summary: Excellent, anti-Catholic post-metal, with great range.

Lyrical Themes: Theology, history of the Catholic church

Rating: 9/10 - Recommended

Track listing:

Heliocentric
1. Shamayim
2. Firmament
3. The First Commandment Of The Luminaries
4. Ptolemy Was Wrong
5. Metaphysics Of The Hangman
6. Catharsis Of A Heretic
7. Swallowed By The Earth
8. Epiphany
9. The Origin Of Species
10. The Origin Of God

Anthropocentric
1. Antropocentric
2. The Grand Inquisitor I: Karamazov Baseness
3. She Was The Universe
4. For He That Wavereth...
5. The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts
6. The Grand Inquisitor III: A Tiny Grain Of Faith
7. Sewers Of The Soul
8. Wille Zum Untergang
9. Heaven TV
10. The Almightiness Contradiction

Download Heliocentric
Download Anthropocentric
Download Heliocentral
Download Anthropocentral

Evinta - My Dying Bride

Genre: Doom Metal, Ambient
Name: My Dying Bride
Album: Evinta, 2011

...Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me
That with music loud and long...

Evinta. A project almost 15 years in the making. An idea that has sat smoldering and never really had a reason to burn alive until now. 9 albums worth of darkness recreated anew to mark 20 years of MDB. Music arranged to the soundscapes of sorrows past. Finally the 20th anniversary allows us to release this music in a form it has been desperately, woefully waiting for.

Enjoy the Darkness.

My Dying Bride have long been one of my favourite metal bands, for one very simple reason. It is not because of Stainthorpe's vocal work, although that is excellent, both musically and lyrically. It is not because of the emotions invested in their songs, although they are there in abundance. It is not because of the heaviness of their music - there are far heavier bands out there, more angry and anarchistic. Rather, it is for the simple reason that they are magnificently melodic songwriters. They can use duel guitars and a violin or keys to make exquisite harmonies, where other bands fall by the wayside. The multiple voices come together to create beautiful music, which no other band seems to do anywhere quite as well. It is for this reason that when My Dying Bride elect to do songs without traditional metal instruments, as found in Sear Me and For My Fallen Angel, they don't just get away with it - they excel in it, masters of melody and elegance combined.

Thus, it was not with holy dread and closed eyes that I awaited this unusual opus from the honeydew-fed, milk-of-paradise-supping Doom lords; I waited with anticipation and excitement, gathered together my pittances and sent a rather large check to Peaceville as soon as they were open for business. And I was not disappointed. Evinta is a work of art, a magnificent, magical amalgamation of movements, melodies, music.

Certainly, this is not a typical My Dying Bride release. Glencross and Craighan's guitars are absent, Abé no longer plucks at her bass and Mullins is no longer atop his throne. In their place, we find Alice Pembroke playing a viola, beside Johan Baum's cello, and Jonny Maudling, famed for his work with Bal-Sagoth on piano, keyboards and samples. As you can see, this was not going to be a standard album - but then, it was never intended to be. It was something new and exciting, and, if that is what you were expecting, then it's just shy of perfect. However, do not expect anything heavy, anything metal. Instead, head in with an open mind, and embrace what you find.

Evinta is a mixture of all of My Dying Bride's old songs, riffs and themes, melded together with classical instruments, melted down and reforged into something entirely new. For example, in The Burning Coast of Regnum Italium, you can hear the piano carrying the melody once found in the intro to The Dreadful Hours, possibly the single most beautiful piece of music of all time. In Of Lilies Bent With Tears is found sections of Two Winters Only. I won't give any other "spoilers" - part of the fun of this album is the game of "Name the Tune" that can be played with it - but these are merely some examples of what can be expected in the work. After all, it is the manifestation of all My Dying Bride's work - "evinta" is the feminine perfect participle of "evincere", to evince or show clearly. It is a display of all the band has achieved in the past 20 years, and a beacon for the future, hope for all the music with which they have yet to capture our ears.

This work is, in a nutshell, comparable to Elend - strings are the dominant voice, and speed is most definitely not of the essence (there are certain songs that are minimalist almost to the point of a drone-esque sound). However, there are important differences to that band. Whereas Elend favour screeching, disharmonious violins, My Dying Bride have gone far more in the direction of mellifluous melody and harmonies which hang from each other like icicles on pine branches. I have even managed to convince various people that this is, in fact, genuinely Classical music, age-old and well-beloved.

However, one could not have a My Dying Bride release without Stainthorpe's unique vocal work, and here, in Evinta, he comes up trumps, with new lyric genius sewn into the fabric of the album. Incontrovertibly, my favourite track on the album is In Your Dark Pavilion, which finishes with some of the best singing I've ever heard:

"I dream of being
Beside her
As I move
Through this water
Step over here
You Devil
Her earth looks like
My dying skin"

Stainthorpe's tortured voice dances so elegantly with the piano that the angels themselves would weep. And this is far from unique - the singing found in The Music Of Flesh is magnificent, and the lyrics of And All Their Joy Was Drowned are poetic brilliance.

However, Stainthorpe is not alone. The soprano Lucie Roche also takes to the stage, singing in English, French and Latin magnificently. The best example of her melodic voice can be found in Vanité Triomphante, the promo track released by Peaceville in edited form, which can be found here, in exchange for your email address, but is also included below.

In conclusion, therefore, I could not recommend this stellar work more highly. Certainly, it is not for the run-of-the-mill brutal death metal fan, who thinks that speed and skill equate to each other - but then, if you're reading this blog, you're probably not a run-of-the-mill metalhead. It's a elegant, resplendent work, shining in majesty and, I'll admit, just a hint of vanity, but rightly so - no other band could pull this off. Even Dream Theater have tempered their orchestral works with heavier tracks.

Summary: Magnificent orchestral doom, perfect for My Dying Bride fans and musical kalophiles of all kinds.
Lyrical Themes: Still analysing, but typical of My Dying Bride's work - melancholy and dejected, but beautiful
Rating: 10/10
Track listing:

Disc 1
1 - In Your Dark Pavilion
2 - You Are Not The One Who Loves Me
3 - Of Lilies Bent With Tears
4 - The Distance, Busy With Shadows
5 - Of Sorry Eyes In March

Disc 2
1 - Vanité Triomphante
2 - That Dress And Summer Skin
3 - And Then You Go
4 - A Hand Of Awful Rewards

Disc 3 (Collectors' Edition: What I do for you people...)
1 - The Music Of Flesh
2 - Seven Times She Wept
3 - The Burning Coast Of Regnum Italicum
4 - She Heard My Body Dying
5 - And All Their Joy Was Drowned

Download

I'd recommend getting your hands on one of the deluxe copies if you can - they come in great packaging, with excellent production value, and paragraphs on each of My Dying Bride's albums.

Dual Review: John Murphy - 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later OST

Genre: Soundtrack
Name: John Murphy
Album: 28 Days Later OST and 28 Weeks Later OST
"Step 1: Kill the infected. Step 2: Containment. If containment fails, then Step 3: Extermination..."

Soundtracks are often rather dull and unimaginative. However, these two are far from that. Not only is the music exceptionally good, but it also evokes memories of amazingly well written scenes.

Like much of the internet, I am somewhat of a zombie-apocalypse aficionado. I have a plan for escaping from zombies in any place I might be (at the moment, it consists of running down to the compound where the guns are kept, stocking up on small arms, and then securing transport in order to make it to the nearby NATO headquarters, and recieve support and arms and food from there). When the zed finally arrive (and they will arrive), I am fairly confident that I will be ready for them. Most of this preparation is the result of watching far too many zombie movies (all hail Zombieland!), and these films are but two of those.

For those of you who have not seen these two movies, they are as follows. 28 Days Later consists of Cillian Murphy awakening in a deserted hospital, and discovering that, whilst he has been in a coma, a virus has infected the population, turning them into mindless hordes of the undead. Upon accidentally irritating a few of The Infected, he runs to safety, and some new-found friends kindly blow up a petrol station to save him. They then, after a few plot twists, proceed up to Manchester, or thereabouts, by taxicab, seeking "the solution for infection". Needless to say, not all goes well.
28 Weeks Later is the next in the series, but has no returning characters. The American army have come in to the deserted Britain, with the infected all starved to death, and set up a "quarantined green" zone on the Isle of Dogs. However, again, the plan goes awry, and there are several excellent scenes full of pathos, and some cool sniping.
Both films are rather awesome, and I would definately recommend watching them (they're Danny Boyle's work, if that's an incentive). In a more relevant vein, however, the soundtracks are even more impressive than the films. Since both albums are similar in style and result (with, as one would expect, recurring motifs in the pair of soundtracks), I need only to go into detail on one, and have chosen the original.

The 28 Days Later OST was composed by John Murphy, of Sunshine fame, and cover a wide variety of styles. The predominant style - or, at least, the one that is retained most readily by my mind - is the use of distorted guitars, but it is far from the only one employed. There are developments on Fauré's Requiem in D Minor and Bach, for instance, and use of Anglican hymns, in conjunction with the synth-dominated tunes of "A.M. 180". The effect of this range is to provoke a spectrum of emotions, from euphoric bliss to abject despair. However, without a doubt one piece stands out - "In The House - In A Heartbeat". It is brilliantly composed, makes excellent use of dynamics, and is simple, yet so very effective. If you listen to nothing else from this, listen to that one track. It is the epitome of Murphy's work - indeed, he has chosen to reuse that piece in a variety of films, notably Kickass (he did a similar thing with Sunshine's score) - and very much worth a listen.


Summary: Pathos-ridden soundtracks from zombie-killin' movies.
Rating: 9/10
Track listing:

28 Days Later OST:

1. The Beginning
2. Rage
3. The Church
4. Jim's Parents (Abide With Me)
5. Then There Were 2
6. Tower Block
7. Taxi (Bach's Ave Maria
8. The Tunnel
9. A.M. 180
10. An Ending (Ascent)
11. No More Films
12. Jim's Dream
13. In Paradisum (Faure's Requiem in D minor)
14. Frank's Death
15. I Promised Them Women
16. The Search For Jim
17. Red Dresses
18. In The House - In A Heartbeat
19. The End
20. Season Song
21. End Credits

28 Weeks Later OST:
1. 28 Theme
2. Welcome to Britain
3. Helicopter Chase
4. Fire-bombing London
5. Theme 1
6. Walk to Regents Park
7. Kiss of Death
8. Don Abandons Alice
9. London Deserted
10. Go Go Go!
11. Theme 2
12. Knock Knock - Cottage Attack
13. Night Watch
14. Code Red
15. Going Home
16. Tammy Kills Her Dad
17. Crowd Breaks Out
18. Outbreak
19. Leaving England
20. End Credits (Theme 3)

Download 1
Download 2

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen Puhuu

Genre: Psychadelic Black Metal
Name: Oranssi Pazuzu
Album: Muukalainen Puhuu, 2009
...The Spaceman says "Everybody look down, it's all in your mind"...

Well, I think it's obvious that the first thing about this band that caught my eye was the name which is, to say the least, interesting (translated, it means "Orange Pazuzu", Pazuzu being a babylonian demon king of the winds, with a serpentine ahem phallus). However, I have higher standards for inclusion in this documentation of metallic awesomeness than merely an amusing name, and, fortunately, Oranssi Pazuzu have this in spades.

The album's meaning is "The Alien Speaks", and this, combined with the cover that is eerily reminiscent of Vashta Nerada, gives a great idea as to the sound of this album: it sounds like the musical outpouring of one of Scooby-Doo's space-suit-clad, manically-laughing, helium-addicted enemies. It is filled with high-pitched keys, jumping at odd intervals and tremolo guitar, used very effectively to create a slightly menacing and quite haunting atmosphere. Not being fluent in Finnish, I can not comment on the lyrical content, only the delivery, which is not particularly passionate, but well executed. The one criticism I have of this album is that the drums are not particularly imaginative, however, they are by no means dull. All in all, it is an odd, but interesting album, with a decent amount to be said for it.

Summary: What happens when you give Spooky Space Kook a guitar
Lyrical Themes: "The dark corners of space and the mind"
Rating: 8/10
Track listing:
1. Korppi - Raven
2. Danjon Nolla - Danjo's Zero
3. Kangastus 1968 - Mirage 1968
4. Suuri Pää Taivaasta - The Great Head From Heaven
5. Myöhempien Aikojen Pyhien Teatterin Rukoilijasirkka - The Praying Mantis of the Theatre of Latter-day Saints
6. Dub Kuolleen Porton Muistolle - Dub to the Memory of a Dead Whore (of Babylon)
7. Muukalainen Puhuu - Alien Speaks
8. Kerettiläinen Vuohi - Heretic Goat

Myspace
Download - coming soon! (well, -ish...)

Butterfly Convict - Eponymous EP

Genre: Alternative / Progressive Rock
Name: Butterfly Convict
Album: Butterfly Convict EP, 2010
I found this EP somewhat... arresting

Well, Coheed & Cambria are currently doing a promotion of various bands made by their fans, and so Butterfly Convict appeared on my radar with this 37-minute exposition, which is not particularly atrocious; They're from Long Island, but other than that they're actually quite good.

Musically, the five piece is interesting, with interesting song structures; for example the opening track, Opus One, has two very different verse riffs, thus bringing into dispute whether it is a verse or not. Vulpic has two seperate choruses. Tension Grid has about 5 different verse styles. There are, in addition, many excellent riffs. The vocalist, while he at first seemed to be a little shipshod, actually grew on me the more I listened, and on the whole is rather good

It is worth noting, however, that the band has recently expanded from a four-piece to a five-piece, with the drummer taking up the duties of second guitarist, with the intention, according to Ross, the drummer-cum-guitarist, to "fill out our sound more and create complimenting guitar parts", which will certainly enhance the music, I feel. This should give their next release a more interesting flavour, which I am certainly looking forward to.

Lyrically, it is somewhat of a mixed bag - there are several moments of poetic excellence: "This spark of different colours; / A vulpic flare." (Vulpic) and "Sleep, baby, sleep. / Til the demons have gone away. / They prowl the night in search of loving homes." and the iambic "It's time to tame the Tension Grid" (both from Tension Grid) strike me as brilliant. However, there is the somewhat clichéd political song, with the immortal (in as much as that they just won't die) lines "While the rich stay rich & the poor get poorer." (Break My Faith). However, this is their first release; you must give them time to find their feet.

However, as you reach the end of the up-til-then mediocre EP, you find Tension Grid, which is much more of a magnum opus than Opus One was. At 12 minutes, it makes up about a third of the time, but is by far the best song: lyrically excellent, musically more diverse and interesting and in general just rather good. Here, everything fits together a lot better, nothing seems contrived (although there are a couple of moments of atrocious cheesiness) and you can see why Coheed & Cambria felt that they could promote them - indeed, this song sounds very much like the aforementioned band both melodically (to a certain extent) and structurally, and the lyrics, whilst on a completely different subject, hold an air that is not too dissimilar from Sanchez's works. It is for this reason that I felt this EP worth a few moments of your time.

Summary: An interesting final song, making an otherwise common-or-garden EP much more worthwhile.
Lyrical Themes: Love, politics and Tension Grids
Rating: 7/10

Track listing:
1. Opus One
2. Vulpic
3. Break My Faith
4. Catharsis
5. Tension Grid

Bandcamp
Download

Gravity

Genre: Alternative Rock
Name: Gravity
Album: Demos, 2011

Plugs are shocking...

Greetings,

I haven't posted in a while because I've been on an "in-tents" military overnight for a while, and have a lot of work at the moment. However, I now am at liberty to give you a variety of musical treats, starting with this one.

Now, I'll come clean - this is somewhat of a plug. Gravity are not my band, but they are the band of a friend of mine, who has rather exceptional musical taste; we're currently planning to go to see Dream Theater in the summer. As a result, now that they have some recorded material, I felt obliged to put up their demos as somewhat of an advertisement for them. Note, however, that I am doing this of my own accord, and have not been put up to it by anyone, and nor would I give you anything that I didn't think was worth a listen myself.

However, rest assured that this is not just your run-of-the-mill teenage band who will soon fizzle into nothing; quite the contrary, I believe. They have, despite being in their infant stages, already performed with one Reginald D. Hunter, an exceptional comedian who has appeared on Have I Got News For You several times, amongst other things. They are, I believe, On The Way.

They have an interesting musical background - the primary songwriter cannot read music, but plays the piano by ear, and can "sweep-pick" its entire 8 octaves blindfolded, but has never had formal teaching. The drummer is also an excellent guitarist, and has somewhat detailed knowledge of the technical side of musical equipment, having made amplifiers in the shape of a deathbat before. In addition, he is an exceptional guitarist. Musically, they are somewhere in the orbit of Muse - not quite progressive, and not quite avant garde, but tending towards both of those areas. There are hints of jazz, metal and various other genres. In short, they are certainly worthy of a quarter of one of your earth hours to listen to these four tracks.

Track listing:
Starfire
City Of Angels
Aerodynamic
Into Blue

They can be heard and downloaded for free here.

Demenzia - Faces (single)

Genre: Death Metal
Name: Demenzia
Two-faced bands...


Greetings.

Not much for you this time, I'm afraid; I have but a single to offer you. However, the astute amongst you will have noted the unusual choice of genre, for me at least, so clearly all is not lost.

Demenzia originally were a doom metal band, which is how they appeared on my radar. However, when I listened to their single on youtube, I found death metal - but good death metal. As a result, I shall share it with you. Enjoy the keyboards!

Rating: 8/10

Track listing:
1. Faces

Download

Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here

Genre: Prog, New Prog
Name: Anathema
Album: We're Here Because We're Here, 2010
No more are they subject to the Anathema...

Anathema, one of the original Peaceville three, never really seemed to hold a place in my heart as a really good band. This was for a number of reasons, partly my annoyance that they gave up being a doom metal band, as did Paradise Lost, with only My Dying Bride retaining, in my eyes, some form of integrity; I perceived that the others had sold out. As a result, I didn't follow either career with a great deal of interest, which is why it's taken close to a year for me to actually listen to this release.

Certainly, it is nothing like the original Anathema. It bears little or no resemblance to An Iliad of Woes or Serenades, with their low-tuned guitars and heavy atmosphere. But that is because it is now a completely different genre. Anathema, once the pioneers of doom metal, are now not even part of that scene.

I'll admit that this is old news for many of you; they've been drifting this way since Eternity. However, for those readers who were not aware of the band's history, I felt it important to make this clear. This album, I think, is somewhat of the antithesis of doom metal, and therefore, once you know the background, the inception of Anathema's career, it bears witness to their excellent talent as musicians, that they are capable of composing music in such a wide variety of styles.

This album, I feel, is the epitome of New Prog, a combination of progressive metal and rock with alternative music, and showcased in bands like Coheed And Cambria and The Mars Volta. The album showcases this excellently, combining heavy sections that are indubitably metal with light, atmospheric sections that would be hard pushed to be called rock. As a result, you have an album which fills the roles both of background and foreground music, something you put on and also something you listen to.

It comes, of course, with an extensive credentials. My first thoughts of this album were that it sounded like a heavier version of Porcupine Tree, and I was not mistaken in my sensing of Steven Wilson's hand in this work (He, and Jordan Rudess, seem to be appearing on everything I listen to at the moment) - he produced and mixed the album. On the exceptionally well-written keyboards, you find Les "Lecter" Smith, of Cradle Of Filth (Specifically, he was on, amongst others, the album Cruelty And The Beast, one of their best). Beyond this, you have the Finnish singer Ville Valo making a guest appearence on Angels Walk Among Us. And, of course, you have the Cavanagh trio and the Douglases making up Anathema. In short, it has got an excellent cast.

Musically, it's very well good. There are a range of vocal styles and vocalists, combined with the occasional use of samples, all of which combine to carry the album. The guitar work is excellent, as is the bass. The drumming is very well done, at times the background and at times leading the piece. But the keyboards are by far the best instrument in this album, creating excellent atmospheres and stunning music. To point any track out as the best would be to undermine any others, and it is their role as an album that makes We're Here Because We're Here so great. Each song is brought in by the one before it and carries into the one after it so gracefully and elegantly to say that any individual piece is better than any other is to say that you like that corner of the painting more than anything else within it. It is the painting as a whole, the album as a whole, that is so excellent, and why this one is worth a listen.

Summary: A must for Porcupine Tree fans; brilliant new prog.
Lyrical Themes: the philosophical and actual roles of love and the fragility of human life.
Rating: 8/10

Track listing:
1. Thin Air
2. Summernight Horizon
3. Dreaming Light
4. Everything
5. Angels Walk Among Us
6. Presence
7. A Simple Mistake
8. Get Off, Get Out
9. Universal
10. Hindsight

Website
Download

Ava Inferi - The Silhouette

Genre: Doom, Funeral
Name: Ava Inferi
Album: The Silhouette, 2007
The Hell of Birds

Once again, I didn't post something at the weekend. This was a combination of concerts, paintballing and sheer laziness. Still, I got round to it eventually

Whilst searching for tickets to see My Dying Bride this summer in London, I came across the opening act, Ava Inferi. A little research later, and I thought they'd be worth a listen, especially since they described themselves as "soul" on their myspace page. However, whilst that aspect was clear to see on the one song provided, I did not find it so with this album - certainly they were doom, but no other label can be moulded to their shape, I feel.

The Silhouette was certainly worth a listen, however. For a start, somewhat unusually for doom metal bands, there are only clean, female vocals throughout this album, which adds for a bit of variety amongst other such bands - indeed, there is even a purely vocal song, Oathbound, which features a slightly odd choir. In addition, the piano, so often overused by doom bands, makes only a brief appearance here, but is used very well in The Dual Keys. The guitars consistently play decent riffs, and the drums avoid standard and dull rhythms, notably on Viola. All in all, it seems very good.

However, there are a couple of minor flaws. Firstly, there is an over-reliance on samples - the album opens with the recording of a beach, which is fine in itself; the very next track, rain begins to patter on something like corrugated iron (or maybe they've just spilt some frozen peas); later on you find clips of fire, by which point it is getting a bit wearing, and then, towards the end, you can hear sounds of either digging or footsteps or some general sounds from the leaf-litter, which is not only unclear but now nearly downright annoying.

This is really just part of a grander point - although the tracks were individually good, as an album, The Silhouette was not particularly coherent. Take, for example, tracks 7 and 8. La Stanza Nera ends rather abruptly, which isn't a problem, but then Grin Of Winter comes in, with a grating and generally irritating beginning, which would have been far better out of context. This album has the flow of a river, on level ground, in the middle of the desert, during the dry season, and which isn't actually a river, but rather just a large, unmoving rock.


Summary: Good songs, poorly ordered. Listen to it on shuffle.

Lyrical Themes: Nature, Despair, Love, Death

Rating: 6.5/10

Track listing:
1. A Dança das Ondas
2. Viola
3. The Abandoned
4. Oathbound
5. The Dual Keys
6. Wonders of Dusk
7. La Stanza Nera
8. Grin of Winter
9. Pulse of the Earth

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