Album Rating: 5.0

Incredible album agreed. I really want them to continue in this direction. Perfect mixture for my tastes.

Album Rating: 5.0

Agreed hard.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

perfect mix of perfect stuff agreed

Album Rating: 4.0

this got the same antihype as sunbather did

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

what means antihype?

Album Rating: 5.0

>this got the same antihype as sunbather did



I never liked Sunbather much but it really did.



In other news - Saw these dudes open for Emperor the other night. Absolutely mesmerizing on a bigger stage too. Played all of this and Vitrification. Monstrous live sound.

Album Rating: 5.0

Crazy how this went from lukewarm for me to one of my fav albums of all-time.

Album Rating: 5.0

"what means antihype?"



Some folks resented Sunbather's word-of-mouth success and general approach to blackgaze at the time because the band were pushing against the common aesthetic. They got a lot of unearned criticism from people who didn't like that blackgaze had suddenly become popular within the metal community.



Absolute Elsewhere was similarly derided with folks even claiming that this was a major label sellout album when it was just a bunch of talented dudes releasing an incredible album that similarly benefitted from rapid word-of-mouth to the disdain of the dissenters. A metal album can be good, but it shouldn't have mass appeal or else!



Glad you finally came around, Hawks. I loved it from day one.

Album Rating: 5.0

Hell yeah brother.

Album Rating: 5.0

"A metal album can be good, but it shouldn't have mass appeal or else!"



It's funny how that can be such a strong sentiment--as if something becoming popular instantly ruins its quality. I wonder why that is?

Album Rating: 3.5

“Crazy how this went from lukewarm for me to one of my fav albums of all-time.”



Seeing them live def made me appreciate them more, I’m not as high on this album as you are but that was absolutely (elsewhere) one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. Incredible performance

Album Rating: 5.0

"It's funny how that can be such a strong sentiment--as if something becoming popular instantly ruins its quality. I wonder why that is?"



And the thing about that is that hundreds of metal bands through the past half-century have proven that popularity and quality are not inversely related things. Nor is there necessarily a causal relationship between the two. But you cannot simultaneously hope for a band's success while deriding them for gaining exposure. Financial success and stability cannot be achieved without exposure and without positive word of mouth. BI just had the added benefit of the label promoting the shit out of it (just like LoG had Hawks running promo for them last month hehe) which also turned noses because it could be perceived as artificial hype (akin to what Deafheaven were accused of with Sunbather). God forbid a label generate hype for a genuinely fantastic album.



TL;DR: Commercialization and mass market appeal of "niche metal" isn't cool to some but a must-have for bands wanting to stick around and elitists and gatekeepers can't have it both ways.

Album Rating: 5.0

This is just a damn good album, with a very interesting sound. I think I prefer Hidden History of The Human Race by a bit, but it’s cool how this band can pull of this album without the Prog and Psychedelia sounding gimmicky. Truly one of the best of this decade.

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah I'm with Christbait here. I think a lot of that "popular is bad" sentiment is a combination of narrow minded-thinking and some weird ego defense mechanism for people who invest too much of their personality into being "the only person who knows about this band".

Album Rating: 5.0

Same here Wildcard!

Album Rating: 3.5

Stuff does typically get worse when it gets more commercial, yes lol.

Album Rating: 3.5

don't think this is commercial in any way lol

Album Rating: 3.5

Oh it's not, yeah.

Album Rating: 4.5

have seen this played in full twice now, very very strong live band and album continues to hold up with time

I love this album.... but admittedly thought it was a little boring live.