Album Rating: 4.5

The next few days until release are gonna go so slow.

acceptance is rarely trivial to reach..

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Haven't read review yet but quickly - is this seriously as good as black mile? Or is this just an obligatory 5

Album Rating: 5.0

My final paragraph sort of expounds upon where I feel it should rank in their catalog. Sonically, it's right on the same plane as Simple Math and Black Mile. Simple Math has the instrumental edge, Black Mile has the emotional component, and this one is more fluid and cinematic. In my humblest of personal opinions:



Black Mile > Simple Math = Masks > Virgin > METN > Cope

Album Rating: 4.0

Really great review, Sowing. I can't wait to listen to this.

Album Rating: 5.0

Also, since the cat's basically out of the bag at this point review-wise, here's my early song ranking:

(I had to email the band's PR to make sure it was okay to publish this - they'd originally restricted pre-release coverage, but I think they rescinded that when tons of other publication [ahem, NME, line of best fit] started ignoring them and posting their pieces anyway)

1. Obstacle

2. Annie

3. The Internet

4. Dinosaur

5. Inaudible

6. Bed Head

7. Angel of Death

8. Telepath

9. Keel Timing

10. Let It Storm

11. Way Back

Every song is at least a 3.5/5, but even the best songs here don't reach the heights of The Silence or Lead, SD. My top 4-5 in that ranking are all like 4.75's.

Album Rating: 5.0

Thanks Fuzzy. I got sucked into a wormhole dissecting the lyrics. At first they seemed so cryptic to the point that I was really disappointed, but the more I saw how they linked them to other songs within the album and then by extension to Black Mile, it was one of those *mind blown* moments where I no longer cared that they didn't have the same poignant eloquence as ABMTTS - it was just so neat to see how they made the puzzle pieces fit together.

Album Rating: 4.5

I had no idea this existed until this morning lmao

Album Rating: 4.5

Holy fucking shit

Dude, get an editor.

Album Rating: 3.0

Is there like a leak

Album Rating: 5.0

"Dude, get an editor."

My mom looked this over and she loves it. Does that count?



"Is there like a leak"

Nope. Although I'm betting a lot of people's pre-orders will arrive before the official release date.

Album Rating: 4.5

"My mom looked this over and she loves it. Does that count?"

This is the only thing that matters honestly



I am beyond hype for this, Friday is gonna be a great day

Coming friday packs alot of releases but I will certainly only jam this. Beyond hyped.

Album Rating: 4.0

sowing I love you and this review and this band



I'm so hype, I was sorta happy that nothing else on the release chart looked interesting to me so I can devote all of Friday to this

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Does Keel Timing work better within the record? Because I'll be honest and admit that I'm not impressed with that track at all as a single.

Album Rating: 5.0

Cheers Project! I worked pretty tirelessly on this review, and am still not totally content with it, but it dives into the themes/lyrics which is something that I feel is necessary in order to appreciate it on a deeper level than "oooh shiny". The other reviews I've read so far (NME, Line of Best Fit, Slant Magazine) mostly just touch on what it sounds like sonically, which in my opinion is sort of a disservice to the month that we all had with the promo to digest it and formulate/articulate more elaborate insights.



Also, new song tonight:

https://twitter.com/ManchesterOrch/status/1386769401609822211?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Album Rating: 5.0

"Does Keel Timing work better within the record? Because I'll be honest and admit that I'm not impressed with that track at all as a single."

In my opinion, it very much does. The track grew on me independently before I ever received the promo though, so if you still dislike it then that's not a very good omen. However, the entire album is fluid and every song bleeds into the next - and then a lot of the songs callback to previous ones, and the entire experience sort of becomes a sphere.

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I absolutely adore Bed Head, I think it's an utter songwriting accomplishment, but based solely on listening to the tracks in isolation, I can't help but feel MO whiffed on Keel Timing. It just feels clunky and disjointed, feels like a pale imitation of Bed Head in a lot of ways, and most fundamentally just doesn't build up to much of anything. It kind of has the vibe of "conventional rock band adds electric drums to intro to be innovative because they have no other fresh ideas." Which I know is absolutely unfair and untrue to the band, but that's the feeling I get from the track.



But the concept of the record, as you and Andy himself has described it, sounds really exciting, and that cohesion and fluidity throughout the album, those melodic motifs, might very well lift that track up, allow it to build up to something within the record that's not solely accomplished in the track itself. The band, and your enthusiasm, still have me hooked.

Album Rating: 5.0

I initially felt the same way you do about 'Keel Timing'. It's still not one of the album's best songs in my opinion, however certain parts really flourish now: that "ooo-ooo-oooh" after "So hold me down, yeah all I do is repeat myself", and then the way it swells to that final verse "Now I’m awake and I don’t know how". It sort of is a prequel to 'Bed Head' in a lot of ways, but that's certainly the better of the two tracks.



Regardless, I feel like the whole electronic demonry thing they had going on in the percussion of those two songs is a red herring; the album is like a happier Black Mile and sounds the part of that record and/or Simple Math -- sleek, glistening, epic.