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Album Rating: 3.5
This seemed really great overall based on first listen. I'm happy that the two songs I heard previously didn't turn out to be the best. The only thing I didn't expect to be saying is that the harsh vocals are used too sparingly. For example, "Sick" would have sounded a lot better if the majority of it wasn't sung. His voice isn't able to pull off any sort of real aggressive tone without the screams.
Check out the song "With Death"... love that one. Yeah, that was definitely my favorite. "Breaking Through" stood out as well.
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the clean vocals on this are hard to stomach for a long period of time. top notch production though.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off
I honestly think that listening to years of Voivod actually helps prepare people for this guy's voice ;)
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great review, gonna pick this up later
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This was really good
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Album makes me think of Haken with more balls.
The 3.5 may be a little generous; the album feels pretty sterile to me.
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I think the vocalist has potential =) The ending to With death is a pretty badass.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I acutally think it is a decent album - maybe it will grow on me. And I definetly think its a good thing that they used some shrieks - otherwise they would sound like a mix of Dream Theater - but obviously less self-indulgent - and Porcupine Tree.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Dream theater copy?
I hereby retract this statement after listening for 20 min. This is awesome
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
However after listening to this, it's pretty sick. Monster is legit
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Listening to the stream for the third time in a row, the record is okay, as in a 3-3.5/5 rating.
Music is so and so for the most part, despite the really cool heavy parts and the use of extreme vocals.
There is a certain imbalance between the more melodic and the extreme parts, imho.
Clean vocals indeed bring in mind Snake from Voivod, yet they are pretty one-dimensional. The extreme ones are pretty good though.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off
Fair enough. I like the music and the imbalance. I agree that the vocals need a bit of work, but not enough to ruin the album.
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I don't understand how stuff like this is considered Prog nowadays. I get that there's a sound associated with the genre, but in my opinion there's really nothing here that we haven't heard before...the singing is generic and mostly unpleasant, which is a shame since vocals are usually the first factor to ruin a band or album for me. The overall sound of the album is OK, a bit much compression and the arena-style snare reverb just makes me sigh .
Maybe it's just got too much of that American rock vibe..makes me think of musty cigarette smell and chicks who wear black eye makeup.
Interesting 'prog' lately, to me, has been more in the Djent arena (not to say, however, that Djent is the only genre being advanced) -everyone's racing to come up with the craziest chord progressions, integrate more and more musical styles, and the production is generally excellent (aside from everyone insisting on using the same drum samples). An example of a recent album would be 'Disperse - Journey Through the Hidden Gardens', - and they're totally overhauling their sound for the next release.
I'm not trying to stop anyone from enjoying this, or persuade them that there's something wrong with it....it's just not for me, and i'm sometimes baffled at how many bands proclaim they're pushing the boundaries when there's nothing to distinguish them from their peers.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Agree with xopethx. This would feel like prog to me 10 years ago. Maybe I need to listen to this more,
but.. it really doesn't feel like prog. I don't think my opinions gonna change that much. Listening to
a Fear Factory riff from 1994 in Monster right now... Now it's a lead part I could hear in half the
power metal bands around.. wtf, man.
It's got potential... I'm waiting to be surprised/impressed, though...
But yeah, Djent does definitely have more progressive rhythms and chord progressions than most prog I
hear.
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What's with all these XinsertnamehereX nubbies?
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This is still prog. I don't get what you guys are getting it. Just cause there are others who may sound the same doesn't mean it isn't prog.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off
I'm going to copy those names and look through the Prog Archives user base because they have to be long-standing members. That's the kind of asinine bullshit you read all of the time over there.
I get that there's a sound associated with the genre, but in my opinion there's really nothing here that we haven't heard before So, once a band has done a certain sound, no other band can be considered 'prog' if it is too similar? The funny thing is that I even addressed this issue in the opening paragraph and there's still there anal people coming in and trying to split hairs.
Interesting 'prog' lately, to me, has been more in the Djent arena This part (plus the screen name) has me thinking 'troll'. How can you say these guys aren't prog because their sound has been done before and then throw out metal's current worse offender when it comes to doing the same shit as everyone else as the great saving alternative?
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I've been a member of Prog Archives, but I've signed in once like 3 years ago and don't remember
credibility in that website. Something about how the quality of music should be considered in
regards to enjoyment and exploration of new ideas, not how progressive it is by specific qualities
they seem to chase. Refined experimentation = prog. Djent is a newer sound with aspects being
explored that are more engaging and newer than what these guys are doing. Everything here sounds
familiar. I don't think Djent is better than all new prog, or that every band in the genre is wildly
original; It's pretty easy to replicate. But I see Djent being a prog genre when you take the stupid
name out, when you look at the way things are structured and the consistent intertwining of
radically different genres by it's more talented artists. Progression = moving forward. This sounds
more like someone took a snapshot of the prominent early/mid-2000s prog scene and tried to find
different ways to mix and match key qualities. Still great, I'm definitely digging the record, it
just feels more like what "traditional prog" has become. I can make comparisons to major progressive
acts (largely Devin Townsend, Pain of Salvation, Dream Theater, and Symphony X, the latter two of
which I barely consider prog anymore) from 10 years ago during just about every part with little
distinct separation apart from self-identity, which is great and should be a standard quality. It's
a great expansion from that sound, it's just more of an expansion than a progression.
From what I remember, wouldn't prog archives be more for this album?
And wait, they're trying to push djent as a progressive genre there? That seems unlikely...
I've been around here for like 5 years, commenting occasionally, not getting too involved with
anything argumentative. I'd change my name if I could/knew how to.
I really don't see why I have to be hounded for voicing and supporting a pretty valid opinion.
The other guy, either. We're making it a point that we're not bashing the album, we just don't think
it's really progressive by our definitions/in an overall standpoint now. Seems more like you're
trolling us (why even mention prog archives?) or just can't stand what some would consider the real
meaning of "progressive".
Of course this is all my opinion and I'm not forcing it on anyone, I've just always felt like a big
prog-head and am sick of hearing the same prog. It shouldn't ever be like that.
I'm just nit-picky. Not trying to start feuds.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off
Something about how the quality of music should be considered in regards to enjoyment and exploration of new ideas, not how progressive it is by specific qualities they seem to chase. Yeah, Prog Archives members seem to spend too much time debating what is and isn't prog and bitching about minor
details instead of just figuring out if an album can remotely fit into the genre, and, more importantly, whether it's even enjoyable. Which is what you two seemed to be doing.
Refined experimentation = prog ... Progression = moving forward That's the issue that I mentioned in the first paragraph. Progressive metal doesn't particularly mean moving forward. It's more about complicated ideas, refined approaches and musicianship. It is beginning to mean 'progression' overall,
though, and that's what I was talking about. You have OSI, Cynic, Meshuggah, Protest the Hero, etc. that can all fit into the progressive metal genre (usually under some sub-genre, but that's splitting hairs again) without sounding anything alike. The genre is progressing even if individual bands aren't always pushing their
own individual boundaries. This particular band has taken the traditional prog metal and melded it with those Fear Factory style of bands, and while it's nothing ground breaking, it's still definitely under the genre of progressive metal.
Dream Theater, and Symphony X, the latter two of which I barely consider prog anymore I just don't see how you can do that. They both definitely fall within the genre of progressive metal even if they've failed to progress much since their debuts. The genre doesn't have to imply progression for
individual bands. It's more of a loose set of ground rules and guidelines that allow the genre itself to be 'progressive' even if the bands stick to their core sounds. Moonspell have progressed their sound in new and interesting ways, but aren't progressive metal. Same with Paradise Lost, Carcass, The Cure, Dark Tranquillity,
Deadlock, etc...
I really don't see why I have to be hounded for voicing and supporting a pretty valid opinion. The other guy, either. I wasn't referring to your name. I was referring to the 'Opeth' guy trying to explain what prog 'really is' and then mentioning Djent. It just seemed like something a bored sputniker would do.
I referred to prog archives because it's the kind of asinine discussion I've seen there whenever I've checked out the site.
Anyway, if you're sick of the same prog, check out Thought Industry - Mods Carve the Pig.
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Just commenting to say this album art is the ugliest pile of crap I've seen in a while.
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