[B]Mushroomhead - Exploiting Your Weakness[/B] - 7/10

Mushroomhead has always been a bit of an anomaly to me as a band, i've never really explored them because nu-metal is not my genre however they seem to be one of those bands that should be more popular and well known then they actually are. I've had a casual listen to some of their music, and can't say i've enjoyed it much but it's listenable enough.

Exploiting Your Weakness sounds exactly as i thought it would. It's a vaguely industrial sounding nu-metal track, with lots of dropped down chugging and the kind of screaming rap that is typical of several nu-metal groups. From the pounding tom intro the song is set with another nu-metal staple, the repeated phrase. The repetition of "the mind is a sponge, absorbing your secrets, the body's at one, exploiting your weakness" brings to mind the "I am the push that makes you move.", "you can't kill me cause i'm already inside you" kind of motif favoured by Slipknot lyrically. It's got a pop hook to it, and does dig into your head. It builds up to another lyrical section accompanied by some palm-muted chugs, then after this explodes into a chorus kind of section which is just some unmuted metal guitar over the same rhythm.

After this comes something unusual, a kind of keyboard led bridge which was a little out of left field and i wasn't expecting. The toms keep on rolling, then we go into a section that reminds me of "25 years" by Pantera where the guitar just kind of stop on a dime, silence between each chug with some singing over the top. The keyboard returns, then some fills to vary the mix rhythmically. After this back to the chugs, and a short bridge with something of a keyboard solo. It then fades back into the same rhythm that opened the song, and explodes back into that chorus section i mentioned before. After this, another section. It features what sounds like yelping and a palm muted riff, after this everything stops and some sweeping digital distortion fades out.

It's not a bad song, nothing great though. Someone who is mad in the head for nu-metal might like it a lot more.

[B]Songs[/B]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Alcest - Tír na nÓg (?)
The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes (Punk/Folk)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

so it is, never trust track tags

bump

[b]The Pogues - A Pair Of Brown Eyes[/b]

I've seen this band mentioned so many times, and finally I get to listen to them.

It starts of pretty much how I expected it would, but slow and in 6/8. For those playing at home, I mean it has a melodic mixture of accordion, banjo, guitar, drums and a guy that can shout, can't sing, but has a go anyway. There's no British accent for some reason, are they Australian?

The music itself has the feeling-sorry-for-itself feel, sad and fixing it with alcohol. The guy is singing about how he got drunk and wants to meet a girl with brown eyes? I can't really follow it as I'm typing this as it plays. I think he says a bomb hit the place he was in and someone who rescued him had brown eyes... as these types of songs seem to be about.

Not much changes for a while. There's a chorusy thing which could be more chanted or have rowdy backing vocals, but it doesn't. How conservative.

Another verse about something totally different, I don't see how the brown eyes bit fits in here. Maybe it's a recurring theme through his life or something. The music is nice but doesn't change much at all. I couldn't take too much of this sound at once. One song is fine, but a whole album would get to me.


This type of music doesn't grab me too much, I see it more as a novelty than a serious thing, unless they have an awesome, engaging story, such as A Tale They Won't Believe. But when they try to be too serious, most of it just gets filtered out in my mind. If I knew the right songs, I would probably get into this kind of music. This song didn't do anything for me. It would probably bore me if I listened too much.
6.5/10

________________________

[b]Dead Letter Circus - Alien[/b] .. Deftones-y & Dredg-y trippy rock
in a recent Daily Upload, or ask me if you aren't on it and I'll link you.
[b]Al Di Meola - Mercy Street[/b] .. jazzy/contemporary
[b]HORSE The Band - Hyperborea[/b] .. technical hardcore
[b]Electric Light Orchestra - Yours Truly, 2095[/b] .. 80's synth rock

[QUOTE=blueyxd;14908930]There's no British accent for some reason, are they Australian?[/QUOTE]

Irish as they come.

[QUOTE=blueyxd;14908930]This type of music doesn't grab me too much, I see it more as a novelty than a serious thing, unless they have an awesome, engaging story, such as A Tale They Won't Believe. But when they try to be too serious, most of it just gets filtered out in my mind. If I knew the right songs, I would probably get into this kind of music. This song didn't do anything for me. It would probably bore me if I listened too much[/QUOTE]

I really love that song atm, i find it nicely beautiful once you get used to Shane McGowan's voice. Makes me think of sitting around in the summer sun drinking beer. I can understand what you mean though, it perhaps works better in the context of it's album i'd have to say.

A couple of other songs by The Pogues i might suggest are [I]The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn[/I], [I]The Old Main Drag[/I], and [I]The Band Played Waltzing Matilda[/I] if you're looking for a better introduction. They have an engaging story to them, and are heaps of fun to listen to as the band fuses a punk influence in their themes with traditional Irish folk music ([I]The Band Played Waltzing Matilda[/I] is much more the latter though). [I]A Pistol For Paddy Garcia[/I] is an excellent instrumental as well. Hell get the whole album, [I]Rum, Sodomy & The Lash[/I].

haha are they australian????

haha are eliminator australian????

I'll check out the other tracks because faster pace seems to suit that music better.

beeyouempee

^^^

Dude,if you cange the Dead Letter Circus song ill do it....I honestly think Alien is the worst song on their ep.Not bad...but just not as fun as the rest.

No because the point of this whole thing is that you've never heard the song

[QUOTE=PeEpHoLe_10;14915864]^^^

Dude,if you cange the Dead Letter Circus song ill do it....I honestly think Alien is the worst song on their ep.Not bad...but just not as fun as the rest.[/QUOTE]
No way, it's my favourite, it has been since I first saw them live.

Dand is right, you already know their songs, so there is no point in you reviewing one. You are more than welcome to have a go of the others, as long as you haven't heard it before.

Could you email me mercy street blueyxd? I'm having trouble finding it (and the other songs for that matter)

[email]haz567@gmail.com[/email]

I'll try something, but on dialup at home so uploading takes a while. It reckons it'll take 30 minutes to finish.

Okay thanks m8 i got it will have it done it a bit.

[B]Al Di Meola - Mercy Street[/B]

After listening to Al Di Meola's Elegant Gypsy i was eager to hear this, and i'm not disappointed.

Once again it's an instrumental piece, there is not a lot of variation in sections here so it is difficult to describe it in such a manner. Right up i can say this is a beautiful song, very relaxing with a world music vibe to it. I don't know if there is only a single guitar track here, but there are some very nice choices of notes being played. A lot of the rhythm seems to be based on some quickly strummed arpeggios here and there that lead into some other instrumental part following up on it in in the same key, between the guitar and the piano track there are some truly beautiful moments. As far as i can tell there is no bass track or an indistinguishable one at least, the guitar provides all the bass the song needs. A simple drum pattern keeps the song together, and towards the end sections it becomes a little more prominent with some changes.

Once again it's a beautiful song and an excellent instrumental, but discussing it in detail is difficult because there is a simple rhythm structure to it with some guitar noodling and piano over the top. Putting it this way it sounds deceptively like there's not much to it but this is not true, the instruments being played are varied and pleasing to listen to. Good song.

9/10

[B]Songs[/B]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Alcest - Tír na nÓg (?)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

all those songsz r gay

[QUOTE=Eliminator;14927316]all those songsz r gay[/QUOTE]

nice review

bump

all those eliminatorz r gay

There's probably a couple of guitar tracks in that song, it's beautiful music.
dee-eye-bee-ess

[b]Alcest - Tir Nan Og[/b]
I can't see any reference to it being titled in the way SOP said.
For something that was tagged black metal on last.fm, this is certainly not what I expected.

It starts with a very bouncy and melodic frenchy/celtic folk sound. I can hear butterflies, summer sunshine, rolling meadows of green grass and a stream. More-body-than-ethereal vocals float through the music, sounding a bit like Cocteau Twins. I don't know what they are saying, could be French, or just "aahhh" type non-word vocals. This continues for a while, the vocals getting more and more airy as it goes on. It's easy to get lost in and very relaxing... makes me wish it was summer here (even more than I already do, which is a lot).

2 minutes in, it changes slightly, different guitar and vocals, but still in the same bouncy feel.

At 3 minutes - about half way through, a single fingerpicked guitar, with lots of sustain starts playing a totally new theme. It sounds a bit like a middle section of a Dream Theater song, but doesn't fit in with the preceeding parts.

After a bit of this, it's back to the fields of rabbits and deers and peace. That middle section really doesn't fit as the song heads back to this part. It does break up the repetitiveness of the bookend sections, but it's just wrong.

I quite like the folk part, and I don't think it would be excessively repetitive without the intermission. However, it might need a bit of a buildup in that case.
Nice
7.5/10

__________________________________________
a mixed bag

Dead Letter Circus - Alien
Conjure One - Pilgrimage
HORSE The Band - Hyperborea
Spin Doctors - Refrigerator Car
Peccatum - Black Star
Modest Mouse - Little Motel
Salmonella Dub - Problems

dibs

[B]HORSE the band - Hyperborea[/B]

After a brief moment of guitar feedback at the beginning this a straight up aural assault similar to DEP with the off timings. Most of the song is very metalcore, loud and heavy with some shouting over the top. The keyboard in this sounds a bit out of place in tone, a lot of breaks leave it hanging there in the air and it sounds weird with all the cutting guitars and screaming in between. It sort of works, it just sounds kind of like a weak industrial style electronic effect. There's lots of crazy drum fills, and really there's not much else you can say about this song about from that it's very loud and headache inducing. I didn't mind it.

6/10

[B]Songs[/B]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Faith No More - The Crab Song (Funk Metal)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)

bump

I've heard 'em all, unfortunately.

re-bump

Mate, if you pick a different band I'll have a go.

some you might not of heard -

Eden - The Darkness In Me (Goth Indie?)
Jeff Lang - Goin' Out West (Folk)
Guitar Wolf - Fujiyama Attack (Japanese Punk)

Dibs on: Faith No More - The Crab Song (Funk Metal)

Review For The Crab Song-Faith No More: The first half of this song starts out wtih some guy talking and a guitar(with imo crappy tone) playing the same chord arpeggiated slowly over and over. It's actually kinda funny, I'm not sure if it was serious or not. From what I gather its about a guy who got into an arguement with his girl but "He didnt mean it!". The first half is pretty suck...Then it picks up and sounds sounds like punkish I guess(best way I could describe it)and I actually enjoyed the second half other than the guys vocals, he just sounds like a fag whining in some parts.


I give it a 4/10. They should have made it two different 2.5 minute songs imo.


Songs:

Orange Goblin -The Man Who Invented Time

Candlemass-Cry From The Crypt

Cattle Decapitation-Stench From The Dumpster and Bludgeoned, Beaten, And Barbecued (Both like 30ish seconds so just do them both)

Saint Vitus-Look Behind You

All I can think of right now... <_<

hmmm

dibs on Candlemass

[B]Candlemass - A Cry From The Crypt[/B]

Doom metal is known for doomlike, sludgy riffs and this song lives up to pretty much what i expected. The only other song i have heard by Candlemass was [I]Bewitched[/I], which is a great song with a hilariously bad film clip (look at my avatar if you need any proof). This song is not much different in style.

The opening section is suitably apocalyptic, with chugging guitars and a slow drum beat. It's harmonised with a lead part after this for a section, then a slight change in pace with a thrash/power metal riff reminiscent of Iron Maiden/Manowar that is the crux of the verses. The singer has a booming operatic voice to rival Bruce Dickinson, there's something enchanting about his delivery which i find very suitable for this kind of pretentiously dark ethereal music that gives it credibility (unfortunately once again i can't get the image out of my head about him being the silly fat [SIZE="2"]cu[/SIZE]nt in the coffin from [I]Bewitched[/I]). Never mind.

The song gets across the feeling of darkness, depression and evil coming through your speakers which is perhaps it's purpose. It holds this tone throughout the whole song, but there's enough variation between several musical sections to hold interest.

8/10

[B]Songs[/B]

Ween - It's Gonna Be A Long Night (Rock)
Eden - The Darkness In Me (Goth Indie)
Impaler - Malignant Dreams (Death Metal)
Black Sabbath - After Forever (Classic Rock/Metal)
Soundgarden - Gun (Grunge)