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User
Reviews 4
Approval 86%
Soundoffs 137
News Articles 19
Band Edits + Tags 9
Album Edits 36
Album Ratings 1208
Objectivity 89%
Last Active 07-06-10 6:31 pm
Joined 02-05-08
Review Comments 3,726
| Top 100 Of '09, Pt. 1
'09 has been an amazing year for music. So fantastic that I couldnt help but make a top 100. Though I havent heard everything, I've heard enough that narrowing down a top 100 was pretty hard bawls. So this is part 1. 100 - 76 | | 1 |  | Scale The Summit
Carving Desert Canyons
100. Instrumental rock or metal has always been pretty irrelevant to me. With artists like Buckethead, and numerous others I've been showed there has been nothing that has really kept my attention and stopped me from keeping their records to a one listener. And Scale The Summit's my opinuin hasn't really changed. I mean obviously they are fantastic musicians, with skillful quitarsolos thrown in at tasteful times and drumming that is very exceptional, but as with other instrumental albums it seems that this record is only here for just that. To show how good of musicians they are. It lacks atmosphere, diversity and emotion, and everything is pretty monotone, meaning each track is indistinguishable from eachother. But with the great musicianship there is an obvious fun factor, but thats all that this album or band seems to have to offer, having next to no emotional value, turning their "shreddtasticness" into more of a crutch then anything else. | | 2 |  | Poison The Well
The Tropic Rot
99. From the three or four records I have heard from the metalcore act Poison The Well, The Tropic Rot is easily their best, but with that being said, is this really worth a listen? Well if your a fan of the band then obviously, get on this bitch hard, but if not then maybe get Pamplemousse and Are You Anywhere? and go on your way. It's not that this record is bad, it just seems that the style of metalcore these guys play is worn out, and with numerous listens I found this record to be quite worn out as well. Not for the normal, breakdown after breakdown, reason that plagues metalcore, but its just the vocals, their formula, gets bland really fast. Not to say it is without its strengths though, the dark atmosphere created in the songs formally mention is fantastic, and done better than most other artists of the genre and are definatly worth a listen. So does this change my opinuin of Poison The Well? Not really, but its sure to impress all the fans out there. | | 3 |  | Coeur de Pirate
Coeur de Pirate
98. So Coeur de Pirate's self titled debut is full of cute and quirky tunes, full of youthful piano work and cute as a button, french vocals. A solid 3. Wait.. what? They are nude pictures of her on the internet? The Quebec.. ian(?) gets a 3.5! | | 4 |  | Lustmord
The Dark Places Of The Earth
97. As much as we all would love the world to go out like described F#A# it's probably going to alot more like Lustmord's drone piece The Dark Places Of The Earth; dark, cold and boring. Basically the first and last track are all you need to listen to, otherwise just nothing happens. The opening track Fallen begins with an apocalyptic atmosphere that is quite captivating, to say the least, slowly flowing almost like a build acually making the 16 minutes fly by. Then comes the next track Atom the unsettling, dark ambience flows where you patiently await for something to happen. Nothing ends up happening until the beautiful last track which is hard to enjoy because of the impatience the album breeds. Basically this is a pretty great ambient/ drone record but like most albums from the genre, it's disappointing to think what it could've been. | | 5 |  | City of Ships
Look What God Did To Us
96. City of Ships has a sound that has been described as a post metal version of Thrice, and that deion is quite fitting and is sure to make their debut Look What God Did To Us a must get for many music fans. But hold on there spaz, let me inform you, its not really that good, not bad, this not as good as it would seem. Though it is indeed epic amd has a winning formula, at times they seem uninspired, and instead of coming off as awesome, they just come of as diluted. I can't rate this anything less than a 3.5 though because there is obviously something great there, just could have been done so much better. | | 6 |  | Coalesce
OX
95. So this is my first encounter with the metalcore "legends" Coalesce and I can say that there is definatly a good reason for it. The riffs are dirty than a redneck hooker and the percussion does much more than "fill in the gaps", basically this is pure, angry as fuck metalcore. I can't say that I enjoy the vocals that much, that being the main reason why the rating isn't higher, but I wouldn't doubt that with more listens I could begin to dig them but as of now OX gets props for being nasty, angry as shit metalcore that is ten times more manlier than you or I will ever be. | | 7 |  | Isis
Wavering Radiant
94. When you ask people about post metal, two bands come up immediatley; Isis and Neurosis. For the latter, we will come to the agreement that they are pretty amazing, but when it comes to Isis guns will probably be drawn. Its not that they are a terrible band, or even not a good band, its just I don't find them to be mindblowing, in any sense. For me, they have always come off as slightly boring and uninspired, and it isn't any different when it comes to their latest "masterpiece" Wavering Radiant. Again, this is not a bad record, infact 20 Minutes/40 Years is a pretty great song, but again, half the time they sound worn out and bored. And when it comes to the experimental aspect, it's like their trying to use that to cover up the previous statement. The positives are very obvious, and have been said over and over again, but people have to realize that Isis are not Jesus fucking Christ. Fuck. | | 8 |  | Lullabye Arkestra
Threat/Worship
93. With raw intensity, husband-wife rock & roll duo, Lullabye Arkestra show that married people can still make an exceptional garage rock record. Exceptional meaning they do lack in orginality and, with a lack of diversity, alot of the tracks run together, but the grit and emotion are still there. Threat/Worship is a very fitting name because it contains both heart and teeth making it one of the best garage rock albums of the year. Plus We Fuck The Night fucking pwns. | | 9 |  | Pelican
What We All Come To Need
92. So basically about 8 months ago, I went to a HMV in Calgary looking for some post metal. I heard bits of the genre but didn't own a record, so I blindly picked up City Of Echoes. In conclusion I lost the record like 2 days later and didn't give a fuck because it basically a borefest. Now it's the present day and I am quite familiar with the genre and City Of Echoes is still snoozetacular, but I really enjoyed what I heard from The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon as did almost everyone else. So you would think Pelican would go into the studio and think "maybe, we should go with the more atmospheric, epic approach other then boring listeners into submission with non stop uninspired riffs." Well you were half right. | | 10 |  | Peste Noire
Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor
91. Basically I put this on and within the second song I had this picture in my mind of these people dancing around a graveyard in renaissance outfits. Sure some/ most of the vocals are pretty laughable (and not just cause they're in another language) and some of the production values are pretty sketchy to say the least, put its pure post punk/ black metal fun. Perfect album for Halloween. | | 11 |  | Architects
Hollow Crown
90. So Architects have found their sound, and its pretty fucking amazing. With pretty incredible guitar and percussion work and emotionally powerful vocals the Uk band prove that they have a metalcore sound that can't be matched my alot of the bands on the scene today. Where this record faulters though is a complete lack of ideas. After awhile all of the songs tend to run together, so instead of being exhilarating it becomes, well, boring. If they continue to hone their skill and creativly expand we could have really amazing record instore. But this in itself is one of the best metalcore records of the year. | | 12 |  | Dashboard Confessional
Alter The Ending
89. Alright, first of all, I liked Dusk And Summer more than any of Dashboard Confessional release. Can most will probably stop reading now. Second of all, I'm a sucker for a well written ballad. So naturally, in my eyes, this record pwns so hard. Of course it's not revolutionary in anyway, or even slightly original, but if you would get your head out of elitist ass for a second you may find that this is very enjoyable, to say the least. You've just been served, bitch. | | 13 |  | Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest
88. Earlier this year I saw that Grizzly Bear's tune Two Weeks up for free download on Itunes, and after hearing all the hype about the artist, I sprung at the chance. And I was quite disappointed, not that it was bad, just seemed too "indie" for my liking. That didn't stop me from giving their '09 release Veckatimest a solid chance, and after numerous listens I found this to be very enjoyable. Maybe I would appreciate their previous release Yellow House more, but that doesnt stop this from being a great listen. | | 14 |  | Oceans
Nothing Collapses
87. It's kind of ironic that in a year full of fantastic releases, great post rock records have been hard to come by. And though post rock outfit, Oceans, doesnt offer up anything new or original to the genre, they do produce a great post rock record, with some pretty fantastic moments. Sure at times it gets boring and bland, but all in all, it is definatly an exceptional debut. | | 15 |  | Emery
...In Shallow Seas We Sail
86. ...In Shallow Seas We Sail is like a really erotic lesbian porno. In the beginning you?re like "ahhh yaaa" you see what?s going on and it's pretty awesome and you?re totally into it. Then after a while you?re kind of like "Whoa calm down a bit. That doesn't need to go there! They just keep going at it!" I mean, the aesthetics are pretty fantastic but it just keeps coming at you leaving you kind of bored, slightly nauseous, very dirty and overall; overwhelmed. Nevertheless you know it is pretty spectacular but you will leave this experiance ashamed and realizing that you really need a girlfriend. | | 16 |  | Long Distance Calling
Avoid The Light
85. Though abit too "clean" for it's own good. Long Distance Calling's record Avoid The Light is an extremely solid progressive influence post rock release. | | 17 |  | Oh, Sleeper
Son of the Morning
84. As a big fan of Oh, Sleeper's debut When I Am God, I came into this very excited. I was in the minority who considered this metalcore act to be one of the very best on the scene, and with many metalheads this debate was a very difficult, so I was hoping that with their sophmore release this arguement would become much easier for me. Apparently Oh, Sleeper heard my cry and they tried really, really.. really hard to help, coming up with a gianormas concept with the last battle between Heaven and Hell and beefying up the production. But the fact is that those things end up just being an attempt to cloak a lack of inspiration. Obviously all the members of the band are extremely talent, whether it be the blazing guitarwork, the exceptional drumming, the top notch vocals or the fantastic lyrisism. But the fact is, is in the process of the band trying to prove themselves, they lost alot of the emotion and diversity that made me fall in love with their debut. | | 18 |  | Thrice
Beggars
83. At the beginning Beggars was a dissapointment, and I was quite content with this opinuin. The problem was though I based this opinuin after hearing only I few songs, so today I thought I should put this in so I can acually give an acual rating. The first two songs, which I have already heard, passed without any impact, then came Circles and that just had to fuck everything up. With an atmosphere relating to the Air Ep, which was my favorite of the 4, I was afraid that I may have to embarrass myself with a drastic change of opinuin. But with a lack of edge and some tracks coming off as uninspired, this didn't have to happen. There are still some very strong tracks that still show that Thrice can make an impact but although this in an excellent release, with the expectations set with The Alchemy Index and Vheissu this is a slight disappointment. | | 19 |  | Owen
New Leaves
82. Owen proves yet again with his newest release New Leaves, why he is so beloved within the genre. Though this may not be his best work it is definatly a youthful, relaxing listen filled with clever lyrisism filled with genuine nostalgia. A must get for any one who is a fan of his work. | | 20 |  | Margins
Margins
81. This was an album that has kind of flown under the my radar most of the year, so I don't think I gave this as many listens as it deserved. What I did get from post rock act Margins self titled release was a very organic and quite gorgeous sound, with a very "chilled out" atmosphere. Though almost annoyingly anti-climatic at times that doesn't stop this from being one of the best 2009 records of the genre. | | 21 |  | Bat For Lashes
Two Suns
80. Bat For Lashes' critically acclaimed release Two Suns, is one that has kind of grown off me since I purchased it early in the year. Though fantasic, in a very obvious, I really wish she would focus on the more organic and elegant side of her music than the fantastical, glorious beauty she attempts to shove down the listeners throut. A great listen nevertheless though. | | 22 | | mewithoutYou
It's all crazy! It's all false! It's all
79. The fact that I like It's all crazy! It's all false! It's all a dream! It's alright least of all out of all of mewithoutYou's releases throughout they're diverse discography, doesn't change the fact that I still think they are geniouses. In fact I respect them more, the fact that they continue to stay honest to their music, while keeping their art top notch. It's just that I havent made much of a connection with their newest record. Maybe it's the fact that I am happy, i don't know.. :/. | | 23 |  | Chuck Ragan
Gold Country
78. Manly acoustic music, yes it exists. And it's name is Chuck Ragan. I guarentee you will find yourself singing along to more than a few of the tunes on his new, beefy, anthem filled album Gold Country. | | 24 |  | Relient K
Forget and Not Slow Down
77. Much better than Five Score and Seven Years Ago, but not quite as good as Mmhmm, Relient K produce their most mature and diverse album with their 2009 release Forget And Not Slow Down. | | 25 |  | Worriedaboutsatan
Arrivals
76. You know those albums that you hear like a song off of it and you're like "this is gonna be amazing!" but it turns out to be the best song and the album isn't amazing, that was You're In My Thoughts for Arrivals. Not that this album is bad, at all, the atmosphere is chilling and it has a few 'wow' moments but it is plagued by repetitiveness and lack of ideas. Arrivals is definatly a cool album but still, damn. | |
Phil
12.18.09 | Interesting explanations. I semi-agree with the ones I've heard. | EasternLight
12.18.09 | hoyl crap man, how long did this take you? i hope i find the time to actually read all of these. | EVedder27
12.18.09 | Top 100, damn. Good explanations and list | YouAreMySilence
12.18.09 | Not alot of time acually.
I just kinda made the list when I had about 150 to choose from, then I just made soundoffs.
Waste of time I know, but yah. | jrowa001
12.18.09 | Two Suns is one of my favs of the year. she does try a bit too hard to force the beauty of the songs but she does it so well it doesnt bother me. oh and hell yes for Avoid the Light. the album got ragged on too much for being "generic" when imo it took post-rock and added a nice new touch to it. | DiceMan
12.18.09 | but 22 (79) is so so so so so so so so so so so so s os o good! | YouAreMySilence
12.18.09 | Thanks brah.
Pt. 2 should be up Sunday or Monday. | BigTuna
12.18.09 | Get that part 2 up man. Great stuff. | theilladelph
01.15.10 | I feel very sorry that youre not into Isis... ur missing out | Dryden
01.15.10 | 10 is great | YouAreMySilence
01.15.10 | Agreed. |
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