 | Panopticon The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness
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| | Full Review | Ratings (353) |
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| 4.5 superb | demon of surveillance | April 4th 18 |
Yet another stellar album from Austin Lunn. Part I isn't too different from past black metal material, but still manages to stay fresh. Part II puts bluegrass, Americana, and post-rock in a blender to create something wholly unique, even when compared to the straight folk songs from Kentucky and Roads.
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Xenophanes EMERITUS | April 6th 18 |
Black metal does not deserve Austin Lunn.
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | TheNemeton91 | April 11th 18 |
Without getting mired in the debates of whether these LPs should've been released
separately - "The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness" feels like the record
Austin Lunn has intended to craft for many years.
The countless years of dedication, learning every damn instrument, prolific work ethic
(splits, compilations, remasters, LPs), carefully crafting and structuring his wide body
of work, and all the labour of love that Austin has given us -- time and time again -- I
feel that we owe every truly great artist their space and time to breathe, to
experiment, and to lay out precisely what is in their heart. Fuck the ratings, the
comparative quibbling, and the expectations.
Austin has earned this, and we owe him an open ear and heart. - 4.2/5
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | Brandon Scott EMERITUS | April 5th 18 |
This will need a few listens to really nail down feelings, but initial thoughts are this is very good. The production is grainier enough to appease raw(er) black metal fans but textured enough for dynamicism to thrive. The music is loud, bombastic, and grand but unlike other symphonic or orchestral black metal acts, Austin is able to imbue a small-town, folksy charm that makes the added atmosphere feel more like a call home than ostentatious embellishment. His ear for melody is second to none and it's nice to see that his standards haven't dropped after 10+ years of doing this. r**haven't listened to the folk/country side yet, but excited to
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | TarjanSkaraBrae | November 18th 20 |
deserves a .5 increase - the two sides of the band (folk and metal) are presented well here, only slightly less engaging than Roads to the North
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| 2.0 poor | SinNanna | May 14th 20 |
Up until the release of this record, it was Roads To The North that stood as Panopticon's longest full length to date clocking in at 1 hour and 12 minutes, but with The Scars Of Man Austin takes the Panopticon project in double album territory effectively making this a 2-hour long epic, very distinctively divided into two sounds. One disc focusing on Panopticon's atmospheric black metal sound, the other one being a very americana/folk focused second half, which is of course not much new for fans, but never up until that point had the two been separated as much as they are on here. I won't lie, for me making a two-disc album that stays engaging from beginning to end is an art in and of itself, and Austin doesn't really succeed at it for me here. The black metal side sounds pretty fine, but its especially the second half that drags this album down a lot for me, with how long and repetitive a lot of those tracks feel as well as how underwhelming I find the sung vocals to be. Both discs have a lot of elements that I think on their own are pretty engaging, but they aren't exactly greater than the sum of their parts and aren't justified being dragged out as long as they are here, for me at least. I know I'm definitely in the minority here with how well this record has been received, but its genuinely how I feel and considering how much of a fan I am of Panopticon it makes it all the more frustrating. I think overall this record isn't the worst thing I've ever heard by any means, but I don't think I'll be revisiting it too much into the future, as it is my least favorite Panopticon album.
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| 4.0 excellent | bladee runner 20xx | October 30th 18 |
Ah. The first half of this is amazing, but the second disc drags way too long for my taste.
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| 3.5 great | zaruyache | August 24th 18 |
By now Austin's black metal style is well-established, and fairly unchanging. It's solid, but any of the tracks here feel like they could've come from either of the last two albums, and beyond little nuances here and there, there's not a whole lot to make individual songs stick out from one another, either. At this point it's just Panopticon doing Panopticon to varying degrees of success a la Drudkh, but it just kinda feels old by now.rThe second record is unique, but it's also not my cup of tea. The folk elements of this group have always been most effective when woven into lengthier pieces rather than when used on their own. Side B isn't bad, it's just not that well constructed or necessary. Austin should probably try mixing it up on his next record--especially in terms of basic song construction. Something more like Collapse would be nice right now in this project's timeline, and I hope to see more adventurous songwriting akin to that in the future.
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| 4.0 excellent | cjbizzlebizzle | July 11th 18 |
Though it is fairly obvious what one will get going into a Panopticon record these days, Austin Lunn continues to build on his repertoire of pairing atmospheric black metal with folk and Americana. The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness is grand and ambitious and showcases Lunn's full, impressive arsenal of instruments and his ability to produce top notch black metal and folk, this time separated into two distinct records. The entire record takes on a melancholic, sombre atmosphere and this feeling really ties the two discs together. As the name of the album suggests Lunn once again visits themes of nature and how man relies on and interacts with the, once, wild world that surrounds us. Both the lyrics and music work wonderfully around this theme and makes the listener ponder about the need for wilderness in a human's life and how humans are now affecting nature. 'The Itch' gets very direct and political and is the only true sore spot on the album, both the lyrics and mood break from the rest of the theme and it just feels sloppy. Despite that, Lunn has triumphed here with plenty of more great black metal material and the best purely folk driven music he has recorded to date. Panopticon's discography is truly rich at this point.
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| 4.0 excellent | TheManMachine | June 15th 18 |
Vox are frustratingly faint on the black metal side, hesitant-n-mumbly on the americana side. Its 2-hour length is ludicrous, and oh right it's been requested per Panopticon that you listen in full while hiking or something. Whatever way you decide to get it done, it's a demanding commitment that's rewarding perhaps because it's made by someone that's demanding and committed. Helps too when it's not only atmospherically absorbing no matter the half, but able to aurally convey the gravity+sanctity of the great outdoors through-n-through as well. Impenetrable guitar stacks, brutal+beautiful+busy drumming, crisp acoustics, violins and accordions, the mix of fury and the forlorn, wise readings, crackling fires and forestry, wailing wandering solos worthy of a mountaintop, the symphony and scale and progression of it all -- this thing is rich and dirty. When some words become audible on the americana side, we get pickup trucks on the highway; the triviality of his own mortality; scratching the itch in the room that is Donald Trump without mentioning him by name.
Bump |
| 3.3 great | Trey STAFF | May 8th 18 |
Love the black metal album, not a fan of the second one.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Bard0 | December 1st 24 |
| 5.0 classic | Blaidd | May 8th 24 |
| 4.0 excellent | Nishe | December 26th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | SYL | December 9th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | JoneHK | December 6th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Deebo05 | November 30th 23 |
| 4.5 superb | FunJan | March 28th 23 |
| 3.5 great | Zakusz | September 1st 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | epmxcx | December 29th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | ftdiwr | October 26th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Lvxfra | October 23rd 21 |
| 4.5 superb | kokoon | June 26th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Josh | June 2nd 21 |
| 2.0 poor | Skoop | June 1st 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | yayafa | May 26th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | Thomm | May 26th 21 |
| 3.0 good | jc3494 | March 26th 21 |
| 2.5 average | AmonZ | March 3rd 21 |
| 3.5 great | remi | November 12th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Feels | September 28th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Suyan | February 27th 20 |
| 5.0 classic | Jim1 | January 7th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Archaic | October 25th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | Edlund | September 20th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Elros | September 5th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | HybridF | July 23rd 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | mifzal | June 30th 19 |
| 3.5 great | RMHQ | June 23rd 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | kleggi | April 9th 19 |
| 3.5 great | blou52 | March 27th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | LedZep94 | February 17th 19 |
| 3.5 great | SMK | February 13th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Erwann S. EMERITUS | January 20th 19 |
| 1.5 very poor | gschwen | January 16th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | kx8 | January 11th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | Piglet | December 24th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Scuro EMERITUS | December 22nd 18 |
| 4.5 superb | ARDCWE | November 21st 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sapee | November 10th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Coast | November 8th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | Scrot | October 29th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | psim | October 19th 18 |
| 2.5 average | Gary STAFF | October 11th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Prole | September 20th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | lg433 | September 18th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sunnyvale EMERITUS | September 10th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | gk1979 | September 4th 18 |
| 3.5 great | AAHN | July 25th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Lash | July 17th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | JanK | July 12th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | mRA | July 6th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Veldin | July 2nd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | SuzyC | June 4th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Gbhill | May 20th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Atari EMERITUS | May 3rd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Rail | April 29th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | JWT155 | April 26th 18 |
| 2.5 average | bbm | April 25th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | mikep87 | April 18th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Thibs | April 16th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Maniac! | April 16th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | dvd0bvb | April 16th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | McP3000 | April 16th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Casavir | April 16th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Macck | April 15th 18 |
| 3.0 good | Warpt | April 13th 18 |
| 5.0 classic | bSmith | April 12th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | madtwoo | April 12th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | TBH717 | April 12th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jeejee | April 11th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | ian b. | April 10th 18 |
| 3.5 great | thurs | April 10th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Wizard | April 10th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hyndez | April 9th 18 |
| 3.5 great | gnimas | April 9th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | gilly | April 7th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | rid | April 7th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Nacen | April 7th 18 |
| 2.0 poor | Spado | April 6th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Elynna | April 5th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Ryan P STAFF | April 5th 18 |
| 3.5 great | bmelt | April 4th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Zecke | April 4th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Surtur | April 4th 18 |
| 5.0 classic | joitp | April 4th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Evreaia | April 4th 18 |
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