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[The Metal Mallet]

Woo! New thread! To celebrate, here's this weekend's music list:

Dream Theater - Words and Images
Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory
Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Dream Theater - Train of Thought
Dream Theater - Octavarium
Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet


Obviously, the theme for today is my entire Dream Theater collection. We'll see if some of these re-light the spark I originally had for some of these CDs. I'll honestly be surprized if I have enough time to listen to all my Dream Theater before work is over. Anyways, time to talk about some recent purchases.

Systematic Chaos by Dream Theater

After the more lighter toned Octavarium, Dream Theater comes back with an album that's aggressive like Train of Thought, but not as dark or bitter. Instead there's a sense of energy with the band and it's making this release quite enjoyable this time around. Songs to check out are Constant Motion, with its excellent riffs, Forsaken for its epic feel, and the mini epic, In the Presence of Enemies Parts 1 and 2. It's still the tried and true Dream Theater formula so it shouldn't disappoint those all ready into the band.


City of Echoes by Pelican

Pelican plays of brand of instrumental metal that is often lumped in the stylings of Isis and the post metal genre. This time around, Pelican opted for a more melodic and less heavy sound. They even have a track that is completely acoustic. While some have lamented the fact that their sludgy riffs have all but disappeared with this release, I actually don't mind it. There's plenty of solid music throughout that even those who don't necessarily like metal music should like (well they at least gotta like rock music). This is a good CD to get your hands on.


Overature of the Wicked by Iced Earth

This is really an EP of 4 songs. The first track is a newly written song, while the other three are re-recorded works from their Something Wicked This Way Comes album. They're re-recorded because since that album, the band has a new singer, Tim Owens, who is mostly known for his two album stint singing for Judas Priest. Now, I've only listened to Iced Earth with Owens singing for the band, so I have no idea how they sounded with Matt Barlow (their previous vocalist). These songs though contain a nice intensity and Owens' Halford meets Dickenson-esque vocals works suitably for the music. The galloping riffs and musicianship definitely stand out. This EP has convinced me to get their upcoming up a shot.


Minus the Herd by Ion Dissonance

Ion Dissonance is a Canadian band that plays the currently "stylish" and hip genre in metal: deathcore. For those uninitiated with the name, it basically means the band implements the brutality and aggressive guitars and drums of the Death Metal genre and combines it with elements of Hardcore punk. The Hardcore influence is mainly expressed by this band through it's vocalist and the implementation of "breakdowns", which are moments where the music basically starts to stutter with start and stop riffing to make things sound all the more heavy. This is actually my first experience with this genre and I actually didn't mind it, mainly because the vocalist for this band in particular doesn't sound completely moronic. The music itself is quite technical and likely difficult to play as the instruments are still very involved even during the breakdowns. The unfortunate thing with this album is that it suffers from sounding the same in each track, making it difficult to pick out noteworthy songs. It's not a bad CD, but not something that's necessary.


Given to the Rising by Neurosis

I've been eagerly waiting for this CD since the start of the year and it doesn't disappoint at all! Neurosis are pioneers in the metal, since they basically created the doom mixed with hardcore that is quite popular nowadays as seen by bands such as Isis, Cult of Luna, Minsk, etc. With this CD in particular, Neurosis decided to go back to their heavy elements in their music (it was missing throughout much of their last CD, which was still great though). This album has amazed me so far, from the majesty of the title track, to the foreboding nature of "Fear and Sickness", even to the two creepy spoken word songs, "Shadow" and "Nine". The best track of the CD has to be "To the Wind" though. It begins deceptively with clean and passionate post rock guitars. After a little groan by the vocalist the melody switches into the most energetic guitar riff on the album and the whiskey stained vocals come howling in. With three minutes left to the song, the music dies down again into an eerie guitar and programming effect for a few spoken words. The song ends with the lines "to the wind" repeatedly howled for 20-30 seconds lengths. Simply stunning! So far, this is my favourite album of the year. Highly, highly recommended for those willing to experiment with their listening. Their last album, The Eye of Every Storm, is likely their most excessible but Given to the Rising or "Through Silver and Blood" are likely the best impression of Neurosis' sound.