Mehuggah, Obzen
Art is subjective, and descriptions of art are even worse, and descriptions of the notoriously sub-sub-sub-sub-genred heavy metal world, even moreso. The labyrinth of what you’re supposed to call heavy metal bands, how you’re supposed to describe them, is so ridiculous that I’ve never even felt qualified to talk about it. I would say that Obzen is one of the heaviest albums I’ve ever heard. Maybe some one with a higher heavy metal acumen would find that laughable, I don’t know. It’s just all relative. Obzen isn’t the most “evil” or the darkest metal album, but its power lies in its relentless, factory-like precision. Not a moment’s respite is offered from their assault until the very last song. Whether you’re listening to black metal, death metal, hardcore or metalcore, or even previous Meshuggah albums, there’s usually a reprieve. A change in tone or attitude, a soaring guitar solo, a spooky atmosphereic part, some kind of interlude, some kind of brief moments surfacing before plunging back into the ocean, but not here. Obzen just starts pummeling you and doesn’t stop until several minutes into closer “Dancers To A Discordant System.” It’s really something. And it’s not to say that there’s no variety on it. Opener “Combustion” lives up to its name, delivering the fastest song they’ve recorded in years. “Bleed” is almost 8 minutes of spectacular, robot-like precision. There’s many different approaches on display. But none of them let up for even a second.
Meshuggah, “Combustion”
Trap Them, Darker Handcraft
Trap Them’s 3rd full-length was produced by Converge’s Kurt Ballou. I can’t imagine that’s the only reason it sounds a lot more like Converge than past Trap Them albums, but I’m sure it contributed. Darker Handcraft continues the theoretical plot that has woven through every Trap Them album and EP (and even a 7” split), but just as they’ve remained dedicated to their concept, they’ve remained pretty dedicated to not really explaining it. Every song on every release is named with a day (Track one of the new album is “Day 46: Damage Prose”), but starting with their 2nd album, the days aren’t even in order. It doesn’t really matter. It’s enough to just get your adrenaline pumping with their super-fast, super-aggressive mix of punk and metal and enjoy the ride, and Darker Handcraft certainly delivers on that front. Also, the chorus to “The Facts” seems like an answer to the chorus of the classic Misfits song “Where Eagles Dare.” Who knows why, but that’s pretty awesome.
Trap Them, “The Facts”
Opeth, Heritage
Mikael has often joked that, going in to record the first Opeth album in 1995, he thought he was going to be a minstrel, playing a lute and singing ridiculously pretentious songs. Heritage, shockingly enough, seems to be as close as he’s gotten to getting his wish.
Opeth has quietly stopped being a metal band.
It still sounds like Opeth. The unique sound they’ve cultivated over the years is still identifiable. But in the prog rock influences, in some of the acoustic passages, and in the guitar solos. There’s no metal anything to be heard. I’ve listened to this over and over and I’m still not sure what I think of it, exactly. I’ve come to the decision the production bugs me more than the lack of metal, especially when it comes to drums. The bass drum sounds muffled and is actually hard to hear sometimes, and the rest of the drums sound pretty flat. But, beyond the production, there’s a sort of... over the top feeling to a lot of it. Almost like they’re trying too hard. I’m not sure what I’m even trying to say. It’s just so proggy and so noodly sometimes. Sometimes it’s not. They were wise to make “The Devil’s Orchard” the lead single, as it’s the most “Opeth sounding” song on the album. For the most part, I think I have favorite moments instead of songs. It’s a hard thing to adjust to.
Mikael Akerfeldt has been doing this for 20 years. No one can be metal forver. You either evolve into something else or become an embarrassing cartoon of yourself like Ozzy. In the DVD accompanying this release, Mikael said he thought that going in this direction would mean he “still had something to offer.” He also said he wasn’t ruling out metal elements in the future, and that he hoped not to repeat Heritage on the next album. Who knows, their next one may win me right back over. Their 11th album is the first one that didn’t completely enthrall me. That’s still a pretty spectacular track record. And I’m going to keep listening... trying to figure it out...
Opeth, “The Devil’s Orchard”
St. Vincent, Actor
It’s weird listening to this album in the wake of Strange Mercy. Actor captivated me. The complex layers and layers, the atmosphere and emotion (both extremely emotional and extremely reserved, from song to song, moment to moment, but always to dramatic effect), and of course Annie Clark’s phenomenal voice lilting over it all. It was a lot to take in, and a delight to revisit often. But I have to say, Strange Mercy basically blew it out of the water. I became sort of obsessed with it, listening to it all the time. Strange Mercy took everything I liked about Actor, amped it up and added a new focus on Clark’s jagged, funky guitar playing. This was the first time I’d listened to Actor since Strange Mercy came out, and it just didn’t seem to pack the punch of old. Maybe that’ll change as I gain distance from the new record.
St. Vincent, “Marrow”
There you go.
--D
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