Singles Roundup: Harem Scarem, Cosmic Cathedral, W.E.T., and Jules & The Howl

The grab bag is once again full, so let's pull a few new songs out.

Harem Scarem - Chasing Euphoria

This song comes as good news, in two forms. The first is that it is the title track to a new album that will be coming in April. The second is that it shows the band has not lost their creative spark just yet. Their last two albums have been as good as melodic rock gets, and this namesake song for the album is no different. The band has a knack for writing choruses that balance sugary hooks with Harry's gritty voice, finding a sound that is both sweet and powerful. It's a delicate balance, and most of the time bands wind up falling too far in one direction or the other. This track gives the impression they are inching closer to the saccharine side, but not so much it becomes cloying. As we hope Spring will be arriving, a bit of sunny-day music sounds like just what we need.

Cosmic Cathedral - Deep Water Suite: Launch Out, Pt I

I don't exactly know how the relationship between me and artists becomes severed, but it happens too regularly to be a fluke. There was a period where I loved everything Neal Morse was a part of, and now it's been a decade since the last time he put out a record I genuinely loved. This newest prog collective is not sounding like it will change things, in that regard. Their first single is one part of a multi-part prog suite, and is structured with three minutes of instrumental work, followed by a cool-down solo rather than a final rousing chorus. It's exactly the kind of song that shouldn't be released as a single, as it can only appeal to hardcore prog fans. What's worse is that the hook that is there isn't great, and Neal's voice is once again laden with so many effects he barely sounds human half the time. I should be done with him by now, shouldn't I?

W.E.T. - Believer/Where Are The Heroes Now?

I'm a bit wary about the upcoming W.E.T. album. In the time since the last one, Erik Martensson has put out three albums with his band Eclipse. That's a lot of songs, and given how much some of them have been running together, I worry he's run out of good ideas for his side-projects. These first two tastes of the record are not allaying those concerns. There's nothing wrong with them, and I still prefer hearing Erik's writing without his voice (although he takes too much of the lead on the latter of them), they also aren't standing out the way the singles off the last couple of albums did. If these are the highlights, it's not a good sign. I fear the Frontiers factory system has burned out another writer.

Jules & The Howl - Boys Club

The patriarchy does not go quietly, but the noise it makes is rarely worth listening to. The best music comes from protest, not oppression, which comes through in Jules' newest song. After a year in which women were disappointed to see our society has apparently ensconced men with Roman concrete, Jules is keeping her faith in the fight with this anthem of independent rebellion. With equal parts punk energy and dance-rock rhythm, Jules raises her voice for the cause, raising middle fingers in the air like lighters as she belts out a chorus of self-empowerment. Here's the thing about a boy's club; the men in them are keeping women out because they're scared of them. You don't have to hold down people you aren't worried about being more powerful than you. Jules is reminding us of that. Sadly, I don't know if the people who need to hear that message will be smart enough to hear it.

Album Review: Avantasia - Here Be Dragons

They say not to judge a book by its cover, but its basic psychology that we make snap decisions about the things we encounter. When we meet a new person, we often feel quickly if they have a vibe telling us to stay away. Similarly, when we hear about a new record, sometimes we don't need to spend hours upon hours giving it repeated listens to know that certain elements are never going to stick the landing. Sometimes, those initial impressions save us from investing too much of our hopes into something that couldn't possibly live up to our expectations.

That is where I was coming into this new Avantasia album. Tobias Sammet is one of my favorite songwriters ever, but this album chafed from the first moment it was announced. His ability to craft a melody means I give Avantasia a pass I don't give to any of the other conceptual 'jukebox albums' I come across. While I don't particularly love the never-ending string of guest stars, Tobi usually makes it work. This time, perhaps not so much.

This record's lyrical themes revolve around dragons and fantasy, and that there is enough to kill my mood. I know it's a trope of power metal, but I for one do not give the slightest bit of a fuck about those kinds of stories, and as such this album will have zero ability to be relatable on a lyrical level. Is a song about the kraken ever going to have an emotional impact? I can't see it happening. That's strike one.

The list of guest singers this time around features returning stalwarts Ronnie Atkins, Bob Catley, Geoff Tate, and Michael Kiske, along with Roy Kahn and Tommy Karevik. I don't care for Tate or Kiske at all, and the others all fill the same basic tone of voice, so the casting of multiple people who all play the same essential part is becoming common, but it remains unnecessary. That's strike two.

I will also mention that my opinions will be colored by the fact the promo I received streamed at extremely low quality. The guitars and cymbals clipped and distorted throughout, sounding like an mp3 from twenty years ago. At times, it was physically difficult to listen to, given my sensitivities. To be fair to the album, I checked samples in other places, and they all sound thin and brittle. The backing vocals especially are shrill bursts of noise that can barely be made out. Simply put, this is not a good sounding record. It's the worst production ever on an Avantasia album, bar none. That's strike two-and-a-half.

Across the first half of the album, the songs hit fast. In fact, these songs feel as compact as any Tobi has written. With pre-choruses and multiple part choruses stuffed into these running times, the album starts to feel like it's playing five percent too fast, as if the playback speed has been set on the wrong number. The songs might have been pushed to give the album a bit more energy, but with the density of the musical compositions, what it really does is take away the time the songs need to breathe. As soon as a hook is done, the next one has already sounded its first note. For a project that is about being epic and bombastic, the pace doesn't fit the intention.

As I said, Tobi is one of my favorite songwriters, and he hasn't lost that ability. Many of the choruses on this record scratch that melodic metal itch he has always been so good at reaching. A couple of them are sounding quite reminiscent of older songs, but I suppose there's an argument to be made that they are homages, since these are all conceptual pieces about stories that may intertwine. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on that.

That still leaves me in the position of saying that Tobi has written some great melodies, but I dislike nearly everything about the way they are delivered. Among the Avantasia albums, this may be the most unusual listen of them all. It isn't bland in the same way I found "A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society", but rather a curious set of decisions that reads like an experiment to see how much damage can be done to good songs before they cease to be that.

I wanted to say that hopefully my opinion will soften once my initial frustrations wear off, but I've listened to the record several times now, and the same thing has happened each time. I find myself spending much of the running time checking my speakers to make sure I'm hearing the record as I'm supposed to be, because something about it rings false. No, that's the way the album is, and I'm not sure there is anything that will change the way I hear it. But that is me, and I know from experience and discussions that I hear things in productions other people are not bothered by, so this might be entirely in my head.

I can't tell you how you will hear it, but I have to be honest about the way I do. For me, listening to this album was fifty minutes of being disappointed that I was being presented a collection of songs I'm not sure I will want to listen to, even though I like them quite a bit. This is one of those cases where I can hold two thoughts in my head at the same time; "Here Be Dragons" is an enjoyable record, but it is also disappointing from beginning to end.

Only time will tell if the pendulum gets rusted stuck after swinging one way or the other.

Album Review: Killswitch Engage - This Consequence

Time continues to pass through the hourglass, and it has now been twenty years since I first heard Killswitch Engage. Through a friend, I was made aware of "The End Of Heartache", which was a sensory overload I was not ready for at the time. I was still weaning myself onto heavier music, and the onslaught of power and emotion that album contained was more than I knew what to do with. I only started to figure it all out when the self-titled album came out, which then showed me the way to understanding what has become (at least to me) the one and only defining album of metalcore.

In the years since, I have found it interesting how Killswitch Engage proves to me something about the fickle nature of being a music fan. Albums like "Disarm The Descent" and "Atonement" are no different than the classics I still pull out regularly, but there is something in Jesse Leach's voice that doesn't hit me with the same weight as when Howard Jones was belting out these tortured numbers. Torture is the word of the moment, so what does this new album have in store for us?

There is an attempt to move in both directions at the same time. The opening "Abandon Us" is as melodic as the band has gotten in this era, and is immediately followed by the relentless blast-beats of "Discordant Nation". There's a bit of a whip-saw here, where it feels like the band is trying to pull themselves back from making an album as melodic, and dare I say 'mainstream', as that self-titled one. That's actually why I love that record as much as I do, so hearing Jesse do some of his best work only to have songs that don't allow him to shine is a bit of a disappointment.

The singles "Forever Aligned" and "I Believe" are in this melodic mold, and had me more excited for this album than any of the previous ones since Jesse's return. Killswitch Engage is at their best when they are both musically and emotionally heavy, and that doesn't work without the sing-along choruses they turned into staples of the genre. So when songs are written to be heavy without those melodies, it reminds me why "As Daylight Dies" is by far the weakest of that trilogy.

As the rest of the album unfolds, I'm finally hit by the metaphor I have been looking for for fifteen years now. Listening to the eras of Killswitch Engage is a bit like seeing the same show both on and off Broadway. The writing is the same, and the plot unfolds in the same way, but there is something about the scope of the bigger theaters that gives a completely different vibe. For as good as Jesse is at what he's doing, Howard simply made the band sound bigger. There was something quasi-operatic about "The End Of Heartache" that they have never been able to match since, including the other albums Howard fronted.

What that means is Killswitch Engage has not wavered a bit over these last four albums. They continue to make good Killswitch Engage music, with a few classic songs on each record, but none of them have raised the bar. In that way they are in the mold of an AC/DC or Motorhead; firmly reliable yet easy to forget after a while. I can tell you I enjoyed listening to this record, just as I have most of the others, but I can't tell you this album is necessary if you already know what has come before.

To be perfectly honest, now I'm even more curious what the project pairing Adam D and Howard once again is going to sound like. At least if there's a layer of nostalgia, my perspective might change.

Am I Old, Or Is This What Music Is Now?

It feels as if I am reminded that I see the world differently than most everyone each and every time I open my mouth. There isn't much I can say that doesn't get met with derision by someone, leaving me floating alone on an island of opinion that makes me wonder if I will ever learn to swim well enough to make it to the opposite shore. It isn't that I want to be a conventional thinker, or that I have a deep desire to fit in with the popular crowd, but I would like to be able to feel excited about what is going on these days.

Music, among many other things, feels like it is slipping away from me. I hear talk about what is becoming the next big thing, and when I go to explore for myself, I wind up more confused than when I hadn't heard about such things at all.

That's what I'm facing as I listened to LS Dunes new album. I saw multiple outlets calling it a remarkable album from one of the best new bands on the scene. The critical acclaim was nearly universal, so surely in a time when music has been so disappointing, this was going to be an easy way for me to score a win. Right?

Well... you can already guess how that went.

Their album left me asking a nor familiar question; What happened to songs? As I went through the album, track after track was guitar textures and flat vocals. Not a single riff or melody had anything close to a hook to it. Everything that made the emo scene the album is paying homage to fun is completely absent, replacing the dark eyeliner and frosted tips with the grey haze of looking in a mirror whose silver backing has rotted away through time.

For the life of me, I don't understand what other people are hearing in this music that makes them rave. I have long thought there is a type of person who doesn't actually have taste, and who will praise anything they assume took talent to make. That is the best explanation I can come up with for the praise LS Dunes has gotten. If I let myself believe people truly thought these songs were examples of great songwriting, I would have given up on trying to write my own music many years ago. Given my failure, I probably should have.

This is not exclusive to LS Dunes. There is another critical darling who falls into this category. Ethel Cain received raves for her "Preacher's Daughter" album, and went to make a massive 'artistic' statement with her 89 minute long EP, "Perverts". The reviews have been more mixed, but plenty of critics still laud her for her efforts, and they convince me the theory that we experience sensory information differently has to be true.

Her record is an exercise in drone, by way of 'pop'. We've gotten to the point where that word is meaningless, as the only thing pop about her record is the sound you make trying to clear your ears, because you are certain you must have a sinus infection if this is actually what she intended to make. Time stretches on with barely any notes being played, just washes of noise that feel as if we accidentally put an LP on at the wrong speed. She is making music that is not musical at all, and doing so in the dullest way possible. At least when Scott Walker went out of his mind, the atonal artistic bullshit he produced had a flair for absurdity.

Ethel Cain's music is more akin to holding your hand over a candle to see how close to setting your skin on fire you can come. Eventually, the nerves get damaged, and you can smell your own flesh cooking. Of course, that is more interesting than her music, because at least you can notice when something is going wrong. Cain's music is one long soundtrack to lobotomy.

So as I listened to both of these bits of music, I found myself asking what the heck I'm doing. If this is what music now is, and this is what fans and critics are willing to praise as greatness, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Trends come and go, but I had always thought there was a fundamental base-line where we still expected the sounds of the day to be put atop actual songs. But no more.

And so I'm feeling rather distressed, and out-of-place. Something will come along to pull me back into believing music still has a future, but I'm not sure what, and I'm not sure when.

It better hurry its ass up.

Album Review: Spiders - "Sharp Objects"

It seems like every year in music, we’re forced to grapple with the same question - is something new still good even if it’s a copy of something that has come before?

Not an easy subject to tackle, certainly - especially when digital recording technology effectively ceases the aging process of music - audio recorded digitally from thirty years ago sounds, within reason, just as vibrant now as it did then.  On the off chance it doesn’t, well, time to run it through a re-mix, repackage it, and sell it again as ‘digitally remastered,’ which, coincidentally, just about every rock band from the ol’ analog days has done to gin up some royalties.

Attentive readers can probably already tell where this discussion is headed…yeah. there’s a new Spiders album.

Spiders has been worthy of keeping on the radar ever since their single “Mad Dog” more than ten years ago.  The song was a glimpse of a Swedish rock band on the come up, and every successive album gives these little tastes of the band that Spiders could be.  Cynically, it remains true that they have yet to display the kind of consistency that makes for a transcendent act, but there’s always one or two songs that stand out.

“Sharp Objects,” the band’s newest effort, ends up emerging from much the same mold.  The album begins with great promise with “Rock n Roll Band” (not a cover of the Boston song “Rock & Roll Band,”) with an edgy chorus and bitten verses set against some honest-to-goodness rock riffs.  

That promise comes back toward the end, with “Love Yourself to Death,” which is the best song on the record, and frustratingly exemplifies all the talent and knack that Spiders can bring to bear when the stars align.  These two songs are everything that Spiders can be - high energy riffs, easy choruses, fun themes and lyrics, and good pacing.

Frustrating though, because most everything else on the record sounds like something else, and not in a complimentary way.  “Fun in the Sun” sounds like a Rolling Stones song, “Valentines” wants to be Bob Seger, and “What’s Your Game (Miss Insane)” borrows heavily from the early days of the Clash and the Kinks.

And they’re all fine for what they are - they’re not flawed in any way, except that they don’t exceed the memory of the acts they borrow from.  A Rolling Stones fan might enjoy the bulk of “Sharp Objects” for a while, but before too long, they’re just going to go back to their Rolling Stones vinyl and move on, because those songs are either more familiar, better, or both.

Which loops us back to the question we discussed at the beginning - is something new still good even if it sounds like an imitation of what has come before.  The answer, in the case of “Sharp Objects” is yes, it can be good…but not compelling.

All credit in the world to Spiders for trying their best to keep this particular brand of lighthearted, two-beat rock alive.  There’s a billion bands out there who mistakenly think the world needs another Quiet Riot clone, so it’s refreshing in its own way to hear rock and roll taken, if not all the way back to Elvis and Chuck Berry, at least to its most celebrated form.  Since those celebrated albums still resonate, though, and with bands like countrymen Graveyard advancing the genre…it’s hard to see where Spiders and “Sharp Objects” will have a lasting impact.

Singles Roundup: Bob Mould, Laurenne/Louhimo, Harem Scarem, & Elton John

Let's dig into the grab-bag today and see what goodies we can find.

Bob Mould – Here We Go Crazy/Neanderthal

Here is one of those artists I should like, but really don't. Mould's thick guitars and shimmering 'pop' overtones are a combination that should hit me pretty hard. Instead, I listen to his music and can't quite get the point of how it's put together. I occasionally put on "Sunshine Rock", and I can hear the pieces of a fun record, even if it doesn't quite work. These songs previewing his upcoming album don't have that feeling anymore. Listening to these, especially "Neanderthal", gives me great pause for what the trend of the day is going to be. That will come up again later. The point is that the mix of the song is a complete detriment to its own success. The guitars are their usual saturated wash, but Mould's voice is put so low in the mix he is barely audible. The pop element is therefore utterly thrown away, leaving the song to be practically nothing but droning guitar chords. That alone is not enough to be interesting, and these two songs prove the point. I don't get it.

Laurenne/Louhimo - Damned

And here is where I question my ears. I liked the first collaborative album these two ladies put together, thinking it was one of the better melodic metal records to showcase such powerful singers in recent times. I was happy to hear a new one is coming, but this first song leaves me in the same position as Bob Mould's singles. I like this song, and I think it fits in well with their previous catchy yet heavy sound. The problem is that the production puts their voices low in the mix, to the point where I feel like I am straining to hear them. For an album named after the singers, and for having two exceptional voices, they need to be the centerpiece. And yet, it seems like several releases in recent times have been turning down the vocals. If that is the trend of this moment in time, I am not happy. The melodies need to be at the front, and this song sounds like two ladies holding themselves back. That's a disappointment.

Harem Scarem – Reliving History

If you ask me what the best melodic rock album of the last ten-ish years is, I'll tell you it was Harem Scarem's latestn, "Change The World". That album is absolutely glorious, with passionate vocals and massive hooks. There isn't word yet if this song is the first tease of a full album, but we can only hope it is. They don't change the formula at all, with the elements of this song sounding possibly too familiar if you've heard their last couple records. Harry Hess delivers a gritty vocal that never veers into sounding forced, the melody is immediately catchy, and the vibe is one of uplifting positivity. There aren't a lot of rock bands whose mere sound is that of a smile, but Harem Scarem of recent years is one of them. This is a little nugget of gold, in that regard.

Elton & Brandi – Who Believes In Angels?

This song is one of those bits that reminds us there is a line where sharing becomes oversharing. Elton John and Brandi Carlisle have made a collaborative album, and this first single announces that in grand fashion. The soaring melodies in the chorus are absolutely lovely, and the core of the song reminds me of my favorite late-career Elton work. The "Songs From The West Coast"/"Peachtree Road"/"The Captain & The Kid" trilogy was as good as anything he had ever done, and this song is ripped from that sense. There is a slight issue with the song running out of steam and ending on a weak note, but that doesn't hold it back much. The bigger issue is the press release mentioning that they set themselves a challenge of making the album in twenty days. I don't know why they would mention that, because it gives us the impression they weren't holding themselves to a standard. If they record happened to take that long, it was a bout of inspiration. By setting it as a limit, it is all they could do in that time. It's a built-in criticism if we wind up thinking the record isn't good enough. That's too easy a target to shoot at.

Album Review: Ginger Evil - The Way It Burns

There are certain sounds that echo in our heads, that remind us of feelings we had that may be long dead and buried. Time brings with it changes, and sometimes the distance that now exists between us and the artists we listen to masks the memories of how important those times were. As people drift away, we tend to downplay the importance of those memories to save ourselves the constant reminders of what is now lost to us. Metaphor gives us the rose-colored glasses that makes pieces of the past look better than the used to, but there is also a smoky grey lens that keeps us from wanting to look into the rear-view mirror.

When I think about the way pop music and I have drifted apart, there are a few touchstone artists who convince me pop music was not always a poison to me. Among those, one of my favorite strings of hit songs belongs to Pink. There was something about the tone of her voice as she sang tracks like "Sober" and "Just Like A Pill" that unlocked bits of myself that would later be shut off from the world. That infatuation would not persist as the nature of pop music changed, but Pink's voice would always have that same appeal to me. She is one of those few special voices to me.

That is what makes Ginger Evil so interesting to me. As the record played for the first time, the overwhelming thought I had was the unmistakable similarity between Ella Tepponen's voice and that of Pink. And as the record shifted from its harder rocking start to a softer ending, there were moments that felt almost exactly like those days of yore.

"The Way It Burns" is one of those albums that gets better as it unfolds, where the second half is the more interesting one. The classic rock riffs that open the record are a fine canvas, but it's the ballads and acoustic guitars that give Ginger Evil even more strength. As the mix clears out, the talents of each member are given more room to shine. The shimmering guitar tones, the melodic playing, and yes, the excellent vocal performance. Ginger Evil settles into a space where they are balancing on the edge between classic rock and what I consider the heyday of pop.

"Arrowhead" is the first stunning track on the record, a sparse ballad that puts all the attention on Ella's voice. Not every singer can shine when given so much of the spotlight, but she does so with aplomb. It's the kind of performance that made me take notice, and single-handedly puts this group on the list of bands to watch, because few can match that moment of clarity. You have to appreciate those times when they comes, because you don't know the next time you'll hear one.

Ginger Evil says that the song is everything, and as a songwriter myself I appreciate that sentiment. Too often, you hear bands who are trying to fit their songs into a pre-conceived idea of what they are supposed to sound like. They are the bands who are trying to make songs heavy for the sake of being heavy, who up the volume when we need to hear more dynamics. Ginger Evil clearly rock, but they let the songs dictate where the production goes. The guitars move from light to heavy as needed, which gives the record an ebb and flow that makes it a more thrilling ride.

Closing with the chiming ballad "Wake Me", Ginger Evil saves the best for last. The song is four minutes of nostalgia for an era of pop music I didn't always realize meant as much to me as it did. While maybe the band won't appreciate how much I am focusing on this comparison, "Wake Me" could fit into a compilation of Pink's greatest hits without missing a beat. I mean that as the most sincere of compliments. That song is so damn good.

Perhaps it's fitting that the album comes out on Valentine's Day, because in what has been a slow start to this year, Ginger Evil has made this grinch's heart grow a few sizes.

Album Review: Lacuna Coil - "Sleepless Empire"

Every time there’s a new Lacuna Coil album, I think back to the very first lyrical line of the very first track from 2014’s “Broken Crown Halo,” the anthemic and powerful single “Nothing Stands in Our Way”:

We’re still struggling / halfway through this journey.

Now, I don’t think that lyric was meant to be taken literally, but the second half of that line is worthy of some examination.  Dated back to their first EP, Lacuna Coil had been a going concern for sixteen years at the time of “Broken Crown Halo,” and it’s been eleven years since that remark was recorded.

That’s not to say that anyone believes Lacuna Coil has only five or so years left, far from it.  They can go as long as they feel compelled to do so.  It does, however, serve as a benchmark reminder of how far the band has come, and gives perspective to where they may see themselves now and in the future.

Which all serves as a backdrop to the following question that has plagued Lacuna Coil for years, and will not be abated by their new album “Sleepless Empire”: what band does Lacuna Coil want to be?  (In defense of the band, their sole answer to this question should rightfully be “whatever damn band we want.” I ask the question only as a means to frame how I believe the oft-conflicted and occasionally argumentative Lacuna Coil-imbibing public will react to this record.)

There have been multiple answers to this question over the decades, as the band transitioned through multiple phases of their identity.  The began as the revolutionary progenitors of what has since become known as ‘beauty-and-the-beast metal’ (a silly epithet, but one that seems entrenched now,) transitioned through to being something of a commercial pop metal band with a growling backup singer, and then into their third personality as an emotional and ragged metal storm, culminating in the masterpiece album  “Delirium.”  

Ultimately, the answer to that question that “Sleepless Empire” provides is that Lacuna Coil is all three of those bands in their turn, and the band is confident enough and experienced enough to be able to deftly balance all those elements into something that flows with purpose for the duration of an album.

Three of the first four cuts on this new record illustrate that very point - the opener, “The Siege” brings to mind the days of the persistent beat of “Shallow Life,” followed by the powerfully discordant “Oxygen,” a song with a hammering pulse but also a vaulted, accessible chorus, and then skip one down to “Scarecrow” and hear a song that lives somewhere in the valley between the other two.

Ah, but then the listener gets to “Gravity,” and hears for the first time a song that Lacuna Coil might not have been able to write eleven years ago.  It’s the first and most genuine synthesis of all their career phases that grace “Sleepless Empire.”  A mid-tempo, minor-keyed singalong rich with drama and heavy on power, the song is the amalgam of “Heaven’s a Lie,” “Cybersleep” and “Take Me Home.”  Spoiler, it is the album’s best triumph, the song that is most capable of tearing away the short attention span of the modern listener, that they may be consumed with the sound.

Don’t let it be sold short, though - “Sleepless Empire” brings more to the table than the single song.  Directly after “Gravity” is the wide open and almost bouncy “I Wish You Were Dead,” a song not presented with the dire tones that the title would suggest.  By contrast to what we’ve talked about to this point, “I Wish You Were Dead” is airy and light and breezy, brimming with the sort of retro-’80s goth rock beat that’s been made very fashionable by bands like Lord of the Lost.

Before we tarry too long, there’s one more song worth mentioning - “In Nomine Patris,” which rumbles with the kind of straight-ahead pummeling that so characterized “Broken Crown Halo,” which only merits mention since that’s how we started this whole conversation.

There is an inimitable truth to Lacuna Coil, which is that they’ve always been a singles band.  Each album has two or three outstanding songs, and whatever remains ranges from forgettably average to pleasantly good.  “Sleepless Empire” has some of those same hallmarks - not every song is going to hit.  However, by virtue of its versatility and reflection of the band’s entire career to this point, this may be the first Lacuna Coil album where different singles will hit for different people.  Time will tell.

Twenty-seven years into what the band loosely predicted would be a thirty-two year career, we see Lacuna Coil at a crossroads stylistically, but rather than be paralyzed by choice, they’ve chosen the most difficult but most rewarding road; the attempt to be all those choices at once.  A less experienced, less confident band could not have made “Sleepless Empire” into the success it is.

Singles Roundup: The Darkness, Rise Against, Avantasia, & Rexoria

The start of the year has been a bit slow. Let's see what the ol' grab bag of singles has in store for us.

The Darkness - Rock & Roll Party Cowboy

Have you ever had a band that made you question your sanity? The Darkness is doing that for me. I still love "Permission To Land", but everything they've done since then has me wondering if I was suffering from temporary insanity. That reaches a fever pitch here, as they have finally hit the bottom of the barrel. This tuneless mess has the most boring talk-vocal I may have ever heard, as it not only has no melody to it, but it doesn't even say anything interesting. If this is supposed to be a party, it's a suicide party. I imagine if this song had been written at the time, it would have been enough to convince even more people to join the Heaven's Gate cult as they drank the poisoned Kool-Aid. I know The Darkness doesn't take themselves seriously, but how can you be tongue-in-cheek without having an ounce of humor in it? This song is a mime at an open-mic night; it's going to get beat up in the alley when it goes to take a leak.

Rise Against - Nod

I'm a bigger fan of the band's last two albums than a lot of people, which means this new single should be rather exciting. There's something rather disappointing about it, though. We are once again feeling like the world is on edge, and this song doesn't have the same energy or anger we expect from Rise Against. It feels tame, and with a production that pushes the vocal further back in the mix, it leaves the experience sounding soft and fuzzy rather than sharp and aggressive. With no album announced, it's odd for a one-off song to be so lackluster. Did the band feel this was the strongest statement they could be making right now? I suppose they must, but that invites even more questions. All I can say for now is that I'm nodding my head in disappointment, not in agreement.

Avantasia - Against The Wind

Every album Tobi puts out has at least one song that is power metal by-the-numbers. That's what this one is, and once again it leaves me feeling flat. Avantasia plays with many other styles of rock and metal, and I prefer pretty much all of them to the generic nature of this. The constant high vocals through the choruses are not my cup of tea, and have never been. Couple that with riffs that are the basic chugging kind offering no hook of their own, and it leaves the song without a focal point that can keep my interest. I was already nervous about the album just because of the dragon theme, but now I'm concerned the slow separation between my taste and Tobi's is reaching critical mass.

Rexoria - Mesmerize

A couple years ago, Rexoria's album "Imperial Dawn" was my favorite example of power metal. They were energetic, hooky, and a showcase for fantastic vocals. That record was everything I could have wanted, and a new single is perhaps an indication that more will be on the way soon. This song... is a case of perspective. The positive is that Rexoria are doing what they do best. This song is another bit of hooky power metal that blends cheese and power in perfect quantities. It's fun stuff, all around. The negative is that it sounds so much like their previous album, I was almost doing a double-take to remember which song the melody most reminded me of. There is having a signature sound, and then there's re-writing your own songs. This one is perilously close to the latter, so I only hope the band is a bit more careful about adding some diversity when a bigger batch of music comes along.

Album Review: Dream Theater - Parasomnia

Parasomnias are sleep disturbances that get in the way of a proper period of rest. For fans of Dream Theater, the last fourteen years have felt like one long parasomnia. Mike Portnoy's departure from the band was an inflection point, where some fans were unable to comprehend their favorite band without its most vocal leader. Online discussion about this period is challenging, as there is a subset of the fan-base that doesn't want to admit the band carried on without Portnoy, or that the glory days weren't as glorious as they were made out to be.

The last few albums Dream Theater made before the split were controversial in their own right. Outside influences were becoming too blatant, the love of math as a selling point was too in-your-face, and the quality of the lyrics had descended into parody. Even if the lineup had stayed together, Dream Theater needed a reset to find a better way forward.

I am in that group who thinks they found such a reset, as not only is "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" what I consider the band's best album, but the albums that followed (minus "The Astonishing", which I think we all know was a mistake) featured a higher focus on melodic writing that did wonders for making Dream Theater a more engaging band for people who don't have music degrees as they do.

That means while so many of the fans are focused on Portnoy's return as a saving grace for the rest of the band's career, I'm looking at it more from the perspective of a parasomnia. Sleep paralysis is a terrifying phenomenon, and my greatest concern before listening to this album was that the band would find themselves picking up where they left off with Portnoy, and essentially considering the intervening years to be a bad dream where they were unable to get up and do what they really wanted.

The early singles for the record did little to dissuade that feeling, as they featured the band going back to their "Train Of Thought" era heaviness, their jigsaw puzzle song structuring, and lackluster melodies. In interviews, the band has talked many times about how they write the album instrumentally, and only then work on fitting vocals into the songs. I hate to say this, but it really shows.

The biggest difference between this Dream Theater and the one we had been listening to for the last decade is in songcraft. They are back to writing songs as if they are gluing random pieces together, having James LaBrie sing any old thing, and calling it a day if the theory behind it all excites them. Much like how "Octaviarium" being based on groups of eight didn't do a damn thing to make those songs interesting to listen to without a metronome, these songs could use stronger melodies and hooks to keep my mind from drifting when they are playing scales I don't recognize enough to be impressed.

I can't say this album feels like the band waking up from a long sleep, because in all honesty, it's still Dream Theater doing Dream Theater things. I happen to be one of those people for whom drums are the least important part of an album, so the switch from Mangini to Portnoy is not at all at the forefront of my mind. There will be people for whom that is the most important thing, but I cannot try to speak from their perspective. This record could have followed "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", yes, but it could have followed "Distance Over Time" just as easily.

I suppose that means the greatest disappointment of the album is that the huge narrative is a story that doesn't interest me. Much like how Opeth's recent album was dominated by talk about growled vocals, this album will be dominated by talk about Portnoy. Maybe that's for the best, because without that to sink our teeth into, I'm not sure there would be much else to say. Dream Theater are who they are, and it would be foolish to expect them to become something entirely new at this point.

We are talking in degrees, then. This album is solid enough Dream Theater music. So was "A View From The Top Of The World". Frankly, I don't think there's that much difference between the two, despite how I think the general consensus is going to play out. The news might make a few more people give Dream Theater another chance, but if they do, they'll find Dream Theater has been doing this all along. Sometimes even better.

Album Review: Tayne - "Love"

Lo-fi, ethereal songs are all the rage now (contrarian use of the word ‘rage’ fully intended.)  They typically provide a soothing escape, a gentle melody with a metronomic rhythm meant to induce focus, calmness, relaxation and in many ways, nothing more simple than detachment from the overbearing pace and demands of everyday life.

Now, imagine a space where lo-fi beats were amplified through the lens of true industrial music.  Think “Filth Pig” more than “One Fire.”  Automatically, the instinct would be to say ‘well, that can’t possibly be lo-fi anymore.’

…

Enter Tayne, the ambitious three-piece industrial pop band from London, and their new album “Love.”

Getting it out of the way - there’s no one single thing on “Love” that is truly revolutionary.  That’s not why the album is worthy of dissection, though.  It is the synthesis of disparate elements, styles and formations heretofore thought to be incompatible, that make “Love” an experience unlike most every other offering out there.

To understand the album is to begin with its quietest element - the airy, immaterial vocal presentation of band leader Matthew Sutton.  To take a minor liberty with a classic axiom, his performance is the calm within the storm.  As much as his vocal lines on songs like “Cause /// Worthless” may be the quietest element, they are the linchpin that sets the pace for the entire surrounding experience.  

This is where the lo-fi part of the conversation comes in.  Since Sutton delivers such an intentionally muted performance, it forces the music to conform to the timbre that he sets.  The cacophony around him is something of a dangerous, violent, but ultimately chained animal, bound to him, rising and falling as he rises and falls.  It’s not until the end of “Cause /// Worthless” that the music is allowed off the leash, and not until Sutton is done making his statement.  The end result, album-wide, is a sense of a temperate beat, even if the sounds which compose that beat are destructive in the extreme (and they are.)

Now, when the band takes the intensity up to their maximum, they’re as capable as any in the business of bringing the house down.  The song “Scars” seems to exist almost exclusively to prove this point.  For those who were weaned on the heady days of Ministry or KMFDM or Nine Inch Nails or the Kidneythieves, you’ll feel right at home with “Scars” which is an explosive, heavily distorted touchstone to the traditional elements of industrial.

Down at the end and worthy of mention, “In This Trend” is the closest that Tayne gets to a metal/industrial hybrid, and by itself wouldn’t mean all that much, but in contrast to what has come before, makes for a pleasant variety right as the album starts to tail off.

Directing attention for a moment to the album’s second cut, “Down.”  These might be words that have never been put in conjunction before - the song is something of an industrial shoegaze pop song.  As confusing and foreign as that may sound, listen for yourself - it’s the only apt description.  It is also, perhaps not coincidentally, the best cut on the record.

Is “Love” the kind of album that will enter a listener’s heavy rotation?  Likely not.  The collision of elements, heavy and soft, melodic and discordant, in some ways make “Love” more academically intriguing than accessible in a common sense.  It doesn’t quite fit the motif of mundane tasks like ‘need to pick up milk and butter,’ but also doesn’t have the dominating persistence to match activities like ‘need to do 270 push-ups in the next five minutes.’   However!  It is an experience unique unto itself, a demonstration that Tayne is a group of musicians who understand what they’re capable of, and have mastered the story they’re trying to tell.  That alone makes it worthy both of the time to listen, and the celebration of the artists who chose to make it.