Thursday, December 29, 2011

Airing Of Grievances - Disappointments Of 2011

Absu - Abzu
I just wasn't feeling this one at all...competently played and more technical than ever I guess but that just shouldn't be enough for Absu. For a band to go from Tara to their s/t (which wasn't nearly as good as Tara but had it's moments) to Abzu means that they are now on a precipitous decline. Proscriptor you are still the man, but see if you can get a little bit of that blackened magick goin' next time. Props for the cool artwork though.

Manilla Road - Playground Of The Damned
There are sooo many things wrong with Manilla Road's latest album that it just depresses the hell out of me. This is a legendary band, why should the recording sound worse than a fucking demo?? I seriously thought I was listening to this in mono, I had to check the speakers a couple of times...but that's not even the main problem. Problem numero uno is Hellroadie. DO NOT LET THIS MAN NEAR A MIC EVER AGAIN!!! Mark "The Shark" Shelton is one of my favorite vocalists, and to hear Hellroadie's vastly inferior voice instead of Shelton's is a complete letdown. Most of the riffs are pretty good, The Shark's solos are still jawdropping, and when he sings it is magickal, but still...this is easily the worst Manilla Road album ever.

Old Silver Key - Tales Of Wanderings
Members of Drudkh and Alcest, this definitely had potential to be good....it wasn't. It does work as a damn good Nyquil substitute though.

Wold - Freermasonry
Fuckin' noise...I got fooled again. This is almost as bad as the time that asshole at Vintage Vinyl sold me a Harry Pussy record.

Oranssi Pazuzu - Kosmonument
Now this could be a grower, but right now I think it's just too noisy, too disjointed to be anything more than a failure. A real shame too, cuz they showed some definite potential with their debut album. This might be one of those awkward transition albums between black metal and krautrock...maybe for the next one they should go full on Van der Graaf Generator, I don't think anyone would be upset by that transformation. Badass artwork though, wouldn't mind that one on a t-shirt.

...and of course Morbid Angel, Metallica, but was anyone even really expecting anything worth a damn from them anyway?

6 comments:

  1. nice write ups, I was 0/5 before I read this anyway haha. I'll give the Abzu a shot, but thats probably it.

    ...Vintage Vinyl, NJ?

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  2. Well, I had high hopes for the Absu and Manilla Road, so those were especially big bummers.
    I was referring to the Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis, used to go there alot back when I lived in STL. This one clerk was always pushing the worst albums on me...I think he saw a grade A sucker whenever I walked through the door...I didn't know Jersey had one too!

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  3. You have to be shitting me, Kosmonument owns you& your entire family.

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  4. Hahaha, I might just have to give it another listen then.

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  5. Good call on the Absu man. It was probably my most anticipated album of the year, and while, like you said, it's competent and even pretty good in all regards...it's just missing something. Tara and Absu are still their best works, in my opinion.

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  6. Tara is the bomb...so is In The Eyes of Ioldanach ep

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