The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 208

Done

 

While we’re talking about The Xcerts I managed to take a photo of them the other month where they’re all pulling the most ridiculous of faces.

 

I’ll trade with you :) message me

Edit: I see nate got it already never mind

 

Yeah we've been going back and forth already trying to decide on something

 

@Kennedy wanna come back and make me listen to Mount Eerie and review it? Lol

 

Omg, what a shout.

 

okay @Kiana gave me Sale El Sol by Shakira

so obviously I know Shakira but mainly from the singles and I don't recall the songs off this one getting a lot of play outside of Waka Waka
There were a lot more chill songs than I imagined, not necessarily a bad thing but just a different vibe than I imagined, but some more up tempo songs too, and I liked that there was variety
It's a little tough because I don't speak Spanish but I was still able to enjoy it even without knowing what a lot of the lyrics were
I also appreciated the Dizzee and Pitbull features, those songs were a lot of fun
standout tracks- Gordita, Addicted To You, Mariposa, Rabiosa, Devocion, Islands, Waka Waka, Loca

 

ill come back some day ;)

 

blink-182: blink-182

Yes, I hadn't heard this album before, aside from radio singles. However, I am happy to say that after an initial shock (it's a bit out of my comfort zone), I do really enjoy it!

The instrumentation was really cool and was what I was expecting/hoping to hear. The guitars and drums are really awesome, and I even picked up on some strings and piano, which was unexpected and really enjoyable.

As I've said before, it takes me a long time to pick up on lyrics well, so I can't really comment much on those. I did really enjoy the spoken-word WWII letter from the "Stockholm Syndrome" interlude. Things like that always catch my ear. The melodies were really catchy and enjoyable too. As for the vocals...I think I'll be in the minority here when I say that Tom's vocals were grating at times (sorry!). I really like Mark's voice, though.

The album starts out with "Feeling This," which is a nice fast-paced track with some awesome drum and guitar work. "Obvious" keeps up the pace and is, what I would consider, a fine example of a pop-punk track. I had previously heard "I Miss You" since it was a single, and it is a top favorite - Mark's vocals are great. Gotta love the cello, too! "Violence" has some awesome guitars (the intro reminds me of "Casual Affair" by Tonic) and the feel of this track reminds me of AFI in a way. "Stockholm Syndrome" has the aforementioned enjoyable interlude (with some calm piano lines) leading into another fast-paced track with some hints of the piano part from the interlude. Very cool. The drum and guitar work are both very impressive. "Down" was another single, and I do think I'd heard this one previously as well. It's quite pleasant. "The Fallen" interlude is pretty cool with a nice beat. "Go" has some really nice guitars and is quite a shock after the last track, with how fast it is. "Asthenia" has a really catchy chorus, and it reminds me of All-American Rejects somehow. "Always" has some awesome drum work, even though it's a bit of a calmer track (until the chorus). I even caught some synths! "Easy Target" is a top favorite - it's just so darn catchy (and more great Mark vocals)! "All of This" has an appearance by the vocalist for The Cure, so it's automatically fantastic in my book. Very cool! "Here's Your Letter" picks up the pace again and (as is the trend on this album) has some really good guitars. "I'm Lost Without You" has a nice piano intro (and piano work throughout) and is much longer than most of the tracks on this album. It serves as quite a fitting closer.

Verdict: 8/10

Favorite tracks: Feeling This, I Miss You, Stockholm Syndrome, Down, Always, Easy Target, All of This, I'm Lost Without You (yes, over half of the album again)

Reminds me of: (older) All-American Rejects, AFI, The Cure



(Thanks for sharing this album too - I'm glad to have finally heard and enjoyed more than just the singles from this "scene classic." I'm looking forward to trying out "California" soon!)

 

Great job @anonimito! I need to revisit this album.

 

I feel honored that I got to expose you to my favorite album of all time.

And that I’m 2/2 with getting you hooked on an album. This session went well between us lol

 

Likewise!

Haha - indeed you are, and it did! Thanks again!

 

I'm glad it had a lot of standout songs for you! Loca and the whole album is pretty much what got me into more Latin music cause it's so chill and fun

 

Just settled recs with @iCarly Rae Jepsen

I will be listening to Control by Janet Jackson and he will be listening to Arquivo II by Paralamas do Sucesso

Edit: if im not mistaken I just realized this means he won’t have gotten an English language album for two sessions now. Haha whoops

 

Me and @Michael Schmidt decided that I will listen to

Red City Radio - Titles

and he will listen to

Fightstar - One Day Son This Will All Be Yours

 

So this week I had two albums from @JediMasterKevo182 these were Hurt by Hawthorne Heights and Dead Reflection by Silverstein. I will preface both these reviews by saying that I didn't have as much time this week to listen to these albums, so my reviews are going to be shorter than usual. I'd heard of both bands before and was familiar of both their earlier albums but I can't say I've particularly listened to either band in the last decade.


Hawthorne Heights - Hurt (2015)




So from this EP I can see that Hawthorne Heights have matured a lot from the days when they were signing about being outside of someone’s window. Especially in terms of their actually musicianship, they seem a lot more accomplished from back then which a decade on you'd kinda hope so. From the 2 listens I actually gave this I thought it was quite good, nothing groundbreaking but a nice throwback to the 00's emo scene.

This was certainly a lot less cheesy than the albums I remember from them. I'll probably go back and give this another listen when I get a chance but I doubt it'll something I reach for all that often.

Favourite Tracks: Common Crook, Bury My Bones at Crystal Cove
RIYL: 00's emo like The Used, Senses Fail, Saosin - Like you all don't know this band.

Silverstein - Dead Reflection (2017)




So this album was a bit heavier than I was expecting from basically only knowing the band from Discovering The Waterfront (an album I haven’t heard in a very long time). While this album certainly still fits in the emo scene they definitely lean more on their hardcore influences nowadays, that's not to say this is a heavy album though. There are some really good riffs around this album and they do a lot better job nowadays of blending the harsher vocals in with the melodic signing throughout the songs compared to what I remember from their early days.

Like the Hawthorne Heights EP I only managed to listen to this album 2 times but I enjoyed this one quite a bit on those listens. Again it's nothing groundbreaking but I thought this was a really solid album and I can see me going back to this when I just want something fun to whack on.

Favourite Tracks: Retrograde, Ghost, Demons

RIYL: 00's emo with a hardcore edge to it.

 

Also I recommended @JediMasterKevo182 a new album to check out this week and it turned into a side trade.

So he's got Everything Dies by Nervus which was released the other week. For those not familiar of this band to me they sound a bit like a British Alkaline Trio with a slight indie influence.

Apparently I can't get enough of him recommending me newer albums by 00's emo bands I used to listen to So I've taken Senses Fail's newest album If There Is Light, It Will Find You that came out last month.

 

Great write ups and I’ll check out that band you recommended! That Senses Fail album is pretty incredible.

 

Just listened to the Nervus album last week
and I can vouch for it being a good one!

 

@theagentcoma a WHILE AGO (for that I am sorry) gave me:

Hooded Menace: Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed (2018) Season of Mist

I love the album cover and how it depicts both beauty and death.

Hooded Menace are a metal band out of Joensuu, Finland that, like Ataraxy, incorporate a multitude of genres into their sound of extreme metal. Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed is their fifth album and sees them mixing Doom/Funeral Doom, Black, Sludge, Death and even some thrash into their sound. Hooded Menace are among a new breed of bands that blur the lines of genres of extreme metal and make it so much more accessible. I had mentioned that my issue with some of the more extreme acts, especially ones that are of the Death Metal variety, lack a lot of melody, and this album is packed full of it. Like most extreme acts they have an obsession with death and their lyrics are often inspired by the classic 1970's Spanish horror movie series 'The Blind Dead'. At 46 minutes in length and only seven tracks, well six and a Celtic Frost cover, it is impressive and really hooked me by the second listen and might sit as one of my favorite metal releases of the year for some time.

The album opens with Sempiternal Grotesqueries and right out of the gate is straight up doom metal with these very tortured vocals that are consistent throughout the entire record. (Well, except for the cover, but I will get to that.) Then around the 2:30 minute mark it goes into sludge territory and brings to mind acts like Mastadon, etc. What's great about it, is that it incorporates this black metal guitar work in the background and it works perfectly. I love the thrashy solo around the 6 and 8 minute mark, once again throwing you for a loop. During the tracks 10 minute length they weave in an out of these aforementioned genres always keeping you on your toes as to where they are going to head next.

In Eerie Deliverance definitely leans more towards black metal with some doom peppered in and is a stunning track mixed with some creepy spoken word passages.

The closing track, Black Moss, is an instrumental one and has this great fade in and has these two dueling guitar solos contrasting one another. The final moments are of an acoustic guitar tuned to sound very medieval is a great way to close out the album.

I won't go through every song but I just wanted to emphasize how diverse and expansive this album is. The album just feels very epic and important and I love the use of solos throughout the record. Not only are they performed well, but they are utilized in the perfect places to give emphasis and bring so much life to certain tracks amongst the darkness this record brings.

This is a HEAVY album, not only in terms of the genres involved, but in the production as well. The rhythm section is turned way up and as I was playing this is in my car, I only had it on at half the volume I normally listen to my music and it was literally shaking my vehicle. I have an Acadia by the way and that is pretty impressive!

My only negatives of the albums are small ones. The first being how the tracks don't seem to flow from one to next and album seem cut and pasted. While the second is the cover. The deluxe version of the album contains a Celtic Frost cover and it's decent and they do it justice but when they try and sing in certain parts it is almost comical. Like I said, minor flaws.

9.5/10

RIYL: Death, Doom, Black Metal

Favorite Tracks:
Sempiternal Grotesqueries
In Eerie Deliverance
Black Moss

 

hooded menace is so good

 

That hooded menance album sounds good, I’ll have to check it out.

 

the second album @Larry David gave me was

Captain, We're Sinking - The King Of No Man

i've heard of this band before, i know what scene they're part of so i went in with certain expectations of what this would be like. i was pretty spot on with what i was expecting, pretty well done modern emo with a pop rock tilt to it. pretty catchy but pretty twinkly, these guys are definitely from the american football lineage but theres hints of like third eye blind and jimmy eat world pop stuff worked in as well. the spirit of 90's emo and alternative courses through this thing, and in that regard id say where the album lacks is failing to transcend its influences. but the sound they do they do really well. there's also some punk stuff going on but those songs (like "dont show bill" dont seem to be as successful as the more indie/alt stuff. i was surprised to see this is their third album because it has the production of a debut, its super raw and scrappy which is kind of a turn off at points. the guitars aren't bright enough for the twinkly side of this, things are really muffled and muddy, but a lot of the songs are good enough to make this more of an afterthought and not ruin anything. i like this, but dont love it, but ill be keeping an eye on this band because they have the potential to make something i love, for sure. (edit: nvm apparently they broke up. oh well)
7/10

edit: just found out its the guy from menzingers brother's band, definitely knew that but completely forgot. cool connection.

 

They called it quits last month :(

 

welp too bad lol