The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 425

The Here And Now is when I got into Architects and I didn't realise it was so controversial. I still think it's pretty decent with some great tracks, if not as strong as some of their last two/three releases.

 

I didn’t realize Jesus reviewed a Waterparks at first. Went back and read the review, which is very good. Kudos to Jesus for sticking with it to be able to do a review like that.

 

Myself and @ugman_2000 have swapped.

I shall listen to The Swellers - Good For Me

They shall listen to Origami Angel - Somewhere City


Also my review of Piebald will be up Monday :)

 

@swboyd will be listening to the 12 songs Serration has released on 2 EP’s and a split. And I will be listening to The Blind Hole by Dead in the Dirt. The band name is perfect!

 

Hot take: this is their best album. At least the one that aged the best as it is their most diverse and doesn't rely on metalcore tropes like the following ones. I wish they would acknowledge it again but :/

 

I certainly can see that argument, and it would be in my top three of theirs at all times. I would pick All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us for the lyrics and because it really does feel like it was written by someone running out of time. Generally though, their last five albums are all pretty spectacular.

 

Also I am pumped to check out The Swellers more. I know one album of theirs, and have wanted to check out more so this is a great excuse.

Was close to picking that Car Bomb record though. Heard a song and it's insane.

 

Which album do you know? They are a really good/consistent band that seemed to have gotten stuck as a band’s band and could never get the traction they needed outside of small area in the states.

 

@disambigujason will take Cory Wells - The Way We Are and I'll have Cardova - Draw In The Light.

 

That Car Bomb record is so crazy, proper good though. Glad you’ve got The Swellers, such an underrated band.

 

I will have my late reviews up sometime today btw

 

My Epic - Ultraviolet (2018) & Violence (2019)





So @Chase Tremaine gave me 2 companion EP's Ultraviolet and Violence by the band My Epic to review. A quick google told me My Epic are an Christian experimental rock band from North Carolina and supposedly these ep's are conceptualized to address a common theme from two different points of view, so it seemed like this could be a cool listen.

So the first to be released of these 2 records was Ultraviolet which came out last year. This was a really cool listen, they blend a hard rock sound with lots of electronic elements on this one and over all it seems to have a more chilled out vibe to it. I haven't spent too much time with this to take in all the lyrics but from what I can gather this seems to be a bit of a introspective and reflective album. They seem to me to be talking not knowing what's out there and trying to come to realisation of not knowing is ok and that just having something to believe in can help anyway.

The second of the two releases is Violence which came out earlier this year which has a much more heavier post-hardcore feel to it that it's predecessor. This album definitely has an angrier feel to it than the other EP, especially lyrically. It still manages to blend in lush electronic soundscapes in places, like in Spit and Blood but mostly this album is crushing guitars and lots heavy drumming. This ep in particular I get lots of Thrice vibes from it (when they were in the Theissu, alchemy era).

Overall I enjoyed both these EP's and thought musically they really complemented each other (which I guess was what the band was going for). Lyrically there were the odd moments where I wasn't really feeling it, particularly on Bad Accents from Violence. Which a felt was a bit tasteless (musically though I probably enjoyed that song the most which is unfortunate). One thing I have to say though the production on both these Ep's was so good, they created a real lush vibrant sound on Ultraviolet and captured the heaviness perfectly on Violence.

Out of the two I preferred Violence but they both had their merits and highlights. My favourite track from Ultraviolet was So Be It and my favourite track from Violence was White Noises. Anyways thanks @Chase Tremaine for giving me these to review, they were a cool listen and probably something I would've never discovered myself.

 

Bask - III (2019)



So I did an extra trade this week with @Nate_Johnson where he recommended me the latest album by Bask. I'd not heard of Bask before but another quick google told me Bask are another band from North Carolina that I get to review this week haha and that they play a mix of stoner rock, post-rock and prog.

Me and Nate have been trading music on and off for a good year or so now, so we know each others musical tastes fairly well. So I knew before I listened to this that I'd most likely enjoy it and well yeah I was right. This is the third album by Bask and it seems like they've really managed to hone their sound in that time, they seem to have found the perfect blend of prog-rock, stoner rock and metal.

To me this band seem a bit like if later day Mastodon, went really far in the prog-rock direction instead of the metal direction that they currently sit in. They have a vocalist that is really melodic throughout that just floats along with the music on here so well. All the instrumentation on this record is at a really high standard throughout, that I can't fault it in anyway.

Bask also seem to have found a way on here of condensing prog rock songs into much shorter song lengths which I think benefits this record incredibly well as you're not getting bored at any point (this album is over in 36mins).

I love all of this album but the real highlights for me are the two companion tracks Noble Daughter I and II towards the end of the album, which I think sound like if Led Zeppelin formed a stoner rock band.

Anyways cheers Nate for turning me onto this album, it's most likely going to be making my AOTY list


Edit: lol 4 posts in a row, it just looks like I've been talking to myself all day in here haha.

 

I LOVE this album and I am glad you did too! I think they blend stoner rock with prog rock so well and it’s easily digestible. Especially for those that tend to shy away from metal. Great job!

 

The Light Under Closed Doors. Their last one I believe, but it's a great album! Interested to hear what came before.

 

@Petit nain des Îles and I have traded. They gave me:

Madina Lake- From Them, Through Us, To You

i gave them:

Out Of Service- Burden

 

Madina Lake! Wow, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while!

 

Yeah I've been on a nostalgia binge recently, revisiting stuff I was obsessed with in the middle to late 00's. That album was everything to 12 year old me. Not sure if they were popular in the states so I figured out @BTDandFeelingThis might not have listened to them yet.

 

I knew of them because they were on Project Rev with Linkin Park the same year as My Chem, Taking Back Sunday, Saosin, and MSI were but I didn’t see them play that day (I THINK they played a smaller stage before the main stage bands were gonna start and I wanted to get a close spot for TBS/MCR/LP on the main stage)

 

God damn I loved that Madina Lake record growing up. Last Kiss, Adalia, House of Cards, etc, were all massive songs for me.

Shame they couldn't carry it on, I only enjoyed the odd song like Welcome to Oblivion after that record.

 

Piebald - We Are The Only Friends We Have


Hailing from Andover, Massachusetts, Piebald are an alternative rock band that slowly gained traction through the 1990’s and 2000’s. “We Are The Only Friends We Have” is their third full record, and their biggest release.

Opening with “King of the Road”, the band start full throttle before pulling back to allow Travis Shettel’s unique vocal styling to take centre stage. Singing a poignant ode to the bands old van, the song is a pretty full throttle pop punk song where the lyrics do a difficult feat of managing to actually convey emotion for an inanimate object, as Shettel sing “Maybe see you at a junkyard soon, oh man, I really hope not.”

Second song “Just a Simple Plan” is a more melodic song that had itself lodged in my head within the first listen, whilst third track “American Hearts” is a hugely catchy song with some interesting lyrics that was easily the most immediate song on the record. Fourth song “Long Nights” starts melodically before building to a blistering ending that showcases the bands hardcore roots, whilst later on, the song “The Stalker” is an interesting moment where Shettel writes from the perspective of a creepy man following a girl, but some really fantastic uses of handclaps and a brilliant guitar solo elevate this song significantly.

One of my favourite elements of this record was the guitars, which manage to sound chunkier than a lot of modern pop punk riffs, whilst also allowing the space for Shettel’s interesting and unique vocals the room to breathe.

One of the albums unexpected highlights is the acoustic song “It’s Going to Get Worse Before it Gets Better”. Shettel’s vocal stylings aren’t traditionally something I would expect to work well in a chilled acoustic track, but with some light guitar and bells, it becomes a really pretty song about triumph and overcoming hurdles in life.

Overall I enjoyed this album pretty significantly, and I actually was surprised that this band didn’t enjoy more success than they did. Definitely a band I will revisit, as it seems they evolved consistently throughout their career.

7/10

thanks to @edisnfg for the rec

 

I’ll share this gem for all the Madina Lake fans.

 

Glad you enjoyed the album! It’s one of my favorites. Hope you check out their other albums as well

 

This week @summertimejesus gave me Clipping’s debut album, CLPPNG. I had heard and liked their 2019 release, but this is my first time digging into their past work. I’m always impressed with how this group uses abrasive noise and found sounds in their production. From the intro track, which is just Daveed Diggs rapping over feedback, to the alarm clock-based beat of “Get Up” and clinking glass percussion on “Work Work,” there is always something unexpected and interesting going on. Even their more traditional production work has cool, off-kilter moments. I’m not super well-versed in hip hop, but I don’t know of any other group that sounds quite like this. I haven’t had too much time to dig into the lyrics, but Diggs is a technically impressive rapper. One particularly intense moment that stands out: The repeated “Why won’t you just let me die?” into the Strange Things-esque synth that caps “Story 2.”

Short review this week because of the holiday, but I'm definitely keeping Clipping in my rotation.

 

Only heard the latest CLIPPING album but it ruled.