Unexpected turn of events…

Saturday morning I was pretty optimistic about the future of Lifting Shadows. The next day we were set to spend the afternoon recording the song “Perpetual Succession” which I think we all felt strongly about. However, after checking my inbox, I wanted to crawl back in bed and never get out. Michael had sent me a polite message explaining he didn’t care for the genre of progressive metal enough to stay in the band, and wished us the best of luck in the future.

Ouch.

So once again, we’re on the lookout for a drummer. We have a couple options that we can pursue and I don’t think it’ll be more than a few weeks before we have someone behind the set, but needless to say this has been a setback, both in terms of our plans and morally. Michael was an amazing drummer and it’s going to be near-impossible to fill his shoes. However I’m glad to say the split was very amicable, there’s no harsh feelings between the three of us. If he reads this, best of luck in the future!

And, of course, there’s a silver lining to every cloud. In this case, I don’t think we need to be looking for a singer anymore. Patrick has discovered that he actually has a pair of pipes, and is planning on taking the responsibility of both singing and playing bass. We started to arrange the vocal parts yesterday and at least something over the weekend worked out.

Review: “Traced in Air” (Cynic)

Do you know of an album that has been in the making for 15 years, and has enormous expectations to live up to? No, I’m not talking about “Chinese Democracy” but the new Cynic album, “Traced in Air”. Their debut album, “Focus”, came out in 1993 and was universally acclaimed, now being considered a progressive metal classic. However while writing material for their second album, Cynic broke up. Fast forward fifteen years and a successful reunion tour later, their second album is seeing the light of day. The question now is whether or not they will be able to live up to the extraordinary expectations set by their debut.

This might be the first time in my life that I was almost instantaneously blown away by an album. Not even thirty seconds into the first track my jaw was dropping. The excitement the first track manages to create is incredible. The whole song is a buildup to the rest of the album and teases the listener. The album starts with a few lines by the robotic vocals they became known for in their first album. Quickly, the guitars start thrashing atonal riffs as the tension begins to rise. Tribal sounding drums join in to create an exhilarating couple minutes until the song resolves itself with a nice guitar riff to end the song.

What I’m now expecting as a listener is a payoff. The album has built up my anticipation up with a captivating introduction and now I’m expecting greatness. With a short running time of just over a half hour, it needs to prove itself quickly. Thankfully, “Traced in Air” manages to live up to the challenge. Over the next half hour the listener is taken on an incredible progressive metal journey.

Cynic incorporates many contrasting elements into their sound. The listener can expect, often within the same song, to encounter soft, loud, jazz, metal, clean sung and growled sections. Despite all these different influences, there is not one rough transition in the album. The band manages to seamlessly shift between these styles and the songs never sound forced. Stylistically, the album is not a “Focus II”, but instead an evolution of the sound they created on their debut. Personally I’m quite glad it’s not just a clone of their first album, since while I recognize that it’s a great album I never really was able to connect with it. “Traced in Air” on the other hand, I got into right away. I definitely feel this album is more accessible, though because of superior songwriting and not because it has been watered down in any way.

The album manages to avoid pretty much every progressive metal cliche that some would say plagues the genre. There is no flaunting of instrumental virtuosity, indeed the solos are far and few between, used only when their presence significantly adds to the song. The songs are short and concise, and the emphasis is placed on the atmosphere of the entire album instead of the individual songs. The lyrics are down to earth and the singing well done. There are also no keyboard parts that  some people may consider “cheesy” either. Cynic truly manages to create a unique sound.

The last track ends the album perfectly. In contrast to the intro (“Nunc Fluens”), which could be considered quite abrasive, the last track (“Nunc Stans”), is perhaps the calmest and most melodic section of the album. This creates a nice continuity and gives the album a definite sense of closure. As soon as the the album ended, I felt the urge to go right back to the beginning and listen to the whole thing again.

Upon reading some reviews of the album, I noticed many reviewers compare Cynic to Between the Buried and Me. I must say, I wholeheartedly disagree. The only real similarity I can find is that both bands use a contrast between heavy metal sections, and softer interludes. However, both bands do it in a very different style and I must say that the two bands sound completely different. Cynic has a much more organic and natural feel to their calmer sections, while the metal parts of both bands are completely different and draw from very different influences.

“Traced in Air” is in every way an incredible album. While there is no question that it will never surpass “Focus” in terms of influence, I feel that in ways this album is superior. It hooked me from the start and never lets up in terms of quality. Cynic manages to weave many different sounds and influences into a seamless experience that is unlike any other musical journey I can remember. There is little doubt in my mind that this album will remain in constant rotation on both my home stereo and on my iPod, and I highly recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in progressive metal.

Rating: 5/5

Track List:

1. Nunc Fluens   (2:56)

2. The Space for This   (5:46)

3. Evolutionary Sleeper   (3:35)

4. Integral Birth   (3:53)

5. The Unknown Guest   (4:13)

6. Adam’s Murmur   (3:29)

7. King of Those Who Know   (6:09)

8. Nunc Stans   (4:13)

Oops…

All those things I planned over the weekend? Well, needless to say procrastination hit and none of it got accomplished. To be honest, it wasn’t all my fault. I was psyched to begin recording some Lifting Shadows material, and it was Patrick that was too busy to make it. Needless to say though, not much got accomplished. I will be gone this almost this whole long weekend with my parents, and won’t be returning until Sunday (when we will once again try to start recording).

Luckily for me, my copy of Cynic’s “Traced in Air” came today. I plan to listen to it a lot while I’m gone and write up a long and detailed review for it, which will probably be posted Sunday. Right now, I’m on the second track my first time through and I’ve been completely blown away. So far it is amazing. I hope the quality continues!

Weekend Plans

I have a lot planned for this weekend, but due to me being gone all day tomorrow I’m skeptical to how much I’ll actually accomplish. My “to-do” list includes beginning to record a Lifting Shadows demo, write/record a Static Light song I have the idea for, work a lot on the Dream Theater song “Ytse Jam” which I am learning on guitar, and maybe start writing a symphonic black metal-like song.

That’s a lot of stuff. The Lifting Shadows is top priority, and most of my Sunday afternoon will be devoted to it. Besides that, I’ll probably only accomplish one of the other things I want to do. Regardless, it’s looking like it will be a busy weekend. I’m really looking forward to starting the Lifting Shadows demo. The first song we’re recording is the only one I’d say we basically have completely down. We’ve rehearsed it a lot and we’re pretty tight when we play it, and from a songwriting standpoint I have no gripes with it. 

On Sunday, the guitar and bass will be recorded but Mike will be present to offer an objective ear and to make sure his drum parts are nailed. During the week, his drum teacher will let him borrow his drum recording equipment and he’ll record his drum parts. Hopefully the end result will do the song justice. I can’t wait to see what comes out of it!

School = Fail

Honestly, screw school. I never have time during the week to work on compositions and finding time on the weekends is a stretch as well. That being said, I have started writing a Static Light song featuring a piano as the main instrument but featuring some soft guitars, beats, and textures in the background as well. It’s portrays a nice bittersweet emotion. I would say the Nine Inch Nails instrumental “Leaving Hope” has been the biggest influence on it. I find that song to be incredibly emotional and moving. I also have some ideas for other Static Light songs I hope to start working on soon as well.

This week (finally) sees the release of Cynic’s “Traced in Air” which I am eagerly anticipating, though I have not received the shipping notice yet so I’m not entirely sure when I’ll be getting it. Phish’s 8-CD (!) “At the Roxy” should also be delivered some time this week. I will definitely do a review of the Cynic album and I hope it meets my high expectations…if their debut album “Focus” was any indication this could break my top 5 albums of 2008. I don’t know if I’ll do a review of the Phish album because I don’t have a lot of experience with their live work and probably can’t provide an accurate analysis of it. That and it’s also a hell of a lot of material to objectively work through!

DVD Review: “The Roundhouse Tapes” (Opeth)

“The Roundhouse Tapes” might be one of my favorite live CDs. Due to the way it leaves mostly all of the in-between song interaction and its quality production, it leaves the listener feeling like they really attended the concert. And now a year later, “The Roundhouse Tapes” DVD is finally being released to my high expectations set by the CD release. 

Unfortunately the DVD is a bit of a letdown, though the actual concert itself is superb. The band is tight the whole night, and plays through the set list practically flawlessly. The set itself is also very good, featuring fan favorites like “Demon of the Fall”, “Windowpane”, “The Night and the Silent Water” and “When”. And as with the CD, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt can be quite hilarious between songs.

While the band had a great night, and that’s certainly reflected here, it seems that everything went wrong on the production side. The most distracting and annoying problem is noticeable from the start, and that would be that the shots are just too damn fast! The camera rarely ever focuses on one band mate long enough to see what they’re actually playing. In the genre of progressive metal, just watching the musicians play their passages is exhilarating enough. We don’t need a close up of all five band mates in a span of ten seconds. The camera never stays on one band member long enough to appreciate what they’re playing, and ends up being just plain distracting.

Another problem I had was the numerous shots of the crowd. I have no problem with having a few shots of the crowd to raise the excitement, but I don’t need to see them every other shot. It felt like the mosh pit was shown more often the drummer (who unfortunately is rarely shown). The one other glaring problem I had, which seemed to occur more often in the beginning of the show then the end, are the effects that were used during the softer parts. During the clean sections of the songs, effects were used on the video to give it an “aged film” look, which ends up being both corny and annoying at the same time.

This is one of the rare cases where I recommend the CD more than the DVD. The show itself is fantastic and the CD very accurately portrays that. On the other hand, the DVD suffers from many production mistakes that end up distracting from the incredible performance Opeth gives. Hopefully their next DVD turns out better, but until then, I only recommend this to fans who already have the CD and really want to watch the performance.

Rating: 3/5

Track Listing:

1. When [10:28]

2. Ghost of Perdition [10:57]

3. Under the Weeping Moon [10:28]

4. Bleak [8:39]

5. Face of Melinda [9:58]

6. The Night and the Silent Water [10:29]

7. Windowpane [8:01]

8. Blackwater Park [18:59]

9. Demon of the Fall [8:13]

Lyrics, Part III

Well I consider myself much more of a musician than a lyricist. I really enjoy writing lyrics, but to be honest I think they pale in comparison to the music I put them to. I realized I haven’t posted lyrics here in a while, so these are the lyrics to the song I’m writing musically called “October’s End”.

Please don’t be turned off by the bleak tone of the lyrics, they are not all like this, and I would consider this the most depressing one I have written. I also don’t write all of the lyrics for Lifting Shadows, so if you don’t like the general style know that Patrick also writes some lyrics as well. All that being said, please enjoy and leave comments and constructive criticism.

—-

“October’s End”

I am two

Part numb and part you

One is what you see

And the other I see you through

And I’m dying on the inside

The water from your eyes

Creates a sea for me to drown

The curve of your smile

And I’ve fallen on my knees

Every movement you make

And I hate myself for this

I’ve cleansed in the misery surrounding me

And I emerge more tainted than before

You will always rise above the fog

As I freeze in the bitter cold

And when I’m alone

I cry for the hurt

When I’m outside I’m

Nothing but your fear

And your fallen hopes and fallen dreams

I’m beneath the dirt you walk on

I am nothing except the god of sorrow

I am the plague eating you inside

The tumor inside you’re head

Your urge to kill it

You wouldn’t believe how many tears I’ve cried

You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve died

And no on hates me more than I

The icy breath of an eternal sigh

As I shiver in the winter’s pale light

As I enter the everlasting night

I think only of you

And the end of it all

It’s October’s end

And six months has left no change

I shiver in the winter’s pale light

Entering the everlasting night

I Lost the Sky

Over this weekend I’ve written and recorded a Static Light song named “I Lost the Sky”. It’s close to nine minutes long (though I have split it into two tracks). I cover a large amount of ground, and the song shifts through many styles. I’d say it’s the most ‘complete’ track for Static Light I’ve made and is definitely the centerpiece of the album so far. Speak of which, I now have over a half hour of material and the release date of April 18th seems very reasonable at this point. This stuff is light years ahead of what was released on “Fading”, and is improved over “October’s End” too. I’m very happy with how the recording has gone so far.

Unfortunately it looks like this week is going to be very busy at school so I don’t thing I’m going to be able to do much music related stuff. It’s likely I’ll be too wiped to make a post until Friday or so.

Finally!

I’m fairly confident that this is the first weekend I’ve had since school started where I have very little schoolwork. It’s also a long weekend, since my school is weird and I have a day off on monday instead of tuesday. Tomorrow I have band practice, and I also have a lot of Static Light ideas that I want to start recording. As long as procrastination doesn’t hit too hard, I should be able to accomplish quite a bit of Static Light stuff this weekend.

I received Marillion’s “Happiness is the Road” last week and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. If you’re a fan of the band it’s worth checking out, it’s definitely a solid release. I don’t think I’m going to do a full review of it, but who knows, maybe I’ll surprise you. 

I’ve past the 1,000 hits mark that I spoke recently about. Thanks again to everyone who has visited the blog and especially those who comment!

You Have a Voice!

I’m not going to tell you who to vote for so that I don’t risk angering anyone, but please use your voice and vote! I envy people over 18 years old who have this privilege, so take advantage of it. One vote can make a difference. There’ still plenty of time left, so find the nearest polling location and tell the world who you believe will be the better president.

That being said, I recorded a song for Static Light yesterday called “Like Tears”. It’s a instrumental featuring only a clean guitar, in the vein of “New Views (Three Months)” and “Solace in Your Eyes” on the demo, though I believe this new recording to be superior. I’ve also been rewriting some parts of Lifting Shadows songs and perfecting them.