What You Leave Behind

This week I was finally able to finish a song I’ve been working on for months called “What You Leave Behind”. I had been having trouble getting the song to flow, and up until recently it had a very fragmented feel to it. This week I spent a couple hours rearranging and looking at it from a different angle and I was finally able to remove any rough parts to it and I’m quite happy with the result.

I’ll work out the bass with Patrick as quickly as possible and then we’ll start to work on the drums with Taylor.

Lifting Shadows Progress

Yesterday Lifting Shadows convened for band practice, and it was both enjoyable and productive. Two original songs are now near performance ready, as well as one cover. Of course so far we have only been practicing instrumentally, but Patrick thinks he has found a singer. I plan to meet with him next weekend to see if he will work and if so, start to get him caught up. Hopefully within a few weeks, all four of us shall be practicing together and getting ready for some shows by the end of the school year.

This week I’m going to try and pull together a song I’ve had stashed away for the better part of a year. I’ve never really been happy with it, despite making numerous revisions. Hopefully I’ll be able to combine the best elements of all the previous versions of it to make a good song.

Also, I’m eagerly awaiting the new Omar-Rodriguez Lopez CDs that should be arriving soon.

Distractions…

This week are midterms exams at school, which sucked all the time right out of my weekend and will continue to do so for the rest of the week. Saturday I’ll probably crash all day to recover from the stress and then Lifting Shadows will reconvene for the first band practice in a while on Sunday. We’ve chosen a song we would like to cover which we will work on, as well as continue with our originals. It has been a few weeks since I have done any serious Static Light work, and the release date of April 18th seems much closer this side of the New Year. Hopefully I will find time to work on that project as well this weekend.

In lieu of any new releases this week that I’m interested in, I instead recommend the amazing 2008 album “Melancholie²” by the atmospheric black metal artist ColdWorld. The breathtaking mood this album creates has had me listening to it fairly regularly. It’s definitely helped me cope with some recent personal issues. Any black metal fan should not hesitate in giving it a listen.

And finally I’d briefly like to congratulate Barack Obama for his incredible speech today. I’ve been a supporter of his since spring of last year and watching the inauguration today was truly inspiring. The majority of my life has been spent under the Bush administration, so I honestly say that this is one of the first times I’ve ever been proud to be an American.

Peace

Review: Timeline (Ayreon)

Reviewing a compilation is always a tough task because different audiences will probably have varying opinions and expectations for it. Someone getting into an artist needs it to be a good jumping off point, but hardcore fans will want some extra content thrown in so they don’t feel ripped off. Ayreon’s “Timeline” tries to fulfill both of these goals, but it falls a little short on both accounts.

Across the three discs of “Timeline” are at least a couple songs from every Ayreon album that has been released so far. The tracks have been remastered, though I don’t have copies of his other albums on CD (only MP3s) so I can’t accurately judge if they sound significantly better. However, the production seemed consistently good throughout, so if fans have found the production on earlier albums to be lacking they might find this worth picking up just for that.

The track list does a fairly good job of covering all the different elements of the Ayreon sound, so it’s not a bad place for a newcomer to start. That being said, the problem with an artist like Ayreon is that every album is a concept album, and just hearing fragments of these concepts takes away from their impact. “The Human Equation” for example, is arguably Ayreon’s best album both lyrically and musically and the story is told over 20 songs. Here it is only represented by 6 songs, deeply taking away from the impact it can have. “Timeline” isn’t a bad place to start if you don’t care much for concepts, but if you don’t, Ayreon is probably not what you’re looking for anyway.

“Timeline” does offer some incentives for fans to purchase it, such as the aforementioned remastering, as well as a new nine minute track and a DVD which contains some previously unreleased bonus material. The packaging is also well done, and it comes with a fold out poster containing a timeline of the story that has connected all of his albums, and presents it in a way that makes the convoluted plot somewhat understandable.

The only real problem with Timeline is that it’s not quite sure what it wants to be. It’s not the best place to start for people new to Ayreon because of the vast amount of material (close to 4 hours) and the lack of cohesion to the story. It also might not be of great value to fans, since the extra material is nice but might not be worth the price. Overall, “Timeline” is not a bad compilation, just a tad bit confused.

Rating: 3/5

Disc 1

1. Prologue   [3:18]
2. The Awareness   [6:36]
3. Eyes of Time   [5:05]
4. The Accusation   [3:44]
5. Sail Away to Avalon   [3:41]
6. Listen to the Waves   [4:41]
7. Actual Fantasy   [1:31]
8. Abbey of Synn   [9:26]
9. Computer Eyes   [7:18]
10. Back on Planet Earth   [7:05]
11. Isis and Osiris   [11:09]
12. Amazing Flight   [10:21]

Disc 2:

1. The Garden of Emotions   [9:41]
2. The Castle Hall   [5:49]
3. The Mirror Maze   [6:24]
4. The Two Gates   [6:24]
5. The Shooting Company of Captain Frans B Cocq   [7:42]
6. Dawn of a Million Souls   [7:44]
7. And the Druids Turned to Stone   [6:33]
8. Into the Black Hole   [10:18]
9. The First Man on Earth   [6:54]
10. Day Two: Isolation   [8:47]

Disc 3:

1. Day Three: Pain   [4:54]
2. Day Six: Childhood   [5:04]
3. Day Twelve: Trauma   [9:24]
4. Day Sixteen: Loser   [4:48]
5. Day Seventeen: Accident? [5:41]
6. Age of Shadows (Edit)   [5:40]
7. Ride the Comet   [3:29]
8. The Fifth Extinction   [10:27]
9. Waking Dreams   [6:23]
10. The Sixth Extinction   [12:17]
11. Epilogue: The Memory Remains   [9:17] 

Static Light Updates

Although I haven’t been able to work on it for a week or so, at the end of winter break I started a suite of songs that will close the album. My mental outline of it involves four distinct sections, so I expect it to take four tracks on the album, probably totaling around 10 minutes long. Dynamics are an important part of the song, as it will include both calming, softer sections as well as some really rockin’ parts. I’m looking forward to working on it when I can find a good chunk of time to devote to it.

I’m also talking with Charlie about setting up another time to work on the album. Since the majority of the songs have at least been demoed, the time will probably be spent on mixing and producing it, as well as discussing the artwork that will accompany the download. My goal is to include a multi-page PDF file with the torrent that will be uploaded to various file sharing websites, which will feature artwork, credits, track information, etc.

For those of you new to the blog, I am working on a mostly solo album named “Watching Leaves Fall”, which has a current release date of April 18th, 2009. For more information, check out the ‘Static Light’ page on this blog.

In other news, today I received the first Ayreon compilation, “Timeline”, in the mail so I expect to have a review up sometime this week.

Review: Live from the Relapse Contamination Festival (High on Fire)

If there’s one thing High on Fire knows how to do, it’s how to write a good riff. Relentless, headbang-able, sludgy, heavy metal goodness. Their 2005 album, “Live from the Relapse Contamination Festival” had a very small first pressing of just a few thousand, and thankfully their label has decided to re-release it so everybody has a chance to give it a listen. 

High on Fire starts off the set heavy and doesn’t let up for one second throughout the half hour show. The first seven songs are comprised of their originals, mostly focusing on the “Surrounded by Thieves” album. The set is closed with a cover of the Venom song “Witching Hour” which feels well placed. The sound is muddy, burying the vocals while putting the emphasis on the guitar and backing bass. As I have seen High on Fire live, I feel qualified to say that this album manages to accurately recreate the raw energy of their show.

There’s really not a whole lot more to say. High on Fire has been critically acclaimed as one of the best stoner metal bands around, and after listening to this live album I could hardly disagree. “Live from the Relapse Contamination Festival” is easily summed up as a half hour of skull crushing riffs that most metal fans will find hard not to like. If you’re interested in checking this band out, I can’t think of a much better place to start.

Rating: 4/5

1. Blood from Zion   (5:01)
2. To Cross the Bridge   (5:43)
3. Nemesis   (5:43)
4. Razorhoof   (2:46)
5. Speed Wolf   (4:31)
6. Eyes & Teeth   (4:13)
7. Hung, Drawn & Quartered   (4:17)
8. Witching Hour   (3:47)

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Just a quick note apologizing about the lack of posts this week. I haven’t been able to listen to this album until tonight and wasn’t able to accomplish any Static Light/Lifting Shadows stuff during the week due to the combined stress of starting school again and personal problems that have drained me the last few days.

Practice and January Release Calender

Today was the first band practice since Taylor rejoined the band and it went far better than I could have hoped! There’s no question that our previous drummer Michael was very technically gifted but he never listened to metal and therefore his beats sometimes just were not the right style. Taylor on the other hand headbangs (almost) as much as Patrick and I, so she has a much better idea of the sound we’re shooting for. We were fairly productive today and got through most of one of our songs with her. Here’s to hoping she actually stays in the band!

I’ve decided to start posting all of the releases I’m planning to buy each month, so here is all the albums I am planning to buy in January. This list may not turn out to be all inclusive, for there could always be a surprise release of something. I’ll review at least a couple of them.

Album Name (Arist – Release Date – Release Type)

• Timeline (Ayreon – 1/13 – Compilation)
• Live from the Contamination Festival (High on Fire – 1/6 – Live Album)
• Despair (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – 1/26 – Studio Album)
• Megaritual (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – 1/26 – Studio Album)

School starts again tomorrow, unfortunately, but I’m pretty satisfied with what I accomplished over break. I’m truly dreading going back to the daily grind again.

The Best of ‘08

2008 was a great year for music, and certainly exciting as well. “Chinese Democracy” came out, Metallica released a good album and Nine Inch Nails revolutionized how we think of music being released. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, there was a lot of unexpectedness this year.  And so, without further ado, I present to you my best of 2008 list!

Best Instrumental Album of the Year: Ghosts I-IV (Nine Inch Nails)

This album is beautiful and quite original. I’ve never heard anything quite like it before. It creates an enthralling atmosphere that is quite easy to get lost in. It doesn’t hurt that this album revolutionized how we look at the release of music, but even if this had just been a standard release it still would have easily won this category.

Best Live Album of the Year: Colors_LIVE (Between the Buried and Me)

Best album of 2007 being played straight through + letting the fans pick the songs in the second set + incredible production + flawless performance = best live album of 2008.

Best “Find” of the Year: Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt. 1 (Nachtmystium)

To be eligible for this award, the artist needs to be one that I discovered in 2008. Assassins is an incredibly fun album to listen to. Whenever I put it on when I’m supposed to be doing work, I end up headbanging and leaving all my work for later. Nachtmystium have forged their own genre of “psychedelic black metal”, which takes the standard sound of black metal and infuses it with some awesome experimentation.

Best Album of 2007 I Didn’t Listen to Until 2008: Ire Works (The Dillinger Escape Plan)

It wasn’t until the last month or so of 2007 that I could tolerate extreme music, so I didn’t get around to this until spring of ‘08. “Ire Works” is a terrific album due to Dillenger Escape Plan’s desire to experiment with their sound. You never know quite what to expect from the next song, and this unpredictability makes the album fun to listen to as well as give it a lot of replay value. And ending it with a jazz song was inspired

Okay I’ll stop stalling…this is the only award anyone actually cares about…

Best Album of 2008: Traced in Air (Cynic)

I’ve already written an in-depth review of this album, so I won’t make this too long. What really has surprised me about this album after writing the original review is how well it has held up. The week after it came in the mail, I listened to nothing else on my iPod. I was addicted to it, and must have gone through the album at least a dozen times. Despite this, it never got old. Every listen was refreshing and as powerful as the first.

A great album needs to stand the test of time, and so far “Traced in Air” is passing that test with flying colors. My jaw still drops occasionally when listening to it. Cynic has managed to create a fresh and original sound that I’ve never heard before. I’m truly excited to see where they go from here, for “Traced in Air” is truly a progressive metal classic.

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I think that adequately wraps up 2008, so happy new year! I’m sure 2009 will be even better