11/28/24. Second helpings.

This is something I would like to do from time to time to add more flavor to my reviews with uhm, retconning them? Also I don't know where the whole food theming came from but I fucking love it. This won't be long, thank god, but I feel they have a place to exist, somewhere.

Slice the Cake as a whole. So on the tier-list you'd see Slice the Cake is a whole C tier despite the 8/10 review I gave them and the whole big ass review. The thing about this band is that, they only really have The Odyssey to The West going for them. It is a phenomenal album that itches the part of my brain for Tumblrite music (god I miss pre-2015 tumblr), but their first album, The Man with No Face, pivotal for their magnum opus, but only has like, 2 good songs? That being the final song and also title tract, and also Of Gallows. Don't get me wrong they are great songs on their own, but every other song on the album are just so samey, and so long that it makes the whole album itself like a 4/10. Their other album Other Slices only has one good song in my opinion and hardly constitutes as a real album, which to be fair it kinda isn't? It's all just songs that were rejected or didn't have the legs to make it to a real album. So like a 2/10 but I feel weird about it. All in all a C-tier band with one thing going for them. This reasoning is also for why most of the C-tier bands are in their. We will talk about Opeth later.

DO THE WORK. Not all of these will be negative, for example here is another reason why I love Rivers of Nihil's The Work album. As stated in the main review the album is just about working an unfair job in New England, anyone who worked at fast food no matter where you are can relate no? But the kicker really is the level of "medieval mysticism" it has. What I mean by this stupid term is take a band like Enterprise Earth, where their whole theming is medieval without being Medieval Metal, but it gives their albums an identity, it'd be easiest for me to describe it in Yu-Gi-Oh terms as "raising the ceiling" what it means in the Yu-Gi-Oh context is adding an extra layer of something to make your deck better, albeit disruptions, removal, card advantage, but it the context of music it adds a layer of unique identity ontop of what they do best already. Enterprise Earth again, they're a great deathcore band, amazing vocals, lyrics that are edgy but not in the cringe way, guitaring that makes me fucking squeal with how cool it sounds, and ontop of that they have a theme with their whole play style and lyrics but just pushes it over the edge of a run of the mill Deathcore band like Alluvial. This concept of raising the ceiling applies to The Work because it has what everything Rivers of Nihil has, the varied points of guitar-play, the vocalist who can change his range on a dime, percussion that hits so hard, and like Enterprise Earth that fucking medieval theming which is standard for their albums but what makes The Work go over the edge is that relatability factor, like yes I feel like a peasant freezing to death in the mines making ends meat when I work my shitty job at Dunkin, hate to say this again, but it tickles the brain so fucking well in a way that not everyone gets? Most bands started out as bands but these guys worked a shitty 9-5 poop job like the rest of us and here's their retribution.

Caligula's Horse. I don't want to go into too much here because I am planning an end of the year Caligula's Horse review, but there's more to this band that I would like to say. My emotional state is strictly determined by the music I listen to. I don't mean like oh I listen to angry music so I'm angry, or I listen to sad music so I'm sad, but more-so the fact I look to music as support? In my reviews you'd notice I focus on lyrics a lot, because I focus on lyrics a lot, they tell you a story which is why I'm thiiiiiiiiiis close to making a book blog much like metalnightmare is to music. Anyway, I always found myself listening to Caligula's Horse because of this, the lyrics are vulnerable in a way that makes me feel accepted, the lyrics get into dark subjects but not in a harsh way like what Machine Head does a lot, for this reason I turn to Caligula's Horse a lot. A little known fact is I play guitar, and for the first year of college I was so down that I couldn't even look at my Gibson guitar, and this was before I was as big into Caligula's Horse as I was. Halloween passes and thats when I discover Bloom, my first album of theirs, my first review of theirs, and thats when it reignited my spark to play again, from bloom I found that guitars play just a pivotal point in human emotion as lyrics do, and I played, and played, skipped homework a few times but who hasn't. Everytime I'm down I play a song off of the Bloom album as it reminds me the beauty, the poetry in life, how everything falls into place where it needs to as every part in life, the bleak and the bright contributes to one beautiful picture.

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11/23/24. The Odyssey to The West - Slice the Cake

Gosh this has been a long time coming. This entire essay has taken forever. For example this whole preamble has been written before most of the other parts in this essay! The truth is, I’ve been lazy… Also trying to find ways to make Yu-Gi-Oh interesting, and also this fucking album is a trek! Pun intended! The main theme of this album is redemption. A pilgrim who decimated Native American land in an attempt to make up for his misdeeds in his life in Britain, but when he does decimate the Native American land, all in the name of god mind you, he gets attacked by demons who steal his face both metaphorically, and literally. Gosh that's a lot, but also sprinkled in there’s druidism, a song that is just a huge reference to the insane clown posse? But on top of that the most beautiful song of the Album, Castle in The Sky Part II - Pieces in Ruin in of itself is based off of Shadow of The Colossus? That one really good ps2 game in 2005 but was even better on the ps3-that being said this was hard, a lot of emotions, feelings, and knowledge just on the back of my hand that is making me second guess my whole understanding of this album. With all of that being said, here’s my best attempt at understanding this piece of art(pun intended). Slice the Cake’s magnum opus and last album(for now?) Odyssey to The West. With supplemental pieces from Odyssey to The Gallows and their first album, The Man With No Face. Thats enough preamble, lets fucking start this shit.

Part 1 - The Story. This story starts as many do in Great Britain, the character we follow, The Pilgrim, committed a great offense, although we do not know what it is, it is so bad he has been sent to the gallows, and as implied in the title, of the first track of “The Exile Part I - The Razors Edge”, he contemplated suicide because of it, dishonoring his wife. From the lyrics of “Odyssey to The Gallows” it’s implied he went against the church, probably blasphemy from all of the harshness he said about God, and his mysterious ways. For whatever reason, probably church ordered, right on the brink of his death, he’s been sent to go on a Pilgrimage to America, to colonize it. This gives him his belief in God again, that his righteous cause will bring back the lost love of his wife, and erase his shame. From his travels in America he is still weary of God, and with his lantern it’ll blind the eyes of God, more about all of these metaphors later. As he climbs the mountain of man where he is free to express himself and be himself, with the light of the lantern blocking the eyes of God, he meets the Horned God. Although he is based on druidism which is an European thing and the whole deal about protection circles doesn’t help the case, we have to suspend our beliefs and just take it, besides it doesn’t really hinder it? Anyway, this Horned God grants The Pilgrim a protection circle, protecting him from demons, and God, all in the promise that The Pilgrim doesn’t fall for destiny. Later on The Pilgrim takes a Native American village, his wife dies most likely from church shenanigans, and The Pilgrim finds himself at his lowest point, his protection circle fades, all of his dreams, aspirations, and faith are all he has left, and after an altercation with an oracle he questions what is his destiny? And if he is a fool of it. The Pilgrim then gets possessed by a demon and the demon wreaks havoc on the way to The Pilgrims place he dreamed of from the beginning, the Holy Mountain. While possessed he physically didn’t have a face, but instead a theater mask. The Pilgrim trapped in his own body, forced to watch his body do things against his own will, reducing the land to ash, and dust. Unto the summit of the Holy Mountain, The Pilgrims protection circle reappears, as the demon loosens control, The Pilgrim understands now that his destiny was to die on that fateful day in gallows, but he lets go of that, The Pilgrim now dawns the title as The Author, because the pilgrim's path was never his own, as he writes his own destiny, instead of God. With his life fading away, he climbs the top of the Holy Mountain, and gives one last prayer for peace amongst the madness of religion, and gives one last message to God to let release control or give everyone their own free will, if destruction in the name of God brings nothing but darkness, but if you go against the will of God brings death, then what's the point of life? As The Author takes his life to let his message be heard.

Part 2 - The Meaning. Now what does this all mean? Aside from the obvious of religion being bogus, there are some metaphors and deeper meanings to this all, that I believe the musical style itself exemplifies the story and the deeper meanings. The genre is listed as “Progressive Deathcore” which makes sense but doesn’t really do it justice? Take “The Exile Part I - The Razors Edge” and the literal second song, “The Exile Part II - The City of Destruction”, or in the tasty licks section, take the three snippets of songs I use, “The Exile Part I - The Razors Edge”, “Castle in the Sky Part II - Pieces of Ruins”, and “The Holy Mountain”, they are very different, The Razors Edge is harsh, but not as harsh as The Holy Mountain, but not as soft as Pieces of Ruins, it’s in utter flux, but that's not a bad thing-I’ll go into this more in the final part of this, the review, but this is the way as it represents the Pilgrims journey. The metaphors in The Pilgrim's path are very compelling, the lantern blinding the eyes of God, fire being an Earthly possession that Zeus did not want humanity to discover as it will make humanity progress past the point of gods, the mountain of man vs the Holy Mountain are representative of discovering one's self, the mountain of man, and discovering one’s predetermined path, the fact that The Pilgrim needed the fire to blind God from truth of humanity is all very compelling. The protection circle represents opening your mind up to different ideas than the predetermined path, the fact it was granted by the Native Americans goes to show the hesitation The Pilgrim has towards the path, and him following the path subjects him to the own demons his faith has granted him. IT’S ALL SO COOL. The lows in The Pilgrims life, his rage and uncertainty he has in his faith being why the music itself gets harsh, the sentiment and regret, why the music gets soft, it’s so amazing.

Part 3 - The Review. Finally, the review. This album sounds very gothic, and not like in the Type O Negative way, but the synths, and guitar riffs are so moody, and drawn out, how you wish goth metal would sound like. It’s very story driven in that way, like what you’d hear in a show or game OST rather than an actual album? I won’t personally consider that a bad thing, but I know some people do not personally like that so much, I don’t judge them for that if they are reading this to each their own and all that junk. The lyrics are compelling but also kinda corny all things considered. Songs like “Castle in the Sky Part II - Pieces of Ruins”, just sounds like Kenny’s first sad song, Ash and Rust parts I - IV are… edgy no other better way of describing it. “The Exile Part I - The Razors Edge” has some weird of lyrics like, “And one might think it's such a pity to be standing on the razor's edge no, how Occam would be ashamed”, you’d think oh razor's edge, like Occam’s razor, but when you read into it, Occam’s razor dictates the simplest explanation is usually the best, and the simplest explanation is your cutting yourself which is the simplest explanation, so why would he be ashamed? Maybe I’m reading it wrong. The music itself is very simple, like I learned The Holy Mountain in a day, and I can tell I can learn most of the album in a similar time. And I suck! But that only matters if you’re a stooge. It all sounds cool, and good. It’s a very unique album, nothing much like it other than like The Eldritch Realm by Parius? Kinda? A bit? I could’ve sworn there was another band that had a similar odyssey type album but I don’t truly know. If you have an itch for an early 2010s tumblr band making their most artsy work ever, I’d recommend this album. 8/10. Now next time let's take a bit of a breather… I guess you will call yourself an exhaler..?

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10/21/24. The Tierlist

10/14/24. The Work - Rivers of Nihil

Awh yes, it's good to be back. Another big update, another review done. I've mentioned this in inner circles before but this review will be Rivers of Nihils' "The Work". This review and my next one will be about Deathcore albums. Inapart of being the prog-guy I also really like heavier music, Hell I consider Machine head my 3rd favorite band of all-time-I will add a bands I know tier-list here soon. Kicking it right off with the wrongs, the whole album is very amateurish. Lyrics are written like a first draft, very, very odd effects that don't sound good but could've been circumvented with just technique and skill, example being the weird audio speed-increase in Terrestia IV: Work, and admittedly very simple chords. But it just sounds good. According to a making-of video the whole album is based off working in thankless job in New England, and if you've read my previous review, you'd know how much I love my thankless job in New England, so the lyrics just ring true, and just how intense it is, it's just so FUCKING good. The thing about heavier albums is that it tickles the guitarist center in my brain and makes me happy in a world that fucking sucks, and the simple chords, the motifs that are from previous albums, THE LYRICS ABOUT HATING WORK-it just makes sense to me in a way a really good album like Bloom doesn't, something you could put on in the background while writing code and fucking up a line over and over again, but the music in the background makes your soul so happy that you just continue until you get it done, same with work, this album occupies 2 of my 10 songs slot in my work playlist, because it just helps. 8/10, this one is shorter because the next one we're gonna go through an Odyssey.

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9/21/24. Bloom - Caligulas Horse

I really do not intend of making these more than a week apart from eachother. Fact of the matter is I love writing reviews, it's just work is so draining, and I tend to write my reviews after my days over, so by the time I start them, I'm basically dead. That being said, It's time to review my favorite band. Caligulas Horse's, Bloom. This album came to me my first year of college, no one really liked me, I was in a Vermont far from anyone who did care about me, I was basically alone in the world starting anew. This was a done on purpose, I wanted to be alone, and start from the beginning, but I didn't know how lonely it'd be. The roommate who was supposed to be there with me, hated me, I hated him, So I lived by myself when he moved out very, very early on. Many sleepless nights of me grinding homework, or Yu-Gi-Oh with heavy metal in the background, feeling nothing from it. After I decided to listen to some Earthside, I happened upon them by accident when I entered into a music hall uninvited years prior. Now Earthside is a tale for another day, but the moral of this story is that without them I'd never be into Progressive Metal as much as I am today. Tuning into the Earthside radio on spotify, I happened upon Rust, by Caligula's Horse. Now all the primer out of the way, the reason why I poured my heart a bit there is because that is just what Caligula's Horse does. Even in Prog Metal standards, they're unique; never has a band been so gentle, and yet so harsh, so emotional, but also understanding. The lyrics in Bloom reveals a tale of control, jealousy, death, and the celebration of life all around the daughter of the mountain, the goddess in bloom. The opening tracls Bloom, and Marigold is about the blooming and growth of this daughter of the mountain, lets just call her, Grace, its a soft and gentle song that ends loud and grand in the arrival of Grace. In her light all hope is not lost. This grandness follows into Marigold, a song following a self described king. He's jealous of Grace, and the radiance she produces, and the love she is given by his people, threatening violence to her, and the people under her light, via stranglation. With his hands he has the power to change the world, for the best or the worse, and within his hands, and the loss of Grace, he see's that it's his responsibility to use his wealth, and power to bring back the hope that he took for granted, as much as he can, before he too falls into the undergrowth. Now I'm not gonna go in depth with all the songs off the album, Firelight is sloppy, Undergrowth and Daughter of The Mountain need a bit more time in the oven, that is to say they are still really good songs. Firelight is uplifting after Marigold's descent into despair, Undergrowth and Daughter of The Mountain add much needed context and characterization to this story. Rust is a song about despair. unlike Marigold, Rust is without jealousy, but employs a level of realism, and understanding that Marigold touched upon. The repeating Fuck your prayer for Rain, Pray for Rust with the imagery of eyes looking at him, and hands clawing on him, filled me with a sense of togetherness I haven't experienced with music before. I've always had trouble feeling people watch me all the time for the way I act, dress, and compose myself and It's all maddening, having trouble meeting new people did not help with this feeling, so having a song that understands the unbridled emotion of fuck you all, leave me be because I refuse to conform with your way of life, without being in your face, and loud about it, made be feel less alone in the world. That's Caligulas Horse's thesis; understanding human emotions, while being gently and comforting about it. The best way I'd describe Caligulas Horse is a really good friend. The final song I'd like to describe is Dragonfly. A song about jealousy and the lengths you'd go through to see your way through. The narrator is a man, who follows in Grace's light. He desires her radiance, he wants to feel all the warmth she gives out in his cold life. He would do anything for one last taste of her grace. His jealousy and depravity ultimately led him to kill her, his obsession with her made his life fall apart, as he dug himself many graves just to get a glimpse at her again, so in cloak and dagger he takes her life. A slow burn, but such a beautifully compossed song, with such soft lyrics it makes you feel safe, and warm inside as if you were this man, under Grace's light-however by the end of the song it gets harsher, and angier as we now feel his depravity, it's such an emotional rollercoaster, I love it. Despite everything I've said about the other songs in this review, they're all amazing, Sam Vallen, the Guitarist is a doctor in music, he understands the guitar more than I understand myself. Jim Grey sings as if it's his primary function in life, his range and style can change at a dime and it all sounds so beautiful. Every other member knows their purpose and plays their part and it all makes an etheral experience that hardly any bands try and fail to do. Most prog metal is preachy, but Caligula's Horse stays in their lane and understand rides smoothly. I know prog and especially the folkier stuff isn't everyone's cup of tea, but this album must be heard atleast once so your soul can thank you later, 10/10, fuck it 11/10.

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8/30/24. Melodies of Atonement - Leprous

Do me a favor and listen to this to Contaminate Me by Leprous, I'll even give you the yt link here.its sort of sets the tone and its thematic considering I'm reviewing Melodies of Atonement by Leprous. For my sake I'm just calling it MOA. So those of you "real ones" listening to Contaminate Me you'll understand that this is what I expect from Leprous, this is what I'm used to, Hell I've even heard it live by the good grace of God-Leprous isn't always constistent. Leprous' discography from the first half to second half is totally indistinguishable. Which is fine, bands do this all the time, and if Leprous has a change of style they are within their right, and I totally encourage a band diversify and enjoy playing rather than sticking to one style and hating it, thats just how you get shit albums. MOA, isn't my style, most of the songs are slowburns or just... slow... granted Contaminate Me is slow but its more of a sludge metal than uhm... prog metal??? heavy djent??? idk genre assigning could be a discussion for another day-anyway Contaminate Me works as a slow song whereas songs off MOA tend not to, don't get me wrong I like Atonement and Like a Sunken Ship as do we all, but I like them in a vacuum, when all songs are slow in an album it just becomes a chore to get threw where most of their albums aren't a chore. And most of my criticisms do allign with Malina, and Aphelion, where it's too djent-y to me (and I love Haken!), the vocals... and lyrics... are not my thing, although I will point out I do think the vocals and lyrics in MOA in particular have increased in quality, following Einars solo stuff I truly think he has come into his own recently with his range, and style. That being said it's a good album! It just isn't my thing. 6/10. Oh yeah btw ZTO was a 8/10 I'm doing this now maybe.

no TASTY LICKS lol

8/28/24. Ziltoid - Devin Townsend

The first album I'd like to review is Ziltoid by Devin Townsend. Many of you know this has been a long time coming, my constant use of it on my instagram stories, the fact I listen to ZILTOIDIA ATTAXX!!! on repeat at work, and the fact I've alluded to reviewing it like twice now. It's the quintessential "rock-opera" prog metal album, to me atleast. It may not be good as prog metal that it spawned, but it's truly a marvel, and one of the most important prog metal albums. Before Devin Townsend went into the music scene, Metal, and Prog metal didn't really have a foil, that-is-to-say rock has prog rock, and punk rock, but metal had... heavy metal..? There wasn't really any innovation to the general understanding of metal, each metal genre, aside from most "modern" ones are just metal but we play darker, or we play louder, or we play even riffier, but with prog metal it took the heaviness, and harshness of metal, but made it flow more with more technical play, and diverse and innovative instrument use. By the time Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsends first group, prog metal was a thing, it was just, like, proto stoner metal, or music best listened to high, strapping yound lads thesis was to be a metal band that has the energy, and harshness as any other metal band, but with the high technical play of the niche prog metal bands did, and they succeeded, being on high profile shows with the likes of Megadeth and didn't get boo'd out! Later in Strapping Young Lads venture, Devin disbanded due to mental health reasons, and made his solo projects in the early 00s. This stuff ranges from your average prog metal reaching nirvana one crackpipe at a time type music, to literal samples, but everything changed... with Ziltoid... Similar to how Strapping Young Lad wanted to reinvent metal, Ziltoid The Omniscient (zto) wanted to take prog metal and make it, story driven, sure music, and especially metal are no stranger to stories, concept albums existed for decades, but none delved into character, or had music that adhered to the general understanding of music theory, and none really strived to any real technical play into the experience, other than... ZILTOID!!! Ziltoid easily made perfect scores in music sites, and magazines, everyone loved Ziltoid! It's fun, its energitic, its moody, its goofy, and it's influence shows. Haken has stated they've taken influence from Devin, and it's no question that most of the UK prog scene is atleast somewhat influenced by Haken... Even if not directly influenced the fact that you can find almost all modern concept albums taking some direction from zto shows the sheer influence it has on story driven albums. It's quintessential, its omniscient.

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