6 replies to this topic

[Stars]

Album Review



Warp Riders by The Sword

The third album by Texas metal band, The Sword, delivers the soundtrack for a space opera epic. It’s Metal that makes you feel like you can throw your ship into warp drive and explore the cosmos.
A concept album, Warp Riders tells the story of an archer named Ereth who lives on a planet called Acheron. Banished from his tribe, he wanders aimlessly until he meets the mysterious “Chronomancer” who sends him on a quest to restore balance to the planet which is suffering from tidal lock, causing one half to be scorched in eternal day and the other half frozen in eternal night. Yeah, fuckin’ ridiculous but also fuckin’ awesome.

The first track, “Acheron/Unearthing the Orb” is the perfect prologue as it begins with an ominous riff, painting the scene that serves as the story’s setting. One gets the impression of a desolate, harsh wasteland as it powers on through driving guitar lines and relentless drums. Along the way, we are introduced to numerous characters, and locales, expanding the universe of the story. For example “Tres Brujas” tells of a prophetic encounter that Ereth will have with three witches. “Night City” details a city ripe with vice and lawlessness.

Whether or not you like the story, The Sword do a great job establishing an interesting world and mythos. But of course, the album’s true strength lies in its songs. Imagine yourself as a warrior, riding into battle on your robotic cyber-horse, guitar in hand. As you call on the gods to bless your mighty axe, you play a riff that rips a fault into the ground beneath your foes. As the enemy army helplessly falls into the abyss that you have opened, you pick off survivors by slamming your guitar into their faces, causing them to erupt into an unrecognizable mass of flesh and blood. That’s what the music kinda sounds like. But imagine that battle in SPACE. You get Warp Riders; a heavy metal album that hits hard, fast and with enthusiasm. The only problem with the album is that with so many rockin' songs, there's not really a chance for the listener to catch a breath. That being said, Warp Riders is definitely one of the strongest heavy metal albums to come out in the last 10 years and one hell of a ride. Recommended.

8/10

[Donkeymog]

Can you review the new Caravan Palace album next? I've heard it but can't quite make my mind up about it.

I never really got my head around metal or concept albums. Not my world I suppose.

And can we avoid numerical ratings? I just find them so arbitrary, it's not like every piece of music is trying to attain to the same objective thing. So why use an objective measurement to compare them? A lot of the things you describe in the metal album such as:

Imagine yourself as a warrior, riding into battle on your robotic cyber-horse, guitar in hand. As you call on the gods to bless your mighty axe, you play a riff that rips a fault into the ground beneath your foes. As the enemy army helplessly falls into the abyss that you have opened, you pick off survivors by slamming your guitar into their faces, causing them to erupt into an unrecognizable mass of flesh and blood.

just sound dreadful to me. If an album gave me that impression I'd either find it comical or depressing - so when you give it an 8/10 it just makes me realize our tastes in music are very different. If you'd just made the statement on its own it would have succeeded in giving me an idea of what to expect without alienating me as the reader.

Hope that makes sense and is taken onboard as constructive.

[Stars]

/>Can you review the new Caravan Palace album next? I've heard it but can't quite make my mind up about it.

I never really got my head around metal or concept albums. Not my world I suppose.

And can we avoid numerical ratings? I just find them so arbitrary, it's not like every piece of music is trying to attain to the same objective thing. So why use an objective measurement to compare them? A lot of the things you describe in the metal album such as:

Imagine yourself as a warrior, riding into battle on your robotic cyber-horse, guitar in hand. As you call on the gods to bless your mighty axe, you play a riff that rips a fault into the ground beneath your foes. As the enemy army helplessly falls into the abyss that you have opened, you pick off survivors by slamming your guitar into their faces, causing them to erupt into an unrecognizable mass of flesh and blood.

just sound dreadful to me. If an album gave me that impression I'd either find it comical or depressing - so when you give it an 8/10 it just makes me realize our tastes in music are very different. If you'd just made the statement on its own it would have succeeded in giving me an idea of what to expect without alienating me as the reader.

Hope that makes sense and is taken onboard as constructive.

Hey dude, thanks for letting me know your thoughts. I'll try removing the rating system for the next review and see how that goes. And about my weird description of the music, I see what you're trying to say but I do love a little ridiculousness if it's done right, if that makes sense. The whole concept and rock opera thing is such a grand challenge to undertake, a lot of bands often fumble on the whole thing. But I love 'em because in my eyes, it adds a little amount of cheese which I love.

And also, for your request, I'll give it a listen. I've never heard of Caravan Palace before so it's bound to be an adventure.

[Stars]

Any more reviews on the way?

[Stars]

/>Any more reviews on the way?

Just got a couple new albums from going to some local live shows. I think I'm gonna try and focus on more local music for now.

[Stars]

Album Review

Open Mouth Insert Foot by Loudtalkers

These guys hail from the bay area in California and produce wonderful, slightly jazz inflected rock music. All three members of the band studied music at Cal State East Bay so they’re no slouches when it comes to the technical side of riffing. Guitar player and frontman Chris Ansuini commands the fretboard with nimble authority. His style of playing is very controlled and precise but still aggressive. His voice might be a put off to some but the melodies of his songs are fantastic. Matt Roads and Taylor Rankin hold down the rhythm section. Their groove is extremely tight and frames the guitar work of Ansuini quite well. It’s rare for a rhythm section to demand the same attention as a guitar solo within a song but the Loudtalkers do just that. Take a second listen to a Loudtalkers song and you can hear Roads countering the riffs and trills of his bandmate’s guitar solos with his own intricate bass noodling. And vice versa. The band interplay is definitely one of their strongest assets. Drummer, Taylor Rankin hits fuckin’ hard on the upbeat songs and dials things back quite nicely for the quieter ones. All the songs gel together while still allowing the three members to show off their individuality.

The songs on their debut album have a good variety as there are some really dancey, funky songs (“Have We Gone Too Far?”) and some great rock out tunes (“Palm Reading”). The band has a good feel for how an album should flow from one song to the next as the album quiets down for a break in the action between heavier songs.

If you’re a big fan of 90s style indie rock (Pavement, Modest Mouse, etc.) I think you’ll find something to love in the Loudtalkers debut album Open Mouth Insert Foot.

Check out the album here:

http://loudtalkers.b...bum/loudtalkers

[Xteven Xavier]

i think i will check it out sounds interesting. sounds sort of like the sound I'm experimenting with right now