Not metal but of interest anyway, the new Porcupine Tree album is very good, alot to absorb but definitley enjoying it. Also, new Megadeth is excellent - trashy and old school sounding, not sure yet if I like it more than the System Has Failed (as far as comparing it to a recent deth album I loved ) but its very satisfying so far. Currently checking out old Ulver, Manegarm, and Fimbultyr releases.
I'm flying to Germany with my girlfriend and her family in mid November, and staying for ten days.
Ulver is playing a show in Athens, Greece on November 12th.
the german town we're staying in (Freiburg) is 2000KM away from Athens, and none of the nearby airports fly into athens...
You better - you sonovabitch - check for ferries and shit imo
Also, saw Satyricon with Bleeding Through (lame), Chtronic (alright), and Toxic Holocaust (always fun live). Satyricon was fantastic... it was their first NA headlining tour so it wasn't exactly a packed house but they played as if it was... alot of passion and energy, Saytr is a great frontman, perhaps the best I've seen next to Bruce D. I highly recommend everyone checking them out on the current tour.
There's actually been some good stuff coming out in the last couple of months:
jesu - "Infinity"
Probably their best release since the self-titled and "Heart Ache."
Portal - "Swarth"
This band just keeps getting better with each release. Picks up where the 2007 winner "Outre" left off.
The Chasm - "Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm"
Looked like this band was going down the shitter after their last album in 2004, but five years off seem to have rejuvenated The Chasm ala Summoning with "Oath Bound."
Add these three to Beherit's "Engram" and I think that's more albums in 2009 than from any year this decade that can match up to the old standards.
i highly and heartily recommend picking up Therion's new double live cd/dvd package called The Miskolc Experience, it is basically the audio and dvd of a special concert they performed in Miskolc, Hungary with an orchestra and choir at the Miskolc Opera Festival - and its fucking fantastic. They did two sets, one of all classical pieces and one of Therion songs (although a gorgeous orchestra/choir/sopranos only rendition of the Therion song Clavicula Nox started off the classical pieces set).
"The Miskolc Experience" track listing:
Part 1 - Classical Adventures: (44 min.)
01. Clavicula Nox
02. Dvorak: Excerpt from Symphony no. 9
03. Verdi: Vedi! le fosche notturne spotigle from Il Trovatore
04. Mozart: "Dies Irae" from Reqiuem
05. Saint-Saens: Excerpt from Symphony No. 3
06. Wagner: "Notung! Notung! Niedliches Schwert!" from The Ring
07. Wagner: Excerpt from the Overture from Rienzi
08. Wagner: Second part of "Der Tag ist da" from Rienzzi
09. Wagner: First part of "Herbei! Herbei!" from Rienzi
Part 2 - Therion Songs: (66 min.)
01. Blood Of Kingu
02. Sirius B
03. Lemuria
04. Eternal Return
05. Draconian Trilogy
06. Schwartsalbenheim
07. Via Nocturna
08. The Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah
09. Grand Finale
Sounds like classical pieces with guitar chuggas and drums forcibly shoehorned in.
That's because it is--the promo has them playing an excerpt from Dvorak's "New World Symphony."
Never liked symphonic metal bands that much, 'cause as you said, the mix of classical and metal usually feels more forced than natural.
But of course, I'm not much a fan of genre mixing to begin with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FirstBlood
That Jesu album sucks.
The drum programming is pretty bad at times (especially the double bass tone), but I thought the rest of it was a nice combination of jesu's early style and the middle era of Godflesh.
Hello all. I noticed Taake released their newest album on vinyl. I would have ordered it from their site but it ended up being quite expensive after shipping. Here's hoping someone in the US has it for sale soon. Has anyone seen it cheap in the states?
Because it is. Their original stuff sounds way better, IMO. The classical covers are disappointingly useless.
I have to disagree, beyond the one song I threw up there from youtube as a preview, the other classical cuts on the album are very interesting and dare I say, satisying to listen to - especially to someone like me who isn't well versed in alot of classical... this Therion album introduced me to a great piece by Saint-Saens, whereupon downloading and hearing a 'regular' classical rendition I found I prefered the Therion version better.
Listen, if they're playing live with an orchestra and doing some classical pieces, of course its going to sound like a metal band playing along with an orchestra... they're established classical pieces, what do you want them to do? To their credit (from information gleaned whilst watching the documentary featured on the dvd) the band and conductor did re-arrange many of these classical pieces to where the band actually holds a strong part of the melody themselves in counterpoint to what a particular section of a symphony would play, in other words they made adjustments to some pieces to have some of the classical instruments stand down whilst Therion's guitars took over those roles for a particular section of a piece.
To me, its an impressive achievement. How many metal bands would have the balls to go up there, at a fucking opera festival no less and attempt those pieces? Anyone who knows anything about Therion knows that Christopher Johnsson knows classical music, understands alot more about it than most metal musicians (and fans) do... I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here, he wanted to do a unique concert that was a meeting of two worlds, rock/metal and classical/opera and do it live in front of an expectant and skeptical audience.
To say its pointless or "useless" is fucking stupid imo, a good part of the artistry on display here is in the attempt and upon a closer listen I think most people will actually realize that hey this album sounds really fantastic, particularly the classical pieces.... some of which were screaming for metal guitars the way they were written anyway (hello Dies Irae). I'm a fan of Therion yes, and not always a fan of every single note they put down, I have my favorite songs and albums here and there, but I know that something like this is worth more than just a cursory investigation... this isn't Metallica's shitty S&M... this is a band that fundamentally understands the nature of classical music as well as metal, who are trying to do something more than just your standard heavy metal double disc live record. I enjoyed the album because I dared to listen to it quite a bit and give it the attention it deserved.
No I am sorry, the classical pieces aren't anywhere near the level of their native recordings (i.e. sans metal band accompaniment). Artistry, opera festival, classical buttfucking I don't care. It's just good music made unnecessarily worse by a band that should by rights be composing their own shit.
I will give this great strike against Therion, whom I love.
METALLICA DID A BETTER SYMPHONIC CONCERT THAN THERION DID.
Aside from the shitty auto-tuned vocals, S&M was a much better conversion of classical and metal.
That said, I never really cared for Therion much after they made the turn from death metal to symphonic metal, and I already have a mental picture of most of these classical pieces in mind that Therion are tampering with, so I'm sure both of those factors play a role in my S&M favoritism.
01.18.10 Seattle, WA WaMU Theatre w/ Megadeth
01.19.10 Portland, OR Memorial Coliseum w/ Megadeth
01.21.10 San Francisco, CA Cow Palace w/ Megadeth
01.22.10 Long Beach, CA Long Beach Arena w/ Megadeth
01.23.10 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre w/ Megadeth
01.25.10 Denver, CO Magness Arena w/ Megadeth
01.26.10 Albuquerque, NM Tingley Coliseum w/ Megadeth
01.27.10 El Paso, TX El Paso Coliseum w/ Megadeth
01.29.10 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless w/ Megadeth 01.31.10 Nashville, TN Municipal Auditorium w/ Megadeth
02.01.10 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena w/ Megadeth
02.02.10 Louisville, KY Broadbent Arena w/ Megadeth
02.04.10 Minneapolis, MN Roy Wilkins Auditorium w/ Megadeth
02.05.10 Chicago, IL UIC Pavilion w/ Megadeth
02.06.10 Detroit, MI Cobo Arena w/ Megadeth
02.09.10 Wallingford, CT Chevrolet Theatre w/ Megadeth
02.11.10 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center w/ Megadeth
02.13.10 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Center w/ Megadeth
02.14.10 Lowell, MA Tsongas Arena w/ Megadeth
02.16.10 Quebec City, QC Pavillon de La Jeunesse w/ Megadeth
02.18.10 London, ON John Labatt Centre w/ Megadeth
02.19.10 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre w/ Megadeth
02.20.10 Montreal, QC Bell Centre w/ Megadeth
02.22.10 Moncton, NB Moncton Coliseum w/ Megadeth
02.23.10 Halifax, NS Metro Centre w/ Megadeth