The Official Metal Thread

[Pineapple]

Been listening to the new Porcupine Tree quite a bit. Pretty good stuff, but Anesthetize (17 minutes long) makes the record awesome.

I've always wanted to hear that band, I've heard nothing but good things from them. Just picked up a new copy (my old one got worn down to nothing) of Chaosphere by Meshuggah, and I've can't stop listening to it (again). Without a doubt one of the top five metal albums ever released. I bought this cd years and years ago on someone's suggestion and it proved to be the best descision I could make, these guys are one of the most brutal, intelligent, and talented groups I've ever heard. If you haven't given this (or any of their albums, for that matter) a listen, you are missing the hell out.

[jyoung]

You need to hear:

Gorguts - Obscura

Click for full size


After spending several years and dozens of hours with Obscura, it's hard to look at bands like Meshuggah as anything more than a gimmick.

If you have trouble tracking it down, just let me know.

As for the new Porcupine Tree album, I heard a little bit of it playing in my dad's car the other day, and the band's continued use of "hard-hitting hard-rock riffs!" are just becoming completely embarrassing now; I didn't get to hear the one longer song, so who knows how that turned out. Really though, I don't care much about these guys now that they seem settled into making pop-style rock records with a longer song tacked-on at a per-album basis to save face amongst the community of prog fanboys.

Finally, one (rare!) positive note from recent metal listenings:

Ohtar - Petrified Breath of Hope

Aside from Sorcier des Glaces' Moonrise in Total Darkness (which coincidentally, is also a 2006 release), this is the only black metal release I have come across in recent memory that successfully carries a spirit and vigor that is on-par with that of the genre's golden days in the mid-1990s.

Like most black metal, the album is driven by its atmosphere and melodies, which mix the mysticism and savagery of early-era Mayhem with the triumphant air of the first three Graveland releases.

[icarusfall]

But Porcupine Tree have never been anything but stadium rock and prog slapped together.

[Pineapple]

it's hard to look at bands like Meshuggah as anything more than a gimmick.

that hurts, like ouch. I'll give the other bands a listen, but damn man, Meshuggah as a gimmick? Have you listened to all their shit? Future Breed Machine, Nothing, I, Catch 33, Contradictions Collapse...? There is nothing but pure metal on every one of those albums.

[jyoung]

I haven't bothered with Catch 33 (since I kind of stopped caring at that point), but yeah, I've heard everything else; I used to be somewhat of a fan myself, actually.

But Porcupine Tree have never been anything but stadium rock and prog slapped together.

This is fairly true of their recent albums, but stuff like The Sky Moves Sideways and Up the Downstair show that they are capable of working within more interesting styles.

[Punky Skunk]

I don't think Meshuggah should be compared to Obscura, since it's just not fair.

Meshuggah can create some unique atmosphere. That's what I like most about them. The fullthrottle stuff gets very tedious after a few songs, but I can take their repetition when they slow it down to a sludge-like pace. The murkiness with some open space in the Nothing remake was nice. The I EP is good stuff. The vocals are kind of crap, but fit in with their sound at times (other times completely unnecessary, could use more instrumental passages). They're one metal band that can add electronic touches without sounding intensely cheesy.

I'd count none (no, not None) of their albums as a favorite, but I'll keep listening.

[icarusfall]

I think the I ep is the best thing they've done - and I've been a fan since Destroy, Erase, Improve came out, so obviously you should listen to what I have to say.

[Pineapple]

I've owned all the cds/remakes and all that, and while I'll admit that their older stuff can be a bit repetitious, I still can't deny their incredible talent for making sick ass offbeat songs. I was amazing, I wanted it to keep going. Also, if you haven't heard it, I highly suggest Sol Niger Within, it's Thordendal's side project and it's fucking incredible.
http://www.meshuggah.net/disco/sol/

[jyoung]

My problem with Meshuggah lies in the fact that the music is basically nu-metal/mallcore that tries to pass itself off as something “innovative” and “unique” because it dares to use unorthodox time-signatures, (pre-school) polyrhythms, and slick fusion solos (all of which were successfully incorporated into true metal dating back to the late 1980s – early 1990s).

When I look past all of those gimmicks, all I see is music that has as much depth and importance as a Korn album.

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Here’s the new Cynic song with straight-from-soundboard quality:

http://chuckydeath.uw.hu/cynic_-_evo...ry_sleeper.mp3

Now that the details are cleared up, I think it’s safe to say that the new album is guaranteed to suck if it’s anything like this shit.

It's a shame when bands like this feel the need to reform under the original band name despite the fact that their new material is far-removed from the spirit of their classic material.

[Punky Skunk]

There's definitely a nu metal vibe with their music, but they are far removed from bands like Papa Roach. I do like the solos.