Coheed and Cambria - The Color before the Sun

Coheed and Cambria is a band I can quite surely qualify as an instant crush at first listen. Ever since having heard the first few minutes of “Domino the Destitute” off of The Afterman : Ascension, I’ve frequently and consistently found myself having a hard time laying off of their extensive catalog. It’s now been 2 years since the release of The Afterman: Descension and Coheed and Cambria are back with a new record titled The Color before the Sun, their first to break away from the band’s lineage of concept albums centered around the Armory Wars universe and storyline.

It wouldn’t be inappropriate to say that TCBTS marks a more direct and less ambitious approach to writing from the behalf of the band, though that is not to say that this album marks any sort of radical stylistic shift for Coheed and Cambria. It is thus not so much in the way of the bands’ instantly recognisable progressive pop-rock formula than in the overall pacing and flow of the album that we may notice somewhat of a break in the band's’ tradition. Rest assured for those fans out there, Claudio Sanchez’ serenading voice and the band's’ dynamic and theatrical compositions are still present on this record, most notably illustrated by the epic single Here to Mars. The album also has a fair share of Coheed and Cambria's’ upbeat and straightforward tracks such as with the chiming You’ve got spirit, kid or the sunny and irresistibly catchy pop-punk opener to the album Island. The track Atlas that was first introduced as an acoustic track on the band's’ youtube page is present on the album, though rearranged revamped as a overdriven rock song that fails to captivate me as much as its first form.  Overall, all of the elements of a solid Coheed and Cambria record are present on TCBTS, however it seems to be the pacing and overall balance in the track list that seems to be lacking for this record. Though the production and performances on this album are top notch as always, I couldn’t help but feel as though some of the songs were missing the sense of “direction” that seems to guide most Coheed and Cambria compositions, be it through their catchier songs or through their epic and compositionally ambitious tracks.

While The Color before the Sun may serve as an introduction to Coheed and Cambria in their most “radio-friendly” format for some, as an avid fan of the band I can’t help but feel a sense of redundancy upon hearing some of the tracks on the album.  As harsh as it may seem, while there isn’t so much as anything inherently bad in TCBTS, I doubt the album will leave a lasting impression on its audience, it’s fair quality being greatly overshadowed by the band's’ extensive back catalog.

Coheed & Cambria

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White Lung in Paris (@Le Point Ephémère, 20/11/2014)

Last night's gig was one full of surprises. For one, one of the last things I was expecting when I showed up to check out this promising young punk outfit from Canada was to find my age group in a very large minority. I'm willing to bet I was just as surprised as the band as they stepped on stage to find themselves facing an audience well into their thirties. However that's just a detail; let's get on with the show.

The second surprise waiting for me that evening would be the opening band: Headwar. I certainly wasn't the only one to be hit by surprise by this local 4-piece's loud and abrasive form of noise rock fused with industrial and zeuhl music. For the connoisseurs of these genres, think Big Black fused with some Test dpt and the sonic and stage insanity of Boredoms.
The band switched between a wide range of crazy tinkered instruments that each sounded more dissonant and abrasive than the last. Honorable mentions included springs and cymbal-guitar hybrids. I was absolutely baffled to hear how coherent of a sound they managed to create by literally torturing their instruments (playing guitar by hitting the strings with drumsticks or using a drill, sticking cymbals under guitar strings). One of the bands' structuring points was their incredible rhythmic coordination, which turned what could have been a half hour of unbearable sonic chaos into an exciting half hour of sonic chaos. The best description of the overall sound would be that of tribal music from a grim post-apocalyptic setting.
The band left the stage with a room full of newly converted fans, me included. If you have a chance to catch these sociopaths on stage, do not miss out and do not forget to bring ear protection.

Now unfortunately for me, Headwar would be the last good surprise for me that evening, as I would soon find. White Lung took to the stage and went straight to business, firing their doses of high-speed punk into the audience one after the other, like a machine gun. Female vocalist Mish Way and bassist Hether Fortune were all dressed up in a glamorous fashion that is uncommon for punk bands to say the least. The girls even put on some glossy lipstick and glitter makeup for the occasion. To get back to the music, the bands' set was not one marked with much diversity but that was to be expected.
Unfortunately for the band, tonight’s' show was plagued by a bad sound, with the bass drum being too loud during the first songs and vocals that were too low in the mix. Nevertheless, the clear guitar sound kept the show going. The band did not move so much on stage, the vocalist doing a few sexy dance moves but barely ever leaving her mic stand. The crowds' extreme stasis was badly compensated by the vocalists' poor charisma during stage banter. These awkward interactions did somehow still manage to hint towards a unpleasant amount of ego from the vocalist.
After what seemed like 20 minutes into the set, the band stepped offstage for what I thought was a brief yet curious intermission. The band finally stepped back onstage and resumed playing. This time, most of the mixing issues were resolved; the vocals were at the right level. After playing one song, the band left the stage again, to my utter confusion. I asked around, genuinely confused, only to find out that this was no intermission earlier, and that last song was the encore! The band had hit the stage and blasted off blitzkrieg-style without a thank you or goodbye after a set lasting barely over 45 minutes. 

Thus the evening ended on a final bad surprise, leaving me with a strong sense of genuine disappointment. Even if it meant playing both their albums back-to-back, I stand by the fact that I think the band should have put more effort into putting together a decently sized setlist for their European headlining tour.
The first bad concert review was bound to happen sometime and really I hate to say this, but this is one tour I do not recommend. However, what I will recommend is to check out their sound and hope that the band will return with a more convincing set next time around.

White Lung's Lightning-fast setlist

Robin

White Lung

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Land of the Free-Gamma Ray

 Right so, I am working on power metal week again today. (3 more power metal reviews fyi then back to your normal schedule). Today I am reviewing power metal giants Gamma Ray. There is a lot to be said for their classic album Land of the Free. This album has a nice sound, featuring some Zakk Wyldeish solos with nice bends. There are is a good combination of metal genres coming together on this album to create a unique sound in the power metal field. The guitar is great, with a couple of excellent riffs. The bass is fairly good, it can add a thrash feel at times and other times it just keeps the beat. The drums are fairly good but not terribly original. The vocals are good and feel, mean. The lyrics are also pretty good and enjoyable.

The guitar is excellent because it cover several styles. While the majority of the styles fall into the heavy metal genre there are definitely bits that experiment with different effects and contrasting speed metal versus more traditional power metal. Other times the guitar has amazing levels of contrast within just seconds, one good example of this is on the song Man on a Mission where there is an immediate switch from a quieter acoustic bit to a roaring solo. These songs are unique in that they contain acoustic and electric bits but they are not progressive. The bass is solid, but in all honesty it gets very few fills so it does not get a chance to shine. However the bassist is excellent at pushing the music along and giving it a thrash and speed metal feel. The drums are good but nothing really unique. All in all the instrumentalists know what they are doing but asides from the guitar there is not a lot of creativity.

The vocals are also very good. The thing that makes these vocals unique is that they have a mean feel to them. It is almost as if the singer (Kai Hansen) is sneering at you and it adds an angry feel to the album. Because the vocals are mean the vocals seem almost intimidating, it feels as if that Hansen has so much anger in him that he is overcoming the guitar with the sheer power in his vocal cords. The vocals remind me a good deal of those of James Hetfield. It gives Gamma Ray a more angry thrashlike sound than most power metal. The lyrics are pretty good. One of my favorite songs off the album, Time to Break Free, has a punk feel to it s lyrics. It is about leaving the expectations of the world behind and doing as you want. Another good song off the album is Gods of Deliverance a song about waiting for salvation from a god who might not come.

Overall Gamma Ray is a really great band who should be noted for their awesome ability to bring thrash metal and power metal together. The guitars on this album find an amazing blend between thrash metal and power metal. The main riffs are pretty much like thrash metal, however the choruses and the solos reek of power metal. The bass is a big factor in hepling the thrash feel but it is nothing to special and could do with some more creative fills. The drums are also decent but nothing to scream about. The vocals are really nice. Very much in the style of James Hetfield they create an angry atmosphere. The lyrics are excellent and range in themes from fantasy to punk. This is a good album that is definitely worth a listen.

OVERALL 8.5/10

Under Cover-Ozzy

 Okay, so I wanted to do some Ozzy, also I wanted to listen to other stuff. So I combined the notions and you have today's second review! Yup the album Under Cover, by our beloved friend Ozzy!This album is awesome because it takes some of my favorite 60s and 70s songs and it adds a 80s metal feel. The line up is start studded, it has the guitarist from Alice in Chains and the bassist from The Cult. In short, this is an amazing star studded line up covering amazing songs. The guitar is soaring and powerful and adds a great feel to the songs, the bass is strong and helps the rhythm. The drums are fairly good, but nothing to scream about. All in all this is a really good album featuring a lot of awesome covers.

The guitar on this album is really loud and powerful. This is a solid effort from Jerry Cantrell, he has some solos on this album that simply blow the mind with their might. Cantrell is a dark necromancer calling up the guitar riffs of old legends and turning them into a whole new and powerful creation, a creation filled with malice and might and ready to destroy anything in its path. Yeah, the guitar is that good. The bass is also fairly decent with couple of good fills. IT keeps the groove on with the drums. The drums have a bit of an awkward time trying to find a balance between 60s music and 80s metal, but as a whole it does okay.

The vocals are totally awesome, they are classic Ozzy vocals but it is really weird to hear him singing 'For What It's Worth'. It allows you to see his major influences but it is also odd to contemplate that these songs created the Prince of Darkness. What is probably the strangest selection is In My Life which shows a gentler side of Ozzy as he sings a Beatles song. It is really weird to hear this album but it is also beautiful, because one of the gods of the 80s is paying homage to the gods of the 60s. All in all Ozzy does a good job singing on this album its just vaguely psychedilic. The lyrics are traditional 60s stuff. He chooses quite a few good songs for this album, namely Sympathy for the Devil and Sunshine of your Love.

Overall this is a great album with a unique sound. It is really to here an album of 60s selections with Ozzy singing them and Jerry Castrell adding in amazing 80s style solos. This album has a beautiful aura, it is not a headbanging album, it is more of a nostalgic and sad album. However it is headbanging at times and it does create a really awesome metal aura. However that is not the overall feel of the album, the overall feel is nostalgia and resurrection. The guitar is loud distorted and powerful, the bass is somber and mighty. The drums find a really good balance between hard and light. Then Ozzy has explosive vocals. This album is totally awesome and totally worth a listen.

OVERALL 9.5/10

Elephant-The White Stripes

I felt like doing some White Stripes, and so I'm reviewing whats probably their best album Elephant. From the opening notes of Seven Nation Army you know that Jack White has truly found himself as a rock god. While this is not the Stripes breakthrough album this is indeed the album that made everybody kneel to Jack White. This album is an awesome combination of blues and metal. Jack White is a genius, and shows himself as one on this album. The guitar is fantastic and defines the Jack White sound, in addition his keyboards really compliment the music. Meg's drums are awesome and help drive the music along. You cannot forget there are the really cool lyrics which provide a great vibe to the album. Jack of course has a great voice which he shows on this album.

While a lot of the guitar has a blues influence you also feel the influence from Jack's days as a journeyman musician in the 90s when he was big in his local cowpunk scene. Despite the punk style of some of the songs White keeps to his old blues influences and adds a nice classy touch to the album. With his guitar he proves himself as a true rocker who can take the musical world by storm. The sheer power seen in his work is amazing, especially when it is offset by the times of extreme quiet. It shows an awesome juxtaposition and it really rocks. I love the guitar on this album because it combines my love for blues and heavy metal. Meg is great on her drums keeping the music going on the hard rockers and adding a nice touch to some of the quieter ones. Overall the instrumentalism on this album is awesome.

The lyrics are typically rather sad. Many of the lyrics seem to have to do with the disappearance of the concept of the sweetheart. A lot of them are simply talking about lost love and dealing with life in general. Some lyrics talk about the problems with fame as well and the difficulties that the two band members face dealing with all of their newfound fame. (And there was a lot of it.) This album has lyrics that are very inspiring but also sad. The vocals done by Jack are awesome and really show him as one of the best modern vocalists. His voice is both caressing and smooth as well as powerful and capable of destroying anything. In the song Ball and Biscuit Jack invokes the aura of Robert Plant and classic folk music, and then breaks out into a very Jimmy Page like solo. Meg's vocals, while very good are very gentle and soft. They provide an offset to the masculine vocals of White.

Overall this is an album that really can be best described as Led Zeppelinesque. There are quiet acoustic tracks and then loud rock anthems. I love that juxtaposition, for me it makes the album truly great and simply beautiful. The guitar is awesome, a combination of blues and heavy metal, a lot like Zeppelin, only heavier. Meg White plays the drums very well, driving the songs along and providing a nice feel to the music. The lyrics are great, they are mostly sad but they are very deep. Jack is a great singer, at times he is like Robert Plant and other times (more often) he is like Bob Dylan. Meg also has a good voice when she does her share of the singing. Anybody into heavy blues or heavy metal should love this album.

OVERALL 10/10

Elephant

Man From Another Time-Seasick Steve

 Today I'm covering one of my favorite modern blues rock artists, because I'm in that knid of a mood. So today we are listening to Seasick Steve. That reminds me of the other reason I'm covering him, he has a cool name. This is possibly the most impressive thing I have ever heard featuring vintage microphones and a 70 year old man. The guitar is pretty awesome, it is not always true blues. Also the guitar is made truly impressive by the fact that he ONLY USES 3 STRINGS! Otherwise the only other instrument is some drums, which he also plays. The lyrics are mostly about being a poor young man in the 60s, which gives a pretty good feel to the music. While typically his singing is gravelly. There are some very Springsteenesque vocals on some of the tracks to, he has a rather powerful voice.

The guitar is impressive on its own. Then you realize how his guitar is strung, and you kind of are blown away. It is frankly amazing to listen to what he can do with his 3 strings. There are decent riffs that just make you want to tremble and shake. The music is beautiful and awesome. His guitar is powerful and fast and is spectacular. I bet you that no one, not Eddie Van Halen, not Kerry King, not Zakk Wylde, not even the great Jimmy Page, can do what Seasick Steve does with the guitar that he plays. It is also amazign to see the complexity of the riffs that he plays under his singing, especially when you consider that this album is live in the studio. His Mississippi Drum Machine provides a nice beat for his music as well.

The lyrics are classic blues type stuff. They are sad, and discuss being very poor and living in the rural south. For example one of his songs is about being happy to have a job because he was starving. Others comment on how he has gotten older like the song Man From Another Time. All of it is really awesome blues type stuff. Oftentimes his lyrics are humorous, like when he laments that “One thing I fear before I die is that I will turn into a boring old fart”. He keeps up a running dialogue with the listener and it is highly humorous. Steve has a gravelly voice that impresses you. You could compare his voice to that of Zakk Wylde. His voice is one of the things that make this album awesome.

I really like this album, it features an impressive array of sounds. From the diddley bow to the 3 string guitar this album is really cool. There is awesome music, made more impressive seeing his guitar, his Mississippi Drum Machine provides a nice feel too. His lyrics are often funny and make the album what it is. His voice is deep and Zakk Wyldeish in places. I think that Seasick Steve, can very much be seen as in competition with Jack White as the greatest living blues musician, they are both in a similar style. This album rocks and I think that any body who even mildly likes blues would both love this album and want to listen to it again and again.

OVERALL 9/10

Man From Another Time

Brave New World Iron Maiden

Today I am celebrating the triumphant return of Iron Maiden in 2000 with their killer album Brave New World. Imagine being a Maiden faithful and hearing that you're favorite lead singer was back with your favorite band. You drop your tape into the player and BAM The Wicker Man blows your head off! This is one of my favorite Maiden albums, it has a couple songs that have become classics in the 10 years since there release. Notably there is The Wicker Man, Brave New World and Blood Brothers, but all the songs on this album are good. This is a return from the terrible years and into the Brave New Future for Maiden. I love this album, this is one of the mightiest Maiden albums, proving they still had plenty of strength in them. This album only allows me to say one thing “UP THE IRONS NOW AND FOREVER!”

The guitar work on this album is masterful, from the really well written power chord riffs of The Wicker Man to the interesting acoustic bits of the intro of Ghost of the Navigator (another classic). There is also a very impressive clean intro to Blood Brothers which is surprisingly easy to play. This album has more non-power chord riffs than other Maiden albums, what I mean to say is that while on most Maiden there are single notes in the intro and power chords throughout here there are single note riffs driving the music more than they did in previous Maiden records. Nicko McBrain has new life on this album, with impressive drums throughout, particularly in Ghost of the Navigator. The bass of Harris, is as usual holding the thing together, he comes through nicely in some bits in Ghost of the Navigator, and a couple other tracks.

The lyrics here are amazing. The Wicker Man is about the apocalypse and describes it by talking about “The World Exploding Every Single Night”. The Nomad talks about the mysteries within us. Overall the lyrics are classic Maiden, deep, dark and disturbing at times but often featuring a glimmer of hope. Dickinson's voice is amazing, his voice with his spectacular style is iconic and helps to shape the music. His voice was made for one thing, and that one thing was to be the best lead singer for the worlds best metal band (Led Zep doesn't really count, so they are still the best band.). This album is AWESOME.

The combination here of lyrics, vocals, guitar, drums and bass is amazing. It comes together perfectly to create one of the best albums you will ever hear. There are quiet more experimental acoustic bits, and more single note at a time riffs, healing the main issues with Maiden. All the tracks are Maiden being Maiden but now with greater maturity and awesomeness than they previously did. This album ROCKS and there is no denying it, everyone should listen to this and be amazed at the sheer awesomeness of the band known as Iron Maiden, the music storming into you at times like a hammer of the gods and other times a butterfly leaping gently across your eardrums, makes this album amazing.

OVERALL 10/10

also here is an in browser edition of DOOM

http://www.kongregate.com/games/mike_id/doom-1

have fun