Favorite song off it so far: Slither. That first riff is fucking intoxicating.

Czech yer PMs.

The more I listen, the more I think there's some Tele in there too...

Axenrot killing it on this one! You're right about him definitely filling the previous Martin's shoes. I mean Lopez was good because of what he specifically does... Axenrot seems like he's excellent in more ways than one (for instance his killer death metal with Bloodbath). Really dig his feel here.

Also dig the slightly squishy soft production. Mmmm. I believe I hear strats? Furk year.

Still has a little bit of the late period Opeth stink, but also sounds like they've definitely gone in the right direction now.

I will need more time though to say anything more than specific technical points that I like/dislike.

Woo, 'SLither' sounds like Rainbow!

Slither really does sound like Rainbow. Not sure if I like the new "style" much. Great riffage and the solo fucking rips on that track, but not really my kind of thing.

It's definitely on the not-so-accessible side as a record. Lots of individual pieces/fragments/vignettes assembled into "songs", even more so than usual.

And yeah, Slither really does sound like Rainbow.

I could see them releasing that as a single if they felt they needed one? It's the most straightforward thing on there.

So fucking good. Sampling mastery.

Fuckin' A.

Fave-o-rites so far off the new Opeth are I Feel The Dark and Nepenthe.

For a band that was ostensibly "metal" and actually achieved a fair bit of commercial success, this is a pretty ballsy move. Granted not unexpected or inappropriate, and to paraphrase something Curtis said to me earlier the people he knows who are into Opeth are either musicians or huge music nerds. This is true for me as well; I know people who don't like modern metal who like them, or like them and Mastodon and Nevermore, or them and Isis and Pelican, or like metal but only like Damnation from them, and I think that's actually really been the idea behind the whole thing- like, it's a heavy noise but it's always been sort of an off-kilter one with the song structures and odd guitar work and unusual production values (not at their slickest are they polished up to sound like Killswitch or something, and they do make great sounding records, and increasingly audiophile-ish ones.) and I think it works.

It's interesting following a band and watching 'em develop over the course of some years and not picking up on them after the fact or well into their career. My Arms... was my introduction to them, when it was new. Blackwater Park is one of the most influential records on how I approach things; certainly top 10 if not top 5 (because I couldn't pick a top 5, though it is certainly in my top 3 metal albums, the others being Paranoid and Master Of Puppets. I seriously think it's that good.)

Any band with a song called Rabies Babies are ok by me



This one is awesome as well:

I suppose I should acquire this too...

Listening for the second time through my laptop speakers while doing homework so I can't get into the details on production but this is a very funky album. I haven't payed too much attention to which song is which but so far I think I have heard an Iron Maidenish riff, John Petrucci in a guitar solo, and some oldish PT in beginning of Famine. VERY 70's and VERY Opeth though. A decent pair of headphones is definitely my next musical purchase.

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth. Ya know, I really do dig this album a lot, fucking awesome production. Grohl with kickass drumming on the tracks he's on. And some great songs on this one for sure.

I never got on with this one for some reason. The songs just didn't grab me. It's a very different vibe than The Fragile, though; a lot more stripped-down.

Also, live drums + industrial generally = badass drummer. (As well it should; not much of a point otherwise.) This is doubly true live, where you're pretty likely to see a real drummer behind the kit even if the album tracks are all programming.

It might be worth revisiting?

Also too, this:

It is definitely not a traditional NIN, and stripped down is a good way to put it. Many of the songs are more or less just synthesized industrial rock songs rather than the epic use of textures and atmosphere like on the old material. But I still find it fairly enjoyable, though that may be because it was the first NIN album I had heard in it's entirety.

Everyone will judge, but Weezy is my guilty pleasure. I've been spinning this all week. While wearing my YMCMB shirt. I'm so thug nasty.

Fucking weird, and evil.

In other news I find I'm liking the concept of the new Opeth more than the actual album...

Yo, Geoffstrung, i just saw this over at D. Roddy.com, so you may have already seen it there?



I am curious to hear the rest of it, anyhow...

Listening to that Spiritualized album. I quite like it a lot at the minute. I can't tell whether the version I got is of a suitable quality though as I'm only listening through laptop speakers