Mountaineer takes me on a melancholic journey that explores the soul

 

Mountaineer - Giving Up The Ghost

Doom metal has always been a favourite of mine. From the early days, it was My Dying Bride and Anathema that got me into the genre. Push forward the years and metal music in general has constantly evolved and with it, the various main genres pushed forth new sub-genres.

Mountaineer firmly has its roots in the doom metal genre, but incorporates some beautiful passages of melancholy. Giving Up The Ghost, the band's fourth full-length album, has some of the best songs in the genre. The clean vocals really complement the astounding heaviness of the music instruments.

Here's their video for Bed of Flowers. It perfectly captures the Mountaineer formula of heavy melancholy reminiscent of the best doom metal bands, but with a good dose of post-rockiness that makes you fall in love with the genre.

I think the best part about Mountaineer is their incorporation of Post-Rock elements into their sound. From the band name itself, the music harks of exploration, not just outside, but of one's self. A journey of discovery from within simultaneously with nature around you. 

The following video is for their song "Twin Flame". The concept of a twin flames is very thought-provoking, but interesting nonetheless. Many believe in the concept of a "soul mate". I'm a romantic, and such a concept is attractive to me, even if the concept, if true, is quite tragic... considering the odds of finding your soul mate is 1 in over 8 billion.

I truly enjoy Mountaineer's music. I am privileged to be able to hear beautiful music like this. I'm still processing and getting my fill of their latest record and can't wait to delve into their back catalog.

Insomnium releases one of the best albums of the year in Anno 1696

Insomnium - Anno 1696

Insomnium is a melodic death metal band from Finland that recently released a new album titled “Anno 1696”. It’s a concept album about the Torsåker witch trials.

It’s been a while since I got hooked on an Insomnium record, and I believe I completely skipped out on 2019’s “Heart like a Grave” as I was busy listening to other bands. With this record, Insomnium remind me why I love the band, and why I love Finnish metal. But first we have to introduce the three main ingredients of this record.

Melodic death metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that combines the aggressive and fast-paced instrumentation of death metal with melodic and harmonised guitar riffs, often influenced by traditional Scandinavian folk music. The genre emerged in the 1990s in Sweden and quickly gained popularity in the metal scene.

The Finnish metal scene is known for its unique and diverse range of subgenres, including melodic death metal, black metal, doom metal, and folk metal. Finnish metal bands have gained international recognition for their innovative and experimental approach to metal music, often incorporating elements of Finnish folklore, mythology, and nature into their lyrics and instrumentation.

The Torsåker witch trials were a series of witch trials that took place in the village of Torsåker, Sweden in the late 17th century. The trials began in 1675 and continued until 1676, resulting in the execution of 71 people, most of whom were women. The trials were marked by a fervor of accusations and confessions, which were often obtained through torture. The accused were accused of practicing witchcraft, consorting with the devil, and causing illness and death in the community.

Now that we have the ingredients to the album, it takes the craftsmanship of Insomnium, mainly Niilo Sevänen (vocalist/bassist), to conjure up a short story based on this tragic part of history.

I won't go into detail about the entirety of the album, but I have to mention my favourite track: Godforsaken.

The track features the ethereal vocals of Johanna Kurkela. It's a perfect song; it has emotive lyrics, with a vocal delivery complementing it, alongside a most welcome high pace of both the guitars and the drums. It also uses the classic Insomnium formula that I love, where there's a whole climactic section at the end where the song finishes on an uplifting tangent, yet bittersweet because of the theme of the song, and of the whole album. Truly, a masterpiece.

The rest of the album maintains the theme and it's been an almost daily listen for me.

White Ward's False Light is a true masterpiece

 White Ward, from Ukraine, released False Light last year, in 2022. I've been a big fan of theirs since the release of Futility Report. The album cover itself was enough for me to be captivated, and they are easily in the category of bands who do their cover albums justice. 

White Ward's Futility Report

White Ward has one very distinct armament in their arsenal: the use of a saxophone, and not just using it, but using it to good effect! Another highlight of White Ward is their use of top productions for their music. Good production is sometimes the antithesis of a proper black metal band (hence why they're very much in the post-black metal subgenre), but thanks to the good production, the saxophone shines.

At the current time of writing, Ukraine is currently in a war with Russia. Being invaded, raped, and pillaged on various fronts, I can only imagine what the feelings and thoughts are of the band members of White Ward. One thing is for sure though, I do hope that they continue to make music. Their brand of post-black metal is just right up my street. I can see myself listening to their music years from now. 

White Ward's False Light

Check out White Ward at https://whiteward.bandcamp.com/.

Ashenspire calls out the cruelty against the poor, it's with full intent!

 

I wasn't really warming up to the record. Consider myself a victim of judging a book by its cover. More like judging it based on labels alone. Ashenspire, hailing from Scotland, is such a band. Most, if not all, RABM (Red and Anarchist Black Metal) bands that I've listened to don't hit the spot for me. There's something about the rather discordant tone that eludes my brain from being "unlocked" and latching on to the music.

My initial listen to the opening track "The Law of Asbestos" caught me off-guard. Wait, what?! Okay, that was intense. A little too intense. I wasn't prepared. I tried listening to it again, but realised I wasn't in the right frame of mind.

A while later, in a more relaxed situation, I gave it another go. And I was blown away. Jesus, this was intense. I listened to it again, and the vocal performance, the delivery of the lyrics, the lyrical content, it all resonated deep within me.

This is not a house of amateurs. This is done with full intent.

The lyrics are haunting.  

Okay, I know I am late to the party, but here goes Nothing

 

This last week has been filled by Nothing. I'm talking about the band Nothing. Curious? Check out the song above, it's called "Famine Asylum" and it has a lot of the things that I love in music. Thick and heavy distortion in the early Smashing Pumpkins vein, with a good dose of shoegaze ala Hum.

Listening to "Famine Asylum" for the first time invoked the increasingly rare "I liked it the first time I listened to it" tag. I have to say though, that the rest of the discography wasn't warming up to me. It may have been the state of my mind contributing to it, but after a few days, I gave "The Great Dismal" another listen and it started to warm up to me. 

"Dance on the Blacktop" enhanced my knowledge of the band's tunes, and its favorability. I must say though that the production really could be better. I can't help but feel wanting for the sonic sound that the band can produce, but the records (especially "Dance on the Blacktop") sound like the mixer was underneath a pillow.

I now wonder what took me so long to really listen to the band. I know it now. It's the album covers. 

I'm a huge fan of great album cover art, and it's one of the main reasons I'm a big metalhead. So check out the cover for "Dance on the Blacktop":

Nothing's "Dance on the Blacktop"

Thanks to that, I missed out on some very impressive songs. My favourite from the album being "Blue Line Baby" and it has an impressive video:

One thing is for sure though, and that's Nothing will be a mainstay on my current playlist for the foreseeable future. They make songs that I'll still be listening to decades from now. And that's enough puns to last me for a while.

I was today years old when I found out that Phil Collins played drums on the song "Woman in Chains"

Today I found out that one of my all-time favourite songs, "Woman in Chains" by Tears for Fears, has Phil Collins play the drums on it.

Wikipedia says:

The studio cut features Phil Collins on drums. "Tears for Fears just wanted me to do that big drum thing from 'In the Air Tonight'..." Collins recalled. "'We want you to come in here in a big way.'" The song prominently features vocals by Oleta Adams, who went on to achieve a successful solo career...

This is just so amazing. I remember being an eight-year-old and absolutely loving the melody of the song. I was too young back then to really understand the meaning of the song, but it wouldn't take long for me to grab hold of the message and have it shape how I treated women throughout my life.