The most obvious thing to note from this past week is the distinct lack of metal.
It isn’t often that this happens, but this last week I just really was more into the electronic stuff, predominantly Bassnectar. It just seemed to be more what I was looking for overall. There was still some metal in there, new album from Crescent and all. New live album from Paradise Lost had me going back to the originals.
But mostly, it was all about the electronic music this week. Makes me wonder what this next week will bring.
Wacky Wednesday is a day to write about something that is just different. Could be truly wacky, weird or wild. Might be a little freaky. Could be funny, silly or really just unusual in some way. This might be an opportunity for me to explore some of the lighter aspects of my music.
When thinking about what I could write about on this inaugural Wacky Wednesday, one of the first things that came to mind was the song “Call to the Warrior” by Affiance. Sadly, this band has mostly disbanded, though we did get a surprise single from them in 2020. It’s a real shame too, as they really were an excellent, straightforward metal band. Melodic, exciting, with tons of energy, they are missed.
“Call to the Warrior” was the first song I really remember hearing from Affiance. And it was really the video that caught my attention. The song is a real banger, very motivating, and a great “pump you up” type of song.
But the video, it is hilarious and wacky and I love it. Just watch it. But, in short, it is the band performing their own song in Guitar Hero/Rock Band, and initially failing. There is great comedy for a great song. But the video definitely is wacky.
When I first fired up this blog I had a couple of ideas about what I wanted to do. Initially I was mostly basing it off other music blogs I frequent. The idea was, thus, to mostly do reviews and such.
It didn’t take long to realize that, while I am a pretty avid consumer of new music, there just isn’t something new coming out on a regular enough basis that I want to consume and write about that it was going to be a productive writing avenue. So I started thinking about other things, and thus my 30 albums in 30 days was born, followed by some other ideas.
Then I got lazy, took over a year off from writing. This time around I decided that I wanted to have some sort of plan to what I write, and so I came up with ideas for specific days. Enter Terrific Tuesday (and a few other ideas such as New Music Monday). On Tuesdays (not promising every Tuesday, mind) it will be a chance to write about something I think is just that, terrific. Maybe an entire album, maybe a song, maybe something else. All that needs to happen is I think it is terrific. Let’s get this party started.
That’s right, we are talking Funeral Doom today. Funeral Doom is freaking terrific. At the same time, I will be the first to admit it absolutely is not for everyone. Funeral Doom takes the slower, heavier elements of Doom and turns them up to 11. No, actually, it turns them up to like 19.
First off, this is slow music. Like really, really slow. It is ponderous, with songs easily in the double digits in terms of length (some even up to 30, 60 or even 80 minutes long for a single song). There is a huge hurdle to overcome in that regard. This isn’t music that works on a casual listen. It demands time, attention, and a significant investment from the listener.
It is also heavy, in the most literal sense of the word. Funeral Doom is akin to having more and more weight added to your back, weighing you down minute after minute. Harsh vocals abound, often addressing equally weighty topics. Again, not for the casual listener. This isn’t feel good music.
But it is cathartic. So, so cathartic.
Some people get that. Others don’t, and that’s okay. But for those of us who appreciate the power of music to take us on mental and emotional journeys, Funeral Doom fits that bill. Sure, it may be like being run through a meat grinder. But coming out the other side, there has been some sort of release. For me it is often a huge release of tension or anxiety I have been holding in. Through the weight of the music, these elements are pressed right out of me.
And the relief that can come in that catharsis is beautiful and often so welcome. And terrific.
New music Monday is upon us. I had been wondering what I wanted to write about for the past few days. Simply because, well, I haven’t found much music in the last week or two that really interested me.
That was, until Friday night.
Went to Black Widow with some friends and family. I thought it was a great movie that really should have been filmed and released a few years earlier (curse you Ike Perlmutter!). It is also dark, especially for a Marvel movie. There are some really sinister undertones throughout the movie, and these are set up from the very beginning, particularly with the opening credits.
We see scenes of young girls being taken and forced into the Widow program by the main antagonist of the film. And if that wasn’t heavy enough, all this is happening to the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as performed by Malia J. I had not idea who she was, and still know far less than I would like. It is enough to say that this rendition of this classic song (yes, it is a classic that is around 30 years old now, and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees) is truly haunting.
Minimal in many ways, with some breathy vocals, it still crescendos to some really powerful levels. The song just screams loss to me, and it so fittingly matches what we were seeing on the screen.
I hunted it down on Apple Music and was delighted to find some other covers Malia J has done. All have the same sort of formula, minimalist intro that builds to a powerful crescendo and then fades out with a soft denouement. And all are just fantastic. But “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the best of the bunch. This song is so entrenched in my youth, I can literally see, hear, and feel where I was the first time I heard it. And hearing like this makes it a completely new song. Check this track out, it is just fantastic.
I find it interesting what this shortcut chooses when it decides what music to chose from as it makes these images. But, it is still fun to see what it pulls from.
This week there was definitely some post-metal going on. Between Neurosis, Russian Circles, AMENRA, ISIS (the band, not the terrorist organization, RIP ISIS who disbanded after the terrorist organization came to prominence), and Thou (mostly their colab with Emma Ruth Rundle) there was a lot of post-metal going on.
Post-metal could very easily be my favorite genre overall. I love the dynamics, the way so many of the songs have these ebbs and flows. And it can be heavy. Like really, really crushingly heavy.
Khemmis got a good showing this week, as I had a chance to share them with someone who was not familiar with them. And then there was Cobalt. I don’t know what it is about Cobalt. When I am not in the mood to listen to anything, I still find myself loving jamming out to Cobalt.
Still, not listening to music as much as I would like, but did get some great tunes in this week. Maybe one of these days I’ll actually feel like listening to music again.
It was always there. Buried deep within me. There were hints as a youth. Those hints started to become more overt as I aged. It waxed and waned a bit over the years. Yet as I age, it has become stronger, more obvious, and more important to me.
I freaking love heavy music.
Like really, really love it. I do have my limits. There are certain very extreme bands or sub-genres of metal that are still a bit too much for me. But as I have aged, I find myself drawn more and more to heavy music. Genres like death, thrash, black and doom metal just seem to call to me. I siren’s song I cannot resist.
Often, people ask if this music makes me angry. Quite the opposite.
I’m not alone in thinking this either. I am aware of multiple studies in the sociological literature that highlight this fact: heavy and aggressive music helps to regulate emotions, particularly negative emotions. There has even been some suggestion that this leads to better emotional coping skills.
I don’t doubt it. After a particularly rough day at work, it isn’t uncommon for me to find the heaviest, most aggressive music to listen to on the way home. And by the time I get there, much of that pent up negativity has been flushed right out of me.
I liken it to a lightning rod. The anger of the music helps to pull it out of me and siphon it away, to a place that is safe and is much less likely to spill out on those around me. That’s a win in my book.
And so, I find that the angrier the music, the more it just may soothe my soul.
Truth be told, I’ve been struggling a bit lately. Part of me wants to listen to more music, but I often find myself just not that interested. New music has been coming out, but much of it just isn’t clicking with me at the moment. Not because I don’t think I will like it, but rather because it all needs some time and a bit of an investment to get into.
And lately, I have been short on the energy needed to make that investment.
And so, we have a fair bit of Exodus here. Some classic Neurosis as well. When we look at the week above (which really just picked some highlights, doesn’t reflect everything) what we really see is work and working out.
Exodus is excellent weight lifting music. It is pissed off. It is aggressive. There’s no room for contemplation, for subtlety, there is just angry, heavy, thrash. So, plenty of them this week. Missing from the lifting tunes is the Lamb of God that was part of that as well.
The new Fear Factory album is, honestly, better than it has any right to be. It is still Fear Factory, you know exactly what you are getting. But it’s good Fear Factory. So I am on board. Bossk and AMENRA have a deserved place, helping with Neurosis, to keep the “post” genres present.
Kardashev earned its place this week. Their combination of beauty and heavy really hits the spot, and was one of the few albums I listened to this week just to listen to music. Still, some really good music this week, and a reminder of just how much I freaking love Neurosis, and post-metal in general.
Middle Aged Metalhead 