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Opeth – Blackwater Park

Peter Jones Leave a comment

As I reflect on my musical journey over the past many years, it is difficult to overstate the importance of Blackwater Park by Opeth. Over time, my tastes in music had been gradually edging towards the more heavy. I was moving beyond the mainstream things like 90s and 2000s Metallica and Megadeth. I was exploring more progressive music, and starting to spread out into genres I hadn’t previously dabbled in. But I had one huge hang up: harsh vocals.

I just couldn’t handle them. I found them too grating, too unrelenting. And so, I instantly rejected any music that had harsh vocals. I’d encountered some minimal harsh vocals, but these were more appropriately classified as screams. Not growls. But, in the era after the release of Blackwater Park it was almost impossible to go anywhere online that wasn’t heaping praise on this album. And most interesting to me was, in the midst of all this, many comments about what a beautiful album it was.

That was what most piqued my interest. Comments about beautiful music, even in spite of the death growls, intrigued me. And so, I fully admit, I downloaded it and gave it a spin. (Full disclosure, I have since purchased the album both physically and digitally. But this was before YouTube, Pandora, Spotify or Apple Music. It was tough to hear new music without coughing up the dough for it.)

And let me tell you something, it was most definitely not love at first spin. I could totally get into the music. But the vocals. Ugh, the vocals. Surprisingly to me, there still were clean vocals, and they were quite nice at that. Yet the death growls still put me off. After a time, though, I started to grow accustomed to them. Some would say it was me becoming dull to them. However, I also started to view the vocals as another layer to the music. They were more a texture than a melody. I believe it was that understanding that opened my mind to harsh vocals.

Once I got over that hump, I was able to really start to appreciate just what an amazing album Opeth had released. Blackwater Park has so many layers. Yes, this is death metal. But deep in a way I was’t expecting. There are loads of acoustic guitars here, moments of quiet peace and contemplation. And then there are moments when this is heavy as a freaking two-ton heavy thing.

Add to that the fact that “Blackwater Park”, the song, is one of the most brutally awesome songs of all time, coupled with so many good songs on this album, and you have one amazing piece of art. To this day, I still feel that art is the best way to describe this album. While I may not love everything Opeth has done since Blackwater Park, this album will always be a watershed moment for me and my musical journey. And if you haven’t listened to “Blackwater Park”, well, it’s below so what the heck are you waiting for?

Cobalt – Slow Forever

Peter Jones Leave a comment

Life is full of surprises, that’s for sure.

Take, for example, Cobalt. If you had told me years ago I would like black metal, I’d have told you you were crazy. Had you told me that an American black metal band would become my ultimate go-to music? Even more crazy.

But that’s what Cobalt is. See, sometimes I get in a rut. I want to listen to music, but nothing seems to grab me. I try new songs, old songs, wander through just about every genre without finding something that I want to stick with. For someone who loves music as much as I do, it becomes an increasingly frustrating endeavor. I get cranky, and it starts to really drive me crazy.

Then I’ll turn on some Cobalt. Doesn’t really matter which album. Could be their breakthrough, Eater of Birds, perhaps their subsequent triumph Gin, or just as often, their amazing return to the music scene, 2016s Slow Forever. And every single time, I’m instantly out of my musical rut. Suddenly, I find joy in music once again. The craziest part of all of this? I couldn’t even tell you why. There is just something visceral about Cobalt that clicks with me, and draws me in immediately.

Slow Forever was my first introduction to Cobalt. Basically a two man band, with all the instruments manned by Eric Wunder, with Charlie Fell helming the mic (having replaced Phil McSorley after some internal band issues). That this really is just two men is astonishing, and the last thing I would have expected given just how powerful the album is.

Slow Forever is an evolution of the black metal found on the previous albums. It is less raw, and actually has an incredibly crisp production that makes the instruments, particularly the drums just pop. In fact, I’m not entirely sure I’d continue to call Slow Forever black metal. At the same time, I don’t know what I’d call it instead. There are elements of punk, hardcore, crust, hard rock, and country. Yes, even country.

Cobalt’s music is just raw, no matter how sharp the production is. The vocals still carry with them that harsh, almost shriek, even with a different vocalist. Instrumentally, this is just filthy, nasty metal, in the very best ways possible. The guitars have a “dirtiness” to their sound. I don’t really know how else to describe them. Many songs are long, the album itself is 1 hour and 24 minutes (with the bonus track “Siege” which is an awesome song). This album is a journey.

There is also something uniquely American about Slow Forever. It has the identity of the west baked into the music. There is a rebelliousness, a celebration of individuality, and also an acknowledgment that things just might be a little effed up. That leads to a powerful authenticity to the music. It is both contemplative at times, and yet just straight up brutal and in your face at others.

Slow Forever is a band that realizes that we just might actually be up shit creek, and they are making sure they scream this loud and clear for all to hear. There aren’t solutions offered here, that isn’t the intent. But Slow Forever is a brilliant, visceral, and raw anthem that wouldn’t be out of place while we burn things to the ground with the hopes of starting over.

Second to Sun – Legacy

Peter Jones Leave a comment

This is a bit of a mix-up today. I hadn’t originally planned to write about this album. In the list of 30 albums for the 30 days of November, this wasn’t on the list, simply because it hadn’t been released yet. But now it has been released, and I simply must write about it.

Second to Sun hail from Russia, and their music is deeply rooted in their country. Songs often take themes from Russian history of folk-lore, and just as often, incorporate sounds that strengthen that tie. And they have been incredibly prolific over the years. Starting out as an instrumental band, they have added lyrics and vocals over the years, broadening their sound. But they still hold close to their instrumental roots, as all of their past few albums have had both an instrumental and a vocal release. Most interestingly, they are such excellent writers, that the two versions feel like separate, wholly realized compositions, not just one version with the vocals stripped away.

Deeply rooted in black metal, but playing around with a host of other elements, including some death metal, so groove based riffs and passages, and always willing to allow the music to progress, Legacy is no different.

Let me just start off by saying, this album freaking rules. I’ve been listening to it almost nonstop for the past 3 days, and it is infectious, addictive, and has a real shot at being in the top 10 list of the year for me. I won’t bore with a track by track discussion, but I will say that there isn’t a weak song here. Some are straight up bludgeoning tracks (opener “Devil” comes to mind). Others alternate, building tension with keyboards and orchestrations, giving the songs room to breath and become more than weapons (“Pages For A Manuscript” for example).

Calling the vocals harsh is like calling ghost peppers “spicy”. Talk about understatement. These vocals could strip the paint right off your deck and sand it at the same time. They are raw, powerful, and uncompromising. But they fit the music so well. This is music written by people who know what they want to do and how to use those tools to make it happen. Instrumentally, there are no drawbacks to be found. The music is frenetic, it is brutal, it is atmospheric, it is haunting.

Second to Sun don’t write music to relax to. This isn’t casual music. It is heavy, it is harsh, and I can imagine that it would be too much for people without some degree of comfort with heavy music. But it is also brilliantly written and performed, and an impressive demonstration of just how vital and important black metal has become as a sub-genre. Far from the church burning roots, Second to Sun clearly demonstrate on Legacy that black metal is simply a tool, and they are using to bring a haunting piece of Russia right into your ear-holes.

https://youtu.be/q9UGNaRbFz8