I was at their show in Ireland Thursday, fecking ridiculously good.
Had never heard of Gloryhammer before, but they nailed it too.
Had never heard of Gloryhammer before, but they nailed it too.
Music The Ultimate Metal thread.
- Thread starter Kaos
- Start date
Good man! Yeah, was great. Never been to that venue before either but seemed pretty decent really. A great night was had by all!
Happy for you guys. fecking awesome you had a good time.
find yourselves in the YouTube videos
find yourselves in the YouTube videos
Nick Menza has died of a heart attack at the age of 51.. Sad day.. RIP..
Saw this earlier. Came out of nowhere, was only reading about his upcoming art exhibition a day or so back.
I've pasted this from Facebook, and even though I've tried to tidy it up for here it's probably still a bit of a mess.
Ayreon: The Theater Equation
I know the number of people who are likely to care is in the region of one, maybe two if I'm lucky, but I wanted to talk about this. Back in September I was meant to go to Holland to see a live performance of one of my favourite albums, Ayreon's "The Human Equation." Things went down, and I couldn't go. A couple of days ago I finally got to watch the performance, having bought the blu-ray.
Just to explain a bit, Ayreon isn't really a band. It's all written by a guy called Arjen Lucassen, and then guest vocalists come in to play the various parts. In this case it's the story of a man who, after falling into a coma following a car accident, is confronted with his past, his emotions, and his current situation as he lays trapped inside his own mind. The circumstances surrounding the accident are mysterious, as the man ("Me", portrayed by James LaBrie) ploughed into a tree on a deserted road in broad daylight. Following this, he slips into a twenty-day coma, with each day represented by a single song. Each song follows a slightly different format, though there are major common themes, such as the presence of Me's manifest emotions in his dream world including Fear (Anneke van Giersbergen), Reason (Eric Clayton), and Pride (Magnus Ekwall); the presence of Me's Wife (Marcela Bovio) Best Friend (Wudstik) at his bedside; and the past events that Me is forced to reflect on.
Because of this, they've never performed live, because of how busy all these people are, and how hard it is to get them all together. So this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and to say that I'm not very happy that I didn't go is an understatement.
But these things happen, and I got to see it anyway, albeit in recorded form. And it is very good. Only four of the original cast of eleven were replaced (Arjen himself because he doesn't like performing live, Devin Townsend and Mikael Akerfeldt because busy, and Mike Baker because RIP). Replacing them were Wudstik (showing a vocal range I had no idea he possessed), Anneke van Giersbergen (who actually fits the part of Fear better than Mikael, although his growls were kept in the backing track), and Michael Mills (replacing both Devin and Mike, and having the most ridiculous vocal range known to man - seriously, go and find his cover of Wuthering Heights, it's terrifying).
So the good: the vast majority of the vocalists are excellent, although I'm not the biggest fan of Irene Jansen. The biggest pleasant surprise is that they're actually pretty good actors (shout out to Eric Clayton who hams it up magnificently as Reason, now please record more music you wonderful person, and to Devon Graves, equally hammy as Agony), although to be fair the emphasis is mostly on their singing. The little bits of dialogue that have been added in do help with the story, and the new "doctor" character that's exclusive to the live performance does the same, and it's mostly quite easy to follow. Also there's a small cameo by Arjen himself at the end which is greeted by the audience erupting, twice as loudly as they had at any other point in the night. Because Arjen is a genius.
The one negative I'd have is that there's a few flashback scenes to the main character's younger days, but he's still played by James LaBrie, and they have a woman who is clearly younger than James playing the mother of his younger self, and this is not at all explained well, so if you don't know the story it would probably be very confusing. Although I'm not sure anyone that isn't a fan of Ayreon would be watching this anyway, so it probably doesn't matter.
Overall, it's a huge success for everybody involved, and I hope it leads to more live theatrical metal performances. 10/10
Ayreon: The Theater Equation
I know the number of people who are likely to care is in the region of one, maybe two if I'm lucky, but I wanted to talk about this. Back in September I was meant to go to Holland to see a live performance of one of my favourite albums, Ayreon's "The Human Equation." Things went down, and I couldn't go. A couple of days ago I finally got to watch the performance, having bought the blu-ray.
Just to explain a bit, Ayreon isn't really a band. It's all written by a guy called Arjen Lucassen, and then guest vocalists come in to play the various parts. In this case it's the story of a man who, after falling into a coma following a car accident, is confronted with his past, his emotions, and his current situation as he lays trapped inside his own mind. The circumstances surrounding the accident are mysterious, as the man ("Me", portrayed by James LaBrie) ploughed into a tree on a deserted road in broad daylight. Following this, he slips into a twenty-day coma, with each day represented by a single song. Each song follows a slightly different format, though there are major common themes, such as the presence of Me's manifest emotions in his dream world including Fear (Anneke van Giersbergen), Reason (Eric Clayton), and Pride (Magnus Ekwall); the presence of Me's Wife (Marcela Bovio) Best Friend (Wudstik) at his bedside; and the past events that Me is forced to reflect on.
Because of this, they've never performed live, because of how busy all these people are, and how hard it is to get them all together. So this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and to say that I'm not very happy that I didn't go is an understatement.
But these things happen, and I got to see it anyway, albeit in recorded form. And it is very good. Only four of the original cast of eleven were replaced (Arjen himself because he doesn't like performing live, Devin Townsend and Mikael Akerfeldt because busy, and Mike Baker because RIP). Replacing them were Wudstik (showing a vocal range I had no idea he possessed), Anneke van Giersbergen (who actually fits the part of Fear better than Mikael, although his growls were kept in the backing track), and Michael Mills (replacing both Devin and Mike, and having the most ridiculous vocal range known to man - seriously, go and find his cover of Wuthering Heights, it's terrifying).
So the good: the vast majority of the vocalists are excellent, although I'm not the biggest fan of Irene Jansen. The biggest pleasant surprise is that they're actually pretty good actors (shout out to Eric Clayton who hams it up magnificently as Reason, now please record more music you wonderful person, and to Devon Graves, equally hammy as Agony), although to be fair the emphasis is mostly on their singing. The little bits of dialogue that have been added in do help with the story, and the new "doctor" character that's exclusive to the live performance does the same, and it's mostly quite easy to follow. Also there's a small cameo by Arjen himself at the end which is greeted by the audience erupting, twice as loudly as they had at any other point in the night. Because Arjen is a genius.
The one negative I'd have is that there's a few flashback scenes to the main character's younger days, but he's still played by James LaBrie, and they have a woman who is clearly younger than James playing the mother of his younger self, and this is not at all explained well, so if you don't know the story it would probably be very confusing. Although I'm not sure anyone that isn't a fan of Ayreon would be watching this anyway, so it probably doesn't matter.
Overall, it's a huge success for everybody involved, and I hope it leads to more live theatrical metal performances. 10/10
I was gutted by the Randy Rhodes accident.
Love the song, but how bad is that performance? People who say Ozzy's voice only went south after 1991 need to hear some of his live stuff dating back to even the seventies.
Anyone liking the new Katatonia record?
One of the highlights of 2016 in metal and i'm not even a huge fan of them. I like their decision to shift towards more progressive sounds and expend on that throughout the years, you can hear influences from Opeth, Soen, Porcupine Tree or even Tool all over the album. I normally prefer the heavier stuff but this one contains a great deal of beautifully written soft material.
Definitely, thought i was the only one picking up on some Porcupine Tree in there. Jonas is a huge fan of them if i remember rightly.
I'm one of the few who actually likes the direction Opeth have taken, can't wait for their new album in september.
He is and he's not the only one. If you have a good taste in music, there's a great chance that you'll like Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson in general.
Funnily enough, i don't know many people who don't like the direction Opeth have taken. There's so much quality combined with open mindedness in this band that makes it almost impossible for them to release a really bad album. Same thing goes for Dark Tranquility, Neurosis and Meshuggah who will also drop new material in 2016.
It's been a good year thus far, i've listened to a lot of good stuff with the exception of the crap Dream Theater served us.
I'd say PT/Steven Wilson is my favourite artist, i just love everything the man has released.
Only ones of those latter 3 i've checked out is Neurosis and Meshuggah, but i wasn't all that keen on Meshuggah. Haven't heard the new Dream Theater either, but it looks like i'm not missing out
I'd say PT/Steven Wilson is my favourite artist, i just love everything the man has released.
Only ones of those latter 3 i've checked out is Neurosis and Meshuggah, but i wasn't all that keen on Meshuggah. Haven't heard the new Dream Theater either, but it looks like i'm not missing out
You can give the new DT a spin, if you 're willing to wast two hours of your life (yep, it's that long). Meshuggah's almost complete lack of melody makes them a bit difficult to digest but if you like bands from the Swedish melodic death metal scene, you should definitely check out Dark Tranquility. They've never disappointed me for nearly 20 years now.
I feel the same about Wilson. I watched him live a couple of months ago and he was simply amazing, three hours on the stage... a lifetime experience.
Same here, saw him live in Bristol in January, one of the best shows i've seen. The whole Hand. Cannot. Erase record, start to finish, followed by another set of songs from other projects. I'd imagine the set list was similar for you seeing as it was so recent? Was really pleased they played Drag Ropes, Storm Corrosion is one of my favourite records.
Yeah that was my impression of Meshuggah, a little lacking in melody. Although it was a while ago to be fair. I'll definitely throw Dark Tranquility into Sputnik and see what comes up. Any record in particular that's a highlight?
They performed Hand.Cannot.Erase in its entirety but Drag Ropes or anything else from Storm Corrosion wasn't in the second set. Had he released 4 1/2 when you saw him? Maybe he replaced it with My Book of Regrets...
As for DT, The Gallery is considered their masterpiece. It's very melodic and very fast with magnificent guitar work. But the song structures are rather loose (you won't find verse/verse/chorus/solo/chorus/verse structures) , so it does need some getting used to. If you want something less frantic with some keyboards too and "normal" song structures check out Damage Done. My personal favorite is their most experimental record, released right in the middle of the whole gothic metal storm of the mid 90s. That would be Projector, here's a taste
Yeah 4 1/2 had been released a week or so before i think, since i popped into a HMV to get it whilst i was up there. He played Book of Regrets and Vermillioncore as well, however i have read that he swapped out Drag Ropes for Dark Matter on some dates.
That reminded me a bit of a death metal Iron Maiden. Definitely an emphasis on melody, and i did like what i heard. According to Sputnik, as you said The Gallery seems to be their fan favourite. 4.3 out of 5 with a tad under a thousand votes. I'll YouTube that and another couple over the next few days.
You're probably right since he opened the second set of the show with Dark Matter. Lazarus, Don't Hate Me, Sleep Together and The Sound of Muzak were the other PT songs on the setlist. A total of 22 songs with the Prince Cover, Sign O' the Times, included.
That'll be it then. The other PT songs were identical in Bristol, he played Open Car too. He ended the show with Space Oddity which he did as a duet with Ninet Tayeb, i think David Bowie had only been dead a week or so. Went down really well, i thought it was a great cover.
The Gallery is such a good album. Good memories.
DT, In Flames and Arch Enemy were some of my favourites bands in the nineties.
a shame all of them they "evolved" into music i don't really like.
i saw them (Arch Enemy) live in 1999, alongside Hammerfall.
Those were the days...
Sharlee D'Angelo was playing the bass back then... then i saw him again playing for Mercyful Fate. Love his work in all his bands.... Witchery
DT, In Flames and Arch Enemy were some of my favourites bands in the nineties.
a shame all of them they "evolved" into music i don't really like.
i saw them (Arch Enemy) live in 1999, alongside Hammerfall.
Those were the days...
Sharlee D'Angelo was playing the bass back then... then i saw him again playing for Mercyful Fate. Love his work in all his bands.... Witchery
http://radioplayer.planetrock.com/la2614927/one-man-and-his-prog/
14 minutes in for anyone wanting to hear the first single from the upcoming Opeth album.
Bit weird, like a heavier Heritage.
14 minutes in for anyone wanting to hear the first single from the upcoming Opeth album.
Bit weird, like a heavier Heritage.
Here's the lyric video of the title track
that's not how i remember opeth :S they have changed their style considerably.
next month i'm going to Luca Turilli's RHapsody and Primal Fear concert. Another trip in time for me. Should be a nice night of epic metal.
Saw Rhapsody last in 1999 or around that time... good memories.
next month i'm going to Luca Turilli's RHapsody and Primal Fear concert. Another trip in time for me. Should be a nice night of epic metal.
Saw Rhapsody last in 1999 or around that time... good memories.
Oh man i am jealous! That ought to be a fantastic night of over the top power metal
The only real metal is Norwegian black metal. Everything else is for poofters.
I like that new Opeth song. A long way away from classic Opeth, but I'll take it. Vocals are great.
Going to see Slayer, suicidal tendencies and red fang this Sunday at a small festival close to my hometown. Stoked!
Awesome. I'm craving for a good mosh pit.
You live around Lokeren I presume? Limp Bizkit headlining Slayer.
Desperately trying to like the new Opeth song, but it's just not happening. It sounds like a song straight from Heritage (which was my least favourite album).
I'll have to check out that obscure 70s Italian prog band that Mikael is so much into right now.
I'll have to check out that obscure 70s Italian prog band that Mikael is so much into right now.
I don't know which band that is but that sounds like Goblin, who did a lot of soundtracks for legendary Italian horror director Dario Argento. This is probably their most famous work (and Argento's most famous movie):
It wasn't Goblin, he was talking about the "1972 self-titled LP by the Italian prog band Il Paese dei Balocchi (The Land of Toys)" which apparently influenced the writing of Operh's new album.
I'll check out Goblin though.
You live around Lokeren I presume? Limp Bizkit headlining Slayer.
The crazy thing is Limp Bizkit are able to sound heavy, if it only wasn't for that clown Durst messing everything up with his whining and crap lyrics. Bizkit's very first album was pretty good.
Interesting, that does sound obscure. I'll have to check it out now. Not too big on Opeth myself. The musicianship is great but I don't like the actual songwriting. Lifeless as feck every time I've seen them live.
I know what you mean. I've seen them four times, the first time when Peter was still their gutiarist. They just all look bored. A few jokes here and there from Mikael, and Fredrik and Mendez standing still, emmitting zero energy. Which is fair enough, they don't have to jump around like maniacs but it somehow makes me not care that much whether I see them live or not.
I'd love to see Gorguts live.
It's strange, for me Opeth is still the best gig I've been to. They were absolutely brilliant live I thought.
Oh man, Suicidal are still going? Sort of lost interest in them when they decided to go a bit too Funk for my tastes, but the 80s stuff is still awesome.
To be fair I've only seen them during several day festivals, usually when I was already pretty exhausted from the previous days. Not the ideal environment for an Opeth show. Still, I once saw Cynic after 3 heavy festival days and they're about as static as Opeth live, but I enjoyed it immensely. I just don't feel it with Opeth in general I think.
Agree with that. Musically 3$BY is tight. There's even some songs that Durst doesn't totally ruin. Pollution is a pure banger.
You live around Lokeren I presume? Limp Bizkit headlining Slayer.
Sint-Gillis-Waas, about 15 min to Lokeren. I work in Antwerp actually. I'm ok with Limp Bizkit headlining: I can go home early, have to work on Monday
They lack a bit of the speed and intensity they had back then but it's still great to see them. I'm a big fan of Infectious Grooves too.
I saw Flag last saturday, the only reïncarnation of Black Flag that actually doesn't suck. Hadn't had so much fun at a show in a long time. Those guys are really doing justice to the Black Flag songs!
Flag are great. I caught them recently too. They totally rip. I just hope they don't do what "Black Flag" did and try to release new material. Nobody is interested in new Black Flag songs. That new Black Flag record is so fecking weird. Hopefully Flag just keep it live. Can't wait to see Dag Nasty next week too, and their new record is surprisingly good.
We should probably take this to the Punk thread, wherever it went.