It's been a while since I last posted a blog article. And then suddenly, the whole site got a new look, and here's a new article! I was about to write, "Is it going to snow?!" but hey, we had March showers (in May), so same difference. So why not continue an old article from 10 years ago that covered bands I had discovered then? Here we go:
- Devin Townsend: Back then I mentioned that I was trying to listen, see where it would lead. Suffice to say, I listened to the main albums on repeat for quite a while. It goes all over the place, there's that "wall of sound" that makes the music instantly recognizable, and vocals that go high, loud, and far (see "Deadhead" live at the Royal Albert Hall or "Kingdom" for EMG — both findable on YouTube; he also has reaction videos which I admit are a guilty pleasure). Solid metal, but not only that (there's also what would be classified as prog rock, some country, more lounge-style albums, even pure synth — not really my thing for those). Favorite album: hard to say, but I'd go with Deconstruction which is the richest but less accessible, closely followed by Addicted! because Anneke sings on it.
- Earthside: Prog metal? Cinematic music? There's an epic feel to many of their tracks, definitely easy listening. When I first discovered them, they only had one album; the second took a while to arrive — in the same ballpark as the latest updates on this blog <.< >.> So for those discovering them now, there are two albums to dive into.
- Opeth: No need to introduce them — surprisingly, I didn’t know them before. They went from death metal to progressive rock, then back to progressive death metal. I binge-listened to their albums too. Broadly speaking, I really like the era from Blackwater Park to Watershed, and since Sorceress, the remaining albums are still enjoyable listens.
- The Ocean: I’ve really only listened to Pelagial, and even then, mostly the instrumental version — which I think stands strong on its own. A solid concept album about the "descent into depth"? Easy to listen to.
- Igorrr: The earlier albums are a bit too breakcore for my taste, but wow — there's some real creativity here (see the Wikipedia page listing all the musical genres!). Really enjoyed the two most recent albums, Savage Sinusoid, and Spirituality and Distortion.
- Chelsea Wolfe: All the bands I mentioned above do metal, but not only metal — or started in metal before exploring adjacent genres. Chelsea Wolfe is a bit different: she just makes her music, and sometimes it lands in the metal realm. She's even been labeled “sludge folk” for lack of a better description. But after listening to her work, it kind of fits. Her most metal-leaning albums are Abyss and Hiss Spun, but I also appreciate her more folk-oriented albums, which are just as deep and despairing — if those adjectives can apply to music.
There'll be more bands to discover, and I’ll try to relate them here — hopefully without taking another 10 years :-P.