Doozr's Bi-annual Review, part 1

Yes, it's that time again. July is almost upon us, the longest day has been and gone, and it's all downhill from here. So it must be time to take stock of the first half of the year. What has taken my fancy, and what has left me flat.

It's not been particularly tricky to pick the top 10 for this, the first half of 2011. I had some hard decisions to make around about numbers 8, 9 and 10. Some stuff that I would have liked to be in there was just pipped to the post and got left in the "honourable mentions".

Top 10

Overall, it's not been a terrible year for music. Some new stuff coming out of nowhere, some long standing greats continuing to be great, but some other lacklustre performances. So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my top 10 of the first half of 2011.

Sylosis - Edge of the Earth
One of the earliest albums of the year, this monstrous melodic thrash/death metal epic had me hooked immediately. It was a shoo-in for the top spot on this first top 10 of the year. Nothing has budged it yet, except maybe the atmospheric stylings of ...

Moonsorrow - Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa
Another epic album, and another that I would consider a perfect production. Four massive, immersive tracks of tragedy, doom and despair that carries you along whether you like it or not.

Wolverine - Communication Lost
A bit of a grower, mostly due to it being the follow up to Still, a simply magnificent record. I was both tremendously excited, and very nervous about it. Fortunately Wolverine have more than lived up to their own potential and produced this emotive, progressive masterpiece.

Chaos Divine - The Human Connection
A slow grower, this one. Took a couple of weeks to really get into the frame of mind required. In fact, I was rather disappointed with it at first. But when it clicks, it sticks. Great prog noodling complements death growls and hard metal riffs.

Amorphis - The Beginning Of Times
Described variously as "epic", "magnificent", "awe-inspiring" and "tinkly tonkly", this is a definite for my top 10 of 2011, even if it hasn't quite reached the heights attained by its predecessor, Sky Forger. I have also gone and bought a copy of the Kalevala, from which the last 4 Amorphis albums draw their inspiration. It's a very strange tale, but has inspired some great metal.

Devin Townsend Project - Ghost
Possibly the most relaxing, chilled out experience so far this year. It's taken me several goes just to listen to all of it and not fall asleep in some kind of tranced out bliss.

Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
The soundtrack to going insane. Densely packed, massive in scope and scale, and by the time you've got to the end of this album you won't know where you are or what you're doing. You will want a cheeseburger, though.

The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
Folky Americana courtesy of the band who brought you The Hazards Of Love. Completely different in sound, and with a similar outlook to Fleet Foxes. A rather pleasing, gentle interlude to all this shouting and hard riffs in the rest of the list.

Before The Dawn - Deathstar Rising
A good but of straight up melodeath. Good riffs, good vocals, both clean and growled, and good songs that it's easy to sing along with. Apparently it hasn't gone down well with all critics, but I find it a very enjoyable record to listen to.

Ador Dorath - Adon Nin Edelith Ador Dorath
Perhaps the strangest sounding operatic death metal band on the planet. If you can understand more than 1 in every 10 words you're doing well, but even in its barely comprehensible state it's a roaring, bombastic gothic metal album with loads of good riffs and heavy, chugging beats.

Honourable Mentions

The Top 10 is quite a decent list, I think. These records have had plenty of play time over the last few months. But as I previously said, not all of the good records can be in the top 10. That would be silly, because there are more than 10 of them. Here are a few that didn't quite make the cut, but deserve a mention anyway.

Silent Stream Of Godless Elegy - Návaz
The latest album from these Czech doom/folk metallers does away with some of the doom and adds more Moravian dance. A great record, but a little disappointing to lose some of the better sounds of Relic Dances.

Sanctorum - Semper Fidelis
Sanctorum return with a third album that, while great, suffers from a couple of tracks I just couldn't get along with. Having seen some of it played live I can attest to greatness of the rest of it, though.

Anvil - Juggernaut of Justice
14 albums, 1 riff. Tried and tested, and if it works, keep on doing it. 34 years in, and still going strong. Picked this album up from the Corporation during their UK launch tour. A bit of heavy metal fun. Not too taxing, but just enough rocking.

Kabát - Banditi di Praga
Another Czech band, which makes 3 in this post. This one I actually got from a holiday to Prague, after deciding to try something that might not be available in the UK. I was not disappointed. A sometimes confusing set of songs (all in Czech, of course) but each with an infectious rhythm and great riffs.

Disappointments

While it's been a good year so far, it's not all coming up roses. There have been a few disappointments on the way. These are albums that, for one reason or another, I expected to be much better than they actually turned out to be.

Arch Enemy - Khaos Legions
With a massive publicity campaign, this was supposed to be a magnificent album. It's actually just an Arch Enemy album. And I already have some of those. They even nicked a riff from Nightwish in the process, which I found bizarre.

Scar Symmetry - Unseen Empire
I heard this album before I bought it. On first listen, it sounded pretty good. On each subsequent listen, it got more and more boring, and I cared less and less about hearing it again. I've listened to it 3 times, then gave up. Dull.

Within Temptation - The Unforgiving
A comic book, videos, a massive concept album with a coherent story arc and loads of accompanying extras. It should have been every metal geek's idea of perfection. It actually turned out to be a confusing mass of boring pop-metal and euro-dance. As I said once before; About as metal as plaid, and makes as much sense as fish trousers.

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
I so wanted to love this album. After discovering Fleet Foxes, the debut, I wanted that experience again. All the reviews said it was like rediscovering the band. I wanted it. And, well, it's ok I guess. I just don't get the horrendous cacophony of instruments being tortured to death about half way through. People often say it of metal, and I'm saying it of this; it's just noise!

In the scheme of things, a few disappointments are inevitable. For the most part, I've very much enjoyed this year's voyage of discovery. I've got some great new music and, thanks to an increased list of reading material in my RSS reader and a new subscription to Terrorizer, I'm finding more stuff I actually like and less stuff that annoys or bores me. This is all good.

Moonsorrow - Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa

Humanity has always had a grim fascination with its own demise. As long as there has been religion there has been an end of days. As long as there has been speculative fiction there have been dystopian futures. The fall of empires, the obliteration of species and the ultimate destruction of the human race has been an ongoing source of theological, philosophical and political discussion since the dawn of civilisation.

What makes us so fascinated by the undoing of our own works? What makes us tell tales of the end of our kind? There seems to be a carthasis of sorts; a release from the trappings and stresses of daily life. There is peace in destruction.

These are the themes considered in the latest album from Finnish pagan metal band Moonsorrow. Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa (As shadows we wander in the land of the dead) is the tale of the last days of the human race, destroyed utterly by its own hand. An intense, emotional and compelling album of music and meditation.

The album is split into four distinct parts, each containing a single track lasting ten minutes or more. Each song is unique and captures the essense of the fading struggle of the once mighty human race.

Between the four major tracks lie three shorter, more atmospheric interludes. These consist of the sounds experienced first hand by a member of the last of humanity. The gasping breaths, the howling winds and the slow trudging of footsteps provide a desperate glimpse at the suffering described by the music. In the libretto, short passages of text describe the plight of those heard suffering and give context and meaning.

Tähdetön (Starless) opens the album and tells of the lonely, painful struggle these remaining few suffer. The desolate Earth, the broken cities and the empty, starless night. The music rolls and falters, fits and starts. There are parts that quicken the pulse, and parts that cause the heart to skip and the breath to hold.

Muinaiset (The ancient ones) tells a very different tale. This is the story of the Earth slowly being reclaimed by nature; of the last vestiges of humanity being surrounded, swallowed and hidden by the trees and plants growing up around the cracked and broken landscape. The music takes on a more folk influenced sound, the positive sounds of the planet healing itself, mixed with the anguish of the dying.

Huuto (The Scream) is where the album takes a far darker turn. The scream is primal; the men are reverting to animals. The weak are picked off by wolves, the strong are killed in combat. Trapped in a mountain pass, with no hope of food, shelter or escape, the most animal instincts are laid bare. The music is driving, almost repetitive, yet energising. The last fight of a doomed race.

Kuolleiden maa (The Land of the Dead) is the final unveiling of the piece. Humanity is gone, the end has arrived, and yet there was no fanfare. The grandiose end of things so often prophesied never happened. The end came by man's own hand and he was powerless to stop it. The music is heavier, yet soft. A final hymn to a dead people.

It seems almost cliché to describe this album as epic, but that's what it is. The melody and vocals work toghether to convey the feelings expressed in the lyrics. Whether growling the story of the damned or screaming in anguish, the vocals provide a very human connection with the listener.

The drums, in particular, are worthy of note. They are perfectly timed, perfectly heavy, and intricate without losing immediacy. While the melody conveys sadness, the drums convey anger. It's a powerful combination that ensures the meaning behind the lyrics shine through, whether the listener is a Finnish speaker or not.

At an hour long, it's no short listen, and really does need to be listened to all in one go, preferably with the liner notes to hand. The rawness of the interludes blend perfectly with the impressive musical production. This album is quite simply superb.

The Maudlin Month Of May

May has certainly been a dry month. A combination of summer sickness, crappy goings on and general ennui has left what seems like everyone with a despondent mood. It's even been quiet on the gigs front, with the only one planned for this month being Riverside in the quiet little countryside town of Holmfirth.

For this reason, amongst others, I've been burying myself in the blackened folk stylings of Moonsorrow for the most part. Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa has been on pretty much constant repeat, with the occasional foray into the more upbeat realms of Opeth's progressive death masterpiece Blackwater Park and Dark Tranquillity's most cheerful of albums, Projector.

On the subject of Moonsorrow, and in lieu of a proper review pending the reactivation of the communication centres of my brain, I can say that the Angry Metal Guy's review is spot on. It's a perfect production. Lately I've been increasingly becoming a fan of the blackened folk style, perhaps most notably represented by Agalloch. The sweeping soundscapes and deep emotional connections speak to me and appeal to the side of me that likes massive orchestrations over short-and-sweet singalong songs. Classical music often leaves me cold because, while the complexity and scale is there, too often I just can't connect with it. The music produced by Agalloch, Moonsorrow and Septicflesh, and perhaps even Sylosis and Vintersorg, produce a similarly epic musical style that I can appreciate and get lost in over and over again.

I haven't yet picked up Septicflesh's new album, The Great Mass. I really should. I'm quite looking forward to hearing what they've done with the orchestra. It's been said many times in the many, many reviews I've read of the album that the orchestral production is spectacular. Where many symphonic bands use an orchestra in place of a synthesiser, as a percussion instrument to complement rather than drive the music, The Great Mass has a far more classical feel. It's almost film score music, with black metal driving through, over and around the orchestra to great effect. I've had a quick listen on Spotify and I've been impressed so far.

May hasn't been completely miserable, of course. The sun is finally out, albeit interspersed with rain, and so the melancholy of Wolverine's Still has been washing over me. Sleepy Town has long been one of my favourite songs off any album, and I have been increasingly excited and irritated to discover that Wolverine's new album, Communication Lost, is to be released on May 23rd. Excited because, well, it's Wolverine. Irritated because it's almost impossible to find anything out about it. The band's own site is months out of date and the label's announcements are bland and purely informative.

One band that does not have this problem is Amorphis. Their new album, The Beginning of Times, is also coming out at the end of may, and they've already released two tracks to the wolves of the internet to be torn apart and dissected, for judgements to be made and for the social media machine to get into motion. New tracks You I Need and My Enemy are available for streaming on the band's Facebook page.

The last thing on my list of stuff to look forward to once May is finally over is, of course, Arch Enemy. I've mentioned the new album in passing before, and now there are actual tracks available. Unfortunately they're "exclusives" and don't allow direct linking or embedding. Sucky. Take a leaf out of Amorphis's book, Arch Enemy, please. Still, sounds like good stuff.