Trollheart presents: The Showroom

Trollheart · 01-06-2017, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mondo Bungle

It probably took more than four seconds because you did more than what I said would take four seconds

What I did was indeed more, but just purely pasting the current list in the OP would have been useless. Now it's completely updated with all albums, done and submitted, including links to those that were reviewed elsewhere by me.

Mondo Bungle · 01-06-2017, 08:54 PM

I thought they just wanted to see who's next

Trollheart · 01-07-2017, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mondo Bungle

I thought they just wanted to see who's next

They probably did, but you know me: in for a penny...
Anyway, it works out better this way. Now you can see, and get to, every album that's been reviewed and also see the ones that are yet to be tackled. The journal really needed something like this; I was just avoiding it.

Mondo Bungle · 01-07-2017, 02:00 PM

but you can't avoid the dimensional inferno of my album when you experience it

EPOCH6 · 01-11-2017, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Synaptic Obsolescence – Mindprowler (Epoch6) – 2012

If Epoch6 should happen to read this, don't take it as a slight on your music. I've said it about other electronic composers here before: often the emphasis seems to be more on how clever and innovative you can be, without worrying about how a listener is going to enjoy it. This isn't quite that, but at the same time I didn't hear anything that I would call catchy on it, and I won't be humming it afterwards. But a very good effort nonetheless.

Hey TH, I'm back for the time being. Thanks for the fair and honest review, your comments on adding speech samples into the track had me cracking a smile. There were certainly times where I'd throw a clip in just to fill up a time slot here and there, probably at least once or twice on every Mindprowler release. When I put that small release together back in 2012 we were doing a lot of mushrooms and other psychedelics, the primary emphasis was definitely on trying to jam as many ear-tickling textures into a track as possible, less thought was given to songwriting and memorability.

Not sure if you're still taking submissions but I just finished recording my first instrumental acoustic full length last night and will probably finish naming, organizing the tracks, and slapping together a cover for it tonight. Let me know if you're still stacking albums on the queue and I'll drop a link later.

Trollheart · 01-11-2017, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EPOCH6

Hey TH, I'm back for the time being. Thanks for the fair and honest review, your comments on adding speech samples into the track had me cracking a smile. There were certainly times where I'd throw a clip in just to fill up a time slot here and there, probably at least once or twice on every Mindprowler release. When I put that small release together back in 2012 we were doing a lot of mushrooms and other psychedelics, the primary emphasis was definitely on trying to jam as many ear-tickling textures into a track as possible, less thought was given to songwriting and memorability.

Not sure if you're still taking submissions but I just finished recording my first instrumental acoustic full length last night and will probably finish naming, organizing the tracks, and slapping together a cover for it tonight. Let me know if you're still stacking albums on the queue and I'll drop a link later.

Yeah, absolutely. Just drop me a link with the details and I'll add it. Good to have you back, bud.

Trollheart · 01-11-2017, 11:56 AM

OK, FYI: I'm now assigning ratings to albums, but in my typical style it won't be stars, or marks out of five or ten, or even my Love or Hate rating thing. In order to tie in with the title graphic of this journal, here are the ratings I'll be using, which I'll apply retrospectively to all albums I've reviewed here.
The lowest rating; amAn album that has very little to recommend it, really poor

An album that has some good stuff on it but needs improvement

A decent album; nothing terribly special but a good effort

Above average; really impressive

Top of the heap. Excellent in every way. Highly recommended.

The Batlord · 01-11-2017, 12:07 PM

lolwtf

EPOCH6 · 01-11-2017, 12:11 PM

How do I get an El Camino / 5?

Trollheart · 01-11-2017, 12:56 PM

Only Mondo could write an album with only four songs that yet total over an hour in playing time! Ah well, here we go.

I Know It's The Trees – Q'uq'umatz (Mondo Bungle) - 2016

There's a very abrupt and sudden opening to “I know it's the trees part 1”,which took me by surprise, as Mondo's albums (or any I've heard) always take a long time to slowly filter in. But this is, I guess, more a Black Metal effort and so it's more immediate. A lot more heavy sharp guitar and not so much the long droning synths. Growling vocals, which are I think the first time I've heard vocals on one of his albums. Are they his? Don't know; he might confirm that later. Slowing down now in the third minute and becoming more of a groove than a thrash (sounds like there could be flutes there? Maybe not) and now we have some sort of tribal drum rhythm coming in. Pretty sweet. Even some funky stuff coming in around the eight-minute mark. Very impressive I must say. Good sort of industrial ending. This first track has not been the endurance test I had feared. I'm actually looking forward to the rest of the album now.

And part two flows directly from that, the industrial, mechanical sounds being shortly tailed back and then cut out altogether by some expressive guitar, almost pastoral (acoustic?) with what may be the synth now coming in behind it. This one is only (!) sixteen minutes long. Like the birdsong, especially given the subject matter. Has he sampled that, or just added it? Somehow it seems to be moulding itself to the melody – oh, he's segueing it into a flute piece. There are definitely flutes. Clever. Very clever. Tribal drums fading in slowly now, Nice busy bassline as things begin to happen fairly rapidly from the sixth minute on, hard to keep up with everything. Think there are screeched vocals there, mad drum solo, swirling synths, punishing guitars, and so on. Like I said, busy. Perhaps slightly organised chaos to a degree. Some excellent shredding now in the eighth minute, really brilliant. Love this.

Getting very frantic and frenetic from the twelfth minute, lot of power and energy here. Starting to fade out now to a squealing synth and bringing back in rolling percussion, finishing up in a flurry of activity and taking us into part three, by far the longest on the entire album, at just short of twenty-eight minutes. Yeah: nearly as long as parts one and two put together! The wailing voices that ended part two continue into part three, but only for a few seconds before the track establishes its own identity, with sharp snappy guitar leading the line, the percussion slower and more deliberate, the basic rhythm reminding me of the Police at times, kind of a white reggae feel to it for a few moments before it breaks out all over the place in an explosion of drums and guitar. Oh, and we're only two minutes in! Some odd animal-like noises now; not sure if that's meant to be singing or to signify beasts in the forest? Slower guitar, grinding along then picking up and running into some more great shredding. More industrial influences coming in as we hit the eighth minute and then it gets a little psychedelic perhaps?

Militaristic drumming with attendant flute in the tenth minute with what sounds like “Angels we have heard on high”

being played on the guitar in a very sparse and repeating pattern. Twelfth minute gets very atmospheric with soft acoustic guitar and possible distant vocals, sound effects and a very slow drumbeat, and now it's orchestral keyboard in a very dramatic passage taking us into the thirteenth minute, with flute also joining in and what sounds like slightly discordant piano. Amazing stuff, truly amazing. This guy is finally (to me anyway) showing the superb breadth of musicianship he possesses. This is professional quality stuff. Flute and orchestral keys drop out now as muted electric guitar comes in as we move from the fifteenth minute to the sixteenth, though I think I can hear the flute playing a few more notes in the background (could be synth) and then hammering drums as everything flies off again.

Almost twenty minutes in now and it's been a hell of a ride, and a very enjoyable one. Did not expect this at all, which I hope is not taken as offence by Mondo, but everything I've heard from him to date has been a little hard to get through, whereas this is something I could listen to all day long, reminds me of my buddy from Panopticon. Yeah, that good. Taking another turn for the tribal here with shakers (?) and flute grabbing centre stage with a mere four minutes to go. Kind of a warped, twisted ending but it's all good, finishing on soft acoustic guitar and lonely flute. That was the easiest close to half hour single track I have sat through in a long time. And the flutes take us into the closer, a mere six minutes and change as we head into “The forest of revisitation”, with a building line of percussion and feedback (maybe; could be synth) that kind of revisits (obviously) some of the themes of the main album.

Track listing and ratings

I know it's the trees part 1
I know it's the trees part 2
I know it's the trees part 3
The forest of revisitation

Now I see, finally, why everyone says Mondo is such a great musician. This is far and away the best I've heard, not only from him, but is right up there with the best this Showroom has sampled. One of the gems of the musical talent scattered throughout Music Banter, and I look forward to hearing more at some point. Without question, a high watermark in Mondo's compositions, and something that should be selling respectable units at itunes or wherever. Excellent.

01-11-2017, 11:56 AM	#157 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	OK, FYI: I'm now assigning ratings to albums, but in my typical style it won't be stars, or marks out of five or ten, or even my Love or Hate rating thing. In order to tie in with the title graphic of this journal, here are the ratings I'll be using, which I'll apply retrospectively to all albums I've reviewed here. The lowest rating; amAn album that has very little to recommend it, really poor An album that has some good stuff on it but needs improvement A decent album; nothing terribly special but a good effort Above average; really impressive Top of the heap. Excellent in every way. Highly recommended. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-11-2017, 12:56 PM	#160 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Only Mondo could write an album with only four songs that yet total over an hour in playing time! Ah well, here we go. I Know It's The Trees – Q'uq'umatz (Mondo Bungle) - 2016 There's a very abrupt and sudden opening to “I know it's the trees part 1”,which took me by surprise, as Mondo's albums (or any I've heard) always take a long time to slowly filter in. But this is, I guess, more a Black Metal effort and so it's more immediate. A lot more heavy sharp guitar and not so much the long droning synths. Growling vocals, which are I think the first time I've heard vocals on one of his albums. Are they his? Don't know; he might confirm that later. Slowing down now in the third minute and becoming more of a groove than a thrash (sounds like there could be flutes there? Maybe not) and now we have some sort of tribal drum rhythm coming in. Pretty sweet. Even some funky stuff coming in around the eight-minute mark. Very impressive I must say. Good sort of industrial ending. This first track has not been the endurance test I had feared. I'm actually looking forward to the rest of the album now. And part two flows directly from that, the industrial, mechanical sounds being shortly tailed back and then cut out altogether by some expressive guitar, almost pastoral (acoustic?) with what may be the synth now coming in behind it. This one is only (!) sixteen minutes long. Like the birdsong, especially given the subject matter. Has he sampled that, or just added it? Somehow it seems to be moulding itself to the melody – oh, he's segueing it into a flute piece. There are definitely flutes. Clever. Very clever. Tribal drums fading in slowly now, Nice busy bassline as things begin to happen fairly rapidly from the sixth minute on, hard to keep up with everything. Think there are screeched vocals there, mad drum solo, swirling synths, punishing guitars, and so on. Like I said, busy. Perhaps slightly organised chaos to a degree. Some excellent shredding now in the eighth minute, really brilliant. Love this. Getting very frantic and frenetic from the twelfth minute, lot of power and energy here. Starting to fade out now to a squealing synth and bringing back in rolling percussion, finishing up in a flurry of activity and taking us into part three, by far the longest on the entire album, at just short of twenty-eight minutes. Yeah: nearly as long as parts one and two put together! The wailing voices that ended part two continue into part three, but only for a few seconds before the track establishes its own identity, with sharp snappy guitar leading the line, the percussion slower and more deliberate, the basic rhythm reminding me of the Police at times, kind of a white reggae feel to it for a few moments before it breaks out all over the place in an explosion of drums and guitar. Oh, and we're only two minutes in! Some odd animal-like noises now; not sure if that's meant to be singing or to signify beasts in the forest? Slower guitar, grinding along then picking up and running into some more great shredding. More industrial influences coming in as we hit the eighth minute and then it gets a little psychedelic perhaps? Militaristic drumming with attendant flute in the tenth minute with what sounds like “Angels we have heard on high” being played on the guitar in a very sparse and repeating pattern. Twelfth minute gets very atmospheric with soft acoustic guitar and possible distant vocals, sound effects and a very slow drumbeat, and now it's orchestral keyboard in a very dramatic passage taking us into the thirteenth minute, with flute also joining in and what sounds like slightly discordant piano. Amazing stuff, truly amazing. This guy is finally (to me anyway) showing the superb breadth of musicianship he possesses. This is professional quality stuff. Flute and orchestral keys drop out now as muted electric guitar comes in as we move from the fifteenth minute to the sixteenth, though I think I can hear the flute playing a few more notes in the background (could be synth) and then hammering drums as everything flies off again. Almost twenty minutes in now and it's been a hell of a ride, and a very enjoyable one. Did not expect this at all, which I hope is not taken as offence by Mondo, but everything I've heard from him to date has been a little hard to get through, whereas this is something I could listen to all day long, reminds me of my buddy from Panopticon. Yeah, that good. Taking another turn for the tribal here with shakers (?) and flute grabbing centre stage with a mere four minutes to go. Kind of a warped, twisted ending but it's all good, finishing on soft acoustic guitar and lonely flute. That was the easiest close to half hour single track I have sat through in a long time. And the flutes take us into the closer, a mere six minutes and change as we head into “The forest of revisitation”, with a building line of percussion and feedback (maybe; could be synth) that kind of revisits (obviously) some of the themes of the main album. Track listing and ratings I know it's the trees part 1 I know it's the trees part 2 I know it's the trees part 3 The forest of revisitation Now I see, finally, why everyone says Mondo is such a great musician. This is far and away the best I've heard, not only from him, but is right up there with the best this Showroom has sampled. One of the gems of the musical talent scattered throughout Music Banter, and I look forward to hearing more at some point. Without question, a high watermark in Mondo's compositions, and something that should be selling respectable units at itunes or wherever. Excellent. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018