Music Banter - View Single Post

Anteater · 12-20-2015, 08:47 PM

4. Dreadnought – Bridging Realms

Genre: Contemporary Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, early 70's Psych-Rock & Jazz-Rock
Put On A Playlist With: Candlemass, Pallbearer, Camel, Blood Ceremony

One hell of a metal experience, juxtaposing female vox classic-styled Doom Metal (harsh and clean vocals) against Canterbury-esque flutey folk rock workouts that remind me a lot of Caravan, Fairport Convention or perhaps some of the mid 70's Camel classics. The concept of juggling equal parts "light and shade" might seem like something you've all heard before a thousand times before...but I assure you all never quite like this. As much as I like Opeth for instance...well, these guys have a better balancing act in some respects.

3. Geyster – Knight Games Trilogy (I, II and III)

Genre: 70's Art Rock, Yacht Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul
Put On A Playlist With: Ambrosia, The Alan Parsons Project, Steely Dan, America

Geyster, AKA Gaël Benyamin, is a one-stop shop songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist, etc. from the land of perfume, frog legs and Napolean...and he knows the power of smooth music probably better than even the best of 'em from thirty years ago or more. In an extremely bold move that would even give some of the bigger names in pop pause, Gael released an entire trilogy of albums simultaneously in early March. Basically, twenty-nine songs of pure Westcoast/Blue-Eyed Soul awesomeness, featuring some of the best damned analog production and cosmic keyboard work this side of Saturn. That's a lot of music to digest, but all three albums here have least a few potential boat shoe classics waiting to end up next to Daft Punk on your more palatable playlists. Great for the highway...and beyond!

2. The Panic Divison – Aero Nautical

Genre: Dream Pop, Synth-Pop, Alternative Rock, Pop-Punk, Arena Rock
Put On A Playlist With: Jimmy Eat World, Tears For Fears, Mr. Mister, Mew, The Dream Academy

Every '80s enthusiast's wet dream rolled into an early-'00s guitar-centric package. And what a package it is, inundated with a reverb-heavy backdrop that somehow draws the best ideas of the first-wave shoegaze boom and the previous era (80's dream pop) into something distinct from either. But that's not even the real kicker: Colton's huge voice and those enormous guitar hooks bring to mind everything from Roland Orzabel of Tears For Fears, to the classic early outings of Jimmy Eat World—or perhaps modern indie/prog rock superstars like Mew... and, hell, sometimes all of these myriad influences can be heard in a single song. Weird to read, I'm sure, but it has to be heard to be believed.

1. Queensrÿche – Condition Hüman

Genre: Progressive Metal
Put On A Playlist With: Fates Warning, Iron Maiden, Alice In Chains, Tool, Pagan's Mind

The best melodic metal album of the year, and probably my favorite album of its kind over the last ten years along with Fates Warning's Darkness In A Different Light a few years ago. The comeback self-titled that came out in 2013 with new singer Todd La Torre was a fist to the face in the best possible way, but the overall package was slightly marred by a hot mastering job and overly condensed song lengths. Condition Hüman fixes those minor problems and then some: from those grin-inducding guitar harmonies that open up 'Arrow Of Time' to that awesome shift midway through the behemoth title track closer, this album is melodic progressive metal heaven. From 1983 to about 1994, Queensrÿche had an absolutely perfect run that was hard to top by anyone in any genre. This album sits right among Operation: Mindcrime and all the rest with class to spare. It carried me through my younger brother's untimely death a few months ago and I forsee it continuing to get a lot of replay over many years to come as well.