The Album Club 2017

Blank. · 06-19-2017, 03:18 AM

Rings of Saturn's Legal Ki En

The guitar work is impressive but fails to make the music better. It sounds like a guitarist jerking himself off. The music impresses the guitarist in me but it doesn't excite me. Considering the the music this is, the intensity it needs is killed by this technical wankery.

The drum work sounds like a machine. And the cookie monster says he wants his voice back.

They do a pretty good cover of Suicide Silence though.

Not to say their aren't cool moments from time to time, but those cool moments get drowned out by everything else that is wrong.

Overall it's a intersting album that lacks substance to make something truly interesting enough.

☆☆

Key · 06-19-2017, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1blankmind

Rings of Saturn's Legal Ki En

Excuse me?

**Exo** · 06-19-2017, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

This was one of the most interesting records yet and I think only about 25% of the sign ups actually reviewed it.

People hate me. What can I say?

TechnicLePanther · 06-21-2017, 06:42 AM

Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En

As usual, can't understand a single bit of the lyrics, and I don't really mind anyway. Maybe it's actually just gibberish like the album title. Regardless, this is one of the lightest-sounding death metal albums I've heard in a while. I don't know if it's the production or the instrumentation itself, but as opposed to most modern metal bands which sound sort of wall of sound-ish, this one is rather tame in comparison. It doesn't have that pummeling-you-into-the-ground feel that Death Metal fans love. Which is fine for me as I'm not much of a death metal fan myself. To be honest, this sounds more like digital hardcore than death metal. The guitars and drums sound extremely manipulated, which they very well may be...

Overall, this album has some pretty interesting ideas, a wealth of good songwriting, talented performances, but a bit of poor production and occasionally a dip into blandness. 7/10

In my favorite albums of all time list:

Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority
Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Float Along - Fill Your Lungs

P.S. YOU COWARD!!! YOU COWARD!

OccultHawk · 06-24-2017, 11:06 PM

Oh ****!!! Emergency bump!!!!

Aloysius · 06-25-2017, 01:48 AM

Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En
I haven't spent a lot of time listening to deathcore so this was pretty unusual territory for me - before this the only deathcore band I've listened to more than twice was The Red Chord. The drums do sound machine like but it seems this is actual live live playing by Aaron Kitcher - there are youtube clips of this dude playing 320bpm double pedals. The guitars I liked quite a bit - you could call it wankery but I'm a guitar wanker so that doesn't bother me as long as it's creative, and there's plenty of creativity here. Some of the short bursts of high ptitched dissonant riffing reminded me of video game music, and buried in that dissonance is some interesting thematic development. The main downside is that I'm so used to the mid range grunt of other metal sub genres I can't help but miss it, however I could get used to this - I'll definitely keep this in my library and give it a few more spins.

7.5/10

Trollheart · 06-25-2017, 09:09 AM

Sorry for the late reply but it has been one bitch of a week, and I haven't been online at all. Just barely squeezing this one in under the wire.

As soon as I heard the first track on this I knew I would only be listening to the album once. There are some great riffs on it, some very clever guitarwork and some melodies that really work well, but what kills it for me is (anyone?) the vocals. The only place I can take Cookie Monster vocals at all is in funeral doom, and even then I prefer my funeral doom to be more on the instrumental/orchestral side with the odd wounded roar or howl if necessary, but here there are actually two separate types of vocal. Are there two singers, or is it one guy doing both? Don't know. Don't care. The second vocal is a high-pitched, scratchy screech that really to my mind belongs more in black metal, and the two vocals just ruin the music for me. They're not terrible, but it makes it hard for me to concentrate on the music, which is generally really good, though some melodies seem to break off suddenly and go nowhere.

If this was an instrumental album I'd enjoy it a lot more I feel. As it is, the vocals kill it and I can't really give it any more than a 6/10, which I think in my case is being a lot more generous than I had intended to be.

OccultHawk · 06-25-2017, 12:28 PM

Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En

Former Rings of Saturn Guitarist Joel Omans: "Lucas Mann is a Hack of a Musician" | MetalSucks

Did Rings of Saturn Record Their New Album at Half-Speed? | MetalSucks

I love the guitar on this album. It reminds me of a cross between Luc Lemay and Allan Holdsworth. I love how clear it is note after note. I love how impossible it sounds. Studio tricks? I don't know. But what I do know is that using studio tricks is an art form as much as flying diagonally through chromatic scales or whatever it is he appears to be doing. AI are already creating interesting paintings. Soon AI will be creating all kinds of music. As the programs continue to learn to learn the human programmers will become more distant from the product. Over time we won't care. You'll still listen to what you enjoy. There's nothing unpure or purer still. 4/5 stars.

OccultHawk · 06-25-2017, 12:32 PM

Who's suggestion was Rings?

Trollheart · 06-25-2017, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Who's suggestion was Rings?

The Identity Matrix.
You can always check that in the OP

Edit: Also, *whose ...

06-21-2017, 06:42 AM	#1034 (permalink)
TechnicLePanther and the livin' is easy... Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: New York Posts: 1,997	Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En As usual, can't understand a single bit of the lyrics, and I don't really mind anyway. Maybe it's actually just gibberish like the album title. Regardless, this is one of the lightest-sounding death metal albums I've heard in a while. I don't know if it's the production or the instrumentation itself, but as opposed to most modern metal bands which sound sort of wall of sound-ish, this one is rather tame in comparison. It doesn't have that pummeling-you-into-the-ground feel that Death Metal fans love. Which is fine for me as I'm not much of a death metal fan myself. To be honest, this sounds more like digital hardcore than death metal. The guitars and drums sound extremely manipulated, which they very well may be... Overall, this album has some pretty interesting ideas, a wealth of good songwriting, talented performances, but a bit of poor production and occasionally a dip into blandness. 7/10 In my favorite albums of all time list: Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Float Along - Fill Your Lungs P.S. YOU COWARD!!! YOU COWARD! __________________ Many have tried to destroy it... but... true evil never dies. It is only... REBORN *SUGGEST ME AN ALBUM* - I'm probably not going to listen to it but I will if you bother me enough.

06-24-2017, 11:06 PM	#1035 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,033	Oh ****!!! Emergency bump!!!! __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

06-25-2017, 09:09 AM	#1037 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Sorry for the late reply but it has been one bitch of a week, and I haven't been online at all. Just barely squeezing this one in under the wire. As soon as I heard the first track on this I knew I would only be listening to the album once. There are some great riffs on it, some very clever guitarwork and some melodies that really work well, but what kills it for me is (anyone?) the vocals. The only place I can take Cookie Monster vocals at all is in funeral doom, and even then I prefer my funeral doom to be more on the instrumental/orchestral side with the odd wounded roar or howl if necessary, but here there are actually two separate types of vocal. Are there two singers, or is it one guy doing both? Don't know. Don't care. The second vocal is a high-pitched, scratchy screech that really to my mind belongs more in black metal, and the two vocals just ruin the music for me. They're not terrible, but it makes it hard for me to concentrate on the music, which is generally really good, though some melodies seem to break off suddenly and go nowhere. If this was an instrumental album I'd enjoy it a lot more I feel. As it is, the vocals kill it and I can't really give it any more than a 6/10, which I think in my case is being a lot more generous than I had intended to be. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-25-2017, 12:28 PM	#1038 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,033	Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En Former Rings of Saturn Guitarist Joel Omans: "Lucas Mann is a Hack of a Musician" \| MetalSucks Did Rings of Saturn Record Their New Album at Half-Speed? \| MetalSucks I love the guitar on this album. It reminds me of a cross between Luc Lemay and Allan Holdsworth. I love how clear it is note after note. I love how impossible it sounds. Studio tricks? I don't know. But what I do know is that using studio tricks is an art form as much as flying diagonally through chromatic scales or whatever it is he appears to be doing. AI are already creating interesting paintings. Soon AI will be creating all kinds of music. As the programs continue to learn to learn the human programmers will become more distant from the product. Over time we won't care. You'll still listen to what you enjoy. There's nothing unpure or purer still. 4/5 stars. __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

06-25-2017, 12:32 PM	#1039 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,033	Who's suggestion was Rings? __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

06-19-2017, 03:18 AM	#1031 (permalink)
Blank. Jacob Sartorius Join Date: May 2016 Location: Dank memes Posts: 4,034	Rings of Saturn's Legal Ki En The guitar work is impressive but fails to make the music better. It sounds like a guitarist jerking himself off. The music impresses the guitarist in me but it doesn't excite me. Considering the the music this is, the intensity it needs is killed by this technical wankery. The drum work sounds like a machine. And the cookie monster says he wants his voice back. They do a pretty good cover of Suicide Silence though. Not to say their aren't cool moments from time to time, but those cool moments get drowned out by everything else that is wrong. Overall it's a intersting album that lacks substance to make something truly interesting enough. ☆☆

06-25-2017, 01:48 AM	#1036 (permalink)
Aloysius Music Addict Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 351	Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En I haven't spent a lot of time listening to deathcore so this was pretty unusual territory for me - before this the only deathcore band I've listened to more than twice was The Red Chord. The drums do sound machine like but it seems this is actual live live playing by Aaron Kitcher - there are youtube clips of this dude playing 320bpm double pedals. The guitars I liked quite a bit - you could call it wankery but I'm a guitar wanker so that doesn't bother me as long as it's creative, and there's plenty of creativity here. Some of the short bursts of high ptitched dissonant riffing reminded me of video game music, and buried in that dissonance is some interesting thematic development. The main downside is that I'm so used to the mid range grunt of other metal sub genres I can't help but miss it, however I could get used to this - I'll definitely keep this in my library and give it a few more spins. 7.5/10

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