Qwertyy's Journal of Music Reviews and Other Assorted Ramblings

Mondo Bungle · 12-07-2016, 12:04 AM

So uh, I don't wanna be a bother what with already swapping an album rec (still keeping that), but Q'uq'umatz will release a super badass album tomorrow that is better than Tepeu IMO.

I'm just bringing that up if you might have personal preference. I don't mind either way, a review for either would make me happy

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 12-07-2016, 06:03 AM

Alright. I'll hold off the review until it's out then. Looking forward to it.

Tristan_Geoff · 12-07-2016, 12:15 PM

I don't see Feels on that list of yours you fuck.

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 12-07-2016, 12:27 PM

oopsies

The Batlord · 12-07-2016, 04:34 PM

**** my last rec. Sweet album, but this is the **** as well.

Dream Death - Journey into Mystery

Mondo Bungle · 12-07-2016, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwertyy

Alright. I'll hold off the review until it's out then. Looking forward to it.

it'll be here in like two hours

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 12-07-2016, 05:16 PM

Iight, well imma review it right on release then homie

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 12-07-2016, 07:17 PM

We got ourselves a big fat double review coming up right here. If you're wondering why, it's because I told Mondo I would review his black metal album way back when before it dropped, and unfortuantely due to the business of my school schedule and my attempts to keep this thread from dying, I just wasn't able to find the time. However, now I do have the time and he's also recommended another album for me to review, so I figure why not knock them both off at once. Get two birds stoned at once, right Ricky?

First up, we've got this one.

Amanecer en Puerta Oscura by Orthodox
Recommended by Mondo Bungle

Con Sangre de Quien Te Ofenda: I went into this thinking it was going to be a black metal album, but I'm clearly wrong. It's kicking off as a sort of experimental jazzy rock cut. The tags range from folk, doom, drone and experimental. At the very least this should be a unique listen. That upright bass is pretty tight and the drums are more jazz influenced than metal. I'm liking it so far. They lost me somewhere in the middle of that track, but as the guitar fades back in so does my enjoyment. The ending was wild, a total free-jazz freak out. Overall I'd say it was a pretty solid opener.

Mesto, Rigido e Ceremoniale: Oh damn, some crunchy guitar riffing here. We're getting metal up in this bitch. Yo, this sounds doomy as ****. I liked the first track alright but this is way more up my alley. The free-jazz influence from the first track has carried over and it's certainly making the instrumentation stand out far more, although I'm not sure it's always for the best. There are times were they build up these fantastic and very thick and texture passages only to lose all momentum by going all Frownland on their instruments. But I mean hey, that's just my opinion.

Solemne Triduo: More great riffing. Love the drumming on all of the tracks so far as well. This one also has vocals, first track to feature them so far. I would probably say this is my favourite track so far, a little more in the traditional doom field but still with a nice amount of folk influence.

Amanecer en Puerta Oscura: Very folky interlude here. This is very laid back, a nice pretty interlude. This album is so all over the place sometimes I forget what I'm listening to.

Puerta Osario: Huh, weird. Another interlude track. This one just has somebody slamming their dick off of a piano. Not bad I guess, but it doesn't really serve much of a purpose as far as I'm concerned.

Templos: Looks like we're jumping back to another jazzier cut. This one is 15 minutes long, so it'll be interesting to see how it progresses. OMG, this is so ****ing boring dude. I got a little scared at the drone tag, and this track is exactly why. 15 minutes of this just doesn't to much for me. This album was like 50/50 up to this point but this is definitely bringing it down since this makes up like 1/3rd of it in length.

Parte II Apogeum: Yay, we're back to bomb ass doom metal. Cranking this **** up. Totally the best song on the album. If this had been a straight up doom album with some folk influence it would have rocked my socks off, but unfortunately there was all that other **** too. This track is honestly so good it makes me angry that I didn't get the rest of the album. Arguably one of the best doom songs I've heard in a long ass time. Now there's a solo that just keeps going and going but never manages to get old or stale, you know what, **** it I'm starting this track over. Please listen to this everyone.

https://orthodoxband.bandcamp.com/tr...rte-ii-apogeum

Final Verdict: I didn't dislike this album, per say, but there were only two tracks that I cared enough about to actually consider coming back to. It's definitely unique in that it combines so many influences and genres into one cluster**** of music, but it's just not for me my dude. For real though I would highly recommend the last song to literally anyone into doom metal because it is so ****ing gnarly and has some absolutely killer guitar work. Unfortunately all in all the rest of the album just couldn't live up to that track, so it doesn't quite make the cut.

Fail

Stay tuned for the 2nd part of the review (Mondo's album) whenever he decides to leak it.

Mondo Bungle · 12-07-2016, 07:47 PM

here we god damn go https://ququmatz.bandcamp.com/album/...-its-the-trees

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 12-07-2016, 09:06 PM

Q'uq'umatz - I Know it's the Trees...
Recommended by Mondo Bungle

I Know it's the Trees I: Oh ****, we're jumping right into this thing. Some shredding over top of your typical black metal drums. There are areas where the two don't mesh together all that well, but as a whole it's certainly interesting. The vocals are ****ing great, like seriously some of the most satanic growls I've heard. These things make me want to hide underneath my bed and shiver in fear, props for that. Very interesting transition as we now have some flute and a collage of many different noises joining the fray. I would say again that my biggest beef with this is that the instruments seem to lack true cohesiveness as it kind of feels like each one is doing it's own thing. I really love all of this Native American influence on the album, it truly feels like it has a nature inspired vibe to it. Your guitar tone reminds me of Burzum which is a huge plus. The tribal drums are a nice touch as well, especially near the end of the track. Very nice start to the project.

I Know it's the Trees II: Some blackgaze-esque guitar to kick off this track. This is an amazing intro to the track, wow. More of the tribal drums and the flute. This track is a much more ambient approach for the majority of it, however near the 6 minute mark things are picking up. Some math-y guitar work that almost sounds kind of... Primus inspired? OH ****. WE'RE BUILDING UP. Now we're getting some elements of noise, and we're into a straight up black metal riff fast. God damn Mondo, that might have been a little rough around the edges but as a whole that transition was mother****ing wild. This is some ****in' top notch guitar work. Love the screeching noise to finish things off.

I Know it's the Trees III: And it starts out this track, nice transition. This is probably the most progressive track so far, lots of weaving in and out of different riffs and different times. Alright now we're getting a riff that honestly sounds like like it would fit really well in a thrash or trad metal song, the drums are at a little bit of disconnect again. At about 8 minutes in there's a really sweet riff that is reminding me of a bm version of a Nirvana song... can't think of which song but if I can remember I'll put it here. So things slowed down for a minute, and now we're building up with this epic violin(?) section that sounds like it's straight out of Skyrim. Again there's a little bit of a rough contrast between the sounds, but this is such an adventurous album and even if it doesn't always come together perfectly, I ****ing love what you were going through and what you accomplished with this. You did a great job ending this track too, beautiful little tribal piece.

The Forrest of Revisitation: Very prominent flute on this track again. Again there are moments were the flute, drums, and guitar do feel a little disjointed, and I think that's my biggest critique and only serious problem with the album. Definitely a chaotic track to close out with, a true wall of sound is totally submerging me in the album at this point. The conclusion of this track is fantastic yet a-****ing-gain. Dude, honestly I'm safe to say I could listen to a full of album of just that gay flute-y tribal Native American stuff because it's just so beautiful. Kind of like how some of the ambient pieces on Burzum records (yeah sorry, gonna compare you to Varg again real quick) end up making the album that much better, I think those short little interludes between tracks could do the same for you.

Final Verdict: Honestly I didn't expect to like this thing as much as I did. It's not that I don't think you're good at what you do, but I've just yet to hear many MB projects that have blown me away. This one, however, did exactly that. There were a few issues with the instruments meshing together, as I mentioned quite a few times, however if you can fix that up and bring together a more cohesive project with the same ideas that you presented on this thing, I truly believe you could make a remarkable piece of black metal music. Even with that being said though, I still enjoyed this immensely.

Pass