Author Topic: [Music] Cloudkicker - Fade  (Read 2250 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Perpetual Change

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 12264
[Music] Cloudkicker - Fade
« on: August 19, 2012, 12:10:54 AM »
Over the last few years, Cloudkicker has been putting out an abundance of music, downloadable for whatever price we can afford to pay for it.  While Cloudkicker's music can range from post-rock to progressive metal, the common thread uniting most of his albums that they're mostly all instrumental, and always quality. Though an abundance of "donate to listen" heavy metal and "djent" instrumental acts have saturated the internet over the last two years, Cloudkicker continues to tower tall above most of them with Fade.

The most noticeable thing about Fade upon first listen is the presence of distorted guitars, which announce a turn from the post-rock, folkish direciton of last year's Let Yourself Be Huge to the more metal and hard-rock oriented sound of Beacons and The Discovery. Fade, however, is not the same nonstop thrill ride that Beacons is. Whereas the latter is intense and turbulent, Fade sounds more relaxed and constant. The fast-paced clamor that characterizes songs like "Here, wait a minute! Damn it!" mostly gives way to heavy, melodic drone, like that featured on one of my favorite songs from Fade, "Seattle"; or else uplifting, U2-esque soundscaping guitars, like those heard on "LA After Rain", another favorite.

Like Beacons, Fade is a very consistent album that is sequenced very well. The songs work in a cyclical way, so that if you're listening casually you might not notice when one song has ended and another's begun. Still, sections of some songs tend to drag, and it is overall not as good as some of Cloudkicker's previous work.  And while almost all of the songs on the record morph into something great, a few, like "The Focus" and "Making Will Mad" begin with rarely generic rocking. Though Fade is exceptional, it doesn't dethrone Beacons as Cloudkicker's crowning achievement.

Still, any fan of any type of rock or metal oriented music at all would be doing themselves a disservice by not giving Cloudkicker a try. You can name your price for the album at the Cloudkicker's bandcamp, here. And, while you're there, you might as well pick-up Beacons and everything else on his page if you haven't already.

Here's to much more quality music from Cloudkicker in the future!

Reposted from my blog, here: https://ihateheavymetal.blogspot.hk/2012/08/cloudkicker-fade.html
« Last Edit: August 29, 2012, 07:14:54 PM by Nick »