atmosphere and setting
This is what I enjoy the heck out of in their first four albums but feel like are missing in Virus for sure....and a bit of Vector. They painted a beautiful atmosphere and setting with the music in those first four albums. Their music/vocals was smoothly poetic even when they cranked into some heavier stuff. But for me the heavier turn they took with Vector and Virus eliminated the subtle approach to building those atmospheres......it wasn't poetic at all it was a more military approach that didn't build anything of significance....for me.
Again....there was some cool music to be heard in there but nothing that I thought 'wow....that's amazing' like I had on multiple occasions in the first four albums.
This was really prominent for me in The Mountain and Affinity.
The atmosphere of Vector and Virus is not the same as those past albums. This isn't a Happy, uplifting, kind of atmosphere. It's more darker, and sinister, and a bit more distorted. Great to show the concept and the feelings of the subject that becomes The Cockroach King. And this "military approach" suits that extremely well.
Albums are meant to sound the way they are for that very reason of building a certain atmosphere. Grace Under Pressure is a great example of Atmosphere as well, because the production and mixing lead to a more colder, almost, wintery kind of atmosphere that the cover art portrays with it's use of colors.
the Distorted Atmosphere of Vector and Virus, makes it feel like we are experiencing the patients feelings. To me, these feelings are best represented in Puzzle Box, Host, A Cell Divides, Carousel, and Messiah Complex.