Sigz's Top 20 Musicians/Artists (excluding Opeth/PT/Steven Wilson)

[Gorille85]

Eisley

Ulver


That is all.

[MetalManiac666]

Vanden Plas at #1.

[Sigz]

2. Gregor Samsa - "Slow and sad, slow and happy, but never fast and anything."

I'm not really sure what to say here; Gregor Samsa is pretty safely my favorite post-rock band ever, and 55:12 is one of the greatest albums of all time. Their blend of clean guitar and piano, orchestral instruments, subtle percussion, and the twin vocals of Champ Bennett and Nikki King is unmatched by virtually every other band out there. Their songwriting style lends itself well to their arrangement as well. Whereas some bands in the genre (not mentioning any names) have a tendency to spend a shitload of time building atmosphere and tension, Gregor Samsa almost does it naturally, and generally far more interesting. With songs like 'Lessening' and 'Young and Old', they can do in 6 or 7 minutes what other bands would do in twice as long, and the concise nature of their songs makes them all the better; I never feel like it's a chore to listen to them.

Beyond that, there's something very honest and down-to-earth about their music. The production isn't terribly complex, and listening to their music you often get the sense that it's just a group of people making music they like - they're not stroking their neckbeards pondering how to best express their anarchist sentiments with instrumental music, or wondering how much more reverb their telecaster could use, they're just playing. It's quite refreshing.

[PixelDream]

Checking them out right now on Spotify. They only have 'Over Air' though.

Add: 'Young and Old' is an incredible song right from the first listen. Instantly got into this, thanks Sigz! 

[orcus116]

It's gotta be Thrice.

[ACID_FOX]

Who the fuck are Thrice.

[glaurung]

Symphony X

[Arcaeus]

It's gotta be Thrice.

What the fuck how did I forget. Yeah, it's Thrice.

[Sigz]

Who the fuck are Thrice.

[Gorille85]

The more I look at that picture, the more it freaks me out!

[Gadough]

That thing looks like a hay bale with a face.

[MetalManiac666]

It's gotta be Thrice.

[Zantera]

Dunno if nr1 is Thrice or not, but anyhow.. i really liked Beggars, but moving on with Vheissu didn't quite catch my interest.
Maybe it isn't for me. :/

[zxlkho]

Beggars was a fantastic album, but I never really got into the other albums other than a few songs from each. (Daedalus )

[In The Wake Of Poseidon]

There is not enough love for


THE FLAME DELUGE

[Sigz]

All y'all called it.

1. Thrice - Depending on the day, Thrice could easily challenge Opeth or PT for a place in my top 2. As it stands, they're my favorite besides those two, with a catalog that is consistently great and charts an incredible musical progression from their hardcore roots to the art rock style they have now. All of their albums are amazing, with my favorites being Artist in the Ambulance and The Alchemy Index. Listening to The Alchemy Index all the way through is probably one of the greatest listening experiences someone can ever have, but what makes the set even better is that you can listen to any of the volumes individually and they still retain their power, each one giving an excellent microcosm of various aspects of the band's sound, from hardcore to folk rock.

I've previously mentioned songwriting as something that is very important to me, and to me Thrice is almost unmatched in this category. They've honed their songwriting craft to a razor edge - every song is chock full not only of great segments but they interweave in a way where you could never imagine them in another context. Songs like Blood Clots and Blackholes, The Messenger, or The Abolition of Man are all under three minutes, but are some of the most intense pieces of music you'll ever hear. Many people will say that longer 'epics' give more time to allow tension to build and such, and while on some level this is true, Thrice has proved again and again that it's not necessary. And then when they do do a comparably longer song such as Deadalus (~ 6 minutes), it ends up being one of the most emotionally moving songs you'll ever hear.

In the end Thrice is a band who's constantly tweaking and experimenting with their sound, but never losing sight of the fact that experimentation alone does not make good music - without a core of good songwriting you'll still have nothing. The result is an incredibly diverse band who's output is consistently incredible and interesting.

[Sigz]

There is not enough love for


THE FLAME DELUGE

Agreed. Such an insanely powerful song, and the lyrics make it absolutely incredible. It's probably my favorite or second favorite off of Fire.

[Gadough]

I've actually never listened to Thrice before. That's changing now.

NP: Firebreather

I like it. It's not blowing my mind, but so far I'm really enjoying it. I'll have to check out some more of their stuff.

[Sigz]

Some songs to listen to:

Between the End and Where We Lie
Blood Clots and Black Holes
Daedalus
The Arsonist
Atlantic
The Earth isn't Humming
Circles
In Exile



There's dozens more, they really don't have a bad song.

[skydivingninja]

Didn't know you were that big of a Thrice fan.  Alchemy Index minus Fire is pretty good.  Recommendations on where to go from there?

[orcus116]

I still think Circles sounds like a Radiohead song. His vocal delivery sounds very similar to Thom Yorke in that song.

[Sigz]

Didn't know you were that big of a Thrice fan.  Alchemy Index minus Fire is pretty good.  Recommendations on where to go from there?

Probably Beggars, if you don't like Fire.

Nazi.

I still think Circles sounds like a Radiohead song. His vocal delivery sounds very similar to Thom Yorke in that song.

I honestly don't hear that at all.

[orcus116]

I don't know how. I immediately thought of Radiohead when I first heard it and I even played it for my roommate and he said the same thing without even me telling him what the band was.

[Sigz]

Granted, the only Radiohead I know is OK Computer, but I really don't see what about Circles makes you think "Thom Yorke".

[In The Wake Of Poseidon]

The vocals are probably the only similarity.

[cthrubuoy]

The only Thrice album I've got is TAITA, and as far as I know they don't sound like that anymore. There's a lot of good songs on there though. I might have to check them out again. 

[Gorille85]

I just blindly bought The Alchemy Index (vol. 1-4) after hearing only a few samples from it. That shows how much I trust you.

[Sigz]

FUCK YEAH

The only Thrice album I've got is TAITA, and as far as I know they don't sound like that anymore. There's a lot of good songs on there though. I might have to check them out again. 

Yeah, they really don't have that sound anymore, but it doesn't matter; all their stuff is fantastic.

[ACID_FOX]

Listening to Blood Clots & Black Holes, sounds pretty generic.

[Sigz]

Show me one other band that can cover a range like BCBH, Daedalus, The Flame Deluge, and Moving Mountains, and I'll give you a thousand dollars.

[ACID_FOX]

I'm only talking about this song! I havn't heard any of their other stuff yet

[Sigz]

  Fair enough, I thought you were just dismissing them outright

[ACID_FOX]

Just listened to Firebreather, sounds promising, I'll download these Alchemy Index albums tonight and listen to them tomorrow

[Gorille85]

So I just listens to every volume from The Alchemy Index in order while reading the lyrics.


I am truly blown away.

[Marvellous G]

Bump for justice.

Thrice are frigging AMAZING. I've just listened to The Alchemy Index all the way through and (this is rare for me) I'm just going to listen to it all again. My favourite parts were Water and Air probably, but it's testament to their skill that they're the ONLY hardcore band I can really stand. Amazing, and thank you for the recommendation.