Last update received considerably less interest than previous updates. I suppose that's also because the albums there were less-known. Here's a couple of better known ones (I suppose). Next three!
32. Darkwater - Calling the Earth to Witness (2007)
Darkwater are a relatively new progressive metal band, hailing from Sweden and 'Calling the Earth to Witness' was their first album, released in 2007. Before going to ProgPower Europe 2010, I checked out some of the bands that would play there and Darkwater immediately grabbed my attention as one of the must-see-bands. And that paid off, the band was astonishingly good live, playing stuff from both this album and their second, 'Where Stories End', which was released in 2010. While the latter is a bit more listener friendly and the songwriting has improved quite a bit, I chose to include their debut on my list, because it was my first experience with the band and because, frankly, its actually pretty damn awesome. The individual tracks on 'Where Stories End' might be better, but on 'Calling the Earth to Witness' the band displays a vast array of sounds and styles, though its predominantly melodic progressive metal, but their displaying of melodies and themes in the songs really shows skill in both playing their instruments and in knowing how to write good music. Although I recommend both their albums to any progressive metal fan, I think it's better to start with this one, not only because I just like it better (subjectively, I have no real arguments whatsoever), but because it was the band's first as well. Fantastic debut album from a band that's unfortunately not better known.
Favourite song: Again
Other songs worth checking out: Shattered, All Eyes on Me, Tallest Tree
31. Spock's Beard - V (2000)
Another Spock's Beard. I kind-of feel that this write-up is pretty redundant before I even started typing it. Everybody who's read my top 30 Beard songs thread knows I love the band and the ranking of their albums is purely a subjective way of looking at them and thinking 'which one do I like better?'. Well, we already had 'The Light' at #39 and here is the next on my list. 'V' just shows how Spock's Beard progressed their amazing songwriting qualities (most notably Neal Morse's) and how well the band can pull off yet another progressive rock album. Neal Morse is one of my favourite people active in the progressive rock world today and it's works like 'V' that can easily demonstrate the reason why. This is just another very solid progressive rock record with no real noticeable flaws at all. And that's really all I have to say about this album right now, except that 'At the End of the Day' is a top 10 Beard song. It's fantastic, but so is this album.
Favourite song: At the End of the Day
Other songs worth checking out: Thoughts (Part II), The Great Nothing, Revelation
30. Mastodon - Blood Mountain (2006)
Ah, Mastodon. A band that can easily be misunderstood by its listeners, since the band is actually quite diverse in what they do. Some people prefer their older era, which could be classified as considerably heavier, 'sludgier' if you want, than their modern stuff, but some people prefer the newer stuff. I'm one of the latter group, but 'Blood Mountain' remains my favourite Mastodon album. Why? Because it contains some of the heaviness of their previous albums, but also shows a slight nod in the direction of 'Crack the Skye' (which would rank as my second favourite by the band) and 'The Hunter'. On 'Blood Mountain', the band shows a very distinctive style, one that I can imagine will not be appreciated by everybody. The drums are loud and fast, the riffs are weird and the vocals are very weird, ranging from clean, to growled, to distorted and heavily modified, to everything in between. And its that quirkiness that makes this album my favourite by the band. Though Mastodon show an impressive amount of skill in their technicality and song-writing, you really only start noticing that if you're paying attention to it. In that sense, the music is a very honest representation of what they do; they just do whatever they like without noticeable bragging about their stuff. But what's the music exactly? Wikipedia classifies it as either 'sludge metal' or 'experimental metal'. I think the latter is a more suitable label. The record is less sludgy than their previous albums and the band experiments heavily with different stuff, as said most notably with the vocals. Just a very interesting album overall, but one that's also very good and in my view, quite essential for recent developments in the genres of experimental or 'progressive' metal.
Favourite song: Siberian Divide
Other songs worth checking out: Sleeping Giant, Circle of Cysquatch, The Wolf is Loose
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As always, thanks for reading.
Topic: Elite's top 50 albums! v2: The Big Finish (Top 3!) (Read 24783 times)
