Okay, it's time!!!!!!
Parama: Exist - SunlightI thought the East of the Wall comparison sounded a bit ridiculous but after more listens I started kind of feeling that connection between The Apologist and this not musically but more in terms of song writing/structures. This is an album that isn't afraid of departing current themes and delve into a whole new mood to expand the range of styles within a song. If I'm correct, most of the music revolves around a back and forth tossup between blackened progressive metal with and noodley noodley proggy solo sections with laid back rhythm sections.
The first song on the album, "Writhe", also happens to be my favourite on the album. The way they constructed this song is just fantastic, even though I've been impartial to those technical proggy guitar solo sections for a long time and still am a bit. The way the heavy front section ends with that breakdown kind of similar to some Persefone breakdowns I heard, and then uses that same motif to lead the quiet section and then picks up the pace with that sick bassline and builds up to a last climax...... etc.. you get it, I just really like the way this song is puzzled together, it's one of the best of this round for sure. "Self-Inflicted Disguise" moves on to a more bent guitar sound and actually sounds more akin to tech death at times than anything (really, sometimes I have no clue whether to call this black or death metal), but for the sake of ease, let's just call it 'extreme'. On this track once more, the ability to move into an entirely different mood in the matter of a minute is mindboggling, it never even sounds glued together.
Their clean vocals are good, most of the time sounds to me like a combination of The Ocean and VOLA, and I can't help but wonder if I would like the album less or more if they made more use of the clean vocals during the non-metal sections. Given my opinion on "Vessels", I think 'less' is more likely, as that just felt like a complete buzzkill. The album has such a good string of music for more than the first half of the album, and judging by this album, I know these guys are great at balancing their music. Sometimes a ballad at the end of an album works, to give it kind of a feel of redemption. Putting it right in the middle of two songs that have no musical themes in common and just sound completely different in general just sounds weird.
"So We Are..." is another good one. Does not exceed the desirable length, and is the one song that proves the point that Exist can pull off great mixed vocal performances.
Pretty much from beginning to end, this album has some of the best metal I've heard in a while, some of the most interesting song structures, but also a couple grating technical wankery moments that to me were the core detractor for most songs. Some songs gave it a nice flair and made me forget about it for the most part like "Writhe", but some make it stick out like a sore thumb, I found the second half on "Like the Weather" to be a bit annoying. That leading right into "Vessel" was unfortunate since it created an extended string of music on this album that I found to be subpar, instead of 2 separate sections of those. "If or When" has some great moments, especially when it comes to those seemless heavy/soft transitions. I think the clean vocals don't really work as well during the metal moments, but back in that soft section they're really good. I understand why you thought I'd like this, it is definitely one of the most varied and outstanding songs on the record and has a certain factor of catchiness to it that some might say the album lacks (I don't, though).
What kind of disappointed me is that the closer, "Sunlight", is the longest song on the album but also one of the least interesting? I feel like it spends a lot of time uncertain whether it's building up to something and then just ends on a low note with some completely newly introduced female vocals. The jazzy instrumentals on this song however were great and were mostly the reason why this ranked higher than it otherwise would have.
Semistereo - Trans Earth InjectionFeels kind of weird receiving an album from a band that I have seen play a set right after you just this year, in which they very likely played some of these songs, but I remember none of them. I vividly remember not liking his vocals on Alarion though, which is funny because I actually think he fits Semistereo's sound so much better. I mean, he still has kind of an annoying tone to his vocals, that 'whiny' touch, but it also holds some charm for unexplainable reasons. Comparing this to Exist, this album is defninitely less technical, less musically explorative, would even go as far as saying less interesting. BUT, I love dramatic music and this definitely fills that hole for me, the vocals and slightly somber guitar and synth tones more than satisfy that need. Speaking of, I'll move on to the best song of the round, "The Search". This song includes everything I just mentioned, and packages it so nicely. The way that main riff returns at the end and that "I feel broken" line which is both dramatic and super catchy, just amazing. There's many moments like that on the album that, while they don't quite capture the heights of "The Search", are still incredibly good.
Now the most unconventional song is probably "35 Dollar Special", but it is great. At first I thought "What is this song doing on the album? And even moreso, why in the dead middle?" but now it serves as a great slow-burning post-rock tune to change up the fairly straightforward prog metal. And even on itself it is a great tune, and the saxophone complements the climax really well. This is followed by what is quite easily my least favourite song on the album, "The Storm Behind Your Eyes". There is not much I can say to 'justify' not liking it, the chorus is just kind of annoying and in my opinion it brings out the worst aspects of that singer's voice.
"Your Drama" came as kind of a surprise to me, as I hadn't heard anything as heavy from them before. Well, there were some semi-heavy chugging riffs on "The Search", but nothing as 'aggressive' as the opening of this song. Apart from that, it doesn't really stand out in any way.
Then the album closes with "Sin", which reminds me a lot of "The Search", in that it's got a really good catchy chorus, is of equal length and equal song structure, with the end reprising the beginning, and in that they are both very very good songs. I do however, feel that "The Search" would have been a superior album closer.
I cannot say as much about this album as I can with Exist, since it just doesn't have as much to it, it is a more linear album and there's nothing wrong with that. All the way through this is solid, no major clunkers. The only thing that keeps me from 'loving' the album is that the singer has a couple of weak points on the album and musically this isn't anything I've never heard, but it's just really good at what it does.
They were pretty close, but I've made up my mind about the winner a few days ago already. The Exist album is definitely more akin to my kind of heavy music, something trhat makes a lot of sense to send to me. The Semistereo album was obviously more in line with modern progressive metal, dramatic vocals the way I like them and interesting instrumentals that weren't too complex or anything.
I'm giving the edge to Semistereo here, congratulations Elite!
Lonestar = Red
TAC = Orange
LordCost = Purple
Parama = Blue
Elite = Green
1. The Search2. A Heart, an Eye, and a Womb3. Sin4. Writhe5. Self-Inflicted Disguise6. Cry Wet Smile Dry7. Sleep All Eyes Open8. So We Are...9. Will Bleed Amen10. In a Gale of Inferno11. Signs12. Revolution Come Undone13. A Dream Within a Dream14. Loneliness at the Door15. Destined to Remember16. Wind and Rains is Cold 17. Your Drama
18. A New Tomorrow19. There's Good Cud20. If or When21. 35 Dollar Special22. Hear My Call23. Jitterbug (junior is a)24. Whispers of a Ruin25. Never Like This (A Dream)26. Horizons27. Sunlight28. Eternally Mine29. Breach of Faith30. The Sound of Knell31. Ain't He Messy Though32. Erasure33. Coma Back Clammy Lammy34. Spell with a Shell35. Like the Weather36. Mindlessness37. Temple of the Forsaken38. The Storm Behind Your Eyes39. Airways40. Song of a Dead Pest41. Hand of a Serth42. Vessel43. Clean That Evil Mud Out Your SoulBest of playlists will be posted here... some day
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