I'm never really quite sure what to make of King Crimson. They do have moments of brilliance, but they're often separated by long passages of jazzy mellow ambiance or chaotic noise that never quite gel with me. I've been slowly working my way through their material over the past few years, and decided to listen to this one at the beginning of the month.
Things start off alright with the "The Great Deceiver," but then gets pretty disorganized from there. "The Night Watch" and "Trio" are of the mellow variety, with "Lament" "We'll Let You Know" on the more chaotic side. "The Mincer" takes a more ambient post-rock approach, almost sounding like a 70s Tool! The title track feels like a combination of all their styles, choatic, mellow, with psychedelic leads and organs carrying things along like early Pink Floyd. "Fracture" features Fripp flexing his fret-work with some light, rapid-fire passages, making it the most dramatic and technical piece of the album, which eventually builds into classic Crimson's organized mayhem.
Much of this album was recorded live, as the band was very much into improvisation at the time, which resulted in the rather pretentious liner-note where Bill Bruford gets song-writing on the song "Trio" without actually playing anything (which strikes me as a very King Crimson idea!). This band was the epitome of experimental song-writing and performance while still retaining elements of rock, making it a challenge to listen to. However, this noise-rock approach would make them very influential and iconic! Definitely not for the easy-listening crowd, that's for sure!
Metalium is one of those German power metal bands that was part of the explosion of the genre in the late 90s and early 2000s. As a band, they don't deviate much from the style of the times, full of high-charged choruses and fantasy lyrics. The main thing that makes them stand out is an emphasis on bass in the production, making their power metal approach sound very gritty and grounded.
Their albums tell a story, much like Rhapsody of Fire or Dragonland, and State of Triumph is the second chapter, mostly focusing on a chosen one mastering the elements and leading an army called The Metalians to save the world. Nothing remarkable, but it gives the lyrics a reason to be huge and triumphant, which I'm sure was the main point of them anyway. For what it's worth, Henning Basse does give a great performance, hitting high notes and melodies with a vigor that one expects from such energetic music, and their rhythm section matches that vigor by sounding quite massive.
Their first album has a few stand out moments, but can come across as clunky and uneven. State of Triumph has smoothed things out, making sure each of their double-kick speedy anthems are consistent across the board. However, this also makes the album pretty samey, resulting in a album that's quite fun while it's on, but you probably won't be humming anything once it's over. That being said, it's still solid stuff, if you're looking for something older in the vain of classic Primal Fear or Iron Savior.
Doom metal is a genre that doesn't come up here very often, but it's one I definitely like, especially the way that Candlemass plays it. Most bands in the genre often feel like an early Black Sabbath clone (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), but I do feel like Candlemass builds on that sound to make it their own, something bigger and broader, more epic.
Nightfall is classic Candlemass, but also serves as their first album with the titanic vocalist Messiah Marcolin, whose operatic style just makes the band sound all the more melodramatic compared to their first album. Given that all the lyrics this time deal with a lot of Christian iconography (angels and devils, sin and redemption, heaven and hell), it makes the album feel like Marcolin is giving an epic morality play, singing with authority and power.
The rest of the group aren't completely overshadowed, with the band's iconic slow and crunchy riffs plowing their way through it all. While I don't think this as good as their later album Tales of Creation, it does have some decent variety, with "The Well of Souls," "At Gallows End," and "Dark Are The Veils of Death" experimenting with different tempos and moods, and "March Funebre" being a curious cover of Chopin's "Funeral March." More solid doom metal from a band that doesn't disappoint.
It's definitely been a quiet month for a number of reasons, so I apologize that I don't have more to share with you. I'll see if I can do better for May, especially since I have plenty of ideas for articles. Just gotta buckle down and get them done.
In any case, I hope you and yours are doing well in these unusual times. Until then, rock on! \m/
