Devin Townsend - Ghost

There are musicians and there are truckloads of them. They create music, acquire a fan base(small or large), and create more music to divide the fan base into the "old school" and the "open minded".

And every once in a while, a musician walks on the planet who is extra ordinary and sets the bar so high for his/her peers which is difficult to scale.

Devin Townsend is one such musician and Ghost is the flag that he has put on top of the mountain he has created and scaled with his career prior to before.

Ghost is not heavy. Ghost is not about the riffs. Ghost is not about the bass lines. Ghost isn't about the humour that Devin so delicately blends with metal.

What Ghost does is take to you to another world and keeps you there throughout the 70 odd minutes. And if that world had anything to do with Ghosts, they are friendly and sing soothing numbers to you. The different layers on the tracks blend really well and create the atmosphere which can soothe a disturbed soul in minutes and make it stay in that state for a long while.

There are flavours of folk and country music(I felt so) which gives the album an entirely different feel from the rest of the albums from Townsend's catalogue. This is definitely one of the better albums that anyone will come across. Ghost is a pinnacle in musicianship that will require a great amount of effort to better.

Amplifier - The Octopus - Review Part II

Disc II continues from where Disc I left off. Especially in terms of the awesomeness. There are plenty of brilliant moments. The Sick Rose reminded me of Porcupine Tree, especially the opening section. The drumming could have had a bit more texture to it, but that doesn't mean it was sloppy.

Interstellar starts with an 8-bit video game like intro which moves into something really heavy and settles into a catchy pattern reminding us that they are a 3-piece band at work, with occasional multi layer chunks thrown in. The 10 minute track has the pattern going on for a while before a superb transition takes the song in a different direction. Once again, the vocals shine through. The way the song ends with a once again smooth transition to a slow outro is simply brilliant.

Emperor again had elements of Tool during the intro. However, the band members get into their elements and render a silky pop rock track. The album achieves its Golden Ratio with some sweet guitars and and a perfect mix of instruments, length and music. This is certainly the high point of the album for me.

The start-stop nature of Fall of the Empire brings out the groovy side of the guys while Bloodtest builds an old world ambience. I was able to relate to Oscar Night/Embryo, being an individual who isn't much into movies. The strange part was the cinematic style outro, which I found a bit ironic.

The album ends with Forever and More, which begins in a frenzy and builds an atmosphere from which you don't want to leave. All the band members shine on this one, just the way most bands end a gig. It also leaves you wanting more, even though you have crossed two discs to get to this point, which I think makes this work, a master piece.

Amplifier - The Octopus - Review Part I

I don't know where I heard about Amplifier and the album The Octopus, but I decided to check it out once I heard some rave reviews about it. It is supposedly by a 3 member act, but The Octopus sounds like it was created with help from a million musicians. The amount of detail present in the album is similar to that present in some of the master piece works of our times, which have come out after years of writing, recording, sampling and editing. The Octopus is an epic in the truest sense, being a two-disc album, along the lines of Floyd's The Wall. 


Since I haven't had the time to have a go at both the discs together, I'll do a two part review of the album, this being part-I (obviously, duh!).


The disc has full of fantastic moments. The Runner is a cinematic track which provides a brilliant opening for the album. Personally, I felt that the track could have been shorter, but it serves its purpose very well and leaves us waiting to find out what the album has in store for us. Amplifier, the band, as story tellers is what Minion is all about. The punk sounds towards the 3 minute mark, the operatic chorus and the way a frenzy is built towards the end is testimony of their wonderful song writing capabilities.


Heavy metal lovers would love Interglacial Spell. It has elements of heavy metal with heaviness in vocals and a galloping riff. The solo blends perfectly with the mood and the wailing guitars add a beauty, which I'm struggling to put into words. I found resemblances to Tool with The Wave. It's a mix of doom and punk rock and if you thought that would be like oil and water, you are shown that it's something like rum and coke.

The title track is a thing of beauty. That something of this sort could be created step by step has been proved time and again by musicians and Amplifier just show us that they are right there at the top when it comes to such creations. I liked the song a lot more because I found an Opethian influence in the track. Planet of the Insects has a catchy riff. It is not the best song on this album IMHO. White Horses At Sea/Utopian Daydream creates an ideal world with some delicious music, however, they also tell us how painful Utopia is, if you go by the tone of the track.


The album ends with Trading Dark Matter on the Stock Exchange. The lovely mid section and a doom like atmosphere gives an end to a wonderful disc, making you want more in the second disc.


It's one thing to make music. It's another thing to make beautiful music. I think Amplifier have put out a brilliant record, which I'm sure am going to love more with subsequent listens.

Try it urself - Improve Bass using winamp EQ

This technique is not exclusive to winamp , but please let me know if you like the idea.Its not revolutionary or anything ,but its just one way.Let me know if you have any other ideas as well.

My favourite part of the music frequencies spectrum is the bass.But  then , that itself raises a lot of questions when we are trying to define WHAT kind of BASS. Well, i dint know really ! So i did this.

1. Took a very bass heavy song ( bass guitar rather , for me . It could be anything for you). So that was "With or  Without You" by U2.
2. Started playing it on my favourite headphones, that i use all the time.
3. Realized that the bass was too boomy for my taste , and started tuning it
4.In the end i ended up with an EQ that was more heavy in the 250Hz range ( I was expecting a lower range initially)
5.Played some of the other songs , and voila , they were all good mind you !

Try it and plz post a feedback ! 

Editing EQ settings on Winamp

Hi.I know that most of us are very familiar with Winamp.Atleast i thought i was.Until i found this. Here we go.


0. Start winamp :P
1. Go to Options->Preferences->Playback->Equalizer
2. There are various choices that you can make here.
            a) EQ type - Constant Q / Winamp 4Font
            b) Frequency Bands - Standard ISO / Winamp

Why do it ?
Graphic equalizers are a very powerful way of adjusting/filtering the gains of various frequencies that we hear, and they decide our experience in hearing sounds ,especially when it comes to music.The reason why this equalizers might be helpful can be understood by why the graphic equalizer is called so, and what its properties are.Links here.

Please leave some comments, so that i can know if this helped/ if you already knew it :)

The Song Remains the Same

I was browsing through my DVD catalogue this morning and decided to go on a Pink Floyd trip. (sorry to disappoint you with the title, which is a Led Zeppelin concert film's title.) As the track High Hopes started playing, I time travelled a few years into the past. I was bed ridden, with a very high fever and an infection on my thigh which needed medical help to get rid of it.

High Hopes was that track which acted as the pain killer at that point of time. I remember vividly, the first time I listened to the track. I immediately fell in love. It was around that time that VH1 had entered the Indian satellite TV scene and on one of the mornings, they aired the track. I fell in love with the video too.

Another of those instances is when I listened to Master of Puppets for the first time on my newly acquired 2.1 system(which I eventually sold off due to logistics issues and regret the move now). I remember increasing the volume to glass shattering levels and jumping up and down on the bed. I never looked at Master of Puppets as just another song.


Fast forward a few months, I was at the canteen in college where a guy I knew was fiddling around with his acoustic guitar. He was playing a very good tune and I learnt that he was playing Harvest by Opeth. I asked for a few track suggestions and ended up worshipping the band.

I decided to give Ride the Lightning a listen on a rainy evening, when I was at home for a vacation. It was love at first listen. Fade to Black caught my imagination like no other song did at that time. I was in love with Metallica.


Most of the times, it's just another listening session. But at times, it becomes a life changing experience. The song remains the same, but you start associating memories with it. Happenings from life with it. And then, music and you become one.

Sarvanasini

It is not too often that a word gives you just two results when you look it up on google. And it is much rarer that it is the name of a project. Sarvanasini is one such word and we would like to contribute our bit towards making that project better known to the rest of the world, which is unaware of its existence.

Most times, the underground is full of precious little gems which lie hidden amidst a mud and dirt. Sarvanasini is one such gem. A one man electronic metal band formed by Shyam Gopakumar, it is a breath of fresh air in a scene, which mostly thrives on non-innovation and sticking to tried and tested methods of music production.

A metal EP made only with the help of a computer/computers, the self titled effort sets the stage for better things to come from the band. The whereabouts of the artist is evident in the work. The EP has a malayalam feel to it, not only in the track titles, but also in the music.

Starting with Mounam, a track which transports the listener to the depths of a jungle is an ideal intro track. The atmosphere it brings is stunning. About three minutes into the track, it slips into the realms of black metal from doom and slips back, with the same flawlessness, to doom.

The self-titled track in the self titled EP, Sarvanasini deserves a post in itself. The drumming is very black metal based, but the guitars blast away in some melodies, which have a very classical touch to them. The head banger in you is invoked and it continues to behold you in that trance for the rest of the work. The chenda based beats at 4 minutes and the screams are just out of the world.

Kaalam continues in the same vein as Sarvanasini, maintaining the tempo, but with some experiments with the drumming patterns and it impresses.

The crescendo for the finale begins with the penultimate track on the album, Avasanam. It maintains the high pitched guitar melodies, which is a trademark of the album, but also something, I feel can be worked upon. Though the tunes are differecnt, they do tend to get a bit monotonous on subsequent listens to the entire album because of the range that it operates in.

The final track of the EP, Maranam Sampoornam signs it off in perfect style. It contains all the elements that makes this effort unique in first place. The transitions from the heavy riff based arrangements to the acoustic melodies is breath taking and the evil laughter at the end reminds one of the stories of Yakshis, that live on the palm trees, stalking innocent men to take them to their doom.

I would personally love to hear more works from the band. A full length album would be eagerly awaited, I am sure, by quite a lot of metal heads in the country as well.

You can download the EP here.

PS : Thanks to my friend Crucifire for linking me up to their page.

Led Zeppelin Remasters Review (part 1)

Source/Album

Led Zeppelin - Remasters

Must Listen Track List

 (Part 1)

1.   Achilles Last Stand
2.   All of My love
3.   Babe Im Gonna Leave you
4.   Dyer Maker
5.   Dazed and Confused
6.   In the evening
7.   Kashmir
---------------------------------------------------

( Part 2 )

8.   No Quarter
9.   Nobodys fault but mine
10. Ramble On
11. The Song Remains the same
12. Stairway to Heaven
13. Trampled Underfoot
14. Whole Lotta Love


Preface : It is indeed really really late to be doing such a review of such a legendary band.But there will be perverts out there who are very biased about this band and they would have twisted reasons to not listen to em.If any of you are reading, i would be glad to tell you that i was one of you.Then i decided to give those tracks a chance.I am very thankful that i decided to do so.

This is an absolutely rollicking list of 14 top songs in this album..yes , right ! 14 top songs ! This album/compilation is an absolute worth an absolute go get ! I am not sure if this was an official release by Led Zeppelin or not , but if you are someone who has heard of the band and is looking for some of their best, then this is the right place to start ! The quality of the mastering is also good , and really shows through in some of the songs like Dyer Maker.

Before i review the tracks , I would like to thank my friend Manjunath for intro-ing me to Led Zepps music.I am so not regretting it! I hope you dont (or arent ) too. If you are , then god save you.


The Remasters compilation brings together a whole array of songs , composed diversely, under different arrangements,and most importantly in different times.It gives an insight into how the music of Led Zeppelin jumps from their earlier guitar heavy /vocal heavy nature to more eclectic/subtle composition oriented numbers (say , like Kashmir).

To start off with , i have reviewed the first 7 songs ,the (part 1) of the list.

1.Achilles Last Stand - This is more of an instrumental/bass and guitar driven number that you can only see led zeppelin do.Why you ask ? Coz only Robert plant can sing like Jimmy Paiges guitar ! The incredible bass lines, stellar guitaring and the grooviest drumming by John Bonham takes this song to super-grooviness , and then Robert Plant takes over and transforms the trance into nirvana in ways only he can do with his sound box :).

2.All Of My Love - This  boy burns down to the synthesizers .. Its all John Paul Jones and Plant here.The drum has not been overplayed (and very cleverly avoided to preserve the feel of the song).Jimmy paige pitches in with those guitars that can turn any song into bliss.Must be heard to be appreciated (cocky but true).In my book , its one of Led Zeps best works for sure

3.Babe Im Gonna Leave You - There are only a few songs in this world that will grab you like no other.This song is one of them.It makes you realize that someone like Plant was destined to meet Jimmy Paige.And thank god that Jimmy Paige knew about John Bonham and oh thank god that John Paul Jones had decided not to choose studio sessions over band jamming.This song is it .This song has led zeppelin all over it.Every note from the guitar , every improvised phrase from Plant.Every thumping snare beat from Bonham and every carefully played bass note from Jones.This is led zepp at its best.So effortlessly conveying it through a very tough to replicate music.Music that is Led Zepp ,and will remain to be so.

4.   Dyer Maker - This one is a very soft number by the band,in the lines of other numbers like Fool in the Rain and All Of My Love.The rendition by plant is top notch and he makes you believe that no else can even have an attempt at the subtle attempt at the nuances and highs that he takes us through this song.The song is Plant himslef and as you keep listening , you might start wondering whether Led Zepp songs can be covered by anyone else at all , with the same ferocity and emotions.Paige plays on this track like a master craftsman, performing a similar role to a jazz drummer who lets the leading instrumentalists take stage and covers the subtle nuances.Subtle, yet brilliant.

5.   Dazed and Confused - This is a percussionists melody.And Plant butts in as well.Its kinda hard to stop Plant from butting in at any place in any song, coz that boys got some voice.The whole melody and the feel of the song is carried by plant , and John Bonham drives the slow,painful feel with some brilliant wrist work and intelligent rolls on the drums.Jimmy paige takes over at the end with the most soul tearing guitar licks that you would ever hear.The song starts slowly and to a fitting end that would leave you with just one single agenda..Repeat !

6.   In the evening - This is by far my favourite led zeppelin song.Through this song , I have learnt that Rock and roll neednt always be loud,there neednt be a structure to the vocals , and no stanzas ! Plant is a master here.he knows when the riffs are moving , when the rolls are coming adn when the drummer is going to break .I am not sure if its all improvisation, but even if programmed that way , it would take some creativity to keep a song like this going on one single riff (Jimmy ? how ? ) , and still keep it interesting.John Bonham needs no mention.Hes a hero already, and he keeps upto his legendary standards.

7.   Kashmir - Time to thank Jones again ( pianist/ and almost every other non-guitar and non-drum instrumentalist) for the arrangement.The song starts of with a rollicking score to start with and thumping percussions.Haunting vocals by Plant and the orchestra like arrangement makes this song a very sumptous listening experience.More dynamic than any of the older led zepp counterparts.The song also has a very indianish feel to it , although i suspect that it could be any other local folk flavour as well.The experimental nature of the song,renders itself beautifully ,given the fact that most other led zeppelin songs are nothing like it.You will definitely enjoy this one.

Opeth part ways with Per Wiberg

Blabbermouth reports that Opeth have parted ways with their keyboardist, Per Wiberg on mutual consent. This is extremely unfortunate and I have reason to believe that Opeth fired him. For what reason, I can't tell.

Per added a new dimension to Opeth's music. His work on Ghost Reveries, especially on tracks like Baying of the Hounds and Grand Conjuration was remarkable and made the album much more beautiful. Not to forget the solo on Burden, from the album Watershed, which is one of my personal favorite works of his. As Mikael Akerfeldt put it once, Per is one of the best metal keyboardist of all time. I am not acquainted with other works of his, but his work with Opeth definitely ranks high up there with the best amongst the limited amount of music I have explored.

I was lucky enough to watch them perform live at Chennai and it was one wild night. The keyboard part on Heir Apparent's intro set the tone for the rest of the show. I just hope that the work he has done with Opeth on the new album, which is due later this year is better than Ghost Reveries and Watershed.

Opeth will never be the same without him. :(

Electro Quarterstaff

I read about this 5 piece instrumental band on metalinjection.net and I have been hooked ever since! They are very trippy to listen to. And technical. That there is no vocalist to divert your attention from the awesomeness that they create with guitars and drums is an added advantage. Check them out on their myspace page.

Thaalam - Job, Charan, Yakzon (Malayalam)

The other day, a cousin of mine posted a link to this video below.






After doing some googling around the title of the track, I decided to check out the album. It turns out that Rex Vijayan of Avial fame was part of the production. A very excellent malayalam album. Unlike most other stuff that the pop industry from the state churn out, this had some very good compositions and Rex's mixing really stands out. And the three young artists, under whose names the album is, have done an excellent work on the vocals, with the exception of the track Iruthala Pakshi, in which the legendary Malayalam actor, Nedumudi Venu has lent his extraordinarily powerful voice.

One thing I particularly liked about this album is that the bass stands out. Like I often say on twitter, Bass guitar is to Beautiful music, what mascara is to a pair of beautiful eyes.

Do check out the album.

First Post from the Co-Author

If you have chanced upon this blog , then you are extremely lucky.Coz i am the Co-Author :) 

That means i ll mostly be out of action :)

Watch Out 

 - Shrecks

shrecks.blogspot.com

Enforcer : Diamonds

Heavy Metal is not old school, it is timeless - Enforcer

 Enforcer's Diamonds came as a throwback to the 80s, when I first listened to it. The riffs, vocals, drums, bass all remind us of the wonderful music scene created by the likes of Judas Priest  etc. The album maintains that feel throughout. It is basically an album where the guys went to the studio and had fun recording it. Not one for the serious listener, but certainly worth picking up and listening to, when in the casual mood.

The standout song for me is Katana. 6 mins of bliss, signature changes, cheerful music.

I would give the album 7/10. Just give it a listen and enjoy the time travel to the 80s!

Silver Clouds and the Black Lining

Never thought I would have to read something like this. It looks like a very well thought out decision from the man. I hope he comes back some time back in the future and the others will be ready to welcome him back.

That said, Dream Theater will never be the same without it's face. The man who nurtured it for 25 years. Possibly the best drummer alive. I was thinking about writing a review of his work on Avenged Sevenfold's Nightmare when this news came. I think that should wait for later.

Summoning - Oathbound

When you hear the term Black Metal, your mind visualizes a few folks jamming in a dungeon and recording it in a very shitty quality and releasing it. The material, however awesome it is, sounds very poor and we wonder how brilliant it would've sounded if it the recording was good.

Summoning is one black metal project who give a lot of importance to the recording quality. The two guys Silenius and Protector, know their art well and put it out in the best possible manner. Oathbound is epic, both in terms of the lengths of the tracks, their quality and of course, due to the theme they depict in their albums, The Lord of the Rings.

I was wondering out loud one day on Twitter whether there are any atmospheric bands which are great to listen to while reading LoTR and Summoning was the response from one of my friends out there. And the track he directed me to was Mirdautas Vras, a track with lyrics in the dark language of Mordor. Now how cool is that?!

The standout track from the album is the 10 minute epic that is Land of the Dead. It teleports you to the Path of the Dead and back.

The atmosphere has already been talked about, but requires mention. While listening to the album, you'll feel like you are in the middle of middle-earth with tales and lores of the great deeds of the Men being sung to you.

The intro track Bauglir sounds more of a Celtic folks tune, but sets up the album nicely. From there on, the journey through Middle Earth goes on, all the way to Mordor.

Must listen for LoTR fans. Must listen for the rest of you too!

No flaws could be identified, if at all there are any.

I'll give it 10/10

Kalmah - 12 Gauge

The last time I heard Kalmah before this album was probably 3 years ago. I remember them sounding very similar to other melo death acts, which I was checking out at that time, like Children of Bodom, Dark Tranquility and Norther.

12 Gauge sounds very different. And at times, I feel they have gone moved from their melo death roots to create a very good album. I tried doing a track by track review of the album and it looked very nasty indeed. There were a lot of negative points when I dissected each track. However, as a whole, this is one of the albums of the year.

I'll post my track by track review anyway. (Again, I repeat, this may look very critical and make the album sound ordinary, but it is a very good album)

• Rust Never Ends: Very good track to start things off on the album. Some decent change of tempo. Unconventional solo for a melo death track.
• One of Fail: Fast paced. Keyboards lend that extra bit of fullness. Excellently backs up the solo also.
• Bullets are Blind: A very good riff to start. Keyboard is very subtle and lets the guitars be prominent. Excellent change of tempo in the middle. Again, an unconventional solo. Starts off like a thrash/metal core solo before moving to the melo death tone. The riff remains the same as at the start. Energetic drumming too.
• Swampwar: Sounds more like a black metal track at the beginning before moving to a folkish tune. Has some viking metal touch too. Definitely the song where they have experimented with some styles. Again, the solo. Very non melodeath type.
• Better Not to Tell: Keyboards are a little prominent again. Very atmospheric. Now, this is a melo death solo! Could've done away with the fade out ending though.
• Hook the Monster: Harmonics in the riff! Decent solo. Somehow, it seeemed rushed towards the end to get in sync with the drums and the riff. The keyboard solo was decent. A little CoB-ish though. The bridge at around 2:40 is very catchy. Chorus is good too.
• Godeye: Black metal beginning.  Double bass and very dark riffs. There are loose ends here and there. Riffs seem to be playing the catching game with the drums. Not good that. Nice solo and drums are spot on here. If there was one weak song, though, this is it. Just because of what I said earlier.
• 12 Gauge: Acoustic guitars to start off. The melo electric guitar lead is very good. The switch to heaviness could have been better. Not the way anyone would've expected it to progress. This is more of Gothic style. Keyboards is very prominent. But helps the atmosphere too. Lots of tone changes.
• Sacramentum: Sweet riff. Very lovely. Scale changes are Ok-ish. Could've been better.Excellent acoustic interlude around 3:30. Keyboard solo. Better than a few of the guitar solos in the album.
• Cold Sweat (Thin Lizzy Cover): Done justice to it.

Definitely worth checking out.

I'll give the album 8/10

http://www.myspace.com/kalmah

Vektor - Black Future

If you are someone who likes Thrash Metal and the technicalities of a progressive/technical death metal band, you are most likely to love this album.

Excellent screaming vocals, neatly executed signature changes, brilliant riffs etc mark the album.

The track to watch out for : Forests of Legend. The bridge section reminded me of the Indian act, Motherjane. :)

http://www.myspace.com/vektor

Saturnus - Veronika Decides to Die

I read about this album on Dimensional Bleedthrough. Epic in every sense of thw word. Doom metal at its trippy best. Works best with lights off and earphones plugged in.

Very atmospheric. Excellent mixing.

In his own words, it Fucking owns!

Camel : Progressive Rock

This is on band on which I have been tripping lately. They are a band formed in the 1970s. Haven't listened to all their albums. I've just checked out Mirage, Moon Madness and listening to "Camel" as I'm writing this.
Progressive rock is what they play with some jazz influence.
They give a lot of stress on bass, keyboards and drums. Vocals and the guitars complement these instruments very well.
Those who love Floyd will surely enjoy listening to them. One reason why I believe these guys didn't become as popular as, Floyd, Doors or The Who is probably because they didn't have someone like a Barrett, Morrison or Moon.

Porcupine Tree : Lightbulb Sun

This is one of my favorite albums by the band. The perfect album to start with, in case you want to check out the band. Starting with the title track, the album's pace is set by the track, Four Chords that Saved a Million which talks about how one trick ponies end up making millions.
People who love the sound of the bass guitar will not be disappointed. The bass lines for Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It is Recycled and Hate Song are some of the best out there.
Then, there is the Epicness that is Russia on Ice. Starts slowly, gathering pace all along.
A must listen for all music fans, irrespective of their favorite genre.

Track Listing

1. "Lightbulb Sun" – 5:33
2. "How Is Your Life Today?" – 2:48
3. "Four Chords That Made a Million" – 3:38
4. "Shesmovedon" – 5:15
5. "Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled" – 4:50
6. "The Rest Will Flow" – 3:36
7. "Hatesong" (Edwin, Wilson) – 8:28
8. "Where We Would Be" – 4:14
9. "Russia On Ice" (Barbieri, Edwin, Maitland, Wilson) – 13:05
10. "Feel So Low" – 5:16