\m/(~_~)\m/ Bring the Metal! \m/(~_~)\m/

I'm feeling the music on that Meet the Mailman album so far, but I do not know if I can hang with this guy's vocals. We shall see!

Well the new Tool album is out and it rips. If you're a fan to any degree, today was Christmas. I'm shocked by how good it is and I was protecting myself from a major letdown.

Good to hear! I'll give it a listen later.

I think it's okay, but could use some serious editing. Adam Jones grew considerably. Still disappointed in Justin's bass lines as it all feels so typical. Danny no longer seems to be filling every second with 35 different drum hits, which is a nice change. A little more restraint shows maturity.

I do wish there was more Maynard as I especially like what he's doing. Lots of prog influence, or something.

All in all some really good moments, some other drawn out ones and some eerily similar to earlier Tool moments or sounds.

Haven't been here in ages! Some recent recommendations:

Skeletonwitch is still the very best after the new vocalist. I need to see these guys live.

My latest obsession is Blood Command. Cult Drugs is an album with drop dead perfect songs one after the other, but the single is really something else:

Today I was in a screaming workshop. What a rush! Can't recommend enough, if there's a metal vocal coach in your area. This is her band:

Yes to Skeletonwitch. Always been one of my favorites. I miss Chance's vocals, but apparently he's a human dumpster fire, to the point where his own brother booted his ass out of the band. So be it.

They were incredibly smart to change up their style with the new singer. It works better with his vocals. I'd also say that this is actually their best album yet. Every single track is a banger.

Count me in on the Skeletonwitch! That last album was fantastic.

Tool, at one time, was my favorite band. However, I've listened through the new album a couple times now, and I just can't shake the feeling I had from the single they released a couple weeks ago. It just seems boring to me. There are some great parts to it, and they build the songs up into a crescendo really like nobody else does. The drumming as always from Danny Carey is utterly amazing. 7empest stands out to me as pretty good.

Still, I find myself having a hard time getting into it. I'm listening at work with headphones, and it seems like the songs just go by without much happening or standing out. It's just not that interesting to me. Maybe I need to listen in my car or something, where I can be surrounded by it and concentrate on it better. It feels weird, like maybe it's some problem with me personally and not the music? Maybe my musical tastes have just moved on in the last decade?

Maybe I just need to give myself time to get used to it? I don't know. When I heard AEnema for the first time, I was blown away and became an instant fan. 10,000 Days had me drawn in immediately, like Vicarious is one of my favorite Tool songs. On Fear Inoculum though, none of the songs really stand out for me. I'm almost more disappointed in myself than the album for some reason.

r013nt0 wrote:

Yes to Skeletonwitch. Always been one of my favorites. I miss Chance's vocals, but apparently he's a human dumpster fire, to the point where his own brother booted his ass out of the band. So be it.

They were incredibly smart to change up their style with the new singer. It works better with his vocals. I'd also say that this is actually their best album yet. Every single track is a banger.

I am 100% in agreement with everything here.

When they released that one single with the new vocalist, I wasn't at all sure if it would work out, they seemed a little lost there. But they really pulled it together for the album. What I like the best is how the songs are so much bigger than their runtimes. There's a feeling of - I'm sorry, I can't think of a better word this - epicness that just destroys me.

I have more thoughts on the Tool album once I catch up on some sleep, but my initial thoughts are: so much of the album plays out at the same tepid tempo that you could slice segments from most of the songs together into one new song, and anyone that wasn't already familiar with the songs probably wouldn't notice.

ccesarano wrote:

I've finally listened to Ride the Lightning for the first time in years.

I stick by my statement that it's a better album than Master of Puppets.

Ride the Lightning is by some distance my favorite Metallica album. I almost like Death Magnetic and the new album is alright (I have to say my opinion on this is affected by just how good they've been live recently), but Lightning is where it's at. Master of Puppets feels like they're trying too much.

For Whom The Bell Tolls is pretty much the perfect metal track, exactly as it was recorded.

cartoonin wrote:

Can anyone recommend some Industrial Metal in the vein of Static-X or a band that has a comparable sound aesthetic?

Not sure this is what you want as I'm not really familiar with Static-X, but tonight I've been listening to Fear of Domination and it's industrial metal alright.

Speaking of excellent Ride The Lightning tracks, Texas has a death metal band called Creeping Death, and they're about to drop their first full length. I was enjoying their most recent EP earlier this summer.

Finally giving the new Tool a listen, and I'm only just now coming to the conclusion of the 2nd track, Pneuma.

For better or worse (I haven't decided yet) this feels like a time capsule.

Like they finished recording 10,000 days, left all their effects pedals and and board exactly settings where they were, then threw tarps over everything and deadbolted the door.

~~Fast forward whatever number of years~~

They walk in, pull the tarps off of everything, blow some dust off, and just start recording.

So many fresh new bands (Tomb Mold - I gave them a cursory listen earlier, gonna dig in now - Meet the Mailman, Creeping Death) just from reading the past couple of pages! Keep spreading the good word, friends.

Oh no! I noticed you're from Finland and now I'm going to read all of your posts in Kimi Raikkonen's voice.

You're now my favorite poster.

r013nt0 wrote:

Oh no! I noticed you're from Finland and now I'm going to read all of your posts in Kimi Raikkonen's voice.

I'm not sure I can convey that level of... not caring.

Hey, Tomb Mold is apparently descended from Finn-death, so I've been investigating the genre. I already liked Demilich, one of the progenitors of "weird" OSDM and inspirations for Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation.

Speaking of metal, I'm going to a black metal LARP. Yes, really. The genre is near and dear to me (esp Wolves in the Throne Room - I'm so happy they're back - Weakling, Deafheaven, old school Emperor - anything lo-fi in general) and I got such a kick out of this video. Sorry if it's been posted!

Everything he says is... true... and the song he whips up in the end is actually pretty good!

garion333 wrote:

:D

Yeah...I don't get tool either

Meet the Mailman explored! The older album is on fire. What a fun mix of horror metal and skate punk.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0YtIY...

I don't care that much for the newer one though. Next up: Tomb Mold.

It really confuses me how all my social media and music feeds are all Tool everywhere... I never got the appeal.

WizardM0de wrote:

Well the new Tool album is out and it rips. If you're a fan to any degree, today was Christmas. I'm shocked by how good it is and I was protecting myself from a major letdown.

I have problems shelling out $45 for the album and its special packaging, I may have to just get it digitally.

Yeah, I skipped the pre-order even though I generally love the band. The new car I bought doesn't have a CD player so what's the point in getting the physical? I'll get a regular disc once they're available, assuming it ever happens.

jlaakso wrote:

It really confuses me how all my social media and music feeds are all Tool everywhere... I never got the appeal.

Pretty simple really, their sounds appeal to fans of rock, metal and prog. Just enough of each in their music to bring in huge swathes of fans. The rock side gets em on radio, the metal side brings the grit and the prog side is the long tail.

There's also the saying that a band is only as good as the drummer and Tool has an amazing drummer.

That's the base level. It all stems from that.

I like the new Tool album. Doesn't break any new ground and I don't consider it their best one, but it's solid.

Do you fine metal heads have any recommendations similar to Between the Buried and Me? Looking for something a little mathy or progy lately

I'm not a great person to answer that one as I don't particularly like BTBAM. Is the way they switch genres from moment-to-moment key for you or are you more into their technical proficiency? If the former, well, I don't have much to say because I tend to find that gimmicky.

But, mathy prog I listen to some.

The Contortionist is likely the most in the wheelhouse recommendation as the band has said they're influenced by BTBAM.

If you want something a tad heavier:

Both of those are rather well known bands, so probably not what you may be looking for. Personally, I prefer the heavier edge that Tesseract brings.

jlaakso wrote:

Meet the Mailman explored! The older album is on fire. What a fun mix of horror metal and skate punk.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0YtIY...

I don't care that much for the newer one though. Next up: Tomb Mold.

Please report back.

I have MtM bookmarked but haven't listened to it yet. I love the art, and I'm shocked to hear they have a skate punk aspect, which is probably the music most important to my life.

garion333 wrote:

I'm not a great person to answer that one as I don't particularly like BTBAM. Is the way they switch genres from moment-to-moment key for you or are you more into their technical proficiency? If the former, well, I don't have much to say because I tend to find that gimmicky.
.

Proficiency would be ideal. The odd space opera thing BTBAM did last effort...though good...it's not my favorite. I still play a few tracks off Alaska from time to time.

Will check both Tesseract and Contortionist