fireworks & palm trees

I'm Julie, I talk about music.

[forathousanddays]

GET TO KNOW ME

Julie (Jules works too,) she/her, I review albums I like. My top three are: Pierce the Veil - Misadventures Deftones - Koi No Yokan Bring Me The Horizon - That’s The Spirit I try not to restrict myself to any one genre, but I’m very very partial to some good yelling. Largely a metalhead, but don’t let that scare you off of asking me about other stuff!

[spillgays-deactivated20250901]

Vessel smiles 🫶🏻

[forathousanddays]

Omnium Gatherum - The Redshift (REQUEST)

When it comes to requested albums, I'll generally stick to an overall ranking and a commentary track, but The Redshift fits the bill for what I like to review and what I like to talk about just nicely enough that I'm tempted to run a track-by-track, but there's not quite enough for me to discuss song-to-song. There's plenty good for me to talk about on the album as a whole, however, as well as a good few things to critique as well. As it is with any northeastern european metal band, Omnium Gatherum has a mastery of a select few traits that set them apart from their contemporaries in the genre.

Scandinavia is more or less famous for its trailblazing extreme subgenres, as the de facto birthplace of black metal and death metal. Omnium Gatherum bring a fairly refreshing approach to a relatively repetitive genre, with an interesting method of weighting the melody and the aggression of melodic death metal, one of my favourite sub-subgenres. That being said, the execution thereof leaves a little to be desired. They blend them very effectively when they do bother to blend them, but oftentimes it's moreso just melody and death existing in the same space.

Proper analysis and discussion below the cut. No track-by-track on this one.

To elaborate on that, tracks like No Breaking Point are a strong study in allowing the brutality of death metal and the more harmonic and legible flair of melodeath to work together and build off one another in the instrumentation and vocals. In contrast, The Return has a strong sense of melody in the instrumentation, but the vocals function largely separate from it. When vocalist Jukka Pelkonen works with the backing instruments, you have an incredible demonstration of the heights melodic death metal can reach, but more often than not it just feels disjointed.

Most of the individual tracks feel like two separate songs running at the same time, but both of those songs are something special every time. The instruments are consistently technical and easy on the ears, and the vocals are brutal but gentle and legible. If you can set aside your expectations for a cohesive melodic death metal experience, 2008's The Redshift might be just what you need.

RETROSPECTIVE & HIGHLIGHTS, FINAL RANKING

The individual moving parts are all stellar. Omnium Gatherum may have mastered the art of a lead-in, setting the tone for all of their songs quickly and efficiently. The intros never drag on for too long, but they never feel too short either. This is at it's strongest in the opening track, Nail, with a masterful lead-in to The Redshift as a whole. Keep your ears open for the opening measures of each song!

My personal favourite was No Breaking Point, as the strongest evidence for what Omnium Gatherum can do in cohesion. The album itself might feel a little dissonant at times, but in tracks like Shapes and Shades, you can hear a more brutal inversion of the melody-first-death-second approach in No Breaking Point. The guitar soloes are incredible too, with a soaring and ambling tone I'm a little biased towards. (If you want me to highly rate an album you like, send me something with a high note in the guitar solo. It'll work every time.)

Overall, as a melodic experience, The Redshift leaves a little to be desired. That being said, setting aside expectations, it's a perfectly fine death metal album. I can safely leave it with an 8/10, although there's a case to be made for a 7/10 if I was in a worse mood.

The tipping point moving it from 7 to 8 was unironically having a song called The Redshifter. I don't think it's supposed to make me giggle, but it sure did. Album highlight is definitely when The Redshifter came on for a feature and Redshifted all over the place.

[forathousanddays]

Upcoming Review Schedule

I have a little trouble kicking myself into gear for actually writing my reviews, but it's something I like doing and something I want to maintain, so I'll be dropping my upcoming reviews for the week (hopefully?) in an attempt to make myself do them by setting expectations. Review 1 - Wed/Thurs?

Omnium Gatherum - The Redshift (REQUEST) Review 2 - Fri/Sat Ashmaze - NIRVANA. (REQUEST) Review 3 - Sat/sun Deftones - White Pony

[forathousanddays]

Closure in Moscow - Soft Hell (REVIEW)

My last time touching on Closure wasn't terribly successful in either reach or reception, but I'm doing this one again for me, and because I said I would back in my First Temple review. I always give a brief rundown on the artist in my preamble, but I've already gone into detail on these guys once before on this blog.

Soft Hell does carry a different angle to it, though. It's a lot closer to their sophomore album Pink Lemonade than it is to something like First Temple or Penance and The Patience, but it's a wholly unique experience. Not only is it unique when viewed through the lens of Closure in Moscow's discography, but also in prog as a whole. I've never quite heard anything like it, and we'll see exactly what that means below the cut.

TRACK 1 - Jaeger Bomb

The lead-in is quiet and reserved, with guitar reminiscent of some of the slower parts in Pink Lemonade. As soon as the preamble concludes, though, we have a weight that we really haven't heard from their discography yet. Jaeger Bomb exists in a state of very curious balance; the verses are very light and high, while the pre-chorus and chorus are a broad, heavy sound. Featuring guitarist Mansur Zennelli and feature artist Aphir as background vocals provides something very new to the band, which was previously exclusively sung by Christopher de Cinque. "I don't actually wanna hurt anyone, I'm just gonna be the monster that I need for me." is a great line. Solid opener, very good at establishing that this is a new sound. 7/10 TRACK 2 - Primal Sinister

I hope you didn't get too comfortable when I said Jaeger Bomb introduced us to something new; no two songs on the album sound similar. The wide range of vocals is a really fun effect, and definitely evokes some of the same feelings as Pink Lemonade. The rolling bass in the back-and-forth sections of the chorus is a blast every time I hear it, and the strange plink-plonk guitar in the bridge keeps me on my toes. Primal Sinister is weird, even by Closure in Moscow standards.

The refrain is a blast too, especially at the outro. The song is just really, really fun. 8/10

TRACK 3 - Absolute Terror Field Ah. Hm. I have some reservations about the vtuber-esque discord kitten rap sections, purely for the inclusion of the phrase discord kitten as a whole. I'm a little worried to see how it'll date the album in the future, but man if the sections aren't groovy. The quite frankly gnarly beat is a highlight, with a nasty low bass that perfectly highlights de Cinque's higher vocals. The inclusion of the phrase "wet for Jesus" in the rap sections is also a nice wink to anybody who likes to look in on de Cinque's twitch streams. Looking forward to the interview where he explains why the title is an Evangelion reference. 9/10

TRACK 4 - Better Way

Better Way had me very excited for Soft Hell's release. As a preview single, it was very effective in teasing me and keeping me on the edge of my seat. Better Way is something entirely new to the discography, but simultaneously a crystallization of everything we know from them. The bridges are essential First Temple/Penance and The Patience lyricism, the high shred guitar is reminiscent of Pink Lemonade/Impeccable Beast, and yet none of it feels derivative. The guitar solo in between the two sections of the bridge is probably my favourite stretch on the record. I'll need to find footage of them playing it live, but I wanna say the beeping sound is tap guitar? I wouldn't have picked anything else for our first preview. 10/10

TRACK 5 - Holy Rush

Holy Rush is immediately groovy. I don't want to keep tying Soft Hell back to Pink Lemonade, as it stands on its own as a work of art perfectly, but the lyrics in Holy Rush are quite literally the plot of Pink Lemonade. "Chasing heaven when you're feeling numb, never enough ... With one more taste of paradise, the noise in my head drowns out." The bridge is stellar, and I really appreciate the decision to switch up the vocalists. The lyrics in the outro being an inverse of the intro is really cool, with the cold vs the sun. 8/10

TRACK 6 - Keeper of The Lake

Pay attention to the bass when you listen to this one, it does some really interesting things. I'd like this track a lot more if I could properly get behind the momentum, but it seems to stop and start pretty often in ways that feel a little disruptive. All of the instrumentation is stellar, with almost bluesy somber chords in the background of the chorus. de Cinque shows off his pipes yet again, with a really powerful belt in a couple different spots.I wish I had more to say about this one; it's completely alright. The last minute or two is definitely a highlight.

The instruments and vocals are really technical and super strong, but the way they're put together is a little underwhelming? 7/10

TRACK 7 - Lock & Key

Once again, a largely just alright song has a lot of really strong ingredients that are put together competently. I'm lucky I'm just a hobbyist, because I don't think "it just doesn't do it for me" would hold up in a proper review article. Everything here is technically really solid, the guitar work is the proggiest it's ever been and the vocals are very measured; de Cinque clearly knows what he's doing here, and you can get the sense that he's practiced and refined his technique. The mix is great, too, but something about it just feels forgettable.

I could see guitar with a similar structure making its way into a Polyphia track, which is a compliment. 6/10

TRACK 8 - Don Juan Triumphant

Don Juan Triumphant is the name of an opera written by The Phantom of The Opera within the story. There may be some references tucked into the lyrics I can't quite catch, but the title seems largely disconnected here. The title reference might have you expecting something elaborate and touching, with some more classical influences, but Don Juan Triumphant is very firmly a groovy prog experience. With one of the strongest chorus sections on the album, it's chronically catchy and unapologetically strange in its composition.

Once again, Closure in Moscow go above and beyond in the last two minutes of the song. 9/10

TRACK 9 - Soft Hell

Woah! Title track! This is my personal favourite place for title tracks to show up, in the last "act" but not as the last song. The record really mellows out near the end, and Soft Hell is where that really sets in. The mix and samples invoke the feelings of that era of mid-2010s pop with Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars doing their best to genetically engineer the sexiest pop song possible like they were breeding the nose off of a pug. Under that veneer, though, Soft Hell is permeated by anguish. The distant vocals in between the verses feel like they're trying to cut through to you, or to the true feelings of the song, and it's a pretty haunting effect. Altogether, Soft Hell is a really emotional experience, and the softer instruments fit right in here. 7/10

TRACK 10 - Fine

The little lead-in is really fun, with the entire track springboarding off of its delivery. The "I'm alright" refrain is a really nice touch, complimenting the more jazzy delivery on the verses and the nice rolling percussion crashes in the background. Really do keep an ear out for the percussion, all of the hits are consistently super tight and controlled. I appreciate the simplicity in the guitar work here, as the focus should be going mostly on the big-picture mix and the vocals.

Solid performance from everybody involved, great technical work. 6/10 sound.

TRACK 11 - Lovelash

I've seen more praise for Lovelash than any other song, so far. Every time it shuffles on, the synth hit at the start sets off my "oh god is this death grips" alarm, but the percussion is unmistakable. In a traditionally very mechanical prog band, the strong presence of the synth here is a nice effect; Lovelash is a very dreamy experience, complimented by the layering on the vocals in the chorus. Once again, Christopher de Cinque flexes his mastery of the art of writing a bridge, and augments the whole experience with just a couple added lines. Seriously, has this guy fumbled a bridge at any point? They're always the best part. 7/10 TRACK 12 - My Dearest Kate

If you couldn't figure out how pointed Soft Hell was yet, this should help speed that along. The lyrics have all been about parting, from start to finish, and My Dearest Kate is a raw and intimate confrontation of that. There's no groove, no synth, nothing I can call the ever-elusive definition of "proggy." It's just you, the heavily distorted guitar filter, and de Cinque's raw vocals. There's no better adjective for this song; it's a vulnerable confrontation of vulnerable ideas, and I really respect the choice to constantly praise the subject. There's no spite and no bitterness; this is a genuine letter wishing her the best. The easy choice would've been to make this acoustic, but the distortion is a perfect touch. 9/10

RETROSPECTIVE

Soft Hell is a lot of things. AT Field, Better Way, and Dearest Kate are all dramatically different experiences, but you know what? I think it's better for it. There's a reason those are all very highly rated; I don't think I could listen to a full album of Absolute Terror Field-esques, or a full album of My Dearest Kates. (I'd be very open to a full album of Better Way-likes, though.) All of Soft Hell's ingredients are carefully measured and portioned so as not to be overpowering, and as such it comes out as a strangely cohesive experience for being composed of so many moving parts. From Neon Genesis Evangelion to Phantom of The Opera, Soft Hell is a microcosm of culture and extremes.

On my first listen, I was admittedly disappointed; the discord kitten inclusion in Absolute Terror Field set me on edge, and the general lightness of the record had me a little underwhelmed after Better Way set an expectation. Now that it's been out for a while, though, I can confidently say I jumped the gun there. Even my least favourite songs have a reason to be there, and the whole piece would feel underdeveloped without them.

I fully had to Gendo Ikari pose at my screen to decide between the rankings, but I ultimately settled on a 7/10. The highlights are very very high, but the whole unit isn't really shattering any ceilings. If you asked me on a different day, it might be an 8/10. It's very, very close.

[forathousanddays]

ack ive been way too occupied lately

ill get back to reviews soon, i promise

[forathousanddays]

Closure in Moscow - First temple (REVIEW)

First Temple is the 2009 debut album of Aussie five-piece prog rock powerhouse Closure in Moscow, and a stunning introduction to their avant-garde sound, remaining untouched to this day. Produced by the titanic label Equal Vision Records (formerly Polyphia, Pierce The Veil, etc.) there was an expectation to uphold the standard set by their previous EP (self-proclaimed albumette,) The Penance and The Patience.

Closure in Moscow went to great lengths to pump out an equally impressive album, with a wide range of tracks and atmospheres. Their follow-up album Pink Lemonade is a far cry from the grounded surrealism of First Temple, but you can feel the trails their freshman release patted down first. They've got another one coming out October 25th, so keep your eyes peeled for that review when it comes out.

Track-by-track below the cut.

TRACK 1 - KIssing Cousins

No, I didn't mess up with the shift key, that's how it's stylized. The mix on this track feels a little too subdued, with the vocals and the instruments occupying the exact same space. It creates a crowded effect for the listening experience, in a way that detracts a little too much from the stellar performances on both ends. The background vocals come through way in the back, but that does come with a more surreal feel to it.

I'd like this a lot more if it was mixed better. 6/10

TRACK 2 - Reindeer Age

The tone is immediately different. The guitar has a curious synthetic twanging to it in the verses that still persists in the back of the mix during the chorus, making way for an incredibly fast-paced guitar. To this day, Reindeer Age remains the fastest track in their discography. Verse and chorus switch back and forth almost too fast to keep track of in a frantic crystallization of the experimental and esoteric sound of First Temple.

8/10, pay attention to the drums when you listen. They're definitely a highlight.

TRACK 3 - Sweet#hart

I really couldn't tell you why this is stylized the way it is. The lyrics are a vivid portrait of a very specific state of mind that's a little too complicated to convey in semi-formal prose. The chorus is incredibly strong, maybe the strongest on the album (or in their discography?) without detracting from the poignant verses. (I feel like I need to use that word more here.) The contrast between the instrumentation between the verses and the chorus is really something special.

Just as fun from start to finish. 10/10

TRACK 4 - Vanguard

This is First Temple's most traditional presentation of rock in its instruments and vocals, but most outlandish lyrics. Frontman Chris de Cinque has described Vanguard as "entirely too obtuse [...] an exercise in thesaurus masturbation," and I'm not inclined to disagree. I know with full confidence, however, that nobody is here for the lyrics. Vanguard has soaring guitar riffs from start to finish, and a palpable energy that permeates every line delivery.

Really, really cool. 9/10

TRACK 5 - A Night At The Spleen

Vanguard might have been a ten if it wasn't in between Sweet#hart and this. I can't in good faith count them as cut from the same cloth. A Night At The Spleen is a honeyed experience, wrought with thrumming riffs, cheeky soloes, and the timeless classic "boomer bend." There's an infectious energy running through it, even infused in the quiet tension of the bridge. Not even the silence is free of it; every rest feels like an intentional build to what comes next.

Perfect energy, a masterclass in momentum. 10/10

TRACK 6 - I'm A Ghost of Twilight

Again, the questionable mix rears it's head. The instruments and the vocals occupy the same space, and it takes away from both. That being said, this is a better execution than in Track 1, as it gives a little more room for de Cinque's more powerful vocals to make their own space. This has possibly the most decipherable lyrics o

n the album, and I'm thankful for it. I'm A Ghost of Twilight builds a powerful atmosphere in both it's sound and lyrics, with both augmenting each other.

It would've been easy to give these lyrics a slower, sadder song, but this was the better choice for sure. 8/10.

TRACK 7 - Permafrost

It wouldn't be a prog rock album without a couple very experimental tracks. Permafrost lives up to its name, with a cold and impenetrable haze over the mix. The lyrics are pretty grim, and de Cinque has gone on record calling it a separation for the two more distinct "acts" of the record. Allegedly super drunk recording the vocals, which I could probably guess.

5/10.

TRACK 8 - Deluge

Very refreshing, coming out of Permafrost. The mix is clear and properly arranged, with the vocals in front of the instruments and very clean layering. The pre-chorus belt is a great touch, especially next to the more delicate delivery on the chorus itself. Deluge is a lot of moving parts, and it would be lesser without any single one of them. The chorus lyrics are really profound (dare I say poignant?) and contrast with the more whimsical delivery. Closure's always been good at mixing whimsy with melancholy.

8/10.

TRACK 9 - Afterbirth

I really couldn't tell you what's going on with the instruments here. Logically, I know what I'm listening to is a guitar, but something about the tuning and key of it make it feel alien. de Cinque cites game show music as his inspiration for it sonically, and I can definitely see it. This is maybe the least decipherable the album has been so far, but "the hour of my echo is at hand" is a badass line. There's so much going on here, and I appreciate the cacophony.

The guitar in the back of the bridge is way too cool to be that quiet. 7/10.

TRACK 10 - Arecibo Message

Oh, good, the lyrics got even less decipherable! The sound is full and developed, with a completeness to it that says I don't really mind not being able to understand the lyrics. This is probably the most "First Temple" song on here, with a huge range of sounds and feelings behind it. As the last real rock song on the album, it's a fitting dismissal of the second "act" and a comfortable transition into the "epilogue." The chorus is a blast.

The key change into the last chorus really makes it. 8/10

TRACK 11 - Couldn't Let You Love Me

The acoustic shift here doesn't make this song any less full. Every inch of the mix feels occupied by something that needs to be there, and the steady guitar is very welcome. I'm impressed by the ability to set a bassline off an almost pizzicato-esque acoustic guitar.

6/10, still a fan though. Anything above a 5 isn't a bad song!

TRACK 12 - Had To Put It In The Soil

Had To Put It In The Soil is the most intimate and bare song on the album, lyrically. First Temple has been full of fits of real emotion obscured by cryptic and overcomplex lyrics, and our final track is the conscious effort to face that habit and push through it. It's really beautiful, surprisingly serious, exceedingly mature and most of all just poignant.

9/10, doesn't sound too stellar but it's really pretty.

RETROSPECTIVE

First Temple is an avant-garde exploration of a lot of complicated feelings and dynamics, in a generally energetic and digestible package. It's one of the prime examples I use for prog as a genre, with an incredibly forward-thinking style and range of sounds. Every track on the record feels like it fits the name of the genre perfectly, as a progression and test to the limits of what we understand as rock. The separation between the two distinct "acts" is a really nice touch, too.

9/10, even if it's largely indecipherable.

[forathousanddays]

Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of A Seventh Son (REQUEST)

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (hereafter shortened to just Seventh Son because wow is that long) is Iron Maiden's seventh studio album, inspired by the novel Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card, which was in turn inspired by the folklore concept of the Seventh Son, who, in an unbroken line of sons, is destined to inherit mystical abilities. The abilities vary on different tellings, such as clairvoyance, supernatural healing, or even ailments like lycanthropy or vampirism. Seventh Son is Iron Maiden's most successful steps into power metal, a soaring and esoteric concept album following the titular seventh son of a seventh son. There's a wide variety of sounds and atmospheres in the tracklist, which really helps the feel of an epic quest, or a life of significance. This one comes with a special kind of difficulty in reviewing, because I need to pay close attention to the lyrics to follow the story. We'll get into that more below the cut.

TRACK 1 - MOONCHILD

We don't really get any time to acclimate before Seventh Son dives straight into its themes and overall vibe. The lyrics are roundabout with a general aesthetic of "lots of occult words," and allegedly come directly from Satan himself. He accosts the mother of the Seventh Son, promising her he'll make her child serve him. The synth line after an acoustic opening very quickly sets our tone as a power metal epic, and everything to come in after that just keeps elevating the sound. There's a minute and a half of mostly just sound before the main melody and lyrics come in, and it adds a special something to the scale of the story.

Excellent introduction to the world and sounds, just alright as a song. The synth opening is the best part, but the solo's good too. 7/10.

TRACK 2 - INFINITE DREAMS

This is our first song from the Seventh Son (the first one) himself, recounting the torment he feels from his clairvoyant dreams. As is customary with power metal concept albums, no two songs blend together; the tone and scene of Infinite Dreams is a much more intimate and proggy experience next to Moonchild. This song very nearly lost a ton of points purely by virtue of putting "unbeliever" and "neither" in consecutive lines, but not pronouncing them with the same inflection on the ie-ei syllables. That one hurt my feelings.

Every part of this one is a treat, even with that glaring issue. 9/10. The guitar never stops moving, and never rests on the same feeling for any prolonged time.

TRACK 3 - CAN I PLAY WITH MADNESS

This one feels most like your standard late 80s heavy metal, with a lot of major chords and hopeful tones. The Seventh Son (still the first one) visits a prophet to inquire about the impending birth of his seventh son, but he's not really saying anything decipherable. My personal theory is that what he sees in his crystal ball is incomprehensible, and impossible to communicate beyond "yeah, dude, you're going to hell."

I'll always have a soft spot for that nostalgic late 80s heavy metal sound I grew up on, 8/10.

TRACK 4 - THE EVIL THAT MEN DO

Like I said before, no power metal epic has two songs that start the same. The Evil That Men Do has a slow, ambling intro, with some of the most evocative playing on the record. The song is about God and the Devil both wanting to claim the child as their servant on earth for his powers, hence the lines about balancing on a razor's edge. This has some of the best lyricism on the album, and is arguably the most immediately "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" track, if that makes sense.

Bonus points for the Shakespeare quotes. 8/10

TRACK 5 - SEVENTH SON OF A SEVENTH SON

Lo, the miraculous cataclysm of his birth is upon us! Title track! As a power metal record, there's an obligation for at least one nine minute song with very few lyrics of substance. This isn't a complaint, it's a staple of the genre and I'm glad it's a thing. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son marks a turning point, both in the story and in the structure of the record itself - we've just passed the halfway point out of our eight songs. The chugging guitar and powerful vocals do well to communicate the air of significance this song holds in the story.

This is probably higher than it should be. Favourite solo on the album at the end of the third minute, saving it from receiving a 5 or lower. 7/10

TRACK 6 - THE PROPHECY

The title here bothers me, because the first, like, three songs were also a prophecy. That being said, this one's different! The Seventh Son (of the Seventh Son) manifests his supernatural abilities, and foresees a disaster coming for the village. The intro solo is awesome, and another one comes in after the first chorus. By the start of the second verse, it's clear this solo was representing/happening in conjunction with the disaster he prophesized. The second verse is his true realization that his abilities are a curse, not a blessing.

Thematically great, but the sound isn't anything to write home about outside of the intro. 4/10

TRACK 7 - THE CLAIRVOYANT

The Seventh Son can now control his visions, and is a fully-fledged seer. It seems that Iron Maiden have foregone the traditional legends about the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son as a healer in favour of clairvoyance, which is much less prominent but still has its foundations in folk concepts. This song has an ironic tinge to it, with the general concept being that for all his power and insight, the Seventh Son can't foresee his own death. This foreshadowing doesn't really set anything up, though.

The sound is occasionally great, but it's aimless. The tone and style change frequently, and without warning. This should have been multiple songs. 3/10

TRACK 8 - ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG

The Son realizes that his service will stay thankless, and for every prediction he makes, he'll receive only more blame from the village. He's foreseen more calamities, and he knows he can stop them, but to do so would mean a great sacrifice. The title here alludes to his decision in this song; he'll die young, but only if he stays good. He leaves the village behind to live a life of indulgence and comfort, presumably never using his abilities again. The good in him died young, and his sinful and selfish side carries on living. The song closes off with the same mantra the album opens with.

I suppose that's our answer to the argument at the start of the album, about whether he'll be claimed by God or by The Devil. 6/10

RETROSPECTIVE

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son has a lot of great ideas, but the execution is a little rough around the edges. The story is prioritized over the sound, and the album as a whole suffers for it. Investment in the story is a lot harder when songs like The Clairvoyant are a slog to listen through. The highs are very high, but the lows are genuinely difficult to sit through on their own. I can and will listen to a lot of this album again, but the songs that don't hit really don't hit.

If you're interested in the story, I'd just recommend reading the lyrics over listening to the album the whole way through. It's more good than bad, but the bad is really hard to look past, unfortunately. I'm still comfortable giving it a 7/10 for the opening half, but I can't see it going any higher than that. This hurts me more than it hurts you, Seventh Son. I really want to love this record!

[forathousanddays]

Foo Fighters - But Here We Are (REVIEW)

But Here We Are is the most recent album from the modern classic that is the Foo Fighters. Just under 30 years after their debut, newer albums are still maintaining the power and sound that put them on the map in the first place. But Here We Are is a tribute to Taylor Hawkins, late drummer and friend to the Foo Fighters, and the album isn't shy about this. Grief is a frequent theme presented all over the album, often through a lens similar to a break-up. An overall strong album with some noticeably weaker songs, But Here We Are still sounds like Foo Fighters. As important as experimentation is for music, it's always refreshing to hear a band stay the same band you fell in love with. The album is excellent at balancing upbeat instrumentation and vocals with lyrics that can be taken for standard rock fare or for a deep study in grief. Good album cover, too!

TRACK 1 - RESCUED

Rescued is a very clean presentation of the themes and soul of the album. The lyrics are very clearly about loss if you know they're supposed to be, but the tone and presentation is still standard for american rock. Without context, you could read it comfortably as normal esoteric rock lyrics, but there's no misconstruing it with the knowledge beforehand. The bass is a highlight, especially in the softer sections where it's isolated against Dave Grohl's vocals.

Not my favourite overall, but the perfect choice for the opening track. 8/10

TRACK 2 - UNDER YOU

Hey, remember when I said Rescued wasn't my favourite track on the album? That's this. Another track later on comes close, though! Under You is a fundamental crystallization of grief, with the title line being totally devastating if it resonates with you at all. The sound is warm and enveloping, but the grief never leaves the lyrics for a single line. The sound is your ideal highschool summer rock ballad, but it reads as such an intimate exploration of loss.

I don't know if it should gain or lose points for being too much of a jam to make me as sad as it should. 10/10.

TRACK 3 - HEARING VOICES

This is the first But Here We Are steps away from the classic rock sound the Foo Fighters are known for, but not far enough to be classed completely differently. The bass is very involved in this one, with its own riff as opposed to just a thrumming line beneath the other instruments. This is a key ingredient to why this song sounds as different as it does; the fundamental composition is entirely different from the previous songs, with different instruments occupying different spaces.

One of the weaker songs, but the chorus is a highlight. Grohl's raspy vocals and a higher tonal plateau for the instruments win it a 6/10.

TRACK 4 - BUT HERE WE ARE

Title track! The record has officially abandoned a solid sense of cohesion from song-to-song, with wildly different experiences that make you question if you're listening to it shuffled or not. This is one of the spots on the album that most clearly reflect Grohl's history with Nirvana in its fuzzied guitars and muddy lyrics. If Rescued presents the initial shock of a loss and Under You reflects living with it after it's all over, But Here We Are is the space between denial and acceptance. I wouldn't have picked anything else for the title track; it perfectly encapsulates the balance of loss in the context of a lover vs loss in the context of a death, while still sounding like it can have fun.

I'm glad they could fit a guitar solo in a song like this. 7/10

TRACK 5 - THE GLASS

To be perfectly candid, I don't like this song. Grohl's strained highlights are a highlight, and the lyrics are touching, but the sound is just not for me. I'm glad it's on the album, though, as it fills a space that would feel lacking without it. This is one of the most open-hearted songs on the album, with a very obvious confrontation of grief. The entire second minute is a highlight, and probably sounds great live.

Really can't keep these guys away from a 2:40 guitar solo, huh? 5/10

TRACK 6 - NOTHING AT ALL

This is the other contender for my favourite song on the album, and another showcase of Dave Grohl's past in Nirvana. The lyrics are surreal and repetitive at times, and the risers and lead-ins around the pre-chorus are the best on the album. I'm glad they kept this sound to only be used once on the album, to preserve the alien feeling surrounding it. The chorus and pre-chorus are incredibly reflective of Nirvana, and, unsurprisingly, a highlight of the album.

The bridge is stellar. Nothing more to say about it. 10/10

TRACK 7 - SHOW ME HOW

I was not expecting a duet! The first song on the album to deal with loss but not with grief, Show Me How is a touching ode to reassure Grohl's late mother Virginia. The guest vocalist on here is his daughter Violet, which makes the familial connection all the more tear-jerking. As a hardcore shoegaze fan, I might be a little biased, but I love the idle droning and dreamy vocals. The soundscape in here is hazy and warm, the reassuring vocals carrying over to the listener as well as, hopefully, the people the song was written for.

This one almost made me cry. 9/10.

TRACK 8 - BEYOND ME

In case you thought we were done with abrupt changes in our sound, here's a piano. There's not much left to touch on that I haven't said about the others, but I'll speak on the highlights. The guitar is beautiful, with a masterful balance of power and vulnerability in the somber chords and the hopeful lead-in to the title lyric every time it's used. The instruments here all serve to prop up the vocals instead of enveloping them, which I imagine is refreshing for the hypothetical listener who's not a huge fan of the muddied quality of shoegaze.

The solo (yes, at the end of the second minute,) might be my single favourite on the album. 8/10

TRACK 9 - THE TEACHER

This is the most traditional somber rock ballad on the album, but with a lot of heel-turns on the soundscape. The intro guitar feels ambling and unsure of itself, with Grohl's quiet and bassy vocals serving to present a reserved and unconfident front, but by no means incompetent. As soon as the opening verse makes it about halfway, though, the sound swells into a titanic prog-rock throughline riff. It feels disorganized, but not once does it come across as unintentional.

I'm not crazy about the sound, but the composition is stellar, especially for the main riff. 7/10

TRACK 10 - REST

Full disclosure: this is my least favourite sound on the album. Follow-up: I don't think that should matter. Rest is a character study, a confessional, a biography; the song wasn't written for any of us. If I had to guess, I'd wager it was written for Hawkins. The sound is intimate and encompassing, and Grohl sings it like it's a lullaby. Whether for himself or for Hawkins is unclear; he sounds exhausted, like he's only awake to do this one thing for someone he loves. I've been there before. When the processed sound does come crashing in (yes, end of the second minute again,) it hits like a wave. I can't imagine this one is easy for him to perform live.

9/10, almost cried again.

RETROSPECTIVE But Here We Are has an incredibly warm and well-rounded sound, especially for the subject matter. By the last three songs, they abandon the room for interpretation of their loss as a romantic kind, and I think I love it. Not every song needs to be relatable for everyone; where it hits for someone, it hits. Without the dichotomy, the Foo Fighters can focus all of their writing and energy on grief and its ravages in a way that works so perfectly with their sound. Coming from one of the best experimental guitarists of the 90s in Kurt Cobain gives Dave Grohl a lot of room to draw from, and he shows it off at every opportunity he gets, with a dynamic range of soft acoustics and crashing powerful chords. The sound design all melds together in a way that feels cozy and nostalgic, perfectly capturing the feeling of looking back on warm memories with a friend, and ends with the wave of sorrow when you need to accept that's not coming back. If you want an album to share in your grief, especially if your grief isn't always all sad, i cant recommend But Here We Are enough. 8/10 overall.

[forathousanddays]

Pierce The Veil - Misadventures (Review)

For nearly the entire lifespan of post-2000 alternative rock, Pierce The Veil have been a figurehead of the genre. In the two years following the release of their first studio album, they saw two different occasions with the Warped Tour, and widespread recognition. Misadventures is their most traditional venture into pop-punk, with a youthful delinquent flair plastered all over it. 

While Misadventures was by no means their most successful album among longtime fans, it still released to universal acclaim. There are songs off other albums from them I like more individually, like The Sky Under The Sea, but every track off Misadventures is stellar. It cements itself, for me, as the only Pierce The Veil album with zero skippable songs.

Dive in further below the cut.

TRACK 1 - DIVE IN

The opening track sets the Misadventures tone perfectly. The squealing sound of an amp and generally higher tuned guitar gives the record an instant feeling of authenticity, and the mix places the main riff quite a bit below everything else for the first verse. The first minute or so let you feel for a brief moment that you might be listening to a normal Pierce The Veil record, but the pace and energy quickly establish a tone we’ve yet to see from the band. The chorus has a levity entirely new to the band’s discography, a far cry from the dark, full tones of Selfish Machines and Collide With The Sky. We got a hint of this sound in Props & Mayhem off the aforementioned album, but nothing as fleshed-out as the light, grinding quality to Misadventures.

The album perfectly reflects its title and cover, with a sense of clarity and youthful fun. Dive In is no different. 8/10.

TRACK 2 - TEXAS IS FOREVER

Again, a tone is set in the opening seconds. Texas Is Forever is the most immediately pop-punk song off their most immediately pop-punk album. The sound masterfully captures a sparking romance, and the lyrics encapsulate a running theme for Pierce The Veil, of a romance failing. Misadventures approaches that theme differently, though, with a happy(ish) ending. Vic Fuentes describes the song as self-indulgent in sound, and lyrically about a relationship that could finally end in mutual respect for separate lives. Don’t get used to that kind of health, though. (lol)

This is the fastest song in their entire discography, and I’m glad it’s a thing. 9/10.

TRACK 3 - THE DIVINE ZERO

Misadventures is largely unique in its scene, for being able to capture a cold and sentimental atmosphere with high tuning and energetic vocals. The opening feels distinctly lonely in the moments before it’s drowned out by a massive wave of sound, much like the theme of the song itself. The Divine Zero covers the conflict between substances and depression; the swimming high can hide things for a time, but when the feelings come back, they come back worse. The song changes tone frequently and erratically, but in a way that feels intentional. 

The outro feels hazy in a way that compliments the theme perfectly, like coming down as the sun rises. 10/10.

TRACK 4 - FLORAL & FADING

The transition from The Divine Zero’s slow, reflective outro into Floral & Fading never gets less jarring, no matter how many times I listen to it. The story behind the song is touching, but doesn’t necessarily belong in a strictly musical review. That being said, the meaning and idea is reflected beautifully in the upbeat and unconcerned tone. Floral & Fading is the finest encapsulation of the indifferent youthful authenticity on the record. If you told me this was written when he was, like, fifteen, I would believe you.

This is one of the biggest songs on the album, but I don’t think it’s for me. 8/10.

TRACK 5 - PHANTOM POWER AND LUDICROUS SPEED

After the crowded sound of Floral & Fading, the isolated intro is very welcome. Don’t get too used to it, though, because Phantom Power and- I’m sorry, there’s no way I’m typing out the entire title every time I refer to it. The track quickly carves out a space for itself, with the chorus having one of the largest sounds on the album. Less crowded and more filled out, no single part of the mix takes away from the other aspects. Everything is occupying equal space, which gives a fantastic listening experience in surround sound. Title checks out.

Once again, Misadventures excels at the outro. 9/10

TRACK 6 - CIRCLES

Do I think writing a fictionalized love story set in the midst of a real-life shooting is weird? Yes. Did the song turn out well enough that I don’t care that much? Yes! The heavy presence of the amps in the sound gives Circles a nice sense of pre-production processing to it, again serving to champion the record’s authenticity. I’m not crazy about the bridge, but the verses and chorus make up for where it falls short. The pick-up on the chorus after the bridge is incredible, and absolutely brimming with energy.

I’m not mad this is the most streamed song on the album, even if it’s not my favourite. 7/10

TRACK 7 - TODAY I SAW THE WHOLE WORLD

While it gets overshadowed often by its acoustic version, Today I Saw The Whole World is a total treat to listen to in its original form. The heavy guitar reminds us who we’re listening to, but in a way we haven’t really heard from them before. The chord progressions are super catchy, and the lyrics are incredible. My favourite part is when the lyrics and the delivery match up in “back and forth just like my heart is on a pendulum.”

Refreshing to hear some really gnarly guitar on this album, and I’m glad it’s here. 9/10.

TRACK 8 - GOLD MEDAL RIBBON.

I don’t hand out 11s, because I want 10 to feel like something really valuable, but this is a place for one. Hypothetically, at least. Opening with a solo that gives me genuine chills, Gold Medal Ribbon is a sound Pierce The Veil hasn’t touched before or after. The composition feels otherworldly and longing, and Vic Fuentes’ desperate vocals amplify the latter effect beautifully. Gold Medal Ribbon feels like an ode to grief, more than a requiem. The lyrics once again feel youthful and inspired, with the title line referring to a relatively obscure ice cream flavour. 

The bridge made me cry a little bit when i was relistening to write this. 10/10.

TRACK 9 - BEDLESS

Bedless is, above all else, pretty. The quieter delivery on the vocals as well as the slower, more powerful guitar puts an emphasis on this one that’s absent from most of the album. I don’t consider that a weakness of the album, so much as a strength of this one track. Everything builds off itself, with every shift in tone or delivery feeling earned and set-up previously. The quiet guitar in the background of the bridge makes the track itself feel almost tired, which is helped by the generally slower pace of the chords after it. The outro is really pretty, too.

It’s lagging behind, but not in a sloppy way; the slower playing puts more weight and power behind every note. 10/10. The home stretch gets a lot of those.

TRACK 10 - SAMBUKA

Making Sambuka the shortest song on the record (by almost a full minute!) is criminal. Every second of this song is a treat to listen to, as a perfect crystallization of the high energy of Misadventures. The title itself, even, is a misspelling of a drink Fuentes tried on tour in the UK, which he left that way because it looked easier to say. It feels careless and alive, but the lyrics have a pang of transparent aching to them.

I’m really mad about the length. 10/10.

TRACK 11 - SONG FOR ISABELLE

If you know me personally, you might know that this song means a lot to me. I’ll do my best to leave this out of the rating, though. A running trend with all of my top three albums is awareness of their own construction; if Song For Isabelle was anywhere else on the album, I would have said it needed to be the closing track. It’s the culmination of every sound and style and theme on Misadventures, an ode to youthful indifference and poor decisions. A masterclass in arguably tasteless romantic subplots. A genuinely touching story, even with that presence. You might recognize my display name from it.

The lyrics paint such a perfect picture of the setting, so much so that I can almost feel the California humidity clinging to my skin under a late night breeze. 10/10.

RETROSPECTIVE

Rounding off my list of top threes is, obviously, another 10/10. Misadventures is incredibly well-received critically, but criminally underrated among fans of the band. It’s a style they’d never really indulged in before, and will likely never indulge in again. It’s sad to think about, but I’m glad it stays fresh and unique among their discography. The outro to Song For Isabelle is a perfect outro to the album and its themes, even being a lyric pulled from a song Vic loved growing up. I figured it would fit as a send-off to my top three, too.

[forathousanddays]

I really like reading your reviews! I'm not sure how to articulate it, but your wording makes them very pleasant to read. I should totally check out these albums for myself at some point, they sound really cool! If you're taking suggestions, may I suggest Seventh Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden?

Happy to hear it! I have my last 10/10 in the queue, and one other request to handle first, but I'll totally write up Seventh Son! It's a favourite of theirs. If you're gonna check out albums I cover, I recommend doing it in the background while you read the reviews! I might be able to point out some details in the composition you would've missed ;)

[forathousanddays]

Bring Me The Horizon - That’s The Spirit (Review)

Bring Me The Horizon’s 2015 hit That’s The Spirit is a masterclass in atmosphere and cohesion. The consistently muddied instrumentation cut through with perfect clarity in the vocals provides an unmatched sense of immersion, in an alien quality present for the entire album. Bring Me The Horizon is at their commercial peak on That’s The Spirit, and for good reason. The record was self-produced by keyboardist Jordan Fish, (what an excellent name) considering an external producer unnecessary.

While a lot of unconventional decisions were made in the production process, the critical reception was met with universal acclaim, citing That’s The Spirit as their most conventionally appealing album. Having moved away from their direct metalcore roots, That’s The Spirit leans more into alternative rock, with great success.

Track-by-track below the cut.

TRACK 1 - DOOMED

The record opens with a track that perfectly sets the stage for the rest of the album. The cold and deep sound immediately makes its presence known, providing a sense of isolation that will stay present for the rest of the album. Doomed arguably sounds overproduced, with a heavy filtering present on just about everything. I don’t consider this a negative, though; the album was made with the concept of our darkest moods in mind, but in a context making light of them. The pushy production carries a disorienting atmosphere, and stops you from feeling quite too close to the vocals.

This is an opening track done right, functioning almost as a macrocosm of the record as a whole. All of the elements heard here will be expanded on in later songs. 7/10.

TRACK 2 - HAPPY SONG

This is the closest thing That’s The Spirit has to a title track, with the album title being repeated as a lyric over and over. We leave the murky comfort of Doomed behind, to an instant rolling nu metal riff. This is where the themes of making light out of our darkness are most visible; the lyrics and sound are distinctly moody, but the sampled cheering and the title itself contrast it in a sick sense. Oli Sykes’ vocals are firing on all cylinders here, with a wide dynamic range of nu metal fry and gorgeous clarity. The chorus is ethereal, and the verses are all intimate and up-close, through the haze of the production.

Every moving part in Happy Song just works. The use of children’s voices are perfect for the bleak sarcasm the track champions. 10/10, There’s gonna be a lot of those.

TRACK 3 - THRONE

Throne is the most familiar track on the album to previous fans. The atmosphere and vocal techniques are reminiscent of their previous album, Sempiternal, but with a distinctly That’s The Spirit aspect to their production. The lyrics are powerful and motivating, second only to the way they’re delivered. If this song resonates with you, it resonates hard. The synth lines prop up Sykes’ performance, and the choice of making the bassline only occasionally present really heightens the feeling of rising from the ashes. The verses are somewhat subdued, with only the drums and keyboard being noticeable; but as soon as the pre-chorus steps up, bassist Matt Kean absolutely drowns the track in a wave of sound that feels triumphant and swelling. I believe every lyric of Throne, in no small part due to how powerful the production feels.

I can only say “this is atmosphere done right” so many times. 10/10.

TRACK 4 - TRUE FRIENDS

The choice to open the song with the isolated motif from the chorus is inspired, and serves to amplify every other aspect of the song when it comes in after. The delivery sets up an expectation for angry, crashing vocals, which makes the soft tone on the first verse a pleasant subversion. By this point on the record, though, we should know that won’t last very long. The sound storms in with every intention to make itself known, with a classical influence in the primary instrumental motif. The title line of “true friends stab you in the front” is poignant and even a little amusing, once again carrying the bleak comedy theme of the album. The instrumental cuts out occasionally to emphasize the chorus, and it’s an excellent effect. The breakdown near the end of the second minute is a highlight.

It’s crazy how on any other album all of these songs would be a ten. 8/10.

TRACK 5 - FOLLOW YOU

The more heavy-handed production is at its most noticeable in Follow You, with several elements in the mix that are immediately “not an instrument” sounds. I have nothing but praise for the vocals across the entire album, but this might be one of their best. The layering and tuning feels intimate and personal, but not enough that the alt-rock shouting feels startling or out of place. Much like in Doomed, we get another look at his higher vocal register and how perfectly it fits the alternative rock nu metal fusion of That’s The Spirit. I wouldn’t leave this song to anybody else. The instrumentals all across the record are stellar, but the vocals are in a league of their own. 

The lyrics are really cute, too. 9/10.

TRACK 6 - WHAT YOU NEED

I’ve been waiting for this one ever since I started my review. It’s not the star of the album, but man is it fun. The bassline is infectious, the vocals are catchy, and the lead guitar follows them both perfectly. The punchy delivery on the verses has a gnarly contrast with the strong projection in the chorus, and the one-man choir within. In any other song, the verses would be an incredibly strong highlight, but unfortunately one part of this track overshadows every other (masterfully done) aspect. The bridge in What You Need is my second favourite section on the entire album, dwarfed only by a passage two songs from now. The “Hell Yeah” refrain is perfect, and the solo following it is overwhelmingly cool.

Pure adrenaline in here, I wouldn’t want it any other way. 10/10.

TRACK 7 - AVALANCHE

Avalanche is the closest That’s The Spirit comes to an honest confrontation of its themes. There’s no attempt at black comedy, no shred of resigned sarcasm. The screaming vocals feel less powerful, and more desperate. This is the bleakest track on the record, and I’m glad it’s here to balance out the themes. The lyrics are on the repetitive side, which takes away a little from the ranking, but this song needed to be on the album somewhere. The instrumental is still as strong as ever, and despite its serious tone the song doesn’t feel like a downer.

There’s not too much to say on here. The fade-out at the end is a highlight for sure. 7/10

TRACK 8 - RUN

Remember when I said the What You Need bridge is second only to one passage two songs from it? The intro to Run is atmosphere perfected, with “ten thousand voices fill my broken lungs” being one of my favourite lyrics ever put to song. Run is all-encompassing, enveloping, just short of drowning. The sound is full and complete, almost an amalgamation of every individual note as one seething mass. The production is stellar, the composition is stellar, the vocal delivery is stellar. The song is an ode to the desire for teenagers to run away and make their own place in life, with undertones that might point to a darker interpretation.

Highlight of the album. 10/10.

TRACK 9 - DROWN

Again, a masterfully presented intro. The overproduced sound of what seems to be a chanting crowd feels almost eerie and unnatural, but not in an uncomfortable way. Drown exemplifies the sense of isolation and intimacy That’s The Spirit has been balancing all along, and it does so seamlessly. Like Avalanche, Drown feels like an honest confession and a cry for help, free of any sarcasm or humour. The lyrics detail a desire to keep going, but not the energy to make that plausible. “Who will make me fight? [...] You know that I can’t do this on my own." The bridge ends with the same massive crowd the intro opens with, but the final vocals from Oli Sykes are isolated and vulnerable.

Gorgeous production. 10/10

TRACK 10 - BLASPHEMY

This is the most explicit rock on the album. There’s not much in the way of hazy production or vulnerable, quiet vocals. Blasphemy shrugs off the precedent of the record in favour of a massive arena rock sound, easily the most commercial song on the record, with catchy hooks and a simple throughline riff. I don’t think this is a bad thing, though. The short but soaring solo at the end of the second minute is a highlight, and the sound only keeps ramping up with a stomping hook as soon as it moves out of the way. The delivery on this track is spitting and spiteful, and a breath of fresh air if you don’t like the murky sound on the rest of the album

There’s a time and a place for subversion, and I think near the end was a great place to put this. 9/10.

TRACK 11 - OH NO

This is such a perfect closing track. Completely stepping away from the sounds we’ve been acquainted with so far, Oh No has a thrumming synthetic beat in the back of the sound that makes it feel like a party jam. Once again, choral chanting is used in the mix, and it makes Oh No feel epic in scale. The infectious pop hooks and commercially appealing lyrics make the track feel like a true send-off to That’s The Spirit, not a goodbye so much as a celebration that it happened. The song is fundamentally upbeat pop, but the lyrics are still somber and sentimental. This feels very 2015.

...sorry, was that just a saxophone solo? This was going to be a 9, but I guess i can spare another 10/10.

RETROSPECTIVE

Ranking That’s The Spirit was always going to be intrinsically difficult for me, because of how many songs on it I consider to be near-perfect. If you dropped the lowest ranking in here into the middle of most other albums, it would probably get a nine at the lowest. The vocals are a standout performance all the way through, but they never feel like they’re overshadowing the intricate composition behind them. Every song feels deliberately placed to create the most cohesive experience you can get.

Overall, this is one of my 10/10s.

[forathousanddays]

Deftones - Koi No Yokan (Review)

Koi No Yokan (roughly “premonition of love”) is the feeling you get that’s not quite love at first sight, but the settling feeling you get when you meet someone you’ll fall in love with eventually. The closest phrase in meaning, as far as English is concerned, would be “it’s meant to be.”

By the time it released, Deftones had already cemented themselves as a monolith of alternative metal, and for good reason. Koi No Yokan builds upon the ideas and soundscapes provided in Saturday Night Wrist and Diamond Eyes, as well as bringing plenty of its own material to the table. Track-by-track below the cut, as well as final ranking.

TRACK 1 - SWERVE CITY

Swerve City sets out with a precise job to do, in introducing the dynamic sound range of the album. The early 2010s were full of bands experimenting with a different range of volume and delivery, usually in the same song, but rarely at the same time. The mixing in this song puts Chino Moreno’s vocals slightly below the instrumental, with the song itself backing away from his airspace as opposed to the mix letting him overpower them artificially. His singing comes off with the impression of being relatively quiet in the studio, but still forward and powerful in the mix. Whether this is the truth or just an effect isn’t something I know enough to speak on.

Swerve City excellently captures Deftones’ ability to not just balance loud and quiet, but let them coexist in the same space. The throughline riff is a strong point, and the surreal soundscape is a strong point of the entire album. Koi No Yokan is just getting started, with this clean 9/10, and a 10/10 transition into track 2. (Seriously!)

TRACK 2 - ROMANTIC DREAMS

This one seems like it can’t really tell where it’s headed. The composition is unintuitive, and what seems like a lead-in very frequently drops off right when it’s about to reach a peak. I’m not sure how to feel about it. It’s a run-on sentence of a song that doesn’t really work with itself, but not in a way I really mind. Where it sounds good, it sounds great, and the lyrics are so perfectly Deftones. The break at 2:40 is refreshing, giving the awesome low tuning room to breathe and show off just how heavy the guitar feels. The drums are a consistent highlight as well.

The strongest point in the song is arguably the transition in from Swerve City, but that’s not necessarily a negative. One of the weaker songs on the album, but no lower than a 5/10. 

TRACK 3 - LEATHERS

Again, the transition between tracks is seamless, and makes playing the album in the background of writing this complicated. Despite an off-guard intro, Leathers quickly makes itself distinct. You get just under 40 seconds of an uncomfortable, almost queasy, ambling guitar that could very feasibly still be the outro to Romantic Dreams. The vocals (the best part of the song) get zero lead-in, with frontman Chino Moreno immediately bursting into his iconic shouting, almost spitting, of the lyrics. Leathers has a lot of personality, especially in the lyrics themselves, and at no point does it shy away from showing it. The guitar doesn’t let up for a second, maintaining the same chugging drone for the entire track in a perfect encapsulation of Deftones’ specialty. 

As a band, Deftones perfected the art of immersion in a way nobody else has done as artfully before or after. Leathers is a great example of this, with a sound that completely envelops you. 7/10, loses points for the intro. Sounds good, but not for a song.

TRACK 4 - POLTERGEIST

This is where we break the trend of smooth, subtle transitions. Leathers doesn’t even get the time to fade out before Poltergeist comes in with a clapping sample and a gnarly riff like a beating heart on the low, chugging guitar. The vocal delivery is punchy and aggressive, and captures a frustration balanced on the knife’s edge of attraction; the kind of exasperation you can only feel for something you adore. The instrumentation and vocals blend together perfectly in this one, splitting their melody off and coming back together at just the right times to capture a dichotomous sound. Whichever you choose to focus on changes the listening experience drastically, feeling like two different songs with the same chorus.

The delivery on “keeps me hanging” around 2:45 is an excellent teaser for Chino Moreno’s more melodic delivery on some of his side projects. 8/10.

TRACK 5 - ENTOMBED 

When I think of Deftones’ sound, this is one of the songs that I hear in my head. Possibly the most outright shoegaze sound on the album, Entombed starts out warm and longing. Not the kind of longing for something far away, but the kind of longing you feel pressed against someone where you wish you could sink into them like a male anglerfish, or something. After the introductory tone gives way, though, you have a much more raw performance in the vocals surrounding the main motif (I’m hesitant to call it a chorus.) The song has a relatively simple pattern, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The back and forth of gentle vocals and rasping projection are so perfectly Deftones, in a way that’s reflected in my final ranking.

Bonus points for dropping the (admittedly awesome) transitions, just for ease of ranking. 10/10. (Prior statement is a joke, it’s a 10/10 regardless.)

TRACK 6 - GRAPHIC NATURE

Hello whiplash, my old friend. There’s no connecting factor between Entombed and Graphic Nature, aside from the iconic hazy sound in both the voices and instruments that Deftones fans know and love. The opening measures are harsh and chaotic, and it’s not that they necessarily change in structure, but the introduction of Chino Moreno’s vocals seem to calm the panic around them with something solid to focus on. The guitar follows it up and down, precise and unwavering in the chorus, but still chaotic and hungry in the verses. This track is incredibly easy to personify in a review, with the raving instruments and their unblinking attention, like a predator following prey. Occasional stings break out from the ordered playing in the chorus, in a way that forms such a perfect sense of chaos.

I was picturing Chris Pratt with the raptors in Jurassic World when I described the chorus. 8/10, loses one point for making me think about Chris Pratt.

TRACK 7 - TEMPEST

Don’t let the odd, pulsing intro scare you off. Tempest is a slow, swelling power of a song. It gets the second longest spot on the album, which it uses incredibly effectively. Tempest makes full use of the time given to build a slow, thrumming energy, creating an electric atmosphere and tension to contrast with the quiet, gentle vocal lead-in. When the full instrumental comes in, it crashes down into the rest of the sound to reshape the song with its arrival, turning a slow, almost reverential chant into something powerful and resonant. The last three minutes are a masterful use of space and mixing, with just enough going on to be a sonic experience closer to swimming than to just listening, but not enough to be all the way confusing.

Tempest is a perfect name for this typhoon of a track, 9/10.

TRACK 8 - GAUZE

Tempest ends with an uncomfortable drone, and I’m relieved to find Gauze doesn’t continue it. It’s not a terribly cohesive experience, but it hosts some of the strongest guitar work on the album. The sound is full and sure of itself, and the presentation of the song as a whole suggests the vocals aren’t supposed to be the focus. They prop up the instruments more than anything, and I think I’m completely fine with that. The vocals in this track aren’t bad by any means, but the mixing leaves space for the guitar to dominate the soundscape in a much less cooperative fashion than the rest of the album. They make way for the vocals where it really matters, though, with a rising and dynamic chorus that’s a total treat to listen to.

Unfortunately, one of the more forgettable parts of the album. 7/10.

TRACK 9 - ROSEMARY

There’s a reason this is one of the top 10 Deftones songs by streaming numbers. This is the most immersive song on the record, if not one of the most immersive in their discography. Every moving part works together, cogs turning the teeth of their neighbors as one cohesive unit. The surreal, hazy sound belies an equally hazy setting detailed in the lyrics. The shifts in tone never feel misplaced or out of nowhere, and each and every one is welcome. When the song takes a gentler approach, it doesn’t feel like it’s taking away from the sound I’m here for. Rosemary presents a plethora of different sounds, all of which could be their own song entirely, and all of which work perfectly together. Rosemary is more than the sum of its parts, and a highlight of Koi No Yokan as a whole.

Talk about a premonition of love! 10/10.

TRACK 10 - GOON SQUAD

If the title was less funny, this song would be incredibly powerful. The intro is vulnerable and tender, and everything outside of it is the quintessence of nu metal. This song singlehandedly makes it difficult to remember this album was 2012, with a distinctly nostalgic atmosphere and guitar that feels like I’ve known it all my life. The slight dissonance in the solo halfway through feels like a pang of sapience, signaling the comedown of the high that has been Koi No Yokan. If you condensed every song and sound of the record into one, Goon Squad would be the closest thing to that sound. It’s no wonder they used it for all the merchandising surrounding the album.

I really wish I could look past the name. 8/10. We gooning rn?

TRACK 11 - WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?

This one doesn’t really pull any punches. The whole thing is more or less just weird. A fitting send-off to the dynamic and entrancing sound of Koi No Yokan, if Goon Squad is the comedown, What Happened To You? is the hangover. The lyrics are gorgeous, and the distortion works off of itself in a way that makes the clarity cut through in a really touching effect. Everything sounds dissonant in a delicate way, like a plate half-off the table, but balanced without tipping. Once again, Koi No Yokan has a distinct vulnerability to it, much like the intro to Goon Squad, but in a more self-reflective and complete way. Goon Squad drops off that feeling of vulnerability (but maintains uncertainty) after the intro, whereas it’s the forefront of What Happened To You? 

Overall, I wouldn’t pick any other track to close off the album, even if it’s only a 7/10.

RETROSPECTIVE

Koi No Yokan has a really unique sound, even among as varied of a discography as Deftones. It works hard to claw itself onto my list of 10/10s, with a hard-earned position. Bear in mind a 5/10 on Koi No Yokan might be something like a 7 or an 8 on any other album, entirely so that not every song being ranked on a 10/10 album is a 9 or a 10. Overall, the record is immersive and dynamic in a way mechanically “better” albums from Deftones can’t quite match. There are individual songs I like more on White Pony or Around The Fur, but Koi No Yokan has such a strong sense of identity and such an all-encompassing sound that it’s hard to leave it out of the discussion when it comes to my favourite albums of all time.