Jonathan Hill

A Soapbox for Uninformed Opinions

Sep
23

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Spiritual Beggars Ad Astra Review

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General Information:

Artist: Spiritual Beggars
Album: Ad Astra
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Stoner Rock
Released: 2000
Length: 60 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Music for Nations

Track List:

01. Left Brain Ambassadors
02. Wonderful Word
03. Sedated
04. Angel of Betrayal
05. Blessed
06. Per Aspera Ad Astra
07. Save Your Soul
08. Until the Morning
09. Escaping the Fools
10. On Dark Rivers
11. The Goddess
12. Mantra
13. Let the Magic Talk

Spiritual Beggars Ad Astra Cover

Spiritual Beggars Ad Astra Cover

Spiritual Beggars Ad Astra Review

Ad Astra is the fourth Spiritual Beggars album and the last to feature original singer Christian “Spice” Sjostrand. It is a fitting final album for him that sets the standard in terms of his own performance and that of his band mates which have all improved leaps and bounds in the time since their debut album, Spiritual Beggars, was release in 1994.

There is no build up or easing off with Ad Astra. Spiritual Beggars go in at full throttle and after the third song, Sedated, you’re already half expecting the group to throw in a ballad but we’re in luck – there aren’t any. Ad Astra is almost an entire hour of face melting guitar riffs, authoritative percussive blows, dense bass and lively keyboard work to fill in any semblance of quiet.

The first parts of Until the Morning and Mantra would have you thinking otherwise before you get floored by brooding doom metal force on the former and flashy solo work on the latter. Given that Spiritual Beggars don’t slow down on Ad Astra and focus primarily on the guitar, it is hard to call it sonically diverse. What they lack in this department is more than made up for with their finely honed song-writing skills and stunning musicianship that will blow your mind straight out the back of your head.

Ad Astra is a staple of the Spiritual Beggars discography with the single-minded, full throttle approach to the song-writing actually being the Spiritual Beggars greatest asset that doesn’t fail them for a single moment.

External Links:

Spiritual Beggars Homepage
Spiritual Beggars on Wikipedia | Ad Astra on Wikipedia
Spiritual Beggars on Discogs | Ad Astra on Discogs

Aug
31

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Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Review

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General Information:

Artist: Black Sabbath
Album: Black Sabbath
Genre(s): Blues Rock
Subgenres(s): N/A
Released: 1970
Length: 38 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Vertigo

Track List:

01. Black Sabbath
02. The Wizard
03. Behind the Wall of Sleep
04. N.I.B.
05. Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games with Me) (Crow Cover)
06. Sleeping Village
07. Warning (Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation Cover)

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Cover

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Cover

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Review

Black Sabbath is the influential self-titled blues rock album that was underrated and even shunned by critics on its release in 1970. It subsequently played a large role in shaping the face of modern rock and even heavy metal before many critics warmed to it.

Most of the album is focused on blues rock with some standout moments being The Wizard, which features a harmonica played by Ozzy Osbourne while Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games with Me) is a cover version of a song originally written and performed by the short lived American blues rock band Crow.

There are some exceptions to the focus on blues rhythms however. Sleeping Village starts out as a soft, almost psychedelic tinged song with a Jew’s harp courtesy of producer Rodger Bain that is set to peaceful lyrics that contrast with the themes already mentioned before turning into a frantic instrumental jam. This sets you up for Warning, a cover of an extended jam session by the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation that lasts for a little over 10 minutes.

The main influence taken by future bands comes from the distinctive downtuned guitar tone and for laying the foundations for both stoner rock and the doom metal subgenre of heavy metal before the genre was even conceived. Ozzy Osbourne also proved that you don’t need to be a great singer to be a success though it is worth mentioning that his distinct voice is very fitting for the Black Sabbath sound.

Horror films and fantasy stories are the focus of Black Sabbaths lyrics as they worked under the mentality of “if these themes can be used in books and films to scare people, then why not in music as well?” From the innovative title track to N.I.B. you’ll fantasy themed lyrics referencing witches, wizards, magic, the devil and more. These themes were controversial for the time and had a knock on effect with the lyrics and imagery of many future heavy metal bands.

Black Sabbath is written around blues rock with the band members letting their own creativity and inspiration expand their sound beyond the confines of said fusion genre which let them unknowingly lay the foundations for new subgenres of music with a single 38 minute album.

Performers

Ozzy Osbourne: Vocals, harmonica
Tony Iommi: Guitar
Geezer Butler: Bass
Bill Ward: Drums
Rodger Bain: Jew’s harp

External Links:

Black Sabbath Homepage
Black Sabbath on Wikipedia | Black Sabbath on Wikipedia
Black Sabbath on Discogs | Black Sabbath on Discogs

Aug
24

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Opeth Pale Communion Review

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General Information:

Artist: Opeth
Album: Pale Communion
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Progressive Rock
Released: 2014
Length: 56 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Roadrunner Records

Track List:

01. Eternal Rains Will Come
02. Cusp of Eternity
03. Moon Above, Sun Below
04. Elysian Woes
05. Goblin
06. River
07. Voice of Treason
08. Faith in Others

Opeth Pale Communion Cover

Opeth Pale Communion Cover

Opeth Pale Communion Review

Pale Communion is the eleventh studio album and third progressive rock outing by Opeth. Following on from the Damnation and Heritage albums, Pale Communion sees Opeth once again exploring their progressive rock influences without any traces of their death metal side which thankfully excludes the grunts and growls too. There is also some jazz fusion influence creeping in, which could be due to co-producer and guest backing vocalist Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, solo) following his own taking to the genre in the last few years.

After appearing in a guest role on Heritage’s title track, keyboardist Joakim Svalberg has now joined the ranks of Opeth as a fulltime band member following the departure of Per Wiberg (Spiritual Beggars). The overall sound of Pale Communion is most easily described as a continuation of what is heard on Heritage. The big differences are that Opeth are more confident in embracing their progressive rock roots and the songs are more fine-tuned with many of them having a longer running time to reflect this.

Like many of the songs on Pale Communion, Cusp of Eternity has a myriad of passages woven together seamlessly but for no reason it ends with a fade out. Given how many directions some songs on Pale Communion take, it almost comes across as Opeth brushing it aside for the ambitious 11 minute Moon Above, Sun Below, which does not feel like it’s half as long as it is.

Still not content with their new sound, Opeth takes a breather on Elysian Woes by introducing elements of folk music and keeps a steadier pace to bring Michael Akerfeldt’s voice to the front. River is written in the same vein with a stronger emphasis on vocal melodies (which is another major addition to the album that gets its biggest spotlight on Faith in Others) and has a bit of a jam session part way through to mix things up even further.

Goblin tips its hat to the Italian progressive rock outfit of the same name and is the only instrumental track on Pale Communion. It centres around a steady build up and drummer Martin Axenrot throwing in plenty of short and sharp fills to keep you on your toes. With all the songs before Voice of Treason being much lighter by comparison, it takes an uncharacteristically tense twist that is reminiscent of the song Closure from Opeth’s 2003 album Damnation. The atmospheric keyboard work at the end bridges it with Faith in Others to create a 16 minute 2 part song.

The complete lack of heavy metal will be a disappointment for long-time fans that haven’t embraced Opeth’s progressive rock side but for the rest of us, it’s another exciting chapter in Opeth’s discography as well as the modern progressive rock scene as it seems that Opeth has its collective heart set on this path for the time being.

Performers:

Fredrik Akesson: Guitars, backing vocals
Mikael Akerfeldt: Vocals, guitars
Martin Axenrot: Drums, percussion
Martin Mendez: Bass guitars
Joakim Svalberg: Keyboards, backing vocals
Steven Wilson: Backing vocals

External Links:

Opeth Homepage
Opeth on Wikipedia | Pale Communion on Wikipedia
Opeth on Discogs | Pale Communion on Discogs
Opeth on Metal Archives | Pale Communion on Metal Archives

Aug
8

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Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues Review

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Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues Review

Artist: Fleet Foxes
Album: Helplessness Blues
Genre(s): Folk, Folk Rock
Subgenres(s): Progressive Folk
Released: 2011
Length: 50 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Bella Union, Sub Pop

Track List:

01. Montezuma
02. Bedouin Dress
03. Sim Sala Bim
04. Battery Kinzie
05. The Plains/Bitter Dancer
06. Helplessness Blues
07. The Cascades
08. Lorelei
09. Someone You’d Admire
10. The Shrine/An Argument
11. Blue Spotted Tail
12. Grown Ocean

Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues Cover

Helplessness Blues is the second album by American folk band Fleet Foxes. While having many of the hallmarks of their self-titled debut, Helplessness Blues show some growth in the Fleet Foxes repertoire that proves they aren’t afraid to branch out. The song-writing has gotten more adventurous with half of them averaging 4.5 minutes compared to their debut which only has 3 songs over the 4 minute mark. Elements of progressive music have also trickled in with the influence being most noticeable on The Plains/Bitter Dancer, Helplessness Blues and The Shrine/An Argument.

While the title Helplessness Blues could allure to an influence from blues music this isn’t the case. It would be more accurate to say Fleet Foxes are singing the blues as many of their lyrical themes deal with reflection, finding your place in life, sadness and nostalgia. Nature is still a recurring theme though it is less central than it was on their debut.

In all of the diverse instrumentation found on Helplessness Blues, the only low point to mention is the trumpet on The Shrine/An Argument. It sounds like it is being sexually assaulted by a feral badger when Fleet Foxes summons the worst of Neutral Milk Hotel on an otherwise standout song.

Fleet Foxes push themselves creatively and come out on top so if you can overlook the trumpet incident there’s no reason not to pick up Helplessness Blues.

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