Moonsorrow - Verisakeet

Y'know those bands that you upload to your iPod and only give two or three listens to before losing interest only to re-discover them a year later when nothing else is quite appealing? That's just how I rediscovered Moonsorrow's Verisakeet (Bloodverses) the other day, boredom.

For those that don't know Moonsorrow is similar to Finntroll but serious. Both hammer out epic Viking Metal ballads in a somewhat similar manner but whereas Finntroll create their music tongue-in-cheek (influenced by alcoholic debauchery), Moonsorrow are dead serious, creating grandiose, drawn-out opus' (opi?). Lead singer, Ville Sorvali yelps in an impressive Black Metal shrill while his orchestral-like band belt out swooning anthems. Bathory is clearly a huge influence here as most Moonsorrow songs start off with or lead up to somber (post or pre-Great Viking battle) Lute licks.

I'm not sure if I like Moonsorrow, think they're alright or if they need improvement. Either way I find their approach annoying but interesting. Moonsorrow are not the kinds of artists the dance around the point or head right to it. On the contrary, they beat the point into you. These sprawling 10+ minute songs (which is a great deal for only $10 at Generation Records), can become quite an ordeal. Not to say that noisy, speedy songs of no longer than three minutes, with respect to utility and convenience are more appealing to me; I'm all for pondering beyond boxy confines. However, if you're going to compose songs approximately three to four times larger than modern day conventional songs, you better have a good reason to do so, not to mention a good way to keep your listeners interested. Moonsorrow both tumble and succeed in this area. While the band forgo the bridge-chorus structure, melodies are repeated between one to three minutes before shifting gears again. While some parts will reach intense climaxes and surges, you might be slapping yourself on the head due to the redundancy of their formula. While Verisakeet is an interesting and mostly fun album, these sort of give and takes, teases and highs and lows marshaled by anthemic folk metal can become repetitive and a little tiring. Furthermore, Finntroll's success is largely due to their casual take on the mostly straight-faced, bombastic Viking genre. Perhaps Moonsorrow could loosen up a little and shake off some of their pompousness; image-wise they're not cutting a unique niche from other Viking bands. Still, a good Viking metal album best listened to when combating rude New York City subway pedestrians during rush hour.

June Round-Up

I want to apologize to those few good people that read this blog. The blogger has been in the throes of post-college job hunting lately which has consumed much of the bloggers free time. Things are settling down now; blogger hopes there will be more posts.

1) The Loft - On A Tuesday - Magpie Eyes 1982 -1985

I bought this album on a spurt due to the fact that it was in the "insanely-cheap-used-aisle" of Kim's Videos near Columbia University. Although listed as Jangle-Pop by Allmusic.com, The Loft's sound is spiced through the use of layered angular noise and great drumming. The Loft remind me of The Embarrassment but more consistent (at least this compilation is) and a band with a tighter grip on their sound. A great buy for only $6.

2) A Tribe Called Quest - Bonita Applebum - Peoples Instinctive Travels
Bonita Applebum is perhaps ATCQ's best known song and for good reason. A perverse yet slyly delivered rap sonnet. The perfect summer song, best played when noticing more scantily clad females in NYC during this weeks heat wave.

3)Watain - The Serpents Chalice - Sworn to the Dark

With their third LP, Watain has garnered a lot of press as of late. Perhaps this is easy to see why. Gone are the old putting-a-pigs-head-on-a-pole days of Satanic Metal when Mayhem, Emperor and Immortal (among others) struck fear into the hearts of Norways religious minority (The statistic for regular Norwegian church goers is around 2%) . The older bands (for example the post-Vikernes and Euronymous days of Mayhem) can no longer be deemed purist Black Metal, opting to explore the infinite sub genres such as symphonic, melodic, progressive and so on. Well produced and adorned with angst-y melodic furnishes, if Sworn to the Dark is not a hark back to Black Metals early days in aesthetics, it is in spirit.

4)Klute - Hell Hath No Fury - The Emperors New Clothes

For a newbie the world of Drum n' Bass is quite dizzying. Where as other dance sub genres have a more clear cut evolution and its own trailblazers, DnB history is an intimidating tornado. True, the movement matured from the Hardcore techno days of the early 90's however judging by my research there is no definite start date or originator of the scene. Instead you have an army of DJ's who all contributed to the scene in its infancy. Maybe I'm psychologically name dropping Klute here on the June Round-Up but even though he may not be a good start, he's a damn good DJ.

5) Ciccone Youth - Get Into the Groovey - The Whitey Album
Shortly after their 1988 revolutionary masterpiece, Daydream Nation, Sonic Youth professed their love for Madonna and recruited Minute Men bassist, Mike Watt to composed tongue-in-cheek covers of famous pop songs. Ciccone Youth is Sonic + 1 at their funniest and most casual. Furthermore its somewhat a throwback to their more aggressive days like Evol and Bad Moon Rising as CY casually dish out raw slices of noise, trimmed with pop shining.

6)Eternal Grey - War of Chaos - Kindless

Sure, due to my background I have an instant liking towards any music from Israel. Even so, Eternal Greys not too bad. Generally speaking they are a talented, genre blending band (Black and Death) with a preference to Metallica.

7)The Dramatics - Get Up and Get Down - Whatcha See is Whatcha Get
Before the dance complexities of Grinding, one could just get up and move their feet.



8)Jesu - Conqueror - Conqueror

Jesu is the post-Godflesh, post-nervous breakdown project of Justin Broadrick. Almost a My Bloody Valentine meets Doom Metal.

9)Shadows of Knight - Someone Like Me - Gloria

Shadows took the British Invasion formula of the 60's and spiced it with a grittier edge. Despite most of their work being covers of other bands, Shadows stripped down their sound and played it faster.

10)The Dictators - Two Tub Man - Go Girl Crazy
Although counted as a prime shaker of the Glam/Proto-punk scene, The Dictators' legacy often takes a backseat compared to the likes of New York Dolls, The MC5 or Iggy and the Stooges. Yet its undeniable how influential they were, perhaps more than any other band of their time. Some songs like Master Race Rock could pass for a hardcore punk song if only played faster. Clearly, The Ramones took notes. (note: listen carefully for a Lou Reed dis)