Hank, love reading your EOY lists! Only got into Upright Forms because of your recommendation, and boy did I blast that new album. Curious if you had a chance to check out the latest Blood Incantation LP and what you thought (I’m on the side of hype was right).
Thanks v much! So glad you dug Upright Forms. Highly recommend Nick’s prior band Sicbay if you want to hear more in that vein — they made three fantastic records in the early 2000s.
My honest take on ‘Absolute Elsewhere’:
I’m generally a big fan of BI. Saw them play a few times circa 'Starspawn’ and ‘Hidden History…,’ and was completely blown away. Such a powerful live band. Enjoyed the prior ambient release, but something about the new one left me a bit cold. I fully support the diversification of the sound in theory — and love classic prog, ambient, etc. — but the stylistic switches on this one felt slightly clunky to me, as though they were checking boxes (or trying on different sonic outfits?) rather than letting a song take shape organically.
That was my impression on the first few listens, and I haven’t gone back yet (too much else to get to!). I always reserve to right to revise my opinion, though, so maybe I’ll feel differently in the future. And again, regardless, I think they’re an extremely talented band and a total must-see live.
If I’m less into a heavily hyped album, I sometimes shy away from weighing in because I don’t want to seem like a hater or contrarian — obviously many, many people disagreed with me, and their takes are every bit as valid as mine. Also, I just find it more fun and rewarding to put enthusiasm out into the world than skepticism.
Look forward to going back to it when the hype has died down and seeing what I think! Cheers and thanks for reading.
I appreciate you taking the time to reply. Will check out Sicbay for sure!
I can see that, with the transitions. I am telling myself let the dust settle and revisit in a couple months. This one got me by the proverbial balls and was on constant rotation for the past 45 days or so, almost daily. Like you, I’ve been a fan since the beginning and honestly would have been happy with more of what they’d been doing metal-wise.
Not big on futurism but since Starspawn I’ve had the feeling Blood Incantation was gearing up to be a generational-defining band. They have the it factor, and now I think that if this happens it will be because of this direction they’re pursuing in AE. It’s not “original” per se but it’s done at a higher level of synthesis, aesthetic justification and compositional charisma than I can remember other DM forays in prog managing. They have a total package.
I suspect AE is going to be one of those landmark albums for the genre; yet I think your point is well taken. If you watch the making-of documentary that came with the deluxe edition, you can tell the boys were needing out and drooling all over the vintage equipment and history at Hansa and probably tried to fit too much of it into the album itself (though I still think it’s compositionally solid). I get the vibe they’re pinching themselves at their newfound success and what it has enabled them to do in the studio, without knowing fully how to operate as a band at this new level. Which is of course understandable, I’d likely feel the same: kiddo in the candy store.
Really curious to see where they take their sound next, at any rate. When you’re 39 and get excited about a newer, contemporary band the way Maiden used to excite me when I was 13, it’s a good thing 😎
So you can actually tell what Defeated Sanity is playing on that album?
I am not being sarcastic. I am genuinely curious.
I know these guys are obscenely talented. But during the faster sections (i.e., The Odour of Sanctity) everything is so down-tuned and compressed that all I'm hearing is mud. Help me out here.
I’d say yes, I can! But I’d also say that I think their music (and music in this general vein) is designed to feel like complete info overload on early listens, and then reveal its details over time. I actually think that of all the extreme death metal I’ve heard, Defeated present their music with more sonic clarity and attention to detail than almost anyone. That’s part of what I love about them, this combo of frenzied aggression and painstaking precision. I think watching those drum cam vids for the tracks on the new album, for example, you can’t help but appreciate the finer points. Just my two cents! Cheers, and thanks for reading.
Hank, love reading your EOY lists! Only got into Upright Forms because of your recommendation, and boy did I blast that new album. Curious if you had a chance to check out the latest Blood Incantation LP and what you thought (I’m on the side of hype was right).
Thanks v much! So glad you dug Upright Forms. Highly recommend Nick’s prior band Sicbay if you want to hear more in that vein — they made three fantastic records in the early 2000s.
My honest take on ‘Absolute Elsewhere’:
I’m generally a big fan of BI. Saw them play a few times circa 'Starspawn’ and ‘Hidden History…,’ and was completely blown away. Such a powerful live band. Enjoyed the prior ambient release, but something about the new one left me a bit cold. I fully support the diversification of the sound in theory — and love classic prog, ambient, etc. — but the stylistic switches on this one felt slightly clunky to me, as though they were checking boxes (or trying on different sonic outfits?) rather than letting a song take shape organically.
That was my impression on the first few listens, and I haven’t gone back yet (too much else to get to!). I always reserve to right to revise my opinion, though, so maybe I’ll feel differently in the future. And again, regardless, I think they’re an extremely talented band and a total must-see live.
If I’m less into a heavily hyped album, I sometimes shy away from weighing in because I don’t want to seem like a hater or contrarian — obviously many, many people disagreed with me, and their takes are every bit as valid as mine. Also, I just find it more fun and rewarding to put enthusiasm out into the world than skepticism.
Look forward to going back to it when the hype has died down and seeing what I think! Cheers and thanks for reading.
I appreciate you taking the time to reply. Will check out Sicbay for sure!
I can see that, with the transitions. I am telling myself let the dust settle and revisit in a couple months. This one got me by the proverbial balls and was on constant rotation for the past 45 days or so, almost daily. Like you, I’ve been a fan since the beginning and honestly would have been happy with more of what they’d been doing metal-wise.
Not big on futurism but since Starspawn I’ve had the feeling Blood Incantation was gearing up to be a generational-defining band. They have the it factor, and now I think that if this happens it will be because of this direction they’re pursuing in AE. It’s not “original” per se but it’s done at a higher level of synthesis, aesthetic justification and compositional charisma than I can remember other DM forays in prog managing. They have a total package.
I suspect AE is going to be one of those landmark albums for the genre; yet I think your point is well taken. If you watch the making-of documentary that came with the deluxe edition, you can tell the boys were needing out and drooling all over the vintage equipment and history at Hansa and probably tried to fit too much of it into the album itself (though I still think it’s compositionally solid). I get the vibe they’re pinching themselves at their newfound success and what it has enabled them to do in the studio, without knowing fully how to operate as a band at this new level. Which is of course understandable, I’d likely feel the same: kiddo in the candy store.
Really curious to see where they take their sound next, at any rate. When you’re 39 and get excited about a newer, contemporary band the way Maiden used to excite me when I was 13, it’s a good thing 😎
So you can actually tell what Defeated Sanity is playing on that album?
I am not being sarcastic. I am genuinely curious.
I know these guys are obscenely talented. But during the faster sections (i.e., The Odour of Sanctity) everything is so down-tuned and compressed that all I'm hearing is mud. Help me out here.
I’d say yes, I can! But I’d also say that I think their music (and music in this general vein) is designed to feel like complete info overload on early listens, and then reveal its details over time. I actually think that of all the extreme death metal I’ve heard, Defeated present their music with more sonic clarity and attention to detail than almost anyone. That’s part of what I love about them, this combo of frenzied aggression and painstaking precision. I think watching those drum cam vids for the tracks on the new album, for example, you can’t help but appreciate the finer points. Just my two cents! Cheers, and thanks for reading.