Agreeing to Disagree
The diverse mix of bands this week also brings a diverse opinion of the music…mostly. I don’t think your hosts have disagreed this much in one show, maybe ever. If you listened to the show a few times, you can probably guess one of the albums we have differing opinions of just by looking at the bands names. The other big one may surprise you…
Reviews:
Paradise Lost – The Plague Within (Century Media)
Faith No More – Sol Invictus (Ipecac)
Skinless – Only the Ruthless Remain (Relapse)
Secrets of the Sky – Pathway (Metal Blade)
Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
Faith No More – Sol Invictus
Skinless – Only The Ruthless Remain
Secrets Of The Sky – Pathway
The Sideshow Podcast 
Wow, what an episode! We have three albums that I’ve actually listened to that were reviewed on the podcast this week. And there is so much disagreement this week that Brian resorted to cursing at Nick. We certainly haven’t heard this much heated disagreement since the show went to two hosts. It was funny that at one point each of the two of you compared the other to your former co-host: Nick being accused of hypocrisy in liking Mike Patton’s vocals but not Nick Holmes’s vocals, and Brian for not even listening to the entire Faith No More album.
For Paradise Lost, I fall right in between you guys regarding their latest album The Plague Within. It’s one of those albums that is perfectly fine while I’m listening to it, but it doesn’t stick with me to make a lasting impression. To me it’s a “3” of an album.
What’s the appeal of Faith No More? Nick hinted at it, but it is the fact that they sound like no other band ever and have evolved over time. If you were introduced to Faith No More through their breakthrough album The Real Thing as I was, that album sounds more like a metal album with tangents. The song “Epic” on The Real Thing is a metal song with rap verses. A few songs such as “Falling to Pieces” sound a little more poppy. And there’s “Surprise Your Dead!” (which Revocation covered on the deluxe version of Chaos of Forms), which is nothing but metal. Then Faith No More branched out and got a little bit more experimental on their next album Angel Dust. Many fans, myself included, came along for the ride and were hooked. Some of us have been waiting 20 years for Faith No More to make another good album, and Sol Invictus mostly delivers. Is Sol Invictus as good as The Real Thing or Angel Dust? Absolutely not. But Sol Invictus is certainly a breath of fresh air among a lot of other current metal releases that are starting to sound stale (such as Skinless).
Speaking of Skinless, that’s a great quote that Nick read about death metal being “too silly to be taken seriously and not silly enough to be considered fun.” I kind of feel that way about Cannibal Corpse. I’ve seen Cannibal Corpse live a couple of times and they actually come across pretty good live, but when you combine the album art with actually reading the lyrics, it comes across as too silly.
I will say about Pathway by Secrets of the Sky that I skip those interludes between the tracks on the albums. But on the whole I love this album. I think it is better than their last album. It’s notable that you compared it to Pelagial by The Ocean because I originally bought Secrets of the Sky’s last album, To Sail Black Waters, because people were comparing it to Pelagial. I was disappointed in To Sail Black Waters because it wasn’t as good as Pelagial. But Pathway sees the band expanding, growing and honing their craft to make a great album that does compare to Pelagial (even if Pelagial is better).
With me just now having started listening to Ghost Ship Octavius (which I’m loving) along with these albums reviewed on this week’s podcast, I finally feel as though 2015 has gotten underway, as up until now I have been underwhelmed by the releases in 2015. But then again, it was the same situation last year, as I think my top 10 from 2014 had one album (Polar) released before June.
Yeah, Kyle has definitely left an impression…for better or worse…
“But Sol Invictus is certainly a breath of fresh air among a lot of other current metal releases that are starting to sound stale…” See, I don’t see this as Metal AT ALL. This would be one of those albums (bands even, maybe) that are “tangentially” Metal. Yes, they’re early work had influence on the genre and even a whole bunch of bands I like. But I feel that if the listener hasn’t been with the band the whole time, there is a lot more on “Sol Invictus” be turned off by than to latch onto. This is is more like a really weird, scatter-brained, Alternative Post-Lounge album.
I hear ya on Cannibal Corpse, but I think it works better for them because of how much they have embraced it. They intentionally go for the shock…or at least they did with those ridiculous covers. Now the music has gotten better (specifically from “Kill” forward) and the artwork has toned down a bit, but they are just in so deep, the lyrics aren’t gonna change. so they just continue they’re shtick there. Skinless, on the other hand, don’t have the longevity and haven’t figured out how they want to handle the gory persona.
I don’t really have anything to add re: Pathway. I mean, I think the Pelagial comparisons make sense to an extant, though that never occurred to me while listening to Pathway.
As you’ll hear in Episode 194, there are some recognizable names coming out with new albums later this year, some starting later this month. That doesn’t mean they are all gonna be winners, but there is a lot of hope and potential there. And, while I agree this year has started slow and we have a had to do some digging, we have found some really good albums! Time will tell if they make it on the end of the year lists
I can understand how you don’t think Sol Invictus by Faith No More isn’t metal. But if you had listened to The Real Thing in 1991, that album by them was certainly considered metal at the time, hence Faith No More are still considered a metal band even if their sound isn’t all that heavy.