viernes, enero 18, 2008

Top 25 of 2007 and more about music

This is my top 25 of albums in 2007:

01 - Therion - Gothic Kabbalah
02 - Dark Tranquillity - Fiction
03 - Nocturnal Rites - The 8th Sin
04 - Paradise Lost - In Requiem
05 - Mors Principium Est - Liberation Termination
06 - Ensiferum - Victory Songs
07 - Rotting Christ - Theogonia
08 - After Forever - After Forever
09 - Dalriada - Kikelet
10 - Soulgrind - Pakana
11 - Behemoth - The Apostasy
12 - Arch Enemy - Rise Of the Tyrant
13 - Gotthard - Domino Effect
14 - Powerglove - Metal Combat For The Mortal Man
15 - Lake of Tears - Moons and Mushrooms
16 - Samael - Solar Soul
17 - Amorphis - Silent Waters
18 - The Project Hate MCMXCIX - In Hora Mortis Nostrae
19 - Annihilator - Metal
20 - Månegarm - Vargstenen
21 - Freevil - Freevil Burning
22 - Profugus Mortis - So It Begins
23 - In Vain - The Latter Rain
24 - Korpiklaani - Tervaskanto
25 - Thunderstorm - As We Die Alone

It was a hard decision those last 5 positions, I listened again and again all those albums and some more. It could fit there also these ones:
Deadlock - Wolves
Axxis - Doom Of Destiny
Elenium - Caught In A Wheel
Megadeth - United Abominations
Symphony X - Paradise Lost
Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir
Susperia - Cult From Stone
Virgin Black - Mezzo Forte
Eyes Of Eden - Faith
Turisas - The Varangian Way
The Vision Bleak - The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey
But it's too hard to choose between them, if I made the definitive 25 another day, I would make possibly another different 5 lasts.
Well, concerning to music, this year I have listened quite a lot of hundreds (!!!) albums, and I found a lot very interestings like these ones. But I have found others quite disappointing. Right now it comes to my mind albums like the one of Tarja Turunen. I didn't expect too much about it either. But I think I haven't finished listening to it all the times I tried... so many songs.. so slow... guitars were done copying Nightwish style, always mid-tempo or slooow boring tempo. Tarja signs well, as always, but no future further than Finland and fans of her. Though I like her voice, I cannot stand albums like the one she made.
This last year the long waited album of Nightwish came, and I've found very different opinnions in people. There are lots of fans of the band, that will like everything the name Nightwish sell, so I think they are not going down in sellings and popularity in the next years. The new album is not bad, but the change of singer is not very accepted by several people. I think this is just another season for Nightwish, a new starting with other front female leader. I care more about music itself and I found several lacks in "Dark Passion Play", like the always mid-tempo of Jukka, the lack of guitar solos, guitars "made in Korn", too low riffs with very few melody, and the suomi-style of making songs that they developed since the great "Once". "Once" was really good, but in this new one they are taking this Suomi PopMetal too far, under my sight. I was getting bored that more than half of the songs started in the same way "hard low riffed guitars - stop - drum/bass/voice - bridge - refrain". I'd prefer to be more surprised with the composition. They are getting this with few songs like the first one or those 2 "irish folk influenced" (the one that Marco sings and the consecutive instrumental). In fact I have listened that album like 5 times and later I erased it from my computer like 3 months ago. There are more interesting things to listen.
This year 2007 those 2 german power big ones took out their respective albums
Helloween - Gambling With The Devil : another poor trying of Helloween, that goes on living making concerts with 80% of old songs. I still don't know why, but it's funny that when renamed bands like this one, everytime they make one new cd, all the critics are like "the old Helloween is back! a brand new album of great power metal!!" and things like that.... and afterwards the same critics or even people say.. "oh! the new album is great! not like those last 3 albums!" :O
This is exactly what I have read in several places:
"Gambling... " is a great album that combines their recent way of making music with speedic moments remembering those masterpieces "Keepers"... after those not very good albums like "The Dark Ride","Rabbit... " or "Keeper.. The Legacy" (I think I have listened 5 minutes to that album), they are coming now with the best in years".
They are repeating just this with every new album. I can imagine the critic of the next album ... "After that bad "Gambling.. " Helloween comes back to their roots with the best album since "Better Than Raw" ... :D
Gammaray - Land Of The Free Part II. I still do not get why they called the last album like that great Land Of The Free. They are quite different (This is quite bad :D).
Gammaray is suffering a total lack of inspiration since long time ago. And I remember when me and some friend were talking about when some band is thinking the sellings are coming down and down... (and musical inspiration) they are taking out new cd's with the name of one of their best albums (or the one that made them jump further) and "II part". This was when Rhapsody made "Symphony of enchanted lands II". And right now it comes to my mind other example like
Queensrÿche - Operation Mindcrime II
Usually (maybe always) this kind of 2nd parts are quite worst than those first ones. And this is also the case of Gamma Ray. I found it predictable, lots of Maiden touchs (and even riffs!! plagiarism?) and copies of other songs Gamma Ray made before (like we are used in the last cd's).
Dimmu Borgir made an album also in 2007, and though being one of my favourites of all times.. I would advice them to take one breath before making one new album...
And since I am finding more and more bands that are making metalcore or death metalcore or deathcore .. or things like that, I think this is the new fashion in metal. Like times before the fashion was epic symphonic metal, or later female fronted gothic metal, or suomi metal, and even since years ago viking metal... right now I am finding that lots of metalcore bands or some variety of this are growing under stones (spanish phrase :D).
Yeh, even in metal there are fashions.

One present of one not very known band of Industrial Metal, but really funny.
Someone made a video of the cover song Ma Baker mixing videos of Sepultura and Scissor Sisters
Knorkator - Ma Baker

4 comentarios:

Anónimo dijo...

BOAS! que deserto vexo esto...

Incrible que non haxa xente discutindo sobre como se che ocurre poñer o disco de Therion como mellor do ano, ou como se che ocorre meter o tan criticado disco de annihilator... e por suposto como non aparecen na lista os discazos dos gamma ray, primal fear ou iced earth :D
Ó que me refiro é que este tema, partindo por suposto do subxetivo que é facer unha listaxe cos mellores do ano, daba pra moita guerra desas que nos coñecemos.
Bueno, xa que naide se animou, en ver de adicar este valioso tempo en estudiar, voume permitir ser o primeiro en falar do ranking:

1. Noraboa, a min estallariame a cabeza se me teño que poñer a escoller entre discos que me parecen cojonudos, pero bueno, lonxe do mérito, ahora tocache escoitar as críticas :)

2. TURISAS!!! o seu disco merece sen lugar a dúbidas estar, cando menos, nos 15 primeiros ¿razóns? variedade e frescura compositiva, que dan como resultado un disco pra non aburrirse.Tamén voto de menos na lista o disco de Deadlock, e ahora que se me vén á mente...¿Como non aparece a banda sonora de Metalocalypse??? De segunda a poñía eu! JEJE MURDER FACE RULES!

3. Therion: dacordo, tamén lle dou o meu voto como disco do ano.

4. Nighwish: pareceme raro que ninguén comentase nada acerca que un disco coma este, por expectativa levantada, por número de ventas e pola producción que ten, non saia na lista. ¿É que todo o mundo está dacordo con que foi un fiasco?

5. Os grandes lanzamentos do 2007: no 2006 agardábanse con expectación os lanzamentos dos xa citados nightwish, de gamma ray, helloween, Sonata Artica, iced Earth, Finntroll, Dream theater... moitos deles auténticas decepcións ben por ser autenticos zurullos, ben por repetir fórmulas repetitivas, se ben, nalgún caso xa era a crónica dunha morte anunciada... parece que manter unha liña compositiva de calidade parece complicado tanto pras vellas coma pras novas glorias.

666. O Black metal: Dinme conta que na lista este estilo non está representado, anque hai tres grupos descoñecidos pra min (igual falo por falar) o que vexo máis vinculado a este estilo son as súas vertentes máis melódicas, caso de Rotting Christ, e folkloricas, caso de Manegarm, e vendo que cada vez máis Behemoth se alonxa cara terreos máis death metaleiros ¿Que pasou co black metal? xa non hai discos de calidade... Coincido que o de Dimmu Borgir tampouco merece estar na lista.

Bueno, a ver se alguén se anima a opinar, sobre estas custións (Simón, ¿onde colocarias a Cage? :)
SAUDOS E HUMMPA!!!

enlil dijo...

Ahi vou!!

1. Gracias, non sabes cántisimas veces os oin cada un deles e uns cantos centos mais :D

2. A Turisas deixeino nos que tiven tanto tempo indeciso, pero que como poño.. se fixera a lista outro dia.. igual os metía ou igual no entre os 5 ultimos.
O de Dethlock, non ta mal, pero simplemente non considero que teña tanta calidade coma os que tan ahi :P

3. Therion é un grupo que pasará á historia do metal.
Cada disco ten cousas novas e diferentes, pero consiguen non perder un chisco de calidade, e por veces parece que se superan a si mismos.

4. Nightwish, xa falei un cacho sobre eles...
Non creo que todos esteñan de acordo en que sexa un fiasco.. mira as notas da enquisa que teño ahi á dereita!
Pero é que nin sequera a min me parece un fiasco! Simplemente non é tan bon coma o resto, eu non sabía moi ben qué esperar del antes de oilo, asi que non tiña moitas expectativas e dediqueime a oílo desde o mais puro excepticismo e vaciando a cabeza de todo o preconcebido co nombre Nightwish. Aaai se fixeran asi moitos con Metallica aparte de Nightwish... :DDDD

5. De acordo, solo uns poucos poden manter orixinalidade e calidade sen repetirse. Therion, Opeth.. e algún mais teñen unha carreira case que intachable.. e incluso mellorándose co tempo.

6. Rotting Christ é black e ta num.7!
Profugus mortis son black power folk
In Vain son Death/Black progresivo
Manegarm son Viking/Black/Folk
Igual te refieres ó black de pura cepa, pero ultimamente non vexo sair moitos grupos dese estilo, e os que o facian levan uns anos variando hacia outros derroteiros.. sobre todo hacia o Death Metal.

PD: o de opinar.. xa viches o meu post...
A Simón??? vaslle preguntar a un bon! que nin puxo un post desde que fixen este blog en Septiembre do 2006 cando tabamos todos en plenas batallas dialécticas ou comentando as miñas bizarras experiencias...

Anónimo dijo...

metallica ?? has dicho metallica ??
no tio, por ahi no paso.
que vaaaaa.
tal vez ellos deberian haber cambiado de nombre cuando decidieron hacer rock FM.
que noo, que no nos eches la culpa a los seguidores de la mediocridad de sus albumes, que no tenemos reparos, que todos amamos a metallica, pero hasta el black album, el resto no es metallica, es una puta franquicia.

enlil dijo...

Eh? hehe
ahora si que me perdín.. donde dixen metallica?
Completamente de acordo, metallica deran un pequeno cambio co "black album", ainda que aceptable, ese disco ainda ten moi boas cancións. Pero logo de Loads e Reloads..
Eu xa non me esperaba moito cando sacaran esa cousa que se chama St. Anger que era a "volta ás raices", pero cando o oin ..uf mima.. bueno, "oin".. porque non cheguei a aguantar máis de 1 minuto de cada canción.
E este ano toca o novo.. "outra vez de volta ás orixes" hahah
A credibilidade de Ulrich e Hetfield é cero. Pero ainda asi seguirán vendendo... porque a marca "Metallica" sigue vendendo. Asi que non solo hai cabezóns que compran todo o que sale nos outros estilos jejej
Eu sempre pensei que alguén que lle gustara os metallica dos 80 non gustaría do ultimo disco, pero atopeime con moitisima xente que gusta de toda a discografia. Incluso do ultimo, ese infumable "Santa Rabia".
Se ese ultimo disco o sacaran.. hmmm "a banda que ta empezando que saca a sua primeira maqueta" nin os seus amigos lles comprarian o cd XDD