Reviews by deksametazon

This one is surprisingly good. It's very much a product of its time: a mix of alternative/progressive metal a la Tool and that nu-metal vibe worship, but unlike some projects around the time, this one's energy and emotion feels genuine.

I'm not hugely into this kind of music, at least not for the last few years, but I can safely say this is much better than some stuff from this genre that was put under the microscope. The wave-like approach between calm and somber to a crashing sensation filled with a type of anger in Billy's voice and instrumental breakdowns with a lot of emotion, while a staple in the genre, is done in a way that makes the background of being a small project from Nashville much more apparent, and gives them much more room for any kind of artistic exploration, on which they capitalized from a music standpoint.

Shame they never hit it big, or at least, shame this album never hit it big, because this album deserved it. But hey, at least it can find some fame in the internet circles.

Those two final songs, Infant Eyes and Wild Flower, really carry the quality of the album. Just something about the intimacy they provide really ups the level of enjoyment. And makes me relisten to it completely, eventually finding something to like in other songs as well.

Another Albini masterpiece. At Action Park feels like a dash of maturity, and the expansion of the noisy Big Black sound.

Very crispy sound coming from all three guys: the drums from Trainer are precise, Weston's bass has that great metallic twang to it, and alongside the noisy Albini guitar, forms a duo that hits like a freight train once they get rolling.

In terms of expanding, Albini adds the math rock sound he was familiar with since working with Slint and Gastr de Sol, but adds it in a way that doesn't sound wankcious. Instead, it turns an already good, raw, sound into a concise, precise set of punches that always makes you ask for more.

I've had this album in my backlog for a while now, ever since it hit the slowcore/alt-country charts last year.

It's firmly grounded in slowcore, but while other modern slowcore albums have mostly lost the plot that made the originals stand out, There Is a Well is a fresh take on the genre, combining the guitars of Emo, with an occasional solo that gives a new dimension to it. It passes the lyric test too

I found myself repeating this album a couple of times, something I don't normally ever do these days with new music. That's how surprisingly good this is.

A relic of furry history. Actually not bad, pretty standard pop rock music. The opener stands out, but the rest is straight shrug-city that belongs to the mid 70s. Goes to show that furry music isn't bad because it's furry music, but because it's... just bad.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2023: #11 An album of music written by a woman before 1750 (36th Album)

This kind of music makes anything you do feel like it's something bigger than you. Doing the dishes? No, you're cleaning the holy cups that give limitless power. Studying for the midterms? Nah, you're learning the deep dark ancient arts of the human body. Going to see your friends? You're seeing the scholars and exchanging world changing secrets and so on. Really not a bad album, but it's far from anything I would put on.

Although it falls into the "already seen and already done" category, this album by Leah Senior was a hugely pleasant endeavor. The sparse approach instantly puts all the cards on the table, with the songwriting being the clear ace that carries it all throughout. It's not an album I'd put on usually, but I'm glad I listened to it.

This is so good. This is what the Balkans sound once you leave the periphery of any big city. It's in our blood to sound perpetually scared, to the point that even using simple children rhymes flushes out the rawest emotion.

What a letdown, let's be honest. It's bad, but it's not that bad like I expected. When it's him doing standard bluesy soft rock of the 00s variety without him singing much, it sounds passable. Just barely. But that only appears on route 23.

That said, Seagal doesn't have any chops on the vocals. Zero, plain and simple. He sounds like a geriatric grandpa on his hind legs battling the retirement home sound system. And don't get me started on the occasional autotune on some of those high notes, that shit sounds like someone ascending this plane of reality, how out of place and bad it is.

To top it off, any semblance of quality this might've had gets thrown out when Steve tries... reggae and Indian music? He barely scrapes by with blues, but reggae is just some Jamaican man and woman putting energy in it while Steven's dead body attempt to get some words across, and the Indian music is a putrid attempt at atmosphere.

It's a 2/10 album, but I'm bumping it up to a 3/10 because it makes me laugh, and because of... the poonani.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2023: #45 An album from Kurt Cobain's favorite albums (50th Album)

This EP mixes short bursts of tribal drums, mixed with noisy guitar licks and manic vocals, while simultaneously bringing out the brand of noise rock that's at the same time scary and very poppy and stylish.

It might be weird to say, but the vocals remind of a lot of Bryan Ferry with the vibrato. The production job is done just as I like it, with the drums being in the center in a lot of songs, having an almost war drum feeling to it, with the rest of the band not falling behind in the slightest. The idea of a marching-band drum beat coming in makes the anxious feeling of expecting the freaky vocals and guitars a much more visceral experience.

Very competent blueprint EP for a lot of styles of noisy rockage music. But unlike a lot of blueprint pieces of music, this one stands 40 years later. Listen if you're a fan of first wave noise rock.

His previous album, Free Will, was a letdown. As a solo musician, Gil's music is great for a moment, and okay to decent in the long stretch. The addition of Brian Jackson fixes and elevates the problems by creating great lyrics alongside perfectly fitting atmosphere.

It's still very much political, but this album feels much more bluesy in its presentation. The piano is mellow, yet feels very melancholic, and alongside Gil's passionate vocals, it creates a powerfully cold atmosphere. Of course, there is some spoken word poetry, the H2Ogate Blues, but they don't feel forced, and fit very well into the urbanistic landscape of the album.

If you don't like his previous outings, you won't like this one. At the end of the day, it's a continuation of the sound he created from the moment he stepped onto the scene: conscious and powerful social commentary. If anything, this one is even more weary and emotional than anything he has done up to that point. If that's not your vibe, brother, "Peace go onto you" and move on.

I share the sentiment with most here: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is okayish, with a lot of historical significance, but is entirely skippable.

With that out of the way, the rest is a scorching jazzy and funky soul exploration of an individual and the struggles he faces, be it in a form of a fight with an addiction, or a seemingly benign sadness that hides the foul mold of depression. All packaged up in a beautiful and lush album with a great supporting cast to add to Gil's smooth voice

The A side is alright musically, while the B side is some powerful jazz poetry bringing together black people using a range of themes like oppression, drug use, and music. Sadly, the stuff on here just flies over my head, and I'd rather just listen to his debut.

Very hollow album, in a good way. It sounds like the autumn wind caressing your body. Author! Author! is like a combo of Siouxsee and Gang of Four. Angular gothic rock.

But other than that, it doesn't offer a lot more. I liked "Your Attention Please" because it's different than your usual stuff. It's a sort of public annoucment of an impending nuclear disaster. I think it might've been even better if the next song was more darker, but oh well. It's good, but could've been better.

It's one of those radio heavy metal albums. It's decent enough, but the occasional screeching doesn't help. These are the guys you should be blaming for the rise of glam metal.

The Spotify version has two songs in an acoustic setting, and they're much better than anything on the original album. Must be me getting older and past this type of music.

Paket Aranžman is probably the most important single album in the Yugoslavian musical canon, helping kickstart the careers of three young bands, which would plant the seeds of many different alternative rock sub-genres including new wave, post-punk, dub, goth rock, experimental/progressive/art-pop, etc.

The release contains several tracks by three, then widely unknown, Belgrade-based, bands: Šarlo Akrobata, Idoli, and Električni Orgazam. The producer, Enco Lesić, gave the youngsters full creative control and free studio time, and in return, the bands gave him some of their most memorable tracks.

Every band had a strong punk song on here, but each added their unique twist to it:

Šarlo Akrobata starts and ends the album, and funnily enough, starts and ends it with their two most known songs, the dubby "Ona Se Budi" and the ska-punk "Niko Kao Ja". In between are two tracks "Oko Moje Glave" and "Mali Čovjek" where you can clearly hear the influence of prominent art punkers at the time like Pere Ubu, and Gang of Four, yet they don't veer into the sound of any of the two aforementioned bands.

Električni Orgazam hides in the middle with their three songs. Fun fact, Električni Orgazam is the only band on this album that will use material recorded here on their debut, with both "Krokodili Dolaze" and "Vi" making an appearance, albeit both songs being re-recorded for their debut. Also, another fun fact, the drummer, Goran Čavajda, recorded his parts just before leaving for his mandatory military service, which meant that he was not present in the subsequent photoshoot, and was replaced by Mango, the drummer that also played on the debut. The sound of Električni Orgazam is unique in the way that they played punk laced with manic attitude and coldwave influences, the latter being apparent on "Zlatni Papagaj" and the former on "Krokodili Dolaze". The track "Vi" is much better on this album than the rerecorded debut, though that's a subjective opinion.

Idoli are probably the weirdest band on here, which is even weirder because the other two bands got weirder on their debuts, as opposed to Idoli who were weird here but got less weird on their debut. Weird huh? "Schwule uber Europa" is a song entirely recorded in german, with the instrumental akin to some military march songs, and the text being some weird german yelling that I'm too tired to look into. "Amerika" is a psychedelic-krautrock 8-minute mesmerizing extravaganza of a piece with beautifully monotonous guitar picking, machine-like drum playing, and the boys chanting "Aaaaaaamerika" and "A ja kažem A, a, Amerika" which I can only imagine happening in my dreams. "Plastika" is Idoli's punk contribution to this album, with lyrics that are either nonsensical or a beautiful display of modern society condensed into words. And then we have "Maljčiki", their most famous song is a mocking of Russian folk songs which is amazing, considering they managed to make a cohesive, beautiful new wave song out of something that's so bland and lifeless.

All in all? Important and amazing all the way through. If you wanted to know what album is considered the beginning of the most prolific era in Yugoslavian music, look no further than here.

You could condense the originality of the Yugoslavian 80s new wave scene into two bands: the world-influenced Haustor, and the urbanistic maniacism of Sarlo Akrobata.

Disjointed in every facet of their existance, this seminal album is a mix between early Ekatarina Velika and Disciplina Kicme, or post-punk with No Wave and dub, with Vd being the force that connects the two and makes them sound coherent enough. Angular and singular.

Both Milan and Koja are far away from being masters of their craft, which is a good thing, as them being fairly young and inexperienced meant their talents would mesh together with less effort, as is the case here.

Really good and unique stuff. Most of the time, when listening to Yugoslavian music, you can instantly point to parallels with their western compadres. With Sarlo Akrobata, it's a bit harder (in big part due to Koja), which is why I like them, and this album. Undeniable musical talent meets creative vision.

Good, but not great. It's raw, downtrodden, and lo-fi to the point you start to question was it even sent to be mastered and not just shipped to the masses as the basement-like recording it is.

Really good album. It's an obvious Sabbath worship, but it stands out with its vocals being more searing than Ozzy's, and the instrumental work taking notes from NWOBHM. I'd still choose Sabbath over this (who wouldn't?), but if Sabbath didn't exist anymore, this would be a good substitution.

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2025: #42 An album from Henry Rollins' list of favorite albums (5th Album)

Is it weird for me to like Messin' With the Kid, the longest song, and most unpunk song on a punk album?

Yeah, I'm not so sure about this one. As a relic of the past and historical significance in the development of aussie punk, it's up there, but listening to this one 48 years later feels redundant, especially since the sound is dated and brings nothing new. Kinda like the Sex Pistols.

First time I'm diving into a full Sade album, and I can see why I admired her/their work only from a distance. Perfect radio music, but once you start listening more intently, you hear the flaws.

Sade's voice is beautiful, but the accompanying music is inoffensively bad, so all the songs, bar Smooth Operator, sound the same to me. It's all too polite without a lot of moments that make you think "damn, this is good". It's too clean and sterile, much like the cafe this usually plays in.