Helsingfors - Schematics EP

Some Guy here with some more delicious new music for you. I was quite surprised to see an email from a person in a band. I was even more surprised when I realized it wasn’t asking to remove a download link but rather telling me to give this EP a listen.

Today we have Schematics, the debut EP from Helsingfors, an instrumental math / post rock band from the UK. This EP is released for free digitally on the internet, so you don’t have to feel bad about downloading it. And that’s a good thing, because it’s an enjoyable way to spend 22 minutes. It’s got that delicious mathy sound similar to bands like By the End of Tonight or Maybeshewill yet continues to be unique and not boring. If you’re turned off by the heaviness of other math / post rock bands you’ll probably enjoy this. It’s nowhere near as loud as many of the bands in this genre. As with most match rock it’s quite complex and always interesting. There’s never a dull moment on this EP. It’s like eating only one potato chip. You try to listen to it just once, but you crave more! But then you cry because they don’t have a full length out yet. Personally I can’t wait until they do release one. This is great stuff!

Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?d3nymxjzim4

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Stream of Passion - the Flame Within

Ah yes, Stream of Passion. I’ve been waiting to get my ears on a downloaded copy of this album without those annoying promo voiceovers in the middle. Their new album, “The Flame Within”, was another one of my most anticipated for the year. There’s something about the vocals of Mexican singer Marcela Bovio that just makes me let out a long dreamy sigh.

It’s a shame that aside from Macela’s vocals there isn’t much else that’s good about this album. It’s just snooze inducing generic metal. I wouldn’t even call this progressive metal anymore. I really didn’t think that Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s absence would make this downright boring, but it somehow did. And where the hell are the fucking violins? The violins made their first album awesome, but now they’re pretty much nonexistent. What the hell guys, seriously. You don’t remove one of the defining elements of your sound, especially when it was one of the most unique and interesting things about you. It’s like as if you always go the same bakery to buy these sweet delicious cupcakes because they have the best frosting ever, and you go there one day only to discover that they got rid of the frosting and replaced it with some generic Betty Crocker stuff you can get at any grocery store. You’d probably want to break a shovel over that baker’s head. Or at least I would, I take my pastry eating very seriously.

This album is boredom converted into MP3 files. It will make you want to write an angry letter to Arjen Anthony Lucassen demanding that he return to this band and make it not suck. In fact, it’s so terrible I’m just going to mooch some other blog’s download link. And it’s in two parts, on Rapidshit no less, to discourage you from downloading this.

Download links: http://link-protector.com/x-103401
http://link-protector.com/x-103402

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Devin Townsend Project - Ki

And now I remembered a little while ago I said I was going to review both the new Riverside and the new Devin Townsend. Apparently Riverside and Those Poor Bastards distracted me a bit. This isn’t surprising, I’m terribly easy to distract. Anyways this is a bit late but I’m sure you all are just gasping in anticipation as to what I think of this album.

Of course it’s good! I don’t do negative reviews, unless there’s something that really disappoints me or makes me angry. Devin Townsend is an interesting man, to say the least. It’s always interesting to see what he’s going to do, even though I don’t really like his main band Strapping Young Lad. His solo work is just amazing, and his brief appearance on Ayreon’s The Human Equation album was also amazing. It’s a shame Arjen shafted him and only used his vocals for like 3 songs. Anyways, Ki is at times very mellow and borderline relaxing. And then it goes to metal, and back to atmospheric. Vocals aren’t bad, but certainly nothing to write home about. There are a few tracks that are just kinda boring however. It’s a good thing they are over quickly and the music returns to progressive deliciousness. This is not Townsend’s best work, but it’s still good. I’m quite interested to see what he’s going to do with his next albums. Apparently they are all going to have a very unique sound. It’s certainly going to be amazing. This one was good, but can Towsend do better? We will wait and see.

Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?ywmgzzoto3j

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Some Guy OUT!

Awesome Albums You Should Probably Listen To: Those Poor Bastards - Songs of Desperation

Sometimes music makes you happy. Sometimes music makes you sad. Sometimes music makes you so miserable that it’s awesome. Some Guy is here with yet another Awesome Album You Should Probably Listen To; I’m sick of reviewing post rock and that seems to be all that’s coming out these days. Is this the Year of Post Rock or something? Anyways here’s something that’s most certainly not post rock.

Those Poor Bastards are a miserable band indeed. When I first heard this gothic country (Yes, you read that correctly, gothic country) duo a few months ago I wasn’t impressed. Recently I revisited them and I must say that this is just amazing. Country is in itself a sad and depressing genre of music, but you won’t find tales of lost dogs, broken trucks or how great America is here. Those Poor Bastards instead focus on more interesting lyrical topics such as murder, drugs, death, adultery (Or maybe it’s just cheating, it’s not quite clear), revenge, among other things. Now I know what you’re thinking. “But Some Guy, its country! Only inbred rednecks from the backwoods of Tennessee and NASCAR fans listen to country!” Your fears are reasonable but not really needed. This is like indie country; you can still listen to it and retain your coolness. Also fun is this band’s frequent usage of a banjo! Who doesn’t love banjos? I think we all can agree that banjos make everything better, like didgeridoos. This is certainly more interesting than any other country I’ve ever heard and I’m sure you’ll agree. The two guys in the band are also apparently holiness preachers, whatever that is.

If you’ve ever found yourself tired of the clichés of commercialized country then you’ll love these guys. Fans of doom metal and depressive /suicidal black metal might also dig this as it also evokes that same feeling of melancholy.

Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?mnn9fbsyzo0

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Some Guy OUT

Awesome Albums You Should Probably Listen to: Mischief Brew - Songs From Under the Sink

It’s that time again, people. I’m bored so I’m going to write up another Awesome Album You Should Probably Listen To. I’ve noticed that this blog is just too damned full of metal and post rock. What’s up with that? I tried to diversify things with P.O.S. but that post mysteriously vanished. What we need is something awesome from a genre that’s completely different than everything else on here, and Some Guy knows what exactly what that is!

Mischief Brew is probably my favorite folk punk band (Which is basically punk but with acoustic guitars and stuff) and their Songs From Under the Sink album is just awesome. They are infinitely more amazing than the significantly more popular bands in the genre such as Against Me! or Flogging Molly. My favorite part of this is Erik Petersen’s unique vocals. I don’t really know how to describe what he sounds like, but I assure you it’s awesome. The lyrics are mostly about cool stuff like coffee and anarchy. Apparently the two go together quite well, would you have ever guessed? Musically it’s folkish and punkinsh. This album is almost 100% acoustic and is just damned amazing. It's also better than Mischief Brew's other album because there are NO ACCORDIONS. I can’t think of a single thing I don’t like about this one. It’s only 45 minutes long? I don’t know something like that. I’m certain you’ll all love it.

Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?1zrm9iynmwz

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Some Guy OUT!

Saxon Shore - It Doesn't Matter

Because I know you guys are just quivering for more good music, I’ve got another great post rock album for you! In case you haven’t figured it out by now this is Some Guy. I’m much better at this than Preacher, he’s always so busy with stuff and now he’s all getting ready for Hellfest. He’s going to have so much fun while I get to sit around writing things for this here blog all day. Lucky you people!

Saxon Shore plays usually mellow yet still interesting post rock, kinda like Explosions in the Sky. Their recently released It Doesn’t Matter is quite a bit better than anything EitS ever put out though. Don’t get me wrong they are an awesome band but daaaaaamn this is great stuff! A few months ago I checked out The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore and it was a decent album, but this new one blows that away like a feather next to a deflating hot air balloon. I’m sorry for that terrible analogy but I’m sure you get the idea. Anyways in case you missed it before this is the dreamy kind of post rock. It’s got the whole quiet noises and then POOF it suddenly gets amazing kind of thing going on. This is typical of bands in the genre of course so that’s not surprising, but the depth of dreaminess of It Doesn’t Matter is unmatched. The only thing that pissed me off here is how on the first song when the music begins to get interesting it suddenly becomes OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD HOLY FUCK. But that’s just about it on the bad things; I wouldn’t recommend listening to this album at 3 AM when people are sleeping.

You will be impressed with this album, I was. And if not well that’s because you have bad taste in music. Just kidding I love you, please continue reading this blog because by doing so you help me live in a fantasy world where my opinions matter.

I got a request from someone to remove the download link, here's a buy one instead: http://www.amazon.com/It-Doesnt-Matter/dp/B0027QXUCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1245686560&sr=8-1

www.saxonshore.com

Some Guy OUT!

Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition

It’s been way too long since I posted anything on here. I’m way too lazy sometimes; the internet is such a powerful distraction. In fact, if that one guy hadn’t reminded me of the new Riverside album I would probably have forgotten that I even have a blog. Stupid Preacher has a life so he doesn’t get to post much, but without me this blog would have totally died. And that would have made you, our wonderful readers (All 3 of you), sad. And then I knew what I had to do, I had to review that new Riverside album. That’s what the people want, and I was certain it was going to be awesome. However I was simply not prepared for what I was about to listen to, the most amazing progressive rock album I’ve heard since I discovered Porcupine Tree.

Riverside’s Anno Domini High Definition is simply awesome. Well everything about it is awesome except the title. Did they seriously have to add the “high definition” part? Were all of their old albums in low definition or something? Anyways, I can’t think of anything else about this album that isn’t awesome. Riverside is a band that falls in that strange void between rock and metal. Is it rock? Is it metal? I don’t know, the internet says rock, but sometimes I wonder. The sound is very heavy, with some very metal riffs and kickass drumming combined with great bass. One of my favorite things about prog and avant garde music is that you can actually hear the bass most of the time! Even the keyboards kick ass. How often do you hear that a band has awesome keyboards? Yeah, you don’t. Ever. The vocals are also pretty nice, although I don’t really like the screamy kinda thing he does. It sounds rather silly I’d say. Also, just throwing this irrelevant piece of information out there because I'm bored, the song length increases as the album goes on! The first song is like 5 minutes and the last is 11 minutes and 53 seconds, isn't that wacky?

Anyways, this album as a whole is way better than anything I’ve heard from these guys. It’s just all around awesome and I’m sure prog fans will be delighted, I know I am!

Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?om3ncyzkyz0

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Some Guy OUT

Awesome Albums You Should Probably Listen To: Akphaezya - Anthology II

Some Guy again with another Awesome Album You Should Probably Listen To. Should that be capitalized? Hmmm, it is the proper name of a segment on a blog, but is that really a proper noun? I’m going to go with yes. I’ve decided that this blog needs more wacky avant gardiness, so I’ve got some avant garde metal for you! And prog fans will also be delighted because although it is avant garde, it’s not THAT weird, so if you are turned off by the oddness of bands such as Unexpect or Stolen Babies this might be a bit more your style.

In case Yyrkoon wasn’t enough from France for you, today we have Akphaezya. The band describes themselves as “Eklektik Metal”, which I’d imagine is just an avant garde way to say they are avant garde. Their first album, Anthology II, is one of my favorite recent discoveries in this genre. This band combines the beautiful vocals of Nehl Aëlin with the occasional growl or something from one of the dudes in the band with some pretty sick metal riffs. Even more interesting is the frequent usage of the piano. Oh sure, lots of bands use pianos occasionally, but how about one that does it a lot? Yeah, that’s pretty avant garde. The time signatures are always odd, Aëlin’s vocals vary from normal pretty girl stuff to WHAT THE HOW DO PEOPLE DO THAT WITH THEIR VOICE. The lyrics were intriguing at first glance, so I took a trip to the band’s website to see if I could get a glimpse into what the fuck they were talking about. Apparently “Akphaezya” is some kind of other world and they plan to make 4 other anthology albums (Starting with number, because they are avant garde) to tell its story. If you’re like me and love concept albums, then you’ll love this band. They’ve certainly piqued my interest and I hope they release some new material soon.

Download link: www.mediafire.com/?tiyvmdqawtg

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Some Guy OUT