Album Review - Koloss

Artist: Meshuggah (Sweden)

Release Date: 30^th March, 2012

I mentioned in my review of their supporting slot for The Devin Townsend Project that Meshuggah are true innovators.  They are the creators of a metal sub-genre that they stood alone in until recently.  Still, it has taken most of these new bands fifteen years to catch up with Meshuggah’s technicality and how to use that technicality to create excellent songs (there are plenty out there who have amazing technical abilities but can’t write a decent song).  So, now that the rest of the metal world is catching up to the almighty Meshuggah, their new album, Koloss, arrives with a certain amount of expectation.  Whether it meets the expectations of listeners, I think, will hinge on two important questions; how will they respond now that they suddenly have contemporaries, and, will they still be the kings of technical metal?

            For me, the answers to those questions are, “Ok” and “mmmm, maybe…yeah, probably”.  Koloss is, by no means, a bad album.  It’s just a very average Meshuggah album.  Now, I should stress again, that this is merely my opinion (before you decide to burn me at the stake, please read my first ever post here).  I’ve spoken to a few metal fans that are really enjoying what Koloss has to offer.  For me, its’ just not doing much at the moment.

            The main problem is the relentless nature of the album.  Where their pre-Catch Thirty-Three releases demonstrated an amazing ability to build tension and then release a brutal storm of metal excellence, Koloss seems to be stuck in the one gear.  There are very few ups and downs in terms of the album’s dynamics.  It’s mostly, “everything turned up to eleven”.  Many people will enjoy that, but I like my albums to have some give and take, to give you some moments where you are anticipating the impending mayhem.  I think it helps albums to flow and take the listener on a journey.

            Many of the riffs are also fairly Meshuggah-by-numbers.  There seems to be a lack of inspiration in the band with a lot of riffs being surprisingly simple and/or not up to Mushuggah’s usual lofty standards.  For the first time ever, the vocals are also grating on me.  Again, there is very little variation in them.  There are hardly any changes in pitch or intensity, which means that the lacklustre riffs are exposed more than they otherwise would be.

            Being the legends they are, Meshuggah do still pull out a few jaw dropping moments such as in the face melting The Hurt That Finds You First.  Just before the two-minute mark, what has been a single stringed, palm-muted thrash riff, suddenly becomes a chugged, multi-stringed sludge fest that presents Meshuggah in a dirtier way than they ever have been before.  Likewise, the closing riff of Marrow and the opening riff of Swarm are classic Meshuggah; technical and groove laden in a way that only they can be.  On top of this, Don’t Look Down probably wouldn’t be out of place on their excellent 2002 effort, Nothing.  Unfortunately, much of their good work is ruined by fourth track, Behind The Sun.  It’s such a slow, boring piece of music that it makes Lethargica from their last album, ObZen, seem like a dance party.  It’s position in the first half of the album also makes it difficult for the listener to want to continue on and get into what follows.  Or, at least, that’s how it works for me.

            It’s pretty clear that I’m disappointed with this release.  Like I have said, I know plenty of people who are really digging this.  Maybe it’s just not a Meshuggah time for me right now.  It may take a few months and then suddenly I’ll throw it on and everything will just click and I’ll love it, and if that happens I’ll be back on here recanting every statement that I’ve made (although, my opinion on Behind The Sun, I think, is fairly unshakeable).  But, to me, Meshuggah seem to be suffering from being compared to their past glories.  Having created the masterpiece that is Chaosphere, Meshuggah have the unfortunate problem of having everything they do compared to that milestone.  Meshuggah might still be the front-runners of modern metal, but there are signs that the rest of the pack is catching up.

Album Review - Young Man Old Man

Artist: Hoodlum Shouts (Aus)

Release Date: 28^th March, 2012

While much of this year has been taken up by my own overblown hype regarding new albums by some of my favourite artists (The Mars Volta, Meshuggah, the impending Soundgarden release and the possibility of new Pearl Jam and Tool albums by the year’s end), it is genuinely refreshing to be listening, jaw-dropped to an album that, while I thought it would be good, didn’t expect to be such a rewarding, brilliant listen comparable to the very best music going around right now.  The best way I can describe my first listening experience of Canberra based quartet Hoodlum Shouts’ debut album, Young Man Old Man, is by comparing it to daring your younger brother to punch you in the face.  You know it’s coming, you know it’ll be half decent, but really, you have it in your head that because he’s smaller than you, there’s no possible way he can deliver a blow that knocks you off your feet.  Then, suddenly, you’re on your back, face covered in blood, unable to speak because you have a fractured jaw and unable to recall the moments between your brother winding up and the present moment of total confusion over how he managed to inflict so much damage on your poor face.  At the same time though, you have a certain sense of pride about the proceedings.  There’s no ill will.  He is, after all, your brother. 

Young Man Old Man did exactly that to me.  I knew it was going to be a decent listen, but I didn’t realise that it would be the passion-drenched powerhouse that it is.  I felt, afterwards, utterly stupid for not knowing of this band earlier than I had, yet proud that I own their music and am able to listen to it as it’s coming out.  From the beginning drone of instrumental intro La Nina, to the closing moments of Last Of Them, Hoodlum Shouts don’t let up.  But rather than try and run you over and force you to listen to them by coming straight at you and pounding you over the head, they create an atmosphere that slowly drags you towards them.  You get sucked into their world and their ideals through a sound that I’ve described to friends as “doom punk”.  They are, undoubtedly, a punk band.  The political nature of their lyrics, their association with the excellent Poison City Records and the non-stop, relentless attitude they display towards touring and live performance confirms this.  But where many punk bands go for speed and quick statements to get their points across, Hoodlum Shouts slow everything down.  They create atmospheres out of simple, repeated chords that force you to rock your head back and forth and get caught up in their groove.

The highlight of the album would have to be the two-parted title tracks, Young Man and Old Man.  Placed right in the middle of the album, it is clear that the band wants particular attention paid to these tracks.  When I saw them play about a month ago, vocalist Sam Leyshon, introduced the song by stating that it was about former rugby league player (and the first major professional sports person to come out about his homosexuality in Australia), Ian Roberts.  The song seems to concern Roberts’s relationship with murdered teen Aaron Light.  While I don’t know much about the subject (rugby stories are generally ignored in Melbourne’s mainstream media thanks to the dominance of Australian Rules Football), the song has certainly made me want to find out more, as any good punk song should.  It presents you with an issue, or an incident that highlights something very specific about the world we live in and forces you to question it, form your own opinions and challenge the general consensus.  On top of all of this, it is a powerful, emotion filled track that forces you to pay attention and sweeps you away with its lament of someone lost who didn’t deserve the fate that they were given.

To wrap things up, I honestly can’t recommend this album enough.  Sure, it won’t be everyone’s idea of good music, but there hasn’t been a band that has invited a listener to challenge themselves and their views like this in a long, long time.  I have been, and will be, listening to this album over and over again.  Just like a brother with a talent for smashing faces, you can stand behind this album and be confident that it will help you fight your fights with its passion and ideals.  Ladies and gentlemen, Hoodlum Shouts’ Young Man Old Man album has become my first true contender for album of the year.  Be sure you head out and see them on their upcoming tour!

Live Review - Bon Iver

8 March, 2012 – Sidney Myer Music Bowl

There’s something that happens to some of us the first time we experience seeing music performed live.  There is a feeling experienced that, while impossible to describe, changes us forever.  It changes the way we experience music and the world around us.  We begin chasing that feeling by seeing as many bands as we can, endlessly. We base our friendships on shared stories of musical experiences and tastes.  When we meet new people, we often take them to a show in order to reflect our love of live music.  While that first experience may dull with the passing of time and hardly rank in our “Top Gigs of All Time” lists (for some of us, it may even become a source of humourous shame), its emotional imprint leaves a hole in us that we strive to fill.  As we attend more and more shows, that hole becomes harder and harder to fill as we become more and more accustomed to how bands perform, and that feeling that we yearn for is felt less and less.  At times we may become extremely cynical and make rather rash comments about the bands performing for us, but we never, ever give up on the possibility of experiencing that indescribable feeling again.  We keep attending gig after gig hoping that we will see something truly awesome; and I mean awesome in its purest form in that we experience something that inspires nothing but awe in us.  For me, I can name exactly every show that has inspired awe in me and has left me with such a feeling that, in the days following, I’ve questioned what I do in my normal day-to-day activities.  After all, how can ordinary life possibly live up to the feeling of sheer euphoria experienced the night before?  Those shows have been Pearl Jam (18 & 19 Feb 2003, 16 Nov 2006, 14 & 20 Nov 2009 and 3 & 4 Sept 2011), Radiohead (26 April 2004), Tool (23 July 2001, I’ve since seen Tool another three times, but nothing has ever touched that first experience) and Sigur Rós (3 August 2005 and 1 August 2008).  Now, that might seem like a lot, but I’ve been attending shows for fourteen years, which means that these truly awe inspiring gigs occur less than once a year for me and without Pearl Jam, they would only occur once every three and a half years.  I tell you all of this because I believe that it is important for you understand how rare this kind of show is, and how truly amazing Bon Iver’s performance was in order for me to add his March 8, 2012 show at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl to this list.

            Bon Iver began the night’s proceedings with the opening track from his latest album (Bon Iver, Bon Iver), the excellent Perth.  The crowd, seemingly ecstatic with anticipation, let out a tremendous roar as those first few notes were played as though it were the single moment they’d been waiting for to express just how much they love Bon Iver’s music and how much they had been looking forward to this event.  As the song moved on into its explosive closing section, it was already clear that this was going to be a very special night.  Every element of the performance had been carefully catered for.  An unexpected, but surprisingly effect mammoth live sound help fill the air with the true beauty that is Bon Iver’s music.  Every note carefully planned to take the listener on a journey.  The stage production with the seemingly simple rags hanging from the lighting scaffolds became incredibly effective projection screens as their unique shape allowed the lighting to create shadows, colours and effects to compliment the aural journey in every way.  The best way I can describe the lighting and stage production is that it’s as if Justin Vernon had taken his favourite parts of Sigur Rós and Radiohead live shows and recreated them with his own unique vision.

            While every single song was a highlight that tested and encouraged the flow of emotion, there were some utterly breathtaking tracks that need to be mentioned, the first of which came with recent single, Holocene.  It was one of those special moments where the band members and the crowd all seemed to blend together and become one, moving through the song like a beautifully complex creature.  It’s a synergy that is incredibly rare, but unmistakable when it happens.  When the song had finished, at least half the audience members I could see were in tears, with the other half on the brink of letting theirs out.  They weren’t tears of sadness because it was/is a sad song, they were the kind of tears that the body brings forth when overwhelmed by pure joy.

            Another highlight was re: stacks from his 2008 debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago.  In contrast with the rest of the evening, Vernon elected to play this one solo.  His eight-piece band left the stage, leaving Vernon to perform one of the most heartfelt tracks in his catalogue.  It was as though he wanted to highlight the loneliness and isolation of the song by having his normally full stage appear sparse, almost desolate.  It worked because as the song wound through its verses and choruses the crowd was almost silent, allowing the pain of the song to be expressed fully by the very man who felt it and experienced it so intimately that the only way it could come out was through song.

            In contrast, Blood Bank, from the 2009 Blood Bank EP, was ramped up with drums and keys to give it a more rollicking feel.  It created an excellent counterpoint to the slower, freer choruses and allowed these parts of the song to be accentuated in a way that they aren’t on record.

            Eventually, the night did have to come to a close.  Pressed for time by the Sidney Myer Music Bowl’s 11pm weeknight curfew, the band abandoned the usual, obligatory walk off stage/pretend encore that seem to be the norm these days.  Instead, they pressed through and closed with crowd favourite, and breakthrough hit, Skinny Love and the haunting Wolves (Act I and II).  Both songs had the audience in full voice, singing along at the top of their lungs and, at times, drowning out the band as both parties made the most of their final moments together.  Vernon appeared to be truly appreciative of the crowd and revealed that the 12,000 strong crowd was the biggest they had ever played to and that it was a night that he and the band would not forget.  The crowd equally felt that sentiment as they gave the band an ovation, the volume of which I have not heard in a very long time.  It was the sound of the people thanking the band for putting in the effort required to create a truly special and memorable live performance.  As the house lights went up and the crowd began making their way to the exits, I found myself sitting perfectly still.  I didn’t want to move, even slightest little bit.  I knew that if I moved, the moment would be over.  The experience would pass from being right now, to being in the past.  Try as I did, the moment did pass and is now memory.  But it is a memory that I will hold for a very long time, as it sincerely was one of the best live shows that I have ever attended.  Thank you Bon Iver!

Live Review - Meshuggah/Thursday

29 February, 2012 – The Forum Theatre/Billboards, Melbourne

This particular evening was an interesting one.  With Soundwave festival only two days away, the night was filled with sideshows.  Just about every venue in Melbourne had been booked by a band playing the festival.  While this was great for live music in the city, it also meant that you had a hell of a lot of trouble trying to pick which show to go to because they were all on the same night.  Personally, I chose to go to two shows.  I decided I would begin my night at The Forum Theatre and watch Swedish metallers, Meshuggah, supporting Devin Townsend, then leave before Devin Townsend started playing and make my way a few blocks to Billboards to watch post-hardcore veterans, Thursday, perform their last headlining show ever.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive Devin fan.  I love his music and he is truly awesome live.  If you have the chance to see him, do so.  You won’t regret it.  However, for me, seeing Thursday perform for the last time was a little more important than seeing Devin play for the third time.  Devin will be back and I will be there, but Thursday would be gone forever after this evening (unless of course they take the standard ten year break and then come back at Coachella which seems to be the trend lately).

            Meshuggah truly are one of the innovators of modern metal music.  Their style has since been imitated by a thousand other bands and has recently given rise to the relatively new “djent” movement.  Just to give you an idea as to how influential Meshuggah have been, their first release to gain international attention was 1995’s Destroy Erase Improve.  After that, they released their groundbreaking masterpiece, Chaosphere, in 1998 before 2002’s Nothing helped them land an audience in the U.S.  The band has been so far ahead of the curve that it is only now that other bands have begun successfully incorporating Meshuggah’s sound into their own music.  So, it is with some anticipation that one attends a Meshuggah show, knowing that you are about to witness a true original.

            Having said all this, it was my fifth time seeing Meshuggah play.  Every time they’ve played Melbourne, I’ve been there.  Their first tour here was in 2008 to promote the relatively new ObZen album and they have toured here two more times without any new material being released.  The first time I saw them, they were absolutely breathtaking; one of the best live bands I had ever seen up to that point.  The next time they played here, some of the shine had worn off.  Without any new music to play, they played a fairly predictable setlist and lacked the energy they had shown last time.  Thomas Haake’s back surgery may have had some contribution, but he still showed enough skill to prove that, even in his “not quite 100%” state, he could still out-drum nearly anyone on the planet.  Now, seeing them again, the band played much better than they had played last time, but there was a definite lack of energy.

            The problem with seeing Meshuggah at the moment is that their set draws heavily on two albums (ObZen and Nothing) and while there is nothing wrong with those two albums, it means they neglect the two albums that many people consider to be their finest (Destroy Erase Improve and Chaosphere).  While the band plays each song with perfection, songs like Lethargica could easily be replaced by something like Neurotica, Future Breed Machine, Suffer In Truth or Humiliative from their older albums.  Australian fans have seen them play ObZen and Nothing material and there seemed to be a feeling of disappointment when the only older track they played was the incredible New Millennium Cyanide Christ.  Even new song, Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion, while it had much more power than its released version, failed to spark much of an interest in me as it plods along and sounds, to me, like Meshuggah on autopilot.  It is a bit of a shame to write these things about a band that I respect so much, but I am still very much looking forward to hearing Koloss at the end of this month.  Live though, Meshuggah need to vary their setlist as playing virtually the same thing for five years is starting to get a little old.

            It was then on to see Thursday at Billboards.  Thursday had made it known prior to this show that it would be the last headlining show they would ever perform (their last actual set would be at Perth’s Soundwave).  Needless to say, it was an emotional evening, not only for the band, but also for the fans.  It was both parties’ chance to say good-bye and thank you to one another for more than a decade of great music, excellent shows and good times had together.  To celebrate the occasion, Thursday had also announced that they would play their breakthrough album, 2001’s Full Collapse, in its entirety.  Personally, I am more of a casual fan.  I loved their 2003 album War All The Time, but hadn’t really followed much of their work before or since.  Every time they’ve come out to play a festival, I’ve always checked their set out and been impressed by their energy and commitment to their audience.  But I had never been to one of the band’s own headlining shows, and so I felt the need to finally see one, their last one, before they were gone for good.

            For the entire night the crowd was in full voice, determined to send the band off with as much love as possible.  They sang along to every line and even took over from vocalist, Geoff Rickly, on many occasions.  In turn, Rickly thanked the crowd over and over again for their support and spoke about how grateful the band was for the career that they have had.  When it came to offering a reason for the band’s demise, Rickly simply stated that sometimes things just end.  He was careful to point out that there was no hostility between the band members, that each member counted the other as a brother and that they simply felt it was time to explore other things, that the band had run its course.  The audience appeared to be truly appreciative of this and gave huge roars of support with every statement Rickly made on the band’s behalf.

            My personal highlights of their set were, of course, their War All The Time material.  These songs just explode live and the crowd seemed to be injected with more energy when they launched into it after their Full Collapse set had finished.  Fans of the band’s long career may have been a touch disappointed by the set though.  Apart from Full Collapse they played four tracks from War All The Time, one track from their last album, No Devolución, and perennial set closer, Jet Black New Year from their 2002 EP, Five Stories Falling.  This meant that it was hardly a night that explored the full extent of their career to date, but generally the fans didn’t seem to mind as the show came to a close and the band took one last band photo in front of a screaming and adoring crowd.

            Before I sign off on this review I do want to state a few things about what a shame it is that Thursday are leaving the musical landscape.  Having been at the forefront of the post-hardcore movement in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Thursday have carried on where many of their contemporaries have broken up or faded into obscurity.  Although Thursday were a lot more popular ten years ago, they have maintained a loyal international fan base.  They have persisted with their music and continued to push their own personal boundaries.  And so it is with even greater sadness that Thursday are leaving us when some of their contemporaries are returning, most notably, At The Drive-In and Refused.  Think on this for a moment; Refused, At The Drive-In and Thursday were all groundbreaking bands during their heyday.  At The Drive-In and Refused broke up and now, ten years later, are reforming to huge expectations, renewed interest in their music and, no doubt, large appearance fees.  Thursday, on the other hand, didn’t break up.  The continued and rode the waves of popularity and fading out of mainstream view and are now finishing up without much of a mention in mainstream music media.  Had Thursday gone the way of At The Drive-In and Refused, they’d probably be seeing similar financial rewards for reforming about now.  To me, it doesn’t seem fair that the band that continued and pushed on, won’t see the rewards they deserve, but that seems to be the way things go today.  Band’s break up when they’re at their most popular, they take a ten year break, then they reform to huge fanfare and large appearance fees.  While no one’s disputing the impact of At The Drive-In or Refused’s music, or how good it is for them to be back, but bands like Thursday deserve more than what they are getting.

Live Review - Luca Brasi/The Smith Street Band

February 25, 2012 – The Gasometer Hotel, Melbourne

There was plenty of political rubbish over the past weekend to make even the most ardent “Aussie” embarrassed.  I won’t go into the details of it because politics isn’t my strong point and much of my opinion is based on media hearsay rather than actually knowing what the hell is/was going on.  Suffice to say that there was a lot of talk about being embarrassed by our leaders and there was a whole bunch of people saying that they were ashamed to be Australian.  But what’s all this got to do with a music review?  Well, not much other than the fact that I wanted to point out that those same people who felt ashamed to be a part of this country, should get out and see some live Australian music so that their faith in this nation can be well and truly restored.

Saturday night at the Gasometer was certainly one of those nights where the overabundance of Australian talent was on display.  My love for The Smith Street Band has been pretty obvious here since I started this blog a couple of months ago.  I’ve also recently reviewed a couple of other outstanding Australian artists in Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackette’s and Mojo Juju.  And now, ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to welcome punk band Luca Brasi to that list of Australian bands that make me very proud and fortunate to be born and living precisely where I do.

Hailing from the criminally, often forgotten state of Tasmania, Luca Brasi are an extremely powerful unit.  I’m not going to try and compare their sound to anything in particular because they have that rare quality where their sound reminds you of a whole bunch of different bands, but when you try and use those bands to describe them, you find that those comparisons are totally misleading.  It’s a quality that indicates a true original.  Where many bands are going out and trying to sound like something specific, others, like Luca Brasi, are chasing a sound in their heads that is made up of many hours listening to, and learning from, a lot of different bands.  Don’t get me wrong, this band only have one official release to their name (that I’m aware of) and they are still working on their sound, but there is some serious promise for some truly outstanding work to be come.

The band, currently promoting their debut album, Extended Family, (available from Poison City Records here), have had a rough time of things over the weekend.  On their way over to Melbourne, the airline they were flying with somehow managed to lose one of their guitars.  On top of this, their set at Gasometer was delayed due to some equipment malfunctions.  However, the four piece didn’t let it affect their performance.  After bursting out of the gates with album opener, Beacons, the band laughed off their technical troubles with a, “Sorry about the technical difficulties…we’re from Tasmania” (for readers from the U.S., an equivalent would be, “...we’re from the south”, or if you’re Canadian it would be “…we’re from Newfoundland”, sorry about everyone else, I’m not sure of the equivalent for everywhere, maybe “…we’re from Australia”).  The band punched through their set with energy and passion, clearly connecting with their audience with the amount of head swaying and singing along.  Luca Brasi are definitely a band to keep an eye on in the future.

Soon after Luca Brasi left the stage it was hometown heroes, The Smith Street Band’s turn.  Like Luca Brasi, the band started a little late due to some technical difficulties (mostly with front man, Wil Wagner’s equipment) but put it all aside once they were finally ready to go.  The band explodes on stage with so much passion that you get the feeling they truly believe every moment on the stage could be their last, so they spent each moment squeezing out as much power and force as they can.  It was a short set by the band, but they did play two new songs, both of which point to some very promising new music that is, hopefully, on the way soon.  Whether these tracks surface on a new single, EP or LP is yet to be known, but whatever The Smith Street Band put out, you can be sure that it is some quality stuff.

This was also the first time I had seen The Smith Street Band at a smaller gig, having seen them support Fucked Up and Jim Ward previously.  During their supporting slots, it took a while for the crowd to warm to the band before being won over completely by the obvious talent and truly awesome song writing on display.  Here, it was great to see a crowd singing along, even taking over from Wagner during the excellent Sigourney Weaver.  The highlight of their set would have to have been older song, South East Facing Wall, though.  There’s something that happens to this track live that gives it an extra immediacy, and a boost in its melancholy.  Maybe it’s the fact that there is a crowd singing along with it and connecting with it as much as Wagner is.  Either way, the track is electrifying when played live.  It truly demonstrates that beauty that occurs when an artist releases something to the public, and then the public takes it, connects with it, and feeds it back to the band creating a rare synergy between artist and audience.

I shouldn’t neglect to mention Hoodlum Shouts either.  Another Poison City band who, while they seem to require a bit more effort that the other bands on the bill, certainly appear to be a band worth sticking with and getting into.  Their sound reminded me a little of a more underground punk version of Midnight Oil.  They seem to have the same social consciousness that the pub rock legends had and I would love to get my hands on their EP to really give them a good listen.  A band worth checking out for sure.

My apologies to opening band, Cavalcade.  Unfortunately, I arrived at the venue a little late than intended and missed their set.  Sorry guys.

Overall, it seems as though Poison City have their ears in the right place.  I am yet to be unimpressed by any artist on their roster.  They have the right idea and are helping to push a scene that deserves recognition.  While indie bands are dominating the airwaves and our metal bands are doing very well overseas, these punk masters are slowly brewing beneath the surface and it’s only a matter of time before larger audiences take notice and these bands get the recognition they deserve.