Notes keeps wanting me to change the spelling of Valient, but that's the frontman's name - take that spell check! Anywhos, we're remaining in the hard-rocking metal genre after yesterday's Volbeat post. Apparently Valient Thorr was "birthed on the planet Venus several millennia ago, hopscotching across the space-time continuum before finally arriving on Earth in 1957." No lie, direct quote from their spottily bio. They evidently made camp in North Carolina, where Walt Disney stole their time-travel machine, and rocking is what they are doing to pass time until they find a way home. Folks, you can't make this kind of stuff up. Or at least, I promise I didn't.
"Gillionaire" is the first song on the album. Slow buildup with an eery string vibration. It picks up super quick with a seriously hard rocking beat and yell. This is Durango (R.I.P.) music for the road for sure. There's something funny about the song, even though I know it's not set on comedy. Just a simple song that you head better be banging to, just talking about someone with money buying everything, and how they don't really exist. They're probably dead inside.
Next one up is "Sleeper Awakes." I don't know what to make of all of this. Metal's normally really tough to listen to if for nothing more than the pitch. This is easy though, and kind of awesome. The tone's normal and almost sort of fun. I don't even know really what to write about something like this. Honestly, all of this type of music sounds remarkably the same, but it's hard to totally get sick of. Now, let's see if that attitude toward it remains the same for the remaining ten songs…
"Disappearer" includes the slasher guitar that metal should always include. I think what attracts me to metal in some twisted way is that I, for a very rare instance, don't give a damn what the lyrics are saying or what the song's bigger meaning is. Even in rap I try to figure out some reason for the song's existence. In metal, like this, I just want to get into the feel of it and loose control.
Back at work for a bit with these next few songs. Lets see how this band holds up with the volume just a little ways down and trying to pass it off as working music. "Double Crossed" does all right. I mean, it's there. It's something definitely in the background going on. Things sound choppier when the volume isn't quite as boosted, since we can't here the rest of the music playing in the less-than-hard breaks between beats. Regardless, check out this funny video I'm inputting to the blog post at a much later time!
"Sudden Death Is Nothing" caught my attention a little more while typing, which is kind of cool and kind of annoying. Cool part is that I was interested and the sound was obscure. Annoying part is that I normally can just let music be there in the back without interrupting my thoughts - instead, it normally just plays along with them. This was a little disruptive.
Back home now, and able to more properly drown in the music. Of course I come back to "Woman In The Woods," a properly creep-tastic song fit for a haunted night in the creepy woods of Galloway Township. Why did we never run through the woods on foggy nights in high school guys? I feel like that could've been fun. And this song would have been the perfect soundtrack. Of course, the album comes to us 4 years after I'm out of high school so… time to make up for lost time all around, in my opinion.
I can't help but think of "Family Guy" as I see the song title "Vision Quest." They also self-reference in this one, if I caught it right. Regardless of al of this, the song's a pretty good, steadier one. Nothing gets to insane, and the tone is somewhat enjoyable. The break's sort of weird, with the guitar giving pause to the whole thing on really odd beats. But yeah, that's me getting like I do sometimes - a little wrapped up in the composition of the song, when that may or may not be the most important aspect.
"Habituary" went by way to fast for a three minute song. I think it was the pacing, but the fact that I wasn't paying attention and still taping my foot might have had something to do with it. It even seemed to go by faster than the next one, "The Recognition," which, at 1:17, is the shortest song on the album. This one's full of brilliant drums and rhythms that do NOT mesh in with the rest of the album at all. It's a weird breath of fresh air as we start to build into the finale of "Stranger."
Next one up is "Without Hope, Without Fear." Well that's one of the saddest and most optimistic titles I've ever read. I guess you could say this is a song with meaning, speaking to a person who's time has come for… something. Eh, not gonna lie to you guys - just let this one go a bit. It's good, just not gripping like I imagine it should be.
"Future Humans" is the final song. Actually just heard an awesome line: "the heart's the only brain that you need." In an otherwise sadder sounding song about the evolution - or de-evolution - of man, this one had something great to say. There's comments in here about being led by other men or making your own decisions, though the conclusion seems to be that the former will be the future. Maybe there's something awesome about individuality hidden in this rocking number though.
Added to My Playlist:
- "Disappearer"
Overall, it's not so much that I disliked this album. I actually really enjoyed it as a whole listening experiences. It exhausted me in the way a really awesome rock show can, so I can only imagine how tired I'd be after a live show. Nothing truly stuck out to be though so much that I'd want to hear one of these songs again. That's okay though. Mad respect, and hope to run across these guys again in the future.