Metal Reviews

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yawn... I stopped reading after this.
This shit again?
Polly wanna cracker?

It's a really good review if you can bring yourself to read a few more lines, COTB. I don't really see what there is to complain about on your side.

Who's complaining? I stated my opinion on the review, which is what this forum is for, no? And why just on my side?

It's gone beyond hackneyed to the point of being ridiculous.
It's boring. The same thing is said every time Burzum comes up.
Is there some kind of rule stated that when writing up a Burzum review, the usual obligatory disclaimer has to be made?

Are all you guys afraid that if you don't state otherwise, everyone will think that because you like a Burzum album, you somehow agree with Varg's politics?

To be fair there's nothing of the sort in Frigid's Dowdy Bolders review.

Anyway, if we are reviewing Burzum here, you have to expect disclaimers. I agree they can seem contrived, but aside from that it's a good review.

I don't really know of any these boring "trendy" bm bands you speak of. Do enlighten.

Kudos to Frig for that.
Varg's admittedly , err, unorthodox worldview has NO bearing whatsoever on the music.
I couldn't care less about Vargs opinions or whether or not the reviewer shares them, or depsises them.
And making such a strident effort to distance one's self from them (to me) seems, not only unecessary and redundant, but kind of sheep-like.

Besides, it's not as if Varg's politics are represented or expressed in his music.

Maybe dudes like Krallice or WITTR?

They are kinda hip atm, and are about the atmosphere.

I was about to use those two exact examples. It's bands like those that I was referring to, even though I love both. Some (but not all) others though, particularly ones that are American and/or feature only one member like Xasthur, aren't nearly as good, and were the ones I was targeting in the review.

Though Xasthur's a bit older, so I suppose it doesn't count.

Heh, you will scoff at this, and it's the wrong thread to discuss this in, but I found this interesting if a little alarmist when I read it:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... frxqlaldfe

And I don't think criticising racism is sheep-like. I get that you don't see the need to repudiate Varg's beliefs in every review, but bear in mind that these reviews are all being written by different people, and not mentioning something as important as the artist's non-mainstream politics in a review makes for an incomplete writeup, in my eyes. It'd be like reviewing NWA without mentioning the gangster 'lifestyle', if you want an example we can all relate to.

I thought of Krallice and WITTR too because they're pretty trendy or at least Pitchfork likes them, but they aren't repetitive or boring and neither are all that minimalistic-y.

Whoever wrote that review is a twat.
dangerous... hahaha. Perhaps he(she?)'d be better off listening to something safe and less likely to challenge his (her) worldview, something like Air Supply or Hall and Oates.

But, anyway, NWA writes about that subject, so it is fair game.
This album (HLTO) does not espouse any of Varg's political beliefs (that I know of), so it is irrelevant.

That's my point exactly. Neither them nor Liturgy, Skagos or any of the new atmospheric bands are boring. It sounded like an under the belt jab at something just because it's considered "trendy" without actually giving credit where it's due. Despite any Burzum influence they may have, they do it a hell of a lot fucking better because honestly this album is pretty damn boring.

Both Krallice and WITTR are pretty repetitive... but that's definitely not a bad thing, and the subtle changes made to the riffs with nearly each "Cycle" keep it fresh.

All I'm saying is that I think Hvis Lyset Tar Oss is a much better representation of the minimalist style than we get with many modern black metal bands that attempt to do the same. The fact that it was one of the first albums to do this makes it all the more amazing.

Burzum boring?
If by boring you mean non-spastic shitty breakdown- riddled noise that doesn't have any sense of direction or identity that sounds like it's being played by a bunch of Tourette's addled monkeys in skinny jeans and emo haircuts, than, yeah.

Check out Krallice, buddy. I'm being serious.

Okay.
BTW, Electric Wizard was pretty cool, thanks.
Less doomy than I thought it would be, though.

I'm not that familiar with WITTR but for Krallice there was only one part of "Cestorial" that struck me as particularly repetitive. What appeals to me about them is that they've got a lot more going on in their songs than your normal black metal band while still keeping that droney atmosphere.

Yeah that line between stoner doom and regular doom is a lot bigger than most people make of it.

The thing with this album, which I'm relying on memory since I don't have it on my laptop, is that there is nothing that makes it fresh with every repetition. It lacks what makes Krallice's repetition so cool but alas you'll probably just say I'm missing something in it all.

meh, to each their own.