2013: CONSTRUCT

[stizzleomnibus]

It is not, in fact, about the Benjamins, since the currency involved is not American.

Basically, there are companies that like to print CDs in Japan. For whatever reason, these CDs are expensive. Maybe it's all the packaging and pressing for a small market. Maybe it's Japanese taxes, who knows. Since these CDs are expensive, the only way to get them to sell is to put some bonus tracks on them; otherwise, the Japanese just import EU or US versions of the disc for list price + taxes & shipping. So, Japan gets bonus tracks to sell expensive domestic CDs.

Also, services like iTunes like to have special album-only tracks which are only available if you buy the whole album from their service. It's an incentive to get the whole disc and not just the singles (as if anyone listens to metal that way; that's mostly a pop/hip-hop problem).

Anyway, that's generally why they get bonus tracks. It's kind of about money, but it's not a blatant cash grab by the band or label to force you to buy 8 editions. It's about a whole other silly thing going on with certain markets and services.

I say it doesn't make sense in the modern age since there are dishonest ways of getting songs which have no concern for borders. Hence, when the business model hides one track on an expensive foreign disc, you can just acquire it illegally via your preferred method. I don't advocate piracy of whole albums (anymore), but I can see why you wouldn't spend $25+ importing a Japanese disc for one bonus track.

 

[La Rocque]

If you are a master collector(you want a least 1 of everything a band officially releases)
then it does not matter what currency you buy with. If I buy a CD from Japan I pay in US$
not Yen ¥, if a band did not want to sell more of the same CD, they would not add bonus tracks,
every CD from every country would have the same tracks. I'm fine with this as the more product you
buy from a group the more likely they will continue to record and tour.
When WatV was released I ordered 2 copies from CM, then bought several at the local retail store.
In some small way this helped DT to continue. I'll do the same with Construct.
Enough of this monetary psychobabble.

Looking forward to the new DT music,
I'm so excited about this, I think I'm getting a chubby -

 

[Magrathean]

Holy crap Magrathean, I haven't seen you on this board in ages. I was hoping you'd show up so that we could invite you to your awesome new DT group on Facebook. If you're interested in joining, you can PM me or Defiance your FB details and we can get you hooked up. If you're into FB, that is. Your participation was much appreciated during the last round of album discussion.

I don't know how useful the content would be in the booklet; on one hand, it's super expansive. Way bigger than what would go in a CD booklet. Additionally, considering the time-table on which these things are pressed, it would be basically impossible to hear all of that material and write anything in time to get the disks and booklets together simultaneously to be released. And that's assuming you get an advance copy.

As for an advance copy, as much as I'd like one I doubt I'd get it. Album leaks really suck, and bands rightly do a lot to protect themselves. The journalists and reviews respect the necessity of keeping the album under lock and key because they get blackballed by labels if they're the ones that leak it. While I would personally have no motivation to leak anything, I don't exactly have a career in music journalism to put up as stakes. As it stands, I'll probably just preorder the deluxe and LP editions of the album, then jump on a leak if it happens to get a headstart. It's going to take months anyway and its not like I'd have the whole thing done in time for release anyway.

I am not, in fact, into FB; I have done everything in my power to remain as far from it as humanly possible in this day and age. As such, I do not have an account or intend to create one. However, I'll ask my girl whether she'd allow me to use hers for this DT-forum group; I'm honoured you're inviting me to it, and even more so if it will enable discussion in the vein of the one in your WATV-analysis thread.

I understand the complications of printing such an extensive analysis on a booklet. It would be great if DT found another way to give it exposure, though; your analysis (along with the awesomeness of Arkhangelsk and Iridium) is part of the reason WATV has become my favourite DT album.

If you are a master collector(you want a least 1 of everything a band officially releases)
then it does not matter what currency you buy with. If I buy a CD from Japan I pay in US$
not Yen ¥, if a band did not want to sell more of the same CD, they would not add bonus tracks,
every CD from every country would have the same tracks. I'm fine with this as the more product you
buy from a group the more likely they will continue to record and tour.
When WatV was released I ordered 2 copies from CM, then bought several at the local retail store.
In some small way this helped DT to continue. I'll do the same with Construct.
Enough of this monetary psychobabble.

Looking forward to the new DT music,
I'm so excited about this, I think I'm getting a chubby -

Classic La Rocque holier-than-thou "psychobabble". How did I ever get tired of it?

 

[krofius]

I asked a user on last.fm who had received a promo to describe the album and she wrote:

"It's one hell of a weird album and I didn't understand anything the first 3-4-5 times I heard it. As a fan of Projector it's growing on me because it has many aspects in common with it. It's not as technical as Character and Fiction and it's much more atmospheric than We Are the Void. Also slower and kind of stripped down to the core, more simplistic so that keys are in the spotlight rather than guitars. Not sure I can even speak of riffs, actually. Mikael's cleans are hypnotizing. All in all, quite difficult to get into it and it certainly takes a lot of time. That's why I listen to it like crazy - at home, at work, wherever, It just clicked on me recently."


To be completely honest, this made me less excited than I was before. I'm not a huge fan of Projector, I'm more a fan of the aggressive sounding DT. Sure this is just her opinion but you can basically only interpret songs as being slower and more simplistic one way.

But you should never judge an album beforehand! I bet there will be a couple songs that I will like for sure in the ''worst'' case scenario. The sample from the trailer Century Media put up sounded great.

EDIT: She also said:

There are some heavier tracks but it's really not what the album is all about. It doesn't matter as long as they make it diverse - I've had my share of aggressive sound in the last albums and for me, DT is mostly about sound evolution regardless of the chosen direction. That's why this worked, maybe.

 

[MeltingCity]

Not sure I can even speak of riffs, actually.

That made me become afraid

 

[stizzleomnibus]

"It's one hell of a weird album and I didn't understand anything the first 3-4-5 times I heard it. As a fan of Projector it's growing on me because it has many aspects in common with it. It's not as technical as Character and Fiction and it's much more atmospheric than We Are the Void. Also slower and kind of stripped down to the core, more simplistic so that keys are in the spotlight rather than guitars. Not sure I can even speak of riffs, actually. Mikael's cleans are hypnotizing. All in all, quite difficult to get into it and it certainly takes a lot of time. That's why I listen to it like crazy - at home, at work, wherever, It just clicked on me recently."

I can't contain my excitement at reading this. This album is going to be incredible.

 

[Defiance]

Sadly, forums as a mode of communication are going away. They're still really useful for some things, but sadly they've faded against the growing tide of modern social media. Also, in the case of the IF forum on Ultimate Metal, I'm pretty sure that's an unofficial forum, since the official IF forum here got shut down because everyone was trashing new IF all the time. The official one, where ever it is, is probably a lot busier.

Everything about this album is going to be awesome. The music already sounds sick, and the artwork is some of the best yet. With a mere two months to release, a song or two have to be on the horizon in the next few weeks.

Stupid social media; being connected with everyone's fine, but I think the discussions here were much deeper, as I reckon people actually bothered to read (not skim) through the comments and actually post smart stuff. (Unlike LaRoque. Hehe.)

The DT’s logo…? Is it the new logo?

Only recognized the symbol that appears in Haven album.
Any related to the Haven?

No more

?


-many questions in my head right now……-

Yeah, that's the new logo, pretty awesome I must say.

13 songs would be great!

Just out of curiosity : I never understood why releases vary from one country to another. You say you understand the reasons for it, would you mind explaining it to us?

It's basically more expensive to produce CDs in Japan, so they need to add an extra track to the album to make it worth the release; plus, Japanese editions are always a hell lot more luxurious than the European or US counterparts. The European ones are the next best, and you can find subtle (but cool) differences between US and European versions. For example, not only is the printing quality much higher in the European versions (sometimes even more than the Japanese ones, but depends a lot on the label and the album), but you can find a lot more detail into it, as in the digi-pack WAtV release: the US version is a simple cover, but the "void" in the European version is actually a "hole" in the pack itself. I thought, despite the awful cover, that it was a really nice touch.

I am not, in fact, into FB; I have done everything in my power to remain as far from it as humanly possible in this day and age. As such, I do not have an account or intend to create one. However, I'll ask my girl whether she'd allow me to use hers for this DT-forum group; I'm honoured you're inviting me to it, and even more so if it will enable discussion in the vein of the one in your WATV-analysis thread.

I understand the complications of printing such an extensive analysis on a booklet. It would be great if DT found another way to give it exposure, though; your analysis (along with the awesomeness of Arkhangelsk and Iridium) is part of the reason WATV has become my favourite DT album.

Classic La Rocque holier-than-thou "psychobabble". How did I ever get tired of it?

Lucky you, I wish I could get out of FB *sigh*. Haha psychobabble ohhhh psychobabble *tu ru tu tu tu tu-tu-tu tutututu* (Parsons.)

I asked a user on last.fm who had received a promo to describe the album and she wrote:

"It's one hell of a weird album and I didn't understand anything the first 3-4-5 times I heard it. As a fan of Projector it's growing on me because it has many aspects in common with it. It's not as technical as Character and Fiction and it's much more atmospheric than We Are the Void. Also slower and kind of stripped down to the core, more simplistic so that keys are in the spotlight rather than guitars. Not sure I can even speak of riffs, actually. Mikael's cleans are hypnotizing. All in all, quite difficult to get into it and it certainly takes a lot of time. That's why I listen to it like crazy - at home, at work, wherever, It just clicked on me recently."


To be completely honest, this made me less excited than I was before. I'm not a huge fan of Projector, I'm more a fan of the aggressive sounding DT. Sure this is just her opinion but you can basically only interpret songs as being slower and more simplistic one way.

But you should never judge an album beforehand! I bet there will be a couple songs that I will like for sure in the ''worst'' case scenario. The sample from the trailer Century Media put up sounded great.

EDIT: She also said:

There are some heavier tracks but it's really not what the album is all about. It doesn't matter as long as they make it diverse - I've had my share of aggressive sound in the last albums and for me, DT is mostly about sound evolution regardless of the chosen direction. That's why this worked, maybe.

I can't contain my excitement at reading this. This album is going to be incredible.

VERY excited to read that!!!! It's hard to contain my excitement (heh) when reading about an album that doesn't sound metal at all and that takes a while for you to understand it. And heck, atmospheric, that did it for me, fuck everything I want it nooooow!!! Riffs?? Who needs that!!! XD

 

[nerxastul_millenxi]

I asked a user on last.fm who had received a promo to describe the album and she wrote:

"It's one hell of a weird album and I didn't understand anything the first 3-4-5 times I heard it. As a fan of Projector it's growing on me because it has many aspects in common with it. It's not as technical as Character and Fiction and it's much more atmospheric than We Are the Void. Also slower and kind of stripped down to the core, more simplistic so that keys are in the spotlight rather than guitars. Not sure I can even speak of riffs, actually. Mikael's cleans are hypnotizing. All in all, quite difficult to get into it and it certainly takes a lot of time. That's why I listen to it like crazy - at home, at work, wherever, It just clicked on me recently."


To be completely honest, this made me less excited than I was before. I'm not a huge fan of Projector, I'm more a fan of the aggressive sounding DT. Sure this is just her opinion but you can basically only interpret songs as being slower and more simplistic one way.

But you should never judge an album beforehand! I bet there will be a couple songs that I will like for sure in the ''worst'' case scenario. The sample from the trailer Century Media put up sounded great.

EDIT: She also said:

There are some heavier tracks but it's really not what the album is all about. It doesn't matter as long as they make it diverse - I've had my share of aggressive sound in the last albums and for me, DT is mostly about sound evolution regardless of the chosen direction. That's why this worked, maybe.

I'll try to see this (in my perspective);

It's one hell of a weird album and I didn't understand anything the first 3-4-5 times I heard it.
…..
All in all, quite difficult to get into it and it certainly takes a lot of time. That's why I listen to it like crazy - at home, at work, wherever,….

What she said above is absolutely DT’s trademark. And DT keep maintain for it. Great news.



It's not as technical as Character and Fiction and it's much more atmospheric than We Are the Void.

Since WATV, the image below and after the Construct Trailer release, I let my self open for the same option as her above. And also loosen my expectation for another episode of the twisted and aggressiveness to the new album. A little bit sad news.

Not sure I can even speak of riffs, actually.

If this not exist in Construct, I’ll be missed them a lot.



-After all, agreed to Krofius; never judge an album beforehand.-

 

[krofius]

DT on Twitter:
7 days..."For Broken Words"

Looks like we're getting a single in 7 days then Sweet.

 

[anita_job]

The preview makes me hopeful that it will be better than WAtV.

 

[Defiance]

Only three days till the new song! Ohhhh excitement! I'm going to listen to it ad cansacium.

 

[stizzleomnibus]

I googled for it, and I cannot find a translation for "ad cansacium." I have concluded that you have made it up.

 

[stizzleomnibus]

The preorder is up online from emp.de, for anyone who missed it:

PRE-ORDERS HERE

 

[La Rocque]

^ Though I would order the cd/shirt BUT
24.99€ plus 20€ postage(I think) maybe more to the USA?
In good old USA$'s that's about $60
Plus you have to spend at least 25€ not counting postage to order,
As we all know 24.99 is not 25
I think I'll wait until Century Media has it for sale.
Could not get that link to link me their USA site?

 

[Defiance]

I googled for it, and I cannot find a translation for "ad cansacium." I have concluded that you have made it up.

You have concluded correctly (sounds weird haha); I made it up .

The preorder is up online from emp.de, for anyone who missed it:

PRE-ORDERS HERE

^ Though I would order the cd/shirt BUT
24.99€ plus 20€ postage(I think) maybe more to the USA?
In good old USA$'s that's about $60
Plus you have to spend at least 25€ not counting postage to order,
As we all know 24.99 is not 25
I think I'll wait until Century Media has it for sale.
Could not get that link to link me their USA site?

I honestly think it's not worth it, not only is it the normal version of the CD (not digi or LP), and I don't find the shirt to be that great to incur in such massive shipping costs. CM will definitely have the same package for the USA, so just wait for it. I hope there'll be another pre-order package or bundle that'll have all three versions plus a really cool limited shirt; it'd be worth paying for the shipping from the EU (and in EUR) in that case, but not with the current one.

 

[stizzleomnibus]

According to the DT Facebook page, the US preorder will probably be available next week. I'm in kind of the same boat. The exchange rate means adding roughly 30% to convert Euros to dollars, and that's after adding shipping. Plus, the shirt's only available with the regular CD, and everyone wants the shirt with the box, etc. There may be a better bundle available shortly.

 

[anita_job]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTkwuyb_PLc

Not feeling it.

 

[stizzleomnibus]

What, exactly, would make you happy? Not to be a jerk or anything, but I'm not sure I've heard you express any positive opinion about this band since pre-WAtV. There's a certain group of listeners who hated the Haven-through-Fiction era because it got "repetitive", hated WAtV because it didn't have enough riffs, and now won't enjoy this album because it's (seemingly) moody and experimental. Fresh or traditional, it seems like you kids aren't going to enjoy anything that they do.

Srsly, just go listen to Amon Amarth.

 

[Cuthalion]

I haven't felt this excited about a new DT song since i don't know when... I have heard the song and it is unbelievable, i really thought that they can't progress any further but this is amazing and i really hope that the album will have this general mood. Great job guys, i didn't expect this and i am so grateful

 

[Defiance]

What, exactly, would make you happy? Not to be a jerk or anything, but I'm not sure I've heard you express any positive opinion about this band since pre-WAtV. There's a certain group of listeners who hated the Haven-through-Fiction era because it got "repetitive", hated WAtV because it didn't have enough riffs, and now won't enjoy this album because it's (seemingly) moody and experimental. Fresh or traditional, it seems like you kids aren't going to enjoy anything that they do.

Srsly, just go listen to Amon Amarth.

I haven't really followed anita_job's posting, but people shouldn't be listening to DT if they want to listen to the same stuff over and over again.

I haven't felt this excited about a new DT song since i don't know when... I have heard the song and it is unbelievable, i really thought that they can't progress any further but this is amazing and i really hope that the album will have this general mood. Great job guys, i didn't expect this and i am so grateful

I've just heard it. At first, the shock was big, so I was slightly flabbergasted. But then I started to get it. As it's been mentioned, the first thing one really notices is the drumming: quite the departure from Fiction and WAtV, which had more old-school drumming (specially the former); it's like the drumming of Character but taken to an actual (semi?) progressive level. What is also evident is the atmospheric sound the song has at times; it's awesome and it's excellent to hear some industrial-like keyboards, different from the usual more Depeche like acute keyboards; the keyboards are more grave (of course, the acute ones are still there). What really struck me was that this is still DT, you can tell, but a very different, more experimental one. Production seems excellent, as expected from Jens. I also like that the singing is not happening all the time, we just hear Mikael in shorter, smaller intervals, which kind of adds to the whole "tension" of "nothingness"; with the vocals I also think, as a first impression, that they seem much better than on WAtV.