Ephel Duath

[Firedwarf]

Has anyone had a chance to hear the new album? It's really something different. Jazz metal.

It's coo.

 

[Static]

I only just downloaded it...man these guys are off the fucking wall...give MoTW a run for their money in the sheer creativity department...

Still like Maudlin better though...

 

[ChromeLife]

I dunno... I thought that song was ok... the video that is linked on UM... seems gimmicky to me though... wasnt bad.

 

[LuminousAether]

Gimmicky? That word's one of my pet peeves. They have no gimmicks, they are skilled musicians making very technical and skilled music. Only two of the people have any experience in metal, the rest are jazz and prog musicians. The new Ephel Duath is by far the most perfect marriage of jazz and metal that I have heard yet. It's not as good as Maudlin of the Well, but it's still very very good. Almost a bit too complex though, after a while I start to get a bit tired of the constant changes and the lack of much structure, but that's more a problem with me and not the album.

 

[ChromeLife]

I suppose showy(sp?) would have been a better word... Its not bad at all, I didnt mean to sound like that.. and you have to take into account I only heard one song... and besides that I was watching the video.. so my experience was tainted by that dudes purple fuzzy boa...

 

[LuminousAether]

Yeah, that makes more sense. When I think of gimmicks, I think of bands like Slipknot or Mushroomhead, who use the fact that they are "weird" "crazy" clowns to make their music more "interesting" when the sad fact, at least for Slipknot, is that their music is entirely mundane. Ephel Duath aren't focused on image, they are just focused on showing off, like the Dillinger Escape Plan of post black metal.

 

[FuSoYa]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=92003

 

[LuminousAether]

What are you trying to say with that? That only african-americans can make jazz? Because I assure you, the new Ephel Duath definitely has jazz in it. Are you trying to say that artists such as John Zorn don't ever make jazz music? I don't understand what you are trying to say.

 

[FuSoYa]

The article suggests that jazz is a culture as opposed to a musical genre.

 

[Static]

Who cares whether jazz is more of a culture or a genre. It really does not matter, and its not even worth dwelling on. Jazz sounds good. END.

(edit: pop music is culture too, popular culture...I question the validity of the point you are getting at)

 

[LuminousAether]

Well, there's not really a jazz culture anymore, especially not a primarily African-American jazz culture. Now, the young black men usually listen to hip-hop, jazz is left for a mostly older fan base. A similar point could be made about punk, that it is more of an attitude than a style of music, but there's an undeniable sound associated with the idea of punk, just like there is for jazz.

 

[fake account]

i am interviewing this band tomorrow. what should i ask them?

(fake account, SERIOUS question)

 

[FuSoYa]

i agree that punk is a culture, as is hardcore, etc. I disagree that there's an undeniable sound associated with it. I could show you 50 punk bands you never heard of who if I asked you what kind of music it was, you'd call it metal.

As far as the jazz sound you speak of, yes I agree that this exists- however the point was that horns, upright bass, off-beat rhythms, 9th chords, etc. do not constitute this sound. I think the term is often misused (example: motw) and I'm not saying it was misused in regards to Ephel Duath. This thread just reminded me of that article.

I'm not making any assessments over this Ephel Duath record, just in general.