Needs a power metal singer with a strong voice to sing this way higher. Think Gardenian Tomorrow's Gone or something like that.
I love Stanne's clean singing, but this sounds like it wasn't written for him.
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Needs a power metal singer with a strong voice to sing this way higher. Think Gardenian Tomorrow's Gone or something like that.
I love Stanne's clean singing, but this sounds like it wasn't written for him.
The Grayfox
Gravesinger
I haven’t had a chance to listen to the album in its entirety yet because I grabbed it right before I was going to go to bed. I listened to a few songs (Gateways, Conditional, Last of Our Kind) and loved what I heard. No surprise there. I also skimmed In Broken Trust to see if I liked the clean vocals any better… I don’t. They just sound weird and out of place to me. Normally I love Mikael’s clean vocals but I just don’t think they were necessary here. Maybe I’ll change my mind with more listens.
Xpyro125
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Honestly, I'm kinda with you. I'm a bit disappointed with the chorus of "In Broken Trust", since the vocal layering and texture really made it for me. Not to mention, his enunciation of "fallen angels" just doesn't feel right. Sure, it's better than Anders with archdetermined instead architecture or coeeced coexistence instead of coerced coexistence, as Stanne actually got the words right, but... Man.
That being said, it's only one of two disappointing things on the album.
I'm really not sure what happened with the clean vocals. They definitely don't fit quite right in the songs, and they aren't even mixed in very well. I noticed on A Truth Worth Dying For that the cleans are at slighty different amptitudes in the track at each point they come in, which is strange. Harsh vocals are all at the same levels, but cleans are higher in the first chorus, slightly lower in the second and then higher again at the end.
Btw @A88 I did try pitch the vocals up but Mikael sounded like a garbled chipmunk, so no dice
Btw @A88 I did try pitch the vocals up but Mikael sounded like a garbled chipmunk, so no dice
ThePhobiac
be at ease
I'm really not sure what happened with the clean vocals. They definitely don't fit quite right in the songs, and they aren't even mixed in very well. I noticed on A Truth Worth Dying For that the cleans are at slighty different amptitudes in the track at each point they come in, which is strange. Harsh vocals are all at the same levels, but cleans are higher in the first chorus, slightly lower in the second and then higher again at the end.
Btw @A88 I did try pitch the vocals up but Mikael sounded like a garbled chipmunk, so no dice
It doesn't get more metal than a garbled chipmunk.
mindd
Faithless by Default
My ratings. No explanation. Just how much I like them
Shadowminds: 9/10
Days of the Lost: 8/10
The Needless End: 10/10
Conditional: 9/10
In Broken Trust: 8/10
Gateways: 9/10
A Truth Worth Lying For: 8/10
Feel What I Believe: 10/10
Last of Our Kind: 8/10
The Most Alone: 7/10
Shadowminds: 9/10
Days of the Lost: 8/10
The Needless End: 10/10
Conditional: 9/10
In Broken Trust: 8/10
Gateways: 9/10
A Truth Worth Lying For: 8/10
Feel What I Believe: 10/10
Last of Our Kind: 8/10
The Most Alone: 7/10
Xpyro125
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"Shadowminds" and "Feel What I Believe" (At the time) left me wanting when it came to Daniel, but he's delivered 100% on the rest of the album. It's pretty evident now that "Shadowminds" was always meant to be somewhat safe, yet incredibly powerful and familiar lead single. It works perfectly to re-introduce everyone to them and to the album, so I'm really happy with it.
I'm really not sure what happened with the clean vocals. They definitely don't fit quite right in the songs, and they aren't even mixed in very well. I noticed on A Truth Worth Dying For that the cleans are at slighty different amptitudes in the track at each point they come in, which is strange. Harsh vocals are all at the same levels, but cleans are higher in the first chorus, slightly lower in the second and then higher again at the end.
Btw @A88 I did try pitch the vocals up but Mikael sounded like a garbled chipmunk, so no dice
I'll have to give that a listen again, that sounds really weird. I will say, I really feel like Heafy's vocals were mixed really poorly. Something about them especially give off that 'last minute' feel, even if they likely weren't.
I'd absolutely hate metal by that point.
Xpyro125
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My ratings go like this out of the moment, though I'm not really sure if this is even quite correct or not. If you put a gun to my head and asked if I wanted to hear the title track or "Feel What I Believe", I'd pick the title track every time. At the same time, I don't feel like it's a 9.5/10, but I wouldn't lower "Feel What I Believe" to an 8.5 either. I think "Last of Our Kind" would be a 9 or even 9.5 if Heafy's vocals were just mixed better. It'd probably a 9 (Edit: It’s a 9 now), since part of me doesn't like his clean vocals on the track (It's moreso the latter part of his part of the final chorus), though I feel that his harsh vocals have a fantastic cadence to them that just needs more power in the mix. "In Broken Trust"'s chorus and first part of the solo are also just not clicking with me, but I still absolutely love the song as a whole. I don't know why I'm not enjoying "The Most Alone" as everything else, as it's still fantastic, but something about it just feels too restrained compositionally, and it's just not clicking with me.
Shadowminds: 9.5/10
Days of the Lost: 9/10
The Needless End: 10/10
Conditional: 10/10
In Broken Trust: 9.5/10
Gateways: 9.5/10
A Truth Worth Lying For: 10/10
Feel What I Believe: 9/10
Last of Our Kind: 9/10
The Most Alone: 8/10
That being said, this is easily my album of the year, which is something I don't really like saying about an album any year. I dunno, this one is just phenomenal and scratched every melodeath itch I had.
Shadowminds: 9.5/10
Days of the Lost: 9/10
The Needless End: 10/10
Conditional: 10/10
In Broken Trust: 9.5/10
Gateways: 9.5/10
A Truth Worth Lying For: 10/10
Feel What I Believe: 9/10
Last of Our Kind: 9/10
The Most Alone: 8/10
That being said, this is easily my album of the year, which is something I don't really like saying about an album any year. I dunno, this one is just phenomenal and scratched every melodeath itch I had.
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Xpyro125
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Also, shoutouts to the assclowns on Blabbermouth. I don't normally like lambasting review sites, as I'm generally indifferent to them, but I don't know how one can seriously think that Deceivers was better than Days of the Lost. Same reviewer too, so it's not just me being baseless in this.
Oh well. It doesn't really matter, but it is annoying. As long as THE gets the love they deserve from fans who genuinely love the album, that's what matters.
In other news, I still have no idea how to properly add images to my posts, so I'll put it here: Days of the Lost got a fucking 8 out of 10 (With the article just singing the album's praises and not really bringing up any flaws), while AE got a 9 out of 10.
Oh well. It doesn't really matter, but it is annoying. As long as THE gets the love they deserve from fans who genuinely love the album, that's what matters.
In other news, I still have no idea how to properly add images to my posts, so I'll put it here: Days of the Lost got a fucking 8 out of 10 (With the article just singing the album's praises and not really bringing up any flaws), while AE got a 9 out of 10.
Attachments
Okay so, more considered ratings after many more listens:
Shadowminds - 10/10 - As already mentioned, I really love this track. It pretty much has everything, an opening which is both melodic and heavy. Very smooth flow between every segment of the song. Vocals working perfectly in rhythm with the instruments. Epic sounding pre-chorus leading into an awesome chorus. Solo which fits in really well and doesn't just sound like generic solo #172 chucked in. Incredible track on record, also sounds amazing live.
Days of the Lost - 9/10 - Such strong IF vibes from this one. Keys tastefully done throughout, none of the riffs overused. This one definitely feels like more a 'single' type track, cycling back to the chorus fairly quickly throughout. Another really nice solo here which again just gave me major IF vibes.
The Needless End - 9/10 - I actually think this one sounds slightly better live, but the studio version is still great too. For me this is probably the most DT sounding track on the record. The guitar melodies throughout are vintage DT (older stuff obviously, not their newer output). Nice little outro too.
Conditional - 10/10 - Well, I've fanboyed over this one enough already opening is super strong IF vibe again, like an ASOP opening if the production was actually good. Absolutely love how it transitions from this into those pounding riffs and galloping drums. Speaking of which, the drumming on this one is fierce. Excellent job Daniel. The melodic chorus is just perfect. Just an all around stellar track.
In Broken Trust - 8.5/10 - I like the opening. Riffs are nice and groovy, a bit of a change of pace to the tracks that came before it. Almost has an industrial vibe to it. Verses are pretty cool with the spooky sounding electronics and 'evil' sounding guitarwork. As has been discussed already though, the cleans are just... not produced and/or mixed correctly. I think this is why they feel so out of place. They're too intrusive. With that said I don't personally dislike them, and I still like the song a lot, but if there was an area that needed improvement it would be the clean vocals. The instrumental section 3/4 through the song is really nice.
Gateways - 9.5/10 - The more I listen to this one the more I love it. As said previously, I really like that it gives Peter a chance to show his skills, in a way he was never really able to do with IF. Just a really cool, brooding track which builds to a pulsing chorus. It's quite minimalist in terms of construction, but it's done in an expert way. Mikael's vocals on this are suitably gravelly. One of his best performances on the record, and that's saying something as he's excellent throughout the CD. The melodic guitarwork at the three minute mark is a huge change of pace for the track, but somehow it works. Being honest I'm not sure I would have included those spacey keys... but it's a minor quibble. I would have preferred an epic synth underneath, similar to WWTM, but maybe they didn't want to tread too close to that.
A Truth Worth Lying For - 9.5/10 - I still really like this one. First 20 seconds are admittedly a bit too close to Ropes for my liking, but then the track speeds up to an epic crescendo at around the 40 second mark. Verses and pre-chorus nice and groovy. Same issue with the clean vocals as with In Broken Trust, but having lowered the clean vocal volume I find this a lot less of a problem on this track. I shouldn't have to be going into a music editing suite to correct this though. Cool fast-paced solo. Another sweet outro.
Feel What I Believe - 10/10 - Yeah I rated this one too low initially, it's fucking great. The melodies, the aggression, the vocals, drumming, bass... everything is just on point. I think this one shares some similarities with Days of the Lost, but it's a better version. 01:40 - 01:47 - sorry to bring Siren Charms into the discussion, but that's very, very close to the end of the melodic section of Dead Eyes anyway, another track I'd change nothing about.
Last of Our Kind - 8.5/10 - Slightly lower rating for this one after some repeated listens. I really like the violin/cello opening. That's very cool. The song is pretty good up until about 00:55, then it gets a little... generic? It's not bad by any means, but not much is happening. Chugging riffs and Mikael with some fairly basic vocal lines. Pre-Chorus picks up the pace, and along with the chorus is pretty cool. Following verses are again a little generic. Heafy's guest appearance at the end honestly deducts a little from the score for me. He doesn't ruin the song or anything, but the sudden change of vocalist kind of comes out of nowhere, and his screams are just not on Mikael's levels. The singing over the growls in the chorus at the end doesn't sound so good to me either.
The Most Alone - 9/10 - The opening is very, very DT until the melodic guitars kick in on top of the keys. Personally I think it's quite cool that they thought outside of the box with this one, as it would have been easy to just leave the keys as is. This one doesn't seem to have clicked with most on here, but I actually love the melancholic strains within the chorus especially and think the song as a whole really flows nicely. The instrumental section is also pretty unique for the record, and sounds good. I'm not sure this is necessarily the right song to end the CD on, but I still really like it.
Unquestionably my album of the year, certainly the best MDM record I've heard in a really, really long time. Just a huge congratulations to all of these guys, they've created an absolute masterpiece to go alongside the classics from yesteryear. I can't wait for the next one.
Shadowminds - 10/10 - As already mentioned, I really love this track. It pretty much has everything, an opening which is both melodic and heavy. Very smooth flow between every segment of the song. Vocals working perfectly in rhythm with the instruments. Epic sounding pre-chorus leading into an awesome chorus. Solo which fits in really well and doesn't just sound like generic solo #172 chucked in. Incredible track on record, also sounds amazing live.
Days of the Lost - 9/10 - Such strong IF vibes from this one. Keys tastefully done throughout, none of the riffs overused. This one definitely feels like more a 'single' type track, cycling back to the chorus fairly quickly throughout. Another really nice solo here which again just gave me major IF vibes.
The Needless End - 9/10 - I actually think this one sounds slightly better live, but the studio version is still great too. For me this is probably the most DT sounding track on the record. The guitar melodies throughout are vintage DT (older stuff obviously, not their newer output). Nice little outro too.
Conditional - 10/10 - Well, I've fanboyed over this one enough already
opening is super strong IF vibe again, like an ASOP opening if the production was actually good. Absolutely love how it transitions from this into those pounding riffs and galloping drums. Speaking of which, the drumming on this one is fierce. Excellent job Daniel. The melodic chorus is just perfect. Just an all around stellar track.In Broken Trust - 8.5/10 - I like the opening. Riffs are nice and groovy, a bit of a change of pace to the tracks that came before it. Almost has an industrial vibe to it. Verses are pretty cool with the spooky sounding electronics and 'evil' sounding guitarwork. As has been discussed already though, the cleans are just... not produced and/or mixed correctly. I think this is why they feel so out of place. They're too intrusive. With that said I don't personally dislike them, and I still like the song a lot, but if there was an area that needed improvement it would be the clean vocals. The instrumental section 3/4 through the song is really nice.
Gateways - 9.5/10 - The more I listen to this one the more I love it. As said previously, I really like that it gives Peter a chance to show his skills, in a way he was never really able to do with IF. Just a really cool, brooding track which builds to a pulsing chorus. It's quite minimalist in terms of construction, but it's done in an expert way. Mikael's vocals on this are suitably gravelly. One of his best performances on the record, and that's saying something as he's excellent throughout the CD. The melodic guitarwork at the three minute mark is a huge change of pace for the track, but somehow it works. Being honest I'm not sure I would have included those spacey keys... but it's a minor quibble. I would have preferred an epic synth underneath, similar to WWTM, but maybe they didn't want to tread too close to that.
A Truth Worth Lying For - 9.5/10 - I still really like this one. First 20 seconds are admittedly a bit too close to Ropes for my liking, but then the track speeds up to an epic crescendo at around the 40 second mark. Verses and pre-chorus nice and groovy. Same issue with the clean vocals as with In Broken Trust, but having lowered the clean vocal volume I find this a lot less of a problem on this track. I shouldn't have to be going into a music editing suite to correct this though. Cool fast-paced solo. Another sweet outro.
Feel What I Believe - 10/10 - Yeah I rated this one too low initially, it's fucking great. The melodies, the aggression, the vocals, drumming, bass... everything is just on point. I think this one shares some similarities with Days of the Lost, but it's a better version. 01:40 - 01:47 - sorry to bring Siren Charms into the discussion, but that's very, very close to the end of the melodic section of Dead Eyes
anyway, another track I'd change nothing about.Last of Our Kind - 8.5/10 - Slightly lower rating for this one after some repeated listens. I really like the violin/cello opening. That's very cool. The song is pretty good up until about 00:55, then it gets a little... generic? It's not bad by any means, but not much is happening. Chugging riffs and Mikael with some fairly basic vocal lines. Pre-Chorus picks up the pace, and along with the chorus is pretty cool. Following verses are again a little generic. Heafy's guest appearance at the end honestly deducts a little from the score for me. He doesn't ruin the song or anything, but the sudden change of vocalist kind of comes out of nowhere, and his screams are just not on Mikael's levels. The singing over the growls in the chorus at the end doesn't sound so good to me either.
The Most Alone - 9/10 - The opening is very, very DT until the melodic guitars kick in on top of the keys. Personally I think it's quite cool that they thought outside of the box with this one, as it would have been easy to just leave the keys as is. This one doesn't seem to have clicked with most on here, but I actually love the melancholic strains within the chorus especially and think the song as a whole really flows nicely. The instrumental section is also pretty unique for the record, and sounds good. I'm not sure this is necessarily the right song to end the CD on, but I still really like it.
Unquestionably my album of the year, certainly the best MDM record I've heard in a really, really long time. Just a huge congratulations to all of these guys, they've created an absolute masterpiece to go alongside the classics from yesteryear. I can't wait for the next one.
Lol... well, I guess you can't account for taste. Having listened to both of these albums - and not having any bias against modern AE as I actually liked Will to Power - I can say without hesitation that Days of the Lost blows Deceivers out of the water. Deceivers isn't bad but it's nowhere near the level of DotL. It just isn't. Can't really take those things too seriously though, as we know the majority of these reviews are paid for anyway. The real reviews are right here
Xpyro125
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Oh yeah, massive bonus points for incorporating the leads of "Only For the Weak" in such a way in "A Truth Worth Lying For" that is both familiar, yet more somber and individualized for the song. I didn't notice it during the chorus until I actually listened to the studio version, but it works so well because everything else in the song feels so different and fresh. It just acts as a nice little callback in the background until it's highlighted with the outro. Fucking beautiful shit there.
Xpyro125
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Lol... well, I guess you can't account for taste. Having listened to both of these albums - and not having any bias against modern AE as I actually liked Will to Power - I can say without hesitation that Days of the Lost blows Deceivers out of the water. Deceivers isn't bad but it's nowhere near the level of DotL. It just isn't. Can't really take those things too seriously though, as we know the majority of these reviews are paid for anyway. The real reviews are right here
Facts, man. I really want to see it on AMG too, as while I don't always agree with the reviewers there, the reviews feel like they're genuinely reviewing the music as well, rather than just having a couple grand slid under the table.
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