My listening experiment (RiA inspired)...

[General Zod]

OK... so I find myself in a same rut; constantly reaching for new music, rather than quality music. The plan is, such as it is, and such that anyone really cares, I will limit myself to these 25 discs for the remainder of 2010, regardless of what may be released:

Barren Earth - The Curse of the Red River
Blind Guardian - At The Edge Of Time
Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II (Dialogue with the Stars)
Brant Bjork - Gods & Goddesses
Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway
Disturbed - Asylum
Drudkh - Handful of Stars
Fracture - Dominate and Overload
High on Fire - Snakes for the Divine
Ihsahn - After
Indukti - Idmen
Isis - Oceanic
Kamelot - Poetry For The Poisoned
Long Distance Calling - Avoid The Light
Mar de Grises - Streams Inwards
Mindwarp Chamber - Supernova
Mono - Hymn To The Immortal Wind
Negură Bunget - Om
Sahg - III
Shining V - Halmstad
The Sword - Warp Riders
Throes of Dawn - The Great Fleet of Echoes
Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
Vanden Plas - The Seraphic Clockwork
Yakuza - Of Seismic Consequence

There's some method to the madness, such that Disturbed and Triptykon ever appear on the same list. Regardless, the goal is twofold. One, get back to actually listening to and absorbing music. Two, retrain my brain to ignore new releases, and quell the expectation that I'll discover musical gems using a superficial pass through a large number of releases, rather than a deeper dive into a smaller pool.

Since Mr. Jerry was my inspiration for this, I included Indukti (which I just noticed he recommended to me six months ago), even though I've never heard a note from it.

 

[Krilons Resa]

Fuck yes to Oceanic.

I have no idea how Mar De Grises got on your list though considering that you cannot stand doom-oriented music.

 

[General Zod]

I have no idea how Mar De Grises got on your list though considering that you cannot stand doom-oriented music.

I kind of dug Draining the Waterheart. And it sounds, based on this review (I've yet to hear the new disc... just a shot in the dark on this one), that they're moving further into the direction I appreciated on their last offering...

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/38731/Mar-De-Grises-Streams-Inwards/

 

[swizzlenuts]

I'd replace The Sword or Sahg with Ogre - Plague of the Planets, if you're looking for the heavier rock type thing. Same style of riffing but a bit more Rush oriented in their compositions.

 

[Reign in Acai]

Draining the Waterheart was/is kind of ass. Negură Bunget - Om, on the other hand is what I've recently come to regard as the best metal release of the past 5 years. I got over that Indukti album rather quickly, but I'm sure I could appreciate the value of it the next time I give it a whirl.

I'd replace Disturbed with Nokturnal Mortum The Voice of Steel.

 

[General Zod]

I'd replace The Sword or Sahg with Ogre - Plague of the Planets, if you're looking for the heavier rock type thing. Same style of riffing but a bit more Rush oriented in their compositions.

Some of this stuff is purely random. I kind of dig the Sputnik site I posted a review from above. The better reviews are reminiscent of RC's glory days. And it seems to be a site frequented by serious music fans. The Sword disc got a 4.5, which is an unusually high rating. It's also a higher rating than any of their previous discs. And since we live in a world where most music fans tend to prefer a band's earlier works, the fact that the new one is the highest rated, says something. I quickly queued up a track on MySpace before I added it to the list of 25, and liked what I heard.

To your point, I'm sure there are better releases that could replace most of my selections. As I said, it's somewhat random. That said, I'll check out Ogre... when my experiment ends. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[General Zod]

I'd replace Disturbed with Nokturnal Mortum The Voice of Steel.

I'm sure everyone would replace Disturbed with something. However, I need something to listen to when I lift weights Disturbed is good gym music. Plus, I totally dig Draiman's voice.*


* My other experiment is to see if I can reduce my board cred with every post I make. Mission accomplished.

 

[WhiteBeastofWotan]

Didn't even know Mar de Grises had a new one out. I love Draining the Waterheart, didn't at first but it was total grower. New one sounds good so far.

 

[Krilons Resa]

Yea, I really dig the Sputnik site as well.

 

[lurch70]

i used to do this sort of excercise when I was younger ... now I just listen to whatever I am in the mood for.
i don't "owe" Tryptikon (or whoever) any of my time just so I can "absorb" or find their brilliance.

 

[Krilons Resa]

Dude, you just kicked the chair from underneath the General.

 

[lurch70]

hahaha ... didn't mean to do that. I love the General with all my heart. he knows that.

 

[Krilons Resa]

Likewise, but now I give his plan about 3.5 days before it folds and finds himself checking out some crummy BM band from the forests of Guam that RiA discovered in the BM Hipster thread only to find out that he doesn't dig it.

 

[lurch70]

he's off to Progpower next week ... enough said

 

[Krilons Resa]

 

[General Zod]

LOL @ Doomcifer & lurch. It's not really about owing anything to the bands my list. It's about the fact that my current listening habits have left me growing disinterested in music.

As for ProgPower... this year's line up isn't to my liking at all, and I'm heading down with nothing on my buy list.

 

[Reign in Acai]

...checking out some crummy BM band from the forests of Guam that RiA discovered in the BM Hipster thread...

Greg, check this band out.


http://www.myspace.com/hymnforthetortured

 

[lurch70]

... would have been funnier without the quote though

 

[lurch70]

wait, these guys are kind of good.

 

[Ars Magna]

HAHA! Check out the most recent comment on their page. Possibly the biggest groupie on myspace. She's freakin hilarious.

As for the band, I've certainly heard worse.