New KSE

Sinister Mephisto said:
I like the songs. I'm disappointed by the production. Does every fucking palmmute distort on any one elses copy? Jesus christ. Also, vocals are pretty soft.
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First thing I heard. It's worse when they let the palm mutes 'ring out' aswell, ugh.. Some tom hits are distorting, aswell.

gonna give the CD some more spins for a week or so. I'm in need of some happy/cheesy metal right now. first impressions is they're struggling to get new material.

best thing on the album was Rose of Sharyn live - tight as a gnats chuff.
 
i really just think most of you guys will say and have said the same thing about almost any band that reaches it's 5th or 6th album... that's not to say any particular part of the criticism isn't valid, and of course a lot of it is entirely subjective anyway... but i notice this trend often.. everyone likes the first album or two of most good bands, then it drops off rapidly after that... i think it's a very predictable phenomenon, and that above a certain quality level it says more about human nature than it does about the actual differences in quality between early and later albums of any given band... the existence, frequency, and severity of those differences, be they subjective or entirely objective, not withstanding.

IOW, no matter how much you like chocolate ice cream, you get tired of it after having it too often. it's burn-out, and it's human nature... those of you with your own bands can look forward to the same scenario playing out in the opinions of your own fanbases.

having said that, I agree with many of the production critiques i've read so far in this thread, especially as compared to AOJB & TEOH... but it's still pretty damn good however you slice it. Just bought the deluxe edition tonight and quite enjoying it so far.
 
I haven't heard it, but I'm guessing it's the album that I was expecting unfortunately. I was really hoping the two things they wouldn't do is write more of the same formula and even more accessible, and from what I gather (and the one song I've heard) this seems to be exactly what I've done!

KsE will always hold a special place in my heart because AoJB blew me away, and is an album I still enjoy even though I've listened to it a billion times. I liked Heartache but it didn't have the same longevity to me, and Daylight Dies had good catchy songs, but felt to me like a more accessible Heartache.

I think they are also the victims of their own ingenuity, now that metalcore is a bland and overpopulated genre, due to KsE inspiring them all!
 
James Murphy said:
IOW, no matter how much you like chocolate ice cream, you get tired of it after having it too often. it's burn-out, and it's human nature... those of you with your own bands can look forward to the same scenario playing out in the opinions of your own fanbases.
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I was gonna use the exact same analogy (although not with chocolate ice-cream).

If KsE had gone outside the box and done something a little different, for good or for bad they wouldn't have the same 'boring/formulaic' criticism that it has been getting.

Bands like Metallica, Megadeth and Paradise Lost all did pretty well to do stay fresh for more than 10 albums by developing steadily over the first few albums, then progressing musically, re-inventing themselves, doing some stuff that alienated a lot of fans and eventually returning to their classic period 2 decades later.

I don't know if KsE are quite unique or 'important' enough to be able to sustain the Iron Maiden, Slayer, AC/DC route of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
 
James Murphy said:
i really just think most of you guys will say and have said the same thing about almost any band that reaches it's 5th or 6th album... that's not to say any particular part of the criticism isn't valid, and of course a lot of it is entirely subjective anyway... but i notice this trend often.. everyone likes the first album or two of most good bands, then it drops off rapidly after that... i think it's a very predictable phenomenon, and that above a certain quality level it says more about human nature than it does about the actual differences in quality between early and later albums of any given band... the existence, frequency, and severity of those differences, be they subjective or entirely objective, not withstanding.

IOW, no matter how much you like chocolate ice cream, you get tired of it after having it too often. it's burn-out, and it's human nature... those of you with your own bands can look forward to the same scenario playing out in the opinions of your own fanbases.

having said that, I agree with many of the production critiques i've read so far in this thread, especially as compared to AOJB & TEOH... but it's still pretty damn good however you slice it. Just bought the deluxe edition tonight and quite enjoying it so far.
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Well that may be true with some bands, but there are lots of bands that have 5+ albums that I've never found boring. Examples: Testament, Megadeth, Arch Enemy, Nevermore, Iron Maiden, Opeth, Devin Townsend, Hypocrisy, and many more...

I could also name off bands that prove your point (of getting tired of); but of the bands that I've listed off above, I love almost anything they do. And there are certainly a lot more bands that we can think of that quite honestly never get boring.

Obviously, those bands are my personal favorites that never get boring to me. Some people may never get tired of new Britney Spears, Timberlake, or some other artist/band I think is completely gay.

I used to really enjoy Killswitch, but this album just seems to be wayyyyyy below what they're capable of. It doesn't seem as if I've lost interest in them.... it's just a lazy album.

dan weapon said:
Bands like Metallica, Megadeth and Paradise Lost all did pretty well to do stay fresh for more than 10 albums by developing steadily over the first few albums, then progressing musically, re-inventing themselves, doing some stuff that alienated a lot of fans and eventually returning to their classic period 2 decades later.

I don't know if KsE are quite unique or 'important' enough to be able to sustain the Iron Maiden, Slayer, AC/DC route of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
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+1. I think that's definitely a factor as well.
 
opinion... it's subjective. that's what my entire post stated, and you've said nothing that changes my position. i personally was quite bored with Testament by album 5... and that was like one and a half years before i joined them. my statements stand.... even though i agree, in my own opinion, that the new KsE is not their best so far... but it's still pretty damned good as far as i'm concerned.
 
New KSE sounds pretty good to me. I certainly prefer some of their older albums to this one, but there is nothing wrong with this one.

The one glaring thing I noticed about this album was the guitar tone. It sounds almost identical to the tone I can achieve using Peavey Revalver. While this isn't necessarily bad, I expected a more unique tone from Adam's production work in the past.

Otherwise I think it's cool.
 
dan weapon said:
Bands like Metallica, Megadeth and Paradise Lost all did pretty well to do stay fresh for more than 10 albums by developing steadily over the first few albums, then progressing musically, re-inventing themselves, doing some stuff that alienated a lot of fans and eventually returning to their classic period 2 decades later.

I don't know if KsE are quite unique or 'important' enough to be able to sustain the Iron Maiden, Slayer, AC/DC route of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
Click to expand...

I'm one of those oddball fans that appreciate it when a band changes gears and experiments with the formula that made them successful even if the results are unexpected and likely to alienate their fans. I think a band like Metallica needed, maybe on a personal level, to go through the phases musically that they did. While I'm not one that believes that "Death Magnetic" is a second coming of "... and Justice" or "old school" Metallica, it is once again a reinventing of themselves - one that despite it's production issues I rather enjoy for the elements that it's made up of.

This leads me to KSE's new disc - I just don't see KSE risking anything, taking a chance on a new sound, it just seems to predictable to me; nothing jumps out at me even on a track by track basis they all just bleed into one sound - a "safe" KSE sound. As mentioned in dan weapon's post - I don't think KSE is firmly rooted on the terra firma of rock to keep doing the same formula album after album like the aforementioned AC/DC. It's going to and has worn thin, at least for me; but then again thats why opinions are like... (well you know the saying).

Jind
 
It has everything I like about KSE... Fat guitars, tasteful harmony's and big sing along choruses.. they have a sound and they stick to it...

It may not be the greatest thing ever but I am still digging it...:kickass:

The more I listen to it the more I like it..I really dig the chilled out parts with the clean guitars...they really brought that up a notch on this disc...( probobly to the dismay of a lot of people!)
 
James Murphy said:
opinion... it's subjective. that's what my entire post stated, and you've said nothing that changes my position. i personally was quite bored with Testament by album 5... and that was like one and a half years before i joined them. my statements stand.... even though i agree, in my own opinion, that the new KsE is not their best so far... but it's still pretty damned good as far as i'm concerned.
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I completely agree James. I wasn't bashing what you said. Sorry if it came across that way. It is subjective. I wasn't trying to change your position at all. To each their own! :)

I do agree as well that the new KSE has some good elements and compared to what other bands are doing, is still "pretty damned good". But I just don't think they even remotely tried as hard on this album. I have pretty much enjoyed everything they've put out to date. I was simply stating that I don't think i'm bored with them.... it literally just sounds like a boring album. To me, it doesn't even sound the same as their previous efforts. It just sounds very melancholy and dull -- both the songwriting and production.
 
I wish Adam D would have done the production solo, instead of combining and spending more money on Brendan O'Brien.

Even though the new Mastodon is killer... i think Adam's production skills, especially on his own bands disc, isn't here...
 
it may be a tasteful solo but the snare is still too loud
and therefore 1/10
 
yes of course dodo.... music is only to be judged based on snare tone and the like :rolleyes: if i thought like that i'd have to throw out over half my CD collection and thus deprive myself of some of some seriously good music. c'mon now.... production is the focus of this forum, but giving an album a 1/10 review just because you don't like the snare sound just paints you an unmusical technician with no soul.
 
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