Elend, Melpomene - 7.5/10, Sweetly played, ominous strains of orchestral strings, the choral stuff is rather beautiful as well. Bizarre, mumbled narration underneath. Briefly goes full Bach fugue 2 minutes in with the creepy fortissimo dirge. Superb utilization of woodwinds too, overall the orchestra has a very keen sense of dynamism. Reminiscent of a romantic era composition the way the emotive forces just bleed out of the music. Choral segments and entire composition just get progressively eerier and more foreboding, simply magnificent. Unequivocally thematic, I felt like I was in the most despondency ridden, doomiest sea storm of all time.
The Sisters of Mercy, Marian - 6/10, Bassy goth crooning over accelerated minor key bass and guitar riffage, badass stuff. The 80's synths only improve it. German lyrical changeover was unprecedented, actually sounds even better than the English variant. Could just be my bias towards the German language as sounding prettier when spoken softly. Overall, some decent goth-tinged post-punk, if a little monotonous. Thematic.
Led Zeppelin, The Ocean - 7.5/10, One of Jimmy Page's all time funkiest riffs, Plant is a tad nasally here for my tastes, but still provides an abundance of his sublime semi-erotic wail-craft. Bonham just lays down an impeccably sexy groove while Jones follows the guitar. I forgot how swing jazz esque it got around 3 minutes and 30 seconds, specifically with Bonham's drums and the way Page solos over it. Thematic.
Clutch, Sea of Destruction - 4/10, Intro drum fill is good, riffage is good Zeppelin worship funnily enough given the prior track. Vocalist sounds too modern rock/grunge for me to like him, just that bland caterwauling pseudo-gritty faggotry, yuck. Not the worst singer, just not the greatest either. Thematic.
Chelsea Wolfe, Mer - 5/10, I don't mind the guitar opening, the drums are intriguing with the Latin rhythms they abruptly lock into the moment they come in. The female vocals are so muffled I find it difficult to discern their actual quality. I like the way it evokes such a strange mood, but despise how repetitive it is. Thematic.
Bedrich Smetana/The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Die Moldau - 8/10, I genuinely wasn't expecting Smetana or any of his ilk to show up here, but this is a pleasant surprise, the man was a genius. Lush and whimsical arrangement of this piece, though I expect no less from an orchestra of the caliber of the Berlin Philharmonic. Exuberant and colorful brass, over soaring strings and tinkling percussion, just a piece of inconceivable majesty. As with many great classical pieces the mood shifts are mindblowingly fluid, and made all the more so by a world class orchestra who're capable of playing just about anything on a dime. I adore the bombast and might of pieces like this, it's likely the main reason I'm so fond of Wagner's operas. Sadly, as effusively as I have to praise the piece itself, it's not even on theme given the Moldau is a river, not a sea or ocean (otherwise this would receive a perfect rating).
Pallas, Atlantis - 5/10, Passable instrumentation, vocals are meh, if a smidgen annoying. The whole piece just resonates as antiseptic and banal to me for the vast majority of it. It starts becoming a little epic within approximately the last 2 minutes, which salvages it from complete banality. Thematic.
Split Enz, Shark Attack - 7/10, Badass punk-ish surf rock, swinging beat, crazed vocalist and weird synth sounds, melding with the light guitar and thick bass to generate a frantic, rocking soundscape. Thematic.
Nest, Across The Waters, - 6.5/10, Serene acoustic and orchestral blend, gives off a vibe of mysteriousness or awestruck, first-time exploration of some aquatic body. This is driven home to greater effect due to the realistic water sounds added to fill in the delicate and sparing instrumentation. Feels like something a Rush/Rainbow/Hans Zimmer collaboration would produce, if that makes any sense. Thematic.
Townes van Zandt, Silver Ships of Andilar - 7/10, Adore the folksy guitar combined with the sea shanty style melody, beauteous, charismatic folk voice on the singer. Thematic.
Paul Robeson, Sea Fever - 8/10, Paul Robeson is one of the greatest bass voices ever burnt into the grooves of a record, dude had a voice that could drive a continent into outerspace, resonant, thunderous, expert vibrato and legato, and a volume and control rivalled by only a select few. Thematic.
