Sunrise... come another day...

[Jim LotFP]

... new Pharaoh (The Longest Night) grows and grows on me. I've only got a rough mix, unmastered version, but it's weeding its way into my skull. Sunrise, the opener on the copy I have, is superb. The world indeed looks better a deeper shade of grey.

I have been caught singing I Am the Hammer in baby voices to my cat.

And after watching Fawlty Towers lately have also been singin I Am the Hamster.

Yeah, I'm slowly crawling up the tracklist.

Early assessment is that it is a very good album, but not as good as the debut. Then again, all I listened to on the debut was Solar Flight for who knows how long (and I'd had various versions of that for four years before that album was out) so Pharaoh albums seem to be growers.

 

[Occam's Razor]

Damn, I wish I could hear that. Is it embarassing to admit that the debut did not do much for me at first, but then...?

You should go and listen to the new Katatonia to dampen your euphoria a little. I found the promo-voice-over very helpful here because it always says: "This is the song xy from Katatonia's forthcoming album". Otherwise, distinguishing the tunes would have been hard .

Jonas Renske needs a hug...

 

[JayKeeley]

Jim - I assume you've also got the new "unmastered unfinished" Hammers album? April seems so far away....

 

[Jim LotFP]

Jim - I assume you've also got the new "unmastered unfinished" Hammers album? April seems so far away....

Nope. Jim is a sad panda.

 

[JayKeeley]

Ahh, I figured you might. Pity. It appears that John has been sharing with some of his myspace buds.

Still, I'm ok waiting for the real deal.

 

[jageorge72]

Jim,

Have you heard Ackercocke - Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone? I was reading some reviews of it today at lunch....... seems to have gotten tons of praise.

 

[Occam's Razor]

Ackercocke: I have the promo. Okay stuff, but overrated if you ask me. They are called progressive, but their riffs are primitive proto thrash, Neil Kernon has produced a bad drum sound, and the grindcore vocals sound like comedy (as usual). Attempts at singing are weak.

Interesting song structures though, and the lyrics are obviously not dumbed down Satanism...all in all neither an Arcturus, nor the "Rush of black metal" (as said in German magazines).

 

[BenMech]

Neil did the post-production mix, NOT the production itself (Akercocke self-produce).

Jim is a sad MARRIED panda now.

 

[Occam's Razor]

Neil did the post-production mix, NOT the production itself (Akercocke self-produce).

that explains it.

 

[JayKeeley]

The songwriting is great. The vocals are....very "US" style. Aymar takes some getting used to I suppose.

That aside, this Pharoah album would sound so much better if you could actually hear the bass. They screwed this up on the debut too. Great dual guitar leads, and no bass....same problem all over again, why I wonder?

That said, there are some tracks where the production just sounds fuller. Can that be possible, an inconsistent production? Or is it that they've just added a third guitar track to play rhythm on certain songs.

Compare "Sunrise" (thin) to "Night Sky" (fat).

Kinda odd.

 

[Jim LotFP]

The vocals are....very "US" style.

"Testicles included."

Compare "Sunrise" (thin) to "Night Sky" (fat).
Kinda odd.

hmmm. Is there a correlation between songwriter and sound quality on the songs you're talking about?

 

[Occam's Razor]

I think the bass is okay as it is - and I am a bassplayer myself who usually complains about inaudible low frequencies on metal records...
I don't know if up-front four-string-acrobatics would fit here either, and as for the Steve-Harris-style which clearly suits the band, I think it is "clacky" enough.

The mix to me is appealing in that the vocals are kind of another insturment that is well-embedded in the music - as opposed to other bands' dominant singing on top of a more or less static and simple arrangement (the type of 'don't bore us, get to the chorus').

I also wouldn't know if a super-clean and punchy production in the vein of an Andy Sneap would be appropriate here - especially as far as the drums are concerned.

I have this new Martin Walkyier project here, The Clan Destined. Sneap has had his hands in it, and it sounds a lot like a band playing their own songs with Nevermore's latest studio setup...know what I mean?

 

[Jim LotFP]

I have this new Martin Walkyier project here, The Clan Destined. Sneap has had his hands in it, and it sounds a lot like a band playing their own songs with Nevermore's latest studio setup...know what I mean?

... Sneap has a very artificial sound to his work... but it's not like Walkyier and Sneap working together is entirely inappropriate...

 

[Occam's Razor]

Of course it is not inappropriate. It is only strange that Skyclad could never profit from the connection, even with a label behind them. Now we have Walkyier working independently, but probably with his most 'produced' music ever.

Sneap cannot really spoil The Clan Destined though. Walkyier's voice is just too characteristic. It is only the drums and guitars with their stock-sound. My favorite example is always to compare Sneap with Neil Kernon with regards to the Nevermore albums: None of their releases up to "Dead Heart" sounded the same, even though produced by the same person. And now?

I think Sneap is overrated as a producer, considering that now with the reworked "Enemies of Reality", it sounds as if it was done entirely by him, even though he only remastered it...it is all about one identical sound.

 

[Matt Crooks]

That said, there are some tracks where the production just sounds fuller. Can that be possible, an inconsistent production? Or is it that they've just added a third guitar track to play rhythm on certain songs.

Compare "Sunrise" (thin) to "Night Sky" (fat).

There are no more or less rhythm guitars on any of the tracks. The arangements and layering is different from track to track though. I honestly like the mix of every song better than the mix on Sunrise.

The Sneap re-do of Enemiees was a complete re-mix, not just a remaster.

 

[Occam's Razor]

The Sneap re-do of Enemiees was a complete re-mix, not just a remaster.

Anyway - it is all about his sound and not about a band's individual one.

 

[Matt Crooks]

Anyway - it is all about his sound and not about a band's individual one.

That is a common complaint.

 

[Occam's Razor]

That is a common complaint.

Then how come he is a much-demanded producer?

 

[Jim LotFP]

Then how come he is a much-demanded producer?

What, people text message each other on their cell phones while downloading whatever album or movie they like while flipping through the 500 channels they get on their satellite TV, and they're going to bitch about abrasive digital cookie cutter production?

 

[Occam's Razor]

Well, even though I don't own a cellphone and use my tv for a quarter hour a day to watch some news, I cannot imagine that you will lose your ear for what sounds good and what doesn't if you surround yourself with all these media devices...I mean, I listen to mp3s on occasion, but this is when I have no other possibility. My car hifi is crappy anyway, so mp3 will do there. At home though, I haven't paid good money for nothing with my stereo here...and damn if there isn't a difference.