The Never Ending Now Playing Thread

[Elvina]

Borknagar - Universal (with 2 bonus traks).

Edit: I already heard both. After Universal ended, I laughed hard remembering the 'making of' videos. You'll be surprised, really.

Not as a review, just like a thought: It's hard to hear and understand it at its fullest just with a couple of spins, maybe it's the hardest listening I ever had with a Borknagar album, and I use the word hard not for my liking, I try to say that Universal is a complex concept, as the same suggests. You'll love it or hate it.

ok now i've heard it too...

uhm...

what can i say...

it's even worse than i expected...

After the first listen: there's no single track that would make me go wow. Not even any that would make me go "man, this is really good!"... not even My Domain, though it must be the best song on the album. Every track has some kind of flaws, it's all full of "would've, should've, could've" I think i kinda like My Domain & Coalition of the Elements; Loci is ok; Abrasion Tide, Worldwide & Fleshflower might grow on me; the rest i don't even like. But oh well, who knows... I guess it is safe to say i am quite disappointed, but not surprised.

 

[Erik Erna]

Hey, I thought My Domain was incredible!

 

[Defiance]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/borknagar/569192-universal-comments.html

Borknagar: The Stir of Seasons

Ohhh love that piano. Good job Lars!

So far, I'm totally in love with this album. (Something that, sadly enough, didn't happen with one of my other #1 bands: Dark Tranquillity. It's been very hard to like the new album, there're some great songs, but it's not what I expected.)

 

[Defiance]

Borknagar: Fleshflower

Ahhhhh this song is sooooo gooood!

 

[phantomfreak]

Such an awesome band.

 

[lefay82]

Borknagar: Fleshflower

Ahhhhh this song is sooooo gooood!

so someone seems to have leaked it in the very end!

 

[Elvina]

Amorphis // Skyforger

damn it's so fckin catchy i'm ashamed i love it so much

 

[lefay82]

i'm still trying to understand and possibly like Aealo by rotting christ.
but at the second listening the result didn't change....
i'm so disappointed....it was one of my high-expected cds of 2010!
hope it gets better with more listenings but i'm not so full of hope.
as a friend said about the album "why the hell that bunch of "preficae" must sing in every fucking song?"

 

[NovembersDirge]

i'm still trying to understand and possibly like Aealo by rotting christ.
but at the second listening the result didn't change....
i'm so disappointed....it was one of my high-expected cds of 2010!
hope it gets better with more listenings but i'm not so full of hope.
as a friend said about the album "why the hell that bunch of "preficae" must sing in every fucking song?"

I liked it pretty well, but it's certainly not strong like Theogonia was.

NP: Oskoreien - Illusions EP

 

[NovembersDirge]

Let me just say that I think that Universal sounds WAY better in earphones. I mean, like.. WAY better. I think part of the problem is that the mix is SO cluttered that it's hard to really get a feel for what's going on at times, which leads to this feeling that the record is just unfocused and poorly constructed.

 

[Elvina]

Let me just say that I think that Universal sounds WAY better in earphones. I mean, like.. WAY better. I think part of the problem is that the mix is SO cluttered that it's hard to really get a feel for what's going on at times, which leads to this feeling that the record is just unfocused and poorly constructed.

pffff thank you, i was already thinking there must be something wrong with my ears, but now you confirm it too... i haven't tried headphones yet, will do! *fingers crossed*

 

[Allfader]

Let me just say that I think that Universal sounds WAY better in earphones. I mean, like.. WAY better. I think part of the problem is that the mix is SO cluttered that it's hard to really get a feel for what's going on at times, which leads to this feeling that the record is just unfocused and poorly constructed.

I felt something similar at first, until I heard My Domain. That track sounds very epic and the music is really great, like TAC, but when it finished I felt that the whole album at its core was the same. The main riffs and overall songwriting has a lot of TAC elements, even some TOD things...I think that the album as a whole is more than decent, a grower for sure and well constructed as a concept, but some songs are way better than others.

 

[Vampyrian]

Electro Sun - Fucking Music

 

[NovembersDirge]

I felt something similar at first, until I heard My Domain. That track sounds very epic and the music is really great, like TAC, but when it finished I felt that the whole album at its core was the same. The main riffs and overall songwriting has a lot of TAC elements, even some TOD things...I think that the album as a whole is more than decent, a grower for sure and well constructed as a concept, but some songs are way better than others.

It's definitely a grower. Though, I agree, some songs are way better than others. I posted my review of it today. Check the sig so that I don't spam this shit everywhere.

 

[Elvina]

I posted my review of it today. Check the sig so that I don't spam this shit everywhere.

Nice, you really did your best with reviewing this one!
I believe, it's the one of what i've read so far that i most agree with.

Unfortunately, all this epicness and detailed playing also leads to what I see as the biggest problem from which this record suffers: a lack of focus. While every song on the record has shining moments of beauty and clarity, Universal seems messy and hard to follow at times. Intros to tracks can feel like total non-sequitors when the verse actually starts, (see: “For A Thousand Years to Come”) or sometimes the instruments seemingly clash with each other instead of working together to create beautiful chords and harmonies.

My thoughts exactly! (except that i dunno what non-sequitors mean?)
I haven't listen to it anymore, i have to let it rest and sink in before i do it again, otherwise i get totally sick of it.

 

[NovembersDirge]

Nice, you really did your best with reviewing this one!
I believe, it's the one of what i've read so far that i most agree with.
My thoughts exactly! (except that i dunno what non-sequitors mean?)
I haven't listen to it anymore, i have to let it rest and sink in before i do it again, otherwise i get totally sick of it.

First: thanks! Tell your friends!

Secondly: a non-sequitur is something that doesn't follow in sequence. Actually, I misspelled it apparently.. Here's something from Wikipedia:

The use of non sequitur in humor can be deliberate or unintentional. Literally, the expression is Latin for "it does not follow."[2] In other literature, a non sequitur can denote an abrupt, illogical, unexpected or absurd turn of plot or dialogue not normally associated with or appropriate to that preceding it. It is a type of logical fallacy.

The point being that sometimes an abrupt change can feel logical, despite it being sudden. Whereas sometimes it feels jarring and illogical, which happens to me on a couple of different tracks. Gonna go edit that post.

 

[Defiance]

Borknagar: My Domain

 

[NovembersDirge]

Obscura // Cosmogenesis

 

[phantomfreak]

 

[Azzor1911]

^ Awesome album, much better than its successor Imaginitive, even though that one is also pretty good. Looking forward to another Waterclime album, hoping for an update from Mr. V.

np:
Zyklon - In Hindsight
Disintegrate (2006)

Nothing like starting your day at work with a cup of fresh-brewed coffee and some quality death metal