I saw DT on the 20th in Royal Oak. I was surprised at the turnout (largely for the other two bands, but the exposure for DT was great). The band was amazing. The momentary lull, with the quiet piano tones, before Misery's Crown is almost heartbreaking. It adds so much strength to the soaring synths in the intro/chorus section.
I spent the entire show one row behind the barricade. I'd have been closer, but there is a strange creature at concerts: the barricade hugger. A bizarre waste of life that doesn't appear to know any of the bands or songs, and doesn't want to move to the music, but just wants to stand between the fans and the band. Nonetheless, I felt that I made my presence known to the band. I got a smile from Martin H. while he was soloing right in front of me, and Mikael and I screamed a few songs to each other. It's hard to describe the feeling being that close to a band that I love so much and see so rarely without sounding homoerotic, but experience is one that I will never forget. It's also hard to describe a live DT set and do it any justice.
I realize this thread is about WATV, and that is what I'm going to talk about.
After DT, Devil Wears Prada came on. I noticed that DWP isn't necessarily a bad band. They have some really great moments in their music. The thing that sucks is that they build these REALLY long stretches of bland, melody-free grinding into their music before they finally get around to injecting some music. 60-75% of DWP's set was wasted pit-fodder. In contrast, a song like Misery's Crown is just as mosh-able, but the strength of the composition really shines through, even at ear-shattering volumes.
I think that the sophistication, beauty and warmth of DT may hold them back from a certain aspect of the metal(core) audience. What makes this band so amazing to me is that they're brutal and beautiful (brutifal?) all at once. Obviously, that's kind of the point of melodic death metal. I think that everything about being human, particularly male, is embodied in their music. There exists in all of metal that agressive male energy, but DT has long admitted our oft-hidden fear, sensitivity, and creative energy. Not that any music is necessarily gender-specific, but I think this balance is a big part of why I love DT.
The kids in DWP may crank out some awesome music one day (though their choice of genre leaves me less than hopeful). The thing I noticed, in contrast to the 20-year vets in DT, is that the songwriting has awful pacing. One bland section blends into another bland section, with no particular purpose for connecting one with the other. In another thread, I made my feelings about DT's songwriting clear: I think they come together as a team, without ego, to use the appropriate instruments to make the point and to blend complimentary and contrasting sections together meaningfully. This is a level of quality that cannot be ignored.
I said all of that to say this: I realize that some people are not particularly keen on the new material. Your disappointment is, at best, only in contrast to other DT albums. If you really consider the level of craftsmanship in WATV, you'll realize that all of the albums that you loved on first listen still don't hold a candle to DT. Sometimes the magic is a little bit hidden. I guarantee you will grow to love the album. I loved it to begin with, but I have fallen into it more deeply in the 100+ times I have listened to it.
I downloaded the album the day that it leaked, a privilege that I intend to justify. I have been poring over the album in shit sound quality for the last month, trying to crack it's secrets for a small release-day surprise. I have 4,040 words of technical analysis of WATV, starting with the album, and then sifting through each song on its own. I will be posting this material over the period of several weeks, with the intent of encouraging discussion of the material on technical elements (in the most human terms we can manage) and stylistic elements (what the untrained ear hears when listens critically). I'm holding off for a few days out of respect for those who are waiting for the official release.
I understand why a small handful aren't digging the album, and why a few more are simply confused by the presentation. I hope that we'll be able to listen through and talk about the album all together. I promise you this: if you don't already love the album, you have no idea what's inside of it. This is not pop music; the art not only entertains and expresses, but challenges the listener.
For the rest of you, who got the album from the second you heard it, you are my target audience. Let's all look at the deeper magic of the album!
(I also have a separate lyrics-related project that I'm working on, but that got super-confusing when I tried to tackle it simultaneously with the technical analysis. The lyrical themes on this album, as well as the two grand themes/motifs are far too large, and spread across so many songs on the album that I need official lyrics and a lot of time to dig into them. More on this later.)
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