Thrice’s Journal

The number of exceptionally great albums released over the past three years has taken a heavy decline, especially this year. With all the terrible things happening this year, like my graduation, Hurricane Ike, the loss of my long beloved cat Bessie, and the reformation of New Kids On the Block, I was hoping there would be lots of good music for balance. So far, I haven't found much and the year is almost over.

Here, my friends, is a list I've compiled of every album that's come out this year that I've taken the time to listen to, divided into four groups, two positive and two negative: the excellent, the enjoyable, the unimpressive, and the crap.

For the time being, it's unfinished because the year is obviously not yet over and there are more things to be released such as new albums by Jedi Mind Tricks, Orphaned Land, The Cure, and Anathema to name just four. There's also several albums already in my possession I've yet to listen to, like new albums by Fleet Foxes, Ihsahn, Nine Inch Nails, Portishead, and Torche to name a few.

EXCELLENT STUFF:
Have A Nice Life - Deathconsciousness
Opeth - Watershed
These Arms Are Snakes - Tail Swallower & Dove
Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist

COOL STUFF:
Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge
Anaemia - Promo demo
Animal Style - Open Air
Arson Anthem - Arson Anthem
Jacob Bannon - The Blood Of Thine Enemies
Foxy Shazam - Introducing
Merzbow - Here
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles

MEDIOCRITY:
Agalloch - The White EP
Architects / Dead Swans split 7"
Artefact - Ruins
Being Killed - Massacre Of The Living
Bloodbath - Unblessing The Purity
Cryptacize - Dig That Treasure
Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
Firebrand Boy - Songs for Cake
Genghis Tron - Board Up The House
Gijs Gieskes - Molen
Hegemon - Contemptus Mundi
Inner Surge - An Offering
Knights Of The Abyss - Shades
Meshuggah - obZen
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Mudhoney - The Lucky Ones
The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
Revolution Renaissance - New Era
Saattue - Jäähyvästi
This or the Apocalypse - Monuments
Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Volume III + IV - Air & Earth
Warbringer - War Without End
Why? - Alopecia
Yerzmyey - FREAKuencies

CRAP, FAIL, AND CANCER:
Bob Gore - Mighty Dragon Cum Romance
Children of Bodom - Blooddrunk
Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted
Cryptopsy - The Unspoken King
Warrel Dane - Praises to the War Machine
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - Eleventh Hour
Dark Fortress - Eidolon
Deicide - Till Death Do Us Part
Feral Children - Feral Children EP
Hate - Morphosis
In Flames - A Sense of Purpose
Kataklysm - Prevail
Kingdom of Sorrow - Kingdom Of Sorrow
Norman Bates - Plaguebearer
Orphan Hate - Blinded By Illusions
Salt The Wound - Carnal Repercussions
Saving Grace - Behind Enemy Lines
Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone
Sufferatory - Pseudophilosophic
With Blood Comes Cleansing - Horror
Vale of Pnath - Vale of Pnath
Venom - Hell

Out of everything, I'd say my #1 of the year would be Have A Nice Life's debut double album. Absolute worst would go to Saving Grace - Behind Enemy Lines.

Do opine.

Lost In The Sound Of Separation

Underoath are just one of those bands whose quality is undermined by foolish preconceptions. However, you'd be missing out on a lot if the Christian beliefs of a group were repellant enough to make you stop listening. Matt Davies, Howard Jones and Dave Mustaine (lead singers of Funeral for a Friend, Killswitch Engage and Megadeth), off the top of my head, are devoutly religious and even in the genre of screamo/metalcore, you'll find bands such as The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying and Norma Jean, not touting their faith, but subtly referencing it in lyrics.

Ignorance of this kind, in this case would rob you from hearing one of the best albums released so far in 2008. I hadn't paid special attention to the band since They're Only Chasing Safety (their fourth record), only paying cursory attention to followup Define the Great Line and deciding I hated it, so was shocked to find a completely different band to the aforementioned "Safety" sound.

Gone are the poppy melodies, techno-synthesisers and most of the singing, in its place singer Spencer Chamberlain has developed a guttural roar, adding a sense of desperate urgency to the tracks here. This album finds Underoath with a far more mature approach to their music, mixing their instant, dynamic screamo with more progressive tendencies, meaning this album has a lot in common musically with Thrice's magnum opus Vheissu. Also present are the tendency to slip into a Southern-punk style groove, best displayed elsewhere by Every Time I Die.

First track

Breathing In A New Mentality starts with a muted line and kicks in, relentless and fast, and sets out a standard for the rest of the album to follow - these boys have obviously been mightily p*ssed off by something, and they're not afraid to show it.

Anyone Can Dig a Hole But it Takes a Real Man to Call it Home has one of the best song titles I've heard in a long time, and the way it segues from the previous track seamlessly is both unexpected and perfectly executed.

However, the real album highlights come later on, starting with Emergency Broadcast :: The End Is Near. This clocks in at nearly 6 minutes, and has a progressive onslaught comparable to that of bands such as

Last.fm

Journal

Top Christmas Songs

2008 in musical retrospect so far

Trust-thrice

Every band I have had the pleasure/misfortune of watching live

The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot #1