Meshuggah: The Violent Sleep of Reason Review

Meshuggah.

Complex polyrhythms. Harsh dissonance. Odd time signatures. Technical drumming. Heavy guitar. Harsh vocals. Brutal heaviness. Musically chaotic. Menacing sound. Experimental nature.

Chug: the Album.

I could go on about Meshuggah’s skill as musicians and how well they work their individual pieces together without creating a mess, despite the complexity of the polyrhythmic and syncopated nature of their music.

I could go on about how they’re pushing a genre forward whilst still retaining their own distinct style that has influenced, and continues to influence many bands, pointing to the throbbing heave of “Into Decay”, the angular-sounding groove of “Ivory Tower”, or the blunt force of “Nonstrum”.

I could crap on forever about how, at times, Meshuggah can be quite intense, as well as how the songs on this album flow well with each other.

I could talk about all of that, but what it ultimately comes down to is that The Violent Sleep of Reason is a solid collection of songs from a solid band, albeit one with a few minor problems.

Whilst the mix/master does make the album punchy at times, more often than not it makes the songs feel a bit flat.
To the compliment of whoever was in charge of this part, it doesn’t seem to cause any noticeable clipping/distortion.
However, there doesn’t seem to have been any perceivable benefit.
Meshuggah’s songs deserve a lot better than this. They should be allowed to breathe much more freely than what is heard here.
If there had been focus on fidelity and dynamics, it would be much easier to listen to what the band are doing with the rhythm of their songs, as well as perceive the intensity inherent in the music instead of the intensity of the overt loudness.

Despite Meshuggah recording everything together live, it doesn’t seem to add much to the album.
This may have to do with them choosing different parts of different takes to build the songs, rather than using a solid take of the whole band.
There is a bit of a more organic feel to the songs, but otherwise it doesn’t come off much like a live take.
It seems more like the band put their process for the previous few albums into a more live setting rather than adopoting a live approach outside of a token gesture.

In addition to these, unless I’m completely missing something about Jens Kidman using some sort of different form of rhythmic screaming than on prior releases, too often he is well above the rest of the band.
With that being said, he still gives a strong, consistent delivery and his voice has, at the least, not lost any of its power.

Whilst seemingly focusing on the more negative aspects of the album, as said before, The Violent Sleep of Reason is a solid collection of songs.
Their sound has progressed whilst retaining balance between their various elements.
For a band that is not content to rest on their laurels, they’ve now another release under their belt that will only serve to strengthen their catalogue.

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Sydney Park Chimneys

I had a bit of time to take some photos on the weekend, so I participated in the activity of taking photos.

What grand ebullience.

So here’s a photo of the chimneys at Sydney Park.
From what I’ve read, they used to be part of a kiln.

I went there to try and capture the sunset and whilst I was somewhat successful in my endeavour, I was hoping for a stronger sunset.
I’m still happy with what I ended up with.

This photo was taken without an N.D. filter (I was mostly trying to get some long exposures) and ended up being what I think is the best photo of the ones I took.

I like the colour balance, the blur of the clouds, the comparative brightness of the sky against the land, and the tallness of the chimneys.

I also like that there’s a star that can be seen.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 148: Learning is Important

In a library I am sitting, trying to do the learning whilst typing away due to reasons.

Right now, I’m sure it’s a sunny day outside and I’d probably benefit from getting a little bit more sun than usual, but the learning must be done so that responsibility can be upheld.

It’s seldom for better grades, but that’s the way I like it.

I don’t want to learn forever.

Actually, that’s a lie. I’d like to learn forever and, if not, for as long as I possibly can.
There’s always room for learning in someone’s life, because there are so many things to know about and, more often than not, they are fascinating.

However, even the things that one does not find fascinating, or even interesting (and even the things that don’t like) should probably have a bit of time invested into them so that at least then there’s some information you know.

Otherwise, how do you know that you’re not into them?

There’s so much learning always going on in the world and it’s always important to keep learning in order to grow and become better people.

The moment the mind closes off to new things is the moment you decide to stifle your growth.

There may be times that you’d have to close off for a short period, but otherwise you should always remain as open as possible.

Apart from knowing things, increasing the amount of skills you have is always something that I think is greatly undervalued (especially when it comes to things like repair skills and first aid), simply because being able to know things that allow you to act a lot faster than always being forced into a position of reliance is a better thing to have under your belt than not.

There are plenty of other things as well that people can learn about that may be important, such as language use… and (maybe) the arts.

There’s also the world outside of technology and the cities, and not just the continued tourist stuff that should really be known about, even if it’s something that you do not like at all, simply because it is also significantly important (easily just as, if not more important than technology), because it’s a world that can provide so much more when it comes to beauty and awe than anything that people have created.

I think it will be a long time before people can match what nature can provide to our experiences, if it ever indeed happens.

For example, I think it’s amazing that we are on a planet that gets to experience the sunrise and sunset every day and be living at a time where it’s unlikely that the sun will go supernova.

Crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and seeing it is nice, but after one thousand times, it does start to lose some of its magic.

Probably closer to one hundred times.

Still, I could be proven wrong, and, to be honest, with that I’m fine.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 08:56:08

NOICE!

This is something that could probably be fleshed out with a few thousand more words, but for now, this will suffice.

Written at university.

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Meehni

Here’s a shot of the top of one of The Three Sisters.
There’s a story behind them that’s worth looking into.

I like that this is not a common angle for any of The Three Sisters to be seen.
The cloud  cover is pretty cool and I also like that Mount Solitary is in the photo.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Neurosis: Fires Within Fires Review

It has almost been four years since the release of Honor Found in Decay.
Since then, Neurosis have completed a number of tours, including their first one in Australia, as well as other things.
Now that their latest album Fires Within Fires has been released, will they stay aflame or be reduced to ashes?

Being their shortest album in a while (it’s almost forty-one minutes), Neurosis work hard to ensure that every minute is not wasted. The songs are quite lean, angular and direct, focusing more on their louder moments whilst keeping quiet passages to a minimum.

It does have some prominent quieter moments, such as the opening minutes of “Bending Light”, the short breather between heavy moments on “A Shadow Memory”, and the soft, but no less tense ending of “Broken Ground”. Whilst, as per the norm with Neurosis, they serve to  give the songs more breathing space, as well as a contrast within the songs, here they feel much more more a part of the momentum of the song than usual.

Whilst Steve Albini’s work with Neurosis has provided their albums with an expansive sound, Fires Within Fires sounds quite dry and sparse (without sacrificing the space), benefiting the album greatly.
The guitars hit a lot harder in conjunction with the bass and drum, and Noah Landis’ effects sit quite comfortably among what everyone else is doing, accentuating various parts in each song whilst avoiding being buried in sound.
“A Shadow Memory” wouldn’t be as abrasive, the crescendo of “Fire is the End Lesson” wouldn’t be as frenetic and intense, and “Broken Ground” wouldn’t have as strong an ebb and flow as it does had Neurosis worked with someone else.

The vocals are quite harsh in comparison to previous releases. Part of this might be due to there being a reduced amount of clean singing, but it feels like Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till are going much harder than usual.
It works well with the guitar/vocal dynamic on “Bending Light”, as well as the interplay between Scott and Steve on “Fire is the End Lesson”.
It works incredibly well in “Reach”. Starting with clean vocals with a few harmonies over some quieter playing, after a lengthy period without vocals the song becomes quite full-on and almost monolithic. Scott re-enters, sounding just as driven as the rest of the band, matching the flow of the song without sacrificing power in his voice.

Fires Within Fires is probably the most direct, intense album that Neurosis have released in a while. It might not be a game-changer, but this is a band that has never been interested in trying to release an album that would be seen as one.
It’s not without it’s flaws, but overall, it’s a strong album.

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Sunlight on the Ocean

Here’s another photo from when I recently walked through the Royal National Park with Ewe.

In this shot, my favourite beach can be seen.
The water feels really clean, the surf is usually strong and it’s fairly secluded.

I think this area is a very beautiful part of the world.
It feels calm whilst feeling intense at the same time..

I also like how the sun”Shine” looks as though it passes through the land and comes out on the other side.

This is my entry into The Daily Post‘s photo challenge for this week.

I hope you enjoy.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 14: Plants and Something About Slapping a Marlin Before Going to Sleep.

Here I sit, wondering why I start this with “Here I sit”, as it’s something I’ve probably used far too many times at this point, almost as a force of habit, or lack of better ideas in what to start a post with, because for some reason, even though I crave some sort 0of originality, I just don’t end up trying to do something new when I start writing, although, to be fair, I don’t think I’ve started enough of the things I write with “here I sit”, therefore not quite making it a heavy use of repetition as of yet, but I should really look into what else I can do to start one of these lengthy, pointless bits of writing that I do so often so I have a bit more variety happening.

However, I’m not very much of a varying writer-type-person, apparently.

Clearly I’m blowing all of this out of proportion (whatever it is, I’m not entirely sure, although it probably has something to do with originality), but if I don’t, I can’t plant the seeds that will grow into majestic and beautiful plants, hopefully producing some fruit and basil leaves that I’ll be able to use in my cooking of the food and preparing of the dishes to make the meals that will be appetising. I’ll need to do a fair bit of watering and plant care to make sure that they do indeed grow big, tall and strong, but I’ll need to make sure I don’t water too much as I don’t want the seeds to grow mouldy.

I’ll also need to make sure that they’re in pots that drain well with a soil that also drains well, so I’d need to head to the garden supplies place.

But that is a dangerous prospect, for the road is teeming with dangers and surprises that I would be forced to combat in some sort of battle that will involve the tides of mortality, with only one of the combatants walking away somewhat unscathed, whilst the other, whilst feeling the life fade away, will feel honoured to have engaged in this… eternal fight… although, to be honest, I’d prefer to do battle over a game of chess whilst riding a hippo through the majestic clouds of the elliptical sunrise through a moon of open seasons.

Eventually I’d get to the garden store, find out they’re out of what I wanted to get, therefore wasting my time, therefore leading to my heaving to travel the whole way back and experience more pointless ordeals of certain absurdities, sometimes involving carp and sometimes involving borscht of uncertain quality.

Quite frankly, that’s not something I would be looking forward to doing, so I’d rather just avoid the whole ordeal and instead think of something better to start with so that I may rest with ease and grace and, perhaps, some small quantity of blankets that would help keep me warm in the cold nights that I want to avoid in the winter, for they are cold, merciless, and lacking in warmth.

It’s a hard life, but sometimes that’s the way life is; not soft.

To be fair, instead of writing right now, what I really should be doing is going to sleep so I don’t wake up feeling tired as I will inevitably wake up earlier than I hope and, quite possibly, be unable to get back to sleep, which is not something I look forward to.

There are worse things to experience, but things like this do have a tendency to get really annoying, hence why I’d much rather go to sleep now instead of writing, and yet here I am, writing away in sentences (some being serious; some being silly) in the hopes that I will get to the end of what I’m trying to write (I think I’m trying to write something, but I’m not too sure, to be honest), look upon it and feel the beauty of it radiating into my face and telling me just ow poorly a write I am, with me begging for its forgiveness.

Of course it will refuse me, tell me to get better before I decide that the best course of action is to get worse, return back to it’s stationary, dormant position, leaving me to wonder as to how it is that I can get better as a writer.

I would have to practise a lot more than I do (which has not been much in recent times), then when I get tired of practising, practise some more until I know that I can write things that are fine with me writing them instead of getting angry and /or frustrated about the fact that they had to put up with my hands creating them.

I should also probably learn how to type using more of my fingers.

In any event, soon I will be in bed, but not before this is finished, for I cannot leave this incomplete.

No, I must make sure that it is finished before I rest, otherwise I will have left this bit of writing incomplete and therefore I don’t know what I’d do with myself, other than get on with my life as it would not be the end of the world and there are more important things to worry about, such as being a responsible person with certain responsibilities, as well as study and go on with living my life instead of tearing myself to piece because I didn’t finish off something I was writing one night because I decided to go to sleep instead, which was a much more (and, quite frankly, less interesting) idea.

I could also just go walk into the ocean, slap a marlin, then get back out of the ocean and then go to sleep.

However, that would probably make too much sense and that’s not something I really intend to do anyway.

It seems like it would require too much effort, and I don’t want to get wet.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 19:03:38

This felt like it took a lot longer than it did.
Despite it being a lot of rambling, I’m fairly satisfied with the result.

Well, sleep time!

Written at home.

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Turon River

Well, some of it, anyway.

I took these whilst on the the field trip as, to me, it didn’t look like what could be considered traditionally Australian scenery.

Turon River was where one of the gold rushes in Australia happened.

It’s also a river.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Regurgitator: Live at The Metro 21/10/2016

First band of the gig, SEIMS, opened the show with a lot of enthusiasm and energy.
Despite being firmly rooted in “math rock”, they played an upbeat set that could easily be danced to.
They played hard and well, eliciting a positive response from the people who were there.

Next up for the evening was Jeremy Neale.
It was a set of many sweet-sounding songs served up as a summer soundtrack.
Whilst he and his band could be appreciated for wanting to be there and clearly enjoying what they were doing, it wasn’t much of an interesting or entertaining set, being fairly flat and uninspired and not having much in the way of stage presence.

Most of the crowd didn’t seem too interested until near the end of their set when they played a fairly faithful cover of “Errol”, but that probably has more to do with the familiarity with the song than anything else

Maybe they’d work better in a smaller venue.

Regurgitator came on and began tearing through their songs with ease.
Playing songs from most of their releases, their set-list flowed quite well, seemingly designed to keep fun and enjoyment as the top priorities.

As always, they sounded good.
There was a great deal of clarity in their playing without the sound coming off as anything other than lively.

They played with a lot of energy and, even when playing some of the softer, slower songs in their catalogue (“World of Sleaze”, “Virtual Life”), they didn’t seem to diminish in their output.

The crowd fed off of it quite well, dancing and moshing and, when given the chance, singing / yelling. It’s good to see that, after so many times of seeing it occur, seeing the majority of the audience belt out the chorus of “I Will Lick Your Arsehole” doesn’t lose any of its satisfaction, absurdity, or entertainment value.

Regurgitator know how to give an audience a good night. They’ve managed to remain a consistently good live act, never giving less than their all.

They’re definitely worth seeing if you’re given the chance.

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A Sunset at Mount Canobolas

Behold. Another photo taken from a mountain.

I like the quality of it being taken from a mountain.

Actually, what I do like is how dramatic the clouds look in conjunction with the light.

To me, the clouds have a lot of weight to them.

It probably has to do with the rain that came in the evening.

I hope you enjoy.

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