Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Lo-Ruhamah: The Glory of God (2007)
Let's see if you can answer a basic SAT analogy-type question: Opeth is to death metal as ______________ is to black metal.
Give up? The answer is Lo-Ruhamah, out of Kansas City, Missouri. Their sophomore effort, The Glory of God was released in 2007, and though it's on a rather small independent label, the release could be at home on any number of major metal labels.
The style is innovative, combining elements of progressive, death, and post-metal with a solid core of black metal in the Norwegian tradition. There is some melodic singing in here, and a few melodic passages, but as with Opeth this merely serves to make the scary parts that much scarier. Mostly, however, the vocals are in a pure black metal rasp, with a peppering of death growls.
Not only is it written and performed well, but the production is also impressive. It's definitely clear, with a solid mixing job--You can actually hear the bass through the whole album. But the recording is not so flawless that it loses the black metal aesthetic; I think they hit the sweet spot as far as that goes.
This band is definitely one to watch out for, although I don't think they'll ever be getting much mainstream or even secular attention, given their Christian world-view. But if you don't believe my assessment, read this review.
In all, I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
Give up? The answer is Lo-Ruhamah, out of Kansas City, Missouri. Their sophomore effort, The Glory of God was released in 2007, and though it's on a rather small independent label, the release could be at home on any number of major metal labels.The style is innovative, combining elements of progressive, death, and post-metal with a solid core of black metal in the Norwegian tradition. There is some melodic singing in here, and a few melodic passages, but as with Opeth this merely serves to make the scary parts that much scarier. Mostly, however, the vocals are in a pure black metal rasp, with a peppering of death growls.
Not only is it written and performed well, but the production is also impressive. It's definitely clear, with a solid mixing job--You can actually hear the bass through the whole album. But the recording is not so flawless that it loses the black metal aesthetic; I think they hit the sweet spot as far as that goes.
This band is definitely one to watch out for, although I don't think they'll ever be getting much mainstream or even secular attention, given their Christian world-view. But if you don't believe my assessment, read this review.
In all, I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Chimney Rock
I've decided to start posting my photos on this blog again, as the format of Full Metal Photographer is too much work to update and I just don't have enough time for photography to justify a whole blog set aside to it anymore. I hope you'll enjoy seeing my shots here, when I can get them.
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