It's not you, it's me.
This is an occasionally-recurring feature wherein I mostly apologize for deficiencies in my own taste. Hey, at least I'm trying. The numbers in parentheses show how much of the record I listened to before calling it quits.
Aluk Todolo: Occult Rock (2012)(6 out of 8 songs)
Aluk Todolo's Occult Rock has some really cool music on it. Progressive, psychedelic metal that explores elements of many different genres. Generally, just a tour de force or whatever. The problem is, it's a completely instrumental double album. Considering the instrumental part, it's amazing that it's good enough to get me through one disc and halfway through another, but I don't think I want to go any further. If you like instru-metal, though, it's rare to find anything better than this.
Year of the Goat: Angels' Necropolis (2012)(2 out of 8 songs)
Speaking of occult rock, Year of the Goat is another band in the whole "occult hard rock" trend. And by "another band," I mean they're likely the dullest one I've heard. I completely forgot how the first song sounded, and I just couldn't make it past minute nine of the repetitive, completely predictable title track. Of course it's possible (however unlikely) the last six songs rip, but I'm not going to take the time to find out.
The Gathering: Disclosure (2012)(6 out of 8 songs)
I wanted to try out something different, so when I got the promo for The Gathering's Disclosure I took the opportunity. It's slow, atmospheric rock, very light and airy with gorgeous female vocals. It also has the very occasional distorted guitar, but it could use a lot more in my opinion. Each song began to lose my interest, so that I jumped around the album quite a bit trying to figure out whether any of it was really going to engage me. It didn't. That's probably my defect more than theirs...
(5 out of 8 songs)
Csejthe is that kind of black metal that is usually described as "epic" or "atmospheric," building slowly with little variation and a triumphant melody in the constant tremolo riffing. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it; in fact, the track lengths are pretty short as far as this style goes. But there just isn't anything I heard in the first half of this album that made me think I needed to listen to the second half. I've heard this stuff before, and I'm just not as crazy for it as some of you might be. If WITTR makes you pee your pants, check it out.
(sorry, can't find an embed for this one)
Eisenwald Tonschmiede
Boil: aXiom (2013)(4 out of 12 songs)
If I had discovered Denmark's Boil about 10 years ago, I would have been all over it. It's alt-metal of fine quality. It's catchy stuff, with an overly-emotional clean vocal style that's somewhere between Tool's Keenan and Disturbed's Draiman (post-Sickness), with a modern radio-friendly metal growl. The djent guitar tone doesn't seem to detract from it either. I would have played this record over and over again, in 2003, but 2013 me isn't terribly interested in it.
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