Summary Judgments, Volume 8

Grinding, with No Core

I decided to just download a bunch of albums that I had passed on earlier, and give them all a chance. That doesn't always turn out well.

I've decided to stop including info about how far I made it into an album in summary judgment posts, but be advised, I may not have listened to the whole album in all of these.

Soen: Cognitive (2013)

If you've heard of Soen, it's because of the Opeth connection, but that's hardly relevant to the worth of the prog rock band's Cognitive. I can't say it's a bad record. It's got some minor resemblance to Opeth, but very strong resemblance to Tool's more introspective moments, musically and vocally. Sadly, none of the songs reached out and convinced me to listen again.




Leperton: Leperton (2013)

Leperton play some kind of black metal, apparently. I might even call it progressive black metal and imply there is an Agallochian, cinematic approach to their songwriting. But to do that, I'd be ignoring the part in the middle where they turn into an indie rock band. I don't like that.



The Restitution: Waves (2013)

I'm going to draw some conclusions about The Restitution that may or may not be warranted, but they're based on what I heard in their music. One, based on the vocals, I'd say they're members of the generation that grew up on metalcore. I hate the vocals, but for the 20-something's among you that might not be a turnoff. Two, based on the music, I'd say they probably read MetalSucks. It's cleanly produced, somewhat progressive, and doesn't speak to me in any way. I like Norma Jean, on very rare occasions, but this is beyond my ability to enjoy.



Suffering in Solitude: A Place Apart

Suffering in Solitude falls somewhere between Alcest and Bosse-de-Nage on the spectrum of black metal. No doubt someone--maybe you--will think this is brilliant. I'm moving on.



I Shalt Become: Louisiana Voodoo

You know that kind of black metal where everything's indistinct, and there are a lot of synths and ambient noises, and it just seems directionless? A lot of people swear by that, but I just think it's bullshit. Maybe that's my loss.