January 18, 2009

'08's Music to Love More Than Music: Love More Than Music, Pt. 3

Love More Than Music (<3>)
Heaven Shall Burn - Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance)
There are 2 metal albums on my best of list this year, and this is one of them. I used to be a huge metal fan, but these days the bands that go for the simple Metal sound without delving into sub-genres and experimentation, well, they just sound boring, because it's all been done so often that it's lost all potential for inventiveness. Everyone once in a while there are albums that are undeniably good, because somehow this one band has captured an intensity that, while it's been done before, actually gets your blood pumping. This one is one of the blood pumping albums. Every Metal album is brutal, and fast, and screamy, and angry, and this album is no different. I have a feeling that in a few months I'll have forgotten about this album, because it'll just be awash in a sea of the metal albums that will come out that are "more" brutal that come out over the next few years. If you're not into metal, you'll not like this album, but if you are, then you'll appreciate the intensity that is expressed on this album.
Heaven Shall Burn - Endzeit
Heaven Shall Burn - Like a Thousand Suns
Heaven Shall Burn - Murderer of All Murderers

Rachael Yamagata - Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart
Rachael Yamagata is a seasoned veteran in the music scene, but this album was the first I'd ever heard by any of her projects. I honestly got the album because the title was so peculiar and the album artwork was so beautiful. These songs are more painful and heart destroying than any songs on any album I think I've ever heard. Laura Marling comes close with Manic & I. These songs are absolutely epic. Some of the tracks are longer than 8 minutes, but you wouldn't guess it just by listening, because you're so in love with the songs that it still goes by too quickly. The songs have orchestral backing tracks, but if the songs were just Rachael singing over the piano pieces, they would be just as epic and heart shattering. Her voice is perfect. Her lyrics are terrifyingly intriguing. The songs sound peaceful, but, underneath, the songs hide scars from their pasts on the circuit. This is an album that is full of trickery and deceit, in multiple good ways.
Rachael Yamagata - Elephants
Rachael Yamagata - Horizon
Rachael Yamagata - Duet

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