10 Bands You've Probably Never Heard It
Monday 19th October 2009
The top 10 albums that you’ve (probably) never heard of.
10. A Day of Nights
By: Battle of Mice
Most people would say that listening to music is supposed to be a pleasurable experience. If this is so then one would have to conclude that A Day of Nights is the worst album ever recorded! Every single facet of this remarkable album is designed to upset the listener, whether it’s the jarring and empty guitar tones or the terrifying banshee wails, only someone seriously deranged could find any warmth in this album. It is an uncompromising and wholly original display of abject human misery that simply must be heard to be believed.
9. Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven
By: Orphaned Land
One would expect that an album seven years in the making would be good. In fact, one would demand that an album seven years in the making be good. Orphaned Land’s Mabool is not good. It is a bona fide masterpiece. The disc is a stunning blend of heavy metal guitars and growls which mix perfectly with beautiful eastern sounds and ideas, creating an almost Opethian experience but one of warmth, as opposed to Opeth’s winter melancholy. The concept behind the album is just as ambitious, it tells the story of avatars from the three major Abrahamic religions attempting to warn the world of the Biblical flood, the Mabool. Although the music is far stronger than the concept in this occasion, which is often buried beneath, the album is interesting, original, flawlessly orchestrated with moments of astounding beauty and righteous fury.
8. Choirs of the Eye
By: Kayo Dot
Of all the albums you haven’t heard of, chances are you haven’t heard of this one the most. Did that make sense? No? Well that’s ok because neither does this album! Musically it’s like a cross between Radiohead, middle era Pink Floyd and condensed weirdness... on acid! Nothing on this album makes sense, be it the raging screams that open the first song: Marathon, or the magnificent spoken poetry that closes it. This is an album that will take several listens to appreciate; in fact, this is an album that you will never be able to fully appreciate. Every time I listen to it I discover new nuances, new sounds, new emotions that were never there before. This is music that is bold and original; completely unlike anything you will have ever heard before and is an unbelievable musical experience.
7. Quietly
By: Mouth of the Architect
Quietly is anything but what the title suggests. It is an unending cacophony of rage and misery, the few, achingly beautiful and mournful quiet parts that are there serve only to highlight the pure destructive force of Mouth of the Architects’ unique take on the post-metal genre. However despite this, it is in no way just another brash heavy metal album, this is a finely crafted and highly intelligent work of art. For all its magnificent volume there is a sense of terrible melancholy with this album, a sense of great personal loss. An album as beautiful as it is crushing, as powerful as it is serene, as good as it gets.
6. Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
By: Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Last year I was at a party. I was slightly drunk and I got into a conversation about music, as teenagers are likely to do when inebriated.
“What do you like?” I asked.
“Muse” he replied. I scoffed at this. How cliché.
“How about you?”
“Me? Oh I like Godspeed You! Black Emperor” to which he replied
“Oh, they’re rubbish.”
I stopped in my tracks. My mouth literally hung open. Here was someone who had heard of GSY!BE, and who, more to the point, didn’t like them! I couldn’t understand it then and I still can’t understand it now. GSY!BE are magnificent. It doesn’t make any sense; their music is beautiful, soulful, original, inspiring. It’s almost perfect and Lift Yr. Skinny Fists in particular, from the gentle beginnings to the soaring, tumultuous heights, is a masterpiece of epic proportions. When you start listening to Storm you go along peacefully enjoying the building melodies and then before you know it you’re tapping your feet and then you’re headbanging. But you can’t explain the transition. Somewhere along the line the music picked up to almost heavy metal levels but it all happened so gradually that you missed it completely. Lift Yr. Skinny Fists takes you to a world of music, where nothing else is of consequence. The only thing you will and should care about when listening to this phenomenal record is the music.
5. Traced In Air
By: Cynic
Though Cynic are best described as a “Technical Death” (Tech-Death) metal band, there is little in their second album to suggest that. Although there are some obvious heavy metal overtones, including the odd death growl and distorted guitars, there is a warmth to the album that belies its genre. This is achieved through Paul Masvidal’s soft, lilting vocal tones, the dancing guitars that retain every ounce of their stunning melody despite their heaviness and the sheer quality of song writing on offer. The music of Traced In Air dances like the wind, weaving in and out of landmarks, forging chasms and cliffs, mountains and valleys. At points gentle and at points lethal, it is an organic, flowing entity of sound that sounds like it literally was traced in the very air. I am aware that I probably sound very pretentious right now, but I don’t care. Traced In Air is marvellous and that’s that.
4. The Maniacal Vale
By: Esoteric
Of all the myriad genres of music throughout the world, funeral doom probably has the silliest name. It’s probably one of the least well known as well, it’s also probably the best. Depression is a bad thing, but it is also the basis for much of the artistic world. Despair produces creativity, terror elicits beauty and anger forges power. Esoteric’s The Maniacal Vale is all of these things and more. It is a crushing mass of distorted guitars, thunderous drums and guttural cries, a tremendously heavy leaden weight that sits on the soul and forces the listener to explore the very depths of their emotional tolerance. Listening to funeral doom is never easy, listening to The Maniacal Vale is harder still, but all the more worth it to experience the sheer emotion that the album conveys.
3. The Galilean Satellites
By: Rosetta
To quote Douglas Adams: “Space is big, really, really big.” But it is also lonely. The Galilean Satellites can best be described via its concept, the lonely voyages of a “spaceman” as he searches for truth and beauty in the void of space. Sound pretentious? It is. But that is not a bad thing. The Galilean Satellites is a double album of the utmost ambition. Whilst one disc highlights the anger and despair of the “spaceman” through dense layers of distortion and growls, the second shows his loneliness and sadness with emphasis on white noise, recorded voices and stunning ambient music. Separately each disc is a fantastic display of musical prowess, song writing skill and emotion. But play both discs side by side and the album turns into a bona fide masterpiece. When you combine The Galilean Satellites you will experience music as a high art form. This is post-metals’ Mona Lisa, the only reason why it isn’t number 1 on this list is because it’s so hard to place both albums side by side. If you have the patience or technical know how to do it then I cannot possibly recommend this album highly enough.
2. Radiance of Shadows
By: Nadja
Nadja’s music is difficult to describe, very difficult to describe in fact. So difficult that there’s no way that I will be able to fully encapsulate the genius of Nadja in just a few words but I’ll try my best. Nadja are sometimes described as a drone/doom band, and i suppose that makes sense. They certainly are a drone band, and it’s certainly quite a depressing style of drone. But that description leaves out all the emotion that is palpable in this album. It is full of roaring crescendos and gentle lulls, I suppose it can be likened to the ocean, a whirling maelstrom of sound and fury, or the gentle kiss of the waves upon a deserted beach. Both of these metaphors work, but I personally like to think of Radiance of Shadows as the music that will accompany the apocalypse.
1. Through Silver In Blood
By: Neurosis
If I may borrow a Zelaznyan concept, the idea of Godhood is based on a particular sense of being, whereby one embodies a particular aspect or ideal to such an extent that one does not just resemble it, but so that one simply is it. If we apply this concept to music then good albums are those that embody a particular emotion or thought, a certain essence that permeates the music and transforms a work from simple entertainment into high art. Through Silver In blood is such an album, it is the musical paradigm of loneliness. It is an ever shifting montage of mankind’s baser instincts brought about through the abandonment of civilisation through nuclear holocaust. Musically it is a schizophrenic thunderstorm, an entity full of rumbling build-ups and the punishing bombardments that follow. It is an album of anger, despair, resentment, cruelty, and above all, a great and lingering sadness. If Radiance of Shadows is the accompaniment to the apocalypse then this is all that will be left after the firestorm.
10. A Day of Nights
By: Battle of Mice
Most people would say that listening to music is supposed to be a pleasurable experience. If this is so then one would have to conclude that A Day of Nights is the worst album ever recorded! Every single facet of this remarkable album is designed to upset the listener, whether it’s the jarring and empty guitar tones or the terrifying banshee wails, only someone seriously deranged could find any warmth in this album. It is an uncompromising and wholly original display of abject human misery that simply must be heard to be believed.
9. Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven
By: Orphaned Land
One would expect that an album seven years in the making would be good. In fact, one would demand that an album seven years in the making be good. Orphaned Land’s Mabool is not good. It is a bona fide masterpiece. The disc is a stunning blend of heavy metal guitars and growls which mix perfectly with beautiful eastern sounds and ideas, creating an almost Opethian experience but one of warmth, as opposed to Opeth’s winter melancholy. The concept behind the album is just as ambitious, it tells the story of avatars from the three major Abrahamic religions attempting to warn the world of the Biblical flood, the Mabool. Although the music is far stronger than the concept in this occasion, which is often buried beneath, the album is interesting, original, flawlessly orchestrated with moments of astounding beauty and righteous fury.
8. Choirs of the Eye
By: Kayo Dot
Of all the albums you haven’t heard of, chances are you haven’t heard of this one the most. Did that make sense? No? Well that’s ok because neither does this album! Musically it’s like a cross between Radiohead, middle era Pink Floyd and condensed weirdness... on acid! Nothing on this album makes sense, be it the raging screams that open the first song: Marathon, or the magnificent spoken poetry that closes it. This is an album that will take several listens to appreciate; in fact, this is an album that you will never be able to fully appreciate. Every time I listen to it I discover new nuances, new sounds, new emotions that were never there before. This is music that is bold and original; completely unlike anything you will have ever heard before and is an unbelievable musical experience.
7. Quietly
By: Mouth of the Architect
Quietly is anything but what the title suggests. It is an unending cacophony of rage and misery, the few, achingly beautiful and mournful quiet parts that are there serve only to highlight the pure destructive force of Mouth of the Architects’ unique take on the post-metal genre. However despite this, it is in no way just another brash heavy metal album, this is a finely crafted and highly intelligent work of art. For all its magnificent volume there is a sense of terrible melancholy with this album, a sense of great personal loss. An album as beautiful as it is crushing, as powerful as it is serene, as good as it gets.
6. Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
By: Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Last year I was at a party. I was slightly drunk and I got into a conversation about music, as teenagers are likely to do when inebriated.
“What do you like?” I asked.
“Muse” he replied. I scoffed at this. How cliché.
“How about you?”
“Me? Oh I like Godspeed You! Black Emperor” to which he replied
“Oh, they’re rubbish.”
I stopped in my tracks. My mouth literally hung open. Here was someone who had heard of GSY!BE, and who, more to the point, didn’t like them! I couldn’t understand it then and I still can’t understand it now. GSY!BE are magnificent. It doesn’t make any sense; their music is beautiful, soulful, original, inspiring. It’s almost perfect and Lift Yr. Skinny Fists in particular, from the gentle beginnings to the soaring, tumultuous heights, is a masterpiece of epic proportions. When you start listening to Storm you go along peacefully enjoying the building melodies and then before you know it you’re tapping your feet and then you’re headbanging. But you can’t explain the transition. Somewhere along the line the music picked up to almost heavy metal levels but it all happened so gradually that you missed it completely. Lift Yr. Skinny Fists takes you to a world of music, where nothing else is of consequence. The only thing you will and should care about when listening to this phenomenal record is the music.
5. Traced In Air
By: Cynic
Though Cynic are best described as a “Technical Death” (Tech-Death) metal band, there is little in their second album to suggest that. Although there are some obvious heavy metal overtones, including the odd death growl and distorted guitars, there is a warmth to the album that belies its genre. This is achieved through Paul Masvidal’s soft, lilting vocal tones, the dancing guitars that retain every ounce of their stunning melody despite their heaviness and the sheer quality of song writing on offer. The music of Traced In Air dances like the wind, weaving in and out of landmarks, forging chasms and cliffs, mountains and valleys. At points gentle and at points lethal, it is an organic, flowing entity of sound that sounds like it literally was traced in the very air. I am aware that I probably sound very pretentious right now, but I don’t care. Traced In Air is marvellous and that’s that.
4. The Maniacal Vale
By: Esoteric
Of all the myriad genres of music throughout the world, funeral doom probably has the silliest name. It’s probably one of the least well known as well, it’s also probably the best. Depression is a bad thing, but it is also the basis for much of the artistic world. Despair produces creativity, terror elicits beauty and anger forges power. Esoteric’s The Maniacal Vale is all of these things and more. It is a crushing mass of distorted guitars, thunderous drums and guttural cries, a tremendously heavy leaden weight that sits on the soul and forces the listener to explore the very depths of their emotional tolerance. Listening to funeral doom is never easy, listening to The Maniacal Vale is harder still, but all the more worth it to experience the sheer emotion that the album conveys.
3. The Galilean Satellites
By: Rosetta
To quote Douglas Adams: “Space is big, really, really big.” But it is also lonely. The Galilean Satellites can best be described via its concept, the lonely voyages of a “spaceman” as he searches for truth and beauty in the void of space. Sound pretentious? It is. But that is not a bad thing. The Galilean Satellites is a double album of the utmost ambition. Whilst one disc highlights the anger and despair of the “spaceman” through dense layers of distortion and growls, the second shows his loneliness and sadness with emphasis on white noise, recorded voices and stunning ambient music. Separately each disc is a fantastic display of musical prowess, song writing skill and emotion. But play both discs side by side and the album turns into a bona fide masterpiece. When you combine The Galilean Satellites you will experience music as a high art form. This is post-metals’ Mona Lisa, the only reason why it isn’t number 1 on this list is because it’s so hard to place both albums side by side. If you have the patience or technical know how to do it then I cannot possibly recommend this album highly enough.
2. Radiance of Shadows
By: Nadja
Nadja’s music is difficult to describe, very difficult to describe in fact. So difficult that there’s no way that I will be able to fully encapsulate the genius of Nadja in just a few words but I’ll try my best. Nadja are sometimes described as a drone/doom band, and i suppose that makes sense. They certainly are a drone band, and it’s certainly quite a depressing style of drone. But that description leaves out all the emotion that is palpable in this album. It is full of roaring crescendos and gentle lulls, I suppose it can be likened to the ocean, a whirling maelstrom of sound and fury, or the gentle kiss of the waves upon a deserted beach. Both of these metaphors work, but I personally like to think of Radiance of Shadows as the music that will accompany the apocalypse.
1. Through Silver In Blood
By: Neurosis
If I may borrow a Zelaznyan concept, the idea of Godhood is based on a particular sense of being, whereby one embodies a particular aspect or ideal to such an extent that one does not just resemble it, but so that one simply is it. If we apply this concept to music then good albums are those that embody a particular emotion or thought, a certain essence that permeates the music and transforms a work from simple entertainment into high art. Through Silver In blood is such an album, it is the musical paradigm of loneliness. It is an ever shifting montage of mankind’s baser instincts brought about through the abandonment of civilisation through nuclear holocaust. Musically it is a schizophrenic thunderstorm, an entity full of rumbling build-ups and the punishing bombardments that follow. It is an album of anger, despair, resentment, cruelty, and above all, a great and lingering sadness. If Radiance of Shadows is the accompaniment to the apocalypse then this is all that will be left after the firestorm.