Artifex Pereo – Time In Place Reivew – 2014
Artifex Pereo – Time In Place – 2014 – Blurb Review
Overall: 6.5
Artifex Pereo put out their first album on a label – Tooth & Nail Records in 2014 and despite being somewhat disjointed, deserves attention. They could fit in a plethora of genres, rock, pop/rock, pop/punk or even screamo – but not really. Time In Place boasts of complex guitar work and equally complicated drum parts. The band strives to create an album that is musically – a work of art without taking away from the ability to enjoy the record. This – they have achieved. The biggest setback is the placement of songs. The album ends on a strange note with consecutive soft songs that lack direction.
Still, Time In Place is an album fans of The Almost, The Wedding, and Wovenwar.
Standout songs: Hands Of Penance, Laugh & The World Laughs With You, and The Golden Age.
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Tracklisting:
- No Stranger To Worry
- To Listen & Say Nothing
- Hands Of Penace
- Annica
- Laugh & The World Laughs With You
- Liable For Tragedy
- The Straight & The Winding Way
- Aperion
- The Golden Age
- Cut Sign
- Weep & You Weep Alone
- Tied To The Sunset
- Overview
Beware Of Darkness – Orthodox Review
Beware Of Darkness – Orthodox – 2013 – Blurb Review
Overall 7.5
Bursting onto the rock scene with their popular single “Howl,” the trio Beware Of Darkness released an original debut album. To say that it is only original doesn’t fully describe how unique this effort is. After the single, the album takes many unexpected turns. Orthodox isn’t an album littered with songs trying to sound like “Howl.” Instead, there are songs that invoke nostalgia, anger, and deep sadness. “Ghost Town” can only be described as angry. While not being too heavy of a song, it’s filled with undertones of anger and bitterness in the lyrics has an overall eeriness of it. “Amen Amen” whether intentional or not causes the listener to think back on their life. It’s a song that gives the album weight and meaning. The only other single to see radio play is “All Who Remain.” The song was written by vocalist and guitarist Kyle Nicolaides about his mother. It’s a ballad that rings with the heartstrings about losing someone you loved dearly. Even though the album doesn’t end on a heavy note, it ends on a peculiar one. “Hummingbird” is reminiscent of music made decades ago.
Orthodox is anything but orthodox. It’s a bag of songs all dripping with raw emotion given in an honest sound.
Standout songs: Howl, Ghost Town, All Who Remain, and Morning Tea.
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Tracklisting:
- Howl
- Sweet Girl
- Ghost Town
- Amen Amen
- All Who Remain
- Heart Attack
- Morning Tea
- End Of The World
- Life On Earth?
- My Planet Is Dead
- Salvation Is Here
- Hummingbird
Day Of Fire – Losing All – Flashback Review – 2010
Day Of Fire – Losing All – 2010
Flashback Review
Production: 8.0 – Losing All was recorded live and it gives the record a natural feel not found in many albums.
Songwriting: 7.5 – The band mixes it up with each song and strays from the typical verse/chorus repeat syndrome.
Musicianship: 8.5 – Riffs and grooves any rock band should hope for in the midst of one or two missed tracks.
Overall: 8.0
Losing All unfortunately happened to be the final album from the Grammy-nominated rock band Day Of Fire. However, the music world was fortunate enough to get such a stellar record. After going nearly three years as an independent band and releasing two albums on Essential Records, Day Of Fire found a home in Razor & Tie Records. However temporary of a home, the short lived partnership gave us Losing All – a record all modern rock bands should strive for.
The album kicks off with “Light ‘Em Up,” and it sounds of Stone Temple Pilots and maybe a hint of Filter. Highlights of the album are many. “When I See You,” “Lately,” “Landslide,” “We Are No One,” and “Hey You” are all rock anthems that rise above the muddied copies of copies on the radio. “Landslide” is potentially the heaviest song on the album with an infectious opening riff and an ever impressive solo from Joe Pangallo. However, it’s the final song on the album that brings enormous amounts of substance to the album. Regardless of how one feels religiously, the dark but Christian themed “The Dark Hills” is a musical, lyrical and production masterpiece. Drummer Zach Simms floor toms thunder in the background behind Josh Brown’s haunting vocals. The track explodes at the end and leaves the listener wondering, where would they have gone from there?
Losing All is a great rock album that shouldn’t be mixed in with the everyday typical rock flooding the radio-waves.
Pros: Powerful rock songs littered throughout the album with an impactful ending.
Cons: “Airplane” and “Hello Heartache” placed at the beginning of the album doesn’t give Losing All the beginning strength it deserves.
Release Date: January 26, 2010
Tracklisting:
- Light ‘Em Up
- Hello Heartache
- When I See You
- Airplane
- Lately
- Cold Addiction
- Landslide
- Never Goodbye
- Hey You
- We Are No One
- Long Highway
- Strange
- The Dark Hills
Lana Del Rey – Honeymoon Review
Lana Del Rey – Honeymoon – 2015
Production: 9.5 – Production shines as the best in today’s music.
Songwriting: 9.5 – Masterful songwriting in arrangement and lyrics.
Musicianship: 9.5 – A more enticing and powerful voice may not be heard in today’s music.
Overall: 9.5
2012 saw pop music change. Despite releasing an album previous to the juggernaut that is Born To Die, Lana Del Rey burst onto the pop scene with the vision of doing things a bit differently. She didn’t cater to the 3 minute verse chorus repeat and repeat humdrum pattern that has plagued the pop culture. She hasn’t masked her talent in shades of auto-tune and drowning beats. Her voice is the reason for the music, and her lyrics are the reason for the journey.
Fast-forward three years to today, Lana has released her fourth album – Honeymoon, and it is stunning and brave. Following the trend she’s since the last album, Ultraviolence, Honeymoon is further stripped than its predecessor. Where Ultraviolence featured reduced percussion and sound effects, Honeymoon often relies the distant company of a piano, strings and acoustic guitar.
Beginning with the self-titled track, “Honeymoon” starts Lana’s greatest musical and vocal achievement so far. It’s somber, it’s sad, it’s classic Lana Del Rey – at least in lyrical fashion. Musically, it’s the most stripped down song in her career. The nearly six minute track is driven almost solely by her vocals. The chorus features the statement, “Our honeymoon, say you want me too, dark blue.” It’s a song open to interpretation like many others, but it allows the listener to make the song their own. “Honeymoon” begins the album on an intimate and personal note that tells everyone, this isn’t just another pop artist album seeking the top 100.
“Music To Watch Boys To” continues the stripped theme but does feature some percussion, strings, piano and flute. Production shines on this song because it’s relaxing and laid back while also seeming to be upbeat enough to be a single for the radio.
Lana Del Rey’s music has been described as a myriad of genres, but one that has stuck out is 50’s – 60’s lounge music. It’s a genre only occupied by Lana, and it creates an image that’s hard to forget. When I heard “Terrance Loves You” for the first time, I saw a smoky bar set back a few decades and Lana standing next to an old piano singing for the cast of Mad Men. The chorus is angelic to the point that it melts away the world around you until you’ve entered her realm. It’s a beautiful song invoking emotion when she sings, “I lost myself when I lost you”
“God Knows I Tried,” follows a similar path without seeming like a remake and has a revealing lyric: “I’ve got nothing much to live for ever since I found my fame.”
“High By The Beach” is a single that is already a favorite off the album. It’s poppy and fun. Unfortunately it takes me out of the trance the rest of Honeymoon has put on me. I don’t knock it for anything, it’s just not for me.
“Freak” is a perfect example of how Lana has changed the formula for today’s pop music. Entrancing vocal melodies in the verse that travel up and down the scale, and a chorus that gets stuck in your head and not because it has a simple and dumbed down elementary beat. “Freak” gives the middle of the album strength and substance.
Building off the shoulders of “Freak” is “Art Deco.” It’s a vocal triumph not for sheer range, but in songwriting. The melody in the verses demand attention as she hits each note flawlessly. The two songs prove that Honeymoon isn’t just a few good songs, it’s an album of ambient music.
“Religion” and “The Blackest Day” showcase Lana’s clear talent and beautiful songwriting. On the adverse, “Salvatore” is amiss and brings the album down.
Lana Del Rey has silenced the critics and masses who said that her major-label debut Born To Die couldn’t be beat. Without saying one is better than the other, Honeymoon is simply but a near masterpiece of songwriting and beauty. It’s an album more than worth buying on vinyl and spinning in the evening while drinking a fine wine.
Release Date: September 18, 2015
Tracklisting:
- Honeymoon
- Music To Watch Boys To
- Terrance Loves You
- God Knows I’ve Tried
- High By The Beach
- Freak
- Art Deco
- Burnt Norton – Interlude
- Religion
- Salvatore
- The Blackest Day
- 24
- Swan Song
- Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
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