MR. EYBYANINCH BOOK 2 PAGE 1

Book 2 Begins. And like that other Begins, I'll be spending weeks talking about special ears.

———————————————————————————

So, the second-highest rated recent album on metacritic is Opeth's Watershed (which a few reviewers claimed the album is). I was curious, since you don't often see one-man prog-metal bands well-liked by critics (or anyone with taste!). My immediate reaction on the first listen is: it kinda sucks... it just sounds like less-epic prog-metal. I don't know, I thought "epic" was about the only thing prog metal had going for it?

I decided I needed a new-music homeopathic remedy and considered getting Tha Carter III. But I don't think I'm quite ready for Tha Carter III. Tha Carter III seems too crazy for me today. I needed something a lot less crazy.

So, what's happening in the strange world of Thrash revivalism? Warbringer's War Without End? Ah, my feelings are so mixed on Thrash revivalism. It's alwauys the same internal debate. On the one hand, Thrash is the greatest form of metal. On the other, it's hard to do anything new with it (which is why it didn't last very long). On the one hand, Warbringer do absolutely nothing new but reshuffle the deck. On the other hand, they only reshuffle the hottest elements of old-school Thrash. Even more than Demiricous, these guys sometimes seem like they are just going through the old catalog and mixing and matching bits of Metallica, Sepultura, Slayer, etc. and making strange hybrid songs. Strange, because you can almost spot the Arise chorus, combined with the Fade to Black rhythms and the Reign of Blood guitar squeels. But it's all your favorite parts! Man, my airconditioning isn't going to be very effective if Warbringer keeps throwing all my critical faculties out the window. I need that glass to protect me from the elements.