The Mae Shi

Pretty much a mess today.

The Gabriel Construct, “Arrival In A Distant Land”

At what point does a prog rock album cross the border from rock into something else? How far can you stretch rock before it breaks? These aren’t questions being asked directly by Gabriel Riccio, who is the force behind this album, but those questions are certainly present. This is a concept album about…something, I dunno. It’s all very high concept. Let’s put it this way: this is the opening track to the album. This is how it kicks off. So clearly, he’s not going for accessible here.

Very metal today.

Zu, “Rudra Dances over Burning Rome”

Hell yes. Do Zu play heavily rock-inflected jazz? Is it instead jazzy avant-garde metal? Who cares, is it fun? (It is.) I wandered into Zu after learning that Mombu was a side-project of parts of Zu, and I’m glad I did. I love this kind of genre-hopping mishmash of stuff.

Blut Aus Nord, “Paien”

Black metal band out of France, Blut Aus Nord has been making an unholy racket for twenty something years now, cranking out a ton of albums including multiple trilogies. If that sounds overwrought, that’s probably because it is, overwrought theatrics being part of the classic black metal playbook, along with strangled vocals, blast beats, and furious tremelo picking. This comes from Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry which, yeah - overwrought. This song would probably tell you if you want to listen to more Blut Aus Nord or not.

I’m considering doing the occasional “Five Songs Special”, where I choose an artist I love and pick five songs from them that best tell that artist’s story. Good idea? Bad? Totally fail to let me know! Today’s music is over here.

Another note: when we have an artist that has appeared before, I’m going to skip basic background stuff. I think that makes sense, because I provide the “previously” links if anybody jumps into the middle and wants to know more about an artist.

Sorry I get sloppy on the weekends sometimes. I need to figure out the automated post capability on this thing. Or, not. Nobody looking through the archive is ever going to notice! And nobody is going to look at the archive! Whatever, here’s some songs.

Superchunk, “Not Tomorrow”

The attributes that made Superchunk one of the truly great bands were all present on the debut album. The catchiness, the energy, the tight songs, and the sheer fun were all there, and showed what the band would turn into. But it’s all just a little sloppier, and a little muddier, and just not quite firing on all cylinders yet. The next album would be the big step up, but the debut album is still a worthy listen.