The Red in the Sky is Ours. It’s one of the most important death metal releases in the history of the genre which specifically inspired and shaped the Gothenburg scene of melodic death metal in the early nineties. While I listen to Slaughter of the Soul a bit more (not sure why), this record is great. I Am Kloot does absolutely nothing for me on top of being nothing particular new, interesting, or really engaging.
I'm still not totally sure how articulate what makes this At the Gates record so appealing. The mood is fascinating: mysterious primordial past, apocalyptic prophecies scrawled on the walls of ancient ruins...that sort of thing. The songs are structured in sometimes convoluted ways that really shouldn't make sense, but somehow just flow, intuitively and naturally.
When not aggressive or bizarre, the guitar riffs can be really gorgeous, The final minute of Within for example (5:30 or so onwards): 3 note phrase repeats on one guitar, while tremolo picked notes go up and down on another, then the pretty violin comes in, then extra layers of harmonized guitars, the violin stars breaking away with some faster runs, then fadeout. Brilliantly effective, especially in context with the rest of the song.
Liked the At The Gates album myself and hope to go back and get it rated eventually.
Seeing as this is delicately poised might as well do some promo
So yeah, the I Am Kloot album is my nom... for me it's 12 excellent songs beautifully produced / brilliantly executed.
The album is lush and textured; the songs shimmer, or as the allmusic review says, I Am Kloot “explodes with scuzzy epic rock guitars and jagged basslines, adds ornate backing instrumentation, and fleshes out its songs until they bleed anthemic charisma and emotion”.
I guess these are the qualities that have kept me coming back to it since I bought it back in the mid 2000s. The slower tracks maybe crowd out the more uptempo ones so will post 'Life In A Day' below. Great bassline, rolling, shuffling drumfills, and a fuzzy guitar assault every now and again to push the song over the edge.
I like I am Kloot well enough. But it's pretty standard indie rock fare. The sort of album that's perfect for the Paste magazine/Starbucks/Adult alternative set. I like this kind of stuff and am happy to drink my Starbucks coffee & read my New York Times while it soothingly & inoffensively plays in the background. I'm a BAWP, after all.
Meanwhile, At the Gates eats middling indie rock bands for breakfast. And is HUNGRY afterwards! *burp*
edit: Wow! I'm surprised this is neck & neck. I guess there is a bias against metal at play here.
Last edited by RepoMan on 06/23/2014 15:52; edited 1 time in total
I remember I Am Kloot, went to see them live a couple of times because a friend was a fan. They didn't do much for me then, and they do even less for me now. At The Gates isn't really my cuppa either, but they get my vote here. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
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I guess there is a bias against metal at play here.
