What are you listening to right now?

[maximzub]

Moriah has a solo EP and several singles that she did before she formed Plush. Some of them got reworked into Plush songs but they're all really cool. You should check them out, Max. She is so talented.

I will do so.

[Andy92]

Monuments - Nefarius

John Browne is a riff master.

[Schulzy]

[Dolo]

New Steven Wilson.

This sounds like one of those tunes that people can interpretive dance to. Yep. No further thoughts.

Exactly. Thankfully he's releasing a 'mostly instrumental 11 minute hybrid of progressive rock, spiritual jazz and electronica' next week.

I think this song is a step in the right direction though. It's minimalistic and trippy, but well put together. That ascending piano halfway the song before the 'economies of scale' group vocals for example is super cool. As a standalone song it's kinda underwhelming maybe, but I can see it working well in the context of a full album, kinda like Perfect Life on Hand Cannot Erase.

I'm just so done with him trying to write 'pop' music. Especially with all the disco influences... Realy looking forward to Impossible Tightrope!

So how are we liking the new single?

[maximzub]

My friend Dylan suggested yesterday that we learn this song. I've listened to it more than 10 times in the last 24 hours because of that. Several different versions, including the original Disclaimer version, the Disclaimer II version with Amy Lee, and a bunch of live versions from different eras. And of course, that included a few different versions with Lzzy Hale. I just had to look that up. I think this is my favorite version of all I've heard.

[gbruin]

I went to see Kamelot with Battle Beast last weekend and it was my favorite show of the year by quite a bit. Queensrÿche and Nothing More would slot in at #2 and 3 this year.

Also did the M&G with the band, got individual time talking to each member, up to 4 items signed, swag bag with pics and poster, an individual photo with the band (not a group of people standing in front of the stage), and pre-entry to get a rail spot - for $75. That's a much better deal than others I've paid for this year.

[gbruin]

Battle Beast - Eden

[YouTube]https://youtu.be/_hzssKb9940?si=fJNKWP48DEMjjkFh[/YouTube]

This band is so catchy and writes such great melodies. And Noora kicks so much ass.

[maximzub]

I skimmed through this video after watching the entire video of Disciple from this show. My thoughts:
- Whoever mixed this needs a raise and needs to produce the next album. David Bendeth's production on Error was so lacking and not powerful enough for the type of music.
- All of their voices sound great and on key.
- The band is very tight live. This may be due to the fact that they're using click tracks, though. Many songs that would require count-ins didn't have them, likely because it's only playing in their in-ear-monitors.
- I thought I could hear two guitars at many points, raising my suspicion that they're using backing tracks. Later I realized that Ale might be using something like what the Royal Blood guy uses to get a bass and guitar sound at the same time.
- However, I did hear some sound effects that can't possibly be played live by the three of them. So maybe they do use backing tracks after all. How disappointing.

[anguyen92]

New Steven Wilson.

This sounds like one of those tunes that people can interpretive dance to. Yep. No further thoughts.

Exactly. Thankfully he's releasing a 'mostly instrumental 11 minute hybrid of progressive rock, spiritual jazz and electronica' next week.

I think this song is a step in the right direction though. It's minimalistic and trippy, but well put together. That ascending piano halfway the song before the 'economies of scale' group vocals for example is super cool. As a standalone song it's kinda underwhelming maybe, but I can see it working well in the context of a full album, kinda like Perfect Life on Hand Cannot Erase.

I'm just so done with him trying to write 'pop' music. Especially with all the disco influences... Realy looking forward to Impossible Tightrope!

So how are we liking the new single?

Finally get a chance to listen to it in full. I like it. Solid instrumental. Very atmospheric. I do like the haunting vocals there. I wonder if he ever does this track live for a concert in like London, he has a choir behind him for that part.

[Schulzy]

I skimmed through this video after watching the entire video of Disciple from this show. My thoughts:
- Whoever mixed this needs a raise and needs to produce the next album. David Bendeth's production on Error was so lacking and not powerful enough for the type of music.
- All of their voices sound great and on key.
- The band is very tight live. This may be due to the fact that they're using click tracks, though. Many songs that would require count-ins didn't have them, likely because it's only playing in their in-ear-monitors.
- I thought I could hear two guitars at many points, raising my suspicion that they're using backing tracks. Later I realized that Ale might be using something like what the Royal Blood guy uses to get a bass and guitar sound at the same time.
- However, I did hear some sound effects that can't possibly be played live by the three of them. So maybe they do use backing tracks after all. How disappointing.

Max, I really like The Warning's single "More". Have you checked out Conquer Divide yet? New album out today!

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

Have you checked out Conquer Divide yet? New album out today!

Great album! One of my favorites of the year from women in metal.

[anguyen92]

I don't know why I've been in the mood for wanting to listen to more Steven Wilson-related stuff.

Steven Wilson's The Raven that Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) album.

[Timotheus]

New Steven Wilson.

This sounds like one of those tunes that people can interpretive dance to. Yep. No further thoughts.

Exactly. Thankfully he's releasing a 'mostly instrumental 11 minute hybrid of progressive rock, spiritual jazz and electronica' next week.

I think this song is a step in the right direction though. It's minimalistic and trippy, but well put together. That ascending piano halfway the song before the 'economies of scale' group vocals for example is super cool. As a standalone song it's kinda underwhelming maybe, but I can see it working well in the context of a full album, kinda like Perfect Life on Hand Cannot Erase.

I'm just so done with him trying to write 'pop' music. Especially with all the disco influences... Realy looking forward to Impossible Tightrope!

So how are we liking the new single?

Finally get a chance to listen to it in full. I like it. Solid instrumental. Very atmospheric. I do like the haunting vocals there. I wonder if he ever does this track live for a concert in like London, he has a choir behind him for that part.

I really liked some parts of it. Especially the first few minutes. As a whole, it's a bit all all over the place. A song like Luminol still had repetitive patterns in its musical bits. This is just very jammy. That's not a bad thing, and I like this direction, but I think that's kinda stopping me from absolutely obsessing over it.

The production is great. I saw a video somewhere where he mentioned that he recorded everything acoustically, but then used digital plugins to change the sounds. I guess that's not super revolutionary, but it's a cool approach. There's even some heavy autotune/vocoder effect on his voice at one point, which totally contradicts the rest of the vibe.

[Dolo]

Yeah, it's a bit meandering, there is a video of him saying that he sent out the initial idea to many collaborators during covid and then received many entries, it's pretty hard to write a cohesive composition based on such premise. I listened to this song with my dad and he said that it sounds like Wilson is now making film scores and that's a bit what that song sounds like to be honest. Another single coming up next week.

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

Does anybody have any recommendations for 2023 Rock/Metal albums & EPs with women as the main/only vocalist?

So far I'm sitting at 49 albums/EPs with 44 of them listened to/released. Trying to make it to 50+ but I'm not having any luck finding more that I like. I've tried 2023 albums for bands like Crypta but extreme/death metal is a bit too much for me if they dont have cleans at least like 40% of the time

- [x] Mechina - Cenotaph (1/3/2023)
- [x] Beyond The Black - Beyond The Black (1/13/2023)
- [x] Dark Princess - Phoenix (1/20/2023)
- [x] Vengeant - Mana EP (1/25/2023)
- [x] Dark Sarah - Attack of Orym (1/27/2023)
- [x] Rexoria - Imperial Dawn (2/3/2023)
- [x] Xandria - The Wonders Still Awaiting (2/3/2023)
- [x] Motive Black - Auburn (2/10/2023)
- [x] Delain - Dark Waters (2/10/2023)
- [x] Lovebites - Judgement Day (2/22/2023)
- [x] Enemy of Reality - Where Truth May Lie (2/24/2023)
- [x] Frozen Crown - Call of the North (3/10/2023)
- [x] Phantom Elite - Blue Blood (3/17/2023)
- [x] Elysion - Bring Out Your Dead (3/17/2023)
- [x] BABYMETAL - The Other One (3/24/2023)
- [x] Ad Infinitum - Chapter III: Downfall (3/31/2023)
- [x] As Everything Unfolds - Ultraviolet (4/21/2023)
- [x] Against Myself - Tides of Insanity (4/21/2023)
- [x] Ignea - Dreams of Lands Unseen (4/28/2023)
- [x] Tulip - The Perpetual Dream (5/5/2023)
- [x] Burning Witches - The Dark Tower (5/5/2023)
- [x] The Dark Side of The Moon - Metamorphosis (5/12/2023)
- [x] Sirenia - 1977 (5/26/2023)
- [x] Reasons Behind - Architecture of an Ego (5/26/2023)
- [x] Silent Utopia - My Human Nature (6/9/2023)
- [x] Masqued - When Demons Call (6/9/2023)
- [x] False Memories - Hybrid Ego System (6/9/2023)
- [x] Royal Thunder - Rebuilding The Mountain (6/16/2023)
- [x] VEXED - Negative Energy (6/23/2023)
- [x] Degrees of Truth - Alchemists (6/23/2023)
- [x] Butcher Babies - Eye for an Eye... (7/7/2023)
- [x] Butcher Babies - …’Til The World's Blind (7/7/2023)
- [x] Eleine - We Shall Remain (7/14/2023)
- [x] Edge of Paradise - Hologram (7/14/2023)
- [x] September Mourning - Volume IV (7/19/2023)
- [x] Roses Unread - Down And Out EP (8/2/2023)
- [x] Metalite - Blazing Skies EP (8/18/2023)
- [x] Daedric - Mortal (8/25/2023)
- [x] SinHeresy - Event Horizon (8/25/2023)
- [x] Concrete Castles - Brand New Me (8/25/2023)
- [x] Stitched Up Heart - To The Wolves (9/1/2023)
- [x] Conquer Divide - Slow Burn (9/8/2023)
- [x] Stream of Passion - Beautiful Warrior EP (9/9/2023)
- [ ] Death Dealer Union - Initiation (9/22/2023)
- [ ] Blackbriar - A Dark Euphony (9/29/2023)
- [ ] Elegy of Madness - XI (10/20/2023)
- [ ] Within Temptation - Bleed Out (10/20/23)
- [ ] In This Moment - Godmode (10/27/2023)
- [ ] Spiritbox - The Fear of Fear EP (11/3/2023)

[Schulzy]

[Dolo]

Tesseract's new album War of Being. It's pretty banging although not really innovative in any shape or form. There are serious hints of their first album on it and it's a good thing.

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

TesseracT's War of Being album.

[maximzub]

I'm listening to a lot of Dylan's and Hunter's suggestions for songs to play with the band so I can learn them as fast as possible. This is one of Hunter's ideas. It's actually growing on me.

[MaraCarr]

[YouTube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1fIA-J1tYY[/YouTube]

I feel better now!