Left Hand Path
#007: The Just Shall Live by Faith

By: Stylus Staff
2007-05-01



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Posted 05/02/2007 - 04:46:30 AM by meatbreak:
 Hailz!!! How much Latin do you want to fit into one feature? Good work. Think you're a bit genrous on the Watain album. That's probably the most disappointing album to be released for some time. What's with all the horrible deathy chugga-chugga and pristine production? It sounds terrible. The songs aren't especially memorable or inspiring either. Admittedly, i am in agreement about the title track. the delivery of the chorus line is pretty potent, but after several listens that's still the only redeeming feature. The cleanness isn't really a welcome alteration. Only if they want to start making some money and crossing over into the hybrid market. The same thing happened to Satyricon. Another warrior falls from the legion.
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 08:43:32 AM by dubidet:
 It's one thing to read the southern lord messageboard; adopting the beliefs of 3/4s of the fools that post on it is entirely another...
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 09:12:41 AM by meatbreak:
 What do you mean? That's Stewart, right? Are you talking to me? I don't actually read the Southern Lord message board. I was joking when I said 'Hailz!' if that's what you mean (though not sure that would be used much on Southern Lord stuff). I'm not sure how you would pigeonhole my metal tastes, but it has to be pitch black, ferociously noisy, slightly unhinged, hypnotic. Lots of Finnish stuff like Dead Reptile Shrine and Horna. Canada is especially good and that similar kind of thing - Akitsa, Wold (especially Wold - Screech Owl is my No1. album of the year so far). Is that hipster metal? Maybe. Still not sure what you mean, or if I'm saying anything related. I just lament the loss of the fidelity of Rabid Death's Curse and the song structures, the atmosphere. It's all disappeared off Sworn To The Dark and what's left is just too shiny for me.
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 09:13:52 AM by meatbreak:
 Oh, and if it wasn't obvious, by metal I mean Black Metal. Pitch black fucking metal, all the time!!!
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 10:55:02 AM by dubidet:
 Yes, meatbreak, it's Stewart.... I'm pleased that you are reading the column, but I'm put off by your "assessment" of STTD. Why would anyone want another RDC? Even if Watain created another, they'd be derided for doing so. I'm a fan of DRS and Wold too, but it doesn't mean that I can't enjoy/appreciate a well-recorded, well-produced record. The production certainly doesn't sound "terrible" and the "cleanness" is most welcome, at least by my ears, especially with a band that posseses technical skill - like Watain. Furthermore,your comparison of Watain w/ Satyricon is frankly beyond me; to claim that Watain has "fallen from the legion" b/c they didn't release a record that sounds like it was conceived in the recesses of a dead rat's ass is nothing but hyperbole. I suppose you're just way "too hard and troo" for this sort of thing. That's perfectly fine and good, but don't take truck with a band that's done more for "Black Metal" than any lot of lo-fi warriors could ever do.
 
Posted 05/02/2007 - 12:17:23 PM by meatbreak:
 Yes, now I understand. I'm surprised you can't see the similarity between the changes in sound that both Satyricon and Watain have gone through - though Watain very abruptly with this album, Satyricon less so, shedding the noise and refining their sound down over their last few albums, especially Volcano and Now Diabolical. Maybe I am being slightly facetious, especially in the face of two such important bands, and I am definitely not claiming to be Kvulter than thou or any such nonsense (I think I’ve left plenty of comments all over Stylus that would undermine that immediately if I even tried to front that for a minute) – but to me, Metal that is clean sounding comes across as ineffectual. So why am I adopting fools beliefs? Because I think that a band leaving their old sound behind and attempting something new is heretical? That’s not what I was saying. I actually like Now Diabolical quite a lot and the quite smooth production combines with the elegance of the serpentine flowing ebbs of the tracks very well indeed. This Watain album sounds much too like Death Metal for me and I just don’t like the production sounds and rhythms that much. There are a few bands that do hold my attention – Nile, for one, Red Harvest another – so I am not on any black crusade. I consider the Les Legions Noires releases to be ‘well produced’, as the production has created the desired effect. I do not consider well defined sounds and lack of tape hiss to equate to good production immediately, unless that is what a band is after. If Watain have deliberately set out to create an album that is crystal clear with every angle audible then they are certainly achieved that and well done to them, but it is unfortunately, a sound that shocked me when I heard it and more than just the sound, I haven’t found the album to be especially engrossing or exciting, like say, Gromm’s ‘Happiness….It’s When You Are Dead’ or Furze’s UTD. I actually have STTD with me now, so maybe I’ll walk home listening to it and see if you haven’t convinced me to listen harder – but I’ve already been doing that for a few weeks and it hasn’t hit me yet.
 
Posted 05/18/2007 - 03:21:28 PM by remission_:
 Thank you for recommending Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound. It's been a while since i've fallen in love with an album so immediately. Definitely one of the best of 2007 so far.