Portal of I has some of the most accessible moments in extreme progressive metal, but it doesn't start out that way. Tapestry of the Starless Abtract throws the listener right into blast beats and growls. And the track doesn't calm down until a few minutes in. One thing that's done masterfully in Tapestry, and the album as a whole, is how each song flows from extreme harshness to quiet moments and back again. They don't just smash two opposite sounds together to see what works (which I happen ... read more
So this was a good first experience with the band. I appreciate a lot of what I heard here and even playlisted a few songs. I have a few issues with the production and the harsh vocals are hit or miss. But considering this was a band I had no interest in before, I can definitely say my expectations were exceeded and this is worth coming back to sometime.
Honestly just wasn't feeling it at any point. Didn't love the vocals. Didn't love the lyrics at times. Even some of the distortion and guitar tones just felt off. It's weird because this isn't that far from something I'd like but this album in particular don't work for me.
I was conflicted at first because I'll defend long songs til the day I die. I think they provide a unique opportunity for build up and payoffs. Thing with this album/song is there was almost none of that. Felt like there was little to no progression, just repetition. Funny thing is I don't think the people who like it even disagree with me, lol. I'll concede it wasn't at all bad for the first 10 minutes or so. Just the absurd length does nothing to justify itself imo and keeps me from getting ... read more
Pretty much the perfect mixture of folk and extreme metal for me. Half the time it reminded me of the Witcher soundtrack and the other half was a damn good Ne Obliviscaris impression.