Listening Trends for May 2023

May is generally pretty nice in the Northern portion of the planet. Flowers are properly coming out, awakening from their multi-month snoozefest. Stretching the analogy somewhat, the first couple of entries on this month’s list have also regrown in a new yet familiar way…

Def Leppard - Drastic Symphonies⌗

So, if you were paying any sort of vague attention last month, you’d know that I was eagerly expecting the arrival of this one. I even managed to score a vinyl copy somewhat randomly in our local record store. So, could the hype and excitement match up to reality?

Not completely, but it’s still very good. I went and did things a bit differently by diving straight into Gods of War, a longtime favourite Hysteria track¹. As the orchestral flourishes blend into the driving bass, I found myself nodding grimly along, the lyrics having lost none of their sharpness. The London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra blends into the song into a way that intrigues and excites in equal measure. Animal is definitely one of the album highlights, and I enjoyed Hysteria as well. I’ve always considered Bringing On The Heartbreak to be a fairly average song that acts as a great intro to one of my fave instrumentals, Switch 625, and in their new guises, this is still the case :)

The biggest surprise for me was Pour Some Sugar On Me. Several years ago, Gavin Harrison, one of my favourite drummers, released an album where he re-imagined Porcupine Tree songs in a big band style. They were all very different in style, and while I didn’t like all of them, I could appreciate what he was doing. The Drastic Symphonies version of PSSOM is like this in many ways. Musically, it barely resembles the original, although the “ho ho, we’re so cheeky” lyrics are still there. The female vocals, supplied by Emm Gryner are gorgeous and smokey. I like it a lot…

…but this also reveals something about the album as a whole. Most of it adds small embellishments, rather than completely new versions of the songs. This is, undoubtedly, why it works so well, as you’re still basically listening to the same songs you already knew. But it also shows a certain level of safety in the music, an unwillingness to really change them. It’s a missed opportunity in a lot of ways. Not that this will stop me listening to it anytime soon though.

Novarupta - Carrion Movements⌗

Now for something with slightly fewer vocals - none to be precise. Novarupta’s Carrion Movements is comprised of two long instrumental tracks, with layers of guitars and keys washing over the listener rather than pummeling them completely. I guess some would call it post-something-or-other. We Grumpys just call it mesmerising. Plenty of atmospheric head nodding moments, the music building up in each track to a glorious crescendo.

Unlike a lot of instrumental music (thinking of latter-day Satriani here, although it’s a fairly poor comparison), this isn’t just jazzy noodling for the sake of it. Here, the songs are crafted tightly, with a genuine sense of purpose behind each passage. The two songs comes to around 40 minutes in total, but this is no bad thing - they need to be this long for the journey they take you on to be complete.

If you get the chance, listen to this one on vinyl - it’s absolutely worth it.

Ghost - Jesus He Knows Me/Enter Sandman⌗

Next on the list is another pair of remade tunes that ended up on repeat listen for a good chunk of the month.

Jesus He Knows Me was originally put out by Genesis on the We Can’t Dance album, one that I recall liking reasonably well at the time. Fast forward a couple of decades and countries, and Tobias and company put out their own version, which, unsurprisingly, cranks up the heavy factor. It’s a simple enough song, cynically talking about the “I still can’t believe people buy into that shit” style of American televangelist. It’s also catchy as hell, and while the new version doesn’t add a heck of a lot of difference other than the upping of the distortion setting, it didn’t stop me enjoying it greatly.

After playing this a couple of dozen times, I thought I’d go and listen to Ghost’s Enter Sandman cover, something I’d read about but not actually listened to. Similar to the Genesis cover, this one doesn’t change much compared to the original, aside from a piano-driven intro that got my hopes up for something a bit different. Sadly not. I’m not a great fan of Hetfield’s heeeyyyyyy-yeaaaahhhhh style of singing, so I may actually prefer the vocal delivery on this one. Overall, a fun wee listen.

Secrets of the Moon - Privilegium⌗

The now sadly-disbanded Secrets of the Moon were once untouchable bastions of black metal. While I never got into Stronghold of the Inviolables or Carved in Stigmata Wounds, Antithesis grabbed me by the unmentionables and didn’t let go. The follow-on was Privilegium, a darkly menacing piece of Germanic black metal that begins with a slow build up, guitars drenched in feedback, drums slowly adding to the mix. When Sulphur finally begins, everything comes together in a double-bass led barrage of riffs. When sG snarls “My master… breathes sulphur”, you can’t help but raise your horns in the air.

It’s not all snarls and blastbeats though, the album is actually quite varied. While Black Halo keeps the more traditional black metal flowing, I, Maldoror, is the catchiest of the tracks on display, with an infectious chorus that will stick inside your head like a really nasty parasite.

Later tracks are slower paced, concluding with Shepherd, a track I suspect divided many peoples' opinions when they first heard it. I’m on the “like it” side, even with its ballad-like trimmings, but I totally get why a lot of people wonder what this is doing on an album that’s been more “traditional” throughout². Then again, given the direction Secrets ended up moving towards in the latter days of their career, this isn’t really a surprise in hindsight, more of a hint of things to come. Whether you like that track or not though, it’s still an excellent album with enough riffage to keep even the most ardent metalhead non-Grumpy.

Woods of Desolation - The Falling Tide⌗

The final album of the month was rated highly on AMG last December, and I’d had it bookmarked since then. I figured that this month, it was time to finally give it a spin.

I really really wanted to like it more than I did. The music was pretty good, atmospheric and riffy in all the right places. The vocals though… Nope, put me right off. Just didn’t like them. And given how loud in the mix they were, it was difficult to ignore them. I’m glad some folks liked this one, and maybe you will too. But it’s not one I’ll be coming back to. :grumpy_face: