I just gave Kalmah a listen, and holy fuck.
It's as boring as hell.
It's not bad, by any means. It just doesn't have any energy.
Whatever the fuck that means in a musical context.
Anyway, Death Magnetic.
I feel that it's an alright album musically. The riffs are good and the vocal performance is the best it has been in years. The solos are, naturally, drowned in wah, but otherwise acceptable. Lars is just 'there', and Rob isn't even 'there'.
I have one big gripe with it, though.
They can't play the songs live.
Like, at all.
The whole album is filled with fluke after fluke, like James' ending yell on All Nightmare Long or the last, double bass-filled chorus on That Was Just Your Life. Maybe it was just because they were going all out to redeem themselves after St. Anger, and after they did that, they could take it easy for a while.
Actually, they performed Blackened not after the album's release, and I had been blasting the fuck out of Lars for not playing the double bass parts live. Then, the first chorus in Blackened ends, and the fucking double bass comes out of nowhere.
I'd like to say he's still got it, but it was just that one song.
Anyway, back to Metal.
Well, better Metal.
I've been checking out Kiuas, and I like them. Pretty original and varied. Almost Progressive. Not something I'd listen to very often, but they make a nice break from the norm.
