Riverside - Out Of Myself

 This song encapsulates most of what makes Riverside's sound so unique. There are synths and interesting rhythms, but still a good song structure. The one thing that stands out in this song which you may or may not like is the dissonant harmonies. It certainly makes it interesting and unique, but of course some people like the harmonies to be consonant.

Except for that though, this is a great song with a similar theme as a lot of Riverside's early stuff, that being finding your place in the world, and I think that's something we need music to reflect on.

[Album] Riverside - Second Life Syndrome

 Quick announcement: I'm gonna stop trying to make fully fledged reviews and just write down whatever thoughts I have about a song or album in the moment.

This album is possibly the best album ever made, definitely up there in the top three for me along with Gojira - Magma and Queen - Innuendo. My interpretation of the album is that it's about finding your place in life. And just like with much of Riverside's work, it's also about the difficulties of life in the digital age, which is even more of a problem today.

The usage of synthesizers and beautiful guitar work really create an atmosphere unlike any other album, and the lyrics are some of the most relatable I've heard.

Of course, every album has songs that you wouldn't want in your daily playlist, but in the case of Second Life Syndrome, even the worse songs sound really good in the context of the album.

So I urge everyone to listen to the entire album if you haven't already. Don't stop after the first one or two songs if you don't like them, because they really change things up throughout.

Sylvan - Shine (9/10)

I often don't like songs that just tell some story in the lyrics, cause I often find them very unrelateable. But this one is just different. The lyrics are very emotional, and the expression in the vocals really adds to that. I also love how different Sylvan is from other progressive rock bands. They are progressive in the sense that their sound design and song structures are often different from the norm, not that they just go all out with odd time signatures. And that's exactly the type of progressive that I like.

This song in particular has quite a simple song structure, which is probably good since it makes it more digestible for non-prog listeners. And I love the instrumentation. The guitar + piano in the intro are really beautiful and for some reason make me think back to when I was a child, which is very fitting for this song. And the addition of strings just makes it so much more beautiful, even though they aren't very high in the mix.

Now, I have to mention that there are two versions of this song. The album version has a hard rock section in the middle, which I like, and even that part is very emotional. It also has a longer guitar solo at the end, but unfortunately it cuts of when the next song is supposed to start, so it doesn't really fit well in a playlist. The single version on the other hand doesn't have the cut at the end, but instead it fades out during the guitar solo, which I'm also not entirely fond of. And it also doesn't have the rock section, so it gets a bit more boring and simple. Still a great song though.

Metallica - Master of Puppets (10/10)

 For me, Metallica is often a hit or miss. Some of their lyrics are really introspective, and other seem not at all relatable. Some of their guitar solos are filled with emotion, some just sound like they're trying to show off.

But Master of Puppets is one of their songs that truly gets all parts right. Every single riff in the song is great (and there are a lot of them), and the chorus is really catchy. The dynamics are great, with a calmer section in the middle and then a perfect build-up to get back into the song. The vocals have the perfect amount of distortion to be expressive. Unlike a lot of modern metal singers, James isn't trying to just make "cool" noises in this song. He is expressing pain through the distortion, and he does it really well.

The lyrics are obviously about addiction, but they're written in a special way, so I can relate really well to them even though I've never suffered from addiction. I think the entire composition of the song really helps put you in the shoes of someone who is suffering. Additionally, the lyrics can be applied to a bunch of other situations too, such as unhealthy relationships, which I am more familiar with.

There really isn't a single bad part of this song. Usually I would be against the style of the fast guitar solo in this song, but here it really fits. Kirk not only shreds, but he also finds the notes that actually matter and bring emotion. That is quite rare for this type of playing style. All in all, it's just an incredible song that easily gets a 10/10.

Slipknot - Psychosocial (8/10)

 It took me a bit to get used to this type of metal, but once I did, I realized just how good this song is. Every riff in the song is just perfect. They really know how to use different rhythms in their riffs. I also like their use of harmonics. It's not that common to hear pinch harmonics as a part of riffs.

After reading through the lyrics, I realized that they're actually very critical of society, and very important today. But it isn't just shouting about stuff that's wrong with the world. At least for me, the song conveys the despair and rage of knowing that basically everything in the world is wrong, but being unable to do anything about it.

The part where I think the song falls short the most is the "limits of the dead" part. That just feels a bit silly to me. Also, the guitar solo, while cool, does not really feel like it conveys a lot of emotion. Though I hear some parts in there that connect to the feeling of the rest of the song.

Regarding the vocals, I usually don't like when singers just use screaming constantly, but it works fine in this song.

Linkin Park - In The End (10/10)

 I took a quick break from posting reviews to deal with other stuff in my life. But I will compensate by reviewing two songs this week, with this being the first of them.

Before I started listening to metal, I mostly listened to rock from the 70s-90s, such as Queen. So I didn't expect to fall in love with a song with both rap and a really modern production. But this song is really just perfect. The lyrics are super relatable and meaningful, the vocals are powerful, and the instrumentation is simple yet effective.

But the thing that really makes this song stand out is the production. The use of electronic sounds, bit crusher and compressor effects, and the very picky use of delay is unlike anything that came before this song, and probably unlike anything that has come after it too.

Some who like more complicated or raw-sounding songs might say this song is too pop-like and simple to deserve a 10/10, but the simplicity really works, so that's the score I'm giving it.

Porcupine Tree - The Sound Of Muzak (8/10)

 Even though this blog is mainly about metal, I must also bring up some slightly less heavy songs like this one. This is progressive rock, so of course the verses are in 7/4, but I think they used the time signature very well. Usually, progressive bands will just throw in odd time signatures for no other reason than to have an odd time signature, but this is really catchy and actually works in the song.

The chorus is quite simple except for the chord choices, but it's incredibly catchy. It sounds almost like a typical singalong song, but in a good way. The only issue I have with it is that the chorus feels somewhat disconnected from the rest of the song.

The guitar solo is great. I appreciate that they played the notes that really make you feel something, instead of just shredding garbage as some bands do. And as a keyboardist, I also like how they used a powerful organ sound to support the guitar solo.

The vocals on this song are alright. They sound very human and not at all overproduced, which is a plus, but in certain parts they use a compressor effect which I dislike, but that's just my personal taste. There isn't much dynamics in the vocals, but it works well in this type of song.

I think the lyrics are where this song really shines. The song was released in 2002, and the lyrics are so much more real today. The music industry as a whole really has gone downhill, with the same simple production over and over again, stripping the soul from the vocals, and it has become really difficult to find new good music. All the discovery algorithms just repeat the same popular songs that make the music labels more and more money. And I think this song really brings up a bunch of good points that need to be said about the music industry.