If you think this is what this is about, you are wrong. DEAD WRONG.

Track list

1. Plastic Svensson
2. Morgondimman
3. Verkligheten
4. Betygsterror
5. Den Vita Snön
6. Miljöförstöring
7. Värderingar Om Skolan
8. Balladen Om Fyristorg
9. The Spoon

Genre

Prog, blues, rock

Release

1977

Label

???

Background Information

There’s not much to say except mention again that this is NOT about Lord of the Ring, although the band name is certainly relative to Tolkien. I can’t be sure the songs speak about the Middle Earth universe or not either, due to SWEDISH. The only song I can understand talks about spoons, which, I assume, are not purely restricted to Tolkien books.

On a more serious note, Gandalf is a band from the late 70s, who released their eponym in 1977. There is not much else I can know about them, their fan base seems to be really restrictive, and the band is [unsurprisingly] not really popular today. I guess their strategy to steal the band name and album name of another artist didn’t even help them.

My Opinion

Right at the first track, there is a thing you are sure of: this certainly doesn’t sound like The Lord of the Ring’s soundtrack! This old Swedish record got a pretty bad recording quality and has thew typical rock n’ roll vibe all over it. While Plastic Svensson has a good composition, the song itself and the arrangement are nothing to phone home about. I must say it’s been a while since I didn’t feel like giving an album its chance when it’s old stuff like that, but I had serious doubts about it.

Fortunately, Morgondimman began in a tone I like more, a bit like Gandalf is Camel’s old uncle (except Camel were there before). It’s far less aggressive, more balanced. It has flute, which I guess has to be expected when you consider listening to instrumental music probably deriving from the Tolkien world.

The tracks that follow (Verkligheten, Betygsterror, Balladen Om Fyristorg) are nothing too impressive, nothing sounding bad. Gandalf was probably an alright record for its time, but I guess what remains popular has something special, and Gandalf did not have it. The songs do have interesting points, but to me it sounds like the band is just trying to find which way to go and can’t decide.

Maybe it’s the fact there were too many influences, or that Gandalf came in when prog music began falling down, but it’s hard to spot a piece I’ll like from beginning to end. Miljöförstöring could be the worst offender in this category: you even get surf rock there! Some bands and artists can get this kind of shit right (same goes for genre transitions), but Gandalf fails pretty hard.

At least, the ending track, The Spoon, is actually good. A bluesy song, the only one in English, and the tone is relatively different from everything else on the record. This may be the only song worth it on the album.

Conclusion

Meh. Gandalf is not bad, but it’s not good either. Well, it doesn’t compare with this chocolate bar that kid got me to buy 15 minutes ago for some school activity. This is your run of the mill progressive rock derivative. It wasn’t known enough to have 2 other bands taking the same name through history (another progressive artist, and a hard rock band in the late 90s). I’d advise not to bother with the album, unless you’re really intrigued or want to give an ear to The Spoon.

Links in Comments

Some of the band members from Diablo Swing Orchestra from a promotional photo set for Butcher’s Ballroom

Track list

1. Balrog Boogie
2. Heroines
3. Poetic Pitbull Revolutions
4. Rag Doll Physics
5. D’Angelo
6. Velvet Embracer
7. Gunpowder Chant
8. Infralove
9. Wedding March For A Bullet
10. Qualms Of Conscience
11. Zodiac Virtues
12. Porcelain Judas
13. Pink Noise Waltz

Genre

Metal, symphonic metal, avant-garde

Release

August 17, 2006

Label

Guillotine Grooves

Background Information

I’m going to have to start this article by saying I’m usually not a big fan of metal music. I usually only go look at some artists, or get what is a byproduct or presents some influences. Symphonic metal is usually as far as I’ll go. Avant-Garde, however, is a genre I’m more familiar with. In this case, a band named Diablo Swing Orchestra was flung to my face, mixing both the genres of Symphonic Metal and Avant-Garde. I liked the album more than usual similar releases, so I decided to make you guys discover it via this review, if you’ve never heard about it before that is.

Diablo Swing Orchestra is a band from Sweden, a band who has won ‘The Biggest Surprise’ award in 2006 Metal Storm awards, ranking before Iron Maiden (source). They also pulled in second place in avant-garde metal. They’re 6 musicians, with one playing the cello, an instrument relatively rare in Metal.

The Butcher’s Ballroom is the band’s first real release, and it delivers. It’s a fusion of swing, flamenco, jazz, opera, orchestral music, all wrapped up in the metal envelope. Of course the opera singing can get cumbersome at times, but DSO manage to incorporate it efficiently.

My Opinion

The album begins with Balrog Boogie on a little drum line with cello. As the title indicates it, that song is a boogie, but with heavy distortion, making it contrast with regular boogie. The opera singing already begins here, but apart from being a woman singing in a high-pitched voice, there is nothing too annoying about it. Horns here and there add the salt and pepper of the piece, which has a bright, crazy tone to it. It’s one of the strongest tracks on the album (of course, this comes from a guy who likes the boogie style).

Heroines is mainly introduced via drums, cello and voice, with a dark and dramatic undertone. It quickly turns to some sort of surreal tango deviation, before being transformed to your regular metal-opera (haha, can this really be said?) song by the end. As a kind of progression in terms of genres, Poetic Pitbull Revolutions comes right after. It begins with the traditional flamenco guitar, but instantly becomes some shred fest interluded with Spanish-like trumpets. It’s a wonder Diablo Swing Orchestra managed to incorporate trumpets to metal, but damn, they did it. And they did it well.

This was not the end of surprises for me though, Rag Doll Physics follows, and has to be one of the best songs on the albums, with Balrog Boogie, from its contrast with the rest. DSO demonstrate their ability to make balanced music by using various movement, unified by what seems to be flawless musicianship. There are not many songs that sound like each other on the record, which is surprising for many avant-garde artists, who tend to follow the works of Mike Patton or John Zorn.

To me, it’s like Nightwish and Devil Doll mixed together, except it’s not annoying (oh God, this will not go well with the comments). Yes, I think Nightwish tends to be annoying. Devil Doll sound like they are trying hard to have a style, and it doesn’t have the same natural flow Diablo Swing Orchestra managed to find.

This is not exactly saying Nightwish and Devil Doll suck, it’s more that those who like them will be surprised and pleased by DSO. You have to keep an open mind in some genres, though, I’d say, especially since tracks like Gunpowder Chant borrow a lot to foreign music with themes sounding like they come from the East, and the use of instruments like a didgeridoo.

Other songs keep the same idea of originality and change through the rest of the album. Zodiac Virtues and Qualms of Conscience both go in slower, more emotional themes, although this doesn’t keep the former from touching the normal metal branches.

The Butcher’s Ballroom also ends in great way, with Pink Noise Waltz reminding of Balrog Boogie in a heavier form, more in the lines of Zodiac Virtues. It’s a decent example of what the band can produce. Just when you think it’s completely over, a slow jazzy tune comes up, and guides you to the end of the CD with class.

Conclusion

Diablo Swing Orchestra managed to surprise more than one with The Butcher’s Ballroom, mixing genres, intonations, moods and instruments in a way that seems to become rare today. Many bands will stick to the ‘tried and true’ approach, but DSO go further and bring new content to our ears. It’s definitely a good addition to the collection of anyone who enjoys symphonic metal and/or avant-garde music, although I’d not really call it a classic you must own. It’s Worth a try, though.

Links in comments

The most important parts of Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine are their clothes with tiger patterns. Shame they must quit this year, due to Cheese’s voice problems.

Bumblefoot

Our first Artist, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, is an entertaining man. His ‘bumblefoot’ name comes from a bird infection he learned about while helping his wife studying for her veterinary exams. There’s nothing too impressive there, but the guy creates a neat gimmick when he plays his guitar: a giant foot, painted to the colors of a bumblebee, with wings that move when he uses the tremolo.

His gimmick is kind of ambiguous and closer to a concept, but the guy is relatively not serious, using shredding lines as the bases of songs like ‘Guitars suck’ or laughing at metal guitarists in ‘I can’t play the blues’ while he is a very proficient metal guitarist himself, which makes me say the balance tips in favor of small gimmicks at times.

He plays other interesting instruments, including a fretless guitar and a swiss cheese guitar. He’s played as Ron Thal for about 2-3 years, and then in 1998, he took the name ‘Bumblefoot’, which he still has today (he is supposedly releasing a new album in 2008). He is also playing with Guns N’ Roses, since the great Buckethead in left 2006. And guess who is our next musician?

Buckethead

Buckethead is another surprising artist. He released not less than 27 albums only in 2007 (source), is currently playing with 7 bands, has played with about 19 bands in total, and also leads a solo career. One of his best known songs is Jordan for those interested.

From his FAQ, you can also learn that he auditioned for Red Hot Chili Peppers, but was not taken:

One journalist’s account reported that the lead singer picked Buckethead up at the airport and found out that Buckethead had not heard any of their tunes. The audition proceeded anyway, and Buckethead played in his inimitable fashion (i.e., robot dance, hyper-metal licks etc…). When he finished the band applauded raucously. Flea confirmed that they auditioned BH saying that he was “sweet and normal,” but they wanted someone “…who could also kick a groove.” (source)

Despite being interesting for all sorts of achievements, his gimmick is that he is mainly known for wearing a mask and a KFC bucket on is head at nearly all times, and close to no pictures of him have ever been released. The only one I’ve found so far is the one that was featured on his wikipedia entry a few months ago (see the thumbnail below) with his real name: Brian Carroll. Buckethead seems to take his KFC bucket seriously: his artist names obviously derivates from it, but he also uses many chicken-related words in songs and albums he releases: Enter the Chicken, From The Coop, KFC Skin Piles or Secret Recipe, to name a few.

Richard Cheese

Mark Jonathan Davis is Richard Cheese who is a full gimmick. His whole career revolves around a single concept: playing popular rap, rock, metal, and pop songs in a swanky lounge music style. Even the stage name Richard Cheese is a joke, as it can purposedly be shortened to ‘Dick Cheese‘ (possibly NSFW).

He basically takes the same lyrics, same chord progression, but changes the style entirely. There’s no real need to explain when you can see the act itself:

A view of the Centerfold, where you can see the stupid aluminium latch system.

The guys from DeVillain have invented what must be one of the most unrequested or useless features a guitar could ever need: a guitar that folds in half for easier transportation. [note: I got contacted by Leif, a guy working for the place, and he reminded me about carrying it on a plane. I assume this is the most legit use for it and is not a bad idea.]

Not only has the problem of transportation been solved decades ago via the use of a case, but this one still doesn’t remove the need of a case. Indeed, who would feel like walking under the rain with a guitar folded this way just because it takes slightly less space? Fortunately, they still include one to go with it anyway.

Sources say it may take around 20 seconds to go from folded to unfolded. Well that’s fantastic. I may sure enjoy the ease of transportation and loss of time when the guitar only cost me $3,370. It may be the price to pay to get the answer to some questions, answered by DeVillain:

The world’s first folding guitar that actually solves the problem of “where should the strings go when I fold the neck”. How are strings packaged when you buy them? Rolled up in a paper sleeve. If that’s the way strings are sold, it must also be a pretty good way to store them when the guitar is folded. That’s why the Centerfold collects the strings on a roll when you fold the neck. (source)

Given I was already working on my own folding guitar and I became stuck exactly at the ‘where the string goes’ part, that would be great news to end my sorrow. Otherwise, the market for the Centerfold must be pretty restricted.

Woo! Look at that folding action! Add a tremolo bar where you can put cheese so it would let people use the guitar as a giant mousetrap, hopefully catching giant mice! Do incredible multi-octave bends!

We can’t assume this is the last guitar of this kind either. There has to be worst inventions to come. Boy I can’t wait.

There are some secrets involved in the art of making screen shots of your own posts before publishing them, but I am a man of many secrets and will not say a word.

The painful memories

Music often evolves in the best way possible through years and general pop culture: the bad stuff gets forgotten, the good stuff gets remembered, and then the terribly bad stuff becomes a cult. The 80’s got their fair share of everything, and the worst becomes a cult way too many times.

Today, MatthewT from http://hiddenportal.info sent me a link to a Dancin’ Kim video, teaching you how to do the robot. I believe it’s fake (see the producer’s profile on imdb), and even if it is, it’s certainly a good tribute (if it’s real, I’ll be glad to be proven wrong!). Music and dance get to look at their photo album and blush with shame as these videos picture a scary but true-looking decade:

The Videos

How To Do The Robot

How To Do The Thriller

How To Learn Popping And Locking

How To Do The Cabbage Patch

How To Do The Running Man

I refuse to believe this show ran for 4 years. The 80s’ did last for 10 years, but well, they were not that video.

There is hardly any good quality photo of Wobbler, so you guys are stuck with this forest picture found on their website.

Track list

1. Serenade For 1652
2. Hinterland
3. Rubato Industry
4. Clair Obscur

Genre

Symphonic progressive rock

Release

September 6, 2005

Label

Laser’s Edge

Background Information

Wobbler is a Norwegian band formed in 1999, inspired the prog-rock creations of the late 60s and early 70s. They were mainly influenced by symphonic progressive music bands like Premiata Forneria Marconi, and possibly the more recent group Anglagard (they recorded their stuff fairly recently but tried as much as possible to use the old days’ technology).

They only have one album out so far, it got out in 2005, and the title track is nearly 30 minutes long. It has only four tracks, all longer than 12 minutes, except the first one, which lasts a smashing 41 seconds. This review is going to get massive name-dropping due to how easy the influences are to spot on the disks, so if you’re not too well versed into progressive music, you may find it harder to follow. My apologies in advance!

My Opinion

The first track (Serenade for 1652), as stated above, is really short. It sounds like some remake of an old movie’s music. There’s nothing much to say, it’s kind of pointless on there.

Hinterland starts better. It’s got a heavier structure, it’s fun to listen to, and there are constant theme changes. They sound like about 10 bands doing a medley, some parts having Chris Squire’s bass sound, others having roughly the same flute as Anglagard, the back vocals of King Crimson (in songs like In The Court of the Crimson King), or whatever other band. It’s not too aggressive, the song changes frequently enough not to get bored.

A lot of people say that this is a pale copy of past bands and musicians, and although I see where this comes from, it’s not exactly how I’d describe it. Wobbler can and do stand well on their own, but they just don’t have that little jaw-dropping effect some people may experience with the big classics.

That’s for the first ‘movement’ of Hinterland. The second one kicks in at maybe 8:40 into the track. An audible gentle giant influence kicks in at that point, but it’s done in a many times friendlier and less eclectic way. They also have a better balance in their sound, which is all good. Third ‘movement’ (I’m not sure I can actually call it that way) enters at roughly 10:40. A slow interlude if there’s any, focusing on guitar and vocals over anything. Near 13 minutes and a half, you get a sound that’s much more closer to King Crimson, with the addition of Emerson Lake & Palmer keys. The more it goes on, the more the influences get mixed. This kind of influence-switching and mixing keeps repeating until the end of the track. I’d say it would be a pretty good introduction to progressive music to any newcomer, really.

Rubato industry is the third song, the second shortest one. It’s a shame, really, because in my opinion, that’s the best piece on the album. It has a panicking ambiance to it, and this is where Wobbler cuts the links with their influences, or at least use them to their advantage the most. It keeps the same mechanics as Hinterland, though, the constant theme change. What do you expect to be different though? Near all the progressive music is made that way!

Hinterland ends with Clair Obscur, beginning in a slow and melancholic way (although it’s got nothing on last week’s Phideaux , to be honest). At about 4 minutes played, the Wobbler picks up a sound that is a big mix between ELP’s Tarkus and Anglagard. Even though there’s a lot of influences, do not get me wrong. The musicianship is still top notch and the album is still a pleasure for the regular prog fan. It’s just nothing completely new, even though it got out a bit over 30 years after what it sounds like.

Conclusion

When recent bands try to emulate older times’ music, you can usually end up with two main groups: those who sound like a copy of the bands they admire (see Citizen Cain and Genesis), or a whole new band with a genre that we know. It may be a question of opinions, but I like the latest better, and Wobbler succeeds. I would say that if you like bands like Anglagard, you should jump right on the Wobbler train and get a copy of their album. They’re not a must-have, but if you’re in the mood for long songs and ‘new’ symphonic progressive music, they may be worth a shot. They could also be a good introduction to progressive music as a genre, rather than going directly for bands like King Crimson, Yes, or Genesis.

Links in comments

Phideaux (the band), playing live for a rare time. They had never performed live before 2007, as far as I know.

Track list

1. Micro Deathstar
2. The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part One)
3. Candybrain
4. Crumble
5. The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two)
6. Thank You For The Evil
7. A Wasteland Of Memories
8. Crumble
9. Formaldehyde
10. Microdeath Softstar

Genre

Progressive rock, art rock

Release

June 21, 2007

Label

Bloodfish Media

Background Information

Sorry to the regulars, the internship took away some of my time to listen to stuff, play and review music. This week, though, I’m pleasing myself by reviewing one of my favourite composers.

Phideaux Xavier is an American TV producer who began composing music in high school. In my brain, that would already ring a bell about pop music. Well I’d be proved real wrong by this man, who describes his own music as “psychedelic progressive Gothic rock.” His material really doesn’t stick to one formula, and every album is different in style, but not exactly in genres or quality.

There are many little interesting aspects about his band and him, being that they released an album that his musicians and him wrote, composed and recorded in a single day. That album would be ‘313′. Despite not being their best release (and the song Have you hugged your robot? strangely sounding like In the hall of the mountain king by Edvard Grieg), it’s an interesting disk that manages to prove the kind of musicianship you deal with when you get into Phideaux.

Doomsday Afternoon is Phideaux Xavier’s most recent album up to now, and the second release of a trilogy that began with The Great Leap, in 2006. It’s also certainly their most artistic album so far, a step above anything they released before, in my opinion.

The line-up is certainly impressive too, with about 9 main musician, 4 appearances from others, and 16 musicians for the orchestral parts of the song (mainly violins, violas, horns, cellos, etc.). Let’s go straight to the content.

My Opinion

This all begins with Micro Deathstar. The first time I listened to it, I was simply blown away by the surprise. I couldn’t have thought someone could have made music with arrangements that good in the last 20 years (hey hyperbole there!). Still, it hit me and I instantly fell in love with Phideaux’s music.

The progressive and near-classical sounds are mixed with a more actual feel, there’s a great flow and certainly a great ambiance to it all. It’s not too surprising, given Phideaux himself describes his album as “one long song cycle that has been broken into sections.” Well, he also said “Doomsday Afternoon is a pretentious and bloated concept album,” (unreliable source) but let’s get over this. It’s possibly the best track on the album in my opinion, which is a little sad because frankly, I don’t want to listen to the rest as much as this song. It could easily have been broken into 4 or 5 shorter tracks, but the transitions are flawless and you don’t get bored, unless you’re one of the ones who dislike his voice (after liking Jethro Tull, there’s not really any voice to annoy me anymore).

The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part One) Takes the mellow and melancholic Micro Deathstar and pushes it away with a way more energetic setting, also more dramatic, giving some place to the horns, that surprisingly manage to mix themselves to the neo-progressive keyboards and electric guitar on a background of violins. A surprisingly good, but alas short instrumental piece.

Candybrain follows seamlessly, and if it wasn’t from the play-list, I would have thought it was simply two movements of the same track. A simpler ballad, closer to pop music, but the good kind, because of its non-annoying catchiness. It has the emotions, but not the glitter and drama attached to it.

The album keeps going as one long track with Crumble, a piano-centered composition that could proudly stand on its own, but is rather used as a kind of transition from Candybrain to The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two), a dark but dreamy composition led by keyboards and vocals, supported by heavy bass in the background. This song, as a lot from Doomsday Afternoon, sounds unique, but still borrows elements from many classic Progressive Artists, namely Genesis, Pink Floyd (although it’s easier to spot on Thank you for the Evil, which follows), and even bands like Porcupine Tree or some material from Mike Oldfield. While the beginning is more dreamy, as I mentioned, the second half of the second part of The Doctrine of Eternal Ice is a lot heavier, with distorted guitar and frankly more electronic feels to the keyboards, pure symphonic Rock.

As said a few lines ago, Thank you for the Evil follows. It’s the first track of the second act. Pink Floydesque string effects on the keyboard, the same heavy bass, but with a guitar far less impressive. Still, it’s a kind of reminder of The Dark Side of The Moon, over 40 years after having it hitting the shelves. Another track with great harmonization and balance in overall, led by an unobtrusive voice. Definitely a great opener for the second chapter of the album.

A Wasteland of Memories is not out of place, not bad at all, really influenced by classical music, but it still remains a kind of weak piece on the album as a whole due to its short length (2:21), which makes it the shortest song on Doomsday Afternoon. When you listen to the record from beginning to end, though, it’s going to be one of the songs with the most momentum you’ll get.

Crumble (the second part) follows, brilliantly completing the first half, again highly emotional, but not in the crybaby way. It’s again, a bit of an interlude, but listening to both Crumble one after the other is great, especially with the female voices.

Formaldehyde comes right after, one of the best tracks of the album (how many tracks are one of the best tracks so far?) if taken on its own, going closer to some folk roots. The song is meant to be where the rest of the compositions build up to, but strangely enough, I think it kind of sticks out, that it’s not exactly as the rest, but you get big hints from the older progressive music during the main theme and the synthesizer solos.

Microdeath Softstar is the ending track, the longest one too, with near 15 minutes of length. It begins with organ melodies for a good two minutes and a half before suddenly breaking into heavier music with the complete usual instrumentation. It reminds of the rest of the CD, with the grandiose allure of The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two) and the singing of Thank you for the evil. The rhythm is quasi-hypnotic by its pattern, not in the sleepy way, but in the way you may find yourself singing to it without noticing it. By the half of the song, you’ll find yourself stuck in a track way closer to progressive music, relatively distant from what you had with Candybrain. Again, I’m not too sure of how this stands within the album as a whole, but given this is the second part of a trilogy, I assume it’s used as a transition for the next release from Phideaux (after ‘Seven’, which he is currently working on). Fortunately, the song turns back as a kind of summary of the album, taking themes and lyrics from previous compositions. Don’t be scared, it’s not à la Metallica’s St. Anger (hey, let’s play each song TWICE, right?), thank God. The song ends the album smoothly, in a near-perfect manner, if it wasn’t of the longer middle part feeling out of place.

Conclusion

Definitely Phideaux’s best release so far, although it’s a question of tastes. Pink Floyd nostalgics who liked the ambiance of it all may find their niche with Doomsday Afternoon, keeping some dark themes and a roughly similar ambiance. Worth checking out by anybody who’s a fan of progressive, psychedelic or art rock. It’s refreshing to see someone still producing that kind of music (which means not dead or disbanded), although Premiata Forneria Marconi can hold their own ground while being a lot more symphonic (do I smell a PFM review? maybe!)

Links in comments

This is the Diablo. Yes, the same guitar this post talks about and the same guitar that can be seen on the photos below.

This is going to be a short and sweet update (I’m kind of busy having to adapt with the internship and having to learn Javascript/AJAX real fast (which I will use to try and implement some kind of sweet and really simple function in here), so I don’t take as much time as I’d like). The idea of imagining a quadriplegic playing any kind of music would be foreign or absurd to most of us. However, the man behind Driskill Guitars didn’t stop there and made an instrument especially for a quadriplegic customer of his.

Here is the Diablo, a custom guitar made out of carbon fiber for a man named Kurt:

As you can see, it has a claw that rides down on rails. This claw has a Teflon block inside of it which has a .76″ recess in it. The rod has a ball end on it that is .75″ and that lets it rotate. The claw also has a stainless steel bar that is spring loaded inside of it which does the fretting. The rod hooks up to a 1/4″ movable socket which is welded to limit its movement and has O ring grooves cut into it. The mouthstick then attaches to that with snap rings and has tubing over it to pick and strum the strings. The entire guitar is covered in 12K carbon fiber. It has vertical tuners so that he can tune it with his mouthstick. The tribal design on the body is aluminum and the inlays are medieval paua abalone crosses. The claw rides on shaft rods and Teflon/Freliner bearings. It sounds so cool!!! Like a mean slide guitar.

So let’s not wait more and directly get to the photos:

I can’t even understand how it can be played, but I guess it works. Oh yeah, one more thing, look at the case!

It is 50×25x8.5″ and is made from plywood and resawn 2×4s.

You can find more photos by visiting this guitar’s official page. I think it’s real neat that music can be accessible to disabled people (well, physically at least, not exactly financially), although I guess the guy’s going to have a hard time plugging it or picking it up.

Oh hello you metaphor of time that flies by, while we age and get wrinkly skin and then regret our young days. Finally, a picture that fits!

So given this is my break week before going on my internship and then hopefully landing a web development job there, I’m also taking a small break this week and using it to make a post about how this blog has now existed for a whole month.

Let’s get some statistics

First, the content:

• 10 blog posts, which include;
• 2 Blog news posts (this article is counted),
• 1 General post,
• 1 instrument post,
• 5 Album reviews,
• 1 video post.
• 31 comments
• 1 Free CD (hooray!)

That’s a good indicator of the direction this site is taking, I guess, although it’s still real short.

Then the visitors:

• 1,120 page views
• 495 visitors in total
• 405 unique visitors

Well, considering there is no advertisement and a few friends frequently read this, it’s not too bad for a first month, really. The average number of page viewed by visitor is of 2.26, but only 30% of the readers get to read more than 1 page only. In parallel, 70% of visits lasted 10 seconds or less. That’s kind of good actually, because when putting these statistics together, it could mean that most people who come and stay for more than 10 seconds are likely to visit more than one page. Quite good for content, although a 70% rebound rate is not always the best thing.

Your browser comes from a junkyard

In my first post at the beginning of this blog, I said the following thing:

I’m likely to keep fixing bugs as they come and gradually insert content, so report anything you see that is wrong (except the .PNG images in IE6, I decided to make what I thought would look good rather than make it compatible on browsers which I’m not sure my reader(s) use).

Well, google analytics returned me some results. while roughly 90% of parseidon.com readers do use browsers that most likely support png transparency, 10% still stick to the old clunky IE6, which manages to make things look royally ugly. Too bad for them, I’d say. I still only test my layouts for IE7, FF (and indirectly most mozilla-based browsers), Opera and Safari when I get around a Mac. For curious people, here’s the repartition:

• 51% of users use Firefox (~90% of them use 2.0 or higher)
• 30% use Internet Explorer (~60% IE7, ~30% IE6, nobody uses anything older, thank God)
• 9% use Opera
• 7.5% use Safari
• 2.5% use other browsers (Mozilla, mainly).

How the hell did I land here?

Well, google analytics answers this too. Around 33% of you readers come here on your own will, by typing the good old “http://parseidon.com” (or variations of it) in your address bar. Thank you you good followers, I guess. Google and other search engines then send me most visitors. Most used query words are relative to:

1. Kaizers Orchestra - Maskineri reviews
2. Various 7 For 4 searches (good enough, considering I reviewed all their albums)
3. Medeski, Martin & Wood - Let’s go everywhere searches (lots of people are looking for torrents! you criminals!)
4. The rest is mainly random keywords about music and content of my older blog.

No idea for this title

So yeah, I guess I could say I’m satisfied with how this blog does so far. I’m curious to see how I’ll do with the new schedule kicking in next week, but I will surely try and take the time to review and look for more stuff. I’ve been wanting to review Gordian knot’s eponym for a while, chapman sticks aren’t widely used around. Stay tuned or whatever, and comments are always appreciated. It’s pretty much the only feedback one can get all in all.

Edit: As of March 18, 2008, I’ve removed the video category and moved the only post in there to the “General” category.

Even when scanning the booklet, I can’t get title images that fit within my cropping size. In order: Wolfgang Zenk, Markus Froschmeier, Klaus Engl, Markus Grützner

Track list

1. Diffusion
2. Indigo Dunes
3. Emoctify
4. The Winding Path
5. Silent Flow
6. Cyclotron
7. Spiral Dance
8. Hidden Depths
9. Mystic Mouse

Genre

Progressive rock, jazz fusion, metal

Release

January 25, 2008

Label

MGI Records (KDC)

Background Information

I reviewed 7for4’s two first albums (Time and Contact) a few weeks ago (link), and through some luck and google help, their band leader Wolfgang Zenk left a comment and asked me for my address in order to review Diffusion, their most recent album at the moment. I was fairly excited (hey, first direct benefit of reviewing music!) and replied real fast hoping it would not be some sort of disguised lawsuit.

Good news, I received the album via snail mail from Germany just today, listened to it 3-4 times and posted this review on the same day. So let’s start with more details on the band, given I could get more informations than last time. The line-up stayed the same: Wolfgang Zenk on Guitars, Markus Grützner on Bass, Klaus Engl on Drums and Markus Froschmeier on Keyboards.

It turns out Zenk is the manager and a teacher/lecturer of the MGI Munich, a very well known (in Germany) institute for professional guitarists. Klaus Engl is a teacher too, he worked for the drum-institute “Drummer’s Focus” (also in Munich) and played along Markus Grützner before (in the band SERUM). Markus Grützner was a bassist for many Jazz fusion bands and also played on tours of “Hair“, a Broadway musical. You can just get to their respective biography pages for the information needed.

Diffusion took the band about 2 years to record, and once again was all produced, written and arranged by Wolfgang Zenk himself. You may still get the feeling the album is more oriented toward guitar, but while looking closer, you’ll manage to put yourself in doubt on that subject.

My opinion

7 For 4’s new album starts with Diffusion, which introduces us with a mellow jazzy guitar line. 7 For 4 didn’t change their recipe: as with the previous albums, it soon changes for a rock-metal style which could remind me of the band Royal Hunt without lyrics. It’s always cut by jazzy lines on bass and guitar, hard to hate, really. It’s followed by Indigo Dunes, where the keyboards have a sound similar to the ones used by Liquid Tension Experiment, and a similar use too. In Overall, this track has a slower tempo than most of what 7 for 4 gave us by the past, but it’s nonetheless really interesting, especially when considering the basslines taking their places in there. A really balanced piece, one of the best on the CD in my opinion.

The Winding Path has a great introduction, slower, well sustained with well placed piano. Similarly to Emoctify, it gives a strong Liquid Tension Experiment vibe in its heaviest parts. The structure of The Winding Path is slightly more classic-oriented than many other compositions, as far as I can tell. Not a bad thing, it reminds you of stricter symphonic metal, something Vinnie Moore could be proud of if he wasn’t so lost back there in the 80’s.

Silent Flow is way closer to an ambiance track than anything the band has pulled before (except maybe X-Dreams and parts of Rockalaxy, from Contact). Its composition mainly relies on the guitar, with support from Grützner’s fretless sound. It’s a track with a refinement they did not possess before, and it’s frankly great to see them able to still find new stuff to give to their listeners given the number of genres they already managed to cover before. I would almost go as far as saying that Zenk’s guitar nearly reminds me of some of the stuff David Gilmour could do, at least in the feeling. It comes close.

Cyclotron is really fast-paced piece, on every instrument, and as with every album from 7 for 4, you get slower bits at some points, but this never lasts too long. Really, it’s the same pattern that can be heard in Spiral Dance or mostly any other song, except it doesn’t grow old due to the fact that while the structure is the same, the recipe changes. I mean there are many kinds of pie, and even if it’s chocolate or apple pie, it’s still a pie. And it’s hard to stop wanting more (I am mastering the art of pointless analogies.)

Oh yeah, I just mentioned Spiral Dance, but I must add it’s the mandatory Latin song on the album. Contact and Time both had at least a Latin track, and Diffusion doesn’t break the rule, although the band incorporated some neo-prog-like keyboards in it. When it stops, you go back to an acoustic/classical guitar filling the track, something Zenk doesn’t prepare us for beforehand.

Hidden Depths is way jazzier, led by Grützner’s fretless bass at times. This goes up there with Silent Flow in terms of closer to ambiance and refined sound. Again, one of my favourites from the album. So far I’ve liked the 3 slower tracks more, so maybe it’s just my mood at the moment, but I like the direction 7 For 4 takes with this album.

I’ll leave Mystic Mouse as described by the band:

Take 7 and add 4, then divide into 4 equal parts, as far as possible. You get an 11/8 beat with subdivisions 3-3-2-2. All you need to add to finish the song is some chords. How’s that for mystic…?

It’s got a much darker ambiance, with techy-sounding keyboards. Each note is cut dry, you get a big staccato-ish feel out of it. I could say it’s not the best song to end the album, but near the finale, there’s a shift and it’s not that bad. I still feel Hidden Depths and Mystic Mouse could have had their positions switched on the album for more balance. Way to be picky, Mr. Reviewer!

In conclusion

Diffusion completes the previous albums really well. To me, the style is pretty much halfway between Time and Contact. It closes the tiny style gab between both albums and balances the whole thing even more. This album sure makes me promise to be a long-time fan of 7 For 4. It’s got some really good songs nobody should miss on if they like 7 for 4’s style.

Links in comments