Nobuo Uematsu

Virgin Black – Requiem – Pianissimo Review

By Treble Yell on December 13, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Classical, Not Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Non-metal Metal Things, 62 comments

“There was a time when The End Records could do no wrong. Agalloch, Green Carnation, Antimatter, the label churned out a stream of genre-defining albums by metal bands large and small. So confident was I in their curation that I set upon buying practically every release The End Records put out, at least until the wheels fell off and the label debased itself by churning out mainstream dreck. But it was fantastic while it lasted, and Sombre Romantic, the 2001 debut record of Adelaide-based Virgin Black, was one of the early successes that left an indelible impression with its contrasting cries of doom and operatic embellishments.” A night at the opera.

New Keepers of the Water Towers’ – Infernal Machine Review

By Madam X on April 1, 2016 in 2016, Listenable Records, Non-Metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Post-metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Non-metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Post-Metal, 19 comments

“Infernal Machine is a seven-part journey, creating the soundtrack to Joe Haldeman’s 1974 novel The Forever War. The story, loosely depicts Haldeman’s military service during the Vietnam War, with the account chronicled as a space opera where the military fails to see its soldiers as any more than complex and valuable machines. This seems a large musical undertaking, especially in light that Ridley Scott has had the film idea “in production” since back in 2008….” An odd prog band bringing to life a weird novel? What could go wrong?

A New World – Intimate Music from Final Fantasy Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 13, 2014 in 2014, Not Metal, Reviews, Classical, 9 comments

I’ve written elsewhere that metal isn’t always just about the use of heavy drums or distorted guitars. I suspect most metalheads would agree that Wagner is straight up metal. When I reviewed Pale Communion recently, I was struck by how “metal” some of the structures of the record were—despite lacking these trappings. In that same review, I jokingly referenced Anathema’s Weather Systems, where I declared “You can take the dirty hippy out of metal, but you can’t take the metal out of the dirty hippy!” That record, in all its post-Pink Floyd glory is a testament to the fact that often times the trappings of that which is metal is more about being epic, layered, and intense. Intimate Music from Final Fantasy also falls into this category: things that are metal, but not metal.