Written by Guest on 29.05.2012 at 23:05
Now I feel like less of a dick for thinking the same thing about this. I don't really listen to their first album much so I wouldn't call myself a fan so I'm especially glad to see this come from someone who is a fan, rather than the whole "Oh, but PoG were already going down the post-metal/atmos-sludge route" justifications etc.

I thoroughly enjoy Renounce and Erosion is easily in my top 10 albums of all-time, so I do consider myself a fan and although I was aware of their somewhat post-metal leanings heading into this, I didn't realize they'd take it in the most boring possible direction imaginable. You could condense every idea on this album into one song and have a pretty good 10-minute track, but that's it. How this passes for a 45-minute full-length is beyond me. Even the remix EP felt like more thought had been put into it.

Written by Guest on 29.05.2012 at 23:05
"Oh, but PoG were already going down the post-metal/atmos-sludge route" justifications.

Why are they justifications? It's just facts, they were going down that path.


Doing it right or not is something completely different.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 29.05.2012 at 23:27

Written by Guest on 29.05.2012 at 23:05
"Oh, but PoG were already going down the post-metal/atmos-sludge route" justifications.

Why are they justifications? It's just facts, they were going down that path.


Doing it right or not is something completely different.

Just going back to conversations concerning Ahab and this. People are complaining that Ahab have jumped ship when in fact they've just taken influence from post-metal whilst kept a lot of their doom sound, whereas PoG have adopted a total post-metal sound, and one that reeks of clone-age. The latter doesn't seem to bother many people but the former does.

Written by Guest on 29.05.2012 at 23:35

Just going back to conversations concerning Ahab and this. People are complaining that Ahab have jumped ship when in fact they've just taken influence from post-metal whilst kept a lot of their doom sound, whereas PoG have adopted a total post-metal sound, and one that reeks of clone-age. The latter doesn't seem to bother many people but the former does.

My point in my previous post is that I don't see anyone using "they were going down x path anyway" as justification to quality. It's just a comment displaying no surprise over the genre of an album. It has no relation whatsoever to the quality of said album.

I don't care that Ahab jumped to another ship, I do care if they jump and land horribly, breaking bones and other nasty shit.

I think noting this continued shift in sound is less a "justification" and more an acknowledgement.

from my perspective, there is no need to justify anything - it's not like i'm in the band.

while disappointed this moves further from doom, the reality is on it's own, once i got past the first track i really liked it. the same holds true with the new Ahab.

had they evolved more in the direction of a genre i don't like (say, power), my opinion would be much harsher.

I second what BC said, aside from the somehow boring and kinda intro-like first song the album has a crushing quality, the repetition never bored me and some of the riffs has some sort of Godflesh vibe in them making the repetition a key factor in the overall atmosphere.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 29.05.2012 at 23:40

My point in my previous post is that I don't see anyone using "they were going down x path anyway" as justification to quality. It's just a comment displaying no surprise over the genre of an album. It has no relation whatsoever to the quality of said album.

I don't care that Ahab jumped to another ship, I do care if they jump and land horribly, breaking bones and other nasty shit.

Well I can only go on my interpretations of what you yourself said about the Ahab release:

Quote:
They just jumped in the "ambient post-metal/sludge" bandwagon in such a rush without a steady and gradual change in their sound... Like I said, it's forced.
I don't think I'm overreacting when I say that this is just to attract easy fans since that genre is hella trendy these days.

Maybe I'm just extrapolating here but that strikes me as suggesting that a band needs, in order to "justify" its existence as the current unit, some kind of transition album.

Also the assumption that they're doing it to "attract the easy fans"; does this not apply also to PoG, doubly so, because of the total post-wagon-jumping? I don't think just because they had some post in them to start with should get them off scott free.

Anyway, I just wanted you to have an example of where my thoughts and feelings are coming from concerning this and Ahab's new one. I just felt like I was getting some interesting conflictions between the two and I just wanted to voice them. Maybe I'm off but the assumptions about easy fans and complaints about non-transitions are probably what set it off. I can't quote conversation where one has cited about so called justifications but I'm certain they have happened, most likely in the shoutbox and I'm relatively certain comparisons have been brought against Ahab and PoG, one being given the benefit of the doubt because of a previous existing post vein, and the other being much more harshly judged for adopting post metal. I can't prove that of course, they were probably a while back and in random conversation. I also can't help but go on my intuition which is that a pretty poor CoL clone is being praised and a very decent post/doom album from an ex-funeral doom band is being unfairly dismissed. That of course is entirely dependant on people's taste but I'm also acutely aware of people's expectations around me concerning the two bands.

I think disappointment and expectation are the real factors with these releases anyway, and by far and away the potent decider for the majority of people

Man this post will take a while because of this quote shit.

Written by Guest on 30.05.2012 at 02:26

Well I can only go on my interpretations of what you yourself said about the Ahab release:

Quote:
They just jumped in the "ambient post-metal/sludge" bandwagon in such a rush without a steady and gradual change in their sound... Like I said, it's forced.
I don't think I'm overreacting when I say that this is just to attract easy fans since that genre is hella trendy these days.

Maybe I'm just extrapolating here but that strikes me as suggesting that a band needs, in order to "justify" its existence as the current unit, some kind of transition album.

Also the assumption that they're doing it to "attract the easy fans"; does this not apply also to PoG, doubly so, because of the total post-wagon-jumping? I don't think just because they had some post in them to start with should get them off scott free.

I'm man enough to admit that 65% of that post of mine is absolutely bullshit. Considering that I love... Let's say Katatonia's first three albums, which are one of the prime examples of "doing whatever they want every single time". Or Ulver... or,... you got the point. Hell, at some point I actually had to go to the original thread to see if I really wrote that. I won't take away the forced tag, it still feels forced to me regardless of anything else I wrote. I still get a more natural vibe from PoG.

But yeah, I try to not be an hypocrite here... So if I said Ahab were going in the bandwagon, I can use the same tag with PoG. One feels more natural than the other but it's still the same thing indeed. I'm quite surprised that I wrote "bandwagon" tbh, it's not a term I use that much considering how little I care about the bands but more about the product they make. I'm willing to bet that past-me wrote that in a moment of "Man, what's up with these guys, jeez". So I preffer to include that word in that 65%..... make it a 75% then.

Quote:
I'm relatively certain comparisons have been brought against Ahab and PoG, one being given the benefit of the doubt because of a previous existing post vein, and the other being much more harshly judged for adopting post metal.
I also can't help but go on my intuition which is that a pretty poor CoL clone is being praised and a very decent post/doom album from an ex-funeral doom band is being unfairly dismissed.

I can only speak for myself here : The reason for that is because I saw greater things in Ahab's funeral doom than Erosion-type of doom. Something I will obviously never see again. I love both albums, Ahab just a little bit more.

Quote:
I think disappointment and expectation are the real factors with these releases anyway, and by far and away the potent decider for the majority of people

Indeed.


Man... fucking quotes.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 30.05.2012 at 04:01

Man... fucking quotes.

I agree, this looks like a mess Anyway, I don't like or dislike either records enough to really care about it all that much really, and part of my views on it were derived from a long-ish conversation I had with someone on Facebook about Ahab's likely reception after hearing some of the songs on it, so I'm probably bringing outside influence into this where none should be.

Written by Guest on 30.05.2012 at 14:25

Written by X-Ray Rod on 30.05.2012 at 04:01

Man... fucking quotes.

I agree, this looks like a mess Anyway, I don't like or dislike either records enough to really care about it all that much really, and part of my views on it were derived from a long-ish conversation I had with someone on Facebook about Ahab's likely reception after hearing some of the songs on it, so I'm probably bringing outside influence into this where none should be.

Nah, it's fine. Your post made me think a bit and re-evaluate some of the stuff I wrote before (finding it to be quite shit in the end).

So... yey for growing up or something. Will probably give this a 7 in the end. I did felt it was too monotonous and not the good kind. It could have been a great EP if they squeezed everything in 20 min or so.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 30.05.2012 at 14:30


Nah, it's fine. Your post made me think a bit and re-evaluate some of the stuff I wrote before (finding it to be quite shit in the end).

So... yey for growing up or something. Will probably give this a 7 in the end. I did felt it was too monotonous and not the good kind. It could have been a great EP if they squeezed everything in 20 min or so.

Well I know disappointment when I see it and your post was definitely born out of being disappointed, which is fair enough really

Not to sound like an asshole here, but what does everybody mean when they say "shrink the whole thing into a little EP" I'm not going to go on a PoG praise rampage here, but this statement is silly to say the least !
Something that we all can agree about is that the guys in PoG are confident musicians, the adoption of this sound was a conscious decision, coming from four confident musicians, and not a lack of ideas or inspiration. We go nuts over many bands that go for the (repeat it till it hurts) formula and Faemin is an excellent attempt at this "formula".

Written by InnerSelf on 30.05.2012 at 15:48
We go nuts over many bands that go for the (repeat it till it hurts) formula and Faemin is an excellent attempt at this "formula".

Yeah, it's in the "excellent" part I disagree. I find the repetitious kind of tedious. I would appreacite it more in smaller dosis but no... The deja vu feeling is a bit annoying with so many similar drums and riffs. I don't think they pulled it off too well.


...I still like it though, 0,5 less than what Craig gave it. I will probably buy it anyways

Written by X-Ray Rod on 30.05.2012 at 17:31

Yeah, it's in the "excellent" part I disagree. I find the repetitious kind of tedious. I would appreacite it more in smaller dosis but no... The deja vu feeling is a bit annoying with so many similar drums and riffs. I don't think they pulled it off too well.

...I still like it though, 0,5 less than what Craig gave it. I will probably buy it anyways

You can't afford t disagree with me, I'd totally pull a Vonpire on you xp

Written by InnerSelf on 30.05.2012 at 20:40
You can't afford t disagree with me, I'd totally pull a Vonpire on you xp

Pffffff, I hadly believe you could do that.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 30.05.2012 at 21:34

Written by InnerSelf on 30.05.2012 at 20:40
You can't afford t disagree with me, I'd totally pull a Vonpire on you xp

Pffffff, I hadly believe you could do that.

think again

Written by InnerSelf on 30.05.2012 at 21:50

think again

No you can't because to do a Vonpire you have to spam a thread of an album I absolutely love and I'm pretty sure most of my favorite albums of all time you won't find bad at all because our tastes aren't so different.



Deal with it!

I've heard better albums in this style. Then again, I've also heard a lot worse. I actually hadn't heard this band before, seen them mentioned but never bothered to track them down. Now that I've listened to both this and Erosion, gotta say this is a little disappointing. I feel the previous album had more personality. Still, I'd probably give this a solid 7 after some more listens.

"Harvest". Hard Club Sala 2. 02/06/2012

Not exactly mesmerized with this one so far.

Written by BloodTears on 23.07.2012 at 20:00
Not exactly mesmerized with this one so far.

Did you start with this or have you listened to their back catalog.Just out of curiosity, because if you started with this then I'd definitely recommend visiting their previous releases.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 24.07.2012 at 15:00

Written by BloodTears on 23.07.2012 at 20:00
Not exactly mesmerized with this one so far.

Did you start with this or have you listened to their back catalog.Just out of curiosity, because if you started with this then I'd definitely recommend visiting their previous releases.

No, I started off with Erosion. I didn't listen to their first album though. But I remember I felt about Erosion as I feel about this one for a long time. So, this can definitely change. I ended up thinking that Erosion was a great album a couple of years later.

Erosion was love at first sight for me.

Likewise Roddy. And while I definitely don't feel positive vibes when thinking of this release, I would never suggest someone completely give up on listening to what could potentially be another Erosion for them.

Fæmin is a great example of when too much repetitiveness can totally ruin an album. If done right it can be a benefit but in this case it instead quickly became plain boring. While listening to the album I was hoping for the pattern to change but unfortunately it was the same story the whole way through as I constantly struggled to tell the songs apart.

The album ultimately came across as hollow with a handful of riffs being played over and over again while the vocalist desperately bawls like if there was no tomorrow. To no avail.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 24.07.2012 at 23:04

Erosion was love at first sight for me.

Same here. 100%.

I fucken loved the idea they tried here, but the execution was off, making it uninteresting in the long run. They just took it too far.

I finally gave this one a full-undivided attention-listen. Terrific album, this shit is right up my alley and I think I like this more than Amenra's Mass V.

Written by tea[m]ster on 24.01.2013 at 02:25

I finally gave this one a full-undivided attention-listen. Terrific album, this shit is right up my alley and I think I like this more than Amenra's Mass V.

I think we have a similar opinion about this one. I really like the concepts they were trying to execute and their musical strategy-- it was JUST SHORT ENOUGH to avoid boredom, in my view. I happen to think it is excellent, and have ranked it accordingly. It would get an 8.6 from me, but rounding makes it a 9.

This one feels weak compared to Erosion, and even weaker than Renounce. I would have rated this even lower if it were longer.
I think Erosion is the one I'll be sticking to, I can see myself love that one. I see Jay made a reference to Amenra's Mass V. I understand why, their music goes in the same direction, even though the result is different. And to be honest, right now, I prefer Amenra's.