new ramesses album "take the curse"

does anyone here listen to this band? i've searched them before, but all i found was a couple mentions in some thread. utter nonsense, i think: their first full-length album, "misanthropic alchemy," is goddamn incredible.

but now i've listened to a leak of their new album -- not even the whole thing yet, and i am so disappointed. it is now apparent that the first lp is just a fluke.

it's such a shame, man! that album was so black, so doomy, but so NICE! man i can not sing its praises enough. this new one, first of all (this might be leak-quality files) it doesn't sound as good, but the riffs are all BORING! there's too much vocals.

the critical flaw, i think, was in the approach: this album is all songwriting, which i do not want to fucking hear. the first album, they jammed the riffs out, but at the same time everything is in its place. it's very well put-together.

key to this orchestration is the minimal vocals, and the theme behind the growling: it sounds like he's some ancient demon lord delivering a speech to his legion. the 'clean' singing i don't like, i think it's the worst thing about the band, but it's at least effectively used on the first one. the second, there's singing everywhere. it's painful. it sounds like pantera or something.

anyway. sure it was a fluke but if you're into doom or stoner, misanthropic alchemy by the band ramesses is one of the best things i have ever heard like that (i haven't heard a lot). the second album appears to suck.

Thanks for the post. I will approach the new one with caution. I adored the beautiful sludge on Misanthropic Alchemy myself.

that's funny, I thought most people hated the 1st album.

i dont understand how it could be hated. i've heard so little of it, and all my searches revealed (ignorant) adoration. probably based mostly off the electric wizard roots of two of the dudes.

BUT MAN seriously. misanthropic alchemy is AMAZING. if you enjoy exploring music to its extremes, it will bring you to an extreme range of DOOM! sick!

i liked "we will lead you to glorious times" a lot. i guess i should check out the alchemy one.

I heard We Will Lead You... but didn't feel enough about it one way or the other to pay attention to anything they did afterward.

Yeah what marc IV said! I think if Aquarius Records wrote about it, which I think they did, the word "doom" would have something like 71 o's.

I like the new album. I also like their attitude. The clean sound comes from the fact that they wanted a producer who had not only never worked in doom before but had never actually heard any, so chose James Thompson, who is more used to recording traditional Cuban music. (Or at least that's what Adam from the group told me.)

Some of the album (including Iron Crow) was recorded outdoors in the grounds of a manor house in the home counties, which adds to the none-less-sludge feel to it.

Of course, there's a lot to be said for the amazing artwork. Lots of photographs taken from Jake And Dinos Chapman's Fucking Hell. This is a replacement room sized art installation to replace the work Hell which was destroyed in the none-more-ironic Saatchi warehouse fire in East London. If you don't know the piece in question, it is nine perspex cabinets showing Nazi soldiers in Hell, arranged into the shape of a swastika. I interviewed Adam for Metal Hammer recently and he spoke so eloquently about the artwork I'm interviewing him again for my site purely about the artwork. Whereas I have a natural tendency to be suspicious of any so-called YBAs, he made them sound like amazing guys. The real deal if you will.

Also, surely people like the track Khali Mist... which came out about a year ago...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c3RXqzOGtU

That's the last track...

it is bullshit, compared even to the hilarious haunted house song on misanthropic alchemy.

the riffs are just too BORING.