That is by far my most favorite track on ILLUMENIUMs TOWARDS ENDLESS 8 (and all those allcaps are theirs, not mine)
Yes, this is the dreaded album review we will journey through together, my dear imaginary reader (isn’t it sad though, even imaginary readers number only in the ones here on my blog). I have still not actually read any proper reviews, so I don’t even know what is expected of me, here.
Some basic data to start with: ILLUMENIUM’s TOWARDS ENDLESS 8 boasts 18 tracks with a whopping 80 Minutes of total runtime. By the way, I really have to pay attention not to type “(“ instead of “8” when I mention the album.
ILLUMENIUM say about themselves that they play post-grunge. I have no idea that that is a thing and even less of one what is typical of that genre. I’ll just say that there is pretty normal singing and there are growls; there are melodies, which I always like in my music (no Death Metal for me) and it does remind me of Nu-Metal a little more than I really like.
What I do really like is how ILLUMENIUM use their growls. When I listen to any of their songs, there will inevitably come a time when I think “growls would fit in really nicely now” and bam! Growls! The songs all fit together really well. And even though the music is loud and hard and fast, it never gets aggressive. I don’t know whether you can have it on in the background without having to listen to it exclusively sooner or later, and ignore whatever you wanted to do that needed background music in the first place; it does, however work excellent on your headphones on the way to and from work, or to the pub around the corner.
All the tracks on TOWARDS ENDLESS 8 sound pretty diverse, while all having a clear structure of sorts, they all have lots of elements in common without sounding all the same or repetitive. WE ARE METAL even starts with what I think is a hurdy-gurdy. (By the way, can somebody please give FOR MY OLD FRIEND a listen and tell me where I know that sound from that starts it off and lasts for about 10 seconds?)
There’s this nagging feeling in the back of my head, that maybe, proper music reviews usually end with a recommendation of the sort “If you like [Band X] then definitely check out [Band this is about]” which is, of course, nonsense. If you like testing out new stuff and finding out if it is for you or not, simply check out one or two of ILLUMENIUM‘s tracks on your own. This is the internet, afterall.
And I’ll just end with this: TOWARS ENDLESS 8 is honestly not my favorite album of all time. It is not quite my genre, even though it is close enough. But I am sure I will continue listening to it every now and again and keep some of the songs in my regular rotation.
So, if I have roused your interest, go check out ILLUMENIUM on facebook or twitter or wherever. I am sure they have a spotify or a tumblr or an iTunes. As an old curmudgeon I wouldn’t know of that newfangled stuff, but it should be easy enough to find out on one’s own.
Blauspause 