Raycevick's Recommendations: August 2017

Today's recommendation list will be entirely music based. The loss of Chester Bennington had me revisiting my childhood albums and songs, but mainly focusing on the great work released recently, and soon to be.

Offworld by Celldweller

Klayton can seemingly do no wrong in my eyes. He's quickly gone from somebody I would be begging for two songs a year to putting out quality albums at a rate that's unheard of in this industry, and all by himself.

Some are disappointed by Offworld's lack of heavy guitars and shredding electronic rock, but that's not this albums purpose, and there's plenty of both of those that can be found on Machines of Our Disgrace, another album I've recommended in the past.

Offworld simply proves Klayton is capable of working in multiple soundscapes. The tracks on this album are beautiful, and paced brilliantly too. The opening will make you want to hop into a ship and explore the galaxy, and the rest is an emotional and somber reflection.

Add Violence EP by Nine Inch Nails

In the same week, Trent Reznor came back with another top-notch EP. I very much enjoyed Not the Actual Events, but the combination of headbanging industry bliss and atmospheric pieces that feel like the evolved work of Hesitation Marks is just brilliant.

NIN is always going to receive a mixed reception. Hesitation Marks, Trent's previous LP, has been criticized for being too far removed from the dense layers of previous albums like The Downward Spiral and The Fragile.

The layers are back and in full force with these EPs, but now they sound too traditional NIN to some. I think its neither. Add Violence to me is simply Trent doing what he knows, but only executing it better with experience and talent. I can't wait for the finale in this EP Trilogy.

Hollow Worlds by Comaduster

Comaduster was also going to release his new album in the same week as NIN and Celldweller, but unfortunately got delayed to August 16th. But that just gave me more time to revisit what I've considered for many years to be my favorite album of all time.

Many albums simply feel like a collection of tracks and you pick your favorites. Hollow Worlds is an experience. It's paced like a beautifully crafted three act story. You can easily identify through the album the introduction, inciting incident, 2nd act low point, 3rd act epic finale, and the bone-chilling epilogue.

It's truly a crime that a musician with as much talent as this currently has a so little attention given.

Before his new album Solace is released, please, please, please! Listen to Hollow Worlds, and spread it like a wildfire!

A Thousand Suns by Linkin Park

At risk of sounding like that hipster douchebag, I didn't hate this album at launch. Based on the amount of negativity surrounding it, I went in expecting disaster and came out thinking "eh, it's alright!"

But for as much as Hybrid Theory and Meteora carry a nostalgia factor to them, as an album, something to listen to beginning to end, they haven't aged well. Certain tracks like Breaking the Habit are legitimately great, but the albums have plenty of repetition and monotonous sections, and some songs that regardless of internet culture, haven't carried their angst in the modern age like Pretty Hate Machine did.

But having listened to A Thousand Suns again, I think it's absolutely the bands peak. It's paced beautifully with enough time and space between each song to build an effective atmosphere that leads through war drum rap, somber acoustics, and screaming electronics without ever feeling tacky or mismanaged. I understand the amount of interludes annoys people looking at the track-list, but the album isn't meant for you to add on song to a spotify playlist. It's meant to be a record you put on, sit back, and listen to until the finale. And it does so in a way the band hadn't achieved before or since.

R.I.P Chester.