2nd Quarter Of 2015 in Music - Wrap Up

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Just as I did for the first quarter of 2015, here’s my personal wrap-up for the new music I’ve listened to from April through June, as well as my Top 10 of 2015 as it stands. Also, what I’m looking forward to in the third quarter!

Still working on finishing up a few more albums, so bear with me.

Releases I’ve Listened To In The 2nd Quarter:

  • 10 Years - From Birth To Burial: 9/10
  • Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color: 7.5/10
  • Ash Koosha - GUUD: 5/10
  • Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh: 8/10
  • Breaking Benjamin - Dark Before Dawn: 5/10
  • Dr. Yen Lo - Days With Dr. Yen Lo: 7/10
  • East India Youth - Culture Of Volume: 8/10
  • Electric Mantis - Braincase EP: 7.5/10
  • Faith No More - Sol Invictus: 7.5/10
  • Fireflight - Innova: 7/10
  • Foo Fighters - Songs From The Laundry Room: 7/10
  • God Is An Astronaut - Helios | Erebus: 7.5/10
  • Halestorm - Into The Wild Life: 8.5/10
  • The Helio Sequence - The Helio Sequence: 7/10
  • Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon: 8/10
  • Hyukoh - 22: 7.5/10
  • Imagine Dragons - Shots EP: 5/10
  • Incubus - Trust Fall (Side A): 7.5/10
  • Kamasi Washington - The Epic: 8/10
  • King Los - God Money War: 6.5/10
  • Muse - Drones: 9.5/10
  • Prurient - Frozen Niagara Falls: 7/10
  • Ryn Weaver - The Fool: 7/10
  • Steve Aoki - Neon Future II: 7/10
  • Stone Sour - Meanwhile In Burbank: 7/10
  • Torres - Sprinter: 7/10
  • Zedd - True Colors: 8/10
  • Zella Day - Kicker: 7/10

Top 10 Albums of 2015:

  1. Muse - Drones
  2. 10 Years - From Birth To Burial
  3. Fall Out Boy - American Beauty / American Psycho
  4. Halestorm - Into The Wild Life
  5. Purity Ring - Another Eternity
  6. Zedd - True Colors
  7. Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
  8. Kamasi Washington - The Epic
  9. Zs - Xe
  10. Liturgy - The Ark Work

Upcoming Releases I’m Looking Forward To in the 3rd Quarter (in order of hype):

  • Deftones
  • Years & Years - Communion
  • Halsey - BADLANDS
  • Kwabs - Love + War
  • Team Sleep
  • Metric - Pagans In Vegas
  • EMP!RE - Our Simple Truths
  • Flux Pavilion - Tesla

Faith No More - Sol Invictus

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Sol Invictus: the “Unconquered Sun”. A Roman god who was brought up to a state of a cult by a Roman emperor. With every night, he was forced to submit to the chaos of darkness, yet emerged as victor every morning.

History lesson aside, Faith No More’s new album Sol Invictus has a close connection to the Roman concept. The band was always as the forefront of the rising metal scene of the late 80s to the late 90s. The band called it quits as shockingly as they had come out of the dark in 1998, reuniting in 2009 through 2012 for the “The Second Coming” Tour. It was not until this year the band finally released new material, for the first time in nearly two decades. In what has become one of the most anticipated metal records of the year, Sol Invictus delivered just what you’d expect from Faith No More.

The album is fairly diverse in sound where it wants to be. Faith No More makes strong use of pianos early on in the album, notably leading in tracks like ‘Sol Invictus’ and ‘Superhero,’ whereas it begins to take a more background approach in ‘Sunny Side Up’. ‘Separation Anxiety’ brings in the palm-muted, thick guitar tones in the verses, almost comparable to certain Tool tracks. This track in particular brings in some particularly heavier sounds to the table. Mike Patton delivers some brutal vocals on it to - understated yet forceful in the same manner. ‘Cone Of Shame’ brings some more creepy vocals to the table, with a more of a spoken-word approach to it. The riff then kicks in, resulting in a pure jam. ‘Rise Of The Fall’ brings some old-school vibes to it (closest comparison of a song I can think of is Avenged Sevenfold’s ‘A Little Piece Of Heaven’), bringing back the piano instrumentation to the front. Some alternate instruments in the string and brass sections make an appearance, too. ‘Black Friday’ is a bit weirder, harkening back to the feel of ‘Cone Of Shame’. Personally, the lyrics to ‘Motherfucker’ feel a little repetitive melodically at this point, but the lyrics (while a bit cliché) are pretty uplifting in a way. It almost feels like this song would work better towards the beginning of the album rather than near the end. ‘Matador’ repeats the formula of ‘Sunny Side Up’ before the album concludes on a high, triumphant note with ‘From The Dead’.

At some point, however, the album brings up a certain sense of déjà vu. Every track is individual in its own right, yet there is a point where things begin getting repetitive. For example, the reggae/baroque vibe of ‘Rise Of The Fall’ feels like a callback to the piano-led ‘Sol Invictus’. The whole “start small, bring in big instrumentation later’ is also evident on several tracks. ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cone Of Shame’ follow essentially the same exact pattern of each other; I’d go as far as to say they could even be alternate versions of the same song. Really, that’s my only complaint. If the album was a bit more diverse and less crafted upon one repetitive formula each song, perhaps I could have enjoyed it a little more than I did.

Let’s take a step back - Sol Invictus, that Roman God we discussed earlier. He was forced to battle the powers of darkness every night, coming out victorious every morning. In essence, Faith No More’s Sol Invictus shares a similar overarching meaning. Battling the evil within something, someone, or even yourself to rise again with each new day. The band’s newest album is a solid effort and a strong comeback, but definitely has room for improvement.

Favorite Tracks: Sol Invictus, Superhero, Separation Anxiety

Least Favorite Tracks: Black Friday, Motherfucker

Overall Rating: 7.5/10