Bisius

Since tonight I’m blissfully happy and blissfully tipsy for my own reasons, I’ll keep it to a quick thank you to everyone who participated. Special thanks to the contributions from Gabri, from Bartle (no, maybe the Petrol from "Dal Fondo" weren’t “that” messed up either, but the fact remains that they still managed to bring out some rough edges now and then), from Vortex (overcome the preconceptions! :), from Franci! (actually, I didn’t want to relate Bukowski to the Theater, but just to underline the fact, not without a hint of provocation, that they’re not the only ones drawing from literary concepts: as for the episode, ask Blech and he’ll give you the link! ;) and from Ashanti (you can’t please everyone, I don’t care about universal suffrage and no one forced you to read me, right?). Amen and long live the absinthe spritz.

5. Absolutely, peremptorily 5. Listen to both albums, dozens of times: for me, the only things that can be avoided are at the end of "The Resurrectionists" (so from "444" onwards). But "Time Of Ye Life/ Born For Nothing/ Paranoid Arm If Narcoleptic Empire," "Rise Up And Fight," and "Crossing The Bar"... oh.

Since these childish provocations don't really affect me much, I'll be patient and respond. Do you know when something is suspended in mid-air? In Italian, it’s often said to be "sospesa." The double voice of "Quintessence" that precedes the angry "let it go" in the chorus is ethereal, rarefied, light (do you know what that means or should I explain that too?), so it can give a sense of "suspension." Combined with the instrumental background, it gives us a nice "hard-psychedelic suspension" (that is, something psychedelic with spikes, expanded music that at the same time pulls you in). Clear so far, or do you need a Zanichelli? Point two: I bought the album because I think Mastodon are a fantastic band, and "Crack The Skye" is their peak. If for you these 50 minutes represent a heap of low-quality mp3s and not a conceptual work with all its features, my synesthesia (which, to avoid misunderstandings, is the rhetorical figure that pairs a sensation caused by one sense — for example, hearing — with another caused by a different sense — for example, sight: hence the outrageous "full of colors, hues" that seems to have disturbed the sleep of many here) I’ll keep to myself next time, and we can just talk about maruzze, alright? Point three: Are you planning to answer the question I asked, or can I go back to writing?

I don't feel like rambling on about "Crack The Skye" again - I've already done that extensively elsewhere - but there's one thing I really want to know: do you utterly hate listening to albums with your heart? Are you so bored by hearing a "How can I tell you that I've failed, tell you I failed" ("Oblivion"), a banjo opening, and a barrage of percussion that introduces "Divinations," the hard-psychedelic suspensions that explode into post-hardcore in "Quintessence," the multiple variations of timbres and sounds in "The Czar"? What's so already heard, so old in the Middle Eastern suggestions of "Ghost Of Karelia," in the contrast between the guitar vibrato and Scott Kelly's piercing scream in the title track? How can you dismiss the thirteen minutes of "The Last Baron" as unspeakable when, from any perspective, they're full of color, nuances, and ideas? How can you claim that Mastodon have gone back to "Leviathan," when they played six times heavier there than here, when you won't even accidentally hear tracks like "Blood And Thunder" here, and when the suites divided into four were only a dream at night? No, I mean, I say: it's fine if you don't like it, it's fine if you do, it's fine if you say that Mastodon suck or that they're the saviors of humanity, but at least... a bit of logical sense. Just a little, but... it's needed.

Perfect writing, old man. The double is the proof that maybe rock isn’t so dead in Italy. Everything is really beautiful, except maybe for "Sleepwalker." My favorite track is "Mean Affair." But perhaps it's because I truly feel the more free jazz is my own.

Agreed on everything. "Quintessence" is dangerously massive. It seemed impossible to do better, but they pulled it off. And now I expect to see the 1s pouring in because they have become maturely, wonderfully, splendidly prog.

But "Maledetto Sedicesimo" by Zu is "Soulympics" without Mike Patton...

Ah, assholes! You’ve really messed me up :D

Zuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuz uzu... ZU, Ostia! :) ("Obsidian" is unimaginable)

You are very good, as always. And our Christian is a star: to be admired just for the fact that he keeps evolving, album after album, managing both to play in a constantly different way and to not repeat himself mechanically. Just listen to "Endless Summer" (but also "Venice"!) and right after this "Black Sea", or the collaborations in 2007 with Ryuichi Sakamoto, to grasp the essence of his versatility. The album in question is good, especially when it unleashes the glitchy memories of his masterpieces ("The Colour Of Three"). A 3.5 that we gladly round up.