You won't cry for my absence, I know..

I just recently discovered the existence of this song. Doesn't help that it isn't actually on an album and just exists as a bonus track in all of its releases. So besides from being quite obscure overall it's an amazing song and I just have to make a post about it.

I'm not going to bother linking to the original version, because it's outdated and far inferior to the more recent live version (2007).

You'd probably want to look up the lyrics beforehand, since the words aren't that clear in this recording. But anyway, the song was originally written by Amy Lee, Ben Moody (co-founder, ex member) and David Hodges (ex member) way back in 2000 or something or rather. The live version here is re-arranged and features a completely different instrument track, but the song structure remains mostly the same.

I have to say I'm not a big fan of Ev's old stuff. I tend to stick with the Open Door record and beyond (or lack thereof), although I also obviously delve into Fallen occasionally which is probably the furthest I go back. Origin doesn't get much airplay from me.. so overall I don't really bother with anything older than '03.

When I was listening to the Yahoo Nissan Live Set on mp3 on shuffle today I was in for a surprise when Missing came up. Firstly, I had never heard of the song beforehand so I assumed it was an old track. Due to my 'prejudice' against their old material I was about to skip the song but I noticed the bass line, and then I noticed the chorus which caught my attention as it seemed to be freaking awesome.

So when I got home I decided I should give it a proper listen, not some half-assed iPod affair in the middle of school. I bonus'd by finding the performance on Youtube and here we are... it is nothing short of awesome and by the way the lyrics are great.

Please, please forgive me
But I won't be home again
I know what you do to yourself
I breathe deep and cry out
Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?

Even though I'm the sacrifice
You won't try for me, not now
Though I'd die to know you love me
I'm all alone
Isn't someone missing me?

And if I breathe, I'll bleed
Knowing you don't care
And if I sleep just to dream of you
I'll wake without you there
Isn't something missing?
Isn't something...

Even though I'm the sacrifice
You won't try for me, not now
Though I'd die to know you love me
I'm all alone
Isn't something missing me?
Isn't someone missing me?

So overall this made my day.

On a side topic I actually did Maths homework today, which was completely surprising to me. I also did Chemistry right afterwards. So that's two sets of homework in one day. When did I ever start doing that?

Also I picked up the guitar again and decided to learn Bridge of Destiny (Arch Enemy), the remade version (there's barely any difference besides the tuning and the solos). AND I managed to rock out on the acoustic kit mad today. Much cymbal action to be had. No more holding back anymore, and it shows as my sticks are basically breaking apart and there seems to be debris everywhere from the wood of the sticks. Great.

To sum it all up though my sleeping pattern still leaves much to be desired. I hope I can address that soon too.

I actually should be doing homework right now

Anyway I missed a Math, Ancient History, Legal Studies and Chemistry lesson last week due to basically not wanting to go to school (too sleep deprived) and also had to go physio for my leg. So now I'm trying to catch up and it's midnight and I haven't started. I basically don't feel like doing it right now so it may become a long night.

Amidst all the procrastination I decided to post something here as I haven't for a while. Basically as an update on life in general I had two consecutive assessments a few days ago which was traumatising at best, and basically groundbreakingly nauseating at worst. I think I did alright for the Ancient essay but I sort of want a better mark than 'alright'. English on the other hand was just terrible. I mean serves me right for not starting on it until like 1 AM the morning before it was on.

Also I use twitter now, which is just one of those things that I have to distract myself from schoolwork. So I'm encouraging everyone to start using it. Facebook phase is now over. Seriously looking back.. that place has only caused torment.

After all those minor details and insignificant events I think I should announce that I bought (well, my parents did, their funding, my allocation) an acoustic drum kit. Pearl Vision VX in Jet Black with Black hardware (hardcore!) as pictured above armed with Zildjian cymbals/hi-hat (not pictured above) and complimenting Pearl Double Bass Pedal (not pictured above). So to sum it all up.. basically costed an arm and leg but it's an awesome kit and it doesn't seem like I'll ever need to upgrade. Except for more cymbals and better heads and etc.

I didn't want to get a beginner kit because frankly I'm not THAT much of a beginner, although I comparatively do suck pretty hard, I think after a year of hitting rubber pads I deserve some sort of compensation! Not that the electric was bad, I love that thing... always nice to upgrade to the real thing though. Also didn't want some second rate cymbals, because yes they do break, and yes it is quite dangerous if they do spontaneously. And why spend a lot on a kit if you're going to hold it up with shit ass pieces of tin for cymbals? Regarding the double bass pedal I guess that's just me fueling the fire that was lighting up the wallet. Look on the bright side, I won't have to buy it in the future?

Thing that bothers me though is that I can't exactly rock out on this thing. On the electric I could just hit it hard all day long and not worry about anything but if I tried to hit this with more than 50% of my arm strength, everyone around me within a 50 metre radius basically go deaf. That's just one of the issues. I'm trying to arrange some soundproof mechanism in the basement, but I highly doubt it's going to go ahead due to the work and money that's involved. We'll see how that turns out.

Almost forgot to mention this, but recently I decided to donate to that Haiti Earthquake relief fund. Only $25, but hey it still counts! You also get a nifty new Evanescence song on the side, so why not help out? There are people out there that need the money more than that McDonalds chain you're paying your lunch for.

Oh, and if anyone wants anything quick and pleasant to watch, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl6DkK0BVKs and watch to the first 15 seconds. Who can't love that?

May not warrant a whole post..

It's midnight, school's tomorrow morning and I decided to go on the piano and just play whatever came to mind. It must be some special day today because my playing.. well wasn't great or skillful of course but was just so much more spontaneous and 'going with the emotion' than usual. Usually when I improvise, I stick with a song structure that I have in mind, but today I managed to throw structures and frameworks and whatever rules out of the window and just make it come out of my fingers naturally.

I guess I just had to write this because.. it feels good to temporarily escape the usual woes and stresses of life and tap into this alternate plane where I can express myself freely and let my emotions run free. It's official; music is my therapy.

DTXMania & Youtube

For those who don't know, DTXMania is a drum simulator based on the rhythm-game series Drummania. It's probably the closest you can get to real drumming in a video game environment (in fact it is actual drumming when played on harder difficulties). In this simulator you can make compile your own drum files to whatever songs you like, then share them so everyone can have a go. For the slightly confused ones, it is a simulator not an actual game per se, so by itself you can't do anything because you won't have any songs to play with (until you surf the net and put them in yourself).

So tonight I was slightly bored so I decided to learn how to make my own simfiles and this is the result. This is the first time I've ever got into this sort of stuff so it took a while, naturally. Overall it's a pretty simple process and was enjoyable.

This is also my first ever upload onto Youtube, and literally 3 seconds after I uploaded it they decided to throw a few pages of copyright infringement notices my way. Somehow they are able to detect whether the material used in a video could be copyright immediately after it is uploaded. Honestly I didn't know that was possible so that was surprising, but anyway the aftermath is that you have to put up with a flood of ads while the video is playing. That's about it I guess unless they decide to step up on the faggotry scale and tell me to take off the audio or something.. I honestly highly doubt it though.

Here's the snippet from my Youtube video description for kicks:

'Weight of the World' by Evanescence, from album The Open Door (2007)

Just something I whipped up tonight, it's my first attempt at a DTX file, so I chose a relatively simple yet cool song to go about it. This is not me playing (if you didn't notice the 'AUTO's), because I don't currently have a drum kit wired up to DTXMania.

Because I don't know how to get Hypercam to record sound (yes, the option is checked, still no sound) I had to throw the MP3 over the recorded video and so we don't get the actual drum sounds from the game. Obviously I'm going to need to fix this next time around. Also, check out the crappy FPS.

Review: DIM (2009)

Yes another one of these reviews. I promise to keep this one a bit more brief and concise than the others. You probably noticed that there's not much artist/genre variety around here.. anyway lets move on.

Just some intro as usual, you probably know who the GazettE are by now from the previous post. You may have heard of their '07 record, STACKED RUBBISH, from the previous post. Well now I'm here to review their more recent work from last year. Overall, this album is much more narrow than the last. Variety doesn't seem to be part of the tangent anymore as their sound now is now slightly more focused. Of course you'll still find some variety in this album as that's what they do, but to a lesser extent this time around.

How can they convey so many different feelings in different types of songs while still keeping to the same 'GazettE' sound? The band works in a way where every member gets to contribute their own musical interests and talents and you may have noticed that their line-up is very stable. What does this mean? Well it means that everyone's happy with where they are and what role they play in the band. Equality is just one of the good things about the inner workings of this band.. and how it works is that everyone writes material and one day they all meet up and put it out on the table. From there they work out what they want on the next record and how to go about it, as well as receiving input and various from other members. Eventually the songs end up become generally a collaborative effort.

The album starts off with the interlude 'Haruki' (from this point, tell me if any of these romanisations are incorrect). As with the title 'DIM', I guess this wants to tell us that this isn't going to be a ride on a merry-go-round on christmas day. Right to the action, THE INVISIBLE WALL is my personal favourite on this album. I don't know how to describe this song, it just has the energy and heaviness, yet they manage to incorporate a sense of serenity during the chorus and especially the ending.

A MOTH UNDER THE SKIN is one of their simpler work. The focus here would be simple but effective. The 'talking' vocals in some parts are a nice addition, and we see the return of female vocals. Once again it fits surprisingly well. The breakdown section on the other hand is a slight rip-off of their own work (BURIAL APPLICANT).

Next up we have a rather heavy and metallic song 'LEECH'. Fast bass drum runs and exceptionally put together drum parts are just one of those things that set this song apart. The guitar riffs are great too, and the slowing down during the chorus is an awesome touch.

The heaviness of LEECH is contrasted with the next track Nakigahara. If you want my honest opinion I think this song is completely boring, however it doesn't go without mention of the cool Koto part before the chorus, as well as the sequencer in the background during the verses. The interlude 'Erika' which follows right after is sort of creepy and dark.. and repetitive.

HEADACHE MAN is on a different heaviness level than LEECH, where the riffs follow a much simpler pattern and with the vocals being more aggressive. 'Guren' is a ballad initially released in '08, it's one of those unique, laid back works by GazettE with a great melodious guitar solo. The topic-matter here also seems to be a death of a baby in it's mother's womb, which is.. interesting to say the least.

Another interlude Shikyuu is again creepy but with a more disturbed touch. Which leads onto '13STAIRS[-]1', a unique experimental piece by GazettE which starts off slow-paced and speeds up near the middle. The song keeps building up right until the end where it slows down back to the speed it was at the beginning. When I say speed up, I literally mean tempo changes. The whammy pedal used after the first breakdown section is a nice touch.

DISTRESS AND COMA is not exactly a ballad, but it comes pretty close. Another one of those 'simple yet effective' formulae GazettE has been utilising for a while. It sure isn't a groundbreaking track but it certainly delivers. It contains one of the few guitar solos in this album, and not a bad one at that. Tasteful use of harmonies and pitch shifter is always welcome.

Before we move on we run head-first into yet another interlude. This has been going on for a while and quite frankly I'm getting sick of these. Luckily, the sound on 'Kanshoku' is much more pleasant than the previous ones, featuring a repeated piano phrase with a drum beat backing. 'Shiroki Yuutsu' is another material altogether from the previous tracks, giving off once again a ballad, laid back vibe and featuring another melodic guitar solo. The acoustic guitar during the first verse is great as well. Also interesting is the focus on string-based instruments in this track.. dominating parts such as the chorus and the outro.

'IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS' could possibly translate better in a live rendition, but certainly the energy that was lacking in the last two or three tracks is compensated which this head-bang inducing, hard rocking track. Once again delving into metal genres, this track has some tasty riffs and another (not great, but still fitting) guitar solo featuring harmonies. I like what was done with the intro, and in general how the song starts. The isolated rhythm guitar before the first verse starts and the ending is also a very cool touch.

Another interlude Mourou, is possibly one of the more annoying ones and I guess is like a warning that after this.. you're going to be seeing some noise. Which is exactly what 'OGRE' is.. it is noisy. This is going on the same tangent as HEADACHE MAN so if you didn't like that, I highly doubt this track will do anything for you. Definitely a head-banger and a fun track, featuring dominantly screaming vocals and heavy guitar work.

To end it all, we have 'DIM SCENE' which I guess is a suitable ending. This low-tuned ballad-esque track is anything but energetic or lifting, as the title would suggest. 'DIM SCENE' features a guitar solo saturated with effect processors. A criticism of Uruha's continual use of these quirks is that this solo hurts your ears when translated live. Throughout the song is a string trio accompaniment, something that GazettE has been doing with many of their compositions as of late. What bothers me is the way the song ends.. fading out is always seen to me as a lazy way out.

This review may have seemed unnecessarily long once again, but yes I did make it briefer and to be fair, there are MANY more tracks in this album. I guess you can thank the interludes (which are not real songs), but whatever. The GazettE's work is only getting more interesting and heavier, and overall this album is exciting, however as the title suggests, it's not the most uplifting album and has lost a huge amount of the jumpiness effect and upbeat feeling that the previous record had.

Whether or not that is a bad thing is up to the listener I guess. Worthy to note is the lack of a funk/jazz-inspired piece, something that they've always done but decided to omit on this record. Overall I find myself going back to STACKED RUBBISH more than I presently listen to DIM.. but still, you can hear the growth in the bands music, and no they are not revisiting past successes and hooks, they are continually evolving and looking for new ways to sound good.

Video of the Week #1

Yes, I may end up doing this Video of the Week thing, mostly because most of my time on the internet is spent just scouring Youtube for interesting stuff. It could end up being Video of the Month, or Video of the Day, or just plain Video of Whenever I Feel Like It, but this seems like an appropriate name at the moment.

But this video is more like video of all time.. my favourite performance of the best song by one of my favourite bands Evanescence. Yes, it is Lacrymosa. Yes, Amy is drunk. Yes, I really like this video. No, I don't like the random shots of a topless woman in the crowd. Keep it in your pants, cameraman..

This was way back in 2007, when they were touring for The Open Door. Come to think of it.. a lot of this crap I'm writing about dates back to '07. I guess that was just one of those years. Hell, from what I remember it was way better than '09, seeing as '09 is almost as low as it gets in recent years. This performance is at a festival called Download Festival, so if you're wondering at the numbers in the crowd, they're there to see different bands and that's why half of them aren't into the music.

In fact, at one point they were throwing bottles at the band and chanting 'Maiden' (coined after Iron Maiden, who was performing after Evanescence).. honestly, a lot of people's level of respect in this world are just dismal and I wonder what kind of hole those people live in. This part warrants a whole 'nother post, but Amy handled the situation like a powerful inspirational figure (seriously, I think a lot of people didn't know she knew how to cuss until that point) and if you look around some related videos you'll find the video I'm talking about. Who can't love her after that?! (And no I'm not going to bother linking to that video as well since this is Video of the Week in the non-collective sense)

Back to the video at hand, just watch Amy's stage presence. Proves that she's one hell of a performer and there's barely anyone I've seen that could match up to that without being over-dramatic or something else rather lame. Being drunk is a plus by the way, because random, inappropriate smiling as well as rather sporadic, spontaneous, comical yet totally in context movements are all welcome in a.. fun performance. I mean just check out that part at 0:24.

Have fun.

Review: The Open Door (2007)

Just following on from the theme of my last post, this is still not a real blog post. I guess that's what you should be expecting by now. This is another one of those reviews I like doing, and this one is for an album from the band Evanescence. For those who have been living under a massive, dense rock for all these years, Evanescence is an alternative metal/rock band pioneered by frontman (and primary lyricist and composer) Amy Lee. Though the line-up has seen some instability since the group's inception, Lee has (obviously stayed in the band) kept the band up and running and to present day, it's still doing great (though The Open Door is the last release and it is now 2010, so you can say they haven't been very active lately).

I think it's hard to really pinpoint a subgenre for Evanescence's music. They sure are a commerical band, by one glance at some of the sales figures they've been seeing with their major releases and it's quite obvious. However, they lack a lot of elements that surround commercial bands of their stature and popularity. To this day I'm surprised that I'm actually into their music, because my favourite music are anything but mainstream. I guess what caught me off-guard is the musical freedom they have in their music (and it will be demonstrated in this review of their recent album) despite being all mainstream and popular.

Yes, more about me and less about the album! Just skip the next two entire paragraphs if you want to know about the album. Anyway, I've known the band for a really long time. Really long as in I can trace my experience with their music back to primary school, that was when I was really into stuff like Pokemon and frequently visited a forum related to it. There I gained a few (internet) friends who made up a lot of my pre-high school social life. Yes, it's pretty sad. Anywho, that's when I heard their song 'My Immortal', which (for all those under-the-rock inhabitants) is a 100% piano driven piece coupled with Lee's vocals. Back then I wasn't really into this sort of music.. I guess I liked it, but that's about it. To me it was too melancholic and sad; in a way it had too much emotion. It was only recently that I decided to go 'hey I used to like this song' and check out the band with my current 'evolved' musical foundation.

I was surprised to find that I actually liked the band. I guess it helps that Lee's voice is just great and how much the emotion mattered this time around. Of course, up to now that song isn't really my absolute favourite, but it was one of those ones that helped me get into the 'genre'. I was pretty stoked and I went looking for more songs. After listening to the whole 'Fallen' album (it is old; 2003 release), I decided that there was more to this band than I initially thought. I mean, it isn't an amazing album by any means (The Open Door is just that much better) but it was refreshing. So after that.. I went and checked out their more recent record, The Open Door.

Fast forward a few months and I'm here in front of my computer at some stupid time in the morning writing a review for it. To be frank, The Open Door just straight out wipes the floor with all their previous work. Sure, four years between one album and the next does seem a bit excessive, but you can hear the hard work put into it. This is surprising, because commercial bands in my experience don't put work into their stuff.. when I listen to a lot of these popular American bands they just straight out don't have the musical intricacies and uniqueness, as well as the compositional flair that is found in -good- bands. Of course after reading this paragraph you'd know what I'm getting at; Evanescence is a bit different in this ballpark.

The album opens with 'Sweet Sacrifice'. This is a strong starter and I really like the vocals in this song. I mean how often do I mention the vocals when I praise a song? So I guess this says something. At one glance and you can hear that this album is just overall heavier and has more substance than the last. The guitar work in Evanescence is bland at best, but that's not where the fun stuff is, at least in this band. I guess it should be noted that there is no real chorus in this song, and the part that is supposed to be a chorus just doesn't feel like one. That's something to note for song structures this time around.

'Call Me When You're Sober' I guess is one of the title tracks here. The lyrics are just really in your face, and you can't really interpret them in many ways besides what it is. I guess you could call this 'closed' lyrics. The guitar work as expected is not the best stuff in the world (although there seems to be some two-handed tapping this time around here and there) but the vocals just give the song that powerful, 'shut up and listen' feel. I like the bridge in this one.

'Weight of the World' continues the rock fest with a much more interesting drum pattern than usual. I'm not sure if Lee came up with it herself (it doesn't seem to be the norm), but it sure gives the song that extra punch. The riffs of course are nothing special, but they are effective. The chorus to this song is great, and the pre-chorus is a nice touch. The bridge leaves some to be desired but overall one of my favourite from this album.

Next one's a special one, 'Lithium' is a ballad instead of keeping the theme of the last three. This song only credits Lee as song-writer, and I'd say she did a commendable effort. The pinnacle of this song is the vocals, and seeing as Lee is a vocalist, that's what you'd expect. The 2nd pre-chorus all the way to the end is just one hell of a great ride. Of course, you'd need the slow, mellow beginning to build it up too. A lot of piano in this one as well as emotion, great track.

'Cloud Nine' is not the usual rock fest, and this is where I get at when I think 'wait, this shouldn't be in a commercial band's tracklist'. Because it just doesn't sound like something that would sell a million or two. The riffs are barebones, but the melodies and the singing is just something you don't hear on a radio everyday. The bridge is good in this one.

Another one that keeps the pattern of 'why is this even on here, you're a commercial band' is 'Snow White Queen'. This sort of rock is just unheard of on mainstream radio. Just nowhere near the usual pop rock fest that dominates the mainstream rock world, but just full of interesting melodies and great hooks. Overall a dark song; the bridge, as well as what was done for the last chorus is just straight out awesome stuff.

Now for the best track Evanescence has ever put out. No arguments here because it's just plain as day that it's their best track. 'Lacrymosa' is based on Mozart's Requiem 'Lacrimosa', yes that is a radical and groundbreaking name-change, but it's reasonable because the string and choir melodies are kept from the original, just with the Evanescence-rock touch. The song starts with the strings, as with the original, but it starts to change when the drums slowly come rocking in, as well as guitars. By the time the song has fully developed to the chorus, no epicness has been left out, it's just awesome stuff. What's even better is how the bridge was handled.. smashing in your damn face, powerful vocals on a time signature that doesn't seem like it's anything conventional is just a great touch to the song. The ending of the song is also handled very well, it's just plain done very well and.. well, epic.

Well unfortunately this is where the album starts to downhill roll itself. 'Like You' and 'Lose Control' leave much to be desired in terms of the benchmark that was set with Lacrymosa. Overall, 'Like You' is a weak song with pretty cheesy lyrics, though the bridge is one of my personal favourites, the chorus is simply not doing it for me and that itself makes up a majority of the song. 'Lose Control' has an interesting touch, as you can hear some whammy action with the guitar riffs, but overall the song could've been more polished and less 'okay this sounds good, lets just keep this for the next 5 minutes'.

'The Only One' is not exactly amazing, it honestly reminds me of their work from 'Fallen', which is by the way, not good. Overall that's not the vibes I'm getting, but I guess that so far, the chord progressions and overall sound from this album is just far from Fallen that anything remotely similar is just going ring a bell. Anywho, this isn't exactly a bad track, but it's not one of my favourites. I like the lyrics though, and how the guitars were handled during the chorus.

'Your Star' is great because it gives the album the feeling that it just came out of the hole that was 'Like You' and 'Lose Control'. This is truly one of their best work aside Lacrymosa. I hope that in their future releases they experiment and variate from this sound, but keeping the idea that was used. Here, the instrument work is at another level compared to their usual work. I guess this goes with Lee's pushing of her own abilities, but yes, she does actually sing and play those piano licks at the same time. And the guitar work is surprisingly much more intricate and interesting to listen to. The vocals are as usual, not a joke and you'd be in for some exciting melodies as the song progresses.

'All That I'm Living For' and 'Good Enough' are not fantastic tracks. They are not bad by any means, but they could've been handled a bit better. The chorus in the former track is just repetitive and gets boring after about half way because of how much it repeats. I guess the instrument work in the song isn't exactly shithole but it surely goes into some kind of 'hole' category. 'Good Enough' has a great intro combining strings and piano, which I think was composed separately from the actual song, but afterwards it just goes downhill. There certainly are better ballads by the band.

Overall, I think this post is fucking longer than the previous one where I said I wasn't going to post that long anymore. I guess I rambled on more about my own experiences this time rather than focusing on the topic, but anyway.. The Open Door is a good album. It starts off surprisingly good, reaches a global maximum, then plunges into some deep hole for a good few minutes before going back up again. At the end I guess it's at some mid point which is not very exciting however not exactly bad.

Compared to their previous work, this is just a really good effort, and it's just that much better than it that there's no point listening to the old songs anymore (even though they are infinitely more popular- oh wait, that's probably why it's not as good). It's clearly obvious that the band has much more freedom with the music this time around and composition-wise they are maturing. Could this mean decreasing sales figures in the future? Probably. The sound of the band is getting more and more interesting, the music is getting heavier and heavier and all for the better. As mentioned there is the one or two disappointing tracks but it doesn't detract from the overall experience. It's been years since this release, and I have high expectations for Evanescence next time around.