Halloween album challenge (1,804 views)

[analC***fan1000]

I've decided to make this up 'cause why the hell not. Basically: listen to and review a Halloween-themed, or horror centered atleast, album/EP for the 31 days of October. Albums that have one song that follow the criteria will not be included because the rest of the album (ex: The Thing That Should Not Be off Metallica's Master of Puppets is based on horror icon Cthulhu but the rest of the albums aren't horror related). The 1st I've listened to is The Misfits Legacy of Brutality, a classic punk rock released in 1985 that remains still influential to this day. The album itself is great, though it has some problems. Come Back doesn't really mesh well with the shorter average song length with it not really being good in the first place and some songs being quite repetitive. Overall I don't think that really stands in the way of the sheer catchiness and playful fun attitude.

[analC***fan1000]

Alright day two and I'm doing Death's 1987 album Scream Bloody Gore, I'ma just cut to the chase this is probably one of the best debut metal albums I've ever heard. It has a alotta thrashy elements akin to the very early days of death metal but Chuck Schuldiner's vocal adds a uniquely brutal twist to the era of extreme metal. Each track has its own flair to the more obvious like with the track Zombie Ritual with the sorta egyptian-eques intro to the more subtle with the title track having an almost progressive structure. I've heard their albums going forwards become more technical and tackle themes like philosophy, conscious ideas about metal itself, and even spirituality which sounds like a great ride if I were further in their discography but for now they are very solid death metal from the 80's.






RIP Chuck (1967-2001)

[Baronessa]

Halloween horrorcore yes. I used to listen to this album a bunch while cooking. The features aren't all that memorable but the mood is something du jour music critics seem to enjoy. I just like the understated rhythmic flow to most of the hooks.

[analC***fan1000]

3rd day and it's my first EP yay!!! All Hallows EP by AFI, which is a pretty popular post-hardcore bandm, released all the way back in 1999. Despite that, the production is actually really nice and at times to the point where I thought this was made sometime during the popularization of emo in the mid 2000's. Features alot of group vocals like something outta 80's UK punk and catchy rhythms but does get kinda stale at the last song. Ultimately, it's kinda forgettable but I found it much fun neither the less.

[Homelander]

Basically anything by King Diamond. He had so much vocal and songwriting potential, but all he did was crank out cheesy Halloween metal for most of his career.

[Baronessa]

What's more Halloween than terrible falsetto, songs about death and a bunch of bones clobbering in rhythm? Not sure why this needed a remaster I just found out that exists.

[Gilad]

This thread inspired me to go back and listen to my fav Ghost album, an album that starts with a spooky theremin sound and has plenty of playful satanic imagery

[analC***fan1000]

I was sick for a day so I wasn't able to document what I listened to on the 4th so I'll just make it a 2-for-1. Starting off is Scary Muzak but black-metal-turned-experimental-electronic-turned-ambient-turned-synthpop-turned-synthwave musician Ulver and honestly it's pretty meh. Like kinda forgettable, apart from a couple tracks, but also well-produced enough that I can fairly enjoy. The usage of blaring 80's-esque synths together with the general Halloween vibe that it's going with. The Halloween movie cover is probably my favorite, takes what I like from the original and gets a slight cinematic punch. If you like old horror movie soundtracks you'll most likely enjoy this.




ulver.bandcamp.com/album/scary-muzak

Second up is Zombie Zombie Generation by Kimuta, an obscure vocaloid artist that I'm pretty sure only released this one EP. I had slight exceptions because of the short but it honestly was kinda a fresh surprise, there were lots of jazz and ska elements sprinkled in. The title track hooked me with a catchy hook and fun instrumental, although a bit too long. The other tracks were fine but weren't as good as the opener, especially the english cover which felt rushed. There's a subsect of vocaloid music called "creepy vocaloid" which focuses on more horror based subject matter and I guess this could be considered "horror themed" or whatever. If I were to dig deeper into the subculture I guess this is a good start? I dunno lol I'm just rabbling at this point.




Also Homerlander if you're reading this I was indeed planning to check out some of King Diamond's stuff lol

[analC***fan1000]

Dear fucking God this EP was a trip (no pun intended) like this some free-to-use halloween sound effects type shit. I've tried searching for like 10 minutes, more than the EP itself, on why it was released. Apparently his label forced him to rush this for album promotion but still this is terrible quality even for that. Probably one of the most "experimental" things a mainstream rapper has ever released.

[analC***fan1000]

Alright another one of these 2-in-1's 'cause of things that were out of my hands, starting off with Slipknot's Vol. 3 released in 2004. This is probably more of a stretch from the album not having a general horror theme but the band itself dressing up in horror themed costumes so I guess it wins on a technicality. More about the album, I have kinda mixed thoughts on it and have alotta fluff but did have some enjoyable stuff on there. The production is surprisingly bad for something that's more "clean"/melodic than their earlier works which is pretty funny. Instrumental it features ALOT more breakdowns, tighter drumming from Joey, and more traditional rock/metal songwriting. Some of my favorites tracks (Duality, Before I Forget, and Vermillion Pt.1) use the best of the three things I just mentioned to create a very bouncy and cohesive listening experience. For most other songs I consider bad it basically does the same thing but fails to connect and becomes a very rhythmic mess. If you were to enjoy this album just listen to a couple songs and put it in a playlist.




RIP Joey (1975-2021)

Probably one of the most iconic Halloween albums of all time, atleast in rock music, Bad Moon Rising by Sonic Youth is considered to be one of the most refined collection of songs to like music nerds around the world I guess lol. For me, it was again a mixed bag. The two most glaring problems to me were the large amount of drone sections between each track and Kim Gordon's boring delivery for a majority of tracks she's prominently on. I'm neither against drone and Kim 'cause 1. I like some drone but when it's used in an unnecessary manner then it just seems like laziness 2. She's trying to do her own thing which I respect but it doesn't click well. When the album succeeds in interesting me, it does a damn great job at. Ghost Bitch and Satan is Boring do this excellently by fitting both the Halloween theme and their signature experimental rock style. If you're a hipster and Halloween I demand you to check this out.

[ellie]

Arrested for Kim Gordon slander

[Homelander]

Oct 5, 2023 23:24:43 GMT @analC***fan1000 said:

Also Homerlander if you're reading this I was indeed planning to check out some of King Diamond's stuff lol

He’s actually not that bad, lol. If you’re looking for Halloween music, he’s pretty much perfect. His falsetto sounds a lot like Barry Gibb’s falsetto, which is what attracted me to his music in the first place. Based on what I’ve seen as your musical taste, I think you’ll like King Diamond.

[analC***fan1000]

Almost 1/3 done with the month and I've listened to my favorite so far, 6 Feet Deep by Gravediggaz, also marking my first rap/horrorcore album. Everything from the beats, flows, and clever lyricism comes together to create a smooth and incredibly creative record. The absolute best thing about this album, along with many other golden age hip hop era stuff, is the storytelling. It's like musically a fly sticking to honey where you can't get out of it and it's so sweet you wouldn't wanna. Definitely in my top 10 favorite rap albums of all time.

[analC***fan1000]

I’m officially 1/3 of the way through so I thought I would do something a little different: my first compilation! Okay compilation is just a fancy term for many of time unsorted playlist released as a record but whatever. I’ve been been getting into some crust punk lately and one group that’s been on radar was Deviated Instinct from them being one of the most influential figures in the scene, but none of their earlier stuff was spotify I was planning on setting up some youtube mp3 on my phone *cough cough piracy cough cough*; but it turns out they had a compilation album that was up on there that I never known about lol. Getting into itself, I believe it contains the first three albums in their discography and after like five songs it’s quite evident that this group evolved ALOT in just a couple of years. From a more traditional hardcore crust sound albeit more uptempo, to a much more thrashy and death metal oriented hardcore, to a sludgy, industrial filled finale. The only thing that stays consistent is the pessimistic lyricism conjuring up images of a diseased future for humanity which honestly makes it gnarly. Very fun time with problems having some whiplash and the last third not being as good as the first or second but still an excellent ride.

[analC***fan1000]

Finally the first grand horror concept album, Them by King Diamond. It really does commit to the actual concept part as each song has a ton of exposition and dialogue woven into the lyric mostly coming from the main character. The story is kinda akin to a Twilight Zone episode about an evil grandma and I’ll leave it there so you don’t stay spoiled. All in the style of classic heavy metal with some progressive elements, sorta like Powerslave by Iron Maiden. All in all, it feels like an 80's schlocky horror made in an album and it’s great.

[analC***fan1000]

Okay my thing got deleted and I’m too lazy to retype right now so I’ll just give a summary of it: satanists in space, war metal explanation, weird ambience, band introduction, and finally “it’s pretty good”.

[Baronessa]

BAZanine scared me with this album a while back and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. Now in new deluxe form on Spotify.

[analC***fan1000]

Friday the 13th! Year’s most Unlucky day! I would say that the 14th is more mischievous but whatever. I did try my luck anyway with this album “Remember Last Summer” by NxxxxxS and I came out with mixed feelings. It’s contemporary Memphis style Phonk (without the cowbells and weird Russian nationalism) with some vaporwave stuff thrown in there. It started pretty aggressively and was the dark Memphis sound I wanted but started to learn towards more chill stuff at the end which disappointed me. I got really nothing else so if you like alternative instrumental hip hop you’ll probably like this.

[analC***fan1000]

I think I’ve steered a bit off course from the rules of the challenge since the Slipknot album so I’ll try to stick to overtly horror/themed albums starting with Midnight Creeper by Big Up Menace X. This is another vaporwave-ish album, though a better term I think would be “noise”, and even then it’s not entirely accurate. Sound college? Experimental electronic? Whatever, I don't really care. Each song has heavy usage of what I presume to be 80’s/90’s preachers combating the “satanic resurgence”, weird PSAs, or something else entirely. It all feels disjointed, not to mention the generally harsh sound which sometimes makes listening genuinely kinda nauseating. There’s some minimal-esque synths that play throughout but are drowned by the samples I just wrote about and the static accompanying with, I guess to try to emulate old VHS tapes. This album feels like a nothing burger that wasn’t even engaging, you might like it if you have pretentious music taste lol.

[analC***fan1000]

Sometimes it can feel a little tiring trying to find an album that fits the criteria of this challenge. That was until I found a German power metal band that was literally one letter away from Halloween, Helloween. Their first in particular, Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1, features a thirteen minute long progressive epic Halloween that’s about, well, Halloween. It is one track and none of the others relate to the holiday in question but it is like 1/3 of the album so I count. Helloween and their KOTSK mini trilogy are often called some of the best power metal out there, and for a first listen, it sure does seem that way. Micheal Kiske’s vocal and Kai Hansen’s guitar work are my personal favorite two things for both having a melodic but cool feel to them. Would recommend to anyone who likes melodic type metal for the Halloween track alone.

[analC***fan1000]

What's more halloween than a band called Helloween? Well what about a BAND CALLED HALLOWEEN!!?!?!?!!?!?!!! Okay to be honest this is probably the most festive album I've covered so far with nearly every song refencing the spooky tradition. Another similarity to Helloween is that it's a power metal band, but that's where the connections end. Halloween is strangely lo-fi and has a technical edge, while Helloween takes from its traditional speedy roots. The lo-fi nature sorta adds some heaviness unlike your average metal band without any extreme influence. I've noticed the lyrics regularly mentions Christian themes, catching me off but I vibed with it. Very underrated album all the way through so check these guys out.

[Baronessa]

The first one I actually hadn't listened to beforehand. Very jovial album musically considering all the lyrics are about his post-LSD mental breakdown delusions. It's really two albums in one, Roky Erickson and the Aliens and The Evil One, which is useful to know if you're wondering why the pacing is weird. Spotify is just like that sometimes. The instrumentation is professional and everything, but it's really the '60s influences and the extremely blunt energy which the lyrics embody that make this unlike just another competent '80s hard rock project.

[analC***fan1000]

The rawring 20’s have seen the biggest return to form for pop punk ever since dying in the early 2000’s due to fatigue and weird predatory stuff. With its popularization, however, has come a grand amount of criticism thrown towards it for various reasons. The most agreeable I’ve seen is that it feels very forced by record labels in order to capture millennials' nostalgia and think back to the “good ‘ol days”; pop punk’s not dead, its soul is in that sense. But some bands in this movement have stood out to me, one of them being Driveways and their album I’m talking about today, October Forever. Driveways have fair standard sounding pop melodies with some post-hardcore but what really stood is the little metal stuff here and there. It’s a style of metallic hardcore called “easycore”, named after A Day to Remember’s tour of the same name, having a balance between pop, hardcore, and metal. The main thing that ties this into the challenge is, of course, lyricism composed of metaphors of spookiness with the devil, spirits, and the like. The first 2/3 is a fairly consistent ride but the last third slows down and becomes pretty messy with track even having a trap beat funnily enough. So all and all a good first album from one of the more promising pop punk revival bands.
Fun fact: my guitar teacher actually played a set with them and said they were good fun lol.



driveways.bandcamp.com/album/october-forever

[analC***fan1000]

The concept of a concept album, at first, seems pretty easy to do. I mean all you have to do is connect every track to a main theme or story. However this simple explanation falls when you actually get to thinking of the balancing between the concept and the music itself. Conveying the story through the lyrics, how long the story versus the album length, and how the instrumental is wielded are just a few of the problems that come with the making process of one. A Halloween Tale - Oculus Inferum by Van Helsings’ Curse is the embodiment of the wrong doings when creating a rock opera that makes feels both boring and frustrating to see such talent be misused in a number of ways. The story behind the forming of the musical act is one day Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame went to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a famous progressive rock/metal that is themed around Christmas. He was so blown away by their way of telling a cinematic story on stage that he decided to create a similar music formation, with a symphony and everything, around another popular holiday, Halloween. So what went wrong? Well there’s barely any elements of rock and large focus on the symphony playing, which is mediocre at best. The story is nothing to write home about, it’s about an evil guy that wants to defeat the good guy but then a boy comes along and defeats the evil guy instead. Not even a minute long summary that stretches out to 40 minutes. I really wanna like this project and there are some good songs, but the problems are so obvious that I eventually embraced the sheer campiness. It sucks because at the end of the day there were people who were quite talented that contributed, Dee Snider included, to creating an ultimately meh music anthology. It really should’ve been a movie that had this as the soundtrack, akin to Pink Floyd’s The Wall among many others that had varying degrees of success. There was a little hint of a possible sequel album and even if it has been 20 years since its release, the little optimist in me hopes it does one day come out.

[analC***fan1000]

Often called the “Japanese Misfits”, Balzac both lives up to and strays away from that title on their 2003 album Beyond the Darkness. It is a consistent array of melodic-ish hardcore with some experimentation here and there, and alot of group vocals; I’m pretty sure not one song doesn’t have atleast two guys singing. They state their influence pretty clearly which in some way may seem like treading into rip-off territory but I don’t feel like it does the band justice. Actually that's all my thoughts it’s a good album byeeeeeeeee