I can relate to your post, and just like you, I felt nothing during the first spin of the new songs.Sugar Blade wrote:I've listened to it once and I want to say this: if The Last Hero left me disappointed, but it still had 6 songs that I can listen and enjoy, this album made me feel nothing (except Dying Light, it's a legit great song and the fact that Mark and Myles made it together tells a lot). For me, this record doesn't live up to any of their previous albums and feels passionless and uninspired. Some people call it a new direction, but for me it's a stagnation at best.
There are some interesting riffs and harmonies here and there, but they are diluted with the most basic and boring post-grunge/modern rock sounds and AB's own tropes
The only thing I could think about was how loud and distorted the guitars sounded on the heavier parts (especially on Native Son and Godspeed).
Fortunately, things have improved with each new spin, and I'm confident I'll end up liking most of the songs in a few days.
Dying Light has now become one oif my favourite tunes of theirs, and Mark's solo is incredible.
Right now, some of my favourite parts are Indoctrination's creeping intro with sithar (?) and the note Myles reaches later at 4:00. Goosebump material!
I enjoy most of the tracks, except for two of them (Clear Horizon and Godspeed), but I'm not giving up on them...
I also don't understand why Forever Falling gets such a positive reaction. It's alright, but I'm not hearing anything amazing in it. Mark's vocals are buried in the mix compared to Myles' in the other songs, but I still noticed his vocals were similar to Brett Hinds's from Mastodon at the beginning of the verses.