hey, I'm jumping on the bandwagon, mainly because I like getting music out there and people will listen to me more if I make it a dumb series thing for some reason. so yeah.
maudlin of the well - bath
'dark symphonies' 2001
If I ever made a list of albums that have took my breath away the most, this would be number one for sure. A lot of people know maudlin of the Well as their current incarnation, Kayo Dot. But while Kayo Dot were an intriguing avant-classical prog band, maudlin of the Well were more based around metal riffs. It's hard to summarise my feelings for this album, as I'm sure anyone would have this difficulty if they were trying to describe their favourite album ever to someone. maudlin of the Well mix metal and clean, soft parts and while bands like Opeth and Agalloch clearly make their soft passages metal influenced, maudlin of the Well do not show this. They are able to transcend genres flawlessly; one moment there would be a metal section and then the next would be a beautiful acoustic melody yet they manage to make this sound so flowing. Listening to the clean parts alone you would not know motw were a metal band.
The guitar melodies are beautiful, the drums are intricate yet never become the forefront of the music (much in the way that jazz drumming would sound), the lyrics are very spiritual yet vague enough for the listener to draw their own conclusions and on top of that there are lots of clarinets and horns thrown on the top. Everything about this album is just perfect, none of it goes on for longer that it has to and yet the album feels so epic. The band's other albums are amazing as well (My Fruit Psychobells, Leaving Your Body Map) but this album is the most personal to me.
Everyone should hear this album at least once.
Download it:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QYCCMW9V