This might go in the BTA section, but it might not

[Azrael]

I have Celestial Completion. I didn't DL it. I didn't steal it. I bought it from the record store. No, it isn't out yet. It's a funny story.

I went on one of my typical $50 used CD binges and saw a box being unpacked at the register with cds like Britney Spears, Whitesnake, etc. Then I saw Celestial Completion. I asked if I could buy it. The cashier said sure. I commented that I couldn't believe it was out yet. She shrugged.

I decided to drop by here to see what peoples' thoughts are. I didn't see anything. I went to wiki and checked the release date. I have a copy of the record 4 days in advance. Haven't listened yet. I'll wait until it drops officially to post my thoughts on it. I can't wait, though. I needed to tell people that would appreciate this.

[davo]

yeah, this probably belongs in the BTA section - consider it moved.

i used to get stuff days (or even weeks in a few cases) before release from the local indie record store here before it shut down. fortunately one of the guys has opened up his own store for my vinyl cravings.

[Azrael]

Nice, nice. After a listen, I will say this:

The album is every bit as good as any of the others and every single song has a legitimate place on the record. You'll hear some of the best elements of all three past albums in this one.

I won't post any in-depth commentary until the 29th, though. Plus that will give me some time to stew on it.

[metahead]

i admit, i kinda hate you.... in a good way

[skully]

Mar 25, 2011 19:29:04 GMT -5 metahead said:

i admit, i kinda hate you.... in a good way

same here, but i'd hate you even more if none of the stores have it in stock on the day it comes out

[Azrael]

After about a week of stewing, I believe I can say a few things about the wonderful album I have come to love.

It's the best yet. I mean no offense to Jon, Alex, or Lopez. All past albums are also incredible.

But that's what makes this album possible. If you listen to Celestial Completion (and you don't even have to listen hard) you will hear the genetic code of all BTA past in the midst of the songs as well as incredible developments.

This album captures the feeling that most power-metal bands such as Rhapsody aim for without sounding somewhat ridiculous. On the contrary, the album conjures (I really hate to contribute to the overuse of this word, but w/e) an epic feeling in the listener.

Part of this is the lyrics. They deal with many abstract concepts with great imagery and manage to maintain a distinct feeling of poetry without the stigma of trying to hard to be poetic.

The mood is also encouraged by heavily using modal/non major/minor keys, the string arrangements, and the drums (I'll come back to that later). Everything about this album calls back to great moments in music history and demands mental association with all the images that come with thoughts of great orchestral works like Wagner's epic operas.

The vocals are incredible. Jason's voice has continued to mature in tremendous ways. The last time I heard this much effects on him was Terminate Damnation. I remember he transitioned to a more organic feel for The Physics of Fire and stayed more or less with that for Dichotomy. But now the years of development come full circle as we hear effects on a monstrous voice.

The clean vocals are also enjoyable and add greatly to the album. Similarly, the best way I can think to describe them on tracks like is "operatic but not silly" on some tracks. The harmonies and resolves are nice. On Path of the Beam, it reminds me of Spanish melodies found in a lot of their folk/classical music. Breathing light has a nice hook feel to it, but it still keeps the same feeling. The vocals sound right out a concert hall, which contributes to the album's epic feeling.

All of these elements seem like a major progression from the very experimental feel of Dichotomy.

The guitars are fantastic. They are heavy, unrelenting, and never out of place. If anybody wondered whether Daniel was worthy of following up Alex and Jon, he shuts them up in Path of the Beam. The writing was refreshing in that I never rolled my eyes at any of the riffs or motifs. There were breakdowns and I didn't imagine scenesters slamdancing to them in my head. Tasteful. Exceptionally tasteful. Also, the riffing and orchestration was very intricate and immediately reminded me of the Physics of Fire in its form. And the tone was fantastic. This is the heavy punch I've been waiting to hear since Terminate Damnation.

The drums had a very nice punch and perfectly meshed with the guitar tracks. Duck nailed some really impressive parts in Xenosynthesis. He got an incredible sound out of the set that just made my jaw hit the floor, though I suspect he had some help with that. I'll come back to that in a bit.

The piano was fantastic. Before, it sometimes felt like an afterthought on a few of the songs. But here it was a part of the compositional process. Music of Spheres is a nice treat for the ears and very reminiscent of Philip Glass in its experimentation with arpeggiated augmentations. The piano, strings, and other elements of the album blend seamlessly and definitely contribute to the album.

The bass is solid and very supportive of the guitars and drums. It's mixed a bit low and very tough to make out on its own, but it adds a great deal of the "oomph" that makes this album such a hard hitter.

The final thing I want to talk about is the engineering of the album. This is quite possibly the best-mixed album yet. Dev did an awesome job with Dichotomy, and Terminate was also incredible. I was not pleased with the way the Physics of Fire turned out in that respect. But this album was truly fantastic. The sounds are all crisp without being overproduced. The levels for everything are just right. It sounds professional yet organic. The drums are phenomenal and possibly the best sounding drums I've heard yet. Part of that is Duck. Part of that is Matt Goldman who is probably the best percussion engineer alive. Either way, the producers and engineers had this thing on lockdown.

Fantastic album. It will be a frequent favorite of mine for a long time to come.

EDIT: Forgot a few things.