as useless as a compass in a hedge maze.

The records I was looking forward to hearing from last post are all out. These are my opinions of them.

Ceremony - Rohnert Park

This is different. This is weird. I loved ceremony's first LP, Violence Violence and enjoyed (though to a lesser extent) their second LP Still Nothing Moves You, and although their latest offering is recognisable in parts, it takes on an entirely different approach. The songs seem to be slower and involve more repetition, rather than insanely fast, followed by the slower, doomier parts. As with previous releases, the lyrics on this are great and I'd definately like to get my hands on the book that accompanied the release, written by their vocalist. The cover is pretty cool also, continuing Ceremony's trend for simple artwork. Probably the most interesting track on the album, The Doldrums, makes me feel like I'm either slowly spiralling down an endless vortex or have just stood on land after a year at sea. Having said that, though, there are countless unforgetable tracks on the album, which is a nice change to a lot of music I've been hearing lately. The cries of "open my head, open head" in the aptly titled Open Head and the many repetitions "I'm sick" in opening track are just a couple of the pieces that come to mind that just stick with you. Overall, an awesome release that I'm enjoying now, and figure will only grow from there, being extremely unique and, though it can be said is quite a progression, it delves more deeply into the sounds of the 80's.

The Ghost Inside - Returners

After their debut, Fury And The Fallen Ones, and seeing them live a total of 5 times, I've become quite a fan of this band. I can listen to the aforementioned album over and over, any day of the week, and it's enjoyable everytime. I've listened to this new release quite a few times and, even so, it has failed to have any significant impact on me. It's really difficult to explain. The music isn't bad at all, with a more melodic approach, and it is still better than 99% of the music in this often generic genre, but it quite simply, to me anyway, isn't as memorable as their first offering. Maybe I set my standards too high, or maybe it'll take a little longer to get into, but at this stage I'm slightly disappointed. I think I'll just leave it at that. They're touring again towards the end of the year, at the Hordern Pavillion of all places.

Five Star Prison Cell - Matriarch

I have been waiting for this one for ages, especially after hearing the track Swarm on their myspace and loving it. Not only did the release date get pushed back, for god knows what reasons, but my pre-order took ages to arrive. Anywho, this is another band that has taken a new approach on the sound of their latest offering. Though it has many of the classic Five Star Prison Cell elements, including the abstract vocals and the technicality, quite a lot has changed. This album seems to flow a bit better than their previous Slaves Of Virgo, stepping the speed down a little and reducing the ridiculous amounts of riffs per song. I haven't really listened to this enough yet to take it in (and probably therefore review) properly, but so far I'm liking the first few songs especially, but not so much the longer, more atmospheric parts that turn up in those tracks towards the end of the album. They're always an extremely entertaining band live and I look forward to seeing these beasts played so.

That is all.