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2022 ALBUM OF THE YEAR
19 Plays1 year ago
Daria and Laz reveal their Album Of The Year for 2022!
5. Amon Amarth - The Great Heathen Army
4. Parkway Drive - Darker Still
3. Slipknot - The End, So Far
2. Machine Head - Of Kingdom & Crown
1. KORN - REQUIEM 🔥
They dive deep into the music to discuss and analyse the intricacies of this incredible release.
You can also watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7mfJVCp_TzbPNZNMMemJuw
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Transcript
Introductions and Holiday Greetings
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Minds of Metal. My name is Daria. And I'm Laz. And today we're here to tell you all about our favourite album of the year. Yeah, but before we do that, Happy Christmas. We hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I'm sporting my Frank Zappa. Don't eat the yellow snow Christmas jumper.
00:00:26
Speaker
and yeah it's New Year's Eve so we're wishing you all for tomorrow and onwards a very happy 2023 and we hope that you'll spend a lot of it with us in your minds and mental joining us for all the content we bring you it's been a pleasure so far and a lot of fun but yes we crack on with our album of the year 2022
Top Album Reveal: Korn's Requiem
00:00:46
Speaker
So as you've probably seen on our channel, in the lead up to this video, we bought you Laz's top five albums. I mean, they were, I did the videos, but it was kind of both of ours, some of them, wasn't there? Some of them, yeah. So number five, we had The Great Heathen Army by Eamon Amarth. In number four, we had Darkest Still by Parkway Drive. In number three, we had The End So Far by Slipknot. And in number two, we had Of Kingdom and Crown by Machine Head. And our number one album of 2022 was? Requiem by Korn.
00:01:15
Speaker
I just can't. We both say it has huge smiles on our face. I've been so excited all morning. I was like, come on, shall we do it? Shall we do it? Shall we shoot it?
Admiration for Requiem's Melodies and Production
00:01:24
Speaker
What an album. Why don't we go ahead and tell them what we loved about it first overall, and then we can get into the songs. Okay. Yeah, that's a good plan.
00:01:33
Speaker
Ah, guys, there's just like, there isn't a fault in it for me. There isn't a butt track. It's just all perfect for me. I love the melodies. I love how singy it is. I love the fact that I wanna dance to this music.
00:01:51
Speaker
i want to dance to this metal music you know it's so just headbanging and i actually really love the production on it as well although it is very modern and we're i'm sure we're gonna get into that as well and i just love the fact that corn are staying so familiar with this whilst
00:02:17
Speaker
Evolving and changing and I just I really love that. Yeah, I agree What I loved about the album That there's a reason I said to you in the previous videos There's a reason that I was so close to choosing machine head as my number one album But the reason that corn got the number one spot for me as well is that every time I listen to it and you know from living with me is
00:02:39
Speaker
We are singing the choruses all the time. We're sat there watching something on TV and we'll just be going, we just cannot stop. So because of that, it's just such a memorable album. And Dash mentioned it, the melodies, they're just so fantastically written. A few key points for me is we're going to do a little music theory section in a minute, so bear with us.
Music Theory Basics
00:03:02
Speaker
But consonant melodies throughout the whole album over dark
00:03:08
Speaker
dissonant music, which shouldn't work. Actually, do you know what? Let's do it now. Warning. The following few minutes are full of boring music theory that's probably not going to impact your life in any way. We spent too much time studying to not let you know that we know this stuff. So you set the piano up. This is a tiny music theory. It's not a lesson. It's just to explain because I'm going to be using these words a lot. So you've got the term consonant. Dash is going to head over to the piano. Consonant means nice sounding. So two notes together or two notes played one after the other that sound nice. Dash, if you do a couple of examples.
00:03:38
Speaker
That's lovely, isn't it? They sound nice together. Now we're going to do dissonant, which is the opposite of consonant, which means it doesn't sound nice when you hear them together or apart. Yeah, you can hear that. And another one. They just don't sound nice. They're unagreeable. The notes don't work. Two other notes, two other pieces we're going to talk about is going to be very simple, but this is major and minor. A major chord sounds happy.
00:04:07
Speaker
minor chord sounds sad. That's it, I just want to get that out of the way so because I'm going to use those words along. So the consonant, the nice sounding melodies throughout the whole album, it's a metal album with dark riffs, dissonant riffs, minor chords everywhere, hard heavy hitting sounding riffs and you know screams as well, but over this throughout the whole album, Jonathan Davis's consonant vocal melodies
00:04:35
Speaker
I just yeah I'm so like lost for words because there aren't any words to express how much I love this album you guys I love it so so much and it's so cleverly written like songwriting is like on another level for me you know well so yeah shall we get into the songs
00:04:56
Speaker
You guys, it's going to be really hard to keep it short. I don't care. We should just talk about it as long as we can because it's so good. And if you haven't heard it yet, like just go and buy it. Like literally just buy it. Like you should have the vinyl CD, all of it.
00:05:12
Speaker
just have it it's so good anyway the first track of the album was called forgotten and what a start you know what a start to the album i felt like it's so
00:05:27
Speaker
overly produced in places. There's so much stuff going on in the background, but it just fits. You don't feel overwhelmed. You feel like, yeah, that's cool. This is really great. And again, I'm going to say this a lot today, but I love the melody, the verse melody.
00:05:44
Speaker
If I sing it this way, that doesn't sound like a metal song. Sounds jazzy, yeah. And then into the breakdown.
Track Analysis: 'Forgotten' and 'Let The Dark Do The Rest'
00:05:56
Speaker
Yeah, just so dissonant. And then again, we are going into the
00:06:02
Speaker
into the resolution yeah they're constantly keeping us on their toes like this from from track one that's right yeah with this song i mean you it kicks off exactly how you'd expect a korn album to kick off with heavy detune guitars that just come in really well produced really heavy sounding i love the conversational vocals when they're a subtle melody you did the melody there and it's not like a crazy musical line it's just very subtle isn't it very conversational as well
00:06:27
Speaker
I love the screaming and the vocals doing this sort of call and response thing. He screams once, then he sings something. And you mentioned about you wanting to dance. That must be because if you listen in the verse, the drumming is almost a bit funky. He plays it. It's almost like a little funk drummy, which works so well. Oh, it's perfect. And I think rhythmically, this is just, you know, it works so well with the melody.
00:06:53
Speaker
Melody and rhythm, they just, they lock in so well throughout the whole hour and you'll hear it because like you said, you want to dance, you want to sing along and that's the reason for that.
00:07:05
Speaker
So track two on this album is called, Let The Dark Do The Rest. And I thought the keyboard melody behind the intro is really nice. And we mentioned that you said about the production. There's a lot throughout this album of just little keyboard melodies being played behind a chorus, behind an intro, behind a verse, and it adds another layer. It just works so well. Again, we've got a consonant verse melody, a verse melody that sounds nice to your ears, being played contrasted to the dark dissonant intro riff that you have, which again, I just love this marriage about the whole album.
00:07:35
Speaker
The bridge was great because there was so much space, loads of space for the vocals and the music to thrive. My favourite quote about music, this is more not about sort of from a band, but in terms of playing music is, it's not the notes you play, it's the space you leave. And I think when you give Jonathan Davis and his vocals the space, like they do in the bridge of this song, then they thrive and they become like the main event of the song.
00:08:01
Speaker
Oh yeah, rests are as important as notes, you know. And I love the vocal harmonies in this one. So beautiful. And also, we've got the growls. Like, you made me sick. You know, it's like, oh, I just love it. You've got all this conversational phrasing. You've got this classic Jonathan Davis tone. And then, you know, you've got this kind of aggressive growl kicking in as well. It's just...
00:08:29
Speaker
Brilliant. And again, more funky drumming in the verses. Listen up for that.
Deep Dive into 'Start the Healing' and 'Lost in Grandeur'
00:08:35
Speaker
The next track is called Start the Healing and oh, I love the chorus in this one. I should have been good. Do you know what I love about it is when he sings and he says, should have been good. And then after the call and response and the screen comes in,
00:08:54
Speaker
like the real good contrast there really good contrast and it's full of it and you know i only actually started noticing these contrasts properly when i was prepping for this episode because when you listen to it when you are you know in the moment just listening to the music
00:09:13
Speaker
because it all works so well. You don't really notice that. Yeah, it's only when you dig deep and try and sort of listen. Yeah, when you like really focus and you take notes and just at the other... You figure out what's going on. Yeah, and I was like, wow, every single song has that to offer. Yeah, it does. Yeah, I thought it's a great song. Another consonant melody with some lovely vocal harmonies behind it during the verses. I mentioned the call and response in chorus. I love he does that. He does the
00:09:39
Speaker
the, I call them the Rob Flynn things, the angry vocals where he starts off, he goes, you stay a good night. And he does it, he goes, the more you fall for it, the more you start to quit and the build up. I just love it. I just hear emotion, I hear raw energy and I hear passion in a, in a, in that vocal phrase.
00:09:59
Speaker
So track four of this album is called Lost in Grandeur, and I think we both love this one, don't we? What I love about it is right at the start, the rhythms and the subdivisions of rhythms they're playing with, because you've got the... It throws the listener off because you're hearing... And you think, okay, maybe this is how it's going to be.
00:10:25
Speaker
And then we hear... And then back to the... So good. And I just love the way they're playing with those rhythms. Yeah. And did you notice all these voices in the background? Like crying or laughing or whatever. You know, I feel like that's the continuation of the nothing. Yes. Yeah. So that's like a little throwback. I've got that here. I said, because we hear his vocals in the bridge.
00:10:54
Speaker
we're hearing him his emotions and his voice is most vulnerable just like we did in the nothing do you guys know that in the nothing he actually recorded himself crying and screaming because i think within the space of two months he lost his wife and his ex-wife and his mother so it was a very emotional album and i think
00:11:12
Speaker
don't know what this album's about but you hear some of the emotion in this song. Yeah you do and again they're like really really just you can just hear them ever so slightly they're not at the front there you know they're not at the front of the arrangement um but i was just listening to it i was like okay this might be like a little front back you know but yeah very again very dark actually very dark lyrics because you've got stuff like
00:11:38
Speaker
I fucking hate this every day. You know, this is dark, but you want to dance to it. What can I say? You know, honestly, guys, this is just how it is. Yeah. You're going to hear me say a lot through this album, but we've got another consonant melody being sung to us. And what I love most about this song, and we said about it in the production, is the keyboard melody being played behind the chorus. Because he goes...
00:12:09
Speaker
I think I did the wrong notes, but you just hear it so subtly in the back and it's just another layer, another texture that just makes the chorus so grand in this song. And again, lots of space there in the chorus with the melody. It's just really kind of just smooth, isn't it? Yeah, it flows nicely.
Exploring 'Disconnect' and 'Hopeless and Beaten'
00:12:32
Speaker
The next track is called Disconnect and it's probably my least favorite of the album. I still enjoy it but it's not my favorite by far. But what I really love about it is in the verses we've got all this instrumental layering going on.
00:12:49
Speaker
And I thought that maybe that would feel a bit too much for me, you know? But it doesn't feel like that. It doesn't feel messy. Again, it just all marries up really well. I do like the chorus harmonies. The feeling is divine, you know? There's like a... Then there's like a harmony going on top of that. That's really nice to listen to. What do you think? It's a lovely, light chorus, I think, in comparison, you know, with so many other heavier choruses we have and we're gonna have.
00:13:17
Speaker
Again, I don't love this one. I really like it, but it's not among my favorites of the album. I love the similar unusual keyboard thing going on behind the verse. You've got that little melody. And yeah, like I said, the contrast between the really light chorus riff and the really heavy intro riff. I'm loving that we're seeing these contrasts throughout this album. And then you've got the bridges with selfishness. Yeah. So more heaviness. Yeah. Excellent.
00:13:44
Speaker
So track six, we have Hopeless and Beaten, which I think is the heaviest song of the whole album. For me, what makes it so is the riffs, the note choices, the drumming, the screaming chorus, it just has it all. But again, don't forget, we've got the consonant melody still there with the dark screaming behind it. I'm going on about it, but I love it.
00:14:03
Speaker
This is like your nickname, Consonant Melody. Yeah, Consonant Lads. I just love it because it's not that it shouldn't work. Many, many bands in metal and other genres of music have made consonant melodies work over minor chords or this or that. It happens. It's quite common.
00:14:20
Speaker
But for them to have done it this much, nearly every song that happens, and I think it's fantastic, the chorus is so sparse and heavy, just leaving so much space there. It almost reminded me of a Sepultura chorus, the song, Slave New World, where you've just got that heavy intro section with just letting three notes rip and let the space be there and let them thrive in the space they have.
00:14:43
Speaker
You know, I thought that it has a very deceiving intro, because you've got like a really heavy intro going into this overly produced vocals, that you just don't expect that to happen. I wonder why they chose this kind of path of songwriting, maybe because they wanted to appeal to new audiences actually, because it makes it much more accessible, I think. You're right, but it's funny, isn't it? Because it sounds like porn, but there's still so much new stuff here that we haven't really heard before.
00:15:13
Speaker
This album would definitely group into the last two, isn't it? There's nothing, and they do sound similar, but there's just another special layer on this one that just somehow is just making it amazing. But anyway, shall we move on?
Melody and Production in 'Penance to Sorrow'
00:15:27
Speaker
The next track is called Penance to Sorrow, and I know I said it a lot today, but again, I really love the chorus. It's very singy. I can't break it. You put some saxophone on that, and that's an 80s funk song. Funk elements, dancing, it's there. It is there. It is there. And you just want to dance to these dark lyrics. I kind of feel even wrong dancing to these lyrics.
00:15:56
Speaker
You know when you want to dance to lyrics, you want to dance to the music? Yeah, to the music. You know what I mean though? It's like, it's so dark that I was like, it feels kind of wrong, but like enjoy it so much in that way. But yeah, what do you think? I'd great this one. Another standard heavy call intro riff which we're used to. And then that guitar effect it takes into the verse. Just another example of quite obvious production, but being used
00:16:22
Speaker
tastefully. They're not putting it everywhere, they're just choosing where to place it and it works so well. I love the verse because it's so sparse and the vocals have the space they need to thrive. The instruments do exactly what they need to do and nothing more. More consonant melodies in the pre-chorus and chorus. Fantastic song, this one.
Vocal and Drumming Highlights in 'My Confession'
00:16:43
Speaker
So the penultimate track of the album is called My Confession, and I don't really have much to say about this one, I really love it. Another standard heavy chord intro riff, more consonant melodies in the chorus. What was different in this one though is that his vocals, it's almost like slow rapping in the dissonant, a bit minor as well, but yeah, love this one, really good.
00:17:02
Speaker
Oh, this is my favorite track of the album. I really love it. And you've got that, like you said, conversational. It's like preachy, you know? It's like, hey there, can you see me? Can you feel me? You are nice to your ego.
00:17:19
Speaker
Yeah, we love it. We just love it so much. What did we do? Did we just rap the chorus? Yeah, we just did. It's appropriate, it doesn't matter. Call her a new metal band. Exactly. A new, new and new metal band. Yeah. And you know that I really love the drums in the chorus. There's like all toms like... Yeah, I didn't notice that. Yeah, do you remember that? So good. Everything about this song, it flows so well. It works so well. And you know what?
00:17:48
Speaker
that chorus, the way he sings it, when I hear that tone of Jonathan Davis' tone, I'm like, yeah, that's a classic Jonathan Davis tone. You know, like, really? So, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. Yeah, I'm like, oh yeah, that's it. That's the one, you know? Yeah, really love this song. Me too, yeah. The only thing I had to add was how heavy the pre-chorus and post-chorus were. So screaming, really heavy. So what is this? Yeah, awesome stuff.
Rhythmic Complexity in 'Worst Is On Its Way'
00:18:21
Speaker
The last track of the album was called Worst Is On Its Way, and I love this one also. It's probably one of my favorites as well. Was this on your Spotify wrapped? Yeah, of course. And also I just, every time I listen to it,
00:18:38
Speaker
There's one thing that, you know, catches my attention. It's verse timing. Just going into the verse. Brilliant show. Yeah, there's like a really odd sort of time signature, I think. Yeah, I heard it. I think it's... I think there's a weird bar of 7-8 in there. So for what... We won't get too technical. You already had your music theory lesson for today.
00:18:59
Speaker
But I think that going into it, there's just that little skip and I think it's two bars of 4-4 and then a bar of 7-8, which will sound like this. You go one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, one, two. And it's just, it's a little bit that's missed that really just kind of quickly throws you into the verse.
00:19:18
Speaker
It's so small, it's so insignificant, but yet we heard it, you heard it, you pointed out to me, and it just makes it oh so different, doesn't it? It's amazing. It's just like, it's so weird when you listen to it, like, yeah, that's cool, that's weird, that's cool and like, you know, we like that. Now, the chorus, okay, this is probably, I have to say, it's my favorite chorus of the album. The choir wrote best chorus of the album. Yep, it's bloody brilliant. Calling me.
00:19:48
Speaker
It's so good. I think it's epic in every sense of the word. You've got the big sounding guitars, the keyboards underneath, playing the chords, the lovely vocal melody that's actually quite minor and dissonant, which is unusual because we've had consonant choruses throughout the whole thing. Yeah, we're back here. We've got to change the pace.
00:20:09
Speaker
so good also funky drumming again in the verses i just wanted to point that out but again the this all lies with the chorus yeah and you know i love i love the build up of if it makes me sick yeah yeah rock flin vocals into the scat i call that i call that scratching because in in jazz you have scatting which is where they go this is screaming scatting so i call it scatting
00:20:37
Speaker
Brilliant. I love that name. Scratching. Back to court. We heard this in FreeCon, Alicia. You hear it again in all their early stuff and he's just paying. You know, we've got a lot of new stuff from court on this album, but this is Jonathan Davis saying, we're not gone. Yeah. It's classic Jonathan Davis. Like all metal fans know that this is his signature vocal technique he does, you know, and he's so famous for it, isn't he?
00:21:02
Speaker
oh i love it i just love it so much and uh did you notice that that scat okay scratch is followed by like a couple of bars of acoustic guitar yes i did acoustic yeah which is the first we've heard this album but it's really cool because it really brings it down it's like a it's like a what do you want to call it
00:21:22
Speaker
a chorus, but not full chorus. And to do that, they just get the acoustic guitar going on to keep the chords going with the vocals and with some effects. I think the keyboards are there too. But then after one round of that, they just bring it back up. It's quite unexpected, isn't it? Fucking epic chorus. So good. So good.
00:21:42
Speaker
So I think that's a good place to end the episode today. We hope we've expressed how much we love this album because it really is excellent. Before we go though, we'll leave you with our final thoughts and our top three. So what is your top three favorite songs? Okay. It's very hard. Okay. Can I just say very hard to choose, but I'm going to have to go with worst is
Top 3 Tracks and Final Thoughts
00:22:02
Speaker
on its way. The last track is my favorite track. Wait. So that's number one. Yeah. Okay. My confession is number two and lost in grandeur is number three. Nice.
00:22:11
Speaker
I like doing things the other way. I go three, two, one. So three for me was penance to sorrow. Two was my confession and number one was lost in the grandeur. For me, that keyboard melody behind the chorus turns it from being a very good metal song into a perfect one. Can't explain it. I can't explain it. Just that keyboard makes it all for me.
00:22:36
Speaker
Anyway, final thoughts on the album? Shall I give mine and then you give yours? Yeah, go ahead. I always write these down so I can express the way I want to say things. The album has this beautiful blend of consonant and agreeable melodies that appeal to and sounds nice to the listener. Now, when I say this as well, what I'm talking about is you've got two metalheads here. You've got metalheads, I'm assuming you guys are all metalheads watching this video, but we play this music to my family, to your family who are not metalheads and they listen and go,
00:23:05
Speaker
Well, this is actually really nice.
00:23:07
Speaker
And that's what I'm talking about, appealing, making it accessible to a wider audience. Couple these consonant melodies with the heaviness and the darkness and the dissonance of the instruments and his screams. And you've got a fantastic marriage of two contrasting musical characteristics. And they come together to just create this fantastic piece of art. The production elevates it to the next level by adding other necessary layers that enhance the final product and just make this album an overall stunning piece of work.
00:23:37
Speaker
You've got all the standard elements of corn, heavy intros, detune guitars, unusual guitar effects and melodies, vocal styles, but ultimately for me, the vocals and the melodies are the hero of the album. I have nothing to add. You've done it so well. No, but that's brilliant, isn't it? It's brilliant. You said it all and all I can say is that
00:24:00
Speaker
I think I always knew that Jonathan Davis is like this really gifted singer and I'm not saying he's the best singer in the world because that's completely different and like what is the best anyway but I think the fact that he brings so many different like so much different flavor to his singing like you've got
00:24:21
Speaker
Scrap. You've got growls, you've got preachy conversational vocals, you've got legatos or phrasing in some choruses, you know, and it's just it's a variety that does it to me, you know, and I'm like, yeah, I really love that. But when it all comes together as the final product, as one song or the whole album,
00:24:40
Speaker
i mean i mentioned earlier that you know that there are moments in machine heads of kingdom and crown actually quite a few moments where i say that's an incredible riff and if i'm comparing riff to riff i probably prefer machine head if i prefer some chorus uh some screams i probably prefer machine head some solos i prefer machine head but
00:24:57
Speaker
the final product, the way that each of these songs makes me feel. And when I've listened to an album, we said it at the start, we are just singing it all day. If we drive to see my family and we put the thing on, we are there singing it nonstop. And we're just sitting in the car and then I'll just sing a line and you'll be there exactly the same place. And you're like, oh my God, I was just singing that. And that's the reason. And I would never normally
00:25:24
Speaker
sort of to take away, like I said, I love the machine head one. I would normally give it to them for all the intricacies, the technical parts, but I cannot stop listening and singing these choruses. And for that reason, I think that's why it deserves to be the Mines of Metal album of the year 2022.
00:25:43
Speaker
So guys, thank you so much for joining us today for our Album of the Year episode. I've been so excited for this one. She has. And I'm so happy that we got to, you know, just share our thoughts on it. And I hope you guys go ahead and listen to it. Please do, because it's just, it's so worth it and you'll be singing along with us.
00:26:04
Speaker
and let us know in the comments if you if you don't agree tell us why tell us what your album of the year is and why it may be machine head um don't joking but do let us know in the comments what your favorite albums of the year were and whether you agree with us or not and if you do agree with us tell us why you love this album so much and don't forget to give us a like a share and subscribe to our channel we have so so many ideas coming for the new year and we can't wait to share them with all of you uh thank you again for joining us today have a metal 2023
00:26:34
Speaker
Have a lovely 2023. We'll see you soon.