Post Rock/Post Metal/Math Rock Thread

Dominic wrote: Anyways, when a power trio losses a member, it's pretty much like losing half the band.

Weird. I would've said a third of the band.

Dominic wrote: ^ lol, i was thinking the same; they've forged some of the tightest grooves around imo, and i felt like they were getting better with every album. Anyways, when a power trio losses a member, it's pretty much like losing half the band. Their new drummer reminds me of Zach Hill as well. (not a good thing regarding my tastes)

Moatilliatta wrote: Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: Speaking of Isis, I've been on a massive Isis kick lately. Honestly, Wavering Radiant is holding as much weight as the first few times I've heard it, it's down to about an 8/10 for me now. I've found for me personally, nothing from their catalogue has more staying power than Oceanic. I found myself unable to get sick of it, but I can't listen to Panopticon as often.   Interesting, Wavering Radiant has held it's weight, and even gained some. I may eventually rate it 10/10 (as opposed to its current 9.5). I think the band really hit their sonic stride here. The tones of every instrument on this one are simply incredible. That combined with the great songwriting & performing, replete with some of the band's sweetest grooves and hooks, makes it their best for me. I would say that Oceanic, Panopticon and In the Absence of Truth are all 9+/10 albums though.

Woops, isn't holding as much weight it should have said, but I imagine you realized that was a typo.
Anyway, yeah, hmmm 'band's sweetest grooves' Hmmm, I don't think a lot of post metal nor post rock has groove at all. 
It has a type of rhythm, but does it really groove in the true sense, like say, Rage Against the Machine, Pantera or Meshuggah? I don't think it really does.
This is not a bad thing at all , because it's a different sound altogether. Often the rhythms in a lot of post metal are very straight and completely lack the kinda swing (or whatever the word is) in RATM or Red Hot Chilli Peppers or something like that.
Well, maybe some of the riffs/rhythmic patterns in Isis' stuff is the exception, but generally it's all very 'straight' rhythmically, which I think works anyway in the context.

Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: Moatilliatta wrote: Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: Speaking of Isis, I've been on a massive Isis kick lately. Honestly, Wavering Radiant is holding as much weight as the first few times I've heard it, it's down to about an 8/10 for me now. I've found for me personally, nothing from their catalogue has more staying power than Oceanic. I found myself unable to get sick of it, but I can't listen to Panopticon as often.   Interesting, Wavering Radiant has held it's weight, and even gained some. I may eventually rate it 10/10 (as opposed to its current 9.5). I think the band really hit their sonic stride here. The tones of every instrument on this one are simply incredible. That combined with the great songwriting & performing, replete with some of the band's sweetest grooves and hooks, makes it their best for me. I would say that Oceanic, Panopticon and In the Absence of Truth are all 9+/10 albums though. Woops, isn't holding as much weight it should have said, but I imagine you realized that was a typo. Anyway, yeah, hmmm 'band's sweetest grooves' Hmmm, I don't think a lot of post metal nor post rock has groove at all.  It has a type of rhythm, but does it really groove in the true sense, like say, Rage Against the Machine, Pantera or Meshuggah? I don't think it really does. This is not a bad thing at all , because it's a different sound altogether. Often the rhythms in a lot of post metal are very straight and completely lack the kinda swing (or whatever the word is) in RATM or Red Hot Chilli Peppers or something like that. Well, maybe some of the riffs/rhythmic patterns in Isis' stuff is the exception, but generally it's all very 'straight' rhythmically, which I think works anyway in the context.

^Meshuggah didn't really start developing their grooves until Nothing. Essentially, the drums and guitars/basses all lock into a syncopated, propulsive pattern that differs from a traditional groove only in that it's so complex. Grooves, especially Meshuggah's, are hard to explain with only words. It's something you just have to feel.

^Sort of. It's true that there are certain things about playing music that are highly subjective and/or hard to explain. Like, when you have a good jam, you get this amazing, ineffable feeling that no one who hasn't played can really understand. As far as grooves go, there's just a certain feel that grooves require and give off. You can't describe it exactly, unless you are an English major of sorts. You can check out the wikipedia page about grooves. I didn't read it all, but it looks interesting and accurate.

^lol indeed

Dominic wrote: So, i just noticed that the post metal band "Latitudes" is about to release their first album: http://www.myspace.com/latitudesmusic Sounds sonically nice, and with some tastefully chosen distortion imo; yet, like their EP, there's just something missing that's keeping it from being too interesting. (albeit, i still thought it was pretty good) Moatilliatta wrote: Grooves, especially Meshuggah's, are hard to explain with only words. It's something you just have to feel. Yeah; there's no denying the tight rhythm, but i just don't get what's especially groovy about it. Although, the definition of  "groove" i receive from most musicians is always quite vague and leads me to believe that it's super subjective anyways.

Excellent. Their EP is sick.

Moatilliatta wrote: Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: Moatilliatta wrote: Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: Speaking of Isis, I've been on a massive Isis kick lately. Honestly, Wavering Radiant is holding as much weight as the first few times I've heard it, it's down to about an 8/10 for me now. I've found for me personally, nothing from their catalogue has more staying power than Oceanic. I found myself unable to get sick of it, but I can't listen to Panopticon as often.   Interesting, Wavering Radiant has held it's weight, and even gained some. I may eventually rate it 10/10 (as opposed to its current 9.5). I think the band really hit their sonic stride here. The tones of every instrument on this one are simply incredible. That combined with the great songwriting & performing, replete with some of the band's sweetest grooves and hooks, makes it their best for me. I would say that Oceanic, Panopticon and In the Absence of Truth are all 9+/10 albums though. Woops, isn't holding as much weight it should have said, but I imagine you realized that was a typo. Anyway, yeah, hmmm 'band's sweetest grooves' Hmmm, I don't think a lot of post metal nor post rock has groove at all.  It has a type of rhythm, but does it really groove in the true sense, like say, Rage Against the Machine, Pantera or Meshuggah? I don't think it really does. This is not a bad thing at all , because it's a different sound altogether. Often the rhythms in a lot of post metal are very straight and completely lack the kinda swing (or whatever the word is) in RATM or Red Hot Chilli Peppers or something like that. Well, maybe some of the riffs/rhythmic patterns in Isis' stuff is the exception, but generally it's all very 'straight' rhythmically, which I think works anyway in the context.   Not a lot of post-metal grooves, but around In the Absence of Truth Isis started bringing a groove element into their music. Not in the sense of Rage, Pantera or Meshuggah, but more like Tool. And it's only Isis who does this. Many sections of "Ghost Key," for instance, I would consider groovy. The drummer is playing a propulsive syncopated pattern that makes me want to bob my head and swing back and forth and such. There, the bassist is playing sometimes playing ambient lines over the top and otherwise is driving the rhythm along with the drummer. Or how about the part about 1:50 into "Not in Rivers, but in Drops." You can't tell me the drummer and bass player aren't locked into a groove.   The grooves aren't the foreground of the music like in the music you listed, but it's the rhythmic foundation for all the riffage and spaciness of the guitars and keys. It's Isis' own implementation of grooves. The band clearly has a stronger sense of rhythm and is more diverse rhythmically than their peers. [Not to put them down, because they're all great bands, but] Cult of Luna's rhythms are characterized by a throbbing, pulsing, pounding drive, Neurosis's rhythm work is a mix of tribal-tinged tom beats and simple but really heavy, driving rhythms (obviously many bands have been influenced by their elements - Isis and Minsk like those tom beats, Minsk also being very tribal and Cult of Luna likes that drive - but each have put their own spins on them) and so on.

Actually yeah you're kinda right I guess. I think you're post definitely capped off what I was trying to convey, that kinda less foreground type of groove. Actually come to think of it, I noticed something about how CoL was a bit more straight forward pounding and of course, as you said, it's not a bad thing.
I haven't heard In the Absence in ages though, I'm more about Oceanic and Panopticon these days, need to give Absence a whirl again.
CoL always struck me as something a bit darker than Isis so it makes sense it's more pounding, whereas while Isis is dark, it also has this kinda surreal, ethereal kinda feel to it.

Another band I found that I really like is this band called Sad Breakfast.They play a nice blend of instrumental post rock,post metal and math rock.

Edited by TheProgtologist - September 09 2009 at 07:17