When I read The Ladder‘s press release I was “wow, I must ear this. Amazing drumming, amazing riffs, amazing production, amazing record, amazing everything. Well, to good to be true. Never understood those press releases where they told us that everything is amazing and the best and whatever. I’ll be the judge of that, if I may…
We got eight tracks. Two interludes, so we got six tracks. Press play and we have the first interlude “Jezebel”. Skip.
The Ladder starts playing with “Close The Window”. Hmmm let’s see. Normally I would not comment the production of a new band first CD. But, since they let us know in advance how great the production is, let me say that I’ve heard demos with better production. The guitars are so muddy that the only thing we can understand is the palm muted chords. They must be playing marvelous things on the other strings but it’s all noise. The drums sound like plastic drums. Really “amazing production” indeed.
Let’s see the song. Coprofago comes to my mind as soon as this one starts. Those Meshuggah wannabe riffs are so old fashion by now. We have a solo section in the middle of the track. Never mind, that’s no solo. A ten year old could play that melody. Damn, I’m almost sure I had read that the guitars were “pretty technical”.
“Movement In The Treeline” is next in line. More Coprofago / Meshuggah wannabe riffs. Then comes the noisy part. The technical part that we can’t understand jack shit. Thank GOD “the production is amazing”, or else, how knows what I would be listening now. Probably static.
“And They Kept Whispering…” is another interlude. Great! Because you have few songs we have to listen to stupid interludes. “…Cycles…” follows. Oh no, more Coprofago stop-go riffs. How many riffs can you do holding just that power chord? The middle part is kind a cool tough. Then it just mellows out. Weird mix. Stop-go riffs with Primordial [black / folk / lol] ambiance. Then the noise returns. When I say noise I mean “amazing tech riffs”. That crystal clear production really helps.
OK, it’s almost done. “…Yet They Kept Plugged”. Why oh why?. This track has some violin – or sampled violin. That’s perfect. Math / noise / death / folk and now Celtic influences. I confess I didn’t see that one coming -_- “Failure” is next. It all makes perfect sense now. This ultra tech riff sounds like Biohazard in a bad hair day. This was the first track without that Coprofago riff in the beginning. Cool. To bad that I don’t like metalcore, otherwise this might be an average song.
The end of this “amazing record” [label’s own words, as all of my quotes] comes with “Recall”. Coprofago once again ehehe That’s great. Five tracks with the same beginning. That must be original in some way ^^. Well, this is the track that is available to download, and, lucky us, that is the nicest track.
Overall, this is not a bad effort for this new band. Take this review as a reminder that you are not as great as you want us to believe. I’ll wait for the new LP hoping you’ll be a little more honest and humble next time. Cheers!
P.S.: Very nice cover, by the way -_-
The Ladder – Recall
16 comments
Goodamm you Coprofago hater, muhahahaha, yeah just by seeing the work on the cover, i don’t need to spend much time thinking about this …. wait … no … did you said amazing cristal clear production … now i’ve gotta check it out ^^
eheheh well, Coprofago do try to rip-off Meshuggah a little bit. But I guess they are an OK band. At least they have some cool ideas. Riping-off the rippers, that’s another story! Have to check Coprofago latest record, by the way…
well!I guees the producing is not that amazing,but this tune is pretty cool!I like it!
Yep this is the coolest tune. The production is OK for this kind of first work. I just reviewed this way because of the amazing press-release ^^
Hey!Thanks for saying something about our debut EP!I mean,your opinion about our work (and I mean opinion,not review…I’ll explain later -_-) is kinda harsh,but it’s really important for us to know what you think! ;) Unfortunately I need to comment your work as well,but in a constructive way,’cause there’s a couple things that I don’t agree.First,when you said that we should be more humble and honest,you mean,the band?You really think that we wrote that press release?That press release was written by the guys who believed in us,not us LOL!I would never tell you or anyone that we are an amazing band or extremely technical or whatever,but that’s my opinion about my work!And you gave yours! And GEFTE Records gave theirs!That press release is nothing more than an opinion about our EP!You should respect that as I should respect yours!And you didn’t!
Another thing,you should never skip anything when you’re “reviewing†something!I mean,when you read a book,you read the first and the last page only?If you don’t like interludes or whatever,ok,but if your planning to comment about it,you must listen everything,’cause there’s a lot of work involved and they are as important as everything else!
By the way,Coprofago,are they good?I don’t know who they are…:( I’ve gotta check it out…
One last observation,try not to be so ironic and be more professional when you’re reviewing something.Nice effort though!
Cheers from Portugal!
Ita@theladder
First of all, your label represent you. If they tell us bullshit is your ass on the line. So, lame excuse.
So you do not think your production is great and you’re very technical and the best in the world but, still,l you are shocked with my review and the press release comments?! As I stated in the review “Take this review as a reminder that you are not as great as you want us to believe.”
Second of all, I’ve heard your work pretty well, don’t worry. And I’m sorry if you had a lot of work in that interludes. They are fillers. Next time, spend more work on songs.
Coprofago are just a Meshuggah wannabes. They are fine but not great. Still, You should check them out. You’ll thank me later.
Finally, my reviewing style doesn’t change the fact that your CD isn’t good enough and the press release is phony.
Maybe I’ll take your advice in future The Ladder reviews. Now here’s my advice. Don’t send phony press releases to people. Like in [god we know this is a lie but let’s send it anyway. Maybe someone will buy it!] That sucks. [oh we didn’t write it, bla bla] That sucks also. Get a better studio sound next time, or at least do not state that the production is amazing. Work on the noisy parts. They’re very noisy, if you know what I mean.
I have a rule that I do not break very often. I only review very good albums. I do not like to waste time writing bad stuff about bad bands. But, as every rule, I make exceptions. Thanks to that you’ve got this exposure. So, you’ll thank me later. It seams that, at least, you’ve got a new fan, judging by the comments.
Cheers
Correction! …the coolest tune is “movement in the treeline” at least so far haha (I heard it on my space). The ladder does have a new fan!!Maybe I`ll order the cd.
I wanna a share on this sell ^^
I was at Coprofago’s site and check this out:
http://www.random.cl/cf/platten/La%20Idea%20de%20Borde.mp3
Meanwhile I’ll review their latest work, just because -_-
Ohhh Nebulous, you “Ladder Hater”, wait… that didn’t sound right, anyway here are my 2 cents, Ita … just because you say something it doesn’t mean it is, this isn’t a review?, that just means you don’t know what a review is, and since I’m such a good fellow, I’ll share my knowledge with you.
A review is above all else a critical appreciation, a formal appraisal in a way, now that doesn’t mean that the person that does it has to be any good or has any taste or know a great deal about the subject, those attributes just improve or prejudice a review, a comment or opinion, are instead a much more short, to the point appreciation, lacking both judgment or overall view, so … are we clear on what is a review is?
On other news… you shouldn’t impose your mass media fed morals on other people, being witty, sarcastic or plain offensive are in no way related with being professional, you should always make full use of language to convey your thoughts, emotions and beliefs, that is why words like fuck, suck, lick, ass and orifice??? exist, to convey that information, may it be offensive or social accepted or not, they exist and they should be used if they are needed, if i think something is fucked up, i will say so, because that is the information i want to relate to the person on the other side, you by enticing “sugar coating” or sneaking a “not professional” comment as a way to remove value from the review and the reviewer, just conveys how amoral you really are, and that is just sad.
Ohh and if the 2545 characters that Nebulous used to review your EP aren’t a show that he indeed had a lot to say and that he made the effort to review your music the best way possible for him, then i don’t know what it is … well i liked it ^^
Hey! Wassup?
Fiend, I understand your point of view, but if you want to work on a magazine, perhaps you should consider revising your language. I don’t know if you want to work on a magazine or not, it’s just a hypothetical speech. ;)
Look, what I said here applies also to some of your reviews as well, not this specific one. That’s what I think as a reader, not as a defender of my work.
Just one thing, I only commented this review because of a single sentence “be a little more honest and humble next timeâ€. That’s way too personal to be considered professional, but that’s my opinion. As a reviewer you should analyze the work on your hands, not guessing if we’re humble or not. Sorry, but I didn’t like what you’ve said about that specific subject.
By the way, if I made you believe that I commented it just to decrease the value of the review, sorry for that as well, but as I said before, that sentence…
I need to say one last thing, as a reader, when I grab a mag or something else about music, I just want to know if X band is good or not, I don’t wanna know if the reviewer liked it or not. Yeah, I know that the difficulty of reviewing something is to be impartial about it and let the personal tastes aside, but try not to be so personal next time.I read some of your work and I’m not the only one thinking this way.
Once again, thanks for the review and keep up supporting the metal scene \m/
Cheers
“I don’t wanna know if the reviewer liked it or not”
LOL That’s the all point of a review!!! ahahahah
Dude, personal or not, I also stated that: that kind of comments was based on your press release. Don’t make up stuff next time, on other words, be honest and humble. Is that so difficult to understand???
Hey ita, nice to see you again, now let me respond to your enquiries:
No you didn’t understand my point of view at all, hypothetical or not, you are not everyone, as i said on my last statement, just because you say something that doesn’t means its true, the same way goes for what everyone says, that includes being “impartial” or “professional” or whatever else you want to call it, you keep going about the same conclusions, how do you know when someone is being “impartial” or “professional”? is it when they use expensive words? or when they just say this music is thrash, now this one is metal?,and how do you know what kind of audience is soundcult catering for? if you don’t like it, it’s your right, but don’t make assumptions for the entire world.
A lot and i mean a lot of people like what we are doing, hell even if no one liked it, i would still say what’s on my mind and i will give anyone that wants it, the same freedom, because what I’m talking about is freedom of speech, the freedom to say what’s on your mind, as i said before if that means cursing or just plain saying that a album is not good enough, that’s our right, we don’t say we know it all or that what we say is the absolute truth, it’s the reviewers way of seeing it, you should take it as it is, if we didn’t believed on this freedoms we wouldn’t have comments, and as such if any “band member”/”fan”/”john doe”, comments on the reviews, i assure you, you will receive a reply with the reviewers reasons and understandings, we won’t insult our viewers even if they deserve it (some times) and if for any chance they are right i expect the reviewer to acknowledge that and possibly add that to the original review, hell you can check any review.
The same way we don’t “sugar coat” it, we don’t restrain any feedback from the viewers, comparing soundcult with any magazine or review site is just insulting, you say that we should “analyze the work” or “just want to know if a band is good or not” “personal tastes aside”, or … let’s add more, like giving grades, this band has 3 thumbs up or 5 golden stars or 98% of being excellent, or even worse telling someone that the album is nice when it’s clear that it is not, or just don’t review an album because it’s not a good album, all of this is irrelevant in my view, and you won’t see it here, music is one of the purest forms of channelling emotion, and as such talking about it through writing form, although being an insufficient vehicle to express it (compared to the music itself), it is the vehicle we have and as such it should be as unrestrained as the music itself, that’s what i think, if I’m wrong, well i don’t presume as much.
Ohh and has Nebulous said… I’m also the kind that likes to know if the reviewer liked it or not, hell i wouldn’t want it any other way.
On other news, in our continued support to the metal community, if “The Ladder” launch another album, i take dibs on the review, so if it’s bad you won’t be able to say Nebulous is out to get you, just that this is a mass conspiracy.
(Incase you didn’t noticed the last paragraph was just some comic relief, this is just a review site, it’s not like we are talking bad about religion or governments like some sites i know)
Cheers!
Fiend, I don’t want to be everyone, I’m not representing the world, just me. Some stuff that I wrote were shouldn’t be here ‘cause you may think that I’m just defending my work, but that’s wrong. Most of it should be on some other reviews, including those that I agree with! As you can see, not even once I defended the production, the songs or anything else strictly related to the music, except the interludes lol! I don’t see interludes as fillers, they’re always complementing the music, the message or anything else, but, as I said before, I’m not the world! They gave a lot of work though lolol!
About that personal issue, if it was also a comic relief as the last paragraph was, forget what I said about it!
PS:Yeah, that’s right, everyone’s involved in this conspiracy! :P
PS2:By the way Nebulous, I don’t know what to say about Coprofago…Even the voice sounds exactly the same!
Hello Ita, regarding interludes or interlude type things, my “only” opinion and you can see it on my reviews, is that, musicians tend to not make full use or even more likely a correct use of a interlude, it has it’s uses, and it makes perfect sense in a lot of albums, like if it’s hardcore, it’s nice to have a little breather in between the walls of sound, or to divide an album in different stages (like in Sepultura latest album), or to just use it as bridges between songs (like Gojira has done).
Now my problems with it is are the missuses, were a interlude works more like a filler, cutting the pace of an album, or simply filling it up, things like putting interludes in the begging or end of a album is a decision not to be taken lightly, and the other thing is how bad (in quality) they are, comparing with the rest of the album, so when i listen to something like white noise or some cheap sound, it’s just not worth it, i know it’s a bit one sided, but that’s the way i see it, so if in my reviews i tend to consider interludes as “the plague” its just because in that respective album i thought that they were a mistake, and that’s far from me considering interludes in general as a bad thing.
Ohh and i think i’m the only one that likes Coprofago… sniff sniff, well they aren’t perfect but i actually like them, oh well…
Your review was so helpful. I don’t need to read anything else. [ironic]
Want humble? What about writting these comments?
As credible press you have a long way to go…