Rick's b.log - entry 2020/08/05

Fewer brambles

Nightwish - Human Nature

The CD is sixteen euros (Amazon), or just shy of a hundred if you want it on vinyl. I might get it (CD!) when my next pay comes in.

It's... a strange album. The first half: Let's see if we can make sense of ambient symphonic operatic folk metal. Or something. It's sort of Nightwish's style, only with rather more mood changes than in previous albums; and it seems as if Tuomas' favourite phrase this time is "something wicked this way comes" (I'll need to read the lyrics to see if there are any references to nightmare carnivals; though they sort of did that with Imaginaerum).
The odd thing now is there's a male voice (is it Marco (the dude with the epic double ponytail beard)?) who really comes to the front a lot more often. Enough that I seriously wonder whether it's him or Floor (the female voice, that's probably "Fleur" in Dutch) that is the lead vocal on this album. Floor herself is all over the place - highs, lows, and everything in between. It's... quite impressive.
The fourth song, Harvest, is a standout highlight of the album. Maybe because I live in the country and it's harvest time... either way, brilliant song.
The second half is, well, this is where Tuomas gets to do his wish fulfilment spot in the eight part "All of the Works of Nature Which Adorn the World". It's not metal, it's not Nightwish, it's basically one long instrumental that is best described as "a soundtrack in search of a film". There are small touches of traditional Nightwish lurking within, but it is... as I said, more like a soundtrack than anything else. That's not to say it's bad - I just think that somebody who is used to listening to Nightwish as, well, Nightwish... will probably listen to this once and then concentrate on the first CD. And even then, it's leaning more towards ambient and folk than metal so expect some fans to complain instead of evolving... ☺ Why? Well, technically this album is a lot more accomplished than belting out guitar chugs to a drum beat and some bass and screaming about love, life, and death. Those who think they want more of the Tarja/Annette years (go listen to The Dark Element then!) clearly don't realise that the group is moving on and tackling something entirely more complex. And if you end up feeling something... well... isn't that the point?

I do hope, however, that it opens a door for him to compose for a film. He certainly has the talent.

I should add - a reviewer on Amazon said that as a metal lover, guitars are a central point (while commenting on there being less guitars in this album). I think somebody ought to point him in the direction of Apocalyptica who do some perfectly solid songs in the genre (and even began covering Metallica) with no guitars whatsoever. Their song Dead Man's Eyes has more raw emotion, and is harder "metal" than entire albums of lesser groups. Metal, to me, is usually about guitars - the signature chug is to be expected, but it is more about the attitude. If you want stupid love songs, listen to somebody like Bieber or whoever is in the top 20 this week. If you want breakup songs, try Swift. And if you want attitude... that's where metal comes in. It's like rock, only darker. Heavier. Harder. Take your generic pop emotion and beat yourself to a bloody pulp with it. And then laugh at the gore dripping off the table. And then raise a middle finger just because. That is metal.
[and if you then keel over dead, well, that's a subgenre called Gothic Metal ☺]

I made more tea and pizza, and sat on my bed watching something on Netflix. I was basically spacing because I'm pretty pleased with what I've done so far, and it was hot, and I'm on holiday dammit so ought to have some "doing nothing" time.
So don't ask me what I watched. I have no recollection. I don't even remember what language it was in. Like I said, I was spacing.

How not? to fill a pond!

Well, no. In truth he is irrigating his maize. However, clearly subscribing to the idea of "there's no kill like overkill", he's put the spray cannon close to my trees, and it's powerful enough that it shoots a jet of water through, clear to the far side of what used to be the pond (before he broke it).

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