Hey dude! It’s not often you get to watch someone doing a reaction/analysis video for 3,5 hours ☺️ Thank you! We loved the journey you were on. As for lyrics. Yep, they will be posted not too far away after this watch. Fans have been wanting lyrics for a while now so we have to put in the effort of just posting them. Hopefully it will get a bit clearer. This our first attempt of being more poetic lyrically and it doesn’t always make sense, but it did for us all those years ago. Pyrrhus would be the most random string of words on the album, as we intended to. Don’t even try to analyze that ☺️ Track placements were discussed and we thought that this would be the best. You can never know in what order an album would flow the best until it’s been out there for a while. Generally you have a feeling puzzling all the tracks together but that might not be the most optimal. We are and were really proud of the debut record sonically and musically and we’re happy that it gets noticed! Keep on keeping on! And thanks again! 🌋
Glad to hear you're posting the lyrics. There's some great depth in those and I'm interested in digging deeper into them than I was able to. As for "not always making sense," some of the best art doesn't need to make perfect sense. That allows for interpretation which can sometimes lead to fascinating and powerful combinations of music and lyrics. With that said I'm gonna try my best to understand Pyrrhus simply as a challenge 😄 The track placement thing is expected. And it's quite possible that my criticism regarding the ending is purely a subjective opinion not shared by fans. After all, it's impossible to please everyone so -- like you said -- artists do what feels best at the time and simply hope it's appreciated. And I definitely appreciate all of the work and effort and skill that went into Mask of Air. You guys did a fantastic job on this album and I'm looking forward to digging into your other work.
I have a ton of the reaction/analysis to watch, but I'm so happy by how much Moon Over Paris floored you! That song is by far my favourite on the album. This is probably my favourite discovery through album club and I'm extremely grateful to Per for picking it. That song in particular has such a strong personality, a life of its own. The lyrics have a ton of great imagery, and one of my favourite lines ever: "when the Moon is over Paris, we all feel the same: love-drunk poets on the starlit rain". It's such a beautifully written song. I think the 90s rock style you're thinking of is some indie/grunge overlap, it feels closer to some more texture-focused band (without getting into shoegaze territory). Maybe some Built to Spill style of indie.
Really fantastic stuff. It's a shame we have no complete lyrics for this album in the usual places, but I did find accurate lyric videos of most of the album on youtube for anyone interested. 6 of them are on the "MtsdrHummingbrd" channel, Moon Over Paris is on a different channel, and the missing songs have the partial lyrics to help with at least. Some evocative lines in there and with the vocals being as emotive as they are, it made for a great emotion-focused second listen.
hey, you picked up my recommendation =) i havent actually heard this album before. i used to be a music journalist with new prog metal as my speciality. i can recommend a lot of great music from my ten years as a music expert, which also included genres like psych, instrumental jazz, prog rock, and related genres. nowadays im more into electronic and jazz.
Good things come to those who wait... 😍 I was in euphoria during most of this video! "He's really, really getting it!" Some notes: There was no music realesed under their former name (which might get you even more flabbergasted). The material was all written during the many years up to it - and they just changed their name for the release. They keep releasing albums at a very... low pace... (the sophomore being released in 2016 and the last in 2020 - which might mean.... ⚓&🙏) Well... There are some sections emulating music from decades ago. Most prominently Tool and The Mars Volta 😁 (which you did pin down at first listen to the first tracks! Also Anathema seems accurate) But not from half a century ago (like early King Crimson and Genesis) Yup, drummer Johan Norbäck (also in Diablo Swing Orchestra nowadays) and vocalist Jimmy Lindblad are the only remaining original members. "Where did you come from, where did you go" Cotton Eye Joe is Swedish as well... 😅 (not the original, but the popularised version) Post-hardcore unique in prog? *caugh* The Mars Volta *caugh* 😉 Yeah, vocalist Jimmy is really something else! Love his tambers and the emotional qualities are out of this world (or rather very "rooted" with a very sincere and genuine feel). The musicianship overall is flabbergasting. Not only technically (where drummer Johan sticks🥁out a bit) but in the creative choices! Ah, the "RUSMTSIM-code" Never solved it myself through years of listening. I think it was Jim Newstead who solved it when he also did the album on my request (less queue 😁) : It's the "chorus" (repeated lyric) sentence "Are you as empty as I am". OF COURSE, so obvious when disclosed 😅 I got more and more amused with every time you "vocalised that sentence", spelling out "a strange combination of letters" 😆 About The Mothership/Moon Over Paris/Howling Owls. Yeah, I always wondered why they split the three piece suite. Drummer Johan just told me (as a reply) that he's unsure as well, and to why songs were placed as they were at the end. Maybe he'll post something about it himself.
Oh WOW! The RUSMTSIM thing is blowing my mind! Like you said, it's obvious when explained. That's really clever. Thanks for the other details too. And I'm glad I wasn't the only one with questions about the ending. I know I can be too critical at times but I also rarely lose so much enthusiasm so quickly on a good album.
@@CriticalReactions Quality wise, I think that the three last songs are great! With another placement (possibly at another album for RUSMTSIM and Pyrrhus) and a different ending to Howling Owls as a closer of the suite and the album, the album feel might have been even better. I do think you'd be more open to the qualities of the songs themselves with another placement. The "intro" to Howling Owls is imo one of the album highlights, together with the GORGEOUS vocal work after ❤ But you had just taken in A LOT - and were perfectly satisfied after Moon Over Paris, so....
it amazes me how so many modern post hardcore or psychedelic or even avant garde genres are influenced by mars volta in such a way that you can recall these moments from only a few listens!
One of my favourite albums! Chimera is actually one of my favourite tracks on the album, sorry to hear that's where it started falling apart for you, it sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin to me. I like when songs are totally different but somehow benefit greatly from a full album listen. I don't know what any of it means but it is delivered with authenticity.
Took me a while to get through the whole album but jfc was it worth it!! Such incredible display of skills for a debut album, I was floored from the get go. Vocalist is something else, huh? There were a lot of times I couldn't even pay attention to what all the others were doing, he's that good! Not a 10/10 for me either, though; I wasn't as taken aback by Phyrrus's ending as you (I didn't love it but I also have nothing strong against it - took it as a kind of joke ending). What really underwhelmed me was Chimera. The dissonant contrast of that chorus was too much for me. Without it, I think it would have been a fine, sweet ballad but yeah... Wasn't :( One band I could kinda hear in parts of this was Silverchair, idk if that was the one you were racking your brains about ("90s grungy but not" lmao). Definitely going onto my playlist (minus Chimera, I must confess), and the follow-up albums to my "to-listen pile, pronto"! Thanks for another awesome reaction, Bryan!
Hey :) If you don't mind growl, why don't you record a reaction to the latest album by Polish groove metal band The Sixpounder "Can We Fix The World?" It was an independent band, and their last album was self-produced and it is the best of their entire career. Greetings from Poland 🙌
Hey dude! It’s not often you get to watch someone doing a reaction/analysis video for 3,5 hours ☺️
Thank you! We loved the journey you were on.
As for lyrics. Yep, they will be posted not too far away after this watch. Fans have been wanting lyrics for a while now so we have to put in the effort of just posting them. Hopefully it will get a bit clearer. This our first attempt of being more poetic lyrically and it doesn’t always make sense, but it did for us all those years ago. Pyrrhus would be the most random string of words on the album, as we intended to. Don’t even try to analyze that ☺️
Track placements were discussed and we thought that this would be the best. You can never know in what order an album would flow the best until it’s been out there for a while. Generally you have a feeling puzzling all the tracks together but that might not be the most optimal. We are and were really proud of the debut record sonically and musically and we’re happy that it gets noticed!
Keep on keeping on! And thanks again! 🌋
❤❤❤
Glad to hear you're posting the lyrics. There's some great depth in those and I'm interested in digging deeper into them than I was able to. As for "not always making sense," some of the best art doesn't need to make perfect sense. That allows for interpretation which can sometimes lead to fascinating and powerful combinations of music and lyrics. With that said I'm gonna try my best to understand Pyrrhus simply as a challenge 😄
The track placement thing is expected. And it's quite possible that my criticism regarding the ending is purely a subjective opinion not shared by fans. After all, it's impossible to please everyone so -- like you said -- artists do what feels best at the time and simply hope it's appreciated. And I definitely appreciate all of the work and effort and skill that went into Mask of Air. You guys did a fantastic job on this album and I'm looking forward to digging into your other work.
Have you done the lyrics yet?
I have a ton of the reaction/analysis to watch, but I'm so happy by how much Moon Over Paris floored you! That song is by far my favourite on the album. This is probably my favourite discovery through album club and I'm extremely grateful to Per for picking it. That song in particular has such a strong personality, a life of its own. The lyrics have a ton of great imagery, and one of my favourite lines ever: "when the Moon is over Paris, we all feel the same: love-drunk poets on the starlit rain". It's such a beautifully written song. I think the 90s rock style you're thinking of is some indie/grunge overlap, it feels closer to some more texture-focused band (without getting into shoegaze territory). Maybe some Built to Spill style of indie.
❤
Really fantastic stuff. It's a shame we have no complete lyrics for this album in the usual places, but I did find accurate lyric videos of most of the album on youtube for anyone interested. 6 of them are on the "MtsdrHummingbrd" channel, Moon Over Paris is on a different channel, and the missing songs have the partial lyrics to help with at least. Some evocative lines in there and with the vocals being as emotive as they are, it made for a great emotion-focused second listen.
Thanks a lot Inkie!
hey, you picked up my recommendation =) i havent actually heard this album before. i used to be a music journalist with new prog metal as my speciality. i can recommend a lot of great music from my ten years as a music expert, which also included genres like psych, instrumental jazz, prog rock, and related genres. nowadays im more into electronic and jazz.
I love this album, so excited to dive deep with you!
Good things come to those who wait... 😍
I was in euphoria during most of this video! "He's really, really getting it!"
Some notes:
There was no music realesed under their former name (which might get you even more flabbergasted). The material was all written during the many years up to it - and they just changed their name for the release. They keep releasing albums at a very... low pace... (the sophomore being released in 2016 and the last in 2020 - which might mean.... ⚓&🙏)
Well... There are some sections emulating music from decades ago. Most prominently Tool and The Mars Volta 😁 (which you did pin down at first listen to the first tracks! Also Anathema seems accurate)
But not from half a century ago (like early King Crimson and Genesis)
Yup, drummer Johan Norbäck (also in Diablo Swing Orchestra nowadays) and vocalist Jimmy Lindblad are the only remaining original members.
"Where did you come from, where did you go" Cotton Eye Joe is Swedish as well... 😅 (not the original, but the popularised version)
Post-hardcore unique in prog? *caugh* The Mars Volta *caugh* 😉
Yeah, vocalist Jimmy is really something else! Love his tambers and the emotional qualities are out of this world (or rather very "rooted" with a very sincere and genuine feel).
The musicianship overall is flabbergasting. Not only technically (where drummer Johan sticks🥁out a bit) but in the creative choices!
Ah, the "RUSMTSIM-code" Never solved it myself through years of listening. I think it was Jim Newstead who solved it when he also did the album on my request (less queue 😁) : It's the "chorus" (repeated lyric) sentence
"Are you as empty as I am".
OF COURSE, so obvious when disclosed 😅
I got more and more amused with every time you "vocalised that sentence", spelling out "a strange combination of letters" 😆
About The Mothership/Moon Over Paris/Howling Owls. Yeah, I always wondered why they split the three piece suite. Drummer Johan just told me (as a reply) that he's unsure as well, and to why songs were placed as they were at the end. Maybe he'll post something about it himself.
Oh WOW! The RUSMTSIM thing is blowing my mind! Like you said, it's obvious when explained. That's really clever. Thanks for the other details too. And I'm glad I wasn't the only one with questions about the ending. I know I can be too critical at times but I also rarely lose so much enthusiasm so quickly on a good album.
@@CriticalReactions
Quality wise, I think that the three last songs are great! With another placement (possibly at another album for RUSMTSIM and Pyrrhus) and a different ending to Howling Owls as a closer of the suite and the album, the album feel might have been even better. I do think you'd be more open to the qualities of the songs themselves with another placement. The "intro" to Howling Owls is imo one of the album highlights, together with the GORGEOUS vocal work after ❤
But you had just taken in A LOT - and were perfectly satisfied after Moon Over Paris, so....
it amazes me how so many modern post hardcore or psychedelic or even avant garde genres are influenced by mars volta in such a way that you can recall these moments from only a few listens!
One of my favourite albums! Chimera is actually one of my favourite tracks on the album, sorry to hear that's where it started falling apart for you, it sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin to me. I like when songs are totally different but somehow benefit greatly from a full album listen. I don't know what any of it means but it is delivered with authenticity.
❤️
Took me a while to get through the whole album but jfc was it worth it!! Such incredible display of skills for a debut album, I was floored from the get go. Vocalist is something else, huh? There were a lot of times I couldn't even pay attention to what all the others were doing, he's that good!
Not a 10/10 for me either, though; I wasn't as taken aback by Phyrrus's ending as you (I didn't love it but I also have nothing strong against it - took it as a kind of joke ending). What really underwhelmed me was Chimera. The dissonant contrast of that chorus was too much for me. Without it, I think it would have been a fine, sweet ballad but yeah... Wasn't :(
One band I could kinda hear in parts of this was Silverchair, idk if that was the one you were racking your brains about ("90s grungy but not" lmao).
Definitely going onto my playlist (minus Chimera, I must confess), and the follow-up albums to my "to-listen pile, pronto"! Thanks for another awesome reaction, Bryan!
Hey :)
If you don't mind growl, why don't you record a reaction to the latest album by Polish groove metal band The Sixpounder "Can We Fix The World?"
It was an independent band, and their last album was self-produced and it is the best of their entire career.
Greetings from Poland 🙌