In what seems like an endless sea of reaction channels I enjoy your format best. I love how you break down the musical composition and are able to recognize and educate us novices on the structure and instruments. Much love!
I haven’t listened to the whole Mara Effect, just part 1, so it’s very cool to experience it with you and explaining all the time signatures and the sincopations that happen throughout it all. A very nice reaction and review, keep the grind man.
You are spot on with the analysis. Mike is consciously throwing less into tracks these days having been sole writer originally and putting everything he could into early releases - almost "there's a gap I need to fill" mentality.....though nailed it still most of time all the same. Watching them transform over time is wonderful and bodes very, very well for their options going forwards......
Great analysis, I've enjoyed listening to your take. Regarding Holy Roller, they've stated in an interview that it's more of a pallet cleanser rather than a song that defines the overall character of the upcoming album.
One of my biggest growing pains as I've gotten older has been that prog metal has a bad habit of just stringing riffs together that never repeat and by the end of the song you cannot remember what all happened. Individually the sections are cool and its technically impressive its just not memorable. I've really enjoyed the way the members of Spiritbox have grown from their own time doing that and are now writing music that has hooks and choruses and memorable vocals to make it more relatable and impactful. I can't remember when I heard it but in an interview well over a year ago they said that they went from writing complex metalcore (listening back to Mike's work in Fall of Archaea or IWABO) to essentially "mature metalcore" because this is what resonates with them now. I really enjoy this approach because it mirrors my own musical journey from being young and always needing heavier, faster, and more complex metal to going back and hearing records that I just didn't care for when I was 18-22 because they were "too soft" or "simple" but now really hit me hard. A great example of this for me is Poison the Well. In my high school years (2000-2004) I wore out my copies of their classic "The Opposite of December" and "Tear from the Red" which were definitely METAL only for them to release "You Come Before You" and there were only a handful of breakdowns to be had and the gain on the guitars had been turned down and the drumming had little double bass and immediately I lost interest and stuck it in my cd wallet to forget about it. But as a 30+ year old coming back to the record I immediately felt like the record was "heavy" in an emotional way that made it just as bruising and crushing as their previous records. The vocals in songs like "Meeting Again for the First Time" had so much HURT in them...the lyrics were bittersweet. It was a record for people who had seen and felt some shit and needed to get it off their chest. That new sound...that mature and weary tone resonated so much more after a decade of my own losses and struggles that I haven't put it down since. I'm excited for the new Spiritbox record which they swear they wanna get out this year and I hope they continue to hone this new sound. If it's anything like Constance, Rule of Nines and Blessed Be I'll be thrilled.
Really interesting to hear your take on PTW because I had kind of the opposite experience with them. You Come Before You is one of the quintessential early/mid-00s era post-hardcore records and it helped set me onto Thrice, Finch, Underoath etc. I first heard Ghostchant on some random music magazine compilation CD (probably Kerrang!) as a 13 year old, went out and bought YCBY straight away, had it on repeat almost constantly, then I went to check their back catalogue and was really disappointed in it. Even as I got more into metalcore I still never really had a relationship with those first two PTW albums, it was only re-visiting them a couple of years ago in my late 20's that I really 'got' the sound and could hear its influence in other bands. There're a few newer bands kicking around doing a bit of a revival of it too, most notably Boundaries, which is pretty cool.
@@sockwithaticket oh man yeah I definitely had a bad phase in my late teens early 20's where I was always wanting music to get heavier, faster, more chaotic until I burned out really hard when I was listening to Ion Dissonance, Braindrill, and Beneath the Massacre type stuff. Just got to be too much and wasn't making me feel anything other than "oh thats a cool riff". Not that there's anything wrong with it...its technical mastery personified. It just wasn't what resonated with me anymore.
@@thewaxbiscuit Ha, my parents raised me on Motown/Stax and I accidentally stumbled into pop-punk by myself around 11 or 12. Somehow I got from there to Rolo Tomassi being my favourite band and genres with a -core suffix being the mainstays of my listening habits. We certainly travel interesting roads!
Mike has stated that the 1st EP (which this 3 parter comes from) was heavily influenced by the band Tesseract, who he was listening to all the time when he wrote it. As a result its much proggier than the stuff they're putting out now which as you've noted is a much more refined sound these days. been listening since the 1st EP so I do kinda miss the proggy stuff but the new music is still amazing
Great video! I remember when I first heard this it really reminded me instrumentally of Tesseract, and as such got me right into Spiritbox :) I'm glad that they have deviated from the more 'obvious' influences and really diversified their sound but honestly I'm just a huge fan of everything they've put out. So excited for their future.
![Meshuggah - "I" | I get SLAMMED for 21 minutes straight [REACTION + REVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MemAa5EFOCc/mqdefault.jpg)
The BEST of 2020 playlist is complete!
open.spotify.com/playlist/7zDaxTMtK01uhqDbgepZr1?si=RoyB7o0vROKq3Dg5XbYHgQ
I'm glad to see you reacting to this trilogy! Easily one of my favorite performances ever, personally.
I appreciated hearing your analysis!
In what seems like an endless sea of reaction channels I enjoy your format best. I love how you break down the musical composition and are able to recognize and educate us novices on the structure and instruments. Much love!
Thanks, you're a sweetheart. Comments like that make my day.
I haven’t listened to the whole Mara Effect, just part 1, so it’s very cool to experience it with you and explaining all the time signatures and the sincopations that happen throughout it all. A very nice reaction and review, keep the grind man.
damn you have such good analysis, we gotta pump your channel up chat leggo
You are spot on with the analysis. Mike is consciously throwing less into tracks these days having been sole writer originally and putting everything he could into early releases - almost "there's a gap I need to fill" mentality.....though nailed it still most of time all the same. Watching them transform over time is wonderful and bodes very, very well for their options going forwards......
Great analysis, I've enjoyed listening to your take. Regarding Holy Roller, they've stated in an interview that it's more of a pallet cleanser rather than a song that defines the overall character of the upcoming album.
One of my biggest growing pains as I've gotten older has been that prog metal has a bad habit of just stringing riffs together that never repeat and by the end of the song you cannot remember what all happened. Individually the sections are cool and its technically impressive its just not memorable. I've really enjoyed the way the members of Spiritbox have grown from their own time doing that and are now writing music that has hooks and choruses and memorable vocals to make it more relatable and impactful. I can't remember when I heard it but in an interview well over a year ago they said that they went from writing complex metalcore (listening back to Mike's work in Fall of Archaea or IWABO) to essentially "mature metalcore" because this is what resonates with them now. I really enjoy this approach because it mirrors my own musical journey from being young and always needing heavier, faster, and more complex metal to going back and hearing records that I just didn't care for when I was 18-22 because they were "too soft" or "simple" but now really hit me hard. A great example of this for me is Poison the Well. In my high school years (2000-2004) I wore out my copies of their classic "The Opposite of December" and "Tear from the Red" which were definitely METAL only for them to release "You Come Before You" and there were only a handful of breakdowns to be had and the gain on the guitars had been turned down and the drumming had little double bass and immediately I lost interest and stuck it in my cd wallet to forget about it. But as a 30+ year old coming back to the record I immediately felt like the record was "heavy" in an emotional way that made it just as bruising and crushing as their previous records. The vocals in songs like "Meeting Again for the First Time" had so much HURT in them...the lyrics were bittersweet. It was a record for people who had seen and felt some shit and needed to get it off their chest. That new sound...that mature and weary tone resonated so much more after a decade of my own losses and struggles that I haven't put it down since. I'm excited for the new Spiritbox record which they swear they wanna get out this year and I hope they continue to hone this new sound. If it's anything like Constance, Rule of Nines and Blessed Be I'll be thrilled.
Totally with you on that dude. The inexperience of youth!
Really interesting to hear your take on PTW because I had kind of the opposite experience with them. You Come Before You is one of the quintessential early/mid-00s era post-hardcore records and it helped set me onto Thrice, Finch, Underoath etc. I first heard Ghostchant on some random music magazine compilation CD (probably Kerrang!) as a 13 year old, went out and bought YCBY straight away, had it on repeat almost constantly, then I went to check their back catalogue and was really disappointed in it. Even as I got more into metalcore I still never really had a relationship with those first two PTW albums, it was only re-visiting them a couple of years ago in my late 20's that I really 'got' the sound and could hear its influence in other bands. There're a few newer bands kicking around doing a bit of a revival of it too, most notably Boundaries, which is pretty cool.
@@sockwithaticket oh man yeah I definitely had a bad phase in my late teens early 20's where I was always wanting music to get heavier, faster, more chaotic until I burned out really hard when I was listening to Ion Dissonance, Braindrill, and Beneath the Massacre type stuff. Just got to be too much and wasn't making me feel anything other than "oh thats a cool riff". Not that there's anything wrong with it...its technical mastery personified. It just wasn't what resonated with me anymore.
@@sockwithaticket everyone's musical journey is different. I went from Oasis to In Flames. Explain that!
@@thewaxbiscuit Ha, my parents raised me on Motown/Stax and I accidentally stumbled into pop-punk by myself around 11 or 12. Somehow I got from there to Rolo Tomassi being my favourite band and genres with a -core suffix being the mainstays of my listening habits. We certainly travel interesting roads!
Mike has stated that the 1st EP (which this 3 parter comes from) was heavily influenced by the band Tesseract, who he was listening to all the time when he wrote it. As a result its much proggier than the stuff they're putting out now which as you've noted is a much more refined sound these days.
been listening since the 1st EP so I do kinda miss the proggy stuff but the new music is still amazing
Great video! I remember when I first heard this it really reminded me instrumentally of Tesseract, and as such got me right into Spiritbox :) I'm glad that they have deviated from the more 'obvious' influences and really diversified their sound but honestly I'm just a huge fan of everything they've put out. So excited for their future.
Fully agree, I'm liking where they are headed, it's a more unique sound.
time to binge watch
Goosebumps and smiles through the trilogy. especially pt3. Every. Fucking. Time.
Finnaly
Lol. To be honest I started a reaction to it a couple of months ago, but I wasn't in the right mood and had to stop.
ahhhhhhhh love this
Welcome to 21st century counterpoint. Glad you liked this one... keep going with them.