The Faceless
Was it Rhianna that said it best when she spouted the following profound utterance:
‘Come Mr. DJ song pon de replay’
Well no. Obviously it wasn’t but the point stands. Replay value in songs, and more to the point, replay value in albums is a priceless quality but one that is almost impossible to asses without the passage of time. Something the internet generation don’t have time for. They need quick points of reference in order to create new memes, find more imaginative places to put holes in their bodies to compliment their latest poorly placed tattoo and take copious amounts of light drugs and brightly coloured alcoholic drinks.
All I’ve achieved with the last few sentences is to show my own age and miserable character. Which is fine but totally beside the point. The point I’m edging slightly closer to by the second like the awkward charmer I am though is surrounding the replay value of many modern artists. This whole idea was brought to mind by the release of the rather stunning new music video by The Faceless for the track ‘Deconsecrate’ from the band’s latest album ‘Autotheism’.
The track is brilliant and, more to the point, the album itself is genuinely impressive. It’s a real step forward for the band musically and develops their sound to a much more textured sonic pallet when compared to their modern death metal peers. I listened to the album repeatedly during my review of it on its release late last year. My praise of the record was considered and I think well deserved. I stand by it. But I haven’t listened to it in it’s entirety since then. In fact, I’m not sure I listened to a single track off the record in its entirety since then until the video dropped and reminded me as to the band’s genuine quality.
Of course you could take the point of view that it is somewhat too early to really asses the albums replay value since it is still so new a release. On the other hand I maintain that an albums immediate replay value is found within the first few months of your possession of it. If its only a few listens in that short a period while its new and fresh and still not disgusted by the sight of your naked body then chances are its not going to put out more as time goes on.
So what’s causing the lack of replay value for me when it comes to this album in particular? Because now I consider it its a parallel with many albums released over the last few years that I do sincerely highly rate but rarely listen to. Is it a sign of the times? I’m tempted to say no because genius though he is, Prince has never proven himself to be quite that clairvoyant. On the other hand can you really doubt a man with facial hair THAT well maintained?
Is it the quality of the songs on the album? I certainly can’t say that it is. Sure they’re reasonably complex pieces of often darkly aggressive music but instrumentally the band are as tight as they come and everything is well paced throughout. To again compare them to their modern death metal peers, the band are exhilarating and a breath of fresh air. The long songs and their odd structures and ebb and flows between progressive moments and the straight ahead traditional death metal elements could be off putting for some but I revisit the entirety of the Faith No More back catalog nearly daily and they provided a much more edgy and mind fuck of a combination of sounds than The Faceless ever have and probably ever will.
Is it the album’s production? Are we just more likely to listen to stuff that sounds big, polished, sexy and other such positive things because its easy and fun ? I can’t say so. Sure, I feel the band’s drum sound suffers from feeling incredibly digitized and there could be more weight and depth to the mix but it is in no way a chore to listen to from a purely sonic perspective as opposed to a artistic one. As modern metal productions go you can’t really fault it. Given the amount of time I spend re listening to the debut record from Alexisonfire, which sounds like it was recorded with the microphones inside of someone’s ass, I can’t see it being a production issue either.
A lyrical issue perhaps? Do I simply not relate enough to the content of the record to feel the need to revisit it? Nonsense. The side effects of my degree in Philosophy include a predilection towards discussion of matters political, moral, ethical, religious and all the other big boy words. It is almost certainly why so many girls don’t want to sleep with me. The Faceless tackle the religious matters in their own way, which in some ways I may view as simplistic in the grand scheme of the complexity of the issue, which is interesting and is at least self aware enough to not proclaim itself as the truth. It makes a welcome change from fantasy writing, gore & horror based lyrics or over exaggerated emotive or ill informed political attempts in the lyrical content in much of the sphere heavy music. Regardless, I constantly find myself listening, and dancing like a champion believe it or not, to ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds’ by Justin Timberlake and though he is a master of sexual groove and satisfying pop he is no lyrical genius. It can’t be a relation thing either then.
Regardless as to the quality of the songs is it maybe the musicality? Sure there are plenty of clean vocals, pristine guitars and the odd saxophone on this record but those death metal segments are intense and brutal. They can be pretty heavy going, if you’ll excuse the pun. Could it be that? iTunes lists one of my most played albums as ‘Jane Doe’ by Converge. Abrasiveness clearly is not an issue when it comes my desire to digest particular pieces of music again and again.
The fact of the matter is that after careful consideration I cannot pin down in the slightest what makes me not play this genuinely great album more than I have. Its not the songs, its not the production, I can easily relate to the band on a lyrical level and the musicality isn’t an issue in the slightest. So what it is? I don’t have the answer really. I don’t know that I ever will. The fact of the matter remains though that upon inspection of my iTunes very few releases past 2010 receive consistent replay. Which makes me feels almost guilty because given the over saturation of the scene these days from label releases and independent releases alike albums of this quality deserve more recognition in the long term than this.
Is it simply that they literally don’t make them like the used to? Or am I just becoming a jaded old man who is clinging to the soundtrack of his youth?
I conclusion I might have to say Prince was right. The replay value of so many contemporary albums is simply a sign of the times. Other than that whole the internet is a passing fad thing he’s been pretty on the money so far.
When in doubt listen to Prince. But don’t forget bands like The Faceless. They deserve it too.
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C.McMillan
postmanblog.wordpress.com 