If there’s been one constant in my life, one consistent thread that connects all the disparate phases that are past mes, it’s music. If you ask me what my most memorable Christmas was, the details are gone, but I very intensely recall getting Electric Light Orchestra’s “Out of the Blue” and Queen’s “News of the World” when I was seven or eight. I keep my earbuds in pretty much all day when I’m coding. Just about every bit of writing I’ve done (especially my screenplays) are done to playlists I construct prior to setting down word one.
I know they say that your music tastes get locked in when you’re in your teens and twenties, and to some extent I can agree with that, but I’ve never stopped seeking out new music. The trick for me is that a) I’m really weirdly picky about what really moves me (extending to vocal qualities, production values, and other niggling details) and b) my primary genre is pretty damn niche (progressive metal ain’t something you stumble across every day — well, not the good stuff, anyway). So, at the beginning of this week, when I stumbled across a review of Wilderun’s “Epigone”, my year was made.
The first thing I actually heard was their cover of Radiohead’s Everything in the Right Place — if it hadn’t been that, I’m not sure that I would have given them a chance. I’ve been disappointed too many times, and it’s made me reticent to check out new bands. But this? One of the most epic covers I’ve ever heard.
It’s faithful to the original, importantly. At the same time, it’s — well, it’s gigantic. Immense. Towering. And it encapsulates the rest of the album. The massive production, with so many things nestled into the mix that you might not notice until subsequent listening, is something that I seek out actively. The seamless shifts between gentle and brutal are both jarring and not. And — most amazingly — they combine so many genres that shouldn’t work together but do. If you told me late last week that I’d be listening on repeat to a progressive metal band that has elements of doom, death, Viking/folk, and symphonic power, I’d laugh, because there’s no way I’d get into that, right?
Right…?
Nope. These guys are mind-blowing. Even the parts of the parts of the album that I know logically I wouldn’t normally like are crucial to the flow of the album. And the lyrics are beautiful, to boot. “She is a mountain / Within a storm / How beautifully weathered / With no effort…”!
Normally, I’m lucky to find a song every four or five albums that give me frisson. Epigone has five that I can actively point out (such as the shift at 4:13 in Passenger).
Point of all this – don’t stop looking for more of what makes you happy. It’s out there, if you’re patient and keep your eyes (or ears) open.