Titan was not what I was expecting. Mostly, it was because from the masses of nameless and un-listened bands i have in my collection, they had fallen by the wayside. When I actually decided to listen to their newest album, I was expecting some more akin to the psychedelia-tinged stoner rock that I have been listening to recently. Boy was I wrong.
While the group is somewhere in the psychedelic stoner rock universe, they are at a distant end of it, perhaps somewhere between dimensions (to keep this nerdy comparison going). You see, on Sweet Dreams (their second release, I'm going to have to listen to their first now), Titan is downright progressive metal, and 90% instrumental, and it's awesome. In my review of Cloudkicker (and maybe in other places) I stated that I'm not a huge instrumental rock/metal fan due to the repetitiveness and general boredom associated with it. Titan only barely has this problem, and even then only in the last song, "Maximum Soberdrive," and I believe that is only because the song is over eleven minutes long; if it was trimmed a bit it could be another amazing song. The rest of the instrumental tracks are superb, leading to the only other lesser track being the only one with vocals, "Wooded Altar Beyond The Wander," an unusual surprise.
Titan's 2010 release, Sweet Dreams, is an amazing display of instrumental prog done right. They might need to work on their vocals a bit but overall they are superb. These songs are long and, intricate, and simply amazing. I was frying burgers this morning (for breakfast, yes I eat horribly) and jammed out to some trippy space-rock. Made my morning, really.
Stand out songs: "Sweet Dreams," "Synthasaurs," and "Highlands of Orick"
Track Listing
- Sweet Dreams
- Synthasaurs
- Wooded Altar Beyond The Wander
- Highlands of Orick
- Maximum Soberdrive
Thanks for featuring it, a great album. A step up from their previous, more aggressive and maintains the faster pace throughout. With regards to the closing song, I actually don't mind the length, but I feel they could have ended it on a higher note with more buildup there but this is nothing that really impairs my enjoyment of this wonderful release.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the length that bothers me, as some of my favorite songs are 20+ minutes ("2112" and "Thick As A Brick" off the top of my head), but for a long track to be successful, it has to have that little something that carries it throughout. "Maximum Soberdrive" just didn't have that for me (besides the cool name). There were good parts, which is why I feel if they had trimmed it a bit it would have been another amazing song.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I see what you mean about the song.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, have you heard the new Rotor album, 4? Perhaps you mentioned it in the blog and I missed it; Quite good stoner, but with more "umph" and energy than others.
Keep up the great work!
I haven't heard it (it is on my long list of albums to hear), but I believe one of the other guys on here have. I can't comment either way.
ReplyDelete