
You know, I've been sort of conflicted about the multiple directions metal has gone as of late -- none of which involve much of a focus on basic songcraft. It's probably just because I came of age back in the early '90s. Back then, loud rock bands threw a bit more vocal melody and track diversity onto their records, a lot of which has seemingly now been replaced by a monolithic blaaaargh of chugging riffs and white noise screamitude. I can't remember the last time I've walked away from seeing a new heavy band thinking, "Man, that song's going to be stuck in my head all day."
On the other hand, it's also been getting way more psychedelic, so there's that. Not that there's much songcraft on an album like
The Valley Path, as that's kind of tough when there's only one song. See, it's for people with long attention spans – people who can eat an orange and feel like they're taking a trip through a citrus mountain.