Bird Sounds is a song I really like but when the second verse comes around and the “in the most unusual way” vocal line plays I cringe at the tonality.
i know my love for economic hit man is well documented but god he is straining soooooo hard in the chorus. starting with the "we become" line through "nothing is sacred" he is reaching so hard to hit notes
i dont know how to really pinpoint it but his vocals just sound completely detached from the music for most of the album
and its not something i was aware of until he came out about his struggles but its something i really do notice going back after hearing anthony talk about his own problems with the album
I like that his snarl or rasp is used sparingly on Amulet. Thats the way it works best. That bridge on At Night is sweet. He had been leaning on it too much the 2 prior albums.
Juturna to me will always be the most impressive vocal performance I’ve ever heard on an album. It came out during a time when all of the bands in the scene were seemingly trying to outdo each other with how high they could go and this no name band comes out of nowhere (sort of) with a vocalist singing a minor third above what everyone else considered high. Cs and Ds were pretty regular on that album and then he hits the f 5 on act appaled. Just sick. I still listen back to that album and wonder how someone could have sang those melodies. I mean Anthony was even out doing what he did on the saosin ep by a wide margin. Lyrically the amulet May be a bit better tough to tell even juturnas lyrics felt really mature for a debut lp.
I really really adore Anthony’s vocals on Violent Waves. Maybe because of how strained they are at times? I can’t really explain it. But I didn’t even notice until it was mentioned here. So maybe that’s at least part of it.
the snarl actually has some heft and body behind it on the amulet, when he did it on violent waves it was because he HAD to use it to hit higher notes and it wasnt used for actual anger
Everything about Amulet shows restraint and maturity over what they were doing immediately before tbh
i dont listen to descensus enough, but anytime i wanna listen to this band lately its always always always the amulet
Totally agreed. He kinda uses it as a crutch live sometimes too. But obv hes one of the best vocalists ever so whatev.
my biggest problem with descensus remains the production. yip got the amulet right though but descensus just sounds the slightest bit off. like theres not a lot of glue holding everything together whereas the amulet everything's blended together more without being muddy.
The fuckin bridge near the end there with the call and response is genius shit, one of my favorite Circa moments ever
I do have to wonder how Id approach that albums content if I liked the guitar and drum tones remotely at all. Could be a completely different ballgame, who knows. I cant even put a Descensus track in a Circa playlist because the tone is so jarring. The drums especially are egregious.
People complain about the title track off Descensus being too long but honestly it's so engrossing to me. I can be sitting there listening and then just stop doing what I'm doing to listen to those last 5 minutes and then the song is over and it's like no time passed at all