Circa Survive - The Amulet (September 22, 2017) Album • Page 69

Haha, I think it is. I think I just feel like some of the songs drag just a bit.

The highs on here are great, though. The title track fucking owns, as does Never Tell a Soul.

 

Never Tell a Soul is phenomenal, jammed that a few times cruising around this morning

 

Does anyone know what he says in that “glass arrows esque” bridge

 

Also I am really starting to understand what Anthony meant when he said he was "possessed" by this record. Like the groove on Premonition is so commanding and when you really pay attention to this record, it's like all wide-eyed and "ooooooh daaaaaaaammmmmn"

 

Like the "we don't give a shit" part?

 

We don't pray cause we don't give a shit, we won't beg, no, we won't pray

 

Nice. Couldn’t tell if it was pay or pray.
Interesting.

 

ive spent more time with this. it fuckin rules.

 

This album is super catchy, I constantly have parts stuck in my head.

 

Yeah on first listen I thought this was a little more meandering and not as catchy as their other stuff but the more I listen the more it sticks. These guys are pros

 

yuhhh

 

rules

 

This is their best output since OLG. Love the bass lines throughout. They dual the guitars when needed. And Ant pulled out some great melodies and vocal tricks.

 

I agree with everything you said except the "great melodies" part, and the "their best since OLG". The bass lines are great, the guitars are great, the songs sound good(minus the Yip production), anthony has some cool vocal tricks, etc.

But I really dont think he does anything very interesting on here melodically. He's definitely done more off-the-wall-, interesting, vocals on previous songs imo. That's actually one of the negatives for me on this album.

And the "their best since OLG" part; I feel like everyone says this anytime a new Circa album comes out honestly. It's the go-to praise, or statement, for them when an album launches. I remember being on this site when Descensus released and seeing tons of posts saying the same thing. I actually remember the same about VW too, because so many people thought BSN took a more poppy route.

I still have no clue where I sit with this album. It's never taken me this long to feel out a Circa album haha. The production, somewhat generic lyrics(though I do like how they're more abstract), and expected melodies, are holding it back for me. I think this might be their worst imo.

My order is still:

OLG=Jut > BSN > VW=Dec > Amulet.

That being said, even the worst Circa album is still very good by normal standards.

 

I don’t get the yip dislike. But enough people feel that way that I think it is valid.

I think it’s the best since OLG because...

BSN was too straight forward for me. Everything felt like it was refined to a point where the songs had too much of a rock structure (I have a similar criticism for the new Thrice record)

VW has some standout tracks and moments but overall felt like more of a miss than hit for me. Love the longer opener and closer. Really liked the slower tracks (suitcase and think of me) and blood from a stone has one my favorite choruses from them. The middle section of lottery, my only friend, and phantasmagoria really lose me though. Overall lyrically one of my least favorite things anthony has put out.

I really liked descensus but the record is more prog/heavy then what I’m always in the mood for. Schema beats you over the head, child explodes, only the sun doesn’t let up, and the title track drones...not bad at all just not always what I want to hear.

The new one flows really well for me. I’ve listened prob 20+ times at this point and the only song I don’t love is Rites. Everything else so far feels like the band knows when to take turns and when it makes sense to show off.

Overall I’m really surprised by this release and am amazed this band caught me off guard with LP6.

 

I don’t know enough about melody to state why I enjoy them. But I find more on this record sticking with me then the last few.

Ex: the ending of the chorus in stay

 

The production is a little too muddy for the dual guitars to always come out but everything else sounds good right now. And these are maybe Anthonys best lyrics.

 

I have a friend whose been a fan of the band since the beginning with me, really can't get into the album bc of how buried the vocals are. One thing he doesn't understand when you have a singer this good why not put him up front. I tend to agree but it doesn't effect how I enjoy the album, to me it's still a middle circa record 3rd or 4th.

 

I've been really digging this. Easily their best since BSN. So much cool stuff being done on this album.

 

Anthony not doing anything interesting melodically seems like an odd criticism. That's one of the key elements I feel is clearly better this time than Descensus and VW. NTAS, Premonition, Stay, The Hex... all those feel much more like the early days, as far as vocal melodies. Of course, there are also a few newer-style Circa tracks that are fairly straightforward and boring... but those seem to be the ones everyone's listing as their standouts so far, so I'll refrain from further comment lol.

I think the second verse of NTAS is where it really hit me on first listen that Anthony was taking the vocal melodies more seriously than the past few records.

 

Imo Anthony, while one of my favorite singers of all time, sounds best buried a bit. His voice rises out of anything like a triumphant phoenix. So when it's on top of everything, like in bsn, it just sounds wrong.

 

I need lyrics on this thing

there's something about a garden snake or some shit in Flesh and Bone

 

One of the things I love about the album is that the rhythm section is pushed a bit closer to the forefront

 

I think there are some great vocal melodies on this album. At one point or another, a part of every one of these songs has been stuck in my head.

 

These songs groove so expertly. They ebb and flow organically like their early work did, it feels like they breathe. That's what drew me to them in the first place. Feels very fundamentally different a lot of the time by comparison to the albums directly before this one.