Another rebooting of this blog, Welcome to KJörd's Fjörd!

I first started this blog back in 2015, as a place to post the music reviews I was writing on other websites at the time as well as music reviews that wouldn't fit on said sites. After my writing style had reached a peak in 2018, I took a break from writing reviews for a while and had half-abandoned the blog (called The Wicked Nest, named after the 2014 album by thrash metal band Helstar). I started writing reviews again in 2019 and rebooted this blog for posting both music reviews I had been posting to other sites as well as expanding what I could review (such as comics). I used it for a short time before neglecting it again, though I kept writing music reviews for a while after. 

Now I focus more on my own music and art (under the name KJörd's Fjörd), and decided to reboot the blog under said new name for posting my artwork and sharing my music too. However, I'm really proud of several of those reviews I wrote since last posting that I hadn't ever posted to here, so I will be posting those. Maybe I'll also write some more about music and art that's influenced me, who knows? I kept most of what I had posted after the first reboot as I still enjoy and agree with the writing, and republished some older writings that I enjoy and show my growth as a writer.

Hope you enjoy, and you can check out my own music here: https://kjordsfjord.carrd.co/

Also my friend, who inspired me to make this blog in the first place, makes music: https://sockwind.bandcamp.com/

Mount Shasta - Who's the Hottie?

Mount Shasta

Who's the Hottie?

(1995)

Noise Rock will always be noisy, hence the name, but the levels of noise vary from band to band. Mount Shasta has much of the noise in the vocals, to the point of them being indecipherable yelling with no melody or anything whatsoever. It's best described as what Tad Doyle overdosing on crack would probably sound like. Once you get used to it, they just become part of the sound.

Those riffs though, that's where this album shines like no other. The album is an instant hook, with opener Gimp's riff catching my ear on such a primal level that I knew this was gonna be good. The riffs are of a classic grunge fashion, switching between bluesy metal riffs that Blue Cheer would be proud of and raw garage rock pounding that would make The Stooges take notice. Sometimes it'll go in a more atmospheric drawl in parts of a song to contrast with the bluesy aggression of the rest of the song, which works wonders in Near Famous Jackass and Raw Meat Lincoln Style.

Originally intrigued by the cover art that looks like some obscure 60's cartoon, I found a great riff album. Good stuff.

Nazareth - No Mean City

Nazareth

No Mean City

(1979)

"Call off your dogs for I am no fox"

While Hair of the Dog is probably Nazareth's definitive album, No Mean City is the apex of the Scottish heavy metal band's sound before switching to a more pop rock style in the 80's. No Mean City, while including a few softer rock songs as the band always has, is perhaps the band at their most vicious.

This is heard best in the closing title track, with its menacing atmosphere. McCafferty is at his most aggressive, especially with the caustic delivery of such lines as the aforementioned that opens up this review. That coupled with the proto-black metal rapid atmospheric guitar riffing, makes for an ominous finale. Claim to Fame as well, this time a heavy stomp, is a great surge of anger through song.

Songs like Just to Get Into It and Simple Solution (The latter's probably my favorite on the album) makes me wonder why they dropped the metal come the 80's. Simple Solution especially, sounds like it could've come straight from an 80's metal album. Its infectiously catchy chorus brings it right up there with Saxon and Judas Priest classics as one of metal's best melodies.


Like other late 70's heavy metal albums, No Mean City has a perfect balance between the bluesier 70's with the sound of the beginning of the next decade. One of the band's best, and an end of an era, for the band wouldn't bring metal back into their repertoire until much later.

Powerman 5000 - Mega!! Kung Fu Radio

Powerman 5000

Mega!! Kung Fu Radio

(1997)

"If they ask ya' what, tell'em file under action"

Before Powerman 5000 went in an industrial metal direction, they crafted a unique sound like no other and defined the variety of nu metal at its core. They blended hip hop, their own beatnik-sounding rapping, knockout metal grooves, funky bass, 70's metal style soloing, varied percussion, and more in a seamless mix. Incredibly fun too, perfectly both creative and entertaining.

Mega!! Kung Fu Radio is booming with personality, infectious hooks, heavy grooves, high energy, and Spider One's deadpan delivery of abstract lyricism. What separates Powerman from other rap metal bands is how perfectly they play in both genres. They aren't just rapping over metal riffing, they're blending chunky metal grooves with funky hip hop rhythms seamlessly like they were meant for each other. It's a perfect way to get a metal fan into hip hop, or vice-versa.

I love this whole album, so it's hard to really highlight any particular song, describing the sound as a whole is a lot easier. However, Organizized, 20 Miles to Texas 25 to Hell, Standing 8, and hidden track File Under Action are some particular favorites if I had to choose. File Under Action is the purest hip hop track on the album, with a perfect use of a droning atmosphere and effective placement of guitar riffing and feedback that's made ultra-heavy whenever it appears. Spider One carries great flow throughout the album, but this is among his best performances.

The 90's were an incredibly creative time for music, and Powerman 5000 shows some of the best part of that for both the world of metal and hip hop.

https://rateyourmusic.com/review?id=109151039

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

Soundgarden

Badmotorfinger

(1991)

"I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run."

People will often debate between Dirt and Nevermind as the definitive grunge album, but in my book it'll always be Badmotorfinger. Maybe part of that comes from that fact that I've practically been hearing this album my whole life, but it also defines grunge like no other album. Heavy, dirty, sludgy, it's a massive behemoth of an album, yet also off the cuff and frantic when it needs to be.

Song titles like Slaves & Bulldozers, Searching With My Good Eye Closed, and Room a Thousand Years Wide are not only great titles, but they just bring to mind images of some pummeling force before it's heard in the music. Drawing Flies is as grungy as you can get, bringing the definition of dirty and grimy to its literal form.

It's a perfect showcase of a pure band displaying their talents, no member really outshining (pun not intended) the other. Chris Cornell gives a fiery vocal performance, from the red-faced screaming of Slaves & Bulldozers to the venom spitting of Drawing Flies, he's brings some of the most intense vocals ever put to record. Kim Thayil's signature guitar style permeates the album, with little being as iconic as Rusty Cage's opening riff (especially for anyone who's also played Road Rash). Ben Shepherd's bass licks can be deceivingly insane, particularly on the jagged and frantic Jesus Christ Pose, or helping a lumbering rhythm section (Slaves & Bulldozers again). Last but not least, Matt Cameron's drumming is simply a pounding force that cements each song into your head.

I could go on and on about how fantastic this album is, but I don't want to ramble. It's a genre-defining album, and one of the best metal albums of all time.

https://rateyourmusic.com/review?id=71815024

Live - Throwing Copper

Live

Throwing Copper

(1994)

'Gotta live, gotta live, gotta live, SHIT TOWNE'

Every time there's a popular music scene, other bands popular at the time end up getting lumped in even if they didn't quite fit. Live is one such band, who is often lumped in with grunge acts. While they can get pretty heavy, the closest they get to a real metallic grunge riff is during the bridge of single All Over You.

I've always imagined and described Live as R.E.M. if they had hard rock in their sound. Is it a coincidence that R.E.M.'s Monster of the same year has a bit of a hard rock influence? Who knows, maybe they heard this album and were inspired.

Throwing Copper was Live's breakthrough album, and it's real easy to hear why. Rarely a weak moment, these guys are master songwriters, every song on here is memorable in at least some way. Ed Kowalczyk's powerful and unique voice is definitely a defining feature, and his lyrics are a nice blend of vague spiritual themes and stream-of-consciousness (Think the lyricism of bands like Underworld).

The singles (Selling the Drama, I Alone, Lightning Crashes, All Over You) are all fantastic and well-deserving of their popularity, but deeper cuts from the second half like Shit Towne, T.B.D., Stage, and White, Discussion are among my favorites as well. Shit Towne should be an alt-rock classic, with a great hook that'll stick with you for days. Patrick Dahlheimer plays some great bass in the mellow T.B.D. before it crescendos and the semi-funky White, Discussion. Stage is maybe the song that sticks out the most, fast and heavy, it kind of reminds me of an alt-rock version of W.A.S.P.

Throwing Copper is a classic album in every way. If Document is the peak of 80's alt rock, this is the peak of 90's alt rock.

https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Unitron/rating82034789

Korn - Issues

Korn

Issues

(1999)

"All I want in life is to be happy"

While twenty years later, The Nothing presents itself as perhaps my second favorite Korn album, there's no beating Issues. It's one of those artist-defining albums, emotionally powerful and including everything that I connect with the band.

It's an album drenched in misery and sorrow, both lyrically and atmospherically. The bagpipe intro of Dead perfectly sets the mood, with the unsettling chanting of 'All I want is to be happy' combined with the defeatist lyrics of the rest of the intro. As with most Korn albums, Jonathan Davis' vocal performance really drives the emotions exuded. Somebody Someone and Dirty are a couple of the main highlights on this end.

Along with Godflesh's Songs of Love and Hate, Issues is one of the darkest metal albums I've heard. The two albums are actually pretty similar in some ways. Both are enveloped in this depressive and hopeless atmosphere, yet contrast it with fantastic grooves and hooks that keep it immensely enjoyable in any mood. Falling Away From Me, Beg for Me, Wake Up, and Counting all display this perfectly.

Korn has many fantastic and excellent albums, but Issues stands out as perhaps my favorite. It's one of those albums that just hits the perfect balance of cathartic and catchy.

https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Unitron/rating69481545