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Review Summary: From stage to album, "Atomos" marks a comeback for A Winged Victory for the Sullen, but is it a worthy one? The album is divided into ten extensively ambient, minimalist neo-classical pieces, all technically titled, "Atomos", with the first, naturally titled "Atomos I" (TRACK 1, 1.75/3), painting an expansive dreamscape through layers of lowtempo sequencers, synthesizers and string sections that immerse listeners, until, halfway through the piece's course, a descent almost to silence comes in, before, with the incorporation of a piano, a slow crescendo emerges, marking the point in which the piece really comes to life, but for only so long. Clocking in at just shy of ten-and-a-half minutes in length, the album's hook is too blasted long, carrying its ambience on and on, until its resonance and, for that matter, immersion value, fade, maybe not to where you completely lose your investment in this truly beautiful, dreamy piece of neo-classical music, but certainly to where you're worn down on a formula that the succeeding shorter tracks all dance around, to one extent or another. So much shorter than "Atomos I", collectively, "Atomos II" (TRACK 2, 2.25/3) and "Atomos III" (TRACK 3, 2/3), both somewhere around the four-minute mark, are somewhat more dynamic pieces that captivate with a bleak, but haunting brood, before culminating with mesmerizing musical awakenings which evoke some sense of great emotional relief and transcendence, with "III", thanks to its incorporation of a piano that occasionally has a little too much crash to blend into the somber subtleties of the string section, being particularly hooking, enough so to compensate for its being more aimless than "II". The avant-garde masterminds that they are, Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltzie, for whatever reason, expend an "Atomos IV" (TRACK 4, 2/3) piece and go straight into "Atomos IV", and if that's not enough of a surprise, the first, say, half of this piece departs from the neo-traditionalist style of the first four movements, with trippy reverbs and delays over a synthesizer ambience and piano that, honestly, don't really carry the pure resonance of traditional instrumentation that ultimately takes over the body of the piece, following a formula that feels fresher from breaking the lovely, but less genuine experimental hooks. The piece does represent a certain shift into more experimental waters for this album, and the seven-and-a-half-minute-long "Atomos VI" (TRACK 4, 2.25/3) further changes up the formula by being distinctly segmented, with an entrancingly minimalist hook, followed by a subtle, but sudden and notable break into a slightly more driving movement, whose tension is finally broken by a slight, crescendoing return to richly emotional ambience that is more playful with rises and falls in its string section in order to further hypnotize listeners.
"VI" remains a little overlong, and its segment shifts are admittedly a little disjointed, but it does change pace a little bit with its episodic structure, rounded out by simple piano taps that dovetail into the true first taste of this showcase, "Atomos VII" (TRACK 1.75/3), which, so much like "I", encompasses particularly dreamy and emotional tones, and beautifully, I might add, but takes way too blasted long of a time to get out very little, kind of abusing a runtime of almost eight minutes to wear you down a bit on the formula again. A distinct departure from this sheer, overwhelming dreaminess, "Atomos VIII" (TRACK 7, 2/3) is a triumphant crescendo, but that's all it is, over the course of five minutes and a quarter, and that's going to provide yet another challenge to one's patience, but those who keep theirs firm are sure to be rewarded by the movement more than they were by "VII". Much more mellowed out, "Atomos IX" (TRACK 8, 2/3) and "Atomos X" (TRACK 9, 2/3) still take a little away from the formula by being more experimental with their minimalism, and effects (That is at least the case with "X", which rounds out with a weird layering of delayed, incoherent voices), perhaps to a fault. Both pieces are beautiful, with impacting moments, but there is some emotional vacancy to their intentionally less focused feel, and that is why being so much more grounded works in the favor of the penultimate track, "Atomos XI" (TRACK 10, 2.25/3), because even though it is a little overlong and more conventional, with an uneven volume in more than a few places, the subtle scope of its emotion is among the more resonant attributes in this showcase altogether. Again, the piece takes a touch too much time to get to its point, but along the way, it enchants, and just before it really begins to get monotonous, it does something rather refreshing to further punctuate its emotional potency, thus making for a piece that is more like what we should be facing throughout this showcase, save some excesses that you won't exactly find in the anti-grand finale, "Atomos XII" (TRACK 11, 2/3), a three-and-a-half-minute-long piece that, in tone and structure, is too minimalist for its own good, although it is nevertheless haunting, even if it has to be in the same vein as most of the pieces in this album.
My big issue with this album is its serious lack of dynamicity, for although I can understand keeping consistent with a certain theme, most all of the pieces run together in their basic theme, and if there are distinctions in the respective tones and structures of the pieces, it's hard to notice, because the overexplored formula is already shy in versatility by its own right. Combining minimalist classicism with highly atmospheric modern ambiences and soundscapes, these pieces all follow a subdued pace and overt atmosphere whose level of tedium all relies on whether or not the tone resonates, for there are a number of pieces whose emotion is true, and whose tone and arrangement are impeccable in their immersing listeners into an architecturally manufactured dreamscape, as well as a number of pieces whose minimalism feels just plain lazy, or at least inspired in all the wrong ways. Good, but grossly overlong and lacking in dynamicity, "Atomos I" and "Atomos VII" are particularly difficult exercises in indulgent atmospherics, while a couple of tricks and other questionable arrangement touches that take you out of a piece's full emotional depth make Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltzie gifted composers all but come off as amateur musicians and limp composers more than sophisticated experimentalists. Of course, we all know better, and in case the talent of this duo slips our mind, O'Halloran and Wiltzie, much more often than not, deliver on meticulous, yet warm and resonant compositions whose emphasis on atmosphere and emotion, when flavored up by creative arrangements, cut pretty deep. "Atomos II", "Atomos VI" and "Atomos XI" are particularly powerful, with "VI", as well as "VIII", ""IX" and "X", being particularly creative, although, to one degree or another, every track on "Atomos" engages as sophisticatedly tasteful and emotionally committed music, even if it can't quite overshadow the monotony.
2.25/4
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Definitely disagree, but you make some good points man. Review reads a bit higher than a 2.5 to me but w/e. Nicely done. Paragraphs are pretty long but that's been pointed out on previous reviews of yours so I'm guessing that's just the approach you're going with :/
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Quit with the huge paragraphs and run-on sentences. Pls pls pls.
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i rarely do this, but neg. this review is a chore to read. your writing has this calculated, indifferent tone much the same as someone reporting the news, but twice as descriptive and with long run-on sentences and awkward transitions. that opening paragraph is a prime example: you storm out the gates without a proper introductory paragraph and immediately talk about the album as though you were dissecting and examining each little insignificant detail about it in a log for a class you don't want to be in. it's not just that, however, i find that, you, like so many others, love to use commas, like they're going out of style.
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The album is divided into ten extensively ambient, minimalist neo-classical pieces, all technically titled, "Atomos", with the first, naturally titled "Atomos I" (TRACK 1, 1.75/3), painting an expansive dreamscape through layers of lowtempo sequencers, synthesizers and string sections that immerse listeners, until, halfway through the piece's course, a descent almost to silence comes in, before, with the incorporation of a piano, a slow crescendo emerges, marking the point in which the piece really comes to life, but for only so long.
1 sentence omg
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there are tons of run-on sentences in this review. and look at those paragraphs. smh
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another nitpick (as pointed out on your previous reviews) is your rating system. your reviews often come across as largely positive, but are rated a bit low. all I really got from this review was that some tracks are overlong and repetitive (I disagree that this is immediately a negative thing though, but oh well), but a bunch of positive things as well.
"yet warm and resonant compositions whose emphasis on atmosphere and emotion, when flavored up by creative arrangements, cut pretty deep"
- as already mentioned, for an album that is apparently very emotional you kinda needlessly pick at minor instrumental stuff that doesn't really seem to be a detriment.
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Jesus Christ, even Rudy would have trouble writing paragraphs this long.
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Gotta listen to this, I'm sure it owns
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why do you rate the individual songs out of 3? (seems like a strange number to pick) and then the overall album is out of 4? (also a strange number choice).
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yah the ratings don't make any sense whatsoever, forgot to mention that
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i don't want to neg because the reviewer has good intentions and shows some promise/enthusiasm for writing. but reviewer, really, you need, how should i say, much more time to, in a sense, develop, your writing style and, more precisely, your sentence, and paragraph, structures.
i'm thinking the reviewer is very young and is just getting to grips with essay-writing and the like, and is excited to practice it. that's all cool. good luck and keep reading other works and practicing your writing skill.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
should prob get around to reading the comments and looking at the constructive criticisms given tho. :3
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yup!
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Sentences drag a bit, but it's not a bad review or anything
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more than just a bit. the overuse of commas is beyond ridiculous.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Allow me to apologize for the jarring first sentence. I do, in fact, write these reviews with introductory paragraphs that provide background information on the artist and, to a certain extent, the album. I started these album reviews on an entertainment-driven community website, Doubletoasted.com, where people aren't as well-versed in these artists as the people here, thus, I have to get them up to speed by retaining the introductory paragraphs. Would you recommend I restore them, or would I just be rambling about stuff that people already know too much about?
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Allow me to apologize for the jarring first sentence. I do, in fact, write these reviews with introductory paragraphs that provide background information on the artist and, to a certain extent, the album. I started these album reviews on an entertainment-driven community website, Doubletoasted.com, where people aren't as well-versed in these artists as the people here, thus, I have to get them up to speed by retaining the introductory paragraphs. Would you recommend I restore them, or would I just be rambling about stuff that people already know too much about?
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tbh, your biggest problem as a reviewer is the run on sentences, fixing that will help with dividing up the paragraphs. Also remove the ratings after each song and don't talk about emotions in songs, I understand what you're trying to say but talking about emotions in songs as if they're integral parts of the songwriting rather than as your own personal reaction is like talking about air and usually comes across as erroneous bullshit. If you can't find a way of describing it, leave it out. You've got good flow and good diction but you need to learn to edit your work.
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even in your comment you are far overusing commas. when i read your writing in my head my inner voice sound like its constantly stuttering and its annoying. find a way to express yourself without the need to throw in these connective clauses every few words. it doesnt have to be ", thus,", it can just be ", thus". you get me? and that applies to almost every single time you use a comma.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
dat wall of text tho
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