For Week Ending:
7 September 2024

Smashing Pumpkins - Aghori Mhori Mei (2024)

[Alternative Rock]

And just like that it is 1993 again, and Smashing Pumpkins have released an album that is big and brash and in your face, and bursting with that big rock energy that made the world fall in love with them. Since their return from hiatus in 2007 Billy Corgan has lead the band through many different styles (including 80s inspired electro-pop and multi-volume space operas), with only some albums containing brief flickers of their early 90s distortion and attitude - but it was always just a tease leaving us wanting more. After a number of albums that left most long term fans cold, they have finally hit the mark with Aghori Mhori Mei, and produced something that easily stands alongside past glories. Opener 'Edin' smashes through the silence, and Billy's voice is commanding and adds weight to the music with tight production. 'Pentagrams' carries on the rock, with a crispness to the guitars that cuts like a knife. Leadoff single 'Sighommi' is a great representation of the album's sound, although it isn't the best song on offer here. There are gentler moments of course, like the graceful 'Penetcost', the orchestral backing driving the song forward. But these are few, and bookended with tracks like the pummelling 'War Dreams Of Itself' and 'Sicarus' is the sleeper song of the album, revealing its many layers slowly over multiple listens. 'Who Goes There' sounds like it could have been on any Pumpkins album from the 90's and '999' is dark and brooding animal, that sounds ready to strike at any moment. The album ends with the sombre 'Murnau', but a softer moment is needed to bring the crescendo to a close. More recent fans of the band that prefer their pop leanings may be scratching their heads on first listen to Aghori Mhori Mei, but old time fans will be left with a smile on their faces. Clocking in at 45ish minutes it isn't too long or too short, and it begs to be put on repeat for multipole play throughs. One can only guess what the band may do next?

Release Information
'Aghori Mhori Mei' is the thirteenth studio album by Smashing Pumpkins. The album was written and recorded over a two-year period and is billed as a "rock and roll guitar record".

Edge Of Sanity - Crimson (1996)

[Death Metal]

Straight up, this is an amazing album. Dano Swano is a genius and Mikael Akerfeldt is at his absolute growling and harmonic best. OK, I'll calm now and let you in on a record that is ground breaking. Not so much for its story and versatility in ups and downs in the tempo, but it is a single roughly 40 minute track. That is super hard to do I'd expect - keeping the listener engaged. And this is the beauty of the record. It starts off with hard and heavy approach to the song, followed by quiet interludes. But what is even better, it's not a verse/chorus/verse song. Instead replaced by different musical sounds but still maintain that grounded tempo and sound of the song from the first minute. It is so smart how it deviates away from that, but always brings you back to it eventually. The interludes that have non-growls from Swano are just perfection in their composition and again how this stitches together with the remainder of the song. I don't tend to delve too much into stories behind a song, but with this one I just had to know. A life where civilisation has lost the ability to reproduce, the King and Queen manage to buck this idea and produce a daughter. Mother dies during birth. King brings up daughter until he dies and then all hell breaks loose. You can actually see that in the song as you listen through the various stages. One last point to make - in times where we hardly have time to listen to a full album in a single listen, this album demands you do so, otherwise you won't experience the true masterpiece as it was to be enjoyed.