Flood - Ripped Into Exile

I've now listened through it twice.

My initial impression was that the first two songs are very promising but the rest don't fulfill those promises. The second time sounded much better.

Polarized had immediately catchy songs with memorable melodies and riffs almost from the beginning to the end, but with this one the only catchy song seemed to be the opening track. I was also wishing for more fast tracks.

With Polarized the only issue was with the drum sound and while some of that is still present in this album too I think the drums sound a lot better here than in Polarized.

The guitar leads are fantastic.

Favourite tracks:
Ripped into Exile
Autopsied Atheism
Others
Can't Undo
Zero Hour

By the way, Darwin's Missing Chimp has an interesting connection to Gary's "anti-christian" years. He had a project called Talking Snakes and one of the songs was called Monkeys in the Family Tree. In this album he has turned that around and has written "There's no monkeys in the family tree"

Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

I just ordered 2 copies today.

Airola wrote:Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

Sometimes the slow-cooker albums have better longevity than immediate ear candy. 

Time will tell… 

At least this album is all new songs. The instrumentals were a bit too much on the debut. One is great, two is starting to push it. Three is typically filler. 

It’s hard to imagine any instrumental topping Viento Borrascoso!

The fast stuff seems to be featured less on this one… I hope they don’t drop them completely on the third album. There should always be at least two or three speedy songs!

It sounds like there is a lot of Racer X influence on this new album. I love it!

I take back what I said earlier. There is about the same amount of aggressive songs as Polarized. 

I think this album is a step up. It flows nicely.

I'm starting to find a lot more to love.

At first Dreamt felt like a skippable track but the really slow part that starts right about in the middle of the song is fantastic!

Guy Ritter sounds great and I really love him in Zero Hour.

TZ75 wrote:

Airola wrote:Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

Sometimes the slow-cooker albums have better longevity than immediate ear candy. 

Time will tell… 

At least this album is all new songs. The instrumentals were a bit too much on the debut. One is great, two is starting to push it. Three is typically filler. 

It’s hard to imagine any instrumental topping Viento Borrascoso!

Orion is my favorite instrumental I've heard

Haven't listened to the entire album yet and honestly the production makes it a bit hard for me (again). Not because it's SOOO bad, but there a couple of problems with the production which are distracting and do overshadow the great instrumental and vocal performances.
It sounds like a solid demo / preproduction and I can hear the potential that this - if mixed differently - would be a much more impressive album.
A lot of the drum parts do sound much more like they were actually played by a human this time. If I would have to guess I would say some parts are programmed, some were played on a midi drum set. It's all samples and this doesn't need to be problematic. But the mix is. F.e. the kick drum sounds very thin while the toms are very loud and bassy. Very imbalanced mix.
The guitars are too fizzy / lacking of low end, the bass is too weak, the vocals are too loud.

I know, this sounds really negative and it's not as bad as my words might sound. I also know that this is self-produced and Flood isn't seeling tons of albums to justify huge production costs. Even cheap, semi pro mixing would cost somewhere between $1500 and $2000. So I fully understand that this might be quite a big investment for an underground band like Flood.
But on the other hand a better mix would help to make this material shine much brighter and would impress more people than just old Tourniquet fans.

If Gary or anybody else reads this: It's not meant to discourage you or put you down. Nobody is born as great producer / mixer / engineer. I struggle for ages to get somewhere with my own stuff sonically. But I know that there are some great musicians and composers behind this project who can deliver a very distinct sound. So the high expectations collide a bit with the mentioned problems. If it would be uninteresting music by inexperienced musicians I wouldn't care so much. 

I think Gary said Bill Metoyer was mixing or mastering this album.

The drums are much better in this album. I remember at least disliking some of the hihats and seems like that's fixed now. The drums sound more punchy too. But yeah, some of the drum fills are very loud compared to the rest. I kind of actually dig some if that but sometimes it sounds artificial. Sometimes it even sounds like the drum fill peaks like a Death Magnetic mix. The ultra fast bass drum parts sound artificial too. But for the most part the drums are much better now.

The bass guitar is weird as in some parts it's loud and you can clearly hear fantastic bass lines, but suddenly in the next part it's hardly audible.

Anyway, the album is great. I think I prefer Polarized, but most of the songs have parts that are just as good if not better than in Polarized.

The chorus of Others is stuck in my head.

Airola wrote:I think Gary said Bill Metoyer was mixing or mastering this album.

I guess he only did the mastering like on the first album. Mastering is just a small portion of the overall sound. It cannot repair mixing flaws. It can only add something to an already good mix.

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

Airola wrote:Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

Sometimes the slow-cooker albums have better longevity than immediate ear candy. 

Time will tell… 

At least this album is all new songs. The instrumentals were a bit too much on the debut. One is great, two is starting to push it. Three is typically filler. 

It’s hard to imagine any instrumental topping Viento Borrascoso!

Orion is my favorite instrumental I've heard

I was actually talking about instrumentals from the Tourniquet alumni. 


Of course Orion is the holy grail of instrumentals!

Gary for some reason is big into digital (artificial) sounds and recording. 

I miss the organic sound of Psycho Surgery and POD.

I don’t mind utilizing some digital FX on guitar, but the drums should be acoustic always! Maybe a tiny bit of trigger on the bass drums… but the snare should be crisp and acoustic.

I have yet to get the physical cd and pop it in my car stereo. I’m hoping I can overlook the sterile aspect.

TZ75 wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

Airola wrote:Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

Sometimes the slow-cooker albums have better longevity than immediate ear candy. 

Time will tell… 

At least this album is all new songs. The instrumentals were a bit too much on the debut. One is great, two is starting to push it. Three is typically filler. 

It’s hard to imagine any instrumental topping Viento Borrascoso!

Orion is my favorite instrumental I've heard

I was actually talking about instrumentals from the Tourniquet alumni. 


Of course Orion is the holy grail of instrumentals!

I'd actually go with Whitewashed Tomb for that

But I will say that Viento Borrascoso is the best instrumental on Psycho Surgery

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

Airola wrote:Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

Sometimes the slow-cooker albums have better longevity than immediate ear candy. 

Time will tell… 

At least this album is all new songs. The instrumentals were a bit too much on the debut. One is great, two is starting to push it. Three is typically filler. 

It’s hard to imagine any instrumental topping Viento Borrascoso!

Orion is my favorite instrumental I've heard

I was actually talking about instrumentals from the Tourniquet alumni. 


Of course Orion is the holy grail of instrumentals!

I'd actually go with Whitewashed Tomb for that

But I will say that Viento Borrascoso is the best instrumental on Psycho Surgery

I like Whitewashed Tomb, but the music and power on Viento perfectly portrays a tornado. It’s the character and feel of the song (rather than technical prowess).

Tobi Elektrik wrote:

Airola wrote:I think Gary said Bill Metoyer was mixing or mastering this album.

I guess he only did the mastering like on the first album. Mastering is just a small portion of the overall sound. It cannot repair mixing flaws. It can only add something to an already good mix.

What you said is correct. 

I think a good mixing is the foundation of a great sounding recording. 

The old saying “you can’t polish a turd” comes to mind if you try to remaster a bad mixing.

TZ75 wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

Airola wrote:Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

Sometimes the slow-cooker albums have better longevity than immediate ear candy. 

Time will tell… 

At least this album is all new songs. The instrumentals were a bit too much on the debut. One is great, two is starting to push it. Three is typically filler. 

It’s hard to imagine any instrumental topping Viento Borrascoso!

Orion is my favorite instrumental I've heard

I was actually talking about instrumentals from the Tourniquet alumni. 


Of course Orion is the holy grail of instrumentals!

I'd actually go with Whitewashed Tomb for that

But I will say that Viento Borrascoso is the best instrumental on Psycho Surgery

I like Whitewashed Tomb, but the music and power on Viento perfectly portrays a tornado. It’s the character and feel of the song (rather than technical prowess).

True. I just love WT's riffs

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

Airola wrote:Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

Sometimes the slow-cooker albums have better longevity than immediate ear candy. 

Time will tell… 

At least this album is all new songs. The instrumentals were a bit too much on the debut. One is great, two is starting to push it. Three is typically filler. 

It’s hard to imagine any instrumental topping Viento Borrascoso!

Orion is my favorite instrumental I've heard

I was actually talking about instrumentals from the Tourniquet alumni. 


Of course Orion is the holy grail of instrumentals!

I'd actually go with Whitewashed Tomb for that

But I will say that Viento Borrascoso is the best instrumental on Psycho Surgery

I hope that wink is because it’s the only instrumental on Psycho! 

TZ75 wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

Airola wrote:Going through the album for the third time. Yeah this gets better each time.

The chorus of Others is one of my favorite parts of the album. Can't Undo is so good too.

Sometimes the slow-cooker albums have better longevity than immediate ear candy. 

Time will tell… 

At least this album is all new songs. The instrumentals were a bit too much on the debut. One is great, two is starting to push it. Three is typically filler. 

It’s hard to imagine any instrumental topping Viento Borrascoso!

Orion is my favorite instrumental I've heard

I was actually talking about instrumentals from the Tourniquet alumni. 


Of course Orion is the holy grail of instrumentals!

I'd actually go with Whitewashed Tomb for that

But I will say that Viento Borrascoso is the best instrumental on Psycho Surgery

I hope that wink is because it’s the only instrumental on Psycho! 

Yes that was the joke lol

After a few spins, I am pretty happy with this record. More of an observation than a critique: On both albums, they come out blazing on the first two songs and then they shift down a few gears for the rest of the album.  Also, didn't Stryper already have a "Do unto others..." on their last album? Not trying to knock it tho. I am happy and feel blessed to witness new Guy and Gary stuff at this time and age.

It could be that they wanted a more organic sound with the bass.  Unless you are using a compressor, you will have differences in volume based on how you note, finger or pick placement, etc.  A compressor will bring everything into the same volume.  That can be great, but you also make it sound more mechanical because a live performance would have louder and quieter parts.

Also, the wrong low pass filter when mixing can keep the bass from cutting through.  Having the input signal wrong can effect it.  There is more to getting a clear sound than just the mixing.  Even the mastering can affect a great mix and ruin it.

For myself, I just hope that the songs are more memorable.  I can't remember a single song from the debut off the top of my head.

What is it, the 6th or 7th spin of the album for me now?
Polarized was an immediate hit for me but this one had to go through several listens to finally click with me.
I'm pretty much completely ok with the drums now. The worst problems with drums in the first album are gone and what artificial feelings are left in this album I kind of dig them. The drum fills and hyper fast double bass drums are SOOO over the top that I kind of like them.

The strength of this album, apart from the 5/5 opening track, is in the melodies (guitars and vocals) and mood building instead of guitar riffs.

I also could live without the first half of Dreamt. But gladly the second half is REALLY good! That part is one of my favorites in the whole album.

While I love Guy's falsettos I think the falsettos in Can't Undo are close to jumping the shark. They remind me of the Holy Danger demos but not in the best possible way like Freeloading Larceny in the last album did. That part is saved by the "I'm drowning out the voices" part because it gives the part an artistic context. That said, Can't Undo is one of my favorite tracks in the album. For the most part it's really beautiful. By the way, if I had to bet on it I would say the music of that track was written by Guy Ritter. There are certain chord progression and melody choices that immediately make me think of Guy.

This album sounds like a mixture of Holy Danger, Echo Hollow, Gary Lenaire's solo work and a little bit of Tourniquet. Echo Hollow comes through a lot and once you know to wait for that and slow down to enjoy that mood, a lot of this album becomes fantastic.

Polarized is a 92/100 album (would be 95/100 with better drum sounds).
Ripped into Exile was initially a 65/100 album but is now an 88/100 album.

My top3 tracks are:
Ripped into Exile
Others
Can't Undo