Tourniquet - Gazing At Medusa drops Tuesday, October 16...

Bahana wrote:I've only listened to it 1.5 times so far but I think it blows away Onward to Freedom. I can't say it's on the level of Antiseptic so far. I agree about Peaceful Beauty being a stand out track.

Yeah, it's way better than Onward to Freedom, that's for sure. Miles above it.

Comparing to Antiseptic Bloodbath I would say maybe the songs on Antiseptic are more coherent and the changes in the songs are more interesting (for example the change to the melodic part in the middle of Chart of Elements is for me the kind of top notch Tourniquet composition I always expect from Ted and this album lacks that kind of phenomenal changes in songs). But even if they are more coherent I have found myself sometimes skipping the songs "The Maiden Who Slept in the Glass Coffin", "Chamunda Temple Stampede", "Duplicitous Endeavor" and "Carried Away on Uncertain Wings" but with this album I have only grown to want to listen all of the songs again. I feel that although the compositions in Antiseptic Bloodbath are more coherent, I feel Gazing at Medusa is more consistent with its mood. It has its darker tone from the beginning to the end.

Also, I think Antiseptic perhaps was more aggressive in the fastness front. This one has fast stuff too but not quite as aggressive, I think (the small part on Sinister Scherzo is definitely more brutal than anything in Antiseptic but it's too short). The drumming on this album IS aggressive, there's no doubt about it, but the aggressiveness is more in the slower parts. The double bass drumming in this album is super aggressive but I'd love to hear more aggressive fast parts too. I think the most aggressive fast parts on this album are the one part in Sinister Scherzo and near the end of the title track with super fast double bass drums couple with fast snare drumming. But while those are REALLY aggressive parts and some songs have faster parts in them too I would've loved to hear something even more aggressive. It's hard to explain... This album has lots of the fastness of the first half of The Test of Leprosy but not the fastness of the end of the song, or the fastness of Psycho Surgery while I think Antiseptic Bloodbath went there more.

But then again this album has this certain type of aggressiveness I think Antiseptic didn't have. So once I accept I don't get much hyper speed Tourniquet and get only fast and semi fast Tourniquet at some points in the album I can go and appreciate the other type of aggressiveness the album has that the earlier albums didn't have. The double bass work in this album really is maybe the most aggressive double bass playing I've heard from Tourniquet.

Ted, do more Sabbath coves, those are great.

Went through the album listening and reading the lyrics. It's hard for me to focus on lyrics as I have always seen vocals more like one of the instruments and when I try to focus on the lyrics I find it hard to focus on the music.

So now I focused on the lyrics and man those are great. I got really emotional when going through Memento Mori, The Crushing Weight of Eternity and Can't Make Me Hate You, legit tears here.

The lyrics aren't about social issues (except maybe Longing for Gondwanaland goes into racism a bit) but they are from the start to the finish about the human condition in general combining psychology, philosophy and religion deeply rooted in existentialism and gone through in a very personal manner. There is a clear thread of this certain theme that goes through the whole album. It's almost as if it's a concept album. It's the struggle of man, of all men, and where to find peace in the struggle. It's very honest in the bad and very uplifting in the good. It's very inspiring.

Lyrically this album is maybe the most consistent a Tourniquet album has ever been. As I said, it almost feels as if it is a concept album.

I keep wondering what Tim is thinking while he sings, may God use these lyrics to draw him.

Having finally read through the liner notes and lyrics, I think the biggest surprise was how many of the solos were played by Aaron. These are probably the best solos that he's done. I had wrongly assumed that all the leads were Poland's.

Airola wrote:Went through the album listening and reading the lyrics. It's hard for me to focus on lyrics as I have always seen vocals more like one of the instruments and when I try to focus on the lyrics I find it hard to focus on the music.

So now I focused on the lyrics and man those are great. I got really emotional when going through Memento Mori, The Crushing Weight of Eternity and Can't Make Me Hate You, legit tears here.

The lyrics aren't about social issues (except maybe Longing for Gondwanaland goes into racism a bit) but they are from the start to the finish about the human condition in general combining psychology, philosophy and religion deeply rooted in existentialism and gone through in a very personal manner. There is a clear thread of this certain theme that goes through the whole album. It's almost as if it's a concept album. It's the struggle of man, of all men, and where to find peace in the struggle. It's very honest in the bad and very uplifting in the good. It's very inspiring.

Lyrically this album is maybe the most consistent a Tourniquet album has ever been. As I said, it almost feels as if it is a concept album.

I agree on the lyrical direction of the album being fairly consistent, which I think is focused on eschatology - looking at ultimate justice, death, eternity, etc.

uups my post diappeared   

OK "short" notice then:

sound: great
Ted: Superb drumming excellent songwriting

Aaron:is not Eric/Gary but does his best performance ever here, plays all the melodies tight and clear.
          his vocals shine also, his best ever!
Chris Poland: Invested more time and improvement than any other guest lead guitar player since 1996 I guess: Solos with feeling and perfectly fitting!

Tim Ripper Owens: He brought the METAL back with his voice ho heavyness, agressive variety…
                  The best choice to my ears!!! Forcefull and expressive singer!!!


In my opinion but after only two listenings: Best TQT album since 1996 (Pathogenic)

...an my letters also diSappeared 

Sir Shred A Lot wrote:
I agree on the lyrical direction of the album being fairly consistent, which I think is focused on eschatology - looking at ultimate justice, death, eternity, etc.

Yeah, that's part of it. I see the album as the existential struggle of man that we all share, and that always in one way or another deals with eschatology too.

Random great moment:

The Crushing Weight of Eternity
The solo by Poland in the middle of the song is amazingly emotional, but I especially love that tiny little thing he does on the solo at around 3:50. That little four note wailing guitar thing at that exact correct moment just emotionally hits me HARD every time I listen to it now that I've spotted it.


Also a big shout-out to Aaron's solo in One Foot in Forever!

EDIT:
Another shoutout to TED's lead guitar part in Can't Make You Hate Me
Is this Ted's third lead guitar part in a Tourniquet record? Or did he play more of them?

This must have been how Tourniquet fans felt about when Luke took over...

I love all the musicianship to death... but it does not sound right without Luke. I'm sure this guy is a great vocalist on his own but Luke would have KILLED it on all these. Especially the "Voices" that Ted seems to like, as the vocals flip back and forth from singing to speak/yelling.

5/10 for me its just not working.

Gorship wrote:This must have been how Tourniquet fans felt about when Luke took over...

I love all the musicianship to death... but it does not sound right without Luke. I'm sure this guy is a great vocalist on his own but Luke would have KILLED it on all these. Especially the "Voices" that Ted seems to like, as the vocals flip back and forth from singing to speak/yelling.

5/10 for me its just not working.

The "voices" things has been like that from the beginning. First it was Guy and Gary, then it was Luke and Gary, then it was Luke and Aaron, and now it's Ripper and Aaron. As a fun trivia, Aaron was initially auditioning for the vocalist of Tourniquet when Guy left. If Luke hadn't been around maybe we would've had Aaron as the front man of Tourniquet

I've now listened to this album so many times that I don't have any issues with Ripper anymore whatsoever. I've tried to listen to the songs with trying to imagine how the songs would've sounded with Luke or even with Guy. I would kinda see Luke handling some of it pretty well, but I think the skill Ripper has and what Luke lacks is the skill of "dramatic storytelling" with vocals. Luke is a great singer but listening to the details of the vocals in many of these new songs it's clear the vocals often have this special "storytelling" angle to them. So I think that with Luke that's one thing that wouldn't be present in this album. Maybe he would bring some other things Ripper didn't bring, who knows, but I can't imagine Luke pulling of the beginning of The Peaceful Beauty of Brutal Justice quite the way Ripper did. He would handle the part fine and would sing it very well, but I don't think he would be able to give that little extra oomph of drama to it - or at least with the same believability. I think Guy had that skill but I don't think Luke had it. Who knows though, on Antiseptic Bloodbath in the song Flowering Cadaver Luke sounded phenomenal in the "out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing" part and of course no-one else could've done the Vanishing Lessons album as well as he did. Would be interesting to hear Luke-versions of these songs though. I wonder what You Can't Me Hate You would sound with Luke.

While I don't have an issue with Ripper being on the album and Luke gone I kinda still feel as if something is missing. The usual and expected familiarity isn't there and it's hard to completely let go of that feeling. It's kinda like having a new stepfather that feels completely different even though he feels nice. It takes time to get adjusted to that. Yeah, it might've been the same for people when Guy left and Luke joined. When I learned of Tourniquet somewhere in 1994 Guy was already gone and Luke was in and while I had only listened to the Guy Ritter albums and not heard a single thing from Luke I still knew already that there is another vocalist in their newer albums so I guess that was one of the reasons I was able to get into Luke immediately. But then again I was something like 12-14 years old then and didn't really care about vocalists changing but looked at them as more interesting things that just happen in music industry, like when Dickinson left and Blaze Bayley took over Iron Maiden I had no sense and feeling of drama or disappointment (or better and more fitting yet, when Halford left and Ripper took over Judas Priest).

Ted Kirkpatrick wrote:Really cool to read all the comments. Today is the official release day, and the album just went live on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and likely many other stores. People ask what stores our albums are on - just FYI, here's a current list: iTunes, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play, Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Napster, MediaNet, TouchTunes, VerveLife, Tidal, Gracenote, Shazam, 7Digital, Juke, Slacker, KKBox, Akazoo, Anghami, Spinlet, Neurotic Media, Yandex, Target Music, ClaroMusica, Zvooq, Saavn, 8tracks, Q.Sic, Kuack, Boomplay Music, SimfyAfrica.

Also fans have been asking where they can get the lyrics - it's now live on Bandcamp, where you can see all the lyrics and album credits, plus download the full album if you like - here: https://tourniquet.bandcamp.com/album/gazing-at-medusa

Thanks, Ted! Interesting to note that you're one thrash metal drummer who supports Napster   
I'm really digging the album. Thanks for the hard work you put into giving us this album. 

Is no one going to address the elephant (or lack thereof) in the album?

messiaen77 wrote:Is no one going to address the elephant (or lack thereof) in the album?

LOL... nice!

Shhhhhh......

I finally got this via iTunes and gotta tell you I find this album very, very compelling. In fact I may splurge for the vinyl. The songs are well-balanced and I find myself not skipping any tracks. I was so disappointed with the lack of truly awesome tracks on the last two records I bought. Moth and Rust had Ghost at the Wheel. Bloodbath had Temple Stampede and Duplicitous Endeavor. But those records lacked “critical mass” of great tracks, for my taste, and as a result didnt listen to them much. For me, Microscopic View was the last record full of really meaty songs. But man, this Medusa record was so well thought out and executed. The songs are signature Tourniquet. Metal meets classical meets thrash. The lyrics demand close examination. There are tracks here that I would immediately put into a greatest hits play list. Besides the obvious two from the released videos, Crushing Weight and Brutal Justice alone are worth the price of admission. But really I like all of them. The only thing missing is a tenth track...

After several listenings: 25 Years of waiting are over for me

Reasons why the new Tourniquet release is better than any other
album since Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance in 1992.

The same reason why

- Mozart is better than Salieri
- Bachs toccattas and fuges don`t simply horrify
- the latest Megadeth releases are better than the latest of Metallica
- Metal is better than Punk

Gazing at Medusa has: more melodies – more notes on more sheets of music – more emotions
– more variety – more nuances – than any other Tourniquet release since 1993


TED: Songwriting he wrote complex songs full of variety

Aaron: He is playing Teds melodies quite accurate instead of just shredding simple chords.
His best performance ever here.
Aaron vocals: I have never heard him shouting and screaming voluminous like this.

Tim Ripper Owens vocals: He is storytelling like Airola said before, has a great expression,
tremolo and variety in his voice. While others keep singing one note, he is bending for
example three notes. The background vocals ad nice harmonies also.
And I love high pitched screams.

Chris Poland did´t just throw in his skills but also thinking a lot about how his solos
can contribute and support the scructure, feelings and meaning of a song.


I liked the sound of Onward to freedom better because of the shredding guitarsound
but this one is clear and H E A V Y too! Great!


25 Years are over for me. Although the new album will never reach the quality of the
first three Tourniquet classics. Like Heck I like every song of the album.
No fillers, just killers!

Just my toughts: Because of this all it is the best Tourniquet album since Pathogenic to me!

“Gazing at Medusa has: more melodies – more notes on more sheets of music – more emotions
– more variety – more nuances”

WELL SAID!

Been listening to this for a week. Thoughts:

Ripper ends up sounding great across the board, Aaron sounds excellent and would be fine with me as a future lead vocalist. If they went full thrash, he's perfect IMO. 

Songs are better than Antiseptic though I did enjoy that album. Not completely sure on the stop start transitions yet. I know that's a Ted thing but the more smooth transitions sound way better. Some of the pauses make it seem like the song is over.

The Peaceful Beauty of Brutal Justice is musically, lyrically the best Tourniquet song in ages! Can't believe the topic was handled and handled extremely well. Ripper's vocals at the beginning make it a "Hallowed Be Thy Name" type of epic, which I find amazing!

The playing is fantastic from all parties. Love Poland's presence throughout. It's very refreshing to have the cohesive sound throughout.

Though the title track is wonderful and Dean does an outstanding job, it would be great for backers to get a bonus track with Ripper doing the vocals to complete the cohesive nature of the album.

I must say, I was skeptical about this album.  Tourniquet long ago went from a auto-buy to wait and see.  This is a step in the direction I want to hear.  It sounds new and modern, but has many of the elements I love from the first three albums, particularly the vocal styles.

Still waiting on My CD ordered from their website... in the middle of September

mr.electric40 wrote:Still waiting on My CD ordered from their website... in the middle of September

Nobody has received a CD yet, since they're still at manufacturing. Ted has posted a few updates stating that they should be in stock during the first week of November.

Sir Shred A Lot wrote:

mr.electric40 wrote:Still waiting on My CD ordered from their website... in the middle of September

Nobody has received a CD yet, since they're still at manufacturing. Ted has posted a few updates stating that they should be in stock during the first week of November.

Alright, I was curious about the same thing

Voiceless..?