Flood - Polarized (ex-tourniquet Gary Lenaire, Guy Ritter, Erik Mendez) PREVIEW VIDEO available

TZ75 wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:I bought this and ripped it to my computer and still haven't listened to it.

Why?

Drawnsword wrote:There powerful songs on this album!

I don't know why I hadn't listened to it.  There were other things that I wanted to hear more, I guess.

I finally gave it a spin yesterday.  I don't know why I am wired the way I am or why I prefer one thing to another, but I can say that this album really didn't rock my world.  I actually got bored and turned it off around track 7 or 8.  I will give it another try, but I am thinking that this just isn't for me.  But, I should have expected that since I am not a fan of the first three Tourniquet albums, and this definitely feels like those releases.

So, they might be powerful songs to some, but they just didn't excite me.  "To each, his own!" said the man as he kissed the purple cow.

alldatndensum wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:I bought this and ripped it to my computer and still haven't listened to it.

Why?

Drawnsword wrote:There powerful songs on this album!

I don't know why I hadn't listened to it.  There were other things that I wanted to hear more, I guess.

I finally gave it a spin yesterday.  I don't know why I am wired the way I am or why I prefer one thing to another, but I can say that this album really didn't rock my world.  I actually got bored and turned it off around track 7 or 8.  I will give it another try, but I am thinking that this just isn't for me.  But, I should have expected that since I am not a fan of the first three Tourniquet albums, and this definitely feels like those releases.

So, they might be powerful songs to some, but they just didn't excite me.  "To each, his own!" said the man as he kissed the purple cow.

Well tracks 7 and 8 are the exact screech-to-a-halt moment on this otherwise very good album. I had the same initial reaction. I had to listen to it about 3 times before I knew what I was hearing. WAY too much hype and historical precedent so I was expecting the moon. 

The album starts and finishes strong.

Got my physical CD the other day.

Not showing the lyrics to Freeloading Larceny was a great idea!
I had heard the lyrics aren't printed in this release so I thought they just aren't there and that's it.

Now that I got to look at the covers and the lyrics, I saw there's a few lines of the lyrics and then they fade away until nothing is shown anymore.

The song's title in full is "Freeloading Larceny (Freedom Fading)", and the lyrics are very critical about the current trend of a certain type of socialism. The lyrics also defend "trump's wall" saying walls exist so that freedom can succeed. Basically the lyrics are something that the modern day "leftists/socialists/whatever" would probably like to erase from existence. It's a work of genius to show the possibility and danger of censorship of certain political ideas by certain political groups.

My favorites are Destiny, War in the Sky and Stop the Bleeding. I don‘t hate the rest tho. I like the mellower mid section cuts Darfur, Polarized and the Last Ride, with In Remission as a nice intro to The Last Ride. 

Biotech Babylon and Freeloading Larceny are cool but less convincing and the Four Seasons doesn‘t do much to me as I don‘t know the original. I‘ll recognize it‘s great musicianship. But it‘s the only cut I skip sometimes.

Raegoul wrote:My favorites are Destiny, War in the Sky and Stop the Bleeding. I don‘t hate the rest tho. I like the mellower mid section cuts Darfur, Polarized and the Last Ride, with In Remission as a nice intro to The Last Ride. 

Biotech Babylon and Freeloading Larceny are cool but less convincing and the Four Seasons doesn‘t do much to me as I don‘t know the original. I‘ll recognize it‘s great musicianship. But it‘s the only cut I skip sometimes.

I respect your opinion… but you being a Believer fan, I would have thought you would like Biotech Babylon. It’s aggressive and somewhat (outside the box) like Believer would do. The contrast of the fast and heavy with the colorful noodling is exactly what I would expect from a prog/thrash song.

TZ75 wrote:

Raegoul wrote:My favorites are Destiny, War in the Sky and Stop the Bleeding. I don‘t hate the rest tho. I like the mellower mid section cuts Darfur, Polarized and the Last Ride, with In Remission as a nice intro to The Last Ride. 

Biotech Babylon and Freeloading Larceny are cool but less convincing and the Four Seasons doesn‘t do much to me as I don‘t know the original. I‘ll recognize it‘s great musicianship. But it‘s the only cut I skip sometimes.

I respect your opinion… but you being a Believer fan, I would have thought you would like Biotech Babylon. It’s aggressive and somewhat (outside the box) like Believer would do. The contrast of the fast and heavy with the colorful noodling is exactly what I would expect from a prog/thrash song.

Good point. As stated above I certainly don‘t hate the song. Also my favorite Believer record is Extraction and my favorite songs are Shadow of Death on Extraction and Nonpoint on Sanity Obscure, i.e. the straightforward thrashers rather than the complex tunes on Dimensions.

TZ75 wrote:Is Heaven’s Metal or any other review site gonna interview the band? It’s strange how silent they have been since the release of the album. It would be nice to hear from them and get some info on upcoming plans.

Looks like someone was listening…


https://heavensmetalmagazine.com/index.php/2022/02/16/flood-pulverized/

TZ75 wrote:

TZ75 wrote:Is Heaven’s Metal or any other review site gonna interview the band? It’s strange how silent they have been since the release of the album. It would be nice to hear from them and get some info on upcoming plans.

Looks like someone was listening…


https://heavensmetalmagazine.com/index.php/2022/02/16/flood-pulverized/

That's a good interview.  I've been itching to hear Gary's testimony.  I would love to hear him spend more time on it and talk about the details of why he left and why he came back.  This could really be valuable, especially for people struggling in their faith.

eatbugs wrote:

TZ75 wrote:

TZ75 wrote:Is Heaven’s Metal or any other review site gonna interview the band? It’s strange how silent they have been since the release of the album. It would be nice to hear from them and get some info on upcoming plans.

Looks like someone was listening…


https://heavensmetalmagazine.com/index.php/2022/02/16/flood-pulverized/

That's a good interview.  I've been itching to hear Gary's testimony.  I would love to hear him spend more time on it and talk about the details of why he left and why he came back.  This could really be valuable, especially for people struggling in their faith.

Maybe he’ll write a new book that corrects the false mindset and disillusionment he had during the first book. His drastic journey will definitely help others that feel lost or they can’t return to the faith.

Also, it was good to read this bit...

The next step for FLOOD is the 2nd record. We are already recording it! Live shows can happen when (if) the pandemic stuff goes away.

Great interview. So good to see Gary back on track. Great to hear this wasn‘t a one off project.

Black Rider wrote:So good to have Mendez back, this sounds great, has some of that classic TQT sound but also adding to it.

My favorite metal band back in the day. Kirkpatrick was a rhythm guitar mentor for me. I'm very much looking forward to this release. Thank for the intro.

TZ75 wrote:

TZ75 wrote:Is Heaven’s Metal or any other review site gonna interview the band? It’s strange how silent they have been since the release of the album. It would be nice to hear from them and get some info on upcoming plans.

Looks like someone was listening…


https://heavensmetalmagazine.com/index.php/2022/02/16/flood-pulverized/

Great interview!
Not only it's good to read some details on the writing and recording process of the album and have Guy Ritter finally being interviewed again (his last interview was way over a decade ago), but it was very touching reading Gary being honest about what happened with his faith. Teared up a bit reading that.

Really glad to hear they are already recording for the next album.

The album really is great. I'm getting more and more used to the drum sounds (listening to it LOUD actually helps quite a bit for some reason) and the more I listen the more convinced I become that most of the songs in the album are at least four star songs. For me, at least Design, Darfur and My Last Ride are five star songs. The only ones that I'd rate under four stars (maybe three or three and a half) are Polarized and Stop the Bleeding. It really is a strong album and not too far away from Tourniquet's best albums.

Curious. Does it differ in composition to that of Tourniquet's former works?

Aryeh Yehudah wrote:Curious. Does it differ in composition to that of Tourniquet's former works?

To my ears about 3/4 of the album is a composite of the first three TQT albums.

Out of curiosity, how has this album held up over the past 10 months for everyone? I’m just wondering if the initial excitement has waned or if it’s still high. 

Gary’s return to the fold is one of the most encouraging things in Christian metal in a very long time.

Pethead wrote:Out of curiosity, how has this album held up over the past 10 months for everyone? I’m just wondering if the initial excitement has waned or if it’s still high. 

Gary’s return to the fold is one of the most encouraging things in Christian metal in a very long time.

I still like it the same. It’s not perfect… but it’s a major leap beyond Echo Hollow musically (and of coarse the miracle of Gary’s return to Christ)! 

I have a good feeling that things will get even better!

Pethead wrote:Out of curiosity, how has this album held up over the past 10 months for everyone? I’m just wondering if the initial excitement has waned or if it’s still high. 

Gary’s return to the fold is one of the most encouraging things in Christian metal in a very long time.

I feel pretty much the same way I did at first. If they took out the three instrumentals, the title track, and My Last Ride and released it as an EP, I would have liked it more. Not bad overall though and I look forward to what's to come.

Regardless of their past issues, I hope Flood dedicates the next album to Ted’s memory.

TZ75 wrote:Regardless of their past issues, I hope Flood dedicates the next album to Ted’s memory.

Agreed.

CrimsonWarrior wrote:

Pethead wrote:Out of curiosity, how has this album held up over the past 10 months for everyone? I’m just wondering if the initial excitement has waned or if it’s still high. 

Gary’s return to the fold is one of the most encouraging things in Christian metal in a very long time.

I feel pretty much the same way I did at first. If they took out the three instrumentals, the title track, and My Last Ride and released it as an EP, I would have liked it more. Not bad overall though and I look forward to what's to come.

I almost completely agree! 
Except I would keep “The Order of Melchizedek”.

I like what I've heard but haven't been able to listen much as it's not on Spotify. Just can't pull the trigger on CDs right now.

It's good. It's the same as it was...about an 8/10. Trimming the fat would make it a 9/10.

It's still really good. The only thing that still bothers me is the ultra clear and sterile drum sound, but the more I listen the more I get used to it.

The album has lots of riffs that are still sounding exciting. The guitar sound is really good. Solos are REALLY good and Guy Ritter sounds amazing. Gary's voice is still really good too, and he's good in putting in these small little haunting details to his aggressive vocals (Freeloading Larceny has a couple of good examples of that). There is this weird unique tone in his thrash vocals.

For me this album is very close to the greatness of the first three Tourniquet albums. Most songs are four or five star songs and none of the songs are under three stars.


On other note, I've noticed Gary has taken the video of Vainglorious Hypocrisy off Youtube. I assume it's because of the clear connection to Ted in the lyrics and now that Ted has passed away Gary has probably respectfully taken it off. He doesn't link to the song on his homepage either anymore. Maybe him coming back to Christ has also been a deciding factor on that. All speculation of course.


Anyway, Gary has posted this on Facebook:


I was very pleased with how fast, heavy and melodic the debut album was so this update feels very promising!

I'm hoping for a couple of slow melancholic tunes too. I really love the sad blues part of Darfur, the sad last part of In Remission and the tearjerker My Last Ride. These guys still have an amazing ear to melancholic melodies.

Can't wait for the next album. I just spun through the debut and there were still many moments that gave me genuine goosebumps.

I’m stoked that they’re keeping the momentum and working on a follow-up.