2013-10-04 2:50:14 ¶ ●

RATING: 11 / 13 - enjoy the utter fuckin domination it affords

Yeah, it’s ‘the one with Cascade.’ And that medley is ridiculously good, especially as featured in the high point of Homestuck. But there’s more to this album than just that one, marathon score. It’s not quite as consistently good as Volume 5, but man, does this album have some kick-ass tracks.

Apart from Cascade (and its individual parts), Unite Synchronization and Even in Death (T’Morra’s Belly Mix) are fantastic, for opposite reasons. With Cascade, those are the ‘singles’ for the album, the anchors.

But there’s a lot of good non-flash material featured on the album, too, and the variation is good: video-game pieces (Frog Forager), chiptune (Scourge Sisters), barbershop (I’m a Member of the Midnight Crew (Acapella)) and metal (Infinity Mechanism) all show up throughout. And as a whole, the album has a very listenable quality: it’s a little soft in the middle, but otherwise good throughout. The bonus tracks add another dimension: a different version of Cascade’s opening is featured, as well as a stand-alone version of the medley’s end.

Click here for individual song reviews for Homestuck Vol. 8.

2013-10-11 1:40:52 ¶ ●

RATING: 10 / 13 - IT IS PRESENTLY THREATENING TO MAKE ME ITS BITCH

The penultimate volume in the Homestuck library (Volume 10, which is expected to be the final volume, has yet to be released yet). There’s a ton of energy on the album: it’s more often bombastic than reflective. The very first track (Crystalmethequins, one of my personal favorites) sets the bar for everything that follows.

There’s more than one song on this album that ‘revisits’ prior works. Not 'remixes’ that carry over motifs and melodies (though there’s a fair share of them on the album as well): more like tracks that are inspired by prior pieces (such that Another Jungle is inspired by Sburban Jungle). In some cases, the new versions surpass the old (Hate You takes a fun, dark turn on Love You (Feferi’s Theme)), and in some cases, the new renditions don’t work out as well.

It’s not quite as good as Volume 8 (or Volume 5, for that matter), but it’s a fine album (and the longest of all volumes so far, to boot).

Click here for individual song reviews for Homestuck Vol. 9.

2013-10-15 4:21:36 ¶ ●

RATING: 6 / 13 – a little melodramatic in retrospect. Heavy-handed.

This is the first ‘theme’ album I’ve reviewed. And the theme is ‘time, and how to mess with it.’ It centers on The Felt, of course: that irascible gang of puppet leprechaun frog men. Some of The Felt are borderline clever and cunning, while a few of them are profoundly stupid in their time shenanigans.

Most of the album is dominated by that theme of time. There’s lots of backwards instrumentation, lots of rewind / fast forward effects, and plenty of ticking clocks. It’s experimental symphony, if that qualifies as a genre (there’s not much chiptune or rock to be found here: it’s pretty much all woodwinds, strings, and brass).

The majority of the songs take off in interesting, avant-garde directions to suit the time motif. Sometimes it works (English, Chartreuse Rewind), and sometimes it doesn’t (Clockwork Reversal, Omelette Sandwich).

With its experimental nature, it’s quite a bit more niche than most of the catalog. There are some very good tracks on the album (I’ve especially warmed up to a few after repeated listening), but the style makes it a little tough to get into.

Click here for individual song reviews for The Felt.

2013-10-24 4:20:56 ¶ ●

RATING: 13 / 13 – WELCOME TO THE DARK CARNIVAL, BROTHER.

I took a pretty pedestrian path when I started picking up Homestuck music. Of course, at first I focused on the Volume releases, since the majority of the songs used in the Flash animations were concentrated there. Then I picked up some of the other themed compilations (like Cherubim and AlterniaBound) and a couple of the solo albums, the ones that featured one or two Flash songs.

I held off on buying coloUrs and mayhem until a little later. I held off because I knew that these albums are made up of songs submitted by fans, not songs made by the music team. I thought that there would be a lack of quality.

I was wrong. I was very, very wrong. I screwed up as hard as fat guys fall.

I’m not saying this album is Abbey Road or Dark Side of the Moon when I give it the highest rating. It has its little blemishes and slow spots, like just about any other album. But this is my favorite album out of all of them in the Homestuck catalog. It’s the best, in my humble opinion (so far, in any case).

Click here for individual song reviews for coloUrs and mayhem: Universe A.