All My CDs, pt 24: Initiation

Initiation - Course of Empire

After I had known and loved Telepathic Last Words for a few years, I had a hankering to expand my collection once more and decided to seek out more music by that band. So I ordered a copy of their earlier album, Initiation, with high hopes it would be just as good. Once I had the CD in my player, however, I only played the first few seconds of the first song before turning it off, putting it back in its case, and putting it on a shelf. I didn’t even put it with my other CDs. I just set it aside, with no intention of putting it back on.

My reasons are simple, and a bit shameful: those first few seconds were just too loud and harsh on my ears. While Telepathic Last Words begins quietly, with a meandering mixture of sounds slowly building up to the start of the first song, Initiation begins cold with a loud, repetitive, heavily distorted electric guitar riff. It wasn’t that I couldn’t handle that at all - I like heavy metal - but it wasn’t what I was expecting at that moment, and those who sow expectations are bound to reap disappointment.

I don’t know exactly how long it was before I gave it a second try - months, maybe even a year. When I finally forced myself to listen past those first few seconds, I was able to learn to love something new. I can’t claim to like this album as much as Telepathic Last Words, but that’s a hard act to follow anyway, and Initiation is very good in its own right. I did it a disservice by dismissing it so easily at first.

Really, Initiation’s only shortcomings stem from comparing it unfavorably with Telepathic Last Words. It is not as complex, but is by no means simple either. Its lyrics are not as fascinating, but neither are they boring or trite. And the two albums share a lot of their good qualities, such as their exquisite use of percussion. Both achieve a lot of musical beauty using an instrumental style known for being “ugly” or difficult to listen to.

I can easily name my favorite songs on the album as Minions and Infested. The latter has one of the best intros of any song I’ve encountered, with a slow building up of tension in the form of clattering drumsticks. The final “bonus” track is a remix of Infested which I consider to be one of the best remixes of anything I have ever heard, as well as one of the best uses of sampled music.

Until next time, prepare for some stylistic whiplash.

Next: Forerunner