I need to take a moment to plug HTF member Jeff Ulmer's new CD, Othyrworld - Beyond Into the Night of Day.
This is a wonderful recording, and gets my highest recommendation for fans of melodic hard rock. I spoke positively of this back when Jeff had only posted a few samples to generate pre-orders. Now having given my first listen to the entire CD, I can say that my first impressions were spot on...a wonderful, wonderful piece of work this is.
If you listen closely, you will hear little bits and pieces that bring to mind Queensryche, Sabbath, Metallica, and Rush among others, but don't get the idea that there is anything on here that is in any way a copy of anything else. To my ears, it all sounds refreshingly original.
Some of the riffing would make James Hetfield and Tony Iommi take notice, and there is a fantastic sense of light and shade, with some beautifully orchestrated guitar parts. And the soundstage is huge.
Now that I am acclimatized to 5.1 Hi-Rez stuff, I normally listen to 2 CH recordings with the EARS ambience extraction mode of my NAD 762...for the moment I pushed "play" I was never even remotely tempted to do that. I may in the future just for yucks, but this is a wonderful 2 CH recording that stands on its own
Note to Jeff: Having said that, a 5.1 DVD-A would surely by killer!
And let me make a comment or two about the sound quality. This is a fabulous recording, maybe one of the best that I have purchased in a long, long time.
In fact, I would probably say that the last time I bought a CD of new rock music with sound quality this good, it was Queensryche's Empire, way back in the day.
The CD back cover says that this is an all digital recording (DDD...when was the last time you say that on a CD?). While it is an unfortunate reality that the vast majority of new rock recordings sound terrible (even mediocre sounding stuff like the new Green Day is passed off as good sounding in the age of compression and maximization) this is a wonderfully smooth piece, with an incredible bass/drum sound. The cymbals, normally the Achilles heal of modern rock records, sounds oh so smooth, even when things get loud. I don't know how Jeff pulled that off, but the SQ on this disc embarrasses most any contemporary rock recording you could name.
OK, so what are you waiting for? Do yourself and your stereo a favor, and go to the web site (
www.othyrworld.com) and buy this disc......if you like this type of music, you won't regret it.
Cheers and happy listening,
Brian
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Jeff, and don't know the man other than through his postings at the HTF.
