A little metal, a little post-rock: King Woman and Vasudeva

How do you rate music? I mean, actually express a rating for music? I have a post brewing on this topic, I think I’ve written about it previously, but the whole “five star” rating thing just doesn’t work for me. Right now I’m adopting a modified Robert Christgau rating system, but expect that to mutate over the course of writing and publishing more ratings.

Today I have two releases that earned a two-star rating, or as Christgau would put it, “likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy.”

Celestial Blues by King Woman: ★★

Dark, riffy, melodic and super-angsty. Celestial Blues is good if you’re into the genre and attuned to the theatrical darkness theme. It’s about 20 or 25 years too late for me to put into regular rotation, but for an audience that’s into that sort of thing it should be well-appreciated. I might give it another listen, it’s catchy in parts if you dig grindy, plodding but melodic doom/drone metal but the whole “fallen archangel” vibe is just too cringy for me.

Released July 30 this year, available on Bandcamp via digital download, vinyl and CD.

Generator by Vasudeva: ★★

Instrumental post-rock via the Skeletal Lightning label on Bandcamp. Good stuff, not great, but it’s an enjoyable listen when you want upbeat, instrumental tunes. Released last April, available on Bandcamp via digital download, or as a CD or vinyl.

Recommendations?

Thoughts on these releases? What are you listening to lately? Suggestions welcome.