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I think my very first post on this site, was trash talking phony emo bands, and praising the Appleseed Cast. It is awesome how their fan base grows over time, and they still have the love and respect from older fans.

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Originally Posted by surefire1017

I always want to check these guys out, wheres the best place to start?

I would say the Low Level Owl albums; it is the best representation of them as they are now. Although Mare Vitalis has a special place in my heart, that was the last of their more straight-forward rock/grunge material.

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I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm really glad this hasn't leaked yet. If my memory is correct, the last two full-lengths popped up on the internet roughly two months before the release date.

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It is extremely rare for any band to go back to a sound they made 15 years from the start..

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Originally Posted by theDrivingSnow

Not to mention that The End of the Ring Wars is blatant Sunny Day worship. Just a forgettable album other than "Marigold & Patchwork," and the progression they made with Mare Vitalis is rather remarkable.

Spot on. I think there are one or two more tracks that I really like from that album, but "Marigold & Patchwork" stands out the most. They played it as an encore song the first time I saw them. One of my favorite adolescent memories.

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I will forever miss Cobra on drums.

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Originally Posted by drewinseries

I was just listening to Low Level Owl on vinyl, I am always surprised at how good he is on those recordings.

Yea, the production of those records really inspired me. "Rooms and Gardens" was the song that changed my life for sure. "Poseidon" is one of my favorite tracks he played on.

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Originally Posted by TheBaroness

Not sure how I feel about this yet, it's a bit too close to the Sagarmatha/post-rock/meandering side of things than I had hoped. I can't help but feel like the band has lacked something since Peregrine, and what I'd probably put it down to is the fact that they've gone from being a full, unified band to a Chris/Aaron project with hired guns playing bass/drums, the downside of this being that those parts on the last two records haven't been as developed or cohesive as they were on a record like Peregrine (the drumming on this new album is technically impressive, but it feels a little displaced in the songs IMO).

I don't know, it's still a quality record with good songs and I hope and expect it'll grow on me more, but at the same time I'm listening to it and wishing they'd done something that more effectively and cohesively combined all their songwriting strengths and influences, rather than re-treading the Sagarmatha/post-rock path.

I thought Aaron wasn't on this album, or in the band at all anymore?

I'm also not sure how I feel about this yet; it's solid, but I think I'm going to be bored of it a month or two from now. Since Chris is singing more on this one, I was hoping the vox would be a little bit more in front of the mix.