Metal Flows In My Veins

Anthrax, Testament, and Death Angel at the HOB Anaheim...

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:29:00 +0000

A smashup of thrash metal titans occurred at the HOB Anaheim on Monday, January 23rd. Yours truly made the trek out to the wilds of Downtown Disney to attend. A formal writeup of the concert can be found here.

Here are some pictures (the complete can be found below).

Death Angel

Testament

Anthrax

Anthrax, Testament, and Death Angel

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:28:00 +0000

Anthrax, Testament, and Death Angel, a set on Flickr.

HOB Anaheim, CA. January 23rd, 2012.

JEAN JACKET CONSTRUCTION MEANS WAR V

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:17:00 +0000

So, I had told myself that my battle jacket was pretty much finished! Not so fast! I hit the merch tables at Gathering Of The Bestial Legion V and found the following for $5 apiece...

So, naturally, I added them...

Now, it's finished!

But, then again, I just found the "motherlode" at Aaardvark's in Redondo Beach/ Lawndale...

Imminent...

Gathering Of The Bestial Legion V Festival Review

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:58:00 +0000

Gathering Of The Bestial Legion V

Venue: Echoplex; Los Angeles, California

Date: January 14th, 2012

As far as mini-metal festivals go, the sort of bi-annual Gathering Of The Bestial Legion Festival in Los Angeles is pretty damn good. Loaded with heavy hitters of the black and death metal subgenres, the last incarnation from a couple of years ago sported Deströyer 666 and Urgehal as headliners. Unfortunately, that show, although monstrous, was not held in the greatest of venues, occurring in a warehouse (given the moniker The Iron Room) somewhere in the industrial wastelands south of downtown Los Angeles (this was due to the unfortunate closure of the old Knitting Factory).

Fast forward to the summer of 2011, and Gathering Of The Bestial Legion V is scheduled to take place on August 27th at the Proud Bird, a banquet hall/ restaurant near LAX that is only a marginally better location (it’s also only about seven miles from my house). However, a few weeks before the show, a shooting occurred in the venue’s parking lot during a hip-hop concert, resulting in a cancellation of all subsequent concerts, regardless of genre, at the restaurant.

However, the festival’s promoter, Iron Room Productions, was determined that “the show must go on.” Finally, the festival, with most of the original bill in place, was rescheduled for January 14th, 2012 at a MUCH better venue, the Echoplex in Echo Park. A nice venue with two separate stages, valet parking, a good bar with decent food, and clean restrooms, metal concerts at the Echoplex have been increasing in frequency of late.

Co-headliners Autopsy and Incantation were firmly in place along with most of the other acts, including a rare appearance from Divine Eve. Rounding out the other acts of interest to me were Acheron, Hod, and Sanguis Imperem, a local blackened death metal act that impressed the Hell out of everyone with their monstrous debut full-length album, In Glory We March Towards Our Doom, on Hell’s Headbangers Records. Ares Kingdom had to drop off the bill, though.

So, the final schedule for the festival became thus…

My intention was to arrive early enough to be able to browse the merchandise tables before getting neck deep into the bands. I arrived just as locals (well, from Ventura, anyway) Crypt Infection were about halfway through their set on the second stage in the venue’s upstairs bar. Good, catchy death metal but nothing spectacular. Towards Crypt Infection’s conclusion, the main hall of the Echoplex opened, and a number of those already in attendance eagerly streamed downstairs to hit the merch tables.

After browsing and making my initial patch and t-shirt purchases, Depths Of Misery promptly hit the main stage at 6:15pm. Another local band, Depths Of Misery opened very strongly with a bottom heavy depth to accompany good, deep guttural vocals. The first few songs were quite good as movement began to appear in the still sparse crowd, but the last few songs were a bit bland. Still, lots of potential in Depths Of Misery.

At this point, I encountered my only conflict of the night as Hod and Sanguis Imperem were scheduled to appear at the same time. So, I decided to split my time between the two stages, electing to catch Hod’s first half, and then finish with Sanguis Imperem. Texas’ Hod never disappoints as I’ve caught the band a few times before, the last time in August of 2010 while visiting my in-laws in Austin, Texas. An awesome display of drunken, semi-sloppy death metal, Hod now sport at least one new member in former Ignitor guitarist Erika Tandy. A good performance and I’m now keenly interested in hearing new recorded material from Hod.

I jumped upstairs to catch the last half of what turned out to be one of the best sets of the night from the mighty Sanguis Imperem. Thoroughly crushing blackened death metal, Sanguis Imperem had it all going on with a tightly focused sound and a huge, dynamic presence on the small stage. The upstairs bar was packed with necks snapping left and right, and numerous festival goers that I talked with later in the evening agreed that Sanguis Imperem were the pleasant surprise of the night.

The main acts began with Divine Eve, a semi-legendary, old school death metal band from Texas with a very spotty discography. My only exposure to Divine Eve was a brief look at the recent EP Vengeful And Obstinate, but Divine Eve greatly impressed the now packed Echoplex crowd with a huge set. Divine Eve’s live sound is more dynamic and fluid than from what I’ve previously heard from the band, and a new full-length album moves up a few notches on my metal “wish list.”

Long running black/ crunchy death metal stalwarts Acheron were up next, and, although I’ve liked a few releases from Acheron over the years, they are a much more entertaining live act. Fronted by the huge presence of bassist Vincent Crowley, an alternate version of Glen Benton, if you will, Acheron are a tight live act with good songs and stage presence. Acheron will never rise into the top tier ranks of death metal, but they are a very solid support act and were highly entertaining.

Everyone, including me, was really attending this festival to catch two giants of death metal that rarely appear in Southern California. Incantation have been one of my favorites over the years, and I find myself returning to the band’s classic albums with semi-regularity, Though a grizzled veteran, frontman/ founder John McEntee still plays like he’s 20 years old, and Incantation bombed through a ton of classic material for their crushing performance. The crowd went nuts for Incantation, and the band’s closer, “Impending Diabolical Conquest,” absolutely brought down the house. McEntee also spoke briefly about the recent loss of former Incantation bassist Joe Lombard.

Autopsy were up next and, as good as Incantation were, Autopsy absolutely flattened the Echoplex with a monstrous set that had the crowd in a frenzy with one of the most energetic pits that I’ve seen in awhile. Running the gamut with tracks covering the band’s awesome discography, the festival goers were also treated to a preview of material that is to be re-recorded for an upcoming compilation. Autopsy flat out stole the show with the night’s best performance.

All in all, Gathering Of The Bestial Legion V was a rousing success. The event was obviously well organized, the venue was great, the crowd’s mood was good, and the bands were all very into their giving it their all. Highlights for the night were Autopsy, Incantation, and Sanguis Imperem, but I was impressed by all of the bands that I saw. I would have liked to have seen Ares Kingdom as originally scheduled, but, oh, well.

As to be expected, just about everyone from the L.A. extreme metal scene was in attendance, and it was great to see all of the friendly faces from the familiar crowd, plus make some new friends.

Special thanks to Ryan Feldman!

Here’s the gist of it!

The Beginning...

Crypt Infection

Depths Of Misery

Hod

Sanguis Imperem

Divine Eve

Acheron

Incantation

Autopsy

The Crowd

The Merch

The t-shirt haul!

The video...

Sanguis Imperem

Hod

Divine Eve

Incantation

Autopsy (I fall down at 0:52)

Next...

Recent columns of Dave's Underground Laboratory here, here, and here...

Gathering Of The Bestial Legion V

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:56:00 +0000

Gathering of the Besial Legion V, a set on Flickr.

Review to shortly follow...

Cynic Carbon-Based Anatomy

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:47:00 +0000

Cynic Carbon-Based Anatomy

Reviewed By: Strawb

(Season Of Mist Records)

Occasionally, life presents one with a quandary. If you are Cynic, the latest one must be how to promote your latest output?’ Well, I was pondering exactly this when I had a “bolt of lightning” moment.

The moment began with the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. I occasionally dip into my back catalogue and relive my younger days. And, as I lost myself in this vastly underrated band, I began thinking of how I had discovered them. A bit like the chicken and the egg, I am not sure which came first, was it an introduction by my mate Mark Braithwaite, or was it on the Old Grey Whistle Test? For those who are unaware, OGWT was a weekly music programme on one of the (then) three national (British) TV channels. It was not to be missed by the vast majority of people I knew; one of those programmes which seems to have slipped under the establishment radar. It was THE topic of discussion amongst friends the next day. Quite often it resulted in the spending of a lot of money as new bands were discovered – in this case SAHB.

And my thought train progressed to include the opinion that Cynic were exactly the sort of band who would have appeared on the show. It had to cover a broad spectrum of music as opposed to today’s narrowed band music shows (here we have it, my new show featuring “hits” made by girl bands between 21st – 25th November in studios situated between the equator and 10 degrees north of it), and some of the acts were abject failures, but not many.

Why would Cynic have featured? Well, they are a band of some age, albeit in various incarnations and with years between them. They have bounced from one musical genre to another, from Thrash to their current home of prog/death/metal/fusion – and this is a ‘combination of’ rather than a ‘cast the net and do as we wish, it will fall into one of them’ type of description. It is different music, which because of its difficult to categorise sound will fail to gain space on any rigidly defined music or radio show. If only for this reason, it would have gained a slot on OGWT; Whispering Bob would have loved them.

Carbon-Based Anatomy is a six track EP. It takes us on a journey from the Amazon Rainforest to the vastness of space. The individual tracks and the thoughts behind them are explained on the bands website, and in greater depth then I would go into here. Along with the vocals, these explanations are from a place I don’t have a ticket to visit, far too way out, man. The music itself is excellent, and if I had a complaint it is a minor one that sometimes it is too busy, too many components being thrust into the mix at one time. The vocals are never forceful, but all the more appropriate for it.

Many years ago I used to have music to relax to, Tubular bells, Yes and the like. The majority of Carbon-Based Anatomy would warrant a place on that relaxing playlist.

Cynic

Chris' take on 2011

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Best Albums of 2011

By: Chris Davison

2011 has been a tricky year for me as a reviewer, with some great amounts of intrusion from the world of academia and obtaining my post-grad; and upheavals in the work environment, with two new posts in the last twelve months. This issues aside, it's been a year during which although I have had to slow the pace of my reviews, I have never the less had the great privilege to hear some fairly astonishingly good new bands. I present the top ten below: with the proviso that I write for another website on the internet, and I will doubtless present a similar but different top ten for them, as every time I sit down to write them, they tend to come out slightly different!

10. Vallenfyre A Fragile King – A band featuring members of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride but playing intensely personal songs about death and loss of a father in the vein of early Swedish heavy metal and Autopsy ? Like a romp through my favourite genres.

9. Cathedral Anniversary The (long awaited) live album that serves as the penultimate release of one of my favourite bands of all time. A magnificent recording, a brilliant set list and a fitting tribute to the twilight of my idols.

8. Landmine Marathon Gallows – Continuing in their utter adoration for the classic era of Earache Records death metal roster, Landmine Marathon continued to provide memorable slabs of extremity for the discerning listener.

7. Ghost Brigade Until Fear No Longer Defines Us – Though I LOATHE the term “post-metal,” this is a fantastic, moody and melancholic album that continues the brilliant work of Ghost Brigade in marrying introspective, atmospheric dark rock with extreme metal.

6. Primordial Redemption At The Puritan's Hand – While not quite as excellent as the preceeding two releases, Primordial still showed that they are still leagues ahead of their peers with this towering album of darkened folk metal.

5. Portrait Crimsen Laesae Majestatis Divinae – You like Mercyful Fate. I like Mercyful Fate. That is, until Mercyful Fate reunited and became awful. Now we have Portrait, and that issue is defunct.

4. Macabre Grim Scary Tales – The original murder metal band are back, and how, with more jam-packed dark tales of mayhem and black-humoured tales to crimes most horrid.

3. The Meads Of Asphodel The Murder Of Jesus The Jew – Psychadelic, strange, out-there and quintessentially odd. This was The Meads at their most bombastic, controversial and eclectic.

2. Stuka Squadron Tales Of The Ost – Mix in the brilliant themes of long-(un)dead comic strip “Fiends of the Eastern Front” from 2000ad, equal parts classic Iron Maiden, Dio and Lizzy-esque guitar duelling, and you have this – easily the most fun heavy metal album of the year.

1. The Rotted Ad Nauseum – Filthy, drunk on cheap cider, punked-up death metal extremity done the egregiously English way. More than the some of their parts, this placed Discharge, Motorhead, Napalm Death and (of course) Gorerotted into a blender with cheap cleaning alcohol, and came up with a vintage brew.

Stinker of the year:

A harder one to find just one release for, actually, given that there has been a large number of disappointments. I could wax lyrical about how soul-crushingly mediocre the new Crowbar album was. I could go on for hour after hour about how The Haunted seem to have given up any hope of ever releasing another quality thrash metal album. (PROTIP: You need to get Marco Aro back in the fold, Björlers). My Dying Bride's Evinta was an exercise in utterly unlistenable vanity that was only eclipsed by the WTF-car-crash-on-steroids of “Lutallica.”

The absolute prize for terrible album of the year, however? The execrable sonic torture that has been unleashed unto the intertubes by Morbid Angel – an album so dreadfully awful that it sounded like the worst off-cuts from the Domination album interspersed with the worst aspects of the Earache Records brief dalliance with “gabba” and “powerviolence” back in the mid to late nineties. “I'm Morbid / Morbid / Won't be thwarted.” Oh, dear.

Oh well, 2012 here we come...I'm hoping to up the work rate again on reviews, for you, our most adored readership.

Cathedral Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:11:00 +0000

Cathedral Anniversary

(Rise Above)

By: Chris Davison

Such a bittersweet pain, is writing this review! Cathedral were one of the first doom bands that I really got into during my university days, and they have never failed to entertain me, nor indeed to plough their own furrow. The band have been massively influential on any number of bands, and have refused to be pigeonholed by the narrow genre constrictions sometimes imposed by the more po-faced of the doom-metal “elite;” a curious sub-race of armchair critics and keyboard warriors dictating their own spurious rules on what is, or is not, quality doom metal. Having announced that they would record one final album in 2012, this live album – a funeral celebration of their past work – was recorded at the Islington Academy.

Essentially paying homage to all of their fans, the set list comprises of their first (and almost universally lauded) album Forest Of Equilibrium, and then a number of songs from the remainder of their albums, during which time they were either derided as doom heretics for the increasing amounts of film samples and schlocky content of their lyrics, or applauded for their willingness to take doom metal away from po-faced conceptions of gazing miserably at old stone monuments and endlessly re-hashing Black Sabbath riffs. I think it is fairly clear that while I acknowledge the amazing amount of influence the Forest... album had, I generally prefer their mid-to-late period.

The Forest... material is played with complete straight faced reverence, with a warts-and-all production sound that showcases just how much heavier Cathedral always are in the live environment than on record with the particularly crushing bass work of Leo Smee and effortless axe smithery of Gaz Jennings gelling perfectly with the classic rock drum work of Brian Dixon, and the ape-like yowls of Mr Lee Dorrian on vocals. The bottom end heavy production accentuates the innate heaviness of tracks like “Serpent Eve,” which takes on a gargantuan, titanic stomp to its sound on this album.

After the reverential run through of their initial album, the fun can really begin, however. I defy any sane metal fan not to enjoy the faux-funk-as-channelled-through-Witchfinder-General romp of “Midnight Mountain,” which is so bass heavy and groove-laden here, it should be renamed “Midnight Mounting.” “Carnival Bizarre” continues to impress, with a perfect melding of mid-paced classic metal stomping riff, progressive leanings and a crystal clear production that manages to show the tightness of a band that has been together for so many years. “Corpsecyle,” a seemingly upbeat track that talks about the zombiefication of the 9 to 5 grind shows how astonishingly complex Cathedral were at their best – managing to combine extremity, hook-laden song writing and clever lyrical content.

As a “best of”, of course, this album doesn't quite make it, as 2004's The Serpent's Gold manages to capture most of their classic material, along with a host of hard-to-find demo versions and off cuts, but as a perfect capture of the Cathedral Live experience? I honestly don't think there could have been a more apt tribute to the dying days of the true giants of doom metal.

In summary: get it.

Cathedral MySpace

Esoteric Paragon Of Dissonance

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:01:00 +0000

Esoteric Paragon Of Dissonance

(Season Of Mist Records)

By: Chris Davison

Shamefully, as the resident doom-head around these here parts – and even more to the point, a Brit, to boot, I haven't heard any Esoteric before. As it goes, Esoteric are a long serving outfit from jolly ol' Albion, (well, in this case, not so jolly), who have been plying their unique brand of miserablism since 1992. As this is my first foray into their catalogue, I won't be able to talk with any confidence about how it stacks up to their other releases, of course, but perhaps I will be better placed to give an objective opinion about the album.

Paragon Of Dissonance is a full on, double CD voyage into the very heart of doom. Represented here for your listening displeasure are wrought, emotional journeys into descending to the absolute nadirs of misery and despair. The slow, languid voyages through landscapes constructed from slowly strangled riffs, echoing, deep vocals and the occasional false hope of the cymbals accompanying the funereal drum beat will transport your psyche to places that it does not entirely wish to be. Compared to this opus, My Dying Bride sound like they play upbeat Europop, such is the relentless atmosphere of utter and complete hopelessness and despair. Each song literally crawls along, with the components of the track accompanied by some tasteful and not overpowering electronic keyboards. Each injured anthem staggers onwards like it has had its back broken, and is being forced towards some extremely distant finishing line.

If all of this sounds like the painful opposite of fun, then I have done my job accurately in reflecting what Paragon Of Dissonance is; a gut-wrenching journey into the opposites of positivity and hope. The massive production does provide punch and clarity to the sound, which for the record, sounds absolutely terrifying on headphones.

As 2012 approaches and as I am supposed to be thinking ahead and planning for all of the false life-affirming lies that I will inevitably tell myself, Esoteric have produced the brilliant sound of the bleak depression that lies behind a raging hangover. Bold and horribly cathartic.

Esoteric MySpace

Best of the Year, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:20:00 +0000

This year saw me create not one, but two “best of the year” lists at About.com. Chad asked me to select the ten best albums that I covered for the Dave’s Underground Laboratory column in addition to a normal “best of the year” list for the site. I limited the first list to releases covered within my weekly column, and the other list basically consists of everything else. Of the two lists, if I had to choose a top album for the year, that album would definitely be Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm by Inquisition (I’ll ignore the whole “release date” controversy). Close seconds would be the albums from Atriarch, Disma, and Obsequiae. After that, the order starts to get a bit fuzzy, and I did not really try to place the albums in a definite semblance of order. Near misses would be albums from Antediluvian and Krisiun. The best EP, which I neglected to mention on the “formal” list, would be Providence by Immolation.

So, it is what it is. Here’s the list from Dave’s Underground Laboratory (officially published here).

Valedictorian: Atriarch Forever The End

Salutatorian: Obsequiae Suspended In The Brume Of Eos

Phi Beta Kappa: Acephalix Interminable Night, Vastum Carnal Law, Craft Void, Jungle Rot Kill On Command, Nightbringer Hierophany Of The Open Grave, Aosoth III, Ravencult Morbid Blood, Taake Noregs Vaapen

Here’s the “formal” list (officially published here).

Top Five Albums of the Year

1) Inquisition Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm
2) Disma Towards The Megalith
3) Glorior Belli The Great Southern Darkness
4) Blut Aus Nord 777- The Desanctification
5) Avichi The Devil’s Fractal

Label of The Year (tie): Hell’s Headbangers Records/ I, Voidhanger Records
Best Heavy Metal Book: Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries by Jon Kristiansen
Best DVD: Cannibal Corpse Global Evisceration
Best Concert: (three way tie) Acephalix/ Undergang at The Blvd., Dodsferd et al at The Black Castle, and Impetuous Ritual/ Ritual Necromancy/ Grave Upheaval at Five Stars Bar
Best Newcomer: Acephalix
Best Comeback: Autopsy
Most Overrated Album: Liturgy Aesthethica
Most Underrated Album: Ravencult Morbid Blood
Album from late last year that deserved to be on last year’s list: Necrite Sic Gloria Transit Mundi
Albums that I absolutely refuse to listen to: Metallica/ Lou Reed Lulu and Morbid Angel Illud Divinum Insanus
Man of the Year: Joey Belladonna
In Memoriam: Michael “Würzel” Burston

Special thanks to Stephannie for putting up with my obsession, Cosmo Lee, Skull, Chris Davison, Strawb, Steve Green, Dave and Liz Brenner, Chad Bowar, Josh Haun, Atanamar Sunyata, James Genenz, Tanner Anderson, Julian Hollowell, Ray Van Horn Jr., Nathan T. Birk, Kim Kelly, Chase at HHR, Chris at Profound Lore, Scott Alisoglu, Ryan Ogle, Ryan Feldman, Paula at Candlelight, Lauren at Season of Mist, Heidi Ellen- Fitzgerald Robinson, Mark at Prosthetic, Vince at Metal Blade, Charles Elliot, Calvin at Pulverised, Christina at Victory, Laura Christine, Betsey Cichoraki at Relapse, the guy at Heavy Artillery, Nikki at Century Media, Mark McKinney, Brian Rocha, Greg Robinson, Etan Rosenbloom, Dan Butler, Thor Ryen, Matthew Schott, William Ganley, Mike Abominator, Scott at Seventh Rule, Farron Loathing, Jeremy from LSOD, Chris Hatewar and his scraggly haired friend from Nokturne that always salutes me with a beer, the long bearded guy that I see at shows all the time, the girl with the camera that I see at shows all the time, the Eternal Roadie, my students for putting up with their weird physics teacher, anyone who plays in a metal band and has devoted their life to perpetuating this art form, anyone else that I forgot, and, last but certainly not least, you for stopping by! Cheers to you all!

An ill advised pairing...

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:50:00 +0000

The pairing of metal and chistmas makes no sense whatsoever, never mind the religious fiasco involved. If there ever was a form of music that has nothing to do with traditional holidays (with the possible exception of pre-christian celebrations) metal is it.

Any attempt to inject metal into christmas (or vice versa) is an exercise in banality at best, or, at worst, a cash grab aimed at the most gullible of the metal listening audience. Surprisingly, metal’s most visible forays into christmas have occurred amongst the early black metal genre’s most revered artists, Venom and King Diamond.

After the release of At War With Satan early in 1984, the veneer of seriousness surrounding Venom began to slip away. During a time of endless assaults, Venom flirted with unintentional self parody with photo spreads in publications such as Kerrang! that were, shall we say, more than a little ridiculous. Leather shorts, examples of Abaddon sans glasses decked out in garland, ornaments and with a pensive look on his face (anyone have that shot? It’s from an old issue of Kerrang!), and you have all of the ingredients for a disaster.

Sure enough, disaster did, indeed occur with…

I suppose that none of this was all that shocking to British late night TV audiences, but to impressionable 16 to 17 year old youths living in the wilds of the Chicago suburbs (not to mention Bergen) that thought that Black Metal was the “be all, end all” of pure evil, this sort of self parody ruined whatever degree of credibility Venom still maintained. Confirmation of post- Possessed Venom’s descent into mediocrity occurred with…

Not to be outdone, rival King Diamond (always one to toe the line with silliness in his self titled, post- Mercyful Fate days) released his famous (or infamous) single No Presents For Christmas, a semi-serious song given some credit and weight, and, dutifully rolled out (guilty as charged) this time of year…

OK, the purpose of all of this exposition in a roundabout way is the recent appearance of not one, but two, christmas themed promos in my inbox. The first is essentially a parody within a parody within a parody, a new, three-song EP from Austrian Death Machine hilariously titled Jingle All The Way. Sporting perhaps the funniest album cover ever, you can’t help but laugh along at song titles such as “I Am Not A Pervert;” songs that hit the cultural bullseye with all of the subtlety of Arnold’s evocative performance in Commando. Not one, but two movies appear in a collision on the cover of this gem, T2 font and all, each used to maximum effectiveness.

No one should take any of the music belched out by Austrian Death Machine, a side project of As I Lay Dying, with any degree of seriousness, but Strawb takes one for the team and gives it his best shot. Me personally, I think that Austrian Death Machine should not consist of anything but big, stupid breakdowns, jock-fist pumping, samples, and Arnold impersonations. Anything else, such as real vocals (and this EP has plenty of that), and actual, full-length albums of original songs is a total waste of time.

Strawb says…

Austrian Death Machine Jingle All The Way

(Metal Blade Records)

Reviewed By: Strawb

“A certain ex-governor of California used to make movies. Some of them were absolute classics, and to this day, T2 is up there for consideration if I ever have to choose my “Desert Island Flicks.” Conan The Barbarian (editor: not Conan The Destroyer!) would be a rival though. But, for each of the classics we have the other extreme, say Raw Deal (editor: it’s not all that bad) and Red Sonja. Arnold even descended into a lower pit of Hell for his increasingly viewed upon with scorn and contempt audience with his rather futile attempts at comedy (editor: as a teacher, Kindergarten Cop resonates in a certain way, I must admit). But, towards the end of his film career, it did seem to be a case of ‘take the cash, sod the product.’

So, to summarize, the later the film, the less the action, and, with any move towards comedy, the worse the film. Therefore, it would only be logical to state that Jingle All The Way (the movie; that is) would be Arnie’s equivalent of wire brushed haemorrhoids covered in Jalapeno sauce. And so it proved.

I discovered Austrian Death Machine when reviewing a previous release by their nemesis in the field of Arnold-set-to-music, Arnocorps. Personal preference may pick one band over the other, but my conclusion was that an album by either was way too much to sit through, the poor vocal impersonations and Arnold themed songs becoming boring way before the end.

This release has addressed that point, as it is a three-track EP. Would this be brief enough to prevent musical narcolepsy? The opener, “I’m Not A Pervert” thrashes along full of sound and fury but signifying nothing but bombast. “It’s Turbo Time” is a much improved and more accomplished output; faster, much more intense and the best track here with the only aberration being the poor impression asking for the guitar solo.

Track three opens with the line, in full Arnold regalia, natch, “If you’re going to sound like Cookie Monster, then we may as well write a song about cookies!” As I recall, on the American side of the pond, Cookie Monster is a character on a children’s show (editor: yep). So, some sort of culture clash here, then? Arnie-thrash for infants would be a good recruitment idea for the army of metal, I suppose. Or, as copyright infringing crap for thirtysomethings who never grew up, not such a good idea. My rating of the track puts it firmly in the second category. Bah, Humbug, you might say.

If you fancy seasonal thrash/ metalcore based upon Schwarzenegger’s worst ever film, then this can be the only EP for you. I would be obliged if the rest of the world give it the wide berth it deserves and spend their money more wisely…”

Austrian Death Machine MySpace

I must say that I agree, as Jingle All The Way rapidly loses its luster after you finish laughing at the cover art.

Speaking of King Diamond, traditional metallers Holy Grail, a well regarded act from SoCal, have taken it upon themselves to cover “No Presents For Christmas” on their recently released Season's Bleedings (groan). Another holiday themed release, this time from Prosthetic Records, Season's Bleedings is a two-song EP. Done competently enough, Holy Grail cement their traditional chops with their rendition of Rainbow’s “Kill The King.” Not nearly as silly as Austrian Death Machine, Holy Grail wisely resist the temptation to indulge in self parody by maintaining a certain serious approach; albeit, with rather silly cover art.

Strawb also takes a look at this one in more detail…

Holy Grail Season's Bleedings

(Prosthetic Records)

Reviewed By: Strawb

"I am unaware of the beliefs of the other reviewers on this site, but I, for one, do not do christmas. I am not religious and once my daughter had grown up the commercial demand aspect seemed like something I could live without and so it proved. It may therefore seem strange that I have chosen to review a seasonal platter, but this came about when I internetted Holy Grail and listened to some of their output on line. “My Last Attack” particularly hit me; I played it three times. So, once I’d found a copy of Crisis In Utopia to buy, I thought I’d give this EP a try.

I purchased Rainbow Rising [on vinyl] when it was first released. Yes, I’m that old. I have played it ever since. I saw Rainbow live back in the day, and saw Dio for the last time with Heaven And Hell. Not my ultimate album, but always in my top ten.

Any long term reader of my reviews will know that I am not a fan of plagiaristic ‘cover’ albums.

It would seem then that Holy Grail are heading full speed towards a blind bend on a cliff road by opening this EP with “Kill The King.” But no, a handbrake turn combined with a Scandinavian flick ensures miraculous control to allow continuance of the journey. Holy Grail achieve this by paying necessary homage to a classic, but also by impregnating it with their own seed to damn near improve upon the original. From their own unique intro, to return to that which is familiar, but with speed variations and a new mix, this hits like a taser to the forehead. I look upon Dio, Blackmore, and Powell as the Metal Gods that they were, so I would submit that the Holy Grail players are somewhat inferior, but the combination of youth, drive, and modern technology gives them the edge in a number of areas. A masterpiece reborn.

“No Presents For Christmas” is a generous slab of traditional metal served with a seasonal sauce. Another cheeky opening, this time a basic track of “Pictures At An Exhibition” giving me a WTF moment, but also setting me up for an explosion of sound and yet another WTF moment. Guitars, drums, speed, repeat, and then let loose the hounds of Vocals. Even the slow cheesy part has merit. Again, the original King Diamond version is a classic for fans of that band, but the 25 year difference in production values gives Holy Grail the edge when this neutral is judging the contest.

And here I am, quite proud of the fact that I managed a review of a band called Holy Grail without a single Monty Python reference (except this one). Merde."

Holy Grail MySpace

The Sun Through A Telescope Summer Darkyard

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:27:00 +0000

The Sun Through A Telescope Summer Darkyard

(Handshake Inc./ Grindcore Karaoke)

Reviewed By: Strawb

“Not a good idea, looking at the Sun through a telescope (editor: I’ll elaborate at a later date as a few Sun related astronomical events are coming up in 2012). Well, if you value your sight, it isn’t. So, will listening to a band of the same name be any better of an idea?

Well, on grounds of cost, Summer Darkyard scores very highly. By clicking here you will find the option of a free download of the entire album. So, the question now is one of worth; dependent upon your tastes, of course. If you have a thing for one man drone / doom projects, especially those from Ottawa, Canada, then, it is time for you to fill your boots to the top. If, however, a seemingly random output of sounds over a progressive doom track is not your thing, then maybe you need to be looking elsewhere for your musical delights. A vocal contribution is there, Jon Anderson-esque in style if not in pitch, and the echo chamber is given a hammering.

Whilst I have some progressive based albums in my regularly played pile, the number of such themed albums which have passed me by is far, far greater. I do wonder if my substances of choice leave me missing the point of most of this genre, or if it is just the way my brain is wired up. At any rate, whatever the reason, whilst this offering is a well presented one, it fails my weird test and is not something I will return to anytime soon.”

The Sun Through A Telescope

My own personal take on Summer Darkyard is mixed, as well, as I find the quieter moments to be rather soothing, if ill formed. But, there are also moments where The Sun Through A Telescope segues into noise territory not unlike acts such as Gnaw Their Tongues; such moments leave me high and dry.

Strawb Returns!

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:27:00 +0000

Our good friend from across the pond Strawb returns with some reviews. First, he takes a gander at the new self titled, debut EP from California's Abnormal Thought Patterns (not exactly difficult to see where such a name comes from, now, is it?)

Take it away, Strawb!

Abnormal Thought Patterns Abnormal Thought Patterns

CynNormal Lab Recordings

Review By: Strawb

“Abnormal Thought Patterns are a long way from the mainstream, and at the time of writing, are unsigned. They describe their music as experimental metal/ progressive. This intriguing combination of a description was what first drew me to review this title – my daughter had introduced me to Agalloch recently, and they are similarly ambiguous in their self –description. I liked Agalloch, and I had hopes that Abnormal Thought Patterns would make the same impression.

If your liking is for long convoluted lyrics, or, any other form of verbosity at all, then this three-piece from Pleasanton, California, are not for you as this self titled EP is totally instrumental. And, in the way of prog, there is some musical skill on offer here. There is also a lot of noodling, a good amount of key changing, variations of pace, and thoughtful structure and composition.

Abnormal Thought Patterns opens with a burst of sound which would be suitable for one of the more obscure Sci-Fi shows out there before hitting the mark of classic prog. No element overpowers any of the others at any time and the blending is very good. “Velocity And Acceleration 1” immediately brought early Yes to mind; not in a plagiaristic way, but, in a heavily influenced one, instead, with heavier and more vicious drumming, and a faster and more maintained pace.

The transition into “Velocity And Acceleration 2” is noticeable, and the pace and thrust of the delivery rise at this point. A tad fluttery for my tastes in the last 20% or so of the song, and then blasts back as the song transitions to “Velocity And Acceleration 3.” The change to “Velocity And Acceleration 4” is not so smooth a transition, however, and, by now, I am looking slightly towards my watch for a change of title. Luckily, “...4” is relatively short and “Ulnar Nerve Damage” brings welcome variation for its full 51 seconds. “Electric Sun,” the closing track, does manage to stretch out to a massive five minutes 20 seconds, barely a key change in prog terms as it is.

Abnormal Thought Patterns will not be readily played by me on too many occasions, but, as a way for a band to put themselves on the map, the album has merit. If instrumental experimental prog is your game, then Abnormal Thought Patterns is definitely worth your time.”

Abnormal Thought Patterns Official MySpace

Thanks, Strawb! I must admit that I, somehwat surprisingly, liked this album quite a bit, and found the lack of vocals refreshing. The instrumental approach requires the utmost thought in songwriting, a trait that I find to be lacking in a lot of progressive technical death metal. I also found this album to be a nice complement to the new instrumental EP from Blotted Science, The Anatomy Of Entomology.

Eclipsed Moon

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:42:00 +0000

On December 11th, 2010, I enthusiastically wrote a post about the upcoming lunar eclipse of December 20th. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperative as the Southern California coast was walloped by a huge storm that lasted for days, completely wiping out my view of the eclipse. My crop of learners in my "other life" were greatly disappointed, as was I.

Fast forward about one year later to December 10th, 2011, and the celestial alignment was just right for another lunar eclipse visible from the western portion of North America, as well as the Pacific region, Australia, and across eastern Asia.

Los Angeles was positioned to be able to catch the first half of the eclipse, as the Moon would set at sunrise while fully eclipsed. The Moon would begin to enter the Earth's umbra at 4:45am, PST, and be fully eclipsed at 6:05am. Sunrise would occur about 45 minutes later.

Last week, the weather in Southern California was fantastic with very clear skies and crisp, cool temperatures. Conditions were so good that, for three days in a row last week, I was able to easily see the Green Flash as the Sun set over the Pacific Ocean as seen from my town of Hermosa Beach.

Here's a shot from my Samsung Focus, taken last week, at just about the right moment (no magnification)...

At any rate, the early weather forecasts for Saturday, December 10th, were good; but, by late last week, forecasts were calling for some light clouds to move in Friday afternoon and into Saturday morning as a storm from the Gulf of Alaska is currently headed in our direction (moving in late tonight and into tomorrow as I write this post). I watched the Saturday forecasts with a little bit of uneasiness, but the forecasts did say that early morning would still be good. There were some high cirrus clouds in abundance as I set up my telescope on my deck after sunset on Friday, but the forecasts indicated clearing by about 4am or so on Saturday.

After the Moon rose on Friday evening, there was an easily seen Moon halo (due to ice crystals high in the Earth's atmosphere). The presence of a halo indicated that conditions would not be as transparent, or as clear as earlier in the week.

I awakened at 4:00am on Saturday. There were still a few scattered cirrus clouds about, but the sky was generally clear. A few cirrus clouds were present near the Moon until about 5:00am or so, but were never a big factor. I started observing the Moon through my 6" Dobsonian telescope at about 4:30am or so, as the Moon was deep into the earth's penumbra at this point. I started shooting pictures at about 4:40am or so, merely by using my Canon Power Shot through the eyepiece (the Moon is the only astronomical object where you can actually get away with this and produce good pictures).

A full Moon is not much to look at through a telescope, by the way, because the lighting is so flat. However, deep into the penumbra, the Earth is covering the Sun sufficiently such that the sunlight striking the Moon is coming from an asymmetrical light source; hence, you begin to see the Moon take on a three dimensional apperance. This picture shows the Moon just before it enters the umbra, which will appear from the lower right.

The Moon subsequently progressed into the umbra.

After the Moon was about halfway into the umbra, I started to adjust my camera's shutter speed, trying to capture the red light on the eclipsed portion of the Moon (caused by sunlight refracting through the Earth's atmosphere and subsequently striking the Moon).

Higher magnification

My video clips...

Totality

As the Moon was setting, dawn was progressing on the opposite side of the sky. The Moon became progressively harder to see and the sky was simply not transparent enough for me to be able to see the much heralded "selenehelion" event, a rarity. I lost track of the eclipsed Moon when it was about three or four degrees above the horizon (the low hills of Malibu from my location in Hermosa Beach).

Lunar Eclipse; December 10th, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:27:00 +0000

Location: Hermosa Beach, California, USA

Time: Approximately 4:40am to 6:15am, PST

Simple equipment: Canon Power Shot through a 6" Dobsonian Telescope

The entire set can be viewed at the Flickr link below.

Lunar Eclipse: December 10th, 2011, a set on Flickr.

Impetuous Ritual, Ritual Necromancy, and Grave Upheaval at Five Stars Bar

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:10:00 +0000

The shows being put on by L.A. locals Hatewar Productions keep getting better and better with a seemingly increasing frequency of high quality, serious black metal acts that don't normally tour being featured. Case in point is last night's tremendous triple bill of Australia's Impetuous Ritual and Grave Upheaval along with Portland, Oregon's Ritual Necromancy; a bill put on by Hatewar at Five Points Bar, a hole in the wall adorning a puke and detritus filled street in L.A. just on the eastern edge of the "historic" downtown district (the neighborhood does feature the Blade Runner Building, as it's known, though, regardless of the vomit).

With the recent closure of The Blvd. in Boyle Heights and still no word on metal from the supposedly relocated, revamped Knitting Factory, with the exception of The Black Castle (another Hatewar favorite), L.A. now lacks a venue for serious underground black and dark, death metal (the various joints lining the glitz and glamour of the Sunset Strip don't count). Five Stars Bar is the obvious choice to replace The Blvd. with a similar stage setup and hall capacity, and also with a particularly dark, brooding atmosphere.

Naturally, the usual extreme underground metal gang of Los Angeles proper was out in full force for last night's show, an assembly of metalheads that includes a veritable who's who from bands such as Nokturne, Gravehill, and Harassor. The Eternal Roadie even put in a appearance last night, overgrown mutton chops and all, along with about 75 other diehards as we go through a definite doldrums when it comes to good shows in L.A. of late.

My fellow lab rat and I settled near the front of the bar's small stage for Australia's Grave Upheaval, a trio featuring a guitarist who also serves time in Impetuous Rital (as well as Portal, if I'm not mistaken). Setting the tone for the remainder of the evening, Grave Upheaval are an absolutely barbaric wall of darkened, blackened doom/ death metal, treading the same territory as both Ritual Necromancy and Impetuous Ritual, but with an intensely raw sound. Also featuring a huge amount of blackened doom and drone in their assault, it's easy to draw comparisons between Grave Upheaval and Sunn O))) with their similar approach to atmosphere with muted lights and fog effects galore (all the more effective, and cough inducing, in such a small space).

Ritual Necromancy were next and absolutely crushed the small space of the Five Stars Bar with a very loud, very heavy detonation of dark death metal. Featuring a more bottom heavy and dynamic sound than Grave Upheaval, Ritual Necromancy were incredibly downtuned and immediately curried favor with the crowd, a number of whom already seemed to be familiar with Ritual Necromancy's just released debut full length album on Dark Descent Records (review here).

Adorned in their own blood and spikes, the barefooted quartet of Impetuous Ritual wordlessly took the stage amidst a cauldron of muted, hideous red lighting and smoke. Roaring through a 50-plus minute set of blackened death metal, Impetuous Ritual absolutely dripped with atmosphere and a palpable, evil intensity. The enraptured crowd silently took it all in with banging heads and horns and twisted Invisible Oranges held high. Never acknowledging the presence of the crowd, Impetuous Ritual conquered Los Angeles this evening and promptly exited.

Grave Upheaval

Ritual Necromancy

Impetuous Ritual

Next...

Impetuous Ritual, Ritual Necromancy, and Grave Upheaval

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:46:00 +0000

A review will be posted shortly.

Impetuous Ritual et al, a set on Flickr.

The Rotted Ad Nauseam

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:25:00 +0000

The Rotted Ad Nauseam

(Candlelight Records)

By: Chris Davison

Just in case there are some of you out there that HAVE been living under a rock, The Rotted are a band that evolved from the ashes of much-loved UK extreme death metal act Gorerotted following their final album, 2005's (ye gads, has it really been that long ?) A New Dawn For The Dead. With a final line up that includes Tim (guitars) and Ben (vocals) from the aforementioned band, and the mighty Rev Trudgill (bass) and Nate Gould (drums) from the criminally underrated Screamin’ Daemon, this is the follow up to 2008's filthy necrotic deathly punk Get Dead Or Die Tryin'. Given that fine record was one of my favourites of that year, and that stopgap EP release Anarchogram was so strong when released in 2010, can Ad Nauseam possibly see a continuation of the same fine standards as before?

Happily, that is a resounding “yes”. The beauty of The Rotted is that although they are clearly routed in the death metal tradition, they aren't shackled by any of the conventions of belonging solely to that genre. With this release, the chains have finally been lifted and thrown resolutely into the trash. This is a brilliant release that somehow manages to pay homage to all the heavy, extreme music that has gone before it. Hence, you will hear some of the fury and extremity of the early Napalm Death releases, the middle-finger, whiskey-soaked swagger of prime Motörhead, the crusty, soil stained punk of Discharge, Crass and Amebix, and the grinding hatred of Benediction.

While The Rotted’s debut album may have featured the Union Jack on the cover art, Ad Nauseam features such a quintessentially rebellious “fuck you” attitude that it could only really have been spawned in these sacred isles. Punked-up extreme metal such as “Non Serviam” are based around the always reliable and hook laden riffs of Tim clashing with the greasy, Lemmy-esque bass lines of Trudg’ and the astonishing drum-battery delivery of Nate. Perhaps the greatest change has come from the vocals, with Ben tempering his trademark sub-atomic bellow into a more finely honed but even more angry delivery that benefits from being all the more decipherable and furious.

If the musical cues weren't apparent enough for the casual listener, there are more hints and tips placed in the lyrics and the song titles. “Apathy in the UK” with the obvious punk reference in the title and the lyrics dealing with extreme music writes this authentic grimy, filthy, delightfully scuzzy Britishness across your ears in 50 foot high capital letters. Elsewhere, the none-too-subtle title of “Motorbastards” does exactly what is says on the tin – imagining, perhaps, how Motörhead would have sounded if Lemmy had originally been in Discharge rather than Hawkwind, and had been on crank rather than speed for all these years. It also features a bass line so greasy, fat, and sleazy it should really be housed in its own Peckham council flat (editor: British slang fails me). Oh, and the final bars of “Ace of Spades.”

Really, the production is a mini-marvel, managing as it does to retain the required level of grime and nastiness running, while also securing the correct levels of clarity and punch. At just over 40 minutes, Ad Nauseam is just the right amount of fast, fist-in-your-face extremity for drinking all of your beer and pinching your girlfriend before riding off into the sunset (in your car, natch). Quite, quite brilliant and a worthy combination of all that has been great in British extremity matched with the best levels of musicianship and modern production jobs. Trust me, if you have even a passing interest in death metal, grindcore, hardcore punk done the old way (i.e. before the wife beater vest brigade got involved) and thrash, then this should be filed under “essential.”

The Rotted MySpace

JEAN JACKET CONSTRUCTION MEANS WAR IV

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:55:00 +0000

At this point, I consider the vest finished. I'm not into pins, so I will not be adding any, and I like to have use of the pockets, so I doubt that I'll add any more patches. I have full use of the front and interior pockets as I was very careful to sew the patches in an approriate manner. That meant a laborious process of sewing by hand for the Deiphago, Nile, Unleashed, and Taake patches. I specifically sought patches of those sizes in order to fit on the front of the jacket without restricting the use of the pockets.

I'll start another vest soon, probably a black denim vest. Since the finished jacket mostly consists of black metal and dark, death metal bands, I may do the next vest as a blend of thrash, traditional, and stoner metal. A third jacket may just be straight up death metal, and might be a leather vest, as well.

Funerus Reduced To Sludge

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:57:00 +0000

Sorry to be rather incognito lately, but my other life has absorbed my focus of late. I even had to let a few shows go by due to other committments. I have been steadily completing my weekly column at About.com, however, and you can read my latest columns here, here, and here. One more column for 2011 will be published next Monday, and then I'll be taking about six weeks off ( I will be doing "best of the year" lists, though). I do hope, however, to get back to posting some astronomy and physics-related stuff, as a number of references seem to have popped up in metal, lately.

Here is a quick look at my take on Leviathan True Traitor, True Whore...

Chris Davison has also been very busy of late with committments that reside in academia, but he has has found time to crank out a couple of reviews. Here's his take on Reduced To Sludge from Funerus...

Funerus Reduced To Sludge

(Ibex Moon Records)

By: Chris Davison

"Not all old school death metal outfits hail from Sweden. Funerus have a longer pedigree than most of their peers, having demo releases dating way back to 1991, (no doubt, depressingly enough, way before many of our readers were even born), and features John McIntee (yes, that John McIntee) on guitars, his wife Jill on vocals and bass, and Mortician live drummer Sam Inzerra. It is fair to say, therefore, that the quality of Reduced to Sludge, coincidentally mastered and mixed by a certain Mr. Dan Swanö, is a cut above the rest. Not only in terms of overall quality, but also in terms of approach.

Unlike many other bands out there, Funerus aren't content to merely ape that all pervasive chainsaw-guitar sound pioneered by Entombed, sticking as they do with a more familiar, dare I say it, "American" guitar tone, while playing the kind of dirty, depraved riffs that nestle somewhere in between very old Death and Autopsy. Keeping the tempo around the mid-paced mark, and with more than a passing trip into slow territory, Funerus play to their strengths. Funerus create deliberately unpleasant hymns that bring to mind the glory days of early death metal when the conjuring of mental images was more important than the amount of poly-rhythms that could be knocked out by machine gun-like drummers.

John McIntee produces the goods with simple, but brutal, riffs, while wife Jill impresses with her vocals and deep bass work. With a low but decipherable growl, she manages to sound genuinely possessed, adding an air of creeping menace to the slower sections, which shuffle through the speakers as if they were genuinely made by the undead. Sam Inzerra does not disappoint on the kit either, with an accomplished performance that manages to produce the kind of tight ultra-technicality when required, but generally stays on the side of the atmospheric and original.

Quite a bit more messed up and rotten sounding than pretty much anyone else out there at the moment, save perhaps perennial filth-mongers Autopsy; there is a real niche in the market for honest, earnest and hard working bands in death metal such as Funerus.

This is it, kids. You can take your asymmetrical haircuts and Ph.D. in musical theory and take them next door. Me? I'm settling down for some anthems of detritus-infected musical/ biological warfare. Take it away, guys and dolls..."

Funerus MySpace

Thanks, Chris! You can check out my look at the same album here.

Next (I gotta get to a show)...

Worlds Collide

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:51:00 +0000

Krisiun The Great Execution

Dave's Underground Laboratory here and here.

Gathering of the Bestial Legion V is back on.

Immolation and Jungle Rot at Chain Reaction

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:20:00 +0000

A more formal review of the show can be found here. Here are the pictures...

Jungle Rot

Immolation

The t-shirt haul...

Special thanks to James Genenz and Jungle Rot.

Soon...

Immolation and Jungle Rot

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 15:54:00 +0000

Immolation and Jungle Rot, a set on Flickr.

Immolation and Jungle Rot at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA. October 22nd, 2011. An informal review will follow soon.

Craig Metal

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:24:00 +0000

SKULL

Dave has asked me to say a few words about our lifelong friend Craig, who tragically passed away recently, focusing on our tastes for music and how that helped to bring us together. I could write a book about Craig. Maybe, someday, I will. But, for now, I will stay on topic.

I was aware of Craig for some time before I actually met him. Even in a high school as large as ours, his dynamic personality and charisma was hard to miss. I met him, oddly enough, when he started dating my twin sister Mary. Our friendship basically began with Craig tossing me the keys to his car so I would get the Hell out of the house when he came to visit her because I was a third wheel. Unfortunately, their dating relationship didn’t last long, but their friendship endured for life.

Craig and I had some mutual friends through which we came into closer contact and we began to get to know each other better. Our senses of humor meshed as well as our zest for contraband, and we began hanging out a bit more. What we did not see eye to eye on was music. Craig was mostly a hardcore punker and I was all about metal. But, this gave us something to debate over and something to give each other a hard time about. Eventually he opened my mind with Millions Of Dead Cops by MDC, and I blew him away with Sodom’s In The Sign Of Evil. Our friendship was galvanized as we helped each other explore new realms of extreme music. Craig took me to my first non-arena concert ever. We saw Suicidal Tendencies supporting their self titled debut full length at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago. I was sixteen and was enamored by the fact that I could be right in front of the stage during the show. Unfortunately I learned the hard way the risks this posed when the pit started up and we got pushed forward against the stage. I realized too late that the knucklehead directly behind me was covered in spikes. I had welts that lasted for days.

Craig turned me on to other bands such as The Exploited, GBH, and DRI, while in turn I (and others such as Dave) helped him discover bands like Metallica, Celtic Frost, Venom, and Slayer. He became a rabid Slayer fan and we saw them together many times. One of these shows was at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. Arriving late, I foolishly parked in the Domino’s Pizza parking lot across the street from the venue. My car was towed and we had to cab it back to the ‘burbs after the show. We devised a grand scheme to ditch the cab upon returning home, but, when I was ready to implement our plan, I turned to Craig only to find him passed out drunk next to me, costing me forty bucks. Typical Craig. We also delved deeply into Rush together, and he was the finest and most enthusiastic “air” musician I have ever known.

As we got older, music took more of a backseat and became just one of the many things we shared and had in common. After Craig’s first bout with a brain tumor (that he barely survived) he mellowed out quite a bit, but I know he popped Reign In Blood, Kill ‘Em All, and Morbid Tales into his deck from time to time. Sometimes while hanging at a bar with him or just sitting around and watching TV, he’d look at me and say, “Hey, Skull,” and then belt out a Warrior-esque death grunt for no reason except for the sheer fun of it.

I miss him terribly. He left us way too soon. Rest in peace, my Zombie brother.

DAVE

I met our friend Craig way back in 7th grade when we both somehow ended up in orchestra together at Holmes Junior High School around 1982. As I recall, neither of us had much use for playing the viola, and we spent most of our time goofing around. I remember once that we convinced a lot of other kids to shoot rubber bands into the crowd from the orchestra stage during a recital as we played for parents, alumni, and other distinguished guests. My social studies teacher remarked that he enjoyed the recital, but felt that the rubber bands were an unnecessary embellishment.

I met Skull a year or two later in early high school, and we all became part of the same circle of friends. I gravitated towards extreme metal, Craig towards hardcore punk, while Skull dabbled in both. We would all gather in my basement after school and on weekends as I had two things going for me at the time. First, a loud stereo combined with me being the first kid in my high school to own vinyl copies of “you name it” from Metal Blade, Combat, New Renaissance, Noise, Neat, Megaforce, and just about anything else floating around at the time; and, second, I also had a pool table, which greatly aided the cause in getting us all together on a regular basis.

A number of favorites ended up in our early rotation, and the time of 1984-85 really stands out. We endlessly replayed Sentence Of Death by Destruction, Morbid Tales by Celtic Frost, In The Sign Of Evil by Sodom, and, Craig’s personal favorite at the time, Apocalyptic Raids by Hellhammer. As Skull mentioned above, Craig’s calling card became his version of Tom G. Warrior’s death grunt, and we greeted each other in this manner for literally decades afterwards. Craig was such a fan of the song “Triumph Of Death” that, one time, Craig was so excited that we drove 10 miles from a party back to my house just to listen to the song. We drove back to the party afterwards; that is, after blasting the song on my stereo three or four times at top volume (and scaring the Hell out of my mother). When we graduated from high school a few years later, Craig tried unsuccessfully to have his name read as “Tom G. Warrior” during the ceremony. Craig also couldn’t get enough of In The Sign Of Evil by Sodom, and would frequently laugh at Angelripper’s bowl haircut.

There was a period of time during these years that we all latched on to my beat up, taped from a tape from a tape copy of The Ultimate Revenge on a battered VHS tape. We watched the video endlessly for a time, and Craig convinced me to drag it to whatever party we were headed to for the evening. We would take over the VCR, pop in the tape, and promptly clear the room. This went on for some months until Craig ran over the tape in someone’s driveway.

In our later high school years, we hit the concert scene, and I attended a few shows with Craig. I distinctly recall seeing the infamous Celtic Frost/ Voivod/ Running Wild tour at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago, and you can bet that this was a highlight of our social calendar. Craig was so excited that he drove his motorcycle to the concert, only to discover after he arrived that he had left his ticket at home in Mt. Prospect. So, he promptly drove back home, got his ticket, and made it back just in time to catch Voivod. He jokingly referred to Running Wild as “Posing Wild,” anyway, so I don’t think that he was all that disappointed.

After I moved away from Chicago to eventually settle in Los Angeles, Craig and I only kept in touch infrequently over the years, something that I deeply regret and cannot ever rectify.

My friend Craig passed away in late September due to brain cancer. He was 43 years old. He is survived by his wife and two young children.

The Thing (2011)

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:02:00 +0000

The Thing (2011)

Directed by Matthijs Van Heijningen

Here’s something completely different. Like lots of metalheads, part of being a nerd is “nerding out” on great horror flicks such as John Carpenter’s classic The Thing from 1982. I also really enjoy the Howard Hawks film from 1951, and the original short, Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell (1938) is a classic that, along with The Voyage Of The Space Beagle by A. E. Van Vogt (1950) and The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1955), serves as the obvious progenitor of just about any story featuring “aliens biologically take us over/ become us” ever told since. Hell, I’m such a fan of the story that I once took a girl on a date to a small play in Chicago that diligently followed the original short story. The theater was cold (blankets were given to patrons), and the play’s producers did a fair job of creating mood and atmosphere. Creature appearances were handled by the effective use of lighting and auditory effects designed to evoke a sense of chaos and panic. I don’t remember what happened to the girl, though. Alan Dean Foster’s novelization of the Carpenter film is also worth your while. I still have a copy of the Bantam paperback in my library.

Naturally, I was very curious and excited to hear that a new film, a direct prequel to the Carpenter film, was in the works, but also deeply suspicious that a new film would be lousy (considering that most of the dreck coming out of Hollywood these days is just that, dreck), and would negate Carpenter’s film’s impact on younger viewers. So, a fair amount of trepidation was in my mind when I traipsed out to the Del Amo Mall in Torrance (the same mall featured in Jackie Brown) for a Saturday matinee showing of The Thing.

WARNING: SERIOUS SPOILERS: If you have not seen the film and don’t want it to be spoiled for you, STOP READING.

So, here’s my take on The Thing (2011). I liked the film, although there are some serious plot holes and a few bad moments. First, the good. The Thing looks authentic; that is, the film is set in 1982, and it shows. As far as I could tell, there were no anachronisms to be found with cues from technology, slang, and so on. Obviously, the writers will be careful in that regards, and the level of detail applied in this sense was good. For example, during a moment of celebration after finding the creature, the Norwegian camp members burst out into a song, a Norwegian song that won the Eurovision contest sometime around then, apparently (I haven't investigated too closely, though). Nice touch. Apparently, even beer labels adhered to their designs from the day.

The sets are awesome, and not just because the setting conforms to the period. The Norwegian camp layout is very obviously recognizable from the Carpenter film. The radio room where the camp member (Colin) is found by McReady and Copper sitting in a chair with his self inflicted slash wounds (his suicide is explained, but in a quick manner), the room with the block of ice containing the Thing, all done very well. The camp is smaller than the American Outpost 31 in the Carpenter film, and looks it. This enhances the claustrophobic feel of the film, perhaps more than that present in Outpost 31. The smaller camp is effectively used as the events in this film play out at a noticeably quicker pace than those at Outpost 31 in the Carpenter film.

The film is atmospheric and very creepy, particularly in the early going. The level of paranoia steadily builds as the middle acts play out, as well. The paranoia works very well, and I found myself shrinking in my seat on more than one occasion. The early reveals of the Thing are actually done VERY WELL. The Thing encased in ice is just an awesome sight to behold, and is straight out of Campbell’s original description. An early scene that depicts the camp members starting to drill into the ice block is very effective.

Most detractors of this film are going to complain about the overt CGI “look” to the Thing, and that is definitely a problem, particularly in the film’s later acts. But, in the early going, the effects work very well. The sequence prior to and during the burning of the Thing under a shed after it escapes from the ice is excellent, as is the transformation of Juliette (although I could see that one coming a mile away). I also enjoyed most of the “two-headed Thing” sequences, although, this is where the film’s later acts, and problems, really start to begin. Puppetry does appear, mostly during an autopsy sequence following the burning of the Thing under the shed.

OK, so, now the problems. Yeah, the CGI is overdone, particularly near the conclusion with the scenes set in the spacecraft. I found the tension deflating the more that I saw of the Thing, especially during these sequences. That’s an obvious problem, and the CGI is just too obvious. But, my major gripes with the film occur with some plot holes that really don’t make any sense. First and foremost, the American chopper pilots evacuate Olav from the camp, as he’s obviously in shock after the events involving the burning under the shed. Fellow American Griggs tags along, only to reveal himself as the Thing as the chopper is lifting off. Yes, main character Kate Lloyd is waving them back to land while this happens after she suspects that something is amiss with camp members, but, as far as I could see, there’s no way for her to know that specifically Griggs is the Thing at this point. The Thing should have just taken its chances if the chopper lands. Naturally the chopper crashes over an impassable ridge during this sequence as the struggle occurs.

At any rate, I also found myself bothered by the last few moments, prior to the “credit cookies.” A taken over Braxton Carter is tricked by Kate Lloyd into revealing himself as the Thing with a mistake involving his earring. The Thing would’ve been smarter than that; maybe Carter wasn’t a Thing, after all, although the sound effects suggest otherwise. Also, whatever happens to Lloyd? Does she freeze out on the ice? Does she make it out with a snowcat? Why aren’t the snowcat(s) found by McReady and company when they find the craft in the Carpenter film? Maybe Lloyd lights out for a Russian camp mentioned earlier by Carter, but that leaves the burnt snowcat left behind. Maybe the snowcat, or snowcats, are buried in snowfall prior to McReady and company’s arrival. Moments like these, and a few others involving questions such as just when were various people taken over is obviously purposeful of the writers to attempt to mirror Carpenter’s very effective use of not exactly knowing all of the events occurring within the larger framework of the story.

The Thing crashes into a glacier 100,000 years ago, activates a homing beacon, and crawls from his craft, only to freeze. Yet, the craft starts up just fine after the taken over Dr. Halvorson/ Thing leaves the remains of the camp and arrives at the craft only minutes ahead (presumably) of Carter and Lloyd. Why not just start it back up 100,000 years ago?!

A few other elements are going to bother people. The plot of the film mirrors the Carpenter film pretty closely, but I was expecting that. One could argue that people under similar dire circumstances are going to find similar solutions to problems, though. The inclusion of American characters didn’t bother me, though, as their introduction to the film in the early going fits; but, some will probably take issue with this as a plot vehicle that is similar to Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character’s purpose in the second version of The Grudge. Also quite bothersome is the fact that pilots Jameson and Carter make it back to the camp after crashing in the first place. Edvard unnecessarily revealing himself as the Thing in the rec room also bothers me, although that begins the whole “two-headed Thing” sequence of events that lead to the end. Perhaps the Thing reasoned that, at this point in the film in such a small setting, it could get away with going for broke, as it were.

There are some nice touches, all neatly tying the film to the Carpenter film, mostly occurring as a credit cookie as the closing credit sequence begins; Ennio Morricone music and all. The “two-headed Thing” in the snow, the emergence of the dog ( that plot element happens in the very early going), the disappearance of Lars earlier that later leads to the final helicopter scene, etc., all are present, although some of it, particularly the dog’s emergence, seems forced. There are even two shots from the Carpenter film that occur in these moments.

So, there you have it. Is The Thing (2011) a keeper; that is, will I buy it and watch it every now and then? Yes. Will it ever attain the cult classic status of the Carpenter film (or, even the Hawks film for that matter?) Doubtful.

Dave’s Grade: B+

For all “things” Thing-related, check out Outpost 31.

OK, those of you that wish to chime in, did I miss anything?