MUSIC UNLIMITED

U2 Achtung Baby [Super Deluxe Edition]

2011-11-23T01:24:00.000-08:00

FIND IT AT :

"If you give a pop star a shit pile of dough and he refuses to self-destruct, I think it is a bit wet," said a smoking, slicked-back, black-sunglasses-clad Bono in a 1993 interview on the UK music show "Naked City". "I think it's part of the deal. If they don't die on a cross by 33, I'd ask for your money back." Like many of the knowingly audacious quotes from the singer and his U2 mates during this period, it's a little tough to deduce the exact level of sincerity involved. And that was the whole idea. In the early 1990s, U2 were sending up the idea of a "rock'n'roll star." They were offering themselves as an ironic, postmodern band for similarly confused times. They were making fun of themselves and their own humorless, slate-faced 80s reputation. A year after Bono's casual quip about pop stars dying on a cross, Kurt Cobain killed himself. And in Nirvana's final video, for "Heart-Shaped Box", Cobain could be seen making wild eyes in front of one.
Achtung Baby and its accompanying Zoo TV tour lived within the slippage between perception and reality. "Sometimes you can get far closer to the truth of what you're trying to say by highlighting what it isn't as if it were true," said the Edge on "Naked City". "That's assuming we know the truth-- 'truth' is one of those words that's lost its meaning." In the 80s, U2 seemed endlessly in search of a definite truth, whether in peace or god or love or some ambiguous combination of the three. Famously, they didn't find it.
But the quest was thrilling-- at least until 1988's album and film Rattle and Hum, which found the group looking and sounding spectacularly self-serious while gawkily paying tribute to some of their American heroes like Elvis Presley and B.B. King. The resulting critical backlash caused these open-hearted Irishmen to reflect, and they weren't crazy about what they saw in the mirror. "We looked like a big, overblown rock band running amok," says Bono in an excellent new documentary called From the Sky Down that chronicles the band's pivotal turn-of-the-decade moment. And while that might seem like an aptly derisive opinion of today's incarnation of U2, it's important to remember that these guys originally came out of the cacophony of rule-breaking post-punk, a realm where bloated arena rock was the enemy. So they went away and tried to come up with a new way to seek some truth.
Achtung Baby is rightly known as one of rock's greatest reinventions because it was so complete. Sure, U2 changed their sound from chiming melodics to lurching, distorted rhythm. But they also changed their attitude, their demeanor, their look, their ideas on how to deal with celebrity. All of a sudden, they were funny, sexy, a bit dangerous-- three things few would've associated with U2 in the 80s. And yet, at their core, the band's values remained constant. They were still ethically minded and interested in the real-life connection between living beings. But the way they went about projecting those core tenets flipped. In TV-news parlance, their attitude switched from "60 Minutes" to "The Colbert Report".
This new era was conveniently spelled-out on Achtung's first single "The Fly" with the Edge's metallic skronk and Bono's conspiratorial, effected whisper of lines like, "It's no secret that a conscience can sometimes be a pest/ It's no secret that ambition bites the nails of success." And just as the album goes lengths to both fulfill and upend rock'n'roll myths with thorny tales of deep betrayal, questioned fidelity, and ambiguous artifice, this coffee-table-book sized, 6xCD, 4xDVD set both props up Achtung and pokes a few holes in it, too.
Take the album's much-ballyhooed place of origin, Berlin's Hansa Studios. This was the location that played host to David Bowie and Iggy Pop's electronic-inspired masterworks Low and The Idiot. And Hansa is located near the Berlin Wall, which had only recently been breached when U2 set up there in the fall of 1990. Perched literally in the middle of historic liberation, U2 were meant to find inspiration in the world events around them and turn that spark into a new version of the band for a new decade. It's a great backdrop for a great story. But it didn't really go down that way. "We're there, and greatness has left the building," Bono recalls in From the Sky Down, which features the band returning to Hansa earlier this year in preparation for their headlining set at Glastonbury.
While Berlin did inspire bits of the record-- "Zoo Station" was named after one of its prominent train terminals-- it hardly lived up to its lofty reputation. This serves as a lesson for U2, a band that shamelessly worships past rock heroes, to move past such naïve mythologizing. "Berlin was a baptism of fire," says bassist Adam Clayton in the documentary. "It was something we had to go through to realize what we were trying to get to was not something you could find physically, outside of ourselves, in some other city-- that there was not magic to it and that we actually had to put the work in and figure out the ideas and hone those ideas down." This newfound pragmatism would help them to move past their fantasies about the sanctity of rock. So while Berlin played a part on Achtung Baby, it did so in surprising ways; though "One" was mostly written in a burst of inspiration in Hansa, most of the album truly came together once the group went back home to Dublin.
Most of the audio bonuses in this set are unfortunately superfluous, and don't offer much in terms of insight. There are two CDs filled with dance remixes, and while U2 were at the vanguard of big time rock bands embracing the notion of the remix, even the most devout rave nostalgist would have little use for six remakes of "Mysterious Ways". The disc of bonus material and B-sides is disappointingly slight, and another filled with early versions of every song on Achtung offers a few revelations-- an Irish gig-style version of "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" has an easy charm, but generally, it's easy to see why these attempts were improved upon later. Achtung's even more electronic and weirder follow-up, 1993's Zooropa-- which was recorded in a creative frenzy during a break in the Zoo TV tour-- is also included, though it's generally (and somewhat unfairly) glossed over in all the accompanying materials.
The worthy additions in this "super deluxe edition" are nearly all visual. There's Anton Corbijn's gorgeous and colorful photography that covers its case, as well as a big, sturdy 84-page book. And then the four discs of video: It Might Get Loud director Davis Guggenheim's new 90-minute doc From the Sky Down, every video from the era, a full live gig taped in Australia in 1993, interview shows (like "Naked City"), and, best of all, a playfully subversive TV special from 1992 that includes live footage from the Zoo TV tour as well as goofy interludes that play up the surrealism and insanity of the whole project. Moments like the "Even Better Than the Real Thing" video, with the band playing in a glass case while fans look on outside, successfully tie in all the pomo flourishes U2 were chasing. The group was at the forefront of bringing huge video screens into the live arena, and some of the tricks they pull off-- Bono "dueting" with a static-y Lou Reed or flipping channels to live local stations-- still look impressive. And for all the technical wizardry of the stage setup, the band still uses it to complement the music rather than overshadow it. Even 20 years on, the tour looks like something to behold, a singularly inventive experience that no band-- including U2 itself-- has been able to really expound upon in a meaningful way.
In the Zoo TV special, which originally aired during Thanksgiving weekend in 1992, a "news commentator" covering the show dubs it "the most significant and exciting TV event since the Gulf War." Some of the ideas behind Zoo TV and Achtung Baby were inspired by the television coverage of that initial Gulf War in 1991, and the bizarre reality of being able to switch channels from home shopping to MTV to the bombing of Baghdad. U2 recognized the dangers of this idea, when war turned into just more filler for the burgeoning 24-hour TV-news cycle. And instead of preaching against it in a high and mighty fashion, they embraced that chaos in an effort to expose it. Of course, our collective information overload has been upped exponentially since thanks to the internet, making the flashes of words and slogans that backed U2 during their live campaign seem eerily prophetic. Talking about the Zoo TV audience in the "Naked City" interview, drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. says, "They're coming to a rock'n'roll show and watching television, what more can you ask for?" He's joking, but as we go to arenas and see singers on big screens through our cellphone cameras, the question begins to answer itself.

R.E.M. Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011

2011-11-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

FIND IT AT :

R.E.M. spent the majority of their 31-year career putting out top-quality albums, while a chunk of their audience wished they would just break up already. Though some of this was a bit reactionary and a by-product of their roots in the nascent indie rock scene of the 1980s, it was mainly a consequence of one of the band's most admirable qualities-- a restless desire to reinvent themselves with each record and create a discography in which each new entry had a distinct character. This much was clear by 1984: R.E.M. could have mined indefinitely the fascinating blend of murky atmosphere and crystal clear chiming guitar parts on their debut, Murmur-- lord knows many other bands of the era tried-- but they took a left turn into the sunnier, more lyrically direct Reckoning and kept throwing curveballs at their audience from that point onward.
This tendency yielded a rich body of work spanning 15 studio albums, but the creative shifts-- however organic they may seem in context-- gave listeners valid reasons to jump ship along the way. It makes just as much sense to enjoy all their records as it does for someone who favors Peter Buck's early jangle-centric guitar style to recoil at his flamboyantly distorted tone on Monster, or for fans of their immensely popular chamber pop records Out of Time and Automatic for the People to shrug off the skewed, highly politicized arena rock of their late 80s records. This isn't even factoring in the uneven albums they made following the departure of original drummer and songwriter Bill Berry, which spanned from the tentative lounge pop of Up to the often dreary melodrama of Around the Sun and the "back to basics" rock of Accelerate.
With this in mind, Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011-- the band's first career-spanning anthology-- does an exceptional job of presenting this body of work as a chronological survey that neatly summarizes their major themes and artistic tangents while being highly listenable. The song selection is exceptional-- a few relatively minor singles didn't make the cut, but every major hit is here, presented alongside crucial album tracks such as "Country Feedback", "Begin the Begin", and "Life and How to Live It". The quality of the material up through at least the middle of the second disc is unimpeachable; the sheer concentration of classic tunes makes a strong case for the band ranking among the 20th century's greatest songwriting partnerships. The set handles the band's leaner years with grace and minimal revisionism, though the electronic and ambient textures of Up are sidelined in favor of that album's delicate Beach Boys homage "At My Most Beautiful". A few wild card selections from their more recent records, such as Accelerate's "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" and "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter" from Collapse Into Now, shine in this context.
Nearly every hits set must include previously unreleased material, and this one is no different. The three new tracks featured here are the final completed songs of the band's career and serve as a coda of sorts for their recorded output. The single "We All Go Back to Where We Belong" is the keeper; a wistful ballad with a delightfully schmaltzy Burt Bacharach-like arrangement that barely conceals its subtext of basically being about the end of R.E.M. The other two cuts sound like a band crossing a few ideas off their bucket list before calling it a day: "Hallelujah" comes off like them giving one last attempt at nailing the hazy sophisti-pop they explored on Reveal, while the dreadful "A Month of Saturdays" meets the title's "garbage" requirement by sounding as though they realized at the last moment that they never wrote a song about loving the weekend and scrambled to remedy that with only a few minutes of studio time.
Though R.E.M.'s dissolution is not necessarily a cause for celebration, having a clearly defined end point makes it much easier to grasp the scope of their achievements. Part of a collective anxiety about R.E.M.'s ongoing existence up until this year was based in a desire on the part of the audience to impose a manageable narrative on their career. Now that they have disbanded, it's much easier to understand the trajectory of their post-Berry output in particular: Basically, they spent some time in the 2000s trying out new sounds and ways of working, but they eventually reconnected with their rock'n'roll roots before wrapping up their career with Collapse Into Now, a set of songs that revisited their creative strengths. Those records are never going to as beloved as their first 10 brilliant and remarkably consistent albums with Berry, but Part Lies makes a good case that their later period has value too, and that the group had raised the bar so high for themselves that merely being very good could be interpreted as a failure.

Grown Below - The Long Now review

2011-11-23T01:13:00.000-08:00

01. Trojan Horses
02. Devoid of Age
03. The Abyss
04. Minaco II - Nebula
05. End of All Time
06. The Long Now
07. Malklara

A couple minutes in to The Long Now, I was bracing for a long hour. It started off as yet another of what I just referred to as an "SSDD: Same Shit, Different Dudes" release. Post-Rock/Metal medium paced riffing, growled vocals.

Then the Belgian band shifted gears into the obligatory Mellow Moments phase that seemingly all these post-y acts do... and, to an extent, won me over.

Bass took primary focus while the guitars shifted to a light, floating ethereal quality. These parts were not just short little divergences from familiar mid-paced riffing, but went on for extended periods of time. Enough to ease you in and lull you to a semi-conscious blissful daze.

The vocalist shifted gear as well, to a clean sung voice... He won't be topping any best front man polls 'round these parts, but his voice was flawed and conveyed some form of sorrow that really enhanced the already particularly well done quieter voyages.

Grown Below toss in other elements, such as synthed string accompaniment, as well as some female vocals which harmonize both with the clean and growled male parts.

And perhaps another effect of these extended vacations from the distortion pedal is that when they return to (post-)"rock!" mode it makes those riffs more enjoyable as well.

The whole album seems a bit better put together and executed than a lot of the others I've reviewed this year. While it might be odd that I extol the non-\m/ sections on a review for a metal site, those sections are what will convince me to revisit the album and listen to it after the review is up...

Website:

http://grownbelow.bandcamp.com/album/the-long-now

Performance:	8
Songwriting:	7
Originality:	7
Production:	8

Ty Segall Singles 2007-2010

2011-11-23T01:08:00.000-08:00

Find It At :

"When you play music and you're a person on a stage, sometimes people can put you on a pedestal, and that can do a lot of things to your head. And... what if it actually exploded all over the walls during a show?" That's Ty Segall speaking to SF Weekly earlier this year about his 2011 song, "My Head Explodes". It's a fairly straightforward description of a song that isn't terribly complicated. Guy sings. People watch. Guy's head explodes. It's not hard to picture Segall's head exploding. He sings hard and loud and with the shrill fury of a castrated animal. And he does this a lot. Since quitting his band, Epsilons, less than four years ago, Segall has become arguably the most exciting and probably the most prolific member of San Francisco's evolving garage rock scene, which also includes Thee Oh Sees, the Fresh & Onlys, and Sic Alps (with whom Segall formerly played). Since going solo, he's released five albums of original material; two split LPs; a live album; a cassette-only compilation; eight 7"s; four split EPs; a collaborative album with Mikal Cronin; and appeared on four compilation albums. The man is prolific. Trying to keep up will, if not enough make your head explode, at least incite heavy migraines.
This year's Goodbye Bread, his first release for Drag City, is easily his best, the accumulation of learned songwriting tricks and a developing melodic sense, with an emphasis on sonic clarity and the influence of some august icons, notably John Lennon and Marc Bolan. (Oh yeah, Segall recorded a tribute EP to Bolan's T. Rex this year, too.) In the afterglow of Goodbye's success, Memphis label Goner Records, Segall's former home, has compiled Singles 2007-2010, a sort of refresher course and unheard odds-and-ends set that serves as a tenacious, temporary portrait of Segall. There are hints everywhere at the songwriter Segall would become, but Singles is much more about the flail of youth than honoring tradition. In a few years, he's garnered comparisons to a wide swath of artists, from Nuggets-friendly English bands like the Troggs and the Pretty Things, to working-class American menace-peddlers like the Stooges and Ramones, to early recordings by the White Stripes (especially prevalent on this comp), down to the late Jay Reatard, a significant guidepost for Segall.
Singles is a stew mixing all of those ingredients and more. There are hints of Devo in the mechanized synth and drum tracks on early versions of "So Alone" and "The Drag". (Before forming his band, Segall often played all the instruments on his records, including drum machine.) Listen for ? and the Mysterians-like organ at the outset of "Skin", maybe the best song here. And in that voice, which vacillates from desperate howl to wallowing drone, a little Kurt Cobain, too. It's hard to know what's a relic and what's an advance here. Segall appears in love with surface imitation at times, while peeling the skin back at others. On the faux-British B-side "Fuzzy Cat", you can hear John Entwistle of the Who's gothic goof-off "Boris the Spider". The appearance of a cover of Chain Gang's coiled, minor punk masterpiece, "Son of Sam", feels like a cred grab, but an accomplished one. On "Caesar", which would later appear on 2010's Melted in more polished form, there's a little of the stomping acoustic rock that would become the underbelly of Goodbye Bread. Segall, like so many developing artists, seemed to be constantly toggling between ideas of himself.
Singles, while comprising 25 songs, is still less than one hour's worth of music-- this iteration of Segall was economical. Only now, as his ambition grows, so do the lengths of his songs. Just one here exceeds three minutes-- it's the demo version of "So Alone", which was eventually whittled down to less than two and a half minutes for Horn the Unicorn. After acclaim for the elliptical and sometimes very pretty Goodbye Bread, one might assume Segall's left the crash-and-bash of Singles 2007-2010 behind. But then, his new single, "Spiders", is all doom and drone-- a violent, glorious devolution-- clocking in just under three minutes. So much for obvious trajectories.

Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third review

2011-11-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

Disc I
01. Aeropause
02. Goshen Remains
03. Apprentice Of The Universe
04. The Bright Ambassadors Of The Morning
05. The Exact Colour
06. Voices In The Winter / In The Realms Of The Devine
07. Bullits Dominae
08. The Twyncyn / Trembling Willows
09. He Tried To Show Them Magic / Ambassadors Return

Disc II [Inside Out release]
01. In Aurelia
02. Borgens Vor
03. The Exact Colour
04. The Twyncyn/Trembling Willows
05. Golden Clothes

Progressive Pop/Rock/Metal
Label: Inside Out [Distribution in France: Replica Records]
England: 2007
Length: 64:46

Line-Up on the CD:
Vocals, bass: Chloe Alper
Vocals, guitars, programming, keyboards, bass: Jon Courtney
Guitars, vocals: Jamie Willcox
Drums: Andrew Courtney

Originally released 10th April 2006; the InsideOut edition has a second CD and was released the 16th Fefruary 2007.

It's not so usual to have good surprises nowadays, but with a bit of luck sometime you can receive some good new albums. "The Dark Third" the first album of the British of Pure Reason Revolution is one of these good surprises. With a lovely mix of Metal, Pop and Progressive Rock a la Pink Floyd, PRR is for me one of the first great surprises of the year 2007. If you like cool Prog and nice female vocalist I simply recommend you to check this release.

If you want to understand how the music of PRR sounds, you'll have to imagine a mix of Pink Floyd (I'm talking of the atmospheric but technical moments that we can find in the music of the British monsters) with Pop Rock (a bit like with the last The Gathering) and some Metal stuff (with some cool riffs). Let's add a nice female vocalist with a really beautiful voice and now, you are able to imagine (a bit) the music of this really original band. It's soft in general, except with sometime some sounds which are not so far of Metal, but we're more into Prog Rock than anything else. It's not a problem because it's cool to listen to this peaceful music and the voice of the singer is so cool that it's a real pleasure to listen to this album.

At the end, I only regret that some songs clearly lack of inspiration. They're not bad at all, but in comparison of the best tracks of the CD it's a bit deceiving. Plus, even if PRR found the way to create its own style (and that's evidently a great thing) I must say that we can hear a bit too much the influences of Pink Floyd for example and that's a bit disturbing. However, it's just a matter of time I think, it's a first album and with experience PRR will be able to confirm all its great potential and write songs with a bit more of personality.

We're in front of something really great here, a nice surprise made in England. If you like Pop, if you like Rock, if you like Metal and of course if you like Progressive music, "The Dark Third" is for you. Fresh and lovely, the first album of PRR will give you a lot of good feelings. Something great is born this year my friends.

Website:

http://purereasonrevolution.co.uk/

Performance:	8
Songwriting:	7
Originality:	9
Production:	8

Black Sabbath - Announce Summer Tour 2012

2011-11-21T07:09:00.000-08:00

Black Sabbath press release:
Rock legends Black Sabbath will headline a number of Europe's premier festivals in 2012. After announcing their reunion on 11.11.11, these worldwide appearances are one of the most anticipated music events of 2012. Kicking off on Friday May 18th in Moscow at Olimpski, the tour will bring Black Sabbath to the masses at: Download Festival (UK), Azkena Rock Festival (Spain), Hellfest (France), Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium), and Gods of Metal (Italy).

However, that's only the beginning of the group's global tour which will take the band around the world including countries the band has never played before and others they have not visited in more than three decades.

The four original members of Black Sabbath — Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) — are currently recording their first studio album in 33 years with legendary producer Rick Rubin (seven-time Grammy winner, two of those as Producer of the Year) for release worldwide on Vertigo Records, and Vertigo/Universal Republic Records in the US in the fall 2012.

Tour dates confirmed so far:

18/05/2012 - Moscow, Russia Olimpiski
20/05/2012 - St. Petersburg, Russia New Arena
23/05/2012 - Helsinki, Finland Hartwall Arena
25/05/2012 - Stockholm, Sweden Stadium
29/05/2012 - Bergen, Norway Bergen Calling Festival
31/05/2012 - Oslo, Norway Spektrum
02/06/2012 - Malmo, Sweden Malmo Stadium
04/06/2012 - Dortmund, Germany Westfalenhalle
10/06/2012 - Donnington, UK Download Festival
12/06/2012 - Rotterdam, Holland Ahoy
15/06/2012 - Bilbao, Spain Azkena Rock Festival
17/06/2012 - Clisson, France Hellfest
19/06/2012 - Paris, France Bercy
22/06/2012 - Dessel, Belgium Graspop Metal Meeting
24/06/2012 - Milan, Italy Gods of Metal

Continuo Renacer - The Great Escape review

2011-11-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

01. The Great Escape
02. Give Up Tomorrow
03. For Those Things To Come
04. Facing Fears
05. The Newborn

This is some wanky, jazzy, death-injected prog that doesn't suck.

But before all but two of you leave, The Great Escape is also one of those albums that's so quirky it's kind of a must listen. Thing is, Continuo Renacer aren't "hey look how clever we are, now you see me, now you don't", Criss Angel chilling with Herman Li, overly-indulgent kind of douchebags. They might really be batshit insane. Just speculating, of course, but the psychosis audible on this seems genuine.

The Great Escape is basically what you'd get if you took a slab of Primus, a pinch of Obscura, and a handful of Gary Busey telepathically communicating with an umbrella, then mixed them in an old industrial-strength blender. With almond milk. It's a loony. It consists mostly of dissonant, polyrhythmic whateverthefucks from the guitars, getting a lot of its melody from its bass. Excluding the brief phone recording bits during the first track, there aren't any vocals either (a good decision). The instruments coast and hiccup then shatter then coast then explode then coast together, and so on. It does seem pretty aimless by the end, but, strangely enough, aimless in a good way.

The band's myspace page says they're stuff is part death metal, which is true to an extent. A bit like how Subway sandwiches can be good for you. If you took out all of the parts that make this tasty, yeah, there'd be some death metal left. But, last time I checked, half a footlong on whole wheat bread with lettuce and vinegar isn't really a rewarding thing to chew on. The weird synthy, jazzy, wtf injections on it are what make this album fun. Despite the decent number of solid death riffs, it's an offbeat, proggy sort of deal first and foremost. One that just happens to get a little brutal sometimes. Nevertheless, the death metal injections were necessary too. A hoagie without bread and lettuce is a piece of shit.

This is some prog strangeness to melt into when, after a hard day not having a job and lurking on the old MS, you've got nothing better to do than zone out and enjoy a flashback or five. One more inane comparison: Listening to it is like kicking back in some surreal, Rocko's Modern Life-esque living room, watching Decapitated jam with Silvio Berlusconi on T.V., with someone babbling distorted riffs at you from behind the couch, and having one of Herbie Hancock's jazz fusion groups laying down fills from the kitchen for when commercials come on. Sometimes a pretty sweet setup, for sure.

Standout tracks: "The Newborn" and "Give Up Tomorrow"

Pure Reason Revolution - Hammer And Anvil review

2011-11-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

01. Fight Fire
02. Black Mourning
03. Patriarch
04. Last Man, Last Round
05. Valour
06. Over The Top
07. Never Divide
08. Blitzkrieg
09. Open Insurrection
10. Armistice

Disc I [limited edition DVD]
01. Les Malheurs
02. Black Mourning
03. Apogee
04. Deus Ex Machina
05. Victorious Cupid
06. Fight Fire
07. Valour
08. AVO

This is probably one of the hardest reviews I've written for reasons that will become evident later. For starters let's just clear a couple of things up. First, I haven't been able to make up my mind completely about this release in well over half a year. Secondly, Pure Reason Revolution are without a doubt a brilliant band. Thirdly, and more importantly, in my opinion they are responsible for releasing the single most awesome record in the last decade - their début album The Dark Third. So, there you go, now you know where I stand with this band and we can talk freely about their third album Hammer And Anvil, and why it's been so hard for me to come to a proper opinion.

Pure Reason Revolution are, for the most part, a heavy dark-sided prog rock band. As said, the first album is brilliant prog stuff. However, now comes the hard part, with the EP released after the first album, and the follow-up album Amor Vincit Omnia they've gone half way electronic. And by half way I mean that some of the tracks were really electronica on the par with works of Kraftwerk. Now, bear with me. That is not the way I like my music at all but for some particular reasons the music and the songs grew on me. And while Amor Vincit Omnia was kind of a polar release, the Hammer And Anvil album is a far more refined and coherent album. It's like the band tested the boundaries and now found the sound they are all comfortable with.

So, what kind of a beast is Hammer And Anvil? If you are looking for a decent comparison of the electronic touch on the album, think Paradise Lost on One Second and Host albums, minus a bit of heaviness and gothic feeling. If you can comfortably handle that, this album will easily be to your liking. It kicks off with "Fight Fire" which is one massive punch of an opener. Feeding on industrial wastelands with electronic mixes the band produced a song that takes its time to properly take off the ground on the dance beats and heavy waves of distortions. After that it kind of settles down and moves into more rock based territories. Some songs, like "Last Man, Last Round," are heavier, some, like "Over The Top," more electronic, some, like "Open Insurrection," more progressive than others, but it's never too light mood-wise. The album offers you lots of great musical discoveries as long as you can embrace it all. Personally, I think I could do without the completely electronic "Blitzkrieg" but I'm slowly getting used to it.

What makes Pure Reason Revolution special, though, is that they manage to produce a myriad of sounds and heavily layered music. The subsequent listens will be unveiling details for quite some time to come. It's one of their distinctive features. However, the thing that basically defines their sound for me is the use of vocals. I like vocal harmonies, and Pure Reason Revolution are excellent at those. Two and three voice harmonies, singing the same lines or different, one female and two male voices - this is what first and foremost captured my attention. There are very few bands out there that manage to do it in such a balanced fashion as Pure Reason Revolution. Chloë Alper and Jon Courtney with support from Jamie Willcox make up an excellent vocal team in this regard.

So, there you go. As a band, Pure Reason Revolution are superb, and as much as I've seen footage, they kick ass live. But as far as the music goes, though, you have to decide for yourself whether you like or want to like their mix of prog and electronic. I know what I like about them and I tried to explain that a bit but am not sure whether I succeeded in this or not. As a closing verdict for the album, I'll just add that while I said it's far more coherent and refined than the predecessor, I figure they can still do a lot better on the path they've taken.

PS. A beer when we meet to the one who figures out which song the guitar tune in "Never Divide" resembles at the chorus between "You're all I wanted" and "There is no win." It's been bothering me for a long time and I'm stumped.

Korn - New Song Streaming Online

2011-11-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

"Sanctuary", a brand new song from US Nu metal act Korn is now streaming online. Alternatively, you can listen to it on the video below. The song comes off their upcoming dubstep/electro-infused album The Path To Totality, due out on December 6th.

Hypocrisy - Working On New Album

2011-11-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

According to an interview with their bassist Mikael Hedlund, Swedish extreme metal veterans Hypocrisy are writing material for a new studio album, which they plan to record next year.

Mikael Hedlund told Metal Shock Finland: "We're focusing on writing a new album. That's the most important thing for us at the moment. It's too early to say what it's going to sound like but all I can say is that it's not gonna be any change of style. It will be a classic Hypocrisy album without no compromises. We already got some material and we're really looking forward to enter the studio again. We don't know yet when it will but hopefully after the summer 2012. Nothing is confirmed yet. We're doing the MetalFest tour in May/June plus some other festivals. That's the plans at the moment."

The Unguided - Upcoming Album Extended Preview Online

2011-11-20T21:22:00.000-08:00

Swedish metallers The Unguided, a band featuring former Sonic Syndicate members Richard Sjunnesson (vocals) and Roland Johansson (vocals), as well as current Sonic Syndicate guitarist Roger Sjunnesson, have released an extended preview for their upcoming debut album Hell Frost, due out on November 30th through Despotz Records. You can watch it below.

Rammstein - North American Tour Announced

2011-11-20T21:16:00.000-08:00

Following the conclusion of their European tour dates in spring 2012, Rammstein will present their retrospective Made In Germany 1995-2011 in North America as well. As of today, 21 concerts have been confirmed from April to May 2012. All the tour dates can be seen below.

Rammstein: Made In Germany 1995-2011 North American Tour:

April 20 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ BankAtlantic Center
April 21 - Tampa, FL @ St. Pete Times Forum
April 23 - Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
April 25 - Baltimore, MD @ 1st Mariner Arena
April 26 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
April 28 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
April 29 - Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
May 1 - Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
May 3 - Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena
May 4 - Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena
May 6 - Detroit, MI @ The Palace of Auburn Hills
May 8 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
May 10 - Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
May 13 - Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
May 14 - Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
May 17 - Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
May 18 - Glendale, AZ @ Jobing.com Arena
May 20 - Denver, CO @ Denver Coliseum
May 22 - Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
May 24 - San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
May 25 - Houston, TX @ Toyota Center

Video Warp Up : October 2011

2011-11-18T20:57:00.000-08:00

Remember all those videos that came out in October 2011? Yeah, so do we...sort of. Here's a refresher

1)Band: Hate
Song: Erebos
Album: Erebos
Label: Napalm Records
Album Release Date: November 15, 2010

2)Band: Freund Hein
Song: Bourbon Time
Album: Bourbon Triggered Death Machine
Label: Unsigned
Album Release Date: September 23th, 2011

3)Band: Demonic Death Judge
Song: Stick That In Your Pipe And Smoke It
Album: The Descent
Label: Inverse Records
Album Release Date: October 19th 2011

4)Band: Profane Omen
Song: Wastehead
Album: Destroy!
Label: Spinefarm Records
Album Release Date: September 28, 2011

5)Band: Kvelertak
Song: Blodtørst
Album: Kvelertak
Label: Indie Recordings
Album Release Date: June 21, 2010

6)Band: Fallstaf
Song: The Cost
Album: Bastard Sons Of A Pure Breed
Label: -
Album Release Date: October 25, 2011

7)
Band: Graveworm
Song: See No Future
Album: Fragments Of Death
Label: Nuclear Blast
Album Release Date: October 21, 2011

8)
Band: Cannabis Corpse
Song: Gateways To Inhalation
Album: Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise
Label: Tankcrimes
Album Release Date: July 12, 2011

9)Band: Rival Sons
Song: All Over The Road
Album: Pressure & Time
Label: Earache
Album Release Date: June 28, 2011

FRA, Clisson - Hellfest Open Air 2012

2011-11-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

EVENT INFORMATION :

Location:	France, Clisson
Date:	15 June 2012 - 10:00
Website:	http://www.hellfest.fr/

7th edition of Hellfest Open Air!!!

Hellfest will be on a total new place next year! Be ready for a new battlefield!

BANDS :

Black Sabbath
Blue Öyster Cult
Lamb Of God
Children Of Bodom
Hatebreed
Dimmu Borgir
Trivium
Arcturus
Alcest
Napalm Death
Unexpect
Anaal Nathrakh
Aborted
In Extremo
Hour Of Penance
Benediction
Sólstafir
Darkspace
Orange Goblin
Avulsed
Vulture Industries
Oranssi Pazuzu
Crashdïet
Ufomammut
The Devil's Blood
Winterfylleth
Necros Christos
Rompeprop
Haemorrhage
Aosoth
Vanderbuyst
ASG
Victims
All For Nothing
Amenra
Colour Haze
Thou
d.USK
Dÿse
Death Before Dishonor
The Spudmonsters
Strife
Monkey3

Bolero - Voyage From Vinland review

2011-11-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

TRACK LIST:

01. Voyage From Vinland
02. Send Of The War Summons
03. When The Legends Die
04. Risen Victorious
05. Our Land, Our Seas, Our Skies
06. Pints Held High
07. O' Hail To The Northlander
08. Throne Of Storms
09. A Silence Prolonging
10. Way To Forgotten Lands
11. Sworn Under Winter's Majesty

I remember the first time I heard a folk metal song. There were explosions of endorphins, my spine quivered, and it was as if the Greybeards themselves were communicating with me...

No, but seriously? I was sitting in an algebra class, my buddy played an Ensiferum track for me, and I thought it was pretty fucking stupid.

That said, a couple weeks passed and I kept returning to that song (pretty sure it was "Into Battle"). Ended up getting kinda into it. A little more time passed, I bought an Ensiferum album and a druid wizard staff. Considered myself an aficionado.

Fast forward a few years. Now I don't know where I stand with the genre. There are definitely a handful of badass bands from it, it's just, there's a titanic load of groups around now that expect to develop a following by having us listen to them gaze backward toward viking times, drooling, with a chubby, blow on some recorders and play some really basic heavy/power metal.

This is somewhere in the middle. Take out the folkish, synthy melodies, and, yeah, its songs would suck. Just happens that the actual blend on this is, more or less, passable. It's fun enough. Think (the indefatigable) Blackguard meets some lost Ensiferum b-sides. There's nothing particularly interesting or unique about what these guys do, but I'm sure their stuff can make for some decent "let's get stupid drunk" listening every now and then.

The musicianship on this is definitely really good too. The vocalists are great, the guitarist(s) shred(s), etc. Some real folk instruments would have been a worthwhile addition, but the synth-dude has chops, so can't complain too much. What's a pretty major piss-off for me though has to do with the double bass work. Something's wrong with it. Can't tell if it was a mixing problem, a problem with some computer shit, or something to do with triggers, but it sounds pretty fucking weak most of the time.

But overall, the biggest problem with this is that it came out feeling like a fence-sitter of an album. Put it on and you'll probably get your kicks, but it's not quite epic and fantastical enough, nor is it quite aggressive and thrashy enough. The dudes in Bolero know how to write catchy tunes, they just didn't hit on anything very memorable with this. This brand of viking/folk has been done a lot now. Takes more than some solid hooks and some shredding to stick out.

Uigg - Of Moose And Men review

2011-11-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

01. Endless Suffocation
02. Of Moose and Men
03. Sinking
04. Buckshot
05. Master Hunter
06. Loose Ends
07. Monstrosity
08. Thrown to Wolves
09. Legion
10. Sycophant
11. Crawl
12. Onslaught

Here we go again, another living example of production work being significantly lack-lustre in relativity to the song writing. Let's not get all negative about this now, because Of Moose And Men is actually one solid thrash album at it's core.

With this release, Uigg really bring me back to the sounds of Rumpelstiltskin Grinder's debut album Buried In The Front Yard; sort of a modernized groove-thrash akin to Pantera in many aspects, pushed to a few more aggressive extremes (blast-beats, a few grind-ish riffs here & there.) Of Moose And Men personifies almost everything you'd want in a modern thrash album; aggressive, catchy, a few winks to their influences without being too derivative, all while having just enough variation in riff styles & tempos to keep things exciting.

All these great aspects are horribly obscured by possibly the most unfitting recording job I've ever heard. The riffs here are pretty freakin' massive, too bad the whole thing sounds horribly condensed. At some points, it gets so difficult to get yourself past this John Goodman-In-Tight-Leather-Pants style production just getting into the music can be a real chore. One upside to all this is how forward the percussion is in the mix; the drumming is uniquely interesting, it becomes it's own lead in a way, as opposed to being the usual click-track laden, glorified metronome.

Had the performance & song writing been any less than what it is, this album would have been pretty crappy. However, Uigg really make a leap to overcome the production pit-falls with great success. Ignoring sloppy work at the mixing boards, Of Moose And Men is a really tight album.

TOUR : GER, Wacken - Wacken Open Air 2012

2011-11-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

EVENT INFORMATION

Location:	Germany, Wacken
Date:	02-04 August 2012
Website:	http://www.wacken.com/
Organizer:	ICS Event Service
Tickets:	150 € Buy at http://www.metaltix.com/

BANDS

Amon Amarth
Dimmu Borgir
Cradle Of Filth
Moonspell
Hammerfall
Gamma Ray
Paradise Lost
Machine Head
Dark Funeral
Scorpions
Napalm Death
Watain
Coroner
Six Feet Under
Volbeat
Ministry
Forbidden
In Extremo
Axel Rudi Pell
U.D.O.
Endstille
Sick Of It All
Winterfylleth
Danko Jones (spoken word)
Henry Rollins (spoken word)
Saturnian

Thulcandra - Under A Frozen Sun review

2011-11-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

01. In Blood And Fire
02. Black Flags Of Hate
03. Ritual Of Sight
04. Under A Frozen Sun
05. Aeon Of Darkness
06. Echoing Voices (A Cold Breeze Of Death)
07. Gates Of Eden
08. Life Demise [Unanimated cover]

I wanted to make some really cool analogy for Thulcandra being the answer (supply) to the world's demand for Dissection stocks or bonds or whatever, but I spent too much time chasing squirrels as a kid instead of reading The Wall Street Journal so I don't know what's a NASDAQ or a derivative. But if you can imagine how cool it would have been that would really help me out.

In any case, the comparison has been made so you know what you're getting yourself into with this band. Dissection worship. Melodic black metal. But unfortunately not with that trademark Swedish death metal sound. *le sad face*

When you look at a tracklist with 8 songs, most of which stretch beyond the 6-minute territory, you expect one of two things: excellent songwriting to keep you interested, or prog wankery bullshit that will put you to sleep. Under A Frozen Sun honestly takes elements from both of those expectations. On one hand the songs flow incredibly well together as if telling a story, like an album should flow. The riffs are entertaining and catchy, it's melodic yet avoids cheesy territory, the drumming is varied... just about everything good you could ask for is happening.

But then the other half of the songs kick in. That's when you sit back and stare into space because you've heard the exact same thing for the last 5 minutes. The same catchy riffs, the same awesome melody, the same energetic drumming. Drool starts to trickle down your chin and you smash your knee against the bottom of the computer desk when your cat knocks over the urn with your grandmother's ashes in it. So you roll around in them with said cat for a few minutes before the song's finally over and you can begin anew with a 10-minute tune. Only to end up feeling that same lull effect of the previous song. Drool. Ashes. Feline fanaticism.

And there you have it, a slickly produced melodic black metal album that doesn't try too hard to be The Somberlain, but one that also suffers from being unnecessarily lengthy. Trim some of the filler in each song and you're looking at an incredibly strong album, but as a result of too much cream in the Oreo (as if that can be used negatively), Under A Frozen Sun just comes across as almost good.

Black Tusk - Set The Dial review

2011-11-16T08:48:00.000-08:00

01. Brewing The Storm
02. Bring Me Darkness
03. Ender Of All
04. Mass Devotion
05. Carved In Stone
06. Set The Dial To Your Doom
07. Resistor
08. This Time Is Divine
09. Growing Horns
10. Crossroads And Thunder

The album will be released on October 31 internationally.

Here comes Black Tusk! They're groovy, sludgy, heavy, and catchy! Aaaaaaaaaand...

Not all that exciting.

All the ingredients to make stoner/sludge metal are there, exactly where you'd expect to find them. Set The Dial may just be exciting if you've never really listened to anything in the sludge and/or stoner subgenre before, for everyone else, it's unbelievably textbook. Those abrasive quasi-harsh vocals rolling along with the thundering fuzz-toned, bottom-end heavy riffs. It's all there, in fact, it's really hard to make any complaints seem all that legitimate. After banging your head out to bands like Bison B.C., Kylesa, Hail! Hornet, and High On Fire, Black Tusk just seem a bit uninspired. In fact, if I was asked to describe Black Tusk in 3 words, the only appropriate response would be "second-rate Bison*.

It is what it is, though. Hearing this through less seasoned ears might actually be a treat. It's an embodiment of everything sludge/stoner; ~~dirty~~ grimy, catchy, and heavy in an earthy sort of way. Hell, it's even got the John Baizley artwork to boot. I can understand a lot of bands in this circle are sort of creating their own regional brand of pounding sludge metal (Savannah, Georgia - home to Kylesa, Black Tusk and Baroness.) However, these guys just don't have the personality their compatriots do. It's like that friend who steals all your best jokes, then consistently fucks up every punch line.

Set The Dial is not a terrible album by any means. It just seems like Black Tusk may just be one of the first in a generation of assembly-line sludge bands. It had to happen some time.

*Bison can be switched out for any number of bands in this case.

Riot - New Song Streaming Online

2011-11-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

"Believe", a brand new song from US hard-rockers Riot is now streaming online at this location.

"Believe" comes off the band's latest album titled Immortal Soul, released in October.

Psycroptic - New Album Details

2011-11-13T02:21:00.000-08:00

The Australian technical death metal outfit, Psycroptic, has announced that its fifth studio album, The Inherited Repression, will hit stores on February 7th in North America and February 10th in Europe. The upcoming nine-track full-length will mark the band's second release on Nuclear Blast Records.

The Inherited Repression was produced, engineered and mixed by Haley, while Alan Douches will handle mastering duties.

Commented guitarist Joe Haley: "The Inherited Repression is far and away my favorite Psycroptic album thus far - all of us in the band think this. It's the age-old cliché from bands when they talk about their current album as being the best of their career, blah, blah, but I have to say it because it's true. We wouldn't think there is a point of going on if we couldn't outdo each album prior. We are certainly not playing music for anything else than the love of creating it and performing it.

The Inherited Repression is quite different from anything we have done in terms of song writing and structure, and we spent a lot longer writing and demoing the songs before we recorded it, which you can tell. It's a very dynamic album - the fast elements faster, the slow elements slower, and a lot of light and dark binding it together. It's a very catchy album as well - you can tap your foot, bang your head or anything else you want. Basically it has a lot of groove on it from start to finish.

We had the luxury of recording in my home studio without deadlines, so we spent a long time on getting it how we wanted. We can't wait for people to hear it, and get out and play the songs live!"

The Inherited Repression tracklist:

01. Carriers Of The Plague
02. Forward To Submission
03. Euphorinasia
04. The Throne Of Kings
05. Unmasking The Traitors
06. Become The Cult
07. From Scribe To Ashes
08. Deprivation
09. The Sleepers Have Awoken

Unexpect - Fables Of The Sleepless Empire

2011-11-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

01. Unsolved Ideas Of A Distorted Guest
02. Words
03. Orange Vigilantes
04. Mechanical Phoenix
05. The Quantum Symphony
06. Unfed Pendulum
07. In The Mind Of The Last Whale
08. Silence This Parasite
09. A Fading Stance
10. When The Joyful Dead Are Dancing
11. Until Yet A Few More Deaths Do Us Part

The Montreal-based asylum known as Unexpect broke a 5-year silence after with their new opus Fables From The Sleepless Empire. And the least I can say is that it is a demanding listen. Absolutely insane actually! This is the toughest review I had to write seeing that there is more music to be found on the opening track than on most albums. If any musical label can be applied to these guys, only extreme avant-garde metal would do them somewhat justice. And this is just a snooty way to say I have no clue.

Despite the long hiatus, their new songs still sound like three different bands are playing at the same time and somehow sound incredible. There is an over-the-top mockery orchestration a la crazy circus enveloping a female-fronted pop/gothic band seconded by a mambo/salsa/jazz outfit and all of it nicely wrapped up by an ultra-deranged melodic death combo. Needless to say these songs feature some of the craziest arrangements you will ever hear. If you like your music linear and structured, you are out of luck. This is total musical madness. But more surprisingly, the organized chaos seems to become a shape shifter along the number of listens, creating an elaborate labyrinth of unmatched sonic landscapes. Essentially the pandemonium seems to have a life of its own. And that is where the magic happens with this band. Growls, screams and female vocals share the scene relentlessly and harmoniously despite the presence of three full-time singers. The frantic violin and hectic piano both act as the binding element between the genres. However, do not be fooled by all the extras. At the core this is brutal, even violent music. No one comes out unscathed. Most of the guitar work is memorable breakneck riffs and killer melodies. Technically this is out of this world.

Compared to their previous album In A Flesh Aquarium, this new offering has a more modern feel. Overall, I would say it is even more progressive. It also seems the gothic elements have been toned down to give the melodies more of an industrial pop texture. Regardless, Fables From The Sleepless Empire is a monumental and mature effort that demands multiple listens to fully enjoy. Simply put, it is one of the best albums of the year as long as you like manic music.

Black Sabbath - Reunite for new Album & World Wide Tour

2011-11-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

The much-anticipated announcement has finally been released on the official Black Sabbath website. The band have reunited and will record a new album and do a worldwide tour. The announcement video can be viewed in the YouTube-video below.

The album will be produced by Rick Rubin, and the band will headline the Download Festival 2012 as part of their world tour.

Rammstein -"Mein Land" (New Video Online)

2011-11-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

German industrial metallers Rammstein have released a new video for the song "Mein Land". You can watch it at the band's website or on Vimeo. Jonas Akerlund has again provided the stellar direction.

"Mein Land" is the first single from the Rammstein retrospective Made In Germany 1995-2011, which will be released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland today and the international release date is set for November 14th, 2011.

The single will appear as a 4 track CD Digipak, as well as a 7" vinyl with two tracks. In addition to "Mein Land", it includes the as yet unreleased song "Vergiss Uns Nicht", as well as remixes by BossHoss and Mogwai.

Megadeth-"Public Enemy No. 1" streaming online

2011-11-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

"Public Enemy No. 1", the new video from US metallers Megadeth, can be exclusively viewed on Yahoo.com.The clip was shot on September 17 in Santa Clarita, California on a movie set where old Westerns are filmed.

David Ellefson stated in a video message about the "Public Enemy No. 1" clip: "We have never shot a video like this before; there's actually animals in the movie and that's all we can say."

"Public Enemy No. 1" comes off the band's latest album, entitled Th1rt3en, which was released on November 1 via Roadrunner Records.