Cephalic Carnage is set to unleash its latest collection of extreme metal upon an unsuspecting world. For this listener it is a first experience, and let me say that Xenosapien floored me. It is an insanely brutal, technically precise, experiment in extreme death metal, I think. Once again, the labels trip me up and I am unsure what subgenre(s) this belongs to, so I make my best guess, making some up along the way, and hope that it works towards relaying what it is that is rattling around inside my head. I was unsure what to expect, though the word "carnage" led me to believe it would be brutal. What I got was brutal, but it was also so much more than that.The first thing I had to figure out is what is meant by Cephalic Carnage? Beyond how I am supposed to pronounce that word. I soon discovered that cephalic means "of or pertaining to the head." So, I can extrapolate that the name means something along the lines of "slaughtering the head." With that now in my head, it makes perfect sense, it is a good way to describe the aural assault that they led on my ear drums.
The second thing I had to figure out is why have I never heard of them before? Sure, there are a lot of good bands that I would probably love that I have never heard, and likely never will. You know, there is only so much time that I can allot to my forays into the musical world. I will just have to be thankful for the ones that due make it to the area of my ears. Honestly though, I am surprised no one mentioned these guys to me before, I mean they do already have three albums out on Relpase in the past 6-7 years, and they have toured with a number of bands I like, including Shadows Fall and Mastodon. Whatever, they are here now, and they are an impressive quintet.
Now, the band has come up with their own label for their music, which is just as good, if not better, than anything I could have made up for them. They describe their music as Rocky Mountain HydroGrind. I am not sure what that means, but then again, I have no idea how to wrap a label around this music which has elements of death, grind, jazz fusion, metal spasms and warped and twisted them into something that is challenging, unique, and just downright impressive.Xenosapien opens with the insane "Endless Cycle of Violence." The song opens with some quietly building electric string sound, not sure how to describe it , before exploding in an orgy of technical precision with a guttural death voice coming in amid the organized chaos. What really grabbed me right out of the gate were the wild, all over the place drums, ever moving the song forward while never seeming to repeat itself. This is something that would repeat itself over the course of the album. Over that was the sound of twin guitars chugging, churning, swirling, and squealing away, playing along the edge of a precipice, yet never falling over into the black abyss. OK, I was officially sucked in.
How do you follow that exercise in experimentation? How about a speedy technical freakout? The song is called "Divination & Volition" and it is a bit more reigned in than the opener, but not by much. Next is a double bass driven crunch track known as "Molting," which features some interesting note picking interspersed among the heavy death riffs. The fourth track starts with a solo bass followed by an explosion of black metal fury in a song titled "Touched by an Angel."
Now, I m not going to take you through the album, that would be giving you to much to go on. There is just way too much to explore here, especially for those of you who are, like me, new to the experience of Cephalic Carnage. Though I will mention two more excellent cuts. One is titled "G.lobal O.verhaul D.evice," an epic track of grind and doom metal that moves and surges through the darkness. Lastly there is the short thrashy track with the best title on the disk "Let Them Hate So Long As They Fear," it barely crosses the minute mark, but that is more than it needs to deliver its power.
John Merryman's drumming is insane, he is all over the kit, perfect timing, ingenius fills and rolls, all I can say is wow! Lenzig Leal's vocals may not be the best of the genre, but he has a good range of styles that he mixes up, he is never boring to listen to and he can match the guttural growls with a high pitched scream. Zac Joe, Steve Goldberg, and Nick Schendzielos pull off some wild stuff on their instruments of string, fast lead breaks, heavy as hell riffs, and all manner of spastic breaks. They are an impresive unit of extreme experimental metal ferocity.
Bottomline. Very impressive. This is definitely a band I am going to have to get some of their back catalog. Xenosapien is a strong, vividly realized excursion to the edges of experimental metal. It is challenging and accessible at the same time, with a variety of song structures it is music that is never boring. Again, all I can say is "Wow!"
Highly Recommended.
It gets earlier and earlier every year. Hollywood has been actively expanding the summer blockbuster season more and more every year. Before you know it, we will have summer style event films opening for Easter. Anyway, this first weekend of May brings with it the first of a series of highly anticipated films, which probably goes without saying. I am sure that all of you are sick and tired of reading all the hype surrounding the release of Spider-Man 3, and aside from posting the teaser trailer, I have been rather silent on that front. Now that the day is here, I would be remiss not to say something about it. It is the first shot at the record books for the year, and it is expected to topple a number of box office records, even with the middling reviews that it has been receiving, making it seem to have a similar relationship to its predecessor that X-Men:The Last Stand has to X2.
No, it's not just a clever title. The name of the movie is Next, as in "wait for the next movie to come out." I did not pay attention to the content of the reviews coming out, but the tone has been overwhelmingly negative. I didn't want to believe it. I mean, you have source material from Philip K. Dick, a decent director in Lee Tamahori, and lead roles filled by Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore. It almost seemed like a slam dunk, but then again, this is Hollywood we're talking about. The final film is a mess of story, a lack of character, and just a great premise turned into a cheap gimmick, a parlor trick worthy of Cage's Frank Cadillac.
The film moves along in a disjointed fashion that makes little to no sense. Bits of plot are thrown about like pieces of popcorn thrown at the noisy teens in front of you, inconsequential and ultimately another exercise in frustration. We are informed of Johnson's ability through a voice over from Cage, while we are given two extended set pieces to show it in action. At this early point, I thought that beside some poor special effects, it wasn't all that bad. We are presented with Johnson evading security in a casino following his foiling of a planned robbery, followed immediately by a car chase featuring a pretty nice, and brand new, piece of product placement, a Dodge Charger. They were well staged, and actually fun to watch, sadly, they were the best parts of the movie.
The concept of a character seeing the future is not a new one, but the way that it is portrayed here is an interesting one, though it is not developed much beyond the "look, I can keep trying until I get it right" type of gimmick. Although, I did get a kick out of his approach of Liz in the diner, and the cameo by Michael Trucco (Anders from Battlestar Galactica). There were a few times that it didn't seem to make sense, like the factory scene towards the end, which kind of lost me, and frankly was unnecessary.
It has been ten years since Sevendust first entered the scene with their self-titled debut album, immediately making an impact with their mix of the melodic and the heavy. Now they are releasing their sixth studio album, and in many ways it feels stripped down and pumped full of aggression. This has to be the heaviest I have ever heard them. Granted, I have not heard all of their albums, but I have heard at least a couple songs from each, and their performance here is like a band possessed, an outpouring of emotion and aggression with a backdrop of pure heaviness.
Alpha seems like the start of a new era for the band, with renewed focus following their label issues, this is the first release on their newly formed label, Sevenbros Records (distributed by Asylum). Following Next, Alpha continues their trend towards a heavy, more raw feeling. I was truly caught off guard by this one. I knew to expect a rocking good album, Sevendust has never failed to deliver the goods, but the unbridled aggression that is barely contained on this album was a real surprise. I mean that in a good way.
Remember "supergroups"? Those collections of stars from other famous bands that would come together, pooling their collective talents in a new endeavor. Velvet Revolver to Audioslave, Damn Yankees to Bad English, Hindu Love Gods to The Traveling Wilburys, all the way back to Cream and the Dirty Mac. Here we are faced with something of a supergroup bringing together southern flavored hard rock and nu metal in a concoction that, while fun, is a mixed bag at best. I wasn't sure whether this project was meant to be taken seriously, after listening to it I am still not sure, it strikes me as a group of guys that got together with the intention of just put out a fun album of hard rocking tracks.
The music is an odd collision of styles, really sounding like Pantera meets Mudvayne, all it is really missing are the guitar pyrotechnics of Dimebag Darrell (RIP). It is great to hear Paul back on the sticks, following the tragic murder of his brother, Dimbag, onstage during a Damageplan show a few years ago, it was hard to picture him being able to get back out there. I am glad to say that he sounds as brutal as ever, and is the real highlight of the album.
Shadows Fall has returned with their debut release for Atlantic Records following their departure from Century Media. Threads of Life is an album that has a balance between melodic metal and hardcore inspired thrash. Not one to get labeled in any one subgenre, they are clearly a metal band at their core, and that shines through in the thrashier elements of their songs. With this latest release, they have taken the next step into really becoming an major force to be reckoned with.
There is no denying the incredible talent they possess. Beginning with the guitar duo of Matt Bachand and Jon Donais, Shadows Fall has a great base in the guitar world with the thrashy, chunky rhythms and speedy leads that they deliver, fantastic chemistry between the two. Laying the groundwork and keeping the music ever moving forward is drummer Jason Bittner whi impressed me with his work on Fallout from the War and continues to do so here, he not only keeps the rhythm going but he has great fills and transitions that make him interesting to listen to all by himself. Leading them is Brian Fair whose vocal stylings are first rate, he is not a generic screamer, though he can get down and dirty when he is called up, and he also surprises with his clean vocals that I cannot recall ever hearing before.
Remakes tend to raise the ire of genre fans the world round. Whether you have seen the original film or not, you are bound to have an opinion. While some remakes scare me, like the upcoming The Day the Earth Stood Still (which has me quaking), I don't want to be the kind of guy who dismisses remakes out of hand, but at the same time I thirst for films with some originality. Then there is the question of whether or not it is better to go forward with a remake, or to "borrow" elements of another film, it is six of one, half dozen of the other, either way you are sure to upset someone. That brings me to this remake of The Hitcher, the 1986 thriller with Rutger Hauer and C. Thomas Howell. I have not seen that film, so I didn't have the baggage coming in, something that I hope to rectify. As it stands, this turns out to be a flawed, yet delightfully gritty flick that I can honestly say that I liked.
I saw this on the big screen and I very much enjoyed it, and now seeing it again on the small screen, I have found that my feelings have not changed much. It is still a fun movie with some great car stunts, and delicious atmosphere of dread, and a killer performance from our ruthless killer.
The man is John Ryder (Sean Bean). He freely offers up the fact that he is not trustworthy. From this early moment, it is clear what is going to happen. The young couple are going to run and John Ryder is going to relentlessly pursue them, intent on separating them from their life. For what reason? This is not revealed. The thrill of the kill, the excitement of the chase, a biological need, or something even more sinister. Not knowing sort of makes it a touch more frightening, seeming randomness can be rather scary.
Man, they made some crazy movies back in the day. Back in the 1970's there was a short lived subgenre callen "nunsploitation." Never heard of it? Well, I have to admit that I heard about it a long time ago, but this was my first foray into the genre. I have read that it was kicked off by Ken Russell's 1971 film The Devils. This one came a few years later and hails from the country of Mexico. If you are wondering what the ingredients of a nunsploitation film are, always factor in nuns (of course), lesbian sex, blood, gore, and a serious dose of weirdness.
I was something of a latecomer to the table when it comes to my listening to Warren Zevon. My Father was a fan, but he was not an artist that I picked up on from him until I was into my 20's. We had the oppostunity to see him perform live in 1999 when he was gearing up for the release of Life'll Kill Ya, a brilliant slice of classic Zevon wit, insight, and skill. It is an evening that I am likely to never forget. He was on the stage alone, he performed half the set on acoustic guitar, the other half on keyboard, and it was this fantastic evening, kind of like hanging out with an old friend, singing along and just having a good time. Now Stand in the Fire is a distinctly different experience, but one that is in line with what I know of the man known as Warren Zevon.
From the brilliant team beind Shaun of the Dead, comes this new genre mash up. Following the successful reinvigoration of horror/comedy, they have turned their eye on the action/comedy. The results are spectacular. The approach to making a successful spoof of the action genre is to play it straight. A plot involving murder in a small town is approached with deadly seriousness and the comedy just builds from there. It is such a brilliant comedy that blends subtle and wildly over the top comedy within a story that is actually well developed and much more than what you would expect from what is, essentially, a movie that makes fun of buddy action conventions.
Simon Pegg stars as Nicholas Angel, a straight laced, by the book police officer. He is a man who is very good at what he does, unfortunately, he is too good at what he does. Because of his prolific arrest record, he is given a promotion which forces a change of scenery, you see, the rest of the force are tired of looking bad in the wake of his success, so this is a conspiracy to allow them to shine. Angel is a little upset by the move, but follows orders and reports to a sleepy town where he crime rate is so low as to not really require someone of Angel's abilities. However, this doesn't stop our hero from finding crimes occuring all around him.
I really don't want to spoil it, so I will refrain from any further plot description. Suffice to say, that the movie is the perfect balance of story, character, and humor. The cliches that are so prevalent in these types of films are skillfully skewered here, yet feel so natural in service to the plot. It is a satire poking fun at action films and gun culture that welcomes them just as often as they laugh at them. This is what a satire should be.
While delivering a lot of laughs, Hot Fuzz also delivers the action oriented goods, with a blood soaked shootout, a wild car chase, and even more laughs interspersed. the climactic shootout is, hands down, one of the best to grace he big screen in some time. Successfully mimicking other films such as Point Break and Bad Boys II, both of which are discussed in the movie, the scenes feel natural within the progression. In short, this is a masterful film which may not be perfect, but more than delivers the goods when it counts.
What do you get when you cross The Sixth Sense with Ghost what do you get? Well, probably something that looks like The Invisible, but stars Bruce Willis and Whoopi Goldberg. You know, that probably would have been a better movie, instead we actually get The Invisible, a dullard of a film populated with a cast that is easy not to like. There were a number of things to like about the movie, but with characters that I did not care for, it was hard to be entertained. Now I don't need a movie to have likable characters, but some movies need them, you need someone to identify with, and this one failed to deliver.
We are introduced to Nick, an apparently gifted poet who makes money on the side by selling term papers to the school jocks. He is an angst filled rich kid whose father died when he was young and a stand offish, cold mother who doesn't listen to him. Why should I like this guy? Is it because he stuck up for his broke friend who bought a stolen cell phone from the school underachiever? Because his mommy doesn't listen to him? He is just an annoying kid that I have no reason to connect with, much less when his limbo land adventures kick in.
Now, first off, with friends like Pete, who needs enemies? Annie is given a little humanization through her rough home life where she acts as guardian to her little brother from their rather rotten parents. Sounds like I'm describing the average episode of Boston Public. Again, why am I supposed to care about these characters?
As poor as the story is, as hurry up and wait as Mick Davis and Christine Roum's script is, Goyer makes a valiant effort at making it, at least, visually interesting. Now Goyer is still a rather inexperienced director, but he does show the potential of becoming a good one, his writing still leads his directing ability by a wide margin. I would have liked to have seen what his script may have been like, proving his worth, to me, with work on films such as Dark City, Blade, and Batman Begins. While his writing would have been welcome here, I like his flourishes here.