2nd F.S. ROCK-N-ROLL REVIEWS

7000 Dying Rats - or 7KDR, as they are affectionately called by people like me who are too lazy to type out the whole name – come across like the schizophrenic cousins to Killwhitneydead, i.e., armed with a strong sense of humor while possessing the musical chops required to be serious musicians. Through 28 songs, they take on Hip-Hop, Indie Rock, Electronic Music, Glam Rock and all forms of Metal, great and small. In plain language, 7KDR are the Extreme Metal cousins of the Butthole Surfers. For example, check out the Techno-Industrial cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" or the Anal Cunt-style blast, Eddie Money. Then there's the track that says it all: We Had "Dying" in Our Name Way Before All Those Metalcore Cocksuckers Came Along. Hey, if you ask me, Metal should smile more often anyway. 7KDR have the balls to do so. –chuck.foster

From the far reaches of Finland, Behexen bring their third album of black metal mayhem to the unsuspecting masses. Now, I'll admit I haven't heard their first two albums, but as a connoisseur of black metal, I completely love what I hear on this album. My Soul for His Glory combines the controlled chaos of Gorgoroth's most brutal recordings with the technique and emotion of Merrimack's Of Entropy and Life Denial, with a bit of Craft's all-out rocking assault thrown in for good measure. The songs twist and turn with the complexities of a ‘70s prog rock band without losing their song-ness, i.e. memorable riffs and rock-oriented structures. "6.6.6." is a morose dirge that further demonstrates the dynamics of Behexen's music. If you want loud, black and evil, it's here. - chuck.foster

Discovered on MySpace by Adam Duritz of that rather obnoxious yippie alt band from the 90's, Counting Crows, Blacktop Mourning were quickly signed to his "suddenly created" (read: put together on a whim for no good reason) label. At one point, a decrepit Ahmet Ertegun claimed that their guitar player was one of the best he'd ever seen apparently, which apparently makes him a guitar prodigy. All respect to Mr. Ertegun (R.I.P.), but what does an 80-year-old Indian jazz enthusiast know about rock-n-roll? (Tell the truth you guessed on Led Zeppelin.) When you're a blind 80 year old black man born in the delta then maybe I'll hear your opinion on rock-n-roll. Mr. Duritz pompously sings background vocals on one of their radio singles, "Hardly Recognize," perhaps because he hardly gets recognized anymore and it upsets him. Hey don't you sing that bad song with Courtney Coxx-Arquette in the video? Anyway, this is MTV regurgitation at it's blandest. Typical lyrics and lines whined and moaned over standard pop melodies. Good thing they've got that there guitar prodigy eh? -Bep Kororoti

Bleeding Thought, Bleed The Dream, Sky Came Falling and then there’s Bleeding the sky. All have similar names and styles, but one of the bands is a hardcore/metal act and the other metal/hardcore. One band screams with a little singing and the other band sings more then screams. I like these bands but I'm not loyal fan yet, and after listening to this CD, I’m still not converted. The songs have thick guitar riffs and breakdowns, as most metalcore bands do, but the guitar solos are weak because they're misplaced. It's like they want you to know they can play because these solos never really add more to the songs. The screams and singing fall flat, with no real peaks. The drums save the disc for me. I like the track titled track "Murder the Dance" - the drummer beats the high-hat like a red-haired step-child! -dan bach

The Japanese are amazing in the way they take interesting bits of Americana, expand on them, sell them back to us and blow our minds nearly every time. Japanese power trio Boris is one such example and their target is 70’s-tinged, doomy, stoner rock. Smile opens with the shimmering, plodding “Flower Sun Rain” before launching into a three song barrage of their patented balls-to-the-wall stoner groove, including super-catchy single, “Statement.” They stop to rest on the weird, dreamy “My Neighbour Satan” and then drop into another three song cluster, this time of droning, psychedelic doom, with each song getting more and more claustrophobic and monolithic. Every track on the album has a different palette of sounds and a different, often shifting, mix. This is refreshing in an age of “ok we found the guitar sound for the album” instead of catering to each songs particular colors and shapes. The vocals melodies have also continued to improve, with all three members contributing doubled verses, interesting touches and raucous "YEAHS!" Along with Heavy Rocks and Pink, Smile is probably Boris at their most accessible, with catchy songs and clear(ish) production. Probably the best rock band in years. -Gabe Saladino

The cover art mimics the band Chicago's particular stylized font but Chooglin' ain't no Saturday in the park - they're a rock-n-roll fuckin' Friday night! And even though they maintain the similarity of having a brass section this brass section ain't just blowin' hot air. Chooglin' comes on sounding like the New York Dolls playing like the MC5. They throw in some heavy boot-stompin' blues riffs, mix in some funk and polish it off with a Chuck Berry attitude. You can't help but dance and drink copiously when your ears are hearing their message. And what is that message? "You got to ball and have a good time, and that's what I call chooglin'," so sayeth his swamp rock lordship John Fogherty. Amen to that! It's time to receive communion, get me another beer! -Bep Kororoti

From the deepest, darkest depths of Sumerian mythology, Equimanthorn summon the demons of ancients past into our ever-evolving present. A side project of death metal occultists Absu, Equimanthorn prefer dark, ambient noise and demonic whispers to the technique and speed of your typical extreme metal. Lectionum... collects the band's earliest recordings into an eerie compilation that's somewhere between the lo-fi dark noise of Yen Pox and Blood Box, and the creepy atmospheres of Throbbing Gristle's Heathen Earth. Nindinugga... is slightly more polished, bringing multiple voices and electronic elements into the Sumerian incantations. Here, Diamanda Galás' Masque of the Red Death trilogy is evoked, sounds and voices swirling through chaos. Frightening, unsettling, yet hypnotically fascinating, these albums will give you nightmares when awake and bring demons to your dreams.-chuck.foster

I personally think there are too many death metal bands out there diluting themselves through overuse of technical wankery and/or hardcore breakdowns. Death Metal is usually at its best with the no-frills, headbanging brutality present in veterans from the Tampa and Stockholm scenes. Thankfully, HOD plays to the latter camp, with plenty of tremolo-picked lines and whirring riffs to include a slight black metal touch as well. While there are only three songs on this, their debut EP, there is enough here to get a good feel for HOD’s overall sound and, unfortunately, weaknesses. While they are plenty brutal, the songs could do with some trimming as they are bit overly long for this type of death metal, though “Demoralizer” is a bit more compact and catchy than the other two. Also missing is an air of originality, with most riffs coming across as somewhat meat and potatoes, which they should break from if they accentuate their black metal tendencies on future releases. Trim the fat and up the black, and HOD could prospectively turn into a great death metal band. -Gabe Saladino

This is a collection of 4-track solo recordings made by Mac Blackout before he formed The Functional Flackouts and The Daily Void. Far from being the garage punk that he's now known for, these songs are odd jolts of electro synth punk reminiscent of The Screamers or Jay Reatard's Terror Visions, with obvious music geek references to the likes of David Bowie and The Beatles. Basically, if somebody gave me this CD for free, I'd say, "Hey, that's pretty cool," but anyone who's had access to a 4-track has made recordings just like these (including me) and I really don't think this LP is worth the $11 list price, especially in today's economy - unless of course you're a huge fan of Mac Blackout's bands.-chuck.foster

Laiad Chis Ananael CD
Necroparthenophagy

Now, I like black metal in all its many forms and eras.  I understand the use of lo-fi production and cyclical riffs to achieve a hypnotic, threatening atmosphere.   But sometimes, it is glaringly obvious that some bands take the necro schtick too far.  Necroparthenophagy is one example.  The vocals were the first thing to bother me, sticking to a monotone grumble for almost the entire album, lacking in any dramatic performance.  The second was the drums: there are no fills of any kind anywhere on the album.  I’m pretty sure a drum machine is being employed here (some of the sounds are pretty annoying), but that shouldn’t be an obstacle these days.  Finally, regardless of how necro you are, the songs should not suffer for it.  Most seem like a collection of riffs that simply cut off at the end.   The editing is also a bit weird, simply cutting off on a few tracks.   Sometimes, a little more necro would be ok.  Why bother translating the Enochian song titles on the insert?  Overall, I think this is a case of holding too hard to a standard rather than striving for originality.   With a little more effort, this could be decent. -Gabe Saladino

After the quasi-double album barrage of Mesmerize and Hypnotize, plus relentless touring, the members of System of a Down decided it was time for a break. Although singer Serj Tankian was first to break the silence with his debut solo album, it was guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan’s Scars On Broadway that caught my attention. Although Malakian had stated in interviews that Scars was a departure from System’s manic song structures and genre-hopping, I missed the point somewhat on my first few listens, although both bands are fundamentally similar. However, the stripped-down songs and downsized lyrics grew on me quickly. I found myself singing along to almost every song on the album - the hooks from songs like “World Long Gone”, “Universe” and opening “Serious” sticking in my brain. Malakian’s penchant for interesting guitar sounds is also evident in the surf/western lines on “Funny”, the East Asian melody in “Exploding/Reloading” and the Middle Eastern funk of “Enemy”. The only drawback to Scars’ debut is the song overload. With fifteen full songs, maybe a trim down to ten or twelve would have made the album all the more catchy, but it's still a must for all System of a Down fans. -Gabe Saladino

All Hope Is Gone (Special Edition CD/DVD)
Roadrunner

This is the forth disc for Slipknot to drop (not including live disc they’ve dropped). Do I like it …yes …do I have good things to say …no. It’s a lot softer than I wanted from Slipknot. It opens with “.execute.” a instrumental with light vocals in the background (sounds like samples). Then blasts into “Gematria (The Killing Name)” which led me to believe that it was gonna be a hard ass disc. All Hope Is Gone slowly fades out (At least for Slipknot standards).
Slipknot claims that this disc is the most experimental album to date. When it actually seems that Slipknot is searching for a new direction to fuel the band. It’s hard to continue as an anger driven band when you have as much success as Slipknot has.
I wouldn’t recommend the special edition. The DVD is a waste of time! The few clips of the drummer rocking out, was not worth the pain of watching the DVD. I would recommend you buy the $9.99 version on iTunes. The bonus tracks are not worth the $12.99 on iTunes. I would instead grab ‘”Child of Burning Time” for .99 cents, the best of the three bonus tracks (It foreshadows the end of Slipknot). You will get everything you need for $10.98.
Over all I compare this disc to Metallica’s …And Justice For All , it’s the beginning of the end. I’ll give them one more album before the maggots start to puke, every time they here a jock tell them about the Slipknot show. How fitting is the title …All Hope Is Gone-dan bach

Here is a four song appetizer by a new school power ballad metal act from Deer Park (NY). It tastes like Earshot, 10 Years, Disturbed and Staind, with a little after taste of Tool. I like this dish, but it needs some seasoning. First, the four tracks are very close to the same tempo, which is okay on a four track EP. If it had been an LP, it would just bleed together instead of flowing. The vocalist can sing, but he overuses the same effects that he has in his cook book when he should explore all his options. Although Soma lack that pinch of seasoning I need, the dish was not ruined. I would grade it a solid B. When it comes to seasoning, it is a matter of taste - a little salt, a little pepper - I haven’t gotten my fill of flavor yet. Soon, I will make it to one of their live shows where I expect the main course with fresh ingredients.-dan bach