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(This weeks rambling and reviews courtesy of O.M.O.M. - Ed.) TGIF brothers and sisters, time to tell the boss man to kiss yer arse, let down your hair and spend some of your hard earned coinage on some new tunes. Not to worry the LTBR staff has a Friday review roundup to guide you in the right direction. If Billy Mays were here Oxycleaning my stonewashed jeans he’d tell you that everyone one of these discs are a “GUARANTEED BARGAIN!” and that they will “CLEAN ANY STAIN!” I’m not sure of the stain busting qualities but I will say each of these releases get a horns up from at least one member of our staff.
For those of you who like to get “mellow.” A few of the LTBR staffers suffer from “glaucoma” and enjoy getting “mellow”, strictly for medical purposes mind you. I think a good number of Scott Reeder fans may be picking up his latest release Tunnelvision Brilliance and expecting to fire up to the second coming of The Obsessed, Kyuss or possibly a Queens Of The Stone Age knock off. Tunnelvision Brilliance is well removed from any of Scott’s previous work but don’t let the mellow vibe of this disc scare you off. All the sounds heard on this disc come straight from Mr. Reeder himself, no backing bands or special guests, just a man following his muse. Recorded over a space of 18 years it comes across as more Pink Floyd than Kyuss. It would be too easy to peg this as an acoustic album but it’s much deeper than just an artist knocking off some tunes on his six-string guitar. Check out “Diamond”, “For Renee” or “As I’m Dreamin’” for tunes chock full of groove, texture and depth. Nothing near what I was expecting when I first spun it and a damned enjoyable surprise it was. Rating: 85/100
For those of you who own muscle cars and miss the early-mid 90’s. Hard rock fans in the 90’s fell into three camps: grunge fans, metal lovers that hated grunge music and its fans and metalheads who vocally bashed the grunge scene but secretly dug what bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, etc. were doing. There was a fourth group, death metal fans that hated all the pussies that didn’t sing about human sacrifices, but most of them were relegated to Scandinavia. Slave To The System, a new group formed of members/ex-members of the bands Brother Cane and Queensryche is looking to turn back the hands of time to the days when fans of nu-metal and emo were still in their diapers.
Featuring Damon Johnson (vocals, guitar) and Roman Glick (bass) from Brother Cane, Scott Rockenfield (drums) of Queensryche and ex-Queensrych-er Kelly Gray (guitars), Slave To The System brings a fairly solid pedigree to the table. At first listen, Damon’s vocals give the songs a Brother Cane feel but with less blues and more of a Queensryche time signature courtesy of Scott Rockenfield. Slave To The System is peppered with Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver influences and if this disc were released 10 years ago it probably would have moved a solid amount of units. Save for a couple of acoustic tunes that don’t do much, Slave To The System features enough hard rock/grunge riffs to make it a worthwhile addition. Tunes like “Stigmata” and the title track are solid arena rock; nothing here will break down new doors but if you are looking for some hard rock to blast through the T-Tops of your Z-28, this should do you just fine. Rating: 77/100
For the Dungeons & Dragons geeks. Few acts can match the absolute bombast and over the top imagery of Manowar but Italy’s Rhapsody may out-epic the Kings Of Metal. The executive producer of Live In Canada 2005 – The Dark Secret is none other than Manowar’s Joey DeMaio and the band is also signed to Joey’s label, Magic Circle Music. Rhapsody is not for everyone; don’t expect a power metal axe attack that will have you moshing about the courtyard. Rhapsody is a band for those that dressed in character to attend all three chapters of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. If you are a fan of epic, operatic metal that sings of swords, dragons and trolls and features voiceover work by Christopher Lee (yes, that Christopher Lee), then Rhapsody is the epic-metal band for you. But then again, you probably already know about Rhapsody and probably own the tee shirt with Christopher Lee’s picture on it (really, they sell one). For you D&D, Magic or other fantasy gamers out there unfamiliar with Rhapsody, Live In Canada 2005 – The Dark Secret will be right up your alley. Do me one favor though, pick up a Motorhead cd and keep it handy, because if a girl hears you cranking opera metal you can forget about getting past first base. Rating: 64/100
For those who just want their metal fast and heavy. First up is Paint The Town from One Dead Three Wounded. Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, One Dead Three Wounded (ODTW) initially released Paint The Town on a smaller independent label in 2004 and thanks to 1X1 Music the release gets a remix plus two new songs to a hopefully wider market. ODTW spit forth furious metalcore vocals with the requisite thrashing breakdowns with just a dash of down south thrash to separate themselves from the Every Time I Die crowd. Tracks like “Farewell”, “My Life” and “Cowboys Don’t Look Back” combine enough metal thrash and hardcore grind to keep both sides of the pit moving. The two new tracks tacked on to the end fit right in on Paint The Town; my only beef is that they fit too well. I would like to have heard a bit more growth from ODTW; one of the big stumbling blocks with many metalcore bands is the lack of maturity from release to release. I’ll be keeping my eye on ODTW, Paint The Town is a solid release and I’m looking forward to bigger things on their upcoming cd, scheduled for a springtime release. Bonus points go to the cd packaging as contained inside is a nifty little certificate of authenticity that will unlock a website that gives access to bonus goodies plus the outer cover unfolds into a ODTW stencil so you can tag their logo wherever you please. Somewhere Gene Simmons of Kiss is kicking himself for not thinking of this first. Rating: 74/100
Max who? A godly number of American Sepultura fans jumped ship when Max Cavalera left the band nearly a decade ago. I’ll admit I lost some of my fervor for the band after Max’s exit; Sepultura continued on with new vocalist Derek Green and have released some fair-to-middling albums but nothing, in my opinion, to compare to the classic lineup. Well, the chow line is open and Sepultura are serving up a healthy portion of crow to all you non-believers (myself included) in the form of Dante XXI.
Dante XXI is a concept disc based on Dante’s Divina Comedia, in which Dante described a journey through three kingdoms of the dead and visitations of hell, purgatory and paradise. Sepultura takes listeners on a 39-minute metal journey broken into four parts separated via musical interludes. Moving away from the tribal beats of past and leaning towards a thrash, at times speed metal approach, Sepultura have given themselves a much-needed shot of adrenaline. Not to say it doesn’t sound like Sepultura, the guitar and drum combo of Andreas Kisser and Igor Cavalera still keep things rooted in their brand of South American metal. Dante XXI is more a feeling of a band realizing the need to make a statement, dropping their heads, putting their caps backwards and charging forward with all guns blazing. From the speed of “Dark Wood Of Error” to the full out metal of “Fighting On” and the nod to the past instrumental “Still Flame” there’s not a clunker to be found. Some may complain of the 39-minute run time but I’d much rather hear 39 minutes of back to back crushers than the band tacking on another 30 minutes of filler that would dilute the power and intensity of this sucker.
Bottom line, if you haven’t picked up a Sepultura disc since Roots, do yourself a favor and snag Dante XXI when it hits the stores, you won’t be disappointed. For those unfamiliar with Sepultura or their history, this disc is one of the early frontrunners for the top metal releases of 2006, pick up this release and get ready for a cozy journey through hell. Rating: 90/100
