Krogans

Fuh fuh fuh. I haven't thought much about music lately. I downloaded the Mass Effect 3 demo yesterday and I'm excited to play the shit out of that. I love science fiction and Bioware (Mass Effect, KOTOR, etc) is absolutely one of my favorite video game companies.

I might see Morne and Tombs in Boston at the end of the month, work permitting. Generally, I'm kind of indifferent-leaning-towards-skeptical of most "post metal" type bands but I think those two are generally pretty good. I also just finally found that most recent Tombs full length. I might give it a spin anticipatorily.

When speaking of Morne, I can't help but unravel all of the previous works of arguably the most well known member, Jeff Hayward (ex-Grief, ex-Disrupt, Noosebomb, et al), who's been a fixture of New England's metal scene for a long time. It seems like a rarity for one to be part of so many great bands. Usually you have to be Rogga Johansson.

So! One such band is Abhorred for whom Jeff Hayward played bass for at least one release. This group was interesting. The easiest description of them would be a very rhythmically tight, thrash-oriented blackened death metal band. Some years ago, I downloaded None Shall Be Spared off their myspace. They have a full length out that I, to this day, have still never listened to, so my impressions come chiefly from the EP, which I will be disseminating the link to. Oh, there I go ending my sentences in prepositions.

None Shall Be Spared is rock solid and another release loaded with good riffs. I especially love the galloping, palm-muted riffs of "Dispossess and Annihilate" and their interplay with the kick drum. I also really love how right at two minutes and about ten seconds, the drum pattern switches up from a thrash beat on top of rolling kick drums to a half-blast. Never-ending headbanging ensues.


This was a really cool band. I encourage you to check them out.

Fuck yeah, man.

-W.F.

Smithing Lvl. 30/Total Nerd Shit

Well, first and foremost, for some dumb reason I bought Skyrim. Not much else to say, I'm just trying to keep that from eating my brain/ruling my life.

Also, Sunday's game against the Jets was really cool. I can't say as to whether it was more a case of the Jets skidding or some major improvements by the Pats or a combination of both, but this may have been the most convincing win all season and I'm pretty happy about that. We actually got sacks. Amazing. The Jets' offensive line isn't a bunch of slouches either -- Nick Mangold is a pro-bowler. I couldn't believe it. One thing that I can give the Pats credit for without any reservations is working Gronkowski and Hernandez in the back field. The Jets have a pretty decent secondary (especially Darrelle Revis, who I still think gets away with some absurd fouls pretty regularly -- Oh, also for a bit of fun, check out Darrelle Revis' incredibly slanted Wikipedia page where someone left out the huge touchdown pass Randy Moss burned him on in the 2010 season. Digression.) and seeing our tight ends using their physicality and reach to make those huge catches was really gratifying.

Anywho...Here's a video. Why should you give a shit about it? Find out tomorrow...




W.F.

Nationalism is Bullshit, only Tech Death is Real

I think I've exceeded even my own worst fears as to how much Xbox I can play. Luckily I've cut that with some outdoors time and drumming. I've been playing since I was eighteen but going to school out of state really derailed an even development of skills. Right now I'm working on limb separation, which in my case entails keeping a steady beat on the snare and the kick drum and playing something else in a different subdivision with the free hand. The best example that comes to mind is your standard thrash beat, where whomever plays 8ths or whichever on the hi-hats or ride while keeping a consistent beat on the snare and kick. It's a permutation of the punk beat. Yeah, I suck at that. Here's a great example from the guy from Torture Division, starting roughly around the 0:20 mark.





Yeahhh!! Non-stop, lightning blastbeats are cool, too but as far as I'm concerned, nothing tops laying down a steady beat like Dave Lombardo when you want to propel a song forward.


Moving on...

Here's a quality album, with an unlikely pedigree.



Fractured is the 2004 full-length of the Floridian Technical Death Metal band Capharnaum. Bare with me. This band is headed by Jason Suecof, who is better known as the go-to producer for a load of awful bands and his brother. Please continue to bare with me here. This album features the vocals (and some guitar licks?) of the guy from (yccccccccchhh) Trivium. If that has turned you away, please reconsider.

This doesn't sound like how you imagine it. Fractured is a tight, catchy and extremely well-written album. It was produced by Jason Suecof himself, apparently safely before the major metalcore boom years and sounds completely gorgeous and organic. This is definitely helped by a mastering job at the one and only Morrisound. This also features Daniel Mongrain from Martyr.

This has stood the test of time for me. Say what you want about the awful, awful bands that Jason Suecof has produced for but the riffs are incredible and instantly memorable, Matt Heafy's vocals are OKAY (and he isn't on every song), and it features completely colossal drumming --indeed, some of my favorite fills ever. I can't even recommend this enough. It's just so fucking good. Many (most??) tech death albums are throwaways that seem to take no consideration with songwriting and seem to blast by with nothing substantive to hold onto -- when I hear Decrepit Birth or Necrophagist, to me it feels like a totally empty experience. This, however, THIS is significant.

Listen to this shit.


I, again, highly recommend this.

Here's a link.
Support artists?


Peace

-W.F.