Teorema - Teorema (2015)

Since nobody gave a shit about this Mexican duo, it's my turn to give it a proper review. First of all, Teorema is a raw, but audible death/sludge kind of like Acid Witch. Sometimes they even introduce more rock elements into their music, like with “Damned Country” which sounds like groove-rocker backed with furious grunts. Sometimes the grunts are in the background, but it's still the kind of disc I can behind. That's because I can tell that these musicians did the best with what they had. This self-titled is their debut and currently only release, which actually comes attached to a label (Lxs Grises). So I don't really know what happened or why when I type the band's name in, all I can find is some film by the same name. I will say that this oddly entertaining mix of death/sludge, rock and what can even become a sort of atmospheric soft-rock, is something worth checking out due to the sheer sporadity of it all. “Saint Place” might starts out rather burly, but it calms down to almost a meditation level. “Spiritual Madness” sounds like sheer death metal, but it also allows for psychedelics. Even “Times Of Sin” sounds a bit unique in composition, playing on some progressives. Seriously? You people aren't hearing this? I'm astonished. I know that the drums might sound a little far away at times, but these guys took a bit of a fuzzier and more organic route with their production. Again, I think they were just doing the best they could with what they had. Though in listening to this wildly textured release, I can't say that that is such a bad thing. I would have never expected such an airy cut as “Fuegos Fatuos” nor would I have expected such an intriguingly bleak closer in “Abysmos.” The guitars and drums were played in such a fashion to create the illusion of a vortex, adding in some unexpected drone to a disc that has played with death metal, groove, sludge, atmospheric soft rock and more. It makes me rather upset to see that there aren't any real English language reviews for this release, and it's definitely worth a listen for those of you looking for something a bit more from your sludge. I really hope that a lack of reviews and promotion doesn't serve as a detriment to these guys creating future albums, because there's something rather interesting in this one and I'd implore you to go seek it out.

(8 Tracks, 37:00)

8/10

Movie Review: Magnificent 7 (2016)

Magnificent 7 was much better than I had anticipated. The trailer doesn't really show the depth of the film. There are more than a few moments of great acting by lead Denzel Washington, who pulled off the whole "black cowboy" thing very well. I could see him in the shoes of Roland Deschain for sure, and I feel much more comfortable now with the Idris Elba choice in that role next year. There are still some who might be put off by the idea of more racially diverse characters, but good acting is just good acting in my book. Regardless, the man was phenomenal. It was the kind of film I could watch and get really excited whenever he appeared on screen, because I knew that something great was going to happen. One of the best damn cowboys I've seen on film, but I haven't seen enough to truly judge. After all, I  haven't seen a lot of westerns, they never really appealed to me - until now.

Some might prefer the original cast to this one, but the newcomers all did a good job, except for one in particular - Chris Pratt. A cowboy he is not, and should never be. The magic trick in the beginning was unusually entertaining, but after that, his boyish silliness just felt out of place in the Eastwood-esque character that he was trying so hard to be. Stick to more modern fantasy work, Pratt. Loved you in Guardians, but you annoyed the shit out of me in this.

The film had decent bits of comedy, even though it opens and ends on both a crushingly painful note. Washington's scene with the villain in the church was mesmerizing. The villain's performance (I didn't catch his name) was threatening, but I felt that he was kind of a coward in the fact that he mostly stood around and let everyone else do the fighting. He was good at terrorizing people in the name of capitalism, but when it came to a gunfight, he was so painfully insulting that you felt good when he'd been put out of his misery.

Then we have the chick from Hunger Games, (good thing I'm not turning this into any publicists) who does pull off the kind of "rebel woman that doesn't want to take care of the women and children and would rather fight with the men" role rather well. She never officially joins the seven gunslingers, but she does deliver the last shot in the film. It feels like she was suffocated and tried to get in as many parts as she could, as the film apparently had no female lead before and she had to halfway fill that as an unofficial eighth member. Of the several roles in the film that fit, hers felt kind of forced. Maybe she was in it for twenty minutes at most? Thirty, perhaps?

Magnificent 7 is basically a revenge film, with what feels like an hour of gunfights and explosions behind what is an exceedingly long build-up. Though I feel that you get your money's worth. It certainly has a lot of action, but there's no real kung-fu aside from knife play and the only modern style weaponry is a gatling gun used as a villain's trump card. It feels like the gatling gun belongs though, as it isn't high-tech and was operated through a crank mechanism. This is not a spaghetti western and doesn't stray too far from it's western roots. Don't trust that shitty trailer, this is indeed a real western, with a western musical score as well.

I haven't seen the original, but this reboot is actually not all that bad. I can see how some would get as upset as I was over Pratt's dumb quips, but you could certainly be watching worse modern westerns than this. If you're looking for gunfighting that seemingly never ends until every man is down, and enjoy seeing the story of an unlikely crew joined together towards a common goal with a shocking ending note, then give Magnificent 7 a try.

(2hrs, 7m)

8/10

Movie Review: Suicide Squad (2016)

Suicide Squad was definitely the best DC film I've seen since the classic era. The film felt like the comic and I could see some scenes in panels. The Enchantress battle was one of the deepest and most rewarding battles I have seen in a film in quite some time. She actually felt like she wouldn't go down real easy, and she didn't. It was like battling a goddess. The fact that she was tricked into defeat was also very poetic. This is what I wanted from Apocalypse.

The characters had great back stories too. Aside from the romanticized Joker, and that weird helicopter scene where Leto tried his best Penguin impression, (WTF?) his performance was pretty great. Robbie was a good-enough Harley. Felt like the character. El Diablo had a great performance towards the end, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but - this is the best performance I've seen from Will Smith in ages. The movie showed me that he can still act.

We could have had a lot less of the zombie knockoffs that didn't really fight back and felt like fodder enemies, as the story suffered from what could have been more villains working under Enchantress. It was just her, her brother and a bunch of puppet enemies. Felt like they were fighting putties or brainless zombie things as they had no mouth or way to attack. Ayer must have just said, "fuck it" when he wrote those in. We have a whole thirty minutes of them killing fodder enemies. Enemies I could have killed. I'm not even sure they had any power or way to harm. Maybe strangling? I could keep one as a pet and wouldn't have to feed it. They were too dumb to fight and not able to shoot or use weapons. They just walked and died. Most useless enemies ever. If they made a beat em' up of the game, I'd be bored fighting enemies that didn't seem to attack. For powerful magic, that sucked. I guess she's been asleep too long to know how to use her powers.

All in all, I'd give the film a relatively high score and would recommend that any fan of comic book action and depth watch it. Forget what you know about the comics and you'll like how the actors made these characters their own. Even though some are pretty close to their comic counterparts - except for Captain Boomerang or whatever. He was absolutely useless and just wanted to run away. I was hoping he would.

(2hrs, 10m)

8/10

Mechanik War III - Xtermination (2016)

Originally from Europe, these now California based industrial black metallers have released their debut album which is going to be a must for fans of Deathstars, Ministry, The Kovenant, Front Line Assembly, mid-era Septic Flesh and more. About the first thing you'll notice on the disc is how much it crunches, which Astaroth handles quite nicely. These are the kind of Ministry level groove/crunches that back with furious bouts of drums courtesy of Crucifactor, who brings off that hard-edge that listeners want from this kind of music. It's so competently played as far as the structure of these pieces is concerned, that it gives me the feel of classic industrial rock/metal in the vein of Psalm 69 with a touch of unexpected Goth that reminds me much of Deathstars.

Though Astaroth doesn't use as many tremolos on this record as you might expect, every song on the disc has it's own unique feel – especially the album's finale, “In Memoriam” which is definitely an unexpected and rather somber moment that doesn't sound like anything else in the band. Listeners might be a bit shocked by the ending as the rest of this disc is quite heavy, but even this piece contains hints of the Gothic organs that adorn sections of this record when the tremolos aren't being utilized. Astaroth also lays down a few unexpected melodic leads in areas, but nothing that really takes away from the performance as a whole.

When we look at a track like opener, “Flesh Reich” we can see how lyrically there's not much to it, and it almost feels like a long introduction to the album – but if we keep listening, we'll find that the ghostly keys and ferocious drum abrasions do help to add weight to this performance as a whole. Sometimes frontman Massaker will use a robotic voice filter which adds to the whole post-apocalyptic “Cyber Chemical Warfare” of the thing. It's odd when you can use a song title to describe the band as a whole, but this is definitely what we have here. Even if you don't like the Goth approaches in the vocal front, you might find something within the chunky industrial of the act as a whole. Mechanik War III do not beat around the bush about their Goth elements, but if you've always thought that bands like Deathstars weren't heavy enough, I think you'll find something in Xtermination.

I'll be honest. Even though I did an interview with Deathstars during the run of their last album The Perfect Cult, I still consider that record to be the single worst recording they've ever made. I was kind of expecting something a bit more like this. That's not to say there are too many similarities between the two acts, because as I've noted, Mechanik War III are a much heavier act. While Goth remains a huge part of the disc, Xtermination is still a thunderously brutal take on the genre and it shows some real muscle where I believe it is needed. Though the band use electronic elements, I couldn't call them a sort of “untz untz” act either. Even considering the dance-club friendly bits on “Apocalypse X69” there are so many crushing elements to this disc that fans of the genre are going to be quite enthralled.

Unfortunately there are no full-on guitar solos, but Astaroth does balance well with Crucifactor in the melody department, which offers a good sense of purpose along with the absolutely relentless drumming on this one. It's great to see proper symmetry within these two unlikely elements, especially considering the fact that the drums do not drown out the guitars here. That seems to happen one too many times on these kinds of records, so hearing a band that have made it work with just three guys is something of an accomplishment on their part.

Additionally, Mechanik War III creates a sense of equality within their Goth and industrial elements that doesn't see the album drained completely by either one. The black metal tremolos aren't overused either, and the record doesn't go into full blast beats often, which is great in my opinion. Several other bands would have done that, but the listener can tell just from listening to the album that these gentlemen have done their industrial homework. Perhaps it's a bit more industrial Goth metal than industrial black metal, and that's fine. We don't have an awful lot of bands that perform that approach, let alone bands that do it as well as these guys.

Xtermination isn't a perfect album by any means, but it is far better than I would have ever expected and could seriously put these guys on the map. We could have a real contender in the scene here, so definitely keep your eyes on this act. Without a doubt, Xtermination is one of the best Gothic industrial records I've heard all year. Yet it is also one of the only Gothic industrial albums I've heard all year, which is certainly not a bad thing.

(11 Tracks, 47:00)

8/10

Ricardo Remedio - Natureza Morta (2016)

Portuguese artist Ricardo Remedio has created a combination of techno-industrial and synth-based atmospheres here on what is his debut album, with a much different title than what the official Facebook description offered. Natureza Morta literally translates to "Dead Nature" and although the gist of the performance is quite dim, there are some rather lighthearted nodes as well. We begin with the deep, slightly urban feel of “Banquete” which has a small section entwined within it that reminds me a little of the music in Xavier's lab for the original X-Men Genesis/Mega Drive game. Yeah, my musical cues go back that deep, folks. So am I imagining X-Men characters walking through misty urban areas at night? Well, kind of. “Ossos” feels like a filmscore that has been largely smothered by dub fuzz. It definitely makes me think of a Cyberpunk noir and could be used in a film (or game) of that sort. “Garça” offers one light node of etherealism, as it gently glides outwards towards “Caça” (which I believe is the word for feces) even though this wave influenced track is certainly not something I would consider to be of that nature. What we've got is a mixing of metallic industrial with light winds of synth and slight thumps that bring a bit more of that urban vibe to the piece. They seem to almost choke the whispering synth, yet also create a feeling of horror that I wouldn't have expected, later on in the recording.
“Suor Noturno” seems to be a bit more colorful, as it mixes rusty industrial in rather nicely with what sounds like a colorful jungle-influenced sort of sound that almost reminds me of a timpani, except a timpani from the planet Venus or suchlike.

The last track I want to discuss on this album is “Vigília” which actually sounds like it has a tinge of metal flowing through it. There are some odd shouts, as well as what sounds like a dissonant and windy guitar being utilized. This is the only time a listener will hear a performance like this on the disc, which is a bit unfortunate, as it sounds like an unnecessary one-off. Regardless of this, you're getting a rather strong mix of industrial and electronic music that seems deeply invested in what I might consider a Deus Ex friendly world, albeit with touches of crystalline synth that help to buff out some of the rougher edges. There's nothing really natural here and the cover itself is even misleading. I feel that it would have been better if they had depicted a cyberpunk scene, perhaps architecture of futuristic buildings. The cover simply doesn't illustrate the music, but the music itself is strong enough that it doesn't need to be defined by the cover. Definitely give it a listen if you're into these sorts of electronic approaches. Natureza Morta is a rather strong one in the genre.

(8 Tracks, 50:00)

8/10

Crator - The Ones Who Create: The Ones Who Destroy (2016)

The debut album from these New York based (currently unsigned, but probably not for long) tech/death/black metallers comes off without a hitch, plunging the listener face-forward into what I could consider to be an extremely violent, albeit creative storm. From the minute you push play, you're automatically greeted by Origin drummer John Longstreth (Unmerciful, Dim Mak) who pretty much pummels the kit more than half the time. But for those who aren't huge Origin fans (and I know that I'm not, even having seen them live) I can say that the addition of Beyond The Arctopus bassist Colin Marston (Byla, Dysrhythmia, Encenathrakh, Gorguts, Withered, Krallice, Indicothere) certainly adds a kickstart to the project and makes it a bit more listenable. We also have Jeff Liefer (Tentacles and a band called Satanic Sega Genesis, which upset me when I found out that it wasn't instrumental death metal covers of Genesis/Mega Drive game soundtracks) who adds the bit of technicality needed to make an act like this a bit more appealing as well.

Take “The Echo That Conquers Voice” for example, which includes a nearly godlike section of melodies which almost come across as something from the furthest reaches of outer space. It's that attention to detail that pulls interest into the act, even though the one-dimensional performance of longtime Origin frontman Jason Keyser isn't going to win any awards in my book. Because the nature of this band is very sporadic and experimental in a sense, Keyser is forced to try new things with his hum-drum style and that I'd consider a plus. Problem is, Keyser seems to want to phone in the same approach on several of these cuts, making for what sounds like a sort of guttural mush with lyrics that I couldn't understand properly if I tried. He nearly gives us the same vocal performance on every song, which is a bit disheartening. There are times when Keyser uses a scream or he is forced to use a slightly different vocal tempo because the structural nature of the song has changed in general, but these are sadly not often. I find myself growing quite tired of the same vocal stylings in death metal, regardless of the fact that they are in retrospect – pretty damn fun to perform. I wouldn't mind making a record with that Cannibal Corpse friendly approach of near-endless gutterals, but I would never market it as the greatest thing I had ever done. It would be just kind of a “for fun” ordeal. In any case, it is far more tolerable than Mike DeSalvo's gutpunch friendly vocals on the earlier released Coma Cluster Void album (Mind Cemeteries) and is quite a breath of fresh air from that.

Musically, I still think that Coma Cluster Void went further into the realms of sheer experimental absurdity, but that's not counting these guys out completely. They've still done a great job with this mix of technical experimentation, hefty brutality and grim black metal nodes. I can't just call that a wash, because it clearly isn't. These gentlemen came together to make a disc that combines all of their efforts into something that really matters and feels like a reflection of their skills as a whole. How could I possibly argue with that? Sure, it might drone on one after awhile in the vocal department, but at least there are pieces on the album in which one is able to collect their thoughts. I certainly enjoyed the title track as well as aforementioned cut “The Echo That Conquers Voice” but found very little to diverge from the formula as a whole. To be fair, this is the debut album from Crator and I'm sure that they will only further evolve and perfect their style with time. If nothing else, I can say that there does seem to be a type of chemistry here, and it will make for a nice holdover until the next Origin disc arrives. Even though personally, I'd much rather have The Ones Who Create: The Ones Who Destroy. Personal preference, as always.

(9 Tracks, 39:00)

7/10

Fliptop Box - Catch 22 (2016)

Recommended for fans of Alice In Chains, Danzig, Volbeat and Therapy? (Seriously? I'll provide some better influences later in the review) these Grecian metallers are about to release their sophomore disc sometime in late October. In all honesty, I would compare the sound of Fliptop Box to being a combination of Deftones as their lightest and The Cult at their most melodic. There are also some growls here and there, but they feel kind of forced. This band doesn't need growls, (but they appear on a track called “Sirens”) as there's no sense in it and it more or less weakens the performance. These guys don't have to growl to reach a metal audience, they seem to do a fine job playing their instruments as is. Maybe there's even a little bit of Sentenced's melancholy rock here, which isn't a problem either.

Frontman John P. handles the vocals here, sometimes going into a bit of a Danzig croon, but it's a bit lighter and somewhat a bit post-punk depending on the cut. Perhaps the accent is still a little bit rough, but the spirit is there. He also handles the guitars, where he composes a sort of airy, yet thunderous rock. Again, I'm thinking of the Deftones at their lightest, maybe Saturday Night Wrist or Koi No Yokan. There are also some rather notable solos on the record, but I can't tell if John or (secondary axe) Stavros is responsible for them. Additionally we'll also hear backups on the record, where drummer Captain Frikis and Christina accentuate the choruses. This is most notable on opener “Blast” even though John handles his own on “Borderline” quite well too. While the Volbeat influence may very well be there, I can say that John's vocal approach is far more spirited and much less obnoxious than that of Michael “liked you better in Dominus” Poulsen. He really knows how to bring it home and pile on the melody at the same time, which equals out to several memorable songs.

The record is extremely well written and feels like it has a bit more going for it than just some mainstream modern rock sound. There's definitely a slight feel of Goth here, but it's closer to early Goth rather than Dracula Goth. I take no preference with either, but hearing a little bit of The Sisters Of Mercy is not something I'm going to take an issue with. All in all, the Greeks have made a rather strong record and I'd certainly recommend giving it a listen. I'm a little torn between a decent seven and a solid eight, because some parts of the disc are rough while others are quite well produced. I will say that after the third time of listening to the disc, I still find it a very strong disc where anything could really be touched on and often is. The listener won't expect some of the territory that is traversed here, but it will all be worth an ear if you're willing to give these guys a shot.

Fliptop Box are a bit more inventive than what we might expect for alternative rock, and there are enough metallic elements here to interest those who might be on the fence. Even so, this is a rock band and they should be respected as such. I never claimed that Fliptop Box were one of the heaviest bands in the world, but they don't need to be either. They're doing their own thing and I think that given time, these guys will really start to grow on me. Quite refreshing.

(8 Tracks, 38:00)

7/10