Order Of The Oceans – A Departure


Order Of The Oceans are a relatively young band, both in terms of existence and average age of the band members, from Luxembourg who started out as a deathcore band in 2010 and have since moved into a hardcore direction. Their debut album A Departure is going to be released on the 29th of this month and I’m here to give you my two cents about it.

I’ll get my only criticism out of the way first: the thing that struck me about those nine tracks is that the production-value varies greatly, ranging from solid and clearly distinguishable instruments on a few songs to a hard-to-listen-to mishmash on the rest. Since I’m a fan of massive productions, that did bother me at first but once I looked beyond it, I was actually treated to an enjoyable experience. But enough of the bad, let’s get to the good stuff!

The song palette is surprisingly diverse and features your typical hardcore sound with a touch of melodic parts, some heavier songs which have more aggressive riffs and growls and last but definitely not least the, in my opinion, fantastic ballad Commitment. The song is a simple but effective piano track with heartfelt screams on top…it sounds banal on paper but it conveys its message perfectly.

Speaking of messages: the lyrics are a focal point of the band, since they want to address their every-day issues with love, respect and loss. While not every line is of Shakespearean grandeur, their point gets across and I’m convinced that more than just one listener out there will manage to identify with the words during these thirty-five minutes. To spice things up a bit further, the vocal department is supported by Mike Rodrigues of Falling Promises on two songs!

All in all, I’d say that OOTO have made a respectable first step into the recorded music scene and that they will take quite a few more steps, if they can improve on the little kinks that are present on this debut album. More information can be found on the band’s Facebook page and a first impression can be found below. Also, if you like what you hear, be sure to head to the Rockhal Café in Esch-Belval this Friday, since that’s where the release show will be!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruS8LPJSlZE]

Mindpatrol – Downfall Theatre

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing one of the most ambitious musical projects that I’ve seen in a long time: Mindpatrol, a Luxembourgish quintet who tell a, albeit slightly cliché, complete story on their debut record Downfall Theatre. While the idea of a concept album is nothing new, the storytelling devices that the band uses are something I have never witnessed in this particular magnitude. Let me further explain:

Instead of settling for one specific genre, the band has a wide range of different metal sub-genres…and when I say wide I actually mean a (almost) complete palette! Each of the eleven songs has a completely different feel to it, and the four spoken-word interludes also range from dreamy to creepy. The album starts with a ballad and just when you think that the guys have settled for melodic power metal, you get slapped in the face by heavy riffs on the next song…this mutates into a pure neo-thrash-metal explosion two songs later, only to switch to death metal and end with black metal. I guess you get the idea? Madness. I love it.

While you might think that all this experimentation could result in poor songwriting…that is absolutely not the case. Mindpatrol understand the genres they play and the ingenious musicianship allows them to portray them most adequately. I’d say that music aficionados will definitely recognize their inspirations, but nothing seems like a cheap copy-paste, which is another point in favor of this entire record. The production, which was all done in-house, is also at a truly enjoyable level and even the most minute details have been fleshed-out.

After reading all that, you might ask yourself how many singers the band has, in order to accompany the music…the answer is quite short: one. Luc Francois, who is arguably the mastermind behind the band, decided that being a writer, walking beer keg and internet troll was not enough…so he decided to pick up the mic. I’ll keep it brief and just say that he nailed all the different singing styles…well, almost. His clean vocals, which are predominant in the first half of these sixty-two minutes, are not quite near the likes of the best vocalists out there but I’m very convinced that with further training he will reach great heights. However, his screams, growls and screeches are more than just redeeming; they blew me away, that’s for sure. The only real critique I just can’t get around mentioning is that, especially in the spoken-word passages, his accent is quite heavy.

To sum things up, I’d say that this record is not to be missed by anyone since there is literally something for everyone on here. The fact that the band decided to release the whole thing for free on Thursday makes that even more true. For those of you who understand German, I should mention that there will be a tie-in book to the album, which further elaborates the story. Check the band’s Facebook page for further news and updates and listen to the song below!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv-gpc7rM7Y]

10 Silly German Movie Title Translations

In English: “The Satan chicks from Titfield.”

Seeing as the month of November has been somewhat stressful so far for us movie people, we’ve been sticking to top lists for a majority of the month and today won’t be an exception. For this Film Friday, we decided to compile a list with films which have ridiculous German translations. From unnecessary racial slurs and vulgarity to just plain senseless strings of words, we’ve seen everything. We tried to exclude porn films for the most part because it’s already widely known that they excel at silly titles, but there are a few soft porn/erotic flicks on the list… not nearly as many as you’d think, however. Enjoy reading this one as much as we did researching it!

#10 Deine Muschi wird um Gnade winseln (Animali metropolitani)
In English: “Your pussy will beg for forgiveness.”

#9 Sie bumste nur einen Sommer (Passaporto segnalato)
In English: “She screwed for one summer only.”

#8 Grunz – schmatz – grunz… am Anfang war das Ei (Grunt)
In English: “Grunt – smack – grunt… at the beginning, there was the egg.”

#7 Cash – Die unaufhaltsame Karriere des Gefreiten Arsch (Whiffs)
In English: “Cash – The unstoppable career of the freed ass.”

#6 Ihre Brüste wackelten im Todestakt (Passi di morte perduti nel buio, English title: Death steps in the dark)
In English: “Her breasts jiggled in step with death.”

#5 Nachts, wenn die Leichen schreien (The Devil’s Rain)
In English: “At night when the corpses scream.”

#4 Im Fummelschuppen von Buffy-County (Southern Comforts)
In English: “In the grope-shed of Buffy County.”

#3 Schlitzauge sei wachsam (Shui quan guai zhao, English title: Sleeping Fist)
In English: “Chink, beware.”

#2 Es kracht, es zischt, zu seh’n ist nischt (Now You See Him, Now You Don’t)
In English: “It bangs, it sizzles, there’s nothing to see.”

#1 Die fröhlichen Holzfäller der nickenden Fichten (Le journal érotique d’un bûcheron)
In English: “The jolly lumberjacks of the nodding spruces.”

We don’t know about you, but some of these have made their way on our to-(hate-)watch lists. If you have any additions, feel free to share!

Close Your Eyes – Line In The Sand


When I rediscovered Close Your Eyes‘ second record earlier this year and subsequently fell in love it, I looked up what the band was up to these days and found out that they were recording a new album, but with a new singer. Now, especially since the vocals played a huge part in me adoring Empty Hands And Heavy Hearts as much as I do, I was quite worried. But as I always say: change doesn’t always have to be bad, even for a change-fearing person as myself. Line In The Sand is proof for that.

The band has taken a step back from the melodic hardcore that defined its predecessor and gone back to the pop-punk-ish metalcore that was We Will Overcome, their debut release. While that style dominates on most of these fifteen songs there are some nice surprises like the hard rock-ish Frame And Glass or the bonecrusher that is Skeletons. These few deviations guarantee a non-repetitive experience, which is a definite plus.

On the instrumental side there is not much to say…it’s all flawlessly performed and demonstrates the songwriting that the band has perfected over the past three years quite nicely. A handful of riffs did, however, completely blow me away…because they simply didn’t follow the rest of the set-up of the songs they were in. The drums are, due to the style change, a bit more straight-forward than before but absolutely fitting.

Onto the big elephant in the room: the vocals. To be brief: the new bloke, Sam Ryder Robinson, does not fill the shoes that were left behind by his predecessor…he throws them away and wears his own, which is a definite plus. Let me explain: it’s always aggravating when a band specifically looks for a singer that sounds exactly like what they had before, since it prevents them from growing as a band, in my opinion, and it’s mostly fan-service. Such is not the case on LITS because, even though they have a similar timbre, the new clean vocals are more melodic and just better fleshed out. The other upside in the vocal department is that the backing growls by the bassist are more prominent.

All in all, I’d say that, objectively speaking, this third release is Close Your Eyes‘ strongest output. I have listened to it quite often so far and I suspect that I will do so in the future, however I’d say that their melodic hardcore stuff struck more of a long-time chord for me personally. I recommend making up your own mind which style of the band you prefer. You can do so by listening to the song below and check the band’s Facebook page. Have fun!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urgc_LJZSUM]

Delta Sleep – Management

The Canterbury-based boys and girl of Delta Sleep were in Luxembourg with Mambo, another stellar math rock band, last month, and we decided to feature them because they deserve it. They released their second EP Management back in May. It sounds very mathy and slightly emo with a pinch of post-hardcore added to the mix (the latter element can be attributed to the singer’s occasional screaming, but also the fast tempo throughout most of the EP.)

The problem with math rock is that its complex rhythmical structures can all too easily result in an overkill, and that’s what I was worried about when I first heard the opener. 16:40 AM is chock-full with turns, surprises and constant changes of pace and vocal style that leave your head spinning through 5:56 minutes. While the song is intelligent enough to be exciting instead of overbearing, it does tread dangerously close to the edge, and I’m not crazy about it. I would probably enjoy it more if the band had cut it short by 1 minute, or taken drastic measures by taking away 3 to cram all of that energy into a different song altogether. (It goes without saying that my opinion must be taken with a grain of salt, especially seeing as most critics and fans view 16:40 AM as the undisputed highlight on Management.)

But then they made a wonderful choice by using a toned-down interlude followed by a much neater math gem entitled Jesus Bill! to let the listener recover, and I found that 16:40 AM is an integral part of the collection. The frenzy of the opener is an ideal way to set the energy for the EP and bring out the magic of the remaining songs.

Moving on to Camp Adventure, the fourth and most subdued track. It is lovely and relaxing to listen to in its acoustic simplicity, so much that the groovy Dustbusters, my personal favourite, jerks you out of your trance again. It comes with a great bassline and unravels beautifully over 6 minutes and 37 seconds.

So Say We All, the grand finale, starts out slightly American Football-style with melancholic vocals and soothing picking on the electric guitar, transforms into a full-on, raw math rock/post-hardcore monster halfway through, and finally fizzles out smoothly again. I love it. It does what the final track is supposed to do: leave you euphoric and in the clouds.

Delta Sleep has fantastic technical skills and very forward-thinking ideas. With Management, they managed (lazy pun intended) to create a fun 6-track collection that will incite feet-tapping and head-bobbing, but that’ll also have you stare pensively off in the distance. Visit their official Tumblr for more information and find a link to their Bandcamp below.

5 Classic Horror Films That Took Us A While To Catch Up On

If you’re into cinema, you’re probably familiar with the phenomenon. There always seem to be a few classics that slip through the cracks and sit festering on our to-watch lists for years. Sadly, it’s well-nigh impossible to watch every significant movie ever made, but we film reviewers at El Gore want to try, and we’d like to document some of our impressions along the way.

#5 Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

Luc: A Nightmare On Elm Street is probably the biggest surprise for me, in a positive way. I’m not a huge fan of supernatural elements in horror films, and I wouldn’t have watched this one if it wasn’t for the great 1985 B-movie The Stuff, which made use of the same rotating technique the makers of Nightmare did. I appreciate that they don’t show gore just for the sake of it, but use it intelligently. I like campy 80s horror films and this one is now among my top 10 in the genre.
Anna: This is my favourite movie on the list. I think it is a masterpiece. Genuinely creepy, intelligent and well worth the hype. It’s not so much a slasher picture as it is surrealist cinema — a genre I am not particularly fond of, but it’s crafted to perfection here. The psychology behind the character Freddy is intriguing, too. Apparently he’s a hybrid of terrifying and semi-traumatic experiences Wes Craven had as a kid (a stranger stopping and staring right into his eyes outside of his window, a bully named Fred) and his garb is very deliberate. The entire movie calls for interpretations and discussions of possible symbolism, and I love that.

#4 Friday the 13th (1980)

Luc: In my opinion, Friday the 13th hasn’t aged well at all. It’s strange how there are people being slaughtered constantly, but you still get the feeling that absolutely nothing happens throughout the movie, with the exception of the plot twist, which completely missed the mark for me. It was a massive disappointment, and my least favourite film on the list.
Anna: To be perfectly honest, I thought this one was one big pile of “meh.” I agree with Luc in that it might have worked back in 1980 when it had some sense of novelty to it, but in 2013, it is a trite and underwhelming watch. The plot twist seems to channel a bit of Psycho, but it wasn’t a light-bulb moment and even seemed somewhat off to me. As I said, I would probably review it differently had I seen it when it originally came out. But today, it’s a decent slasher. Nothing more.

#3 The Exorcist (1973)

Luc: My mother told me that when she saw this one in theatres right after it came out, she found it deeply shocking and still does. I might be desensitised, but a few demonic screams of “fuck me!” and some fake vomit are not enough to instill terror in me. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I generally don’t like movies dealing with exorcism, not even the modern ones, so it might just not be my cup of tea.
Anna: Another horror classic that, try as I might, I am unable to fully savour. I cheated with this one, because I already watched it a few years ago with friends during a sleepover. We all thought it was hilarious then, but I blamed it on the jovial setting. I watched it again two weeks ago to find that my impression remains unchanged. At this point, it’s more of a comedy to me. Maybe I was born too late, maybe I’m jaded, maybe I wouldn’t know taste if it socked me in the face with the force of a Typhoon, I have no idea. All I know is that I truly, sincerely don’t understand how The Exorcist could be scary or shocking to anyone over the age of 10.

#2 Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Luc: Even though this Polanski is unarguably a pioneer of the Satan child/satanism/demon/black magic type of movie, I think many successors have done it more effectively. What really irks me about Rosemary’s Baby is not the subject matter, but the way they treated it. The irritating performances (not the characters themselves, but the actors) are another factor in that equation. One of those films that could have stayed on my to-watch list a little while longer.
Anna: I really hate that I ended up not liking Rosemary’s Baby as much as I thought I would. I understand why it’s so highly regarded and respect it as a classic, but it just didn’t do much for me. It was unsettling in places, but even as someone who loves slow pace in movies, the plot development struck me as excessively prolonged. On top of that, I wasn’t invested in the characters in any way. What I did like were the ending and the cinematography. This film is stunning visually.

#1 Psycho (1960)

Luc: Hitchock’s work, for me, is a tricky matter. I am aware that the man has done a lot for the world of cinema, but even still, I cannot worship him as devotedly as others do. Also, I postponed watching Psycho in full for a long time because I thought I already knew its development based on the famous shower scene. Now, there are two Hitchock movies that I’ve seen and disliked, namely The Birds and Rebecca, and three that I’ve seen and regard as masterpieces: Vertigo, The Rope and as of today, Psycho. Even though it’s the oldest movie on the list, I think it works better than the other horror works on so many levels.
Anna: Psycho is fantastic. There’s not much else to add. It’s unnerving from start to finish, I was on the edge of my seat for the entire runtime, and I did not see that plot twist coming. It lives up to its reputation as first-rate and psychologically harrowing. (And unlike some famous critics, I am pro-explanatory shrink scene.)

Trivium – Vengeance Falls


When Trivium released their first record, many people dismissed them as just another band that followed the trend. Two years later, they released their, to this day, amazing Ascendancy and people were still skeptical; a year later the skeptics were strengthened by the release of the mediocre The Crusade…but in 2008 when Shogun came out, these voices quickly died away and it was clear that the band was back with a blast. Today, ten years after their inception they have released their by now sixth album called Vengeance Falls and there is no doubt that they are among the most talented people of the genre.

One thing is absolutely clear: the quartet has reached the peak of their evolution, and I can hardly imagine how they want to become even better, both in writing and performing their material. The mixture between whiplash-inducing parts and almost symphonic passages is simply breathtaking, leaving you in awe at the talent that the band possesses.

As hinted at previously, the guitars range from your finest headbang riffs to purely melodic solos without being repetitive at any point during these thirteen songs that can be found on the limited edition, which I highly recommend since the three bonus songs are well worth it. The bass plays a rather important role too since it mostly plays separate lines, thus giving the mix an additional depth. The drumming has a rather wide reach as well, encompassing intricate double bass work, groove-laden beats and the occasional blast beat.

The vocals have not really improved in quality, but that’s almost impossible since they have already been at an extremely high level on the predecessor In Waves. The influence of producer David Draiman, of Disturbed, can definitely be noticed however, since the singing has vastly improved in terms of melodic diversity.

The only “negative” part, to me, is that the first four tracks of these sixty-two minutes are among my less favorite tracks on the record resulting in a dragging beginning…but the momentum quickly picks up after that and makes the remaining forty-four minutes an absolute joyride. A different track order would have made it an even better package in my opinion. Nevertheless, Vengeance Falls is a very strong entry in the band’s catalog and I can honestly recommend it to any fan of heavy music. Visit the band’s Facebook page and listen to the first single below…and if the band is ever playing in your vicinity: GO!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIvSXocE6YY]

Toxkäpp! – 15 Joër Toxkäpp! 09.10.2010 Live An Der Kufa!


Today I’m reviewing a rather unusual album…unusual because I’ve never written about a live CD, but here goes! The Luxembourgish punk veterans Toxkäpp! have recently celebrated their eighteen year existence and have therefor released a live recording of their fifteen year anniversary which was recorded in our local Kulturfabrik. So let’s dive into 15 Joër Toxkäpp! 09.10.2010 Live An Der Kufa!

The octet started off as punk rock but has branched out into a more ska punk orientated direction. That’s why the sixteen song record comprises half and half of both styles; a nice concept which prevents repetition and allows old school fans to enjoy the classics that they might have grown up with as well as the newer stuff.

Performance-wise the band does not leave much to wish for, since each member is on their best behavior and the sound is actually surprisingly clear for a live concert. The one or the other reprise like the iconic Paint It Black also adds a certain flair to these forty-one minutes.

The songs are all sung in Luxembourgish which is something I commend, since not many bands (nowadays?) do that…however it does prevent them of reaching a broader audience. Especially since the lyrics are highly satirical and social-critical and managed to put a smile on my face more than once.

In conclusion, there is only one negative aspect that struck me…which is not even the band’s fault: the crowd is rather silent and resulting in the fact that the live atmosphere is not quite as dense as I would have liked it to be. Whether that is due to the fact that the crowd was actually lame or simply that nobody remembered to put a mic above them is something I can’t tell you. Be sure to check out the band’s Facebook page and listen to a few songs below. If you like what you hear, be sure to go see them live!