Clutch – Earth Rocker

“I’m an EARTH! ROCKER! Everybody get the message?!” Well if you don’t you’re probably a little deaf. After more than 20 years, Clutch have released one of their best albums, and many people say that it probably is the best one of the Maryland stoner quartet.

Earth rocker is, although it keeps like every existing cliché about the genre alive, a hard, authentic and bad ass road trip through the desert.  “If you’re gonna do it, do it live on stage, or don’t do it at all!” The opener relentlessly stamps through the sand, leaving the stage for Crucial Velocity, which does exactly the same. Stoner, garage rock, Southern rock and riff rock permanently shake hands, leaving no space for boredom at all, which is a difficult task to undertake nowadays, given that stoner rock often hasn’t really progressed since the 90s.

Clutch obviously had fun recording this LP and juggling around with harmonicas and near cross-over songs like DC Sound Attack! Unto the Breach even offers an excursion into punk rock, underlining the variety of Earth Rocker once more, and we haven’t even reached the middle of the record yet. The bluesy Southern rock track Gone Cold offers a short break to the muscle car engine, or gives the driver the opportunity to have a glass of whisky before hitting the road again.

It is needless to say that lady groove is omnipresent, too.  Points of criticism? More cowbell please!

This is an album which doesn’t take itself too serious, and so shouldn’t you. Just nod your head (you certainly will) and have some fun on the next road trip, even if it’s just to the next mall around the corner with your mini van.

Recommendations: Earth Rocker, DC Sound Attack!, Gone Cold

August Underground Trilogy


It seems a universal phenomenon that, as soon as people start labelling a movie “the most shocking ever made”, we want to see it. For me, it doesn’t even need to come from the mouth of an established film critic – it was a YouTube comment with 20+ thumbs up and carrying the enticing all-caps declaration “OMG, MOST SOUL-SHATTERING MOVIES YOU’LL EVER SEE” that coaxed me into watching the August Underground trilogy. I will say upfront that I have no qualms about including spoilers in this review because if I could, I would physically stop you from watching these cinematic atrocities, but I’m warning you regardless because it’s the decent thing to do.

The three movies, entitled August Underground, August Underground’s Mordum and August Underground’s Penance, were directed by Fred Vogel of Pittsburgh-based horror production company Toetag Pictures. He also stars in them. The “plot” follows a man named Peter and his fellow serial killing friends on a murder spree. This doesn’t sound like too bad of a concept if you’re into this sort of thing (which I’m assuming you are, seeing as you read El Gore), but there are a few problems.

Firstly, these movies are shot with what one can only presume is a toaster. I get that it’s supposed to give off the realistic thrill of a found footage film and grainy pictures are an important factor in this equation, but there are limits. The horrible quality actually distracts you from what’s happening (which isn’t much in the first place) and will give even the most fervent fan of the genre a headache.

Then there’s the fact that this is a series of movies that does not give a flying fuck about you, and not in an oddly charming, refreshing way like Gaspar Noé’s works, for example. No, August Underground flat out does not care about entertaining you, but it doesn’t feel calculated or graceful. It is the cinematic equivalent of a bratty, stubborn child who explodes in a frantically repeated chorus of “fuck you, I’ll do whatever I want!” a few inches away from your face. Nothing happens in these films, nothing can be taken away. There’s gore, alright, but it takes “gore for the sake of gore” to a whole new plane of cheapness. There’s an extensive rape scene in August Underground’s Mordum in which Peter’s girlfriend forces one of the male victims to cut off his penis, then attempts to penetrate a distraught female victim with the severed genital. Yes, it is exactly as bad as it sounds. It’s not funny like Braindead or kind of thought-provoking like Cannibal Holocaust, it’s just utterly despicable on all counts. This scene, like all the others dripping in gratuitous sadism, doesn’t further the non-existent plot – it is mere torture porn. But I suppose there’s a market for that, too.

Excuse me if I’ve fallen into speaking of the trilogy as a singular entity, but honestly, I couldn’t tell the three movies apart (and neither could the friend I was watching them with.) All parts, which came out within a span of 6 years, have a similar structure, namely no structure at all. It blows my mind how there’s no down-time per se and you’re immersed in the “action” as soon as the films start, but those were still the most tediously boring 231 minutes I’ve ever attempted to sit through. Reaching this level of “dull” in exploitation flicks that feature such outrageous and creative violence takes real skill, so I’ll give the makers that, I guess.

I understand that, on top of being lamentably no-budget, the trilogy was intended to turn out as ugly and realistic as possible, but there’s a fine line between “creating a terrifyingly real found footage film on a low budget” and “literally shitting out a movie.” It’s safe to say that August Underground belongs to the latter category. Avoid at all costs.

This review was written by our new freelancer Anna!

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Specter At The Feast

It’s a a hard task to review the newest album of your favourite rock formation. It is even harder when you’re about to first see them live in a couple of hours at den Atelier. To me, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are one of the most influential bands in the genre that I know and yet they manage to maintain themselves as a riddle; perceived by the masses but still handled as an underground phenomenon. I remember the first time I saw one of their videos of their debut album on music television at a time where Nu Metal was THE big thing and I was completely flashed by the dark, melancholic mood of the music. I charmingly describe their music as my personal soundtrack for my suicide with an overdose, but I’ve got do drugs first for that purpose…

Specter At The Feast could be easily described as a panoply of genres the band underwent during the whole career, but that’s not the whole truth. Songs like the opener Fire Walker are a surprise with the almost esoteric intro and the hypnotic bassline, the vocals add a soothing action to the listening experience. Let The Day Begin and Hate The Taste are a perfect example for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’sease and serenity in songwriting. The fundament is rock solid and yet not self-evident to realize, which turns BRMC to the last remaining top dogs in their genre who managed to somehow survive for 15 years now.

Returning and Lullaby are two over-melancholic tracks that I could listen to in a hazardous endless loop, wallowing myself in self-pity. I personally feel myself catapulted back in 2005 when Howl was released. I might be the only one, but Peter Hayes’ voice so reminds me of John Lennon and this is not meant as an offense! BRMCflair for melancholic folk rock with an obvious retro taste is simply astounding. Therefor, Rival could be interpreted as a cool provocation for other bands to compete with BRMCfor rock’n roll olympus but I somewhat sense a defeat for each band who enters the arena. Teenage Arena is just the right soundtrack for the battlefield.

All in all, Specter At The Feastis a pleasant surprise because it shows no signs of fatigue in the trio’s songwriting. It’s challenging, dirty and mostly high paced, with a few exceptions (Fire Walkerbeing over the top but Sometimes The Lightis a bit too much calm after the storm). But who am I fooling anyway, I’ll stick to my opinion that Black Rebel Motorcycle Clubhave never released one bad album. I’m really looking forward in seeing them live and hyper nervous right now!

Eric

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfbxNAZQg-g]

Weakonstruction – 18 Minute Revolution


After missing Weakonstruction at Rock de Stéier, I felt like I had to make it up to the guys so I bought their CD, for only 2 bucks, and decided to give it a go. So here you are: it’s time for an 18 Minute Revolution.

First things first: the guys play traditional punk, with no compromises. While it’s not the most technical genre there is, the music certainly manages to capture your attention with the simple but effective melodies. The instruments are well played and well produced, but there is no real highlight, like solos, which aren’t necessary but it could have spiced things up a little.

The clean vocals are generally quite enjoyable but the shouts could sometimes be a bit more powerful, the will is there anyhow. I should note that backing vocals are provided by Eric Rosenfeld of Versus You on a couple of the seven tracks. There is one song that particularly stands out to me though, the fourth one: Dicke Bertha, which is an ode to a, I hope, fictional groupie of the voluptuous kind with quite funny lyrics.

That pretty much sums it up, I’m sorry for not being able to provide you with more insight but I have to admit that punk isn’t exactly the genre I feel completely at home, so I’d recommend that you simply give these guys a listen and see if you like it. If not, go check out one of their shows, as I’m pretty sure that the live experience beats the CD experience. I’ll leave you with three things: first of all, Weakonstruction are releasing their new album Reinventing Ourselves this year, secondly you can check out their Facebook page to keep up with the band and last but not least, go check out their pretty amazing video below!

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

Daikyoju Gappa

Daikyoju Gappa aka. Gappa, the Triphibian Monster is a kaiju film, a Japanese giant monster science fiction movie from 1967. The film is about young Gappa, some kind of prehistoric bird, which is kidnapped by reason of commercial and scientific thoughts and brought to Japan. Gappa’s parents aren’t amused about it and decide to go on a demolition orgy in order to fight for sole custody. The story is reduced to the minimalistic but is quite entertaining nevertheless.

If you like kaiju films like Godzilla and Gamera, you have to watch Gappa as it follows the typical monster movie aesthetics which, in Europe, are often described as cheap and funny. I beg to differ, Gappa is full of amazing suit-motion, cheap firework special effects, detailed city/island miniatures and Playmobil props. Not to forget the likeable blue screen scenes and the glorious but loose story (I have the dim feeling that they simply put some shoe polish in the little kids face instead of casting a child with dark skin). Compared to other monster movies, the monster itself looks incredible silly but also sympathetic and that’s why people claim Gappa to be a parody of the kaiju genre. Personally, I think that director Haruyasu Noguchi simply wanted to make clear that the human beings are the real monsters and not the labelled ones.

To conclude, Gappa, the Triphibian Monster is a movie where everything is made out of plastic with the people trying to play god who then have to find some crazy solutions they wouldn’t need if they would have been a bit more down to earth. In the original version there is even some place for a love story between Itoko und Kurosawa. If you, for some reason, should watch the German version, don’t forget to stop the movie before the ending scene at the airport and check out the Japanese version which you can find in the bonus section. All in all this is a really nice Sunday flick you have to like.

Saint Vitus Concert Review


US Doom legends Saint Vitus finally found Luxembourg on a map and took no prisoners. They were supported by Mos Generator, a very Sabbathy band that fit the bill perfectly and probably won over their fair share of new fans. Their setlist was short but full of energy and tons of Iommi-esque solos. Count me among the legion of new fans.

Saint Vitus took the stage as expected, simple, basic and down to earth. They started off with Blessed Night and played a solid set with few surprises, mostly due to the length of their songs as one can only fit this many 7 minute songs into a setlist. Patra was a song I did not expect to hear and it was one of the highlights. The handful of newer songs was another surprise. I enjoy the latest output but I never expected them to play half the album. They ended the 90 minutes show with the obligatory Dying Inside and Born Too Late, two songs fans expect to hear.

My only complaint would be the lack of songs off the first album. It is my favorite Saint Vitus album and not 1 song was played. I expected to, at least, hear (the song) Saint Vitus. Anyways, I was in doom metal heaven and the show easily made my top 3 concert experiences.

~this review was written by our freelancer Dave~

BUTE – Crustatomic


Crustcore/Punk, Powerviolence have re-gained a lot of „popularity“ over the last years and like every time something gets popular, cool and trendy the market becomes congested and newbies find it difficult to distinguish and to pick up the best stuff (although this is subjective most of the time). If you are an amateur when it comes to Crust, you absolutely have to check out pioneer bands like Amebix, Doom, Crass, Discharge and co. If you are into the genre I don’t tell you something new but instead have something “different” for you: BUTE

The French duo was formed in late 2012 and they released their first Ep In Trust We Crust in October and it really hit me. Soon after, I discovered that they would record a second Ep in March and I decided to make some publicity for the newest 9 song output, Crustatomic.
To make it simple, BUTE play modern and violent Crust/Powerviolence. The music is dirty, the tempo is fast, the voice consists of aggressive shrieks and shouts and everything is over in +/-16 min. Whereas the In Trust We Crust record was more Grindcore/extreme metal orientated the band took a different, a more punk-ish approach on Crustatomic, which gets quite obvious in songs like Fils de Bute, Die 4 Diy and Scorebute. In the end all you hear is some honest music with a lot of humour embedded in a DIY Punk corset. BUTE certainly did not invent a new genre or play something completely new but they somehow managed to create a unique sound, which may be due to the drum computer the band uses. Talking about the drum computer, I have my first (and only) complaint. Personally, the drum machine is not a bad idea at all but I also think that with a real drummer the music would gain momentum. As mentioned before, Crust is a  dirty and raw extreme subgenre where a perfectly timed drum machine seems to be an overkill sometimes.

Give these guys a chance! Listen to the Ep on their bandcamp. Share the music and support DIY Punk!

California X – California X

Alternative “indie” music has become as interesting as a super cool guy bungee jumping because a known energy drink company is sponsoring it. Just face it. Or don’t accept this opinion.

So what’s the problem with all you Beady Eyes and Kings of Leons and all you super-nice-but-officially-total-bad-ass-guys-Billboard rock bands? Well, if you ask me, you just don’t have enough nuts anymore. Not enough nuts to sound dirty, to be imperfect, in short to be like California X. The four Americans deliver an easy-going, fresh, rocking and authentic debut, that just makes you say “yes!” at any moment.

“Yes” to messy sounds, “yes” to jarring lyrics and “yes” to more distortion. Dinosaur Jr. will be proud, that’s for sure. Some people may call it grunge, others a heavier or even a sludge version of The Offspring’s Americana. I just call it a refreshing debut with nothing but fun having priority. And when the fun is over we can take care of superficialities, or of how we could diss another band because their music isn’t as cool as ours. Stay young enough to behave adultly seems to have become the only way to bring out albums that sound like music that was wanted to be done, and not that had to be done.

Even though monotony seems to slip in from time to time, the record length of 34 minutes is just perfect, and the sun loving rhythm doesn’t give a reason to be unsatisfied in the end. If you can’t reinvent the wheel, then you have to make it sound like you don’t care anyways, and that’s just what California X do. Less is more these days. You don’t need Armani sunglasses to contribute to someone’s personal favourite soundtrack of the coming summer.

Recommendations: Sucker, Spider X, Spirit World.