Tweak Bird – Undercover Crops


Teachers, especially English teachers, often tell their students to follow a rule called “KISS” considering their output, meaning “Keep It Short And Simple”. Tweak Bird are taking this attitude to heart, releasing a short and tight, bluesy and stony EP called Undercover Crops, on which songs with more than 3 minutes playtime already constitute rock operas by their standards.

However, electronics also have entered the Illinois duet’s repertory, even if it’s only for the intro track, telling us that indeed “everyone is paranoid”. What follows is the well known Tweak Bird sound; maybe a bit less dirty than on the self-titled predecessor. The second track People could and will easily be taken for one of the songs on the 2010 release.

For the rest, the two brothers just did a solid “KISS”-EP, recording things just the way they’ve been used to record their view of rock’n’roll, mixed with maybe a bit more melodic parts compared to the early releases, but still maintaining the good old head bang moments.

Undercover Crops is a 15 minute KISS, with nothing new to discover, but absolutely suitable for a rock’n’roll appetiser. If you want to know more about the typical Tweak Bird sound in detail, just have a listen, or have a look at an earlier review here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs43WaE21Zw]

TERRIFIER


First things first. I do absolutely not recommend this movie to any people suffering from Coulrophobia, because TERRIFIER (2011) makes Stephen King‘s IT look like a pussy clown from your local hillbilly circus. When I stopped by this movie, I didn’t expect anything because I think that killer clowns are some kind of old-fashioned and not scary at all but as so often, I was completely wrong. Director Damien Leone (congratz on the last name) created a fantastic, horrifying and at the same moment brutal short film with a fresh story and a surprising twist at the end.

When it comes to modern grindhouse aesthetics I think that they are overused nowadays. Just because old-school, vintage stuff is quite popular right now, it doesn’t mean that they fit in every movie. With TERRIFIER it is quite different as the grain and washed out colours are not the key element of the movie but simply help to maintain the tense atmosphere. Also the quite decent actors, with especially Mike Giannelli delivering a fantastic job and the music, ranging from psycho circus to atmospheric to jack hammer drone music, help to complete Leone‘s idea of creating fear and simple gruesomeness.

To go even further, director Damien Leone has ingeniously combined elements of mainly 2 horror genres without drifting into standard cheesiness or exaggerated incredibleness. You immediately recognize that the slasher genre had a big influence on the director but he doesn’t stuck on stereotypes. There are no people running upstairs in order to escape and all the cars start up at first time. You may think that these are small and unimportant aspects but for me, it shows that Leone had a clear and modern vision without only using standardized elements.

Furthermore the combination of slasher and the use of gore is really well done. While I sometimes miss the blood and simple brutality in movies like Scream or Halloween, I think that torture porn flicks overuse it from time to time in order to compensate the lack of plot. With TERRIFIER everything is perfect and well preconceived. Not to forget that the gore scenes are incredibly well done, disgusting as shit and deliberately deployed.

TERRIFIER is close to perfection but there is this scene with the psychopathic clown driving a car and shooting a gun. At first I had my problems with the clown being too fast in chasing people (or in teleporting himself?) But when I look back I think that with the car chase scene and the use of a gun, the clown moves from a supernatural and mystic phenomenon to a „simple“ sicko with abnormal human behavior. This at the one hand makes the ending more logical and explicable but also less surprising.

In the end this doesn’t really matter and Leone shows us that short movies can work a lot better that over-length horror movies. TERRIFIER is an absolute must see for every horror fan. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

Watch the movie right now:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARNeTMFJ2us]

Stone Sour – House Of Gold And Bones Part 1


Stone Sour are back! Their new record House Of Gold And Bones Part 1 was recently released and since they’re among my favorite bands of all time I decided to review it, even though they hardly need any special attention since they have a solid fan base already. As you guys might have noticed from past reviews, I’m a pretty big fanboy when it comes to anything Corey Taylor related so I’ll warn you: I might not be super objective from here on out, but I’ll try.

First things first: HOGAB Part 1 is the first of two concept albums, with the second one being released in early 2013 along with a tie-in comic published by Dark Horse. Secondly, I think it’s important to note that the band has moved away quite a bit from the way they sounded on their self-titled record, which is a reason why many of the previous listeners might have a rude awakening in they case they haven’t followed the evolution that Stone Sour has undergone with Come What(ever) May and Audio Secrecy. Even though I have followed everything they’ve done since first discovering them I was still a bit surprised on my first listening session…but I can safely say that this album is a grower if you give it a chance to unfold.

To be more concrete: I’d say it’s a rockier sound, similar to the previous record, but with a lot of heavy parts thrown in there. Some of the riffs are so genius with the way they creep up on you, especially after re-listening to the eleven tracks a second or third time. The same goes for the drumming, which has a lot more rock’n’roll beats than before but way cooler drum fills than what you’re used to.

The vocals are, as you probably guessed, exactly what you expect from the Great Big Mouth: powerful and flawlessly executed. The same goes for the lyrics, which tell the story of The Human, who is constantly questioning himself and his surroundings. So far that’s all I can get from the songs, and I hope to explore them further after Part 2 has been released. And to everyone who was not really into the softer side of Audio Secrecy: rest at ease; there’s only two ballads this time.

I’m confident to say that even a non-fanboy, unlike myself, will spend forty-three minutes with this record that they won’t easily forget…especially if it’s their first contact with Stone Sour. To returning listeners I can only strongly recommend giving this album a chance even if at first you might be put off. I for one am really looking forward to House Of Gold & Bones Part 2 next year. Check out the band’s Facebook page and listen to the song below if I got you interested.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm-yNBwhC3o]

Razor – Shotgun Justice


Easily one of the best thrash metal albums ever unleashed upon mankind. The sheer speed and hatred gives Reign in Blood a run for its money, but first things first….

When it comes to Razor you can do no wrong, pick whatever album you can find and your butt will be handed to you. Sadly half of their discography is impossible to find and cost me a fortune on eBay. Shotgun Justice was my introduction to the band and is my favorite. This is easily one of the most aggressive records ever, the lyrics might be tongue-in-cheek, but the band actually has the balls to address certain issues other bands would be scared to acknowledge. Stabbed in the Back instantly comes to mind, a song where the band calls out on all the sellouts and posers changing their sound to appeal to mainstream audiences.

Listen to Violence Condoned to get an idea on how the band was dealt with by promoters or how about American Luck showcasing how being Canadian penalized the band in more than one way?

Razor releasing an aggressive album did not come as a surprise, after all, all their albums are aggressive and fast, but the band was in turmoil. Label problems and the vocalist leaving along with the scene changing, not to mention the problems that being an underground band brings along, didn’t help matters. At a time when every band (minus Slayer) either broke up or changed its sound Razor come along with their fastest record ever.

So you have Razor more pissed off than ever dealing out, and that is a perfect starting point for a thrash metal record. Each riff sounds like a…well a razor shredding its way in one ear, out the other.

Bob Reid spits out the lyrics in a fitting manner while Rob Mills closes every gap with his drums.

Much like Slayer, Razor are punk gone metal, meaning they have the chops to actually sound menacing unlike most sloppy punk bands out there doing their bubblegum pop, but I digress…

Heck, even the linernotes are pissed off and full of warnings and threats. Every time I listen to the album I can’t help but grin like an undertaker, it just has all those elements that aggressive music needs to have and so many great moments, every song is awesome or just so freaking fast.

Brass Knuckles deserves a mention for the awesome break, before all hell breaks loose.

The Pugilist has just one of those riffs (that can be found allover the album) before the song ends in total chaos.

Miami has a weird title and even weirder lyrics. Totally hilarious and it just hands out riff after riff, at high velocity I might add.

The album is impossible to get on Cd, unless you wanna pay as much as I did, or you happen to come across one of the Russian bootlegs. However it has been re-released on vinyl, twice, in the last couple years. It seems as though the first vinyl re-release is hard to find (guess I was lucky) but the Highroller Records re-release is allover eBay, albeit with an ugly modified cover.

Let me finish this review with my favorite lyric

“All the bands I used to like are going down the drain
What the hell has happened here, have they gone insane?
I used to think that heavy bands ignored the current trends
But once you’ve been in Rolling Stone you learn about your friends”

and a quick fix
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdUPozwAaa4]

Thriller-en grym film


With Thriller-en grym film I want to introduce you to the exploitation sub-genre of rape and revenge movies. I have seen a few until now and I got the strong feeling that, after the perverse exploitation of the zombie movie genre, a few people feel the need to do the same with rape and revenge flicks with the remakes of I Spit on Your Grave (2010) and The Last House on the Left (2009) just being two examples.

Thriller-en grym film aka A Cruel Picture or They Call Her One Eye was first shown 1973 in Cannes and probably is best known for being an inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s character Elle Driver in Kill Bill: „I love Christina Lindberg. And that’s definitely who Daryl Hannah’s character is based on. In the next movie, she’s wearing mostly black. Just like They Call Her One Eye, she’s got some color co-coordinated eye patches. And that is, of all the revenge movies I’ve ever seen, that is definitely the roughest. The roughest revenge movie ever made! There’s never been anything as tough as that movie.“(Tarantino, Q. http://japattack.com/japattack/film/tarantino.html).

I for sure respect Tarantino for his movie knowledge and I agree with him on Thriller but only for the first third of the movie. Thriller, just as most of the rape and revenge flicks, can be divided into three different segments. The beginning is all about the rape. Frigga/Madeleine, sexually abused in her childhood and suffering from traumatic mutism, meets Tony who runs his own junkie brothel. To make sure that the kidnapped girls become mentally and physically dependent on him and his business he turns them into heroin addicts. The rape part is the most controversial one and insanely rough, with violence, heroine abuse and hardcore porn scenes alternating. The shots are very intense and the images are disturbing and sick. The hardcore porn stuff really increases the shock value and main actress, Christina Lindberg, even claimed in an interview that director Bo Arne Vibenius actually used a dead person for the eye-scene which basically is a brutal version of the famous Le Chien Andalous sequence. But believe me there is even more.

Just before this alternation begins to get a bit too monotonous Vibenius switches to the second third of the movie. Changing to a new chapter, with Frigga/Madeleine taking the decision to go on a killing spree which is a good idea in itself but here, ironically the movie starts drifting into mediocrity.

The second part mainly consists in Madeleine/Frigga preparing herself for the revenge. With her saved-up money she takes driving, shooting, martial arts classes and steals some weapons. Personally the movie now loses its shocking unpredictability and becomes a strict follower of the standardized genre movie structure without being innovative at all.

But it even gets worse with the revenge part. Madeleine/Frigga’s killing spree or rather the fighting scenes are boring, with the use of super slow-motion certainly having a strong negative influence on this segment. The fact that she also tries to involve innocent people into car accidents not only make her unsympathetic but also seems to be quite illogical.

To conclude, Thriller isn’t a movie which wants to please. Although the plot seems to be quite trivial and often illogical in a cinematic manner it for sure hasn’t forfeited anything of its effectiveness in the real world, dominated by power, sex and violence. Thriller is strange, brutal, quiet and distressing. The controversy is understandable and Thriller for sure is nothing for “normal” moviegoers. If you want to start getting into the rape and revenge genre I can nevertheless only recommend as it is the figurehead of a whole genre and has paved the way for movies such as Kill Bill, Irréversible, Oldboy and lots of other great flicks.



Wednesday 13 – Spook And Destroy


It’s Halloween! So what better way to celebrate the arguably coolest holiday of the year than listen to some spooky tunes, watch horror movies and have a couple of beers? I’ll try to provide at least the musical part with today’s review: Wednesday 13‘s recently released EP Spook & Destroy!

Wednesday 13, who is known to most for his vocal duties in Murderdolls, has been active for almost two decades now and has amassed quite a respectable library of songs and on this eight song EP he decided to do something special for the long time fans: remake three of his older songs in a more timely fashion. The songs he chose for this are Mr. Motherfucker and Rambo from his former band Frankenstein Drag Queens Of Planet 13‘s album Night Of The Living Drag Queens, as well as Bad Things off his solo record Transylvania 90210: Songs Of Death, Dying, And The Dead. On top of that you have an acoustic version of the song Curse Of Me off Fang Bang and two electro/dubstep remixes of Rambo and Bad Things. Finally, to round it all off you have two completely new songs which are supposed to be a teaser for his next album The Dixie Dead which is scheduled for release in 2013.

But enough basic information, let’s take this thing apart! The production is generally speaking what fans are used to: nothing groundbreaking but just right for the genre, meaning that it won’t distract from the essence of the songs but you won’t have to shield your ears from bad sound either. The same goes for the instrumental division, where the motto has always been “why show off with crazy riffs and drum fills when you can accomplish just as much with simpler stuff”; or at least that’s what I always associate with this type of music. The lyrics have always been mostly horror-themed and nothing has changed here either. But why change something that isn’t broken? I like it.

The new songs, M.F.T.W and Halloween 13-13, are quite cool and I’m definitely looking forward to the rest in 2013 but I hope that there will be a bit more variation. The three remakes are definitely a step-up from their older counterparts and made me rediscover them for all their old goodness. The acoustic song is kind of weird but in a good way…something that you’ll have to listen to several times before you warm up to it. And last but not least come the two remixes…which I, sadly, don’t like at all…but I’m not a fan of remixes in general to begin with.

To conclude, I have to say that this EP is probably more aimed at die-hard W13 fans than new fans but it pretty much gives newcomers an all-around taste of what this guy is all about: fun and enjoyable music. So if you’re curious, check out the song below and visit Wednesday 13‘s Facebook page! And if you liked it: he’s playing in Luxembourg on the 14th of November. Happy Halloween Ghoulies!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya2GYOpDQXY]

Omega/Ravencult – Straight Down In Hell/Deifier Of Necromancy

I finally got to check out the latest Omega offering after having the 7inch lay around for a couple of weeks.
Omega are this awesome Blackened Thrash band from Greece and this is their 2nd official (not counting the demos which were not available to us mere mortals) release. As mentioned above it is a 7inch split single, the other band being Ravencult, also hailing from Greece.

This split is limited to 500 with 100 released as splatter, an inlay has the lyric for each original song (each band plays an original song and a cover).

The Omega song was written in 2007, I would dare say that it also was recorded back then as the vocal style is very different to what can be heard on the LP. Great song akin to an early Bathory sound (mainly due to the traditional Black Metal vocals), songs like Die in Fire or Sacrifice come to mind.

The cover is a Zemial song, fits nicely on this split. Nothing to write home about to be honest.

Ravencult are a band that (at least on this split) sound similar to Omega and early Bathory. The vocals are very generic Black Metal shrieks and screams. I would have probably enjoyed Ravencult better with a different vocalist. Honestly, I bought this split because of Omega and see Ravencult as a bonus. Their Hellhammer cover does not offer anything new either.

All in all a nice addition to my collection. If you are new to Omega check their album out first, then get this split to complete the discography.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeu570W8dT8]
The release is limited and to be obtained through a mailorder or ebay, if still available.

Trash Monday XL


This is what comes to my mind whenever I hear that an old band regroups again! Synthie bells and harmonica; what else could a nostalgic heart crave for? Well, as far as I have heard, Debbie Harry is the new face for TENA’s new product spectrum. Geriatrics is the new market niche…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMRxeVPnqjE]