Defy The Laws Of Tradition – Till Death Us Part

Defy the Laws of Tradition’s debut Till Death Us Part from 2009 is by far not a typical breakdown-infected, faceless and boring metalcore record like most of ‘em are. Philipp Treiber (guitar/vocals) told me that his father had a big musical influence on him by making him familiar with bands like Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa but also Journey and Boston. Furthermore he stated that he’s very opened towards music, as he listens to a lot of different styles.

I don’t know what the other guys’ views are but you can hear and feel a vast variety of different inspirations. Metalcore, melodic death, thrash and modern hardcore surely are the principal constituents of this fresh and tasty soup. These ingredients at no point overpower the record but, on the contrary, let enough space for other spices from time to time (a bit of punk rock here, a bit of post-rock there). A proverb says that too many cooks spoil the broth. This doesn’t count for Till Death Us Part, cause every note has its right to exist. Every single aspect of the record is integrated and responsible for an heterogeneous and interesting output.

I have written lots of reviews over the past years and if you have followed me, be it my old blog or El Gore, I think it is clear that while listening to or writing about music, I often concentrate on the voice. It’s not the lyrics I am interested in but rather the acoustic color and the authenticity.

For example I am in no way sexist but I can’t listen to female voices in music aside from the beautiful Beth Gibbons from Portishead and Jón Þór „Jónsi“ Birgisson from Sigur Rós.

And so there is a (personal) diminutive negative aspect of the record. The guys could have used this sleazy, corny melodic, clean voice a bit less. Not because the voice is bad in itself or because it doesn’t fit but because the screams, shouts and growls are so energetic and aggressive that I want more. I know that this mixture of clean singing and shouting/screaming is an identifying feature of the metalcore subgenre but I don’t like this element because a lot of power and aggressiveness is being lost. Altogether that’s my problem and not something I don’t like about the band, but something I don’t like about the genre.

As my roots lay in the oldschool and primitive Black Metal, I am not a person who likes talking and writing about the technical skills of a band. So I will also cut it short for Till Death Us Part. To be concrete, I don’t give a damn fuck about techniques. Confucius already said: “Malmsteen has a lot of skills and he is able to play 1000 notes per second but David Gilmour plays him against “The Wall” with one single bending.” Why? Because Gilmour feels what he plays. And that’s exactly what I thought while listening to Till Death Us Part. Don’t get me wrong, Defy the Laws of Tradition, in everything they do, maintain the high standard. More important is, that the band is authentic, honest and play with heart. Good music is felt music and these guys definitely feel what they play. Kudos for that!

To conclude I have to say that the playtime of the record may be a bit too long. Always remember guys that it is far better when a listener really likes the music but wished that the record, concert or whatever was a bit longer instead of getting bored with the time because you keep on playing and playing.

You should give these guys a try and I am really looking forward to their new longplayer.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0JhUYT8DeE]

Lost In Pain – Lost In Pain

To start off with, this album combines everything a classic metal fan desires. Fast riffs, melodies, dramatic solos and jackhammer-drums. It’s remarkable that this work was realised by four very young musicians.

I know, it often annoys bands to be compared to others in those music reviews, but as Lost in Pain don’t hide the fact: you can find Metallica’s influences in many dark corners of this metal performance.

The good things about this should be apparent: classic metal in a fresh robe, all combined with fast drumming (Lars Ulrich could cut a slice) and even with a homage to James Hetfield himself by inserting the typical “-ah” suffix at the end of some words. The lead voice in general is very characterising for this band, floating somewhere between old Hetfield and Tim McIlrath. Yep, that was another comparison that had to be done.

You can choose whether you like or don’t like the drift to, let’s call it a “Load/ReLoad” stage of this album. Sometimes the punk parts rein this wild horse’s power, which leads to a little down toward the middle of the debut LP. All in all, it offers a wide range of hearing experiences, between pop choruses and thrash riffs, although personally I could go without some of the more popish sections. Until the End of Time would be a good example, merging from a ballad to a brutal speed part to an epic classic double solo.

The metalcore and punk parts are important on the one hand, because Lost in Pain don’t want to be just a cover band and they indeed never risk to drift into this. On the other hand, they also slow down the suggested pace from the first track Sick and Tired, which is a brilliant opener after the melodic intro.

Of course, Lost in Pain’s debut often sounds a bit raw due to the variety described above. What counts in the end is that there are four youngsters who play music that was popular like 10 years before they were born, but they do it enthusiastically and in a fresh-faced style.

Recommendations: Sick and Tired, Until the End of Time, Lost in Pain 2
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTlRmCo__Tw]

Le Cabaret Sauvage – Qwak


A very different sound experience reaches us from the Luxembourgish combo of Le Cabaret Sauvage.

Just like a walk through the artist’s quarter in Paris, there are lots of different alleys with many different street performers to discover. Be it Chanson, Hip-Hop, Rock, Progressive, Songwriting, Indie, Funk, Jazz, everything is bundled in this album during which you can doubtlessly enjoy your coffee while wiggling your bum on the chair. Despite the varieties, all those different artists you’re going to meet never produce complete confusion.

Every time the feeling of monotony arises, be it due to the popish and funky construction or the smooth vocals, there will always be a prog or funky rock riff, or a guitar solo. Nicely placed by changes of tempo, they enlighten the alley you are walking trough. That solos apparently indicate that this guitarist is one of those guys that give their instruments girl names and have sexual intercourse with them.

Even if the boys sometimes stray through what you may call “standard French Pop”, I always found the melodies kind of catchy. Not to forget the climaxes, which coincide with my personal taste considering progressive music. Choose your side.

The vocals give their very own charm to the whole work, although Le Cabaret Sauvage would perfectly work without any singing at all. Pulsing percussions, trumpets and a groovy bass and drum play round out a many-faceted and modern French night.

As already mentioned, this is a very alternative way of making music for a group of young artists from Luxembourg. Cheeky, fresh, advisable!

Recommendations: Mr Stress, Ce n’est que le dééébut!, Qualibri.

PS: thumbs up for the even more enterprising newer stuff I could witness during the last live performance.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcWkdEr829w]

Meet The Feebles

What is your favorite Peter Jackson movie? Braindead? Of course, this is a brilliant piece of art and probably the best comedy splatter movie ever made. So what is your second most favorite Jackson flick? Certainly Bad Taste but not for me.

Years ago, while I was on vacation with a few friends, I discovered this adult puppet movie in a dirty, little, obscure Dutch DVD shop. At that age I hadn’t quite a clue about B-Movies and I only had seen a few of the masterpieces like Braindead, Dead Dudes In The House, Dawn of the Dead, From Dusk till Dawn, and Slime City but I had never heard of Meet The Feebles.

One good thing about Holland is that nobody gives a damn shit about cutting, censoring and confiscating movies. I was eased because if the movie sucked asses, at least it would be an un-cut version of an ass-sucking movie. This may sounds weird but an un-cut version calms me down. I am more afraid of a censored or cut movie than of a bullshit movie. Call me if you want to interview the first human-being diagnosed with censorphobia.

I thought a lot about how to review this movie not by repeating myself but by bringing across the brilliancy of the story. I decided doing this by simply listing different characters and by describing them in a few words. Trust me it is going to work and at the end you can’t wait to see this perverse piece of shit.

First of all, the story is about The Feebles Variety Show, where all actors (except one) are puppets, wired, disgusting, sick, sexy and insane puppets! Here is the description of some of the wonderful cast:


Bletch (walrus) is the manager of the show. He is an abusing bastard who’s together with Heidi but fucks around with Samantha, the whore cat. Furthermore he runs a porno production.


Heidi (hippo) the female star of the show and responsible for a huge puppet massacre.


Trevor (rat) is Bletch’s assistant, porno director and drug dealer in one. A rat in just every fucking way.


Wynyard (frog) came back from Vietnam and is a complete drug addict. This dude is so nuts that he even manages to impale himself during a performance.


Harry (rabbit) is the male star of the show. As he is a rabbit he also screws like one. He gets a bit crazy believing most of the time that he is dying from a sexual transmitted disease.


Sebastian (fox) is a gay, extremely hyper-active chorus director.

Still not laughing, facepalming or shaking your head at this nonsense you just read? Read it again and remember that there are a whole bunch of other sick bastards. Meet the Feebles clearly makes a fool of the muppets, which results in a perverse melodramatic blood’n’trash orgy. My eyes pee every time I watch this shit. A beautiful movie for young and old!



Saturday Bloody Saturday

I feel pretty damn good today cause I bought these:

I already got one version of Night of The Living Dead but this limited edition is simply amazing. Bonus: Making-of, Trailer and a 28-pages long booklet plus the documentary Fan of the Dead !!!

Furthermore I discovered this:


Now, I got two versions of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Bonus of this edition includes: 3 Experts (Jörg Buttgereit, sociologist Dr. Roland Steim and media scientist Dr. Stefan Höltgen) talking about the history of censoring the movie. A 64-pages long booklet with expert evidences, enactments etc. Different documentaries, a guidance through the TTCM house and a lot more!

I need to buy a BluRay Player!