My photos of Machinae Supremacy live from MAGFest13 in National Harbor, Maryland! There were people coming to the convention JUST for these guys and they had everyone jumping. It was an impressive show with a great sound setup and great lighting. It also included a girl swinging a chainsaw.
The eight full album from Papa Roach looks into the rebirth and maturity of the nu-metal heroes. Do Jacoby Shaddix and company offer something intense and compelling like in the past?
https://vimeo.com/117452671
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Whether you like the nu-metal genre of the early 2000’s or not, Papa Roach has an enormous fanbase, devoted following, and consistently sell out concerts due to their energetic live performances. It’s also safe to say that the band has matured after 15 years from their breakout album Infest with the teenage angst anthem Last Resort.
Seeing Papa Roach live and hearing them in interviews gives evidence that these men will always be youthful in a sense and will always love music. It’s evident that performing and playing is their passion. It’s natural over time though for a band to evolve from where they started. After marriages, children, and other life events, your perspective in other aspects of life INCLUDING music will undoubtedly change.
After seven full albums comes FEAR. An acronym for Face Everything And Rise. While Papa Roach are no strangers to the recording process, it was said by Jacoby Shaddix that this was the first record where the band went into the studio with no recorded material or demos. They literally walked into the studio blind and started from scratch.
Regardless of the preparation for FEAR, Shaddix gave an interview to Loudwire stating just how strong the album is, saying:
“‘F.E.A.R. is…“the sickest, most illest P-Roach record to date.” …, “It’s fiery. It’s like I’m holding a light orb in my hand and when I put it to the sky, I take off like a superhero if that makes any sense. It’s for real.”
Over the past couple weeks the new songs have slowly been released online, with the album’s title track being played consistently on radio.
Face Everything And Rise is definitely one of the highlights of the new album. The more electronic sound with synthesized mixing adds a different element that Papa Roach has becoming more accustomed to with their music over the past couple years. Lyrically it stands out as a ballad and you can tell this song was made a commercial song to advertise the new message of the new album.
If you enjoy this style of song, then F.E.A.R. the album may be up your alley because this style is used frequently. The downside is that there are quite a few tracks that sound extremely similar to the point of forgetting which song you are listening to.
There are a few songs like Never Have To Say Goodbye and Gravity that break the mold that is used throughout the album, but listening to songs like Broken As Me and Warriors and you can tell that there was a formula used for many of these songs in the writing and music composure. When you are as capable of selling records as well as Papa roach though, it’s hard to argue a formula for success.
Broken As Me isn’t a bad song by any means, but it really feels like it is a generic anthem for a bad upbringing in adolescence. Many people I’m sure can relate to the lyrics which is a huge drive for listening, but musically there isn’t much substance worth visiting.
Taking the format of Papa Roach and adding electronic mixing and then remixed vocals while layering in several different audio effects can have merit on paper. Being innovative and trying to create something new is a great asset for a band to have. But when you keep hearing the same presentation on a loop from track to track, it can become repetitive and doesn’t give much appeal for replay.
With the album FEAR comes a band who has proven they are capable of delivering their own unique style and that they can stand the test of time. While this album is undeniably a proud product of a long running band, it may not be for everyone.
Overall, if you love Papa Roach or love the title track from this album and its style, then you may like FEAR just fine. If you are looking for a lot of diversity between tracks and aren’t a fan of the electronic and remixed rock, then you may not be satisfied.
Progressive rock and metal now have a new force with The Juggernaut. How does this double album stand with seventeen tracks and over an hour of intense volume?
https://vimeo.com/117140145
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Ambition is a necessity in the world of progressive rock. In order to tell your comprehensive and ongoing story while playing your music, you have to be able to deliver on more levels than just the typical weekend cover band at a local bar. So when your band is already known for being able to deliver and the fan base is waiting for the next step forward, the expectations can cause a lot of pressure.
Ambitious, creativity, intensity, being able to deliver, these are all qualities that Periphery have proven they possess. Periphery have earned their fan following and proper seat in the world of progressive rock after shattering the expectations of new listeners.
After solidifying a lineup over the past couple years and the success of songs like Parade of Ashes, Periphery took things into their own hands and produced their third full album on their own. The difference here is that it is not just your typical LP, but rather a double album in full story format.
It is a massive undertaking to make a double album and tell a cohesive AND make it sound something special. There has to be planning and strategy and a lot of thought put into every aspect. Matt Halpern gives an introduction on what to expecting, saying:
“Given the nature and complexity of the Juggernaut story, we’ve actually done something different and exciting. Juggernaut is a story that is told through our music, and we want our audience to fully digest the whole experience. Because Juggernaut is very detailed and dense in terms of character development, peaks and valleys, climaxes and resolutions we’ve divided the story and music in two, in the form of two separate albums.
“Juggernaut Alpha, the first part, focuses on the back story and character development, while part two Omega, focuses on some pretty serious and gut wrenching events. The story is only complete when the albums are digested consecutively, allowing the listener to recognize and hear the lyrical and musical overlapping themes, foreshadowing, and connected ideas.”
In this video I intend to look at both albums individually and then as a whole at the end. From the opening track of the first album, you get the impression that this story is complex and encompassing, just like Halpern said.
Looking at the grand scheme of this two part story, A Black Minute is a perfect opener. From Spencer’s voice going from enchanting and airy to loud and desperate, it gives the range of his vocal abillity and a precursor to the styles that will be used for Alpha and Omega.
The tone and pace of A Black Minute is fantastic. The build in energy and the fever pitch that breaks after about 2 and a half minutes gives the feel of something enormous happening. It flows well and it doesn’t feel rushed. Many songs on Alpha share this quality.
Alpha’s title track shows off more diversity with it’s presentation. Like A Black Minute, it is paced well and everything flows perfectly.
Alpha has a great sing-a-long feel for a rock song. The guitarwork has great riffs that don’t overtake the focus from the lyrics and the chorus adds a great cap to the song. The bridge has an electronic feel and it gives a great build to the ominous sound feedback.
Over the past month Summerian Records has released several tracks on YouTube with a moving image highlighting some of the songs. Individually you can get an idea of what Periphery has done with Alpha, but when you hear Alpha and then follow it with 22 Faces you get a totally different experience.
22 Faces shows a good example of when Alpha gets a little more intense. It truly feels that everyone in the band is playing at full speed a song like this. The screaming and drum work and guitars and bass all feel like they contribute.
Songs in Alpha have moments of spastic volume changes. There are interconnecting sequences at the end of tracks that sounds like they don’t belong, such as 8-bit medleys and piano pieces, but when you listen all the way through and then continue to Omega, you understand just how interconnected everything is.
After Aplha comes to a close, you go into Omega and you can hear the volume and presentation go into overdrive with just how much volume and growling is given.
Graveless is where Periphery offer their metal talents. This track is brutal and relentless. Even after the half way point where the guitars become very melodic, you can still sense the onslaught of screaming and bass coming. This song feels like a climax when thinking about the peaks and valleys of Juggernaut and how everything is combined in just one song.
What Periphery have done with seventeen tracks is not an easy feat. They were able to deliever a comprehensive story while keeping their style and pushing themselves as musicians. Every song and sequence in both albums contributes to something massive that stands out as an opus that will take many times to fully comprehend.
Omega’s title track delievers a hard style equally as impressive as Graveless and that goes on for over 12 minutes. Including jazz piano, growling, amazing guitar shredding, and a sense of panic and emergency, it sounds like Omega could be the soundtrack to the apocalypse.
From what I’ve noticed while listening to many of the songs on repeat, Alpha seems to have more of a fluid and melodic style while setting up the story of The Juggernaut, and Omega drags you head first into pandemonium. It’s a well thought out format and it works.
Many songs will take a few listens to get behind. There is so much going on throughout the tracks that it is easy to get lost. But if you really invest the time to listen and understand the story, you’ll have a huge appreciation for what Periphery have delievered.
It’s easy to purchase just Alpha or Omega depending on what style you like more, but I really agree with the statement by Periphery’s drummer that you need both albums to fully get the experience of The Juggernaut.
Individually I would give Alpha a 9 and Omega an 8, but overall, I can’t help but round up The Juggernaut as a nine regarding everything that has been given. It is a massive amount of talent and music showcased and will stand as a permanent testament for what Periphery is capable of doing. Periphery has succeeded in shattering expectations of progressive rock fans and The Juggernaut will own your attention for a long time to come.
Some people may be reading this looking for all the drama and conversations and what happens behind the scenes. My honest answer to that is…I don’t really know of anything to tell. It’s not my story to say, and a majority of anything I would say would be just assumptions. That’s not the purpose of this post.
This is to say how much I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy everything that Lindsay Ellis, Andrew Dickman, Kyle Kallgren, Allison Pregler and Phelan Porteus have done. It’s because of entertainers and minds like these that I wanted to start reviewing of my own. As cliché as it sounds, I owe a lot to these people (which sounds odd considering I haven’t had much conversation with them).
I first discovered TGWTG in 2010 with the Nostalgia Critic. I was instantly addicted and was sharing it with my best friend in wrestling and with other people as well. It was a few months after that when I started watching Obscurus Lupa and Phelous and was dying of laughter. It was these personalities that made me feel better after days when my health and attitude was poor.
It was back in 2012 (I believe? Sorry if that’s not correct) that I remember Lindsay posting a video about “Behind The Scenes of Reviewing”. It was shortly after the release of the Oancitizen and Nostalgia Chick’s review of Freddy Got Fingered. Half of the video was shown how Lindsay would work to set things up and talk about reviewing and what to do. Some of the best advice I ever could take came from that video, and near the end it was the phrase “There is always room for improvement” that I took to heart.
So now, by some stroke of mad luck and every planet aligning, I was picked up by Channel Awesome. Then after one crazy week, many of the people I have watched for years are leaving. While many people have questions, I’m not really the one to answer them. All I can say is that this is not the end for anyone. Every single person I’ve named above will continue to go on and do amazing things. I will keep following these people and what they do because they have proven in the past they are worth supporting.
Will they be missed? Absolutely. Is it the end? Not even close.
And to prove my point at how entertaining, intelligent, and amazing these people are, here are some of my favorites from them.
Oregon (and every hipster alive)’s favorite folk rock band The Decemberists deliver their seventh studio album. Just how beautiful or terrible is this new release?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEfLnF5bkWk
https://vimeo.com/116822836
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If there was ever a band who every rock fan identifies as the hipster posterboys, it’s the Decemberists. The undeniable truth is that they have earned some of the hipster crowd through their attire and folk inspired music over the past decade, but in reality the band has kept their fan base by just how creative and diverse their music can be.
While 2005’s Picaresque is definitely one of my all-time favorite albums, I can’t say that I have loved every album since. With many different changes in style and accompaniment, world tours, and appearances on The Colbert Report and Conan, you cannot deny the success of Colin Meloy and company.
Over the recent years The Decemberists have become a little more down tempo and in some cases stripped down. Proof of this being the previous The King Is Dead which had more shades of country than alternative or folk rock. I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the album outside of “Down By The Water”, but I know that there are others that were. The Kind is Dead made me long for the days of Picaresque and even epic concepts like The Hazards of Love.
The release of What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World definitely continues the Decemberists’ identity in creating imagery and poetic lyrics. After making a faux email announcement about the upcoming album and tracklist, it appears that the group appear just as ambitious and whimsical as ever.
But it wasn’t until we saw the first video of the band performing Make You Better on a Russian TV show featuring Nick Offerman as a hopeless romantic that we knew The Decemberists had something special planned.
Make You Better is the quintessential Decemberists song with its flowing prose and instruments that all seem to just harmonize and melt together. The electric guitar and piano combination adds a gorgeous walking tune as this song feels destined to be the soundtrack to roughly a dozen upcoming summer romance movies.
It’s the type of song that I think The Decemberists are the best at delivering, something reflective and peaceful but now too slow. Lyrically Make You Better stands among many other songs on this album as proof of the band’s writing and song composure. Like many albums from The Decemberists in the past, this song feels like a short story in a collection.
After the release of the mini video for Make You Better, the band released a lyric video of Lake Song. This one reminds me of songs on past albums like Picaresque and The Crane Wife. It has that airy peaceful feel to it.
There are several songs like Lake Song on this album that are a little slower paced, especially in the latter half of the album. What A Terrible World What a Beautiful World doesn’t ever get too loud, but offers a lot in style and diversity. Songs like Calvary Captain speed a little faster while Carolina Low and 12-17-12 calm everything down while still keeping your attention.
I can’t say every song is going to have you drooling in amazement. There are one or two tracks of the fourteen that you may feel aren’t worth playing through if you are going from beginning to end on this album, but the positives undeniably outweigh the negatives here.
The Decemberists are one of many bands who will always be easy targets for their style, image, topics they sing about, etc., but it is hard to deny the pure talent these musicians have. Even if it’s not going to be for everyone, The Decemberists have proven they can create new worlds with their music.
Overall, What a Terrible World What a Beautiful World should satisfy just about every longtime fan of the band. There is more than enough in this album to have you keep coming back as well as remind you of everything the band has also done.
After two decades of metal, Napalm Death release another sinister beast with enough volume and power to devour you whole. How much bite does this apex predator have?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxby4nTaBV0
https://vimeo.com/116487754
Text Review:
There are few metal bands that can stand the test of time and evolution of a genre like Napalm Death. There are not many bands who can say they were producing their sound and releasing albums back when cassettes and LPs were still the main home listening medium.
While none of the original lineup member from 1981 are present in the band, Napalm Death has held the same consistent lineup for roughly 20 years. Napalm Death has been shredding for roughly three decades.
With an enormous discography and loyal fanbase, it is hard to have never heard of the name Napalm Death. So when their 15th full album Apex Predator-Easy Meat comes out, it will get attention from virtually every metal radio station and online metal community.
Apex Predator – Easy Meat marks my own personal first time listening to one of Napalm Death’s albums from beginning to end. While I’ve heard their music before I never heard any of their past albums on hard copy. This is my first real experience diving into Napalm Death, and Apex Predator is definitely a wake-up call.
From the beginning of the album with the title track and the demonic chant, I could tell this was an album that would demand my attention. It only took a few minutes to realize just how brutal and complete of an experience listening to this album would be. This is the metal that will shake every brain cell loose in your head and agonize every cranky next door neighbor alive.
Cesspits was one of the first tracks to be released as being on the album. It is a three and a half minute onslaught. The guitar riffs are scorching and the percussion is amazing. This entire song sounds like a death race as your speeding towards impending doom and it is amazing. The speed, rhythm, and change in vocal delivery, and overall flow of this song is immense.
The song Cesspits stands out to me for several reasons with its intensity and speed along with several other songs on this album. One main reason that this song stands out more than others is because it is longer than all but two tracks on Apex Predator. Of the fourteen tracks on this album, the average run time is under three minutes with a combined album time of 40 minutes. These are quick, rapid fire metal tracks that feel like they are being shot out of an automatic.
While there will always be detractors from metal saying the music is just screaming over guitar solos until everyone gets a headache, Napalm Death put much more effort and thought into their music than people realize. A song like How The Years Condemn prove this.
In a press release from Century Media, Napalm Death’s bassist Shane Embury spoke about the song saying:
“Musically I wanted this track to encompass lots of different rhythms and nuances in the short space of time which the song occupies, which I hope we achieve, and that it bursts with an intensity and emotion to match the theme of the lyrics! We are not invincible – Nor are we indestructible. There are choices – points of return…”
It’s not easy to deliver a message at 1,000 miles per hour, but Napalm Death take it serious. When you hear legends of a genre come out and deliver new material to a market filled with gimmicks and fads, it’s refreshing to know that there are some standards you can rely on.
I could read off more information and press release statements from the band about the concept behind Easy Meat and the various underlying messages, but me just reading everything would do this album an injustice. And although many of the songs will leave you wanting more due to the track length, it can also be argued that the tracks are so good you “can’t get enough” in a good way.
Overall, it’s hard to deny the talent and focus throughout Apex Predator-Easy Meat. While the style may not be for everyone and some songs will be revisited more than others, I don’t think any metal fans who buy this album will be disappointed.
Italy’s Simus start off 2015 with their take on progressive metal. Spearheaded by The Soulmaker, how will the Italian metal appeal to other countries in our metal world?
The second entry of the “Teargarden By Kaleidyscope” album trilogy, Billy Corgan continues with guest musicians and many different directions. Will this album continue The Smashing Pumpkin’s legacy or will this also turn into an elegy?
