ALBUM REVIEWS: KILLING TIME, HIGH ON FIRE Monday, March 1, 2010KILLING TIME Three Steps back Dead City Records
Its been a long, long, long time since Killing time put out a new album. The hardcore pioneers have been on a long hiatus between the years of their last release (The Method 1999) and now. What has changed? Absolutely nothing. Instrumentally they are tighter than ever and lyrically they are angrier than ever. Like a bunch of old guys bitching about work at a local bar. Hardcore is a very grey area these days. If a band does too much experimenting with the classic sound, they are sellouts. If they continue the same formula, they are unimaginative and uninspired. Three Steps Back proves that theory incorrect, and the new release is diamond in the rough. They aren't reinventing the wheel here. Hell, what is hardcore but three chords and a bunch of angst and passion. TOP TRACKS: Spaceheater, 24, Rope A Dope, Mingus, Half Empty FINAL VERDICT: Killing Time has proved you can pump out blue collar hardcore, stay true to the scene and move forward with the same driving sound that was made popular in the late 80s and 90s. Some things are good to rely on. Catching an STD from a Hunt's Point hooker is one. Killing Time putting out a killer album is another.
RATING: 4/5
HIGH ON FIRE Snakes for the Divine Koch Records
What do you get when you combine a three piece metal band, crushing riffage and lots of devil horns? Answer. A migraine brought about by the constant whiplash caused by headbanging to High On Fire's new album, Snakes for the Divine. I've seen these guys play only a few times and was amazed that the sound emanating from the stage
was that of a three piece. Not many bands can pull that off. While not too familiar with their previous albums, Snakes, is very stripped down and raw sounding album. If you are one for comparisons, the album can come off as sounding like a much heavier version of The Sword.
TOP TRACKS: Snakes for the Divine, Ghost Neck, How Dark We Pray
FINAL VERDICT: With each song clocking in at 6 plus minutes, you are in for a long listen. I've read some other reviews where people complain about the track order and how it doesn't run smoothly. I think these people have too much time on their hands. You either like the album or you don't. This reviewer likes the album. A lot.
ALBUM REVIEWS: THY WILL BE DONE, CATHERINE, AMARNA REIGN Wednesday, August 19, 2009 THY WILL BE DONE In Ancient Times Stillborn Records
There's brutal, then there's kickin babies in the teeth brutal. After their second release its apparant that TWBD do not like babies. Alright maybe they like the crying little meatbags a tad bit but that doesn't take anything away from In Ancient Times. The album is aptly titled since it sounds as if lead singer, J. Costas, has tapped into some old, twisted, demented spirits and spat them out in the form of insane vocals on this record. Combined with bone crushing riffs and heart pounding drums, its easy to see In Ancient Times as one of th ebest metal albums recorded this year. TOP TRACKS: Mourning Without The Sun, And Fire Will Fall, New World Idolatry, Machineries of Debt, Until the Ancient of Days FINAL VERDICT: Thy Will Be Done have carved a great niche for themselves and have quietly earned the respect of many with their intelligent lyrics and blue collar approach to music. There's no evidence of sophomoric slump going on here. An ace among jokers. RATING: 5 out of 5Tim Tebow's girlfriend!
CATHERINE Inside Out Rise Records
Upon reading the liner notes I was made aware that Bryan Lemasters, the original vocalist for Catherine, passed away due to cancer at the young age of 23 in December of 2008. Catherine was a different band with Bryan at the mic, and I was skeptical about anyone replacing him. The new lead singer, Nick Bradwell added some melody to Catherine's already impressive breakdowns and blastbeats. It was obvious that this was a different Catherine altogether. The transformation which started on The Naturals, comes to fruition on Inside Out. TOP TRACKS: Prosthetic Limbs, Turbulence, Mr. Monroe, Scene Not Heard FINAL VERDICT: Inside Out is dedicated to the life and memory of Bryan LeMasters. The first Catherine album (Rumor Has It..." will always be a favorite of mine. But the new sound has grown on me and maybe over time I'll come to love the new as I have the old. But lest we forget our past. RIP Bryan "with a Y" LeMasters RATING: 3 out of 5Tim Tebow's girlfriend!
AMARNA REIGN Atonement Unknown Label. Unsigned? I'm sure not for long.
Stumbled upon this band while being home from work injured. Good thing about having a bunch of sick days is I get to sift through the shitty albums and try to give you guys something goo to check out rather than just trash every cookie cutter band out there. Amarna Reign is anything but boring and everything about interesting. Combining many different melodies with brutal aggression seems to be their fortay. Can someone say "Next best thing"? Someone sign these guys already! TOP TRACKS: The Fall, Deceiver, Into the Sky, The Fight (Isn't Over) FINAL VERDICT: The best $6.93 I've spent on iTunes in quite some time. RATING: 4 out of 5Tim Tebow's girlfriend!
WD SYNDICATE DAMES Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Once upon a time this site did photoshoots with hot gals. At the time the site was still under construction (not much has changed) and we had no place to post said pictures. I was cleaning out my hard drive and thought, "Hey, why not just post them in the Riot Act for now?" So without further delay, here are some of the Syndicate's finest....
AMANDA Amanda was the winner of the Syndicate's first (and only) model search contest on Myspace. Out of 10 potential dames, Amanda won via landslide. Occasionally you can catch Amanda writing album reviews in the Riot Act section.
JAMIE DANIELS Jamie is an old friend who made it big in the foot fetish industry (www.jamiedaniels.com). Hey if toes are your thing then she's your gal. But for those of us who appreciate all the other female parts...
NICOLA OLIVIA We met Nicola at a SNAPM' UP event. Only she could strike up a conversation while getting her ta-ta's slathered in body paint. See some of her more risque shoots at BURNING ANGEL! (photo by Tarilyn Quinn)
JEN LEE DOLL I met Jen at a tattoo convention down in Pennsylvania. Jen has a knack for making custom clothing including denim, halter tops and more. She's a nut but in a good way. Her and her entourage came to my aid when a group of bikers wanted to beat the shit out of me for "accidentally" spiking a beach ball towards their leader...
Ok, so I've been doing this for the last few UFC events and so far the feedback has been extraordinary. Thank you all for reading and continuing to write in on the MMA stuff. Means a lot to me. That being said I have to tell you I was pretty damn psyched for UFC 101! The headliner and co-main event had all the ingredients for upsets. The lightweight title was up for grabs by the ever impressive Kenny "Kenflo" Florian. The guy has heart and determination. He would need it going up against the formidable BJ Penn, a surefire shoe-in for the Hall of Fame someday. Then another underdog, Forest Griffin was set to battle with the indestructible Anderson Silva. Again, I'm a sucker for underdogs and both Florian and Griffin define that term to the tee.
I score most of the bouts using the usual 10 point must scale. Cage control, aggression, striking and grappling. The winner of the round gets 10 points, the loser receives 10 or less (I try never to have a draw round, but it happens at times). If the bout goes to the scorecards, I compare my scores with the real judges. I'll have to say that most of the time I'm on point with the judges decisions. So there are the rules, now on with the fights!
KURT PELLEGRINO vs. JOSH NEER (19-4) (25-7-1)
ROUND 1: Pellegrino, the crowd favorite since he is from Point Pleasant, NJ, staying with the "stick and move" mentality. Move into clinch, Pellegrino with a big slam. Moves into full posture and lets lose some hammer fists. Neer, attempts an armbar from the down position. Pellegrino slams Neer sans Rampage Jackson. Neer attempts another armbar from the down position at 1:48. Pellegrino escapes, round ends on the ground. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: 10-9 Pellegrino
ROUND 2: Good leg kick by neer at 4:35 as fighters try the standup game this round. Pellegrino shoots for takedown, Neer stuffs it. Pellegrino attempts another takedown and sends Neer to the mat passing to half guard. Armbar attempt by neer, Pellegrino escapes. Pellegrino is on top but Neer is giving him a really hard time passing half guard. Neer is being extremely active from the bottom. Triangle choke attempt by Neer at 1:30. Pellegrino shrugs off submission attempt and moves to the mount position to back control at :48. Choke attempt by Pellegrino is unsucessful. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: 10-9 Pellegrino
ROUND 3: Both fighters trade blows at the standup game. Big takedown by Pellegrino as he catches a kick from Neer and drives him to the mat. Oma Plata attempt by Neer, unsucessful. Triangle choke attempt by Neer at 1:30, suppressed by Pellegrino. Pellegrino gains the mount and both fighters start talking some trash to each other. Reverse by Neer at :30, to standup. Neer sends some vicious elbows to Pellegrino's head as the round closes. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: 10-9 Pellegrino
GDEVIL'S DECISION: Pelegrino by Unanimous Decision (30-27)JUDGE'S DECISION: Pellegrino by Unanimous Decision (30-27)
SUMMARY: Pellegrino controlled the tempo of the fight from the opening bell. Neer was very active from the bottom, and we all know most judges oversee that. Even with that, I felt that Neer's submission attempts were pretty much just to show he wasn't just laying there. He exploded at the end of round 3, but too little, too late.
RICARDO ALMEIDA vs. KENDALL GROVE (10-3) (12-5)
ROUND 1: Almeida wants to take the fight to the ground immediately. Attempt stuffed by Grove. Clinch along the cage to stand up. Soild right by Almeida. Grove moves to double underhooks and pushes fight against cage. Takedown by Almeida at 1:40. Almeida passes to back-side control and delivers some knees to Grove's midsection. Grove forces standup but is slammed big time by Almeida to close the round. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: 10-9 Almeida
ROUND 2: Solid right by Almeida to takedown. Armbar attempt by Grove, Almeida escapes. Grove has a quick kneebar attempt but its unsuccessful. Grove on his back, showing good control, body triangle by Grove. Almeida works the ground and pound at 1:50. Huge punches raining down by Almeida at 1:15. Grove forces standup against fence. Big uppercut by Grove at :30. Another takedown by Almeida to close the round. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: 10-9 Almeida
ROUND 3: Leg kicks by Almeida. Lands a solid right to single leg takedown. Grove fights to standup against cage. Lands some knees and takes fight to center of the cage. Almeida drops to his back, big hands by Grove. Ref resets fighters. Almeida is looking tired, hanging his hands. Fight goes along the cage again, Grove lands a nice knee to the face of Almeida. Driving takedown by Almeida. Grove pushes off with his feet to standup and gets clocked by a solid right from Almeida to close round. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: Almeida 10-9
GDEVIL'S DECISION: Almeida by Unanimous Decision (30-27)JUDGES' DECISION: Almeida by Unanimous Decision
SUMMARY: Kendall Grove suffers a setback. He simply did not do enough to score any points or even make any attempts to even win the bout. Almeida showed excellent control throughout the entire fight even though he was sort of gassed by the end of Round 3.
AMIR SADOLLAH vs. JOHNY HENDRICKS (2-0) (5-0)
ROUND 1: Standup sparring to brawling blows traded by both fighters. Major uppercuts by Hendricks. Ref steps in and stops fight.
JOHNY HENDRICKS BY TKO at :29 in 1st ROUND
SUMMARY: If there ever were a time to use WTF it would have been after watching this fight. TUF 7 winner Sadollah got robbed. Yes he got rocked but he was clearly fully aware of his situation and was making clear attempts to defend himself. Boooo to referee Dan Mirgliotta!
FORREST GRIFFIN vs. ANDERSON SILVA (16-5) (24-4)
ROUND 1: Forrest misses with headkick. Both fighters paw at each other, sizing each other up still at 3:10. Silva catches Griffin with a left and sends Griffin down to the mat. He gets up and the fight continues. Silva starts to taunt Griffin, dropping his hands. Silva knocks down Griffin again, this time he offers to help him up! Griffin steps in while Silva lands a stiff, walking away jab and sends Griffin to the mat for the third and final time.
ANDERSON SILVA BY KO at 3:23 in 1st ROUND
SUMMARY: Another WTF!?!? Honestly, Forrest has always been a fan favorite for his heart and desire. Both of those attributes were absent in this poor showing against a superior fighter. The questions have been popping up on MMA blogs everywhere, where does Forrest Griffin go from here? That's a question only Forrest Griffin can answer.
MAIN EVENT
BJ PENN vs. KENNY FLORIAN (13-5-1) (13-3)
ROUND 1: Penn catches Florian's leg, right hook by Penn knocks both fighters down. Florian gets up. Both fighters pressing against cage. Nice elbow by Penn. Clinched at 3:48, breaks to standup. Penn charges in with 1-2 combo, backing Florian against cage. Single leg takedown attempt by Florian stuffed by Penn. Penn lands a stiff left which rocks Florian a little and follows it up with a right knee. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: 10-9 BJ Penn
ROUND 2: Leg kick by Florian. Lowers head and drives Penn into cage. Clinch along cage breaks up. Single leg takedown attempt by Florian, stuffed by Penn. Both fighters clinch. Florian just misses with a hug elbow coming out of the clinch. Single leg takedown attempt by Florian, unsuccessful. Again drives Penn into cage. Penn answers with a uppercut/left hook combo. Florian lands a big leg kick to close the round. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: 10-9 Kenny Florian
ROUND 3: Florian drives Penn into cage. Both fighters trading blows. Good body shots by Florian. Florian goes for a takedown while clinched. Penn breaks away and lands an uppercut while Florian lands an elbow. Takedown attempt Florian, stuffed by Penn. Driven into cage. Clinch along cage with Penn's back aganst cage. Penn quickly reverses and lands a big counter punch to close the round. GDEVIL'S SCORECARD: 10-9 BJ Penn
ROUND 4: Big lefts by Penn. Clinch against cage. Penn explodes with some big punches. Takedown by Penn, lands in Florian's half guard. Florian landing some good elbows from his back. Penn lands big rights to Florian's face and passes to mount. . Florian rolls giving up his back. Fighters go back and forth from Mount to back control till Penn is able to slip in a rear naked choke at 3:54.
BJ PENN WINNER BY SUBMISSION (Rear Naked Choke)
SUMMARY: BJ Penn really is that good. While Kenny Florian (everyone's favorite Ben Stiller double) is still one of my favorite fighters in the UFC, you have to hand it to Penn. Coming off of a loss to GSP really motivated this guy. Really good fight by Florian though.
NOTABLES: Aaron Riley defeated Shane Nelson via unanimous decision in the Lightweight Division. Jon Howard gets the split decision over Tamden McCrory. Up and coming Alessio Sakara defeats Thales Lietes via split decision. Matthew Riddle gets the UD over Dan Cramer. Jesse Lennox wins by TKO over Danilo Villefort in the 3rd round. Want a name you'll be hearing a lot of in th enear future? George Sotiropoulos (common spelling). He has a crazy ground game and it showed in his submission win over George Roop.
WEC
Sunday, August 9 Las Vega, NV
What a fucking weekend! UFC 101 followed by a great WEC card which is highlighted by Miguel Torres vs. Brian Bowles!? Sign me up.
The first bout televised was Leonard Garcia vs. Jameel Massouh. I've seen Garcia fight before and I remember his boxing was off the charts. You could tell the entire crowd, the telecasters, Leonard Garcia ad his corner were all over-hyped for a quick victory. Not so. The opening round Garcia ROCKED Massouh with a right from Hell! Massouh, calmly and surprisingly recovered from it and ended that round on top with some impressive groundwork. Because of the knockdown I gave that round to Garcia, but it was close without it. The second round, in my opinion, belonged to Massouh. He nearly choked Garcia out but for some odd reason he let's go of a Bravo Choke just when Garcia started to go limp. Massouh owned that round big time. The third round was nothing special. All standup ad neither fighter made any aggressive moves to win the fight. I scored the match in favor of Massouh 29-28. The judges gave the split decision to Garcia.
In other fights: Takeya Mizucagi defeated Jeff Curran. Danny Castillo scored a great knockout victory over Ricardo Lamas. And douchebag, Dominick Cruz wins over Joseph Benavidez. Why douchebag? Because the fight was a snoozefest. When asked if he feels he should be next in line for a title shot he asked the crowd what they thought and their response was almost total silence.
MAIN EVENT
BRIAN BOWLES vs. MIGUEL TORRES
ROUND 1: Bowles rocks Torres with a big right. Torres recovers, clinch along cage. Takedown by Bowles followed by some elbows. Torres forces Bowles to standup while he remains on his back. Delivers some vicious upkicks as Bowles makes a move into guard. Armbar attempt by Torres. Bowles responds with a wicked right hook with rocks Torres to the ground. Bowles follows up with more rights to the head. Ref steps in and stops the fight as Torres is clearly knocked the fuck out.
SUMMARY: Hooray for the underdog. Bowles just looked like a bigger, thicker fighter compared to Torres. However, Torres will bounce back despite the loss. He's a feared and tough fighter in the WEC.
MMA vs. BOXING Friday, July 31, 2009
I've been getting into these debates a lot lately so I figured why not blog about it on the site, maybe even get some feedback from the readers. So here I am, about to give you ten reasons why MMA will surpass boxing, if it hasn't already, in the next decade. I wouldn't even be surprised if boxing disappears altogether. The boxing elite know this change of the guard is coming. So here is my argument:
1. Quick. Name the boxing heavyweight champion of the world. More than likely the sound you'll be hearing after you pose that question will resemble the sound of a packed movie theater at a Woody Allen marathon. Crickets ladies and gents, crickets. I approached 10 avid sports fans and asked the same question and got several different answers. The correct answer? I'm reluctant to take a guess and say it is, WladimirKitschko. But to be honest, I can't say for 100%. All the resources i have checked out also gave me a bunch of different answers. Which leads us to....
2. What's with all the acronyms?!?! The reason why its pretty much impossible to name the heavyweight champion is simple. There is no clear cut, undisputed, heavyweight champion. Reason being that their are 5 different organizations which put on fights, each with the ability to have their own champion. The idea of unifying all these titles hasn't been done since Roy Jones Jr. (I could be wrong on this too) and even his status as undisputed light heavyweight champion was, well, disputed.
Here is a list of all the boxing organizations: WBA (World Boxing Association), WBC (World Boxing Council), IBF (International Boxing Federation), WBO (World Boxing Organization), IBO (International Boxing Organization). That's a lot for a fan to swallow ain't it? True, MMA is starting to go through a similar, but highly less confusing ordeal with more and more organizations starting up. UFC being the most noteworthy, followed by WEC, Affliction and Strikeforce. And each organization has its own champions so having a "unified" or "undisputed" champion in a weight class will probably never happen.
3. There's no Don King! In my opinion shameless promoters hold a large share of the blame for boxing's downfall. Bouts are set up with nothing but the payout in mind. There is no pride or dignity in the sport anymore. Its not surprising to see so-called "champions" fighting absolute no-names so long as the purse is right. What the UFC did in this area was brilliant. They sign fighters to short term contracts, not in years, but in the amount of fights. No sleazeball promoters! In each fight you can received bonuses. Put on the best Fight of TheNight? That might get you an extra 5-10 grand! As seen in UFC 100, Dan Henderson cashed in with Knockout of the Night honors and raked in a six figure salary. Its obvious that when the cash goes to the best performer, the crowd always gets a better show. Performance based salaries...what a great idea hey Mr. King?
4. MMA has a larger talent pool than boxing ever will! You tell me how many high schools have boxing teams or clubs in them? I know in my area (NYC) there aren't many if any. Now tell me how many high schools have wrestling teams? Fact is wrestling is a large part of MMA. But wrestlers have no where to turn to after their high school and collegient careers run their paths. Some of the top wrestlers in the country (and world) have turned to MMA as a means to go somewhat "professional". UFC veteran and former PRIDE champion, Dan "Hendo" Henderson was an Olympic wrestler. Current UFC welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre is a highly skilled Canadian wrestler. Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling is right behind college football and basketball. I wonder where boxing ranks amongst them? *check out The Mat: The Official Website of USA Wrestling 5. Yes, MMA IS barbaric! And that's the beauty of it! Jump in a fucking time machine to the days of Jack Dempsey and I'm willing to bet the masses were against Dempsey's, sometimes bareknuckled brawling! How is MMA any different? Its new as compared to boxing, but pitting man against man in a ring, cage, arena has been entertainment for centuries, and that will never change. 6. MMA is physically and mentally more demanding than boxing. There I said it. Even though UFC CEO, Dana White usually dances around this question, you know he wants to say it. MMA athletes can outlast any boxer. Period. I'm not taking anything away from the athleticism of today's boxers but come on now. There are so many aspects to train for an MMA fight. Plain and simple, MMA is a simulated street fight, boxing is just a small part of that formula. The argument that boxers endure 12 rounds of fight while MMA combatants usually go for only 3-5 rounds is null and void. Boxing bouts that I have seen recently get stopped for some nonsense reason and leave both corners arguing who really won the fight.
7. How many boxing matches end in some sort of bullshit decision? I've been watching the fights (boxing) lately on Showtime. And in one night there were 4 fights. ALL of which ended in a decision or a questionable stoppage. There were no clear cut winners in any of the matches. It left me thinking, "Wow. I just wasted my time watching this crap!" Its clear that the judges in boxing have no clue how to judge a fight. I don't know what fight they are watching half the time. With the judges inability to properly score a bout, and the ineptitude of the referees its amazing fights even make it past the second round these days. Does it happen in MMA? Sure. But no where close to the frequency of boxing.
8. Boxing is corrupt. We all know it. I don't even think I should have to argue this point any further. Check out ESPN's article on the top ten questionable bouts ever. Those are just ten! The article also sheds some light on how exactly a boxing match is scored.
9. The old timers just don't get it. MMA is confusing for someone say my father's age (60) who grew up watching boxing legends such as Rocky Marciano, Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier, and Roberto Duran. Its a simple, sweet, science. Two guys in a ring and they punch each other till one blacks out or it goes the distance and some mystery judges decide their fate. Watching UFC 98 with my dad, it was hysterical to see him bitch and moan about two guys "hugging all over each other". But once explained, he started to understand that each move in JiuJitsu has a specific and deliberate purpose. I even got him looking into the Gracie history of the sport. Unlike my pops however, some old-timers (if he reads this he's gonna kill me for referring to him as that) just refuse to try and understand MMA.
10. Boxing has a legacy...for now. In the above clip, Joe Rogan makes a brilliant comment about today's boxing heroes. Quite simply there aren't any. The "greats" that will always be remembered are the heroes our parents tell us about. There will be no more Muhammad Alis. There will be no more Sugar Ray Leonards. Hell there won't even be anymore circus sideshow acts such as Mike Tyson! Will there be "legends" so to speak in the MMA world? The UFC has a Hall of Fame. The Gracie name is almost religiously spoken of when conversing with todaysMMA greats. The fact is only time will tell and MMA has all the time in the world and boxing is on life support.
ALBUM REVIEWS: AUGUST BURNS RED, GOD FORBID, POISON THE WELL Thursday, July 30, 2009 AUGUST BURNS RED Constellations Solid State Records
One day I was bored out of my mind and decided to see what iTunes suggested listening I would appreciate. A band called August Burns Red popped up and I decided to give it a try. The album I listened to back then was named Thrillseeker. Since then, I've been a rabid fan, and their number of plays on my playlist trumps most bands on my iPod. Constellations is the third full length release from the Pennsyvania quintet. As with the previous albums, ABR doesn't dissappoint with their signature heavy breakdowns and odd-meter riffs, only this time they throw in a little melody exemplified in "Indonesia". ABR is three for three so far as I'm concerned. TOP TRACKS: Where do I start? "Existence", "Ocean of Apathy" has a pretty groovy stoner breakdown riff in the middle of it, "White Washed", "Indonesia", "The Escape Artist", "Meddler", "Rationalist"... FINAL VERDICT: Metalcore never really did anything for me until I heard these guys. I mean you can throw a rock and hit the next "up and coming" metalcore band these days. The genre is just over-saturated with, well...shit. August Burns Red stays true to the wonderful musical catastrophe it created when they first started. RATING: 4 out of 5 Assbanditos
-GDeViL
(Yes, that's ABR doing aBritany Spears cover)
GOD FORBID Earthsblood Century Media
I'll be the first to say I have missed the train on NJ metal artists, God Forbid. Their most recent release, Earthsblood, is, sadly, the first I have heard from this band. I guess God Forbid has always been one of those bands I hear so much about, but never actually got a chance to listen to? Or I'm just a complete hermit? My therapist would agree with the latter. So without hearing any previous work by God Forbid I had a great and rare opportunity to give this album a purely unbiased review. Earthsblood comes five years after their previous release, Consitution of Treason. Its been reported that guitarist, Dallas Coyle, left the band almost immediately followong this release (He has been replaced as far as i know by ex-Darkest Hour guitarist, Kris Norris). After a month of listening to the album I have to say I'm sorry I haven't tuned into God Forbid sooner. Straight up metal goodness. TOP TRACKS: "Empire of the Gun", "The Rain", "Bat the Angels", and the single-worthy "Walk Alone" FINAL VERDICT: Earthsblood made me realize how many times I've passed the chance to go see these guys play at a small local venue. I'm kicking myself in the balls now. I got the chance to listen to their earlier stuff and as usual, I like the previous releases more. This album, although good, was a bit too cleaned up compared to the older stuff, but again, a great album through and through. RATING: 3 out 5 Assbanditos!
POISON THE WELL The Tropic Rot Ferret Music
Poison The Well have always been the average girl at the high school prom in my opinion. In other words, they ain't the ugly duckling with no date, but they aren't the prom queen either. A respectable 6 or 7 on the 1-10 scale if you will. That's why when I picked up PTW's latest album, The Tropic Rot, I wasn't expecting to be blown away, and I wasn't expected to listen to complete crap. For argruments sake, I have never been a huge fan. Not that I didn't like them, I just never got around to getting into them. Speaking to a few die hard PTW fans, I hear that this album is sort of a return to their original sound. At first listen, I would compare this album to a Deftones album sans White Pony era, only grittier. Not a bad thing to sound like at all. TOP TRACKS: "Sparks It Will Rain", "Cinema", "Antartica Inside Me", "Are You Anywhere", and "Makeshift Clay" FINAL VERDICT: Beautifully chaotic sounds that will keep you interested for sometime. If this is a return to their original sounds I'm impressed. Solid effort. RATING: 4 out of 5 Assbanditos!!!
