ALBUM REVIEWS: KILLING TIME, HIGH ON FIRE
Monday, March 1, 2010

KILLING 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.

RATING: 3/5

Labels: Reviews, Video

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 5 Tim 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 5 Tim 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 5 Tim Tebow's girlfriend!

Labels: Reviews, Video

UFC 101: DECLARATION
Sunday, August 9, 2009

UFC 101: DECLARATION

Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, PA
August 8, 2009

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.

Labels: Reviews

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!!!

-Gdevil

Labels: Reviews, Video

BURN HALO, EARTH CRISIS, NARROWS
Monday, July 20, 2009

BURN HALO
Burn Halo
Rawkhead Records

Grab yer tightest jeans and get ready to rock the fuck out! Well, sort of. Throwback bands seem to be the thing. As my grandfather once said, everything goes in cycles...even glam metal. Burn Halo borders on the 80s sound that made spandex a fashion statement. Coming from that era (fuck you i know I'm old) I can appreciate it to an extent. The band stareted when former lead singer, James Hart, of Eighteen Visions fame met up with Zac Malloy, formerly of The Nixons. The two began writing enlisting the help of Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold), Daniel Adair (Nickelback), and Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction). The resulting sound is something I would have lisetened to way back in the day when nullets and denim jackets were the shit.
TOP TRACKS: Dirty little Girl, So Addicted, Our House
FINAL VERDICT: Glam metal is a bit hasty when describing Burn Halo. Afterall there were some good bands that came out in that era (Motley Crue, Skid Row...). There are a few ragin tracks on the album that make me want to rip lines like Nikki Sixx, but there are also a bunch of ballads that border upon suckin your dad off in the shower. Raw rock n roll. I can deal with that.
RATING: 2 out of 5 Kim Kardashian Asses!


- GDeViL

EARTH CRISIS
To The Death
Century Media

What's this? Kids breaking out the fat markers and painting X's on their hands? "sXe" is labeled on every article of clothing? A "Straight Edge" resurgence? All this can only mean one thing. Either Earth Crisis has delivered yet another powerful album or the fashion industry has infected yet another aspet of the punk/hardcore lifestyle. Yes, Earth Crisis has reunited and have put out a another brutal album with To The Death. And sadly, yes, straight edge has seeped into fashionistas hands, but thats a whole other issue. Its been a while for the Syracuse quintet but they collectively still bring it. They pack intensely brutal riffs and their signature use of gang vocals and breakdowns have never been better. Lyrically, Karl tackles some serious subject matter and answers it with his militant stance on these topics (drug use, animal rights, terrorism, the media, etc...). Not for the faint of heart.
TOP TRACKS: To Ashes, Security Threat Number One, Control Through Fear, To The Death, Cities Fall
FINAL VERDICT: Definitely worth the 8 year wait. No I'm not Straight Edge, not by a long shot. But I can appreciate good hardcore and Earth Crisis delivers. I'm usually not one for political beliefs but some of their (Earth Crisis) stances on certain topics should be heeded.
RATING: 4 out of 5 Kim Kardashian Asses!

-GDeViL

Narrows
New Distances
Deathwish Inc

Narrows is a force to be reckoned with. With members spread from London to Seattle, the transcontinental project is a mix of artists who worked with Unbroken, Over My Dead Body, These Arms Are Snakes, Nineironspitfire, Tropics, and Quarantine, just to name a few. The debut “New Distances” is an aural masterpiece, if there ever was one. “New Distances” is a melodic and technical album with some intense and fierce vocals. The influences of the American hardcore pioneers and London’s punk rock foundations blend beautifully in tracks like “Changing Clothes” and “Chambered”.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Kim Kardashian Asses!

-Amanda

Labels: Reviews, Video

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