Ancient play
atmospheric black metal with some obvious eighties thrash and nineties death
metal influences. Their songs feature good use of dynamics, plenty of memorable
riffs, and vocals that are raw but usually understandable. I’d say my favorite
track is the opener, “Envision the Beast”, with its Celtic Frost inspired female
spoken break, but there’s plenty of other good stuff. “Horroble” is a good old
school thrasher that reminds me in parts of Necrophagia, Death, Entombed, and At
the Gates with more black metal sounding vocals. “Lycanthropy” is in a similar
mold, and sticks in the brain thanks to a catchy chorus. “Night of the Stygian
Souls” is a mid paced, majestic song that reminds me of Dimmu Borgir at their
best, but with less bombastic keyboards and more emphasis on melodic guitar
leads. “The Truth Unveiled” closes the album proper in fine fashion, and
reminds me in tone of Maiden’s “Hallowed be thy Name” and Mercyful Fate’s
“Melissa”. The two “bonus tracks” are both eerie ambient pieces that would work
well as soundtrack cues for a horror film. The other three tracks on here
aren’t quite as notable, but still solid. This one’s a keeper. (Bob Ignizio)
Beyond the Embrace represent the best of both worlds.
Their sound marries elements of melodic/progressive Euro metal to a groove
oriented rhythmic foundation. It’s sort of like Sentenced or In Flames crossed
with Down. Songs like “Plague”, “Redeemer”, and “Weak and the Wounded” have all
the rage and brutality the average underground metal fan craves, but are
memorably melodic at the same time. Vocalist Shawn Gallagher is a large part of
why this band stands out. When singing, he has a raspy, soulful voice that
reminds me a bit of Phil Anselmo in Down mode crossed with the vocalist from
Sentenced. On the occasions when barking and growling are called for, he has
more of a European approach reminiscent of early In Flames. But I don’t want to
simply praise Gallagher at the expense of the other band members. The triple
axe attack of Oscar Gouveiar, Jeff Saude, and Alex Botelho provides plenty of
killer riffs, tasty leads, and Maidenesque guitar harmonies. The rhythm section
of drummer Kevin Camille and bass player Adam Gonsalves give the band more of a
groove than most of their European counterparts. And most importantly, aside
from having a good sound, these guys write good songs. Go out and buy this.
(Bob Ignizio)
The Catheters – ‘Howling…It
Grows and Grows!!!’ (Sub Pop)
I give The Catheters credit for trying to do something a
little different with the whole “neo garage rock” thing. Imagine The Jesus
Lizard crossed with Mudhoney and you’ll have some idea what this band sounds
like. Unfortunately, that’s about the extent of my praise for this album. The
band sounds good, and fans of fuzzed out guitar may dig this more than I do, but
the vocals are sort of bland, and that’s a major issue for me. The singer
sounds sort of like Mark Arm, but not as interesting. The songwriting is okay,
but no tracks really jump out and grab me. Not really anything special in my
book. Pretty kick ass album cover, though. (Bob Ignizio)
Let me be upfront. In general, I hate stand up comics.
One bad joke after another about the same played out topics like airline food,
racial differences, and what a pain in the ass the opposite sex is to deal
with. To give the illusion of edginess, most stand-ups also throw around four
letter words like hyperactive 12 year olds with Tourette’s syndrome. All the
freedoms that people like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor fought for are wasted on
these talentless, substanceless fucks. Thankfully, that’s not the case with
David Cross. Cross throws around his fair share of profanity and deals with
plenty of questionable subject matter, but he does it to make a point, and at
the same time actually succeeds in being funny. Cross has his own unique style
of comedy, but fans of Bill Hicks or George Carlin would probably like this.
Fans of George Bush would probably not be amused. (Bob Ignizio)
Ancient play
atmospheric black metal with some obvious eighties thrash and nineties death
metal influences. Their songs feature good use of dynamics, plenty of memorable
riffs, and vocals that are raw but usually understandable. I’d say my favorite
track is the opener, “Envision the Beast”, with its Celtic Frost inspired female
spoken break, but there’s plenty of other good stuff. “Horroble” is a good old
school thrasher that reminds me in parts of Necrophagia, Death, Entombed, and At
the Gates with more black metal sounding vocals. “Lycanthropy” is in a similar
mold, and sticks in the brain thanks to a catchy chorus. “Night of the Stygian
Souls” is a mid paced, majestic song that reminds me of Dimmu Borgir at their
best, but with less bombastic keyboards and more emphasis on melodic guitar
leads. “The Truth Unveiled” closes the album proper in fine fashion, and
reminds me in tone of Maiden’s “Hallowed be thy Name” and Mercyful Fate’s
“Melissa”. The two “bonus tracks” are both eerie ambient pieces that would work
well as soundtrack cues for a horror film. The other three tracks on here
aren’t quite as notable, but still solid. This one’s a keeper. (Bob Ignizio)
Beyond the Embrace represent the best of both worlds.
Their sound marries elements of melodic/progressive Euro metal to a groove
oriented rhythmic foundation. It’s sort of like Sentenced or In Flames crossed
with Down. Songs like “Plague”, “Redeemer”, and “Weak and the Wounded” have all
the rage and brutality the average underground metal fan craves, but are
memorably melodic at the same time. Vocalist Shawn Gallagher is a large part of
why this band stands out. When singing, he has a raspy, soulful voice that
reminds me a bit of Phil Anselmo in Down mode crossed with the vocalist from
Sentenced. On the occasions when barking and growling are called for, he has
more of a European approach reminiscent of early In Flames. But I don’t want to
simply praise Gallagher at the expense of the other band members. The triple
axe attack of Oscar Gouveiar, Jeff Saude, and Alex Botelho provides plenty of
killer riffs, tasty leads, and Maidenesque guitar harmonies. The rhythm section
of drummer Kevin Camille and bass player Adam Gonsalves give the band more of a
groove than most of their European counterparts. And most importantly, aside
from having a good sound, these guys write good songs. Go out and buy this.
(Bob Ignizio)
I give The Catheters credit for trying to do something a
little different with the whole “neo garage rock” thing. Imagine The Jesus
Lizard crossed with Mudhoney and you’ll have some idea what this band sounds
like. Unfortunately, that’s about the extent of my praise for this album. The
band sounds good, and fans of fuzzed out guitar may dig this more than I do, but
the vocals are sort of bland, and that’s a major issue for me. The singer
sounds sort of like Mark Arm, but not as interesting. The songwriting is okay,
but no tracks really jump out and grab me. Not really anything special in my
book. Pretty kick ass album cover, though. (Bob Ignizio)
Let me be upfront. In general, I hate stand up comics.
One bad joke after another about the same played out topics like airline food,
racial differences, and what a pain in the ass the opposite sex is to deal
with. To give the illusion of edginess, most stand-ups also throw around four
letter words like hyperactive 12 year olds with Tourette’s syndrome. All the
freedoms that people like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor fought for are wasted on
these talentless, substanceless fucks. Thankfully, that’s not the case with
David Cross. Cross throws around his fair share of profanity and deals with
plenty of questionable subject matter, but he does it to make a point, and at
the same time actually succeeds in being funny. Cross has his own unique style
of comedy, but fans of Bill Hicks or George Carlin would probably like this.
Fans of George Bush would probably not be amused. (Bob Ignizio)