Avsky - Malignant

I normally only review stuff that has made at least a marginal impression on me, and this only kind-of has. However, it's the first black metal album that I've actually bought so I figure I might as well write about it.

It was really quite an impulse buy. I saw an article on Blabbermouth about a track that was released from this album before the album release and checked it out. I think it was the first track. I thought it was pretty good, and I felt like buying something I guess.

So it arrived yesterday, and I've listened through it a few times now. There isn't really that much special about it. It's definitely not bad, although the vocals try to emulate the lo-fi black metal style of yore that I don't really like much at all. The instrumentation is pretty solid. At times the beat reminds me of (possibly) my favorite BM album ever, Manifest by Semargl. A sort of machine-like crushing power.

I don't listen to that much BM. My favorites of the genre are the previously mentioned Semargl, along with Emperor, Anaal Nathrakh, Immortal, Deathspell Omega, and maybe Gorgoroth. Ulver used to be BM but I don't like their output from that period, as it was in the lo-fi style. Much too grating.

This album has a slightly grating quality, but not enough to make me ignore it. The lyrics are pretty nasty, as is expected with "tr00" BM. Not needlessly gory or anything like death metal but more of a savage hatred toward inferiority, in line with what I know about Satanism, which isn't much. Lyrics are only given for two of the eight tracks though (unlike Anaal Nathrakh who don't release any of their lyrics).

I think I could grow to enjoy this, but there really isn't that much going on to go crazy about.

The Office (US)

Pretty much everyone I know has seen this show. I've been meaning to check it out for quite a while. So, after seeing a few mentions of it on a forum, I finally nabbed season 1. From the first episode I've been hooked.

It's a comedy, and a very ridiculous one. Steve Carell, who I have known best for his role as Brick in Anchorman, plays an office manager with pretty much every quirk in the book. His main schtick is that he's an aspiring comedian (a very bad one). Sometimes his antics are almost too much for me; they make me feel awkward. It's not the kind of comedy I usually like. However, the characters in this show are just too lovable, and more often than not the jokes have me reeling.

So, after finishing the first season (which was basically a pilot, only 6 22 minute episodes), I am eager to keep watching.

UPDATE: So I've seen it all now. I even finished watching all the pre-strike episodes about 15 minutes before the new one aired today. I have to say, this was one of the most enjoyable shows I've ever seen. I have seen better for sure, but there are elements of this show that just pull you in so tightly that it's completely impossible to drag yourself away from it.

I'll be moving on to the original UK version as soon as I can. From what I've heard, it's supposed to be better than the U.S. one, but that might just be the same old "it came first, I'm better than you" attitude. I do not doubt that it will be excellent though.

Battlestar Galactica (2004 series)

I've only seen a short segment of one episode of the original series, so I can't speak for that, but this new show is damn great.

Of course, I can't really call it "new" as it's been around for about 4 years now. I guess this blog is living up to its name.

Anyway, I just finished every episode/miniseries/movie that has been put out for this reimaginging so far (except the webisodes), with BSG: Razor being the last bit. Almost every moment of it all was excellent. However, there were a few episodes of filler that I could have done without; but hey, I'm not complaining. It's a great show.

I actually saw the first few episodes a few years ago; it might actually have been 2004. I just remembered having seen them before when I started watching a few weeks ago. Back then I didn't think it was that great. This was probably because I hadn't seen the miniseries from 2003 beforehand and was confused. The miniseries sets up the story for the whole thing and the show starts up pretty much right after the miniseries stops; not really the greatest move, but it seems to have worked anyway, as this is one of the most popular sci-fi shows around.

The great thing about it is the realism. The cheese level is extremely low, unlike the Stargate and Star Trek shows. The CGI is top notch and the camera work hearkens back to the hand-cam-like style of Firefly. The characters are wonderful. The story is better. The use of historical religions is very cool, and I think it makes the story at least twice as good.

The only thing other than the filler that I can fault the show for is the fact that this Colonial civilization that supposedly split with Earth thousands of years ago is still so similar to ours, down to the legal systems and computer hardware. I saw the President waving what looked like a Logitech mouse around once. I suppose it might add to the believability, but I don't think it's all that necessary. There should be a little more variation.

Of course there might be an explanation for this in Season 4, which starts up April 4th. It will reportedly be the final season, so a lot of questions should be answered. I suppose they might leave some to the upcoming series Caprica though. Definitely looking forward to that.

Idiot Flesh, Zimmer's Hole

HEY FOLKS! IT'S TIME FOR A BLAAAAAAAG!.

That's right, I've hit upon something worth writing about and mustered up the boredom to contribute to this pathetic collection of thoughts. So, to start off this extravaganza of apathy, I shall introduce Idiot Flesh to you.


I've been a fan of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum for a while now, perhaps about as long as I've liked Meshuggah. Some of the weirdest, most innovative stuff I've ever heard. So, as is my wont, I was reading their Wikipedia page for about the 20th time and again saw the reference to the band Idiot Flesh. Apparently a bunch of SGM's members were in that band before forming the genius troupe. Their first full-length album was released in 1990, a time period I usually associate with not-so-great music. This is a ridiculous association of course but my mind is a dumb place.

So I checked 'em out. Their 1990 album, Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death, is much milder than SGM's stuff. It's in the same vein lyrically though, and you can definitely discern the musical aspects that were carried on. A lot of it is more traditional, especially the bass work. Pretty funky really. All in all though I didn't think it was that great of an album; not really any stand-out tracks. Of course I just checked them out last night so I haven't had that much time to drink it all in. One thing I did notice was the similarity to Mr. Bungle, one of Mike Patton's earlier exploits.


I liked that album enough to try some more. So, Fancy was next up on the menu. This was their third and final studio album, released in 1997, just before their breakup. I haven't been able to find the middlin' one yet, but I think I'll be pursuing it, as this album rocks. Quite a bit more similar to SGM. The tracks Teen Devil Worshipper, Chicken Little and Cheesus (Dance Mix) were definite standouts every time I listened through it. Cheesus specifically is hilarious. It plays like a commercial, much like Gold Fish or something. It's just something you have to hear (unless you are an easily offended Christian). Many songs are a bit heavier than on their first, but there's no growling to speak of and none of the intensity reaches SGM's level.

Overall, satire and weird sounds make up Idiot Flesh's repertoire. I like it.


Next up is Zimmer's Hole - When You Were Shouting at the Devil... We Were in League with Satan. The title doesn't even fit on the front of the album; the second half is displayed on the back with funny portraits of the band members. This is comedy metal at its finest. The coolest part of the whole album for me was the track The Vowel Song. I was playing through it and this gem came up, and I was greeted by the voice of none other than Nathan Explosion of Dethklok, otherwise known as Brendon Small. Nathan has been conscripted to inform us that a lot of people can't read, and this is bad, because sometimes you need imagery to get off, like dangling sweaty knockers. We are then treated to a very short song with these simple lyrics:

A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes
Y are you wasting my air?
Why are you still here?
Why must I tolerate, no debate, eliminate!!!
A, E, I, O, U...SUCK....SUCK!!!

Nathan then lets us know that you don't need to know how to read to order a cheeseburger. Every restaurant's got a cheeseburger. The reason he's on this album is that the drummer, Gene Hoglan, filled in the for the fictitious Pickles on the Dethalbum and the subsequent Dethklok tour.

Other lyrical themes involve metal, hair, necrophilia, Satan, and I think marital stress or something. Great stuff. The only reason I bought this album is that 3 of the 4 members were part of the late and very great Strapping Young Lad, led by Devin Townsend, who is sadly not in this one. He did produce some of it and mixed it though. I've heard Zimmer's other two albums, and this one is definitely the best.

The Dark Knight Returns and Ghosts

I bought this along with Watchmen because Amazon told me to. I'm not sorry about it, but this is not as good as Watchmen. Of course, very little is.

Frank Miller has gained a lot of popularity since the cinematographic versions of Sin City and 300 were released. Incidentally, the guy who directed 300 is currently going to be directing the film adaptation of Watchmen, which Alan Moore does not endorse, sadly. Anyway, Miller is a pretty good writer. He's also much more into the extremes of sex and violence, moreso the violence. TDKR has a lot of that. It's a story of an old Bruce Wayne returning to the streets of Gotham as Batman after a 10 year self-induced hiatus. The reason given is the death of the two Robins, as far as I can tell; I never read those storylines. The overall battle is one between Bruce and the stupidity-saturated media/government. This is another apocalyptic novel, as it was written at just about the same time as Watchmen, during the Cold War. As such, nuclear weaponry comes into play. An odd thing about that is that the effect is almost positive; it gives the man in black an opportunity to fix things in such a way that it's obvious he's the only one with his head on straight. Characters of note are The Joker, The Green Arrow, and Superman. Superman's story in this is a pretty cool one; he almost dies in the face of nuclear holocaust.

It was a good read.

This was released yesterday and I haven't yet had time to listen to it all. However, the special thing about this isn't just the music, it's the way it was released. Trent Reznor, recently freed from his record deal, has decided to go the way of Radiohead and put out a (partially) free album. You can buy the whole thing for a minimum of $5 as a download in a variety of formats. The coolest part of that is that unlike Radiohead, this guys knows what the hell he's doing with music encoding. The mp3s were encoded with LAME, the accepted standard of quality, at 320kbps, not 160. Lossless versions are also available in FLAC and M4A. Another extremely cool thing is that Trent and co. uploaded the first quarter (Ghosts I) to a bunch of torrent sites, including The Pirate Bay. That is right way to get the internet's attention, friends. Also free is a 40 page PDF of images meant to accompany the music, complete with computer wallpaper versions in standard and widescreen formats.

As for the music, it is good. It's all instrumental and mostly experimental, a mix of electronic and a variety of traditional sounds. Adrien Belew of King Crimson appears on about half of it. 36 tracks of delicious music. I'm not the biggest fan of NIN but this is just too awesome to pass up. So, support this guy at ghosts.nin.com.

Watchmen and some music

So it's about time for an update. The biggest thing right now is Alan Moore's Watchmen from 1986-87. I bought this (what a concept!) a little while back right after reading Batman: The Killing Joke, (see previous post) also written by Moore. It took me the better part of two days to read it; it's pretty darn thick.

Holy crap is it good.

I shouldn't be surprised, and I suppose I'm not. This book is revered as the best graphic novel ever by nearly everybody. The most outstanding aspect of it is the story itself; although mostly applicable during the Cold War, it still rings pretty true today, a sort of anti-war novel. It isn't a traditional one though. With all the main characters as masked vigilantes, genius pseudo-megalomaniacs and nuclear demigods battling themselves and each other over how (and whether) to protect humanity, it could hardly be traditional.

In a sort of documentary about Moore called The Mindscape of Alan Moore, the genius writer describes the inherent link between art and magic. What this man has wrought in Watchmen is a perfect example of magic by his definition, which is something that changes a person's perception of reality (I think that's what it was anyway, I'm paraphrasing). I will probably never look at comics the same way again, nor life in general. This is the sort of thing that makes people form opinions.

Okay. On to some music.


Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom
I've heard these guys mentioned quite a few times before, but didn't bother checking them out until yesterday. I shouldn't have waited. DSO's style is an amalgam of metal, classical, and I guess some sort of bluegrass or something. This is their only full album so far, I haven't listened their EP. Seeing as I've only listened through this album once I can't give a very in depth review, but I definitely recommend it.

Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats
Ween is a peculiar band. I haven't heard a whole lot of their stuff an most of it hasn't really interested me. However, Devin Townsend likes them so that's enough for me. Also this is a great piece of work. It's in the musical style of country as the title suggests, but instead of the subject matter dealing with tractors and beer coupled with heartbreak, pictures are painted with sci-fi and satire. The parental advisory on the front shouldn't be ignored, as there are some pretty awesome lyrics. It's a fun album.

Samael - Solar Soul
Yet another black metal turned avant-garde band. These guys aren't quite as out there as Ulver or Manes, but they're definitely good. This music is more industrial metal than anything, sort of sounding like Rammstein (although I don't really listen to them at all, and this is much more complex). It has symphonic elements as well, hearkening back to their roots. It's even catchy. Again I've only heard this once so far, but it stuck out of the many titles I've been going through of late.

I'm listening to it again now, and I just noticed that the vocals kind of sound like those in Celtic Frost's latest release, Monotheist, which is an awesome album by the way.

Stam1na - Uudet Kymmenen Käskyä
Finland has recently come out of obscurity in the music world due to Lordi's almost miraculous entry and win in Eurovision a little while back. This oddly named group here has also ridden pretty high on the charts, and for good reason. This is some pretty darn catchy metal; a little similar to french act Scarve, and with a few elements close to Strapping Young Lad. They're a lot more catchy though, a little mainstream sounding with all the production; not nearly as brutal as those two bands. Still it's very very enjoyable stuff.


Now for the heavy stuff \m/

Pig Destroyer - Prowler in the Yard
Just from the name you can imagine the brutality contained in this music, never mind the cover art. Pig Destroyer is a grind-core band, a genre that came from a melding of hardcore punk and death metal. The songs are short and fast. Unrelentingly psyche-scratching. The intro is read to us by the ubiquitous "Bob" computer voice. He describes a scene with two women engaged in some form of off perversion watched by a group of people who have no idea what to do about it. Then the music begins, and only those desensitized to onslaughts of musical brutality will keep listening. I love it. The vocals are, as expected, incomprehensible, but I checked some out and found this section of verse:

Certain things fascinate me.
First I went blind and then the sun went out.
The way you hold a match so steady.
How heaven is collapsing under so much joy.

I love that stuff like this can be so obscured by its presentation; I think it's beautiful. Beautiful brutality. The album ends with a return to Bob's monotone delivery of a conclusion to the weird tangle discussed in the intro. I won't describe it as it's quite graphic, and should only be beheld in its original form, if you're willing to try it.

I've listened to a ton of other stuff recently, but these were the standouts. Unfortunately much of what I try doesn't really get me at all, but I'll sometimes come back to it and see what I was missing. I think that's a common tale.

Batman: The Killing Joke

It seems my foray into comic land continues. DC has put out some darned good stuff, and I haven't really looked at much of it. The recent drama with Heath Ledger's death prompted me to read up on The Dark Knight, and apparently both Batman Begins and this upcoming film are largely based on The Long Halloween, which I will be reading shortly. Ledger's character also draws from this comic.

This is fantastic. Better than the previous comic I reviewed, I think. It has the whole origin thing for The Joker, which I always like, and partially for that reason he's given a much more human face; I use the term "face" in a metaphorical sense of course, he's still the ghastly nightmare we all love. Anyway, you really empathize with The Joker, as his story plays out as a sad, unfortunate one. The overall feel of the book is quite dark, altough not nearly as much as Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth for example, which I read a while back. That was quite a trip.

This kind of adult-comic style is very alluring to me. For some reason I think I'm enjoying comics more now than I did as a kid; of course I've only just started, and these are pretty much the cream of the crop.

I am very much looking forward to The Dark Knight. RIP Heath Ledger.