ARTIST: Lamb of God
ALBUM TITLE: Resolution
RECORD LABEL: Epic Records
RELEASED: January 24, 2011

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

Since breaking into the mainstream back in 2004 with their major label debut Ashes of the Wake, it’s been interesting watching Lamb of God’s trajectory. Unlike many metal bands that get snatched up by the majors just when they’re ripe for picking, the band took the less likely route, refusing to water down their sound.

Resolution is their seventh album as a band, and their fourth on Epic, and despite the band having settled quite well into the well-worn territories of groove metal, they’re still going strong, and they’re not mellowing out any either. If anything, this album had more than a couple surprises that even I wasn’t expecting, far surpassing 2009’s Wrath, which found the band more or less playing it safe, coloring in the lines that they drew themselves with their past few efforts.

The album immediately goes for the throat, opening with “Straight for the Sun,” a raw, sludgy number that earns them the achievement of being the slowest song they’ve ever recorded on an album, and frontman Randy Blythe sounds like he literally coughed up a lung performing the vocals, which considering his style is really saying something. This is quickly countered by “Desolation,” a song that literally jumps out the gate from the song before it, pummeling anything that was left standing.

The noticeable thing about Resolution is how confident the band sound. Unlike on Wrath, which sounded like the album that the band thought was expected of them, this one is particularly hellbent on going its own way, regardless of the outcome. How else would you be able to explain the band opening up with a sludgy, doom-inflected song, only to finish it off with “King Me,” a sprawling epic (for Lamb of God, at least) that lasts nearly seven minutes and ends with female opera vocals and an orchestral arrangement?

Despite how it sounds, this isn’t the sound of the band tempering their sound to make their music more marketable, or some kind of desperate plea for mainstream attention; everything Lamb of God is doing on this album is done so on their terms, and doesn’t feel forced. It’s the natural progression of a band finally breaking free from the chains that seemingly held them in a bit of a holding pattern, debatably over the course of their last four albums.

Sure, all of those albums had their moments, but they all had such a similar style that — discounting production values — they  could have been interchangeable from one album to the next. Resolution isn’t so much of a drastic change that they sound like a completely different band, but it shows enough artistic growth that when some of the less adventurous songs pop up from time to time (“Guilty,” “Cheated” and “Terminally Unique” all come to mind) it’s a bit more forgivable. The only down side to such songs, though, is that Resolution‘s momentum takes a hit each time one of these songs pops up, but the band quickly picks up the slack.

Even a song like “Insurrection,” which features completely clean vocals for the first time — a definite no-no in the oft-closed minded world of metal — sounds more like it was placed in the song for dramatic effect rather than to weasel its way onto radio. It’s a potent curveball that the band throws about three quarters of the way through the album, and it works quite well. The song starts out sounding like what would be best described as modern/alternative rock, but it progressively gets heavier and the cleans give way to Blythe’s typical growled style.

If there’s one complaint that I have about Resolution, it’s that it feels a bit long. Despite only being a scant few minutes longer than any of their albums, clocking in around the 55 minute mark, it pushes the album from being a great metal album to being just a good one. With a few of the songs peppered throughout being a bit interchangeable in both sound and style, trimming some of the fat might have given Resolution a bit more bite. As it is, it’s nothing that really ruins the experience, but it does tend to drag from time to time.

Everything that has made Lamb of God who they are today is found on Resolution in one way or another and the band sounds more energized than they have in a while. Without a doubt, this is due to the fact that they relied less on fitting the mold of their past few albums, and even though there’s a bit of lag in a few of the songs, one cannot deny their ability to still create challenging, relevant metal, all while playing up to their strengths on a technical level.

RATING: 8/10

Front page photo from mymetalbin.com, interior photo from nuskull.hu.

By Jon Robertson
Staff Writer, Illegitimate Son of Irwin M. Fletcher

Every year it seems that there are a handful of albums that get released that everyone goes bananas for, but if you really stop and listen to the music you realize that the album is not as good as everyone thinks, or in some cases might actually be absolute garbage. Here is the five step process as to why I think this happens.

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1. Hype: In some cases there is way too much attention given from websites and magazines on how the artist or group has grown since their last release. These publications keep hooting and hollering about all the hoopla on all the new fantastic things they are doing. The buildup for the record keeps growing and growing until everyone gets so excited that the new record is already ordained as the “second coming” before anyone has even heard it.

2. Posing: After websites and publications hype the shit of these recordings and the album sucks, they are trapped. Very rarely will you see any kind of music publication retract all the excitement they had for an album and confess that the album is not as good as they have been predicting it to be.

3. Buying in: People that follow these publications and generally trust their judgment hear said recording, and even though they may not like the album, they convince themselves that they do because their favorite music critic says it’s awesome.

4. Fear: This is where I usually get caught up in it. Now that the music sources and people in the know are preaching about how amazing this record is, I feel like I am missing out, so I give it a listen and it’s horrible. But instead of just accepting it at that I begin to question my judgment. “How could I think this sucks if everyone else thinks it’s great? What am I Missing? Am I lame? Close minded?” So now I have the fear of being left out so I fall into #3 and buy in.

5. Acceptance: After the music critics bought into the hype, refusing to admit their mistake and all the hip people say its dope and the rest of us are too afraid of being left out or uncool, the crap album is accepted as amazing, never to be questioned again.

Finally after all these years, I have overcome my fear of being bogus and I am now ready to call out the all the bogus records of 2011 that have benefited from the five-step process above.

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10. PJ Harvey: Let England Shake (Vagrant Records) — I have a lot of respect for Ms. Harvey so it pains me to put her on this list, but this record is probably her weakest musically. I understand that the lyrics are all political; I just need a lot more than fancy lyrics to enjoy a record. What is the good of powerful lyrics if they are not backed by powerful tracks? I guess when I want my revolution I want it to sound more like Rage Against the Machine than Bob Dylan.

9. Wild Flag: Wild Flag (Merge Records) — A super group of a bunch of ladies from bands that were never very good in the first place. With their powers combined they created… blandness. Obnoxious vocals, guitar licks and presentation all around. This is to be expected though, since the only good band that existed from these ladies previously was Mary Timony’s ’90s act Helium.

8. Adele: 21 (Columbia) — To me, this is the equivalent of listening to your mom belt out a bunch of bland pop R&B tunes in her minivan. Seriously, just her vibe in general is annoying. Listening to her music is like listening to a bunch of throwaway tracks from Motown’s garbage bin.

7. Liturgy: Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey) — Hipster metal has arrived and it is weak. Thanks a lot, Liturgy. This is what Snapcase would sound like if they didn’t try. I do admit that there are some insane rhythmic tracks on here, and the drummer does some pretty amazing stuff. However, Aesthetica makes the list because of the all the attention it’s getting. If you go on online and look at certain websites’ 2010 year end lists there was almost no mention of metal at all. It’s funny to see these same websites this year put out best of metal lists for 2011 now just because there is a doofy metal band from Brooklyn.

6. Yuck: Yuck (Fat Possum) — Everyone keeps saying how awesome this ’90s revival indie rock band is. I challenge you to listen to any of Yuck’s tracks back to back with any of the bands they are compared to, like Dinosaur Jr. You will notice how junior high this band sounds. I think this record just goes to show how desperate people are to hear something of quality but, instead of searching a little harder for band with a ’90s flair and some actual passion, they just settle for this young English band because the bass player has an afro.

5. Bon Iver: Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar) — Now this record isn’t horrible. It’s actually pretty good, but not as freakin’ amazing as everyone says it is. If you take a concentrated listen to the ten songs included on this record, there is absolutely nothing groundbreaking going on musically, lyrically or emotion-wise. This is an album to put you to sleep, not to be considered as one of the best releases of the year. I think the main reason this record was included on publication’s lists and given so much attention is the fact that Justin Vernon guested on a couple songs on last year’s most overrated album — possibly the most overrated album of all time — Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

4. Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop) — Another electric folk album that had way too much anticipation associated with it before its release. I know, because I was caught up in the anticipation at first and I actually thought I liked this record for a second. Then I realized this band has a knack of taking the most generic aspects of certain bands (My Morning Jacket/Band of Horses) and making them the highlight of their music. There is not one song on this album that can stand up to MMJ’s release this year. If you’re not paying attention, you won’t even notice that one song has ended and a new one has begun. Do yourself a favor ignore this record and listen to Vetiver’s The Errant Charm instead; it’s so much better.

3. Fucked Up: David Comes to Life (Matador Records) — Just because you put a concept behind vanilla punk screams and guitar progressions doesn’t mean that the music is any good. Every song sounds exactly the same. A lot of reviews hearken back to the Ramones when mentioning this band. If you compare the Ramones’ music to Fucked Up, you will realize that the Ramones actually had the ability to make their songs individual enough so that you could discern one song from the next. I dig concept albums a lot, but this one is essentially just one song repeated over and over.

2. Jay-Z & Kanye West: Watch the Throne (Def Jam) — One boring ass record that consists of two super rich dudes’ bland verses about how pimp and awesome they are. You’d think the two biggest rappers out now would have come up with some better beats then the ones used here. It’s interesting to watch musicians become famous and larger than life, because as time goes on the band or artist slowly become parodies of themselves. Watch the Throne is a prime example of that.

1. Foo Fighters: Wasting Light (RCA) — This band used to be cool. I’m pretty sure the last good album they put out was There is Nothing Left to Lose. I used to love Dave Grohl with all my heart. I still think that he is an amazing drummer and his interviews are still pretty hilarious. He seems like a cool dude all around, but as he’s gotten older I think he has become a bit obsessed with himself (just like Kanye and Jay-Z). He keeps saying stuff about “this is how a rock band does it”. A real rock band doesn’t point out that they are in a rock band. The new album has no taters, and screw all the talk about how raw and tough it is… it’s lame. Listen to the new Russian Circles or O’Brother albums for something raw and energetic. It hurts me to hate on the Foo Fighters; I’m just starting to wonder what the difference is between the Foos and Nickelback. Please don’t be mad at me Dave.

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This list basically goes against the majority of top 2011 lists on the internet out right now, so try not to hate and overreact. Instead, take another listen to the music listed above and ask yourself, “Do I really like this?”. I think that you’ll realize that you actually don’t and to help fill the empty spot these albums left in your soul, I recommend checking out some if not all the albums listed on my Top 22 of 2011. Good luck.

By Jon Robertson
Staff Writer, Illegitimate son of Irwin M. Fletcher

Here’s list of music I found interesting in 2011. I’m sure I missed a boatload of music this year, but these are the albums I happened to stumble upon.

22. Eisley: The Valley (Equal Vision) — I was a bit worried about Eisley’s sound when their debut album Room Noises was released because of all the extra instrumentation involved. The band regained their whimsical punch from their early EP’s for the follow up and the brother sister quintet have kept the organic dreaminess in tacked for their third full length. I love these girls’ voices.

21. Starkey: Space Traitor Vol.’s 1 & 2 (Civil Music) — A bass music/dubstep two volume concept album about the adventures through space, it’s cool to see an electronic musician put a concept behind their work. Ditch all the remixes on the back end of both albums though and stick to the original jams. Also, check out the video for “Robot Hands.” Church will never be the same.

20. Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi (Domino) — Anna Calvi is the female Doppelgänger of Jeff Buckley. This album is all kinds of soul with sparse compositions that highlight Calvi’s guitar playing and voice. This album is basically a more masculine version of Buckley’s Grace.

19. The Atlas Moth: An Ache for the Distance (Profound Lore) — The Atlas Moth do metal in a way that isn’t cookie cutter. These guys are able to mix in doom with a southern swagger while keeping the creativity and thoughtfulness of Isis. Also, nudity on the cover always gets you extra consideration for the year end list.

18. Cults: Cults (Columbia) — Sugary sweet pop music with a hint of the 60’s and a dark lyrical undertone, it’s addicting like pixie sticks and Mountain Dew. Cults never fail to put me in a good mood every time I listen to them.

17. WU LYF: Go Tell Fire to the Mountain (LYF Recordings) — For awhile everyone seemed to be more obsessed with the mystery around World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation (WU LYF) then their actual music. Then their album came out and finally a legitimate reason to be obsessed. Picture Kings of Leon’s music but with less production sheen mixed with the voice of Gared O’Donnel from Planes Mistaken for Stars, an awesome combo.

16.  ††† (Crosses): EP † (Crosses) — This synthed-out release is the product of the new side band from Chino Moreno (Deftones) and Shaun Lopez (Far). This five song EP was given away for free on the band’s website. The sound is somewhat similar to Team Sleep but a lot more electronic based. Anything with Moreno’s voice on it will always make my year end list. I love you Chino!

15. Russian Circles: Empros (Sargent House) — Russian Circles are just plain cool. The band has the ability to make instrumentals interesting, unlike most post-rock, post-hardcore, post-metal instrumental bands out now. Russian Circles are all out entertaining and definitely the kings of the instrumental metal band genre.  Brian Cook, you are my hero.

14. Theophilus London: Lovers Holiday EP (Warner Bros.) / Timez Are Weird These Days (Reprise) — It’s been refreshing this past year to have so much good hip-hop come out. It’s great to listen to MC’s that aren’t obsessed with rapping about how awesome and rich they are. Theophilus London is as creative as they come and his beats on the EP and the full length are enough to put into you ’80s beach party euphoria.

13. Young Widows: In and Out of Youth and Lightness (Temporary Residence) — I like to hear a band expand from a genre they mastered and start adding in new elements as they continue making music. Young Widows have done just that on their third full length. These guys have created a potent concoction of reverb and creepiness to their heavy pimp smack sound. The bass player’s tone is so good it makes me cry.

12. Thundercat: Golden Age of Apocalypse (Brainfeeder) — I am sucker for some good bass playing and the fact that this album is a bunch of that plus production from Flying Lotus makes me happy all around. These are some cool smooth jazz-infused techno type beats. Stephen Burners’ vocals are like a falsetto Barry White.

11. Vetiver: The Errant Charm (Sub Pop) — The fifth album form Vetiver shows the band expanding upon their folk rock sound and incorporating some sunnier beat driven elements. This is one record that I feel has been vastly overlooked and underappreciated this year.

10. O’Brother – Garden Window (Triple Crown) — Bands that can make experimental progressive hard rock without going all metal are hard to come by.  O’Brother’s debut full length mixes all kinds of different vibes and elements while still being able to drop the hammer from tune to tune. Imagine a giant orgy of Queens of the Stone Age, Neurosis, Filter, Radiohead and Grizzly Bear.

9. Tyler, the Creator: Goblin (XL Recordings) — Even if the album sucked it would make the list for the “Yonkers” and “Thurnis Haley” clips. The beats are bad, brawny and big. The immaturity throughout out the album is hilarious and Frank Ocean’s hook on “She” is crazy catchy.

8. Clams Casino: Instrumental Mixtape (Self-Released) / Rainforest EP (Tri Angle) — I included both of Clams Casino’s instrumental releases because I feel like he needs to get credit for the smooth hazy beats he makes. His music is best appreciated instrumental without a rap verse over the top. I love the mood he creates and his blipped out vocal samples are pure bliss.

7. Cities Aviv: Digital Lows (Self-Released) — With his original sampling on this record, Gavin Mays brings a different perspective to hip-hop that I dig, and again nudity on the cover is always good. “Meet Me on Montrose (Song for Ex-Lovers Only)” is easily the best song of the year.

6. St. Vincent: Strange Mercy (4AD) — The random cacophony of sounds included in these songs is downright perplexing and inspiring. I hear a new sound every time I listen to it. A giant upgrade from previous releases, plus I’m digging Annie Clark’s lyrics a lot more this time around. I’m still bummed I missed her live show a couple months back.

5. Toro Y Moi: Underneath the Pines (Carpark Records) / Freaking Out EP (Carpark Records) — Both of Toro Y Moi’s releases this year are both equally good and need to be considered together. Chaz Bundik’s music is like cooler, more modern version of the Bee Gees.

4. M83: Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Mute) — I am kind of cheating by putting this on my year end list. If you edit this double album down to just one disc and include: tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 9 of off the first disc and tracks 2, 3, 5, 8 and 11 of the second disc you have one epic energetic listen. The other 11 tracks basically consist of meandering intros and half-baked song ideas that bog the vibe of the music down.

3. My Morning Jacket: Circuital (ATO/RED) — My Morning Jacket’s triumphant return, these guys don’t get enough credit for how creative they are. Circuital is a solid album from start to finish with an interesting element added in on every song. I want to grow a beard and party with these guys.

2. The Cool Kids: When Fish Ride Bicycles (C.A.K.E./Green Label Sound) — Finally!! I’ve been waiting forever for this to come out. Short sweet and to the point, When Fish Ride Bicycles is perfect music for the summertime. Hopefully the next album doesn’t take as long as this one did to release.  Cool Kids for life.

1. Glassjaw: Coloring Book EP (Self-Released) — This EP is what the future of awesomeness sounds like. It’s good to have Glassjaw back. Every rock band should have this as their favorite record of the year. I can’t wait for the new full length. I think their drummer has three arms.

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Well there you have it. If there’s something that’s not on the list that should be let me know so I can check it out, unless it sucks, which might be the case because, they were some seriously overappreciated/overhyped albums this year, some of which will be making my list of overrated albums coming soon.

ARTIST: Various Artists
ALBUM TITLE: BadAss: Boss Themes
RECORD LABEL: Independent (OverClocked ReMix)
RELEASED: December 8, 2011

By Justin Polak
Co-founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

Another OverClocked ReMix release, another cool concept for an album. For their 30th album, the OC ReMix community focuses on arrangements of boss music! This is one of those ideas that had me wondering how it wasn’t thought of sooner, as a matter of fact. Well, no matter, BadAss: Boss Themes is available now, and I’m sure it’s already apparent that I am enjoying yet another video game remix album.

There are a few tracks that have been done before, so I do appreciate that the remixes that have been done seemingly hundreds of times are approached from a different angle. The best example I can think of is “Sephiroth – BadAzz.” After an opening that makes the famous last boss track sound as if it were in the original Doom, it quickly morphs into a danceable mix that almost sounds like an original work. I can picture hundreds of Final Fantasy cosplayers dancing at a convention accidentally bumping their bulky costumes, spiked hair and cardboard swords into each other. In all seriousness, I did enjoy this arrangement even though I don’t get into this style of music too often.

I also appreciated that there are mixes from newer games on this album. While there are plenty of remixes from games from all generations, compilations such as this one generally focus on the 16-bit era and below. In other words, I was happy to see a “Laughing Octopus” mix from Metal Gear Solid 4. Not only am I a big fan of the series itself, but the original version of that boss track was my favorite in that installment. The version on this album rocks out in a different way, but still carries the same feeling of anticipation and intensity.

I even got into a couple of mixes from games I haven’t played. For example, I never got into Devil May Cry past the first one, I’ve been meaning to play Suikoden II for years, I’m only vaguely familiar with Shadow Hearts: Covenant and chalk Mass Effect as another major series on my to do list. Yet, as I just mentioned, I still liked what I heard. Out of the four mixes I am referring to, the Mass Effect one caught my ear the most simply because I loved the slow paced beat and the emphasis on bass.

Whenever an OC ReMix album drops, I always quickly gravitate towards a specific track that eventually becomes my favorite one. In this case, I would have to say its the Mega Man 3 remix, “Dr. Wily – A Daring Escape.” I admit that when it comes to my taste in video game remixes, I am very typical: metal and electronic mixes dominate all, for the most part. While I certainly like orchestated music, I usually view video game arrangements of that style as more of a nice nod towards the original. This mix has earned my full respect. To give you an idea of how it might sound, I can picture it being in a Super Smash Bros. game if Mega Man is ever allowed to participate.

As far as the flaws go, only a couple of track bored me, but my real beef is mainly with the way the album was put together. Final Fantasy is one of my favorite series, and I am a huge fan of the soundtracks to those games. However, did we really need five of eighteen tracks to be dedicated to that series? I generally have a problem with a minor lack of variety in OC ReMix albums, and unfortunately, this one is no exception.

Any frequent reader can predict what I am about to say at this point: check out BadAss: Boss Themes. I know I usually end up praising these albums from OC ReMix, but I can’t help that they are generally mixed professionally. Like I said, I wished they eased off the Final Fantasy a bit, but overall there is plenty of style and substance to be found.

RATING: 8.5/10

Download BadAss: Boss Themes for free at badass.ocremix.org.

ARTISTS: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
ALBUM TITLE: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
RECORD LABEL: The Null Corporation
RELEASE DATE: December 9, 2011

By Justin Polak
Co-founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

Before I say anything, I would like to point out that I know next to nothing about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I know people who have read the book and seen the original film, but I still know sparse details about the plot. The reason why I am pointing this out is because listening to this soundtrack was a completely fresh experience for me. In other words, I can’t guess where any track would be placed in the upcoming film, or conjure up any other similar preconceptions. To me, this was purely a musical experience.

However, I am familiar with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. I did review The Social Network Soundtrack last year, and Nine Inch Nails is one of my favorite bands. I was very happy with how the soundtrack to The Social Network came out, so I have been anticipating The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack immensely.

The opening track is the cover of Led Zeppelin’s, “Immigrant Song” with vocals from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs while the closing track is How to Destroy Angel’s cover of Bryan Ferry’s, “Is Your Love Strong Enough?” These tracks make great bookends to the rest of the nearly three hour behemoth of a soundtrack. If anything, I consider those two tracks more like extras, since the other 37 tracks are obviously the film’s score, and sound completely different from them. Don’t get me wrong — they are great covers, especially if you dig a NIN-like sound, but the real star is the literal soundtrack.

Never in my whole life have I been so uncomfortable and stressed while listening to music. This sentiment is a good thing. In general, the score is emotionally heavy, and has a wide range of soundscapes. At the end of my Social Network soundtrack review, I used a video game analogy by saying it was like an expansion pack to NIN’s Ghosts I-IV. To continue the analogy, the music of TGWTDT is like playing a brand new game with new mechanics, but you still can tell who developed it.

Since the comparison to the Oscar winning Social Network soundtrack is inevitable, I might as well board that train of thought. First, TGWTDT is much more organic, and that’s not just because of its much greater length or decent amount of live instruments. The constant flow from ambient and dissonant sounds to heart racing beats keep the listeners attention, especially since nothing seems repetitive.  If anything, the only track that sounds Social Network-like is “She Reminds Me Of You” at the start. Awhile back, I read a short interview with Trent claiming he was going to do something totally different with this soundtrack. While anyone who is familiar with his work can spot his signature style, I say that he accomplished his goal of not only making it distinctive from the Social Network soundtrack, but different from anything he has been involved with before.

I also got a very creepy vibe from TGWTDT. Again, this isn’t a complaint. Based on what little I know about the film, I am sure it fits in perfectly. Ages ago, I remember being creeped out by a couple of tracks from the soundtrack to Quake, a 1996 video game that Reznor composed the music for. Looking back, the tracks in question sound like happy, upbeat tunes compared to what is found here.

However, the entire soundtrack doesn’t try to give the listener an eerie sensation. “What If We Could?” is a tragic, heartbreaking piano centered track that showcases that when Trent wants to, he knows exactly what keys to hit when trying to convey intense emotion. This has quickly risen to the top of my favorite piano pieces ever.

“Pinned And Mounted” is when the soundtrack first got my full attention. While this is a typical song that uses many layers of music to slowly build up to something structured and flowing, that doesn’t make it any less impressive. As the various layers pile on, it seems that more and more anxious feelings pour out of your speakers.

Going into more of a menacing territory, there’s “A Thousand Details,” a particular track that is pure badass. A driving beat eventually joins up with powerful drums, various electronic ticks, and smooth bass. I know I am way off on how this fits into the movie, but I kind of want to get into a car chase and play this track at the same time.

As much as I am into those other tracks, one of my favorite tracks off this soundtrack is quite easily “The Seconds Drag.” Without actually hearing it, this might sound stupid and predictable, but a ticking sound is present throughout the majority of the track. Various chimes and what sounds like long stretches wine glasses singing make for something that truly sounds haunting.

“Oraculum,” the longest song on TGWTDT, and “Great Bird Of Prey” work together beautifully even though they don’t transition into each other like some other tracks do. They are both lively in their own way, as well as being two of the more interesting listens when it comes to this project. As a matter of fact, the end of the soundtrack picks up more in general. I don’t necessarily mean that there is more traditional structured music, but it seems that most of the tracks become more and more complex.

There are many more tracks I can spend time kissing ass on, but I don’t want to have this review wear out its welcome. I guess the only people who wouldn’t enjoy something like this are people expecting more traditional music. Outside of the opening and closing covers, the rest of the soundtrack is exactly like how the Social Network soundtrack played out — simply music that is used in the film.

After hearing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the only similarity I can make with Trent and Atticus’ last soundtrack is that it has sufficiently hyped me up for the film itself. Only this time I am happier with the music. Just save some time and give them another Oscar.

RATING: 9/10

Front page image/interior photo from latimes.com.

ARTIST: Metallica
ALBUM TITLE: Beyond Magnetic EP
RECORD LABEL: Warner Bros. Records
RELEASED: December 13, 2011

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

After releasing Lulu to the poor reception that it’s gotten from pretty much everyone, it’s hard to not look at this release — a collection of B-sides that didn’t make the cut for their 2008 return-to-roots album Death Magnetic — as a very calculated and perfectly-timed bit of damage control. However, considering the quality of these songs, it’s a great way to make up for their less-celebrated endeavors last month.

With four songs clocking in around a half hour, they fall into the same sprawling, lengthy vein that most of Death Magnetic fell into, but after a few listens, it’s not hard to see why they didn’t fit in on that album. From a structural standpoint, these songs are a little more expansive in their scope than the whole of DM, toying with different textures, riffs that don’t really fall into Metallica’s typical style, and clean breaks that hint at a bit of progression in the songwriting that wasn’t so present in the final product.

While that doesn’t mean that Metallica is going all proggy on us now, it just shows signs of the type of experimentation from the band that hasn’t really been present in their music in quite some time. Whereas the songs of Death Magnetic were more about sticking to a very formulaic, longwinded path peppered with the expected solos, Beyond Magnetic shows the band utilizing a different approach.

“Hate Train,” while being a little cheesy at points in the lyrics, takes a riff that’s basically a beefed up version of “Fuel” and marries it to a clean melodic chorus that sounds plucked from one of Load or Reload’s more melodramatic songs, and then spliced with a heavy helping of thrashing out throughout, complete with a pseudo breakdown riff towards the song’s climax. “Just a Bullet Away,” on the other hand, features spiraling riffs during the choruses that pair up nicely with James Hetfield’s lyrics about voices in his head. Eventually, the song gives way to an unexpected silent break, only to return with a somber instrumental section bringing back memories of the Metallica that once was.

Granted, these songs are still very much in line with the style that the album sessions that birthed them, but it shows what could very well amount to a new era for the band that I think most fans would welcome in a heartbeat. By combining some of their more adventurous past elements into the structure and melodicism of their more recent material, they could be onto something much more interesting than Death Magnetic. It shows the band taking the kind of risks with their songwriting that we want to hear from them, not the kind that results in more disappointment. The only drawback to the whole project is the rough nature of the EP. As we were warned, these songs are raw and unpolished, so don’t expect to hear the greatest mixing or clarity. Then again, it still sounds better than the horrendously clipped Death Magnetic and generally garbage tone of St. Anger.

I think it’s obvious that Metallica are never going to record Master of Puppets: Part II, so this probably isn’t going to convert anyone that’s given up on the band already, but it’s probably their strongest work in a long time, and it kind of makes me wish that Death Magnetic sounded more like this than the way it ended up, but I think they felt that they had to prove to their fans that they could still rock out and play, so they did what they felt was right. Either way, it’s a good collection of songs that hopefully point to things in the future. Ultimately, as a Metallica fan, I know it’s not good form to be so optimistic about their musical endeavors, but damn it if Beyond Magnetic doesn’t make me think that I can look forward to new material from the band without fearing for the worst. We all can dream, can’t we? Even if James Hetfield is the table.

RATING: 7.5/10

Front page image from guardian.co.uk, interior photo from f1rocks.com.

ARTIST: Korn
ALBUM TITLE: The Path of Totality
RECORD LABEL: Roadrunner Records
RELEASED: December 6, 2011

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

With Korn’s last stab at trying to recreate the fire of their early material— last year’s III: Remember Who You Are — having pretty much stuck firmly in my memory as dead on arrival, they opted to go the opposite direction. And while it may come to many as an even greater betrayal of their style (and music in general), they’ve decided to fuse their music with that of the wub-wub-wubbing of the oft-despised dubstep genre.

The Path of Totality — despite all the bullshit claims by frontman Jonathan Davis of Korn being “future metal” or the fact that they were “dubstep before there was dubstep” — actually works for the most part. However, it’s mainly because of the fact that unlike many of the dubstep mixes most of us have grown to hate, this is a collaborative effort, rather than the sound of a song remixed with a ton of bass drops and the wobbling basslines that have become the latest trend to hit dance and club music. Having such electronic artists as Skrillex, Excision, Noisia and Downlink provide the backbeat for the entirety of their album, it takes on a much different form than anything the band has released previously, with the exception being maybe their collaboration with the Dust Brothers back on 1997’s Spawn: The Album, or maybe their “Chopped and Screwed” remix album of See You On the Other Side. However, neither of those examples committed nearly as fully to a full-on collaboration as The Path of Totality.

The downside to that is the fact that the heft of most of the songs is provided by the dubstep and electronic backdrops, where the guitars and clanking, low-end bass once did so. This results in many of the songs sounding more like the type of “industrial” remixes that we used to get all the time as bonus tracks on limited editions of way too many nü metal albums back at the turn of the millennium. While most of the songs are expertly produced and polished to a shine — “Burn the Obedient” is a great example of this retro/modern juxtaposition — some of the songs feel a bit hollow at points, almost as if The Path of Totality is an album of remixes of songs which we’ve never been given the privilege of listening to in the first place. However, considering the fact that the band’s been committing many more misfires than hits in the last decade or so, I’m not entirely convinced that this is a bad thing.

Much like last time around, Davis sounds very much in tune with the songs in his performance, which is a trend that I’d like to see the rest of the band follow. I’d almost argue that this is the best that he’s sounded on record easily since 1999’s Issues. Unfortunately, with the nature of an album such as this, the production doesn’t really leave drummer Ray Luzier a whole lot of room to shine. When most of the beats are as processed and overproduced as they are on The Path of Totality, how much can you really bring to the table? As for the rest of the band, most of the guitar and bass parts are stripped down and scaled back so that the other guys can step in and do their thing that most of it barely resembles even the most basic elements of Korn songs. It doesn’t really take away from the songs though, because as I mentioned before, the production works to color in all of the empty spaces, and it works pretty well.

Perhaps I’m being a bit too kind to The Path of Totality, but I really don’t have the big problem with dubstep as much as I do the terrible remixes that have been giving that particular genre a bad name. Plus, some of the songs are the catchiest they’ve had in a very long time, which has to count for something. As far as quality goes, this is the first album since Issues that I don’t find myself skipping tracks to the next song during a dull moment. While it’s kind of a shame that it took the band jumping on a completely different tangent — or bandwagon, depending on your stance — for them to do so, The Path of Totality is the most consistent thing they’ve done in a long time, and nothing short of a comeback. The true test, perhaps, will be if they can recapture this spirit live, let alone next time around, without the added help.

RATING: 7.5/10

Front page image/interior photo from korn.com.

ARTIST: Various Artists
ALBUM TITLE: 25YEARLEGEND: A Legend of Zelda Indie Game Composer Tribute
RECORD LABEL: Independent (OverClocked ReMix)
RELEASED: November 22, 2011

By Justin Polak
Co-founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

Having just finished Skyward Sword, my desire for anything Zelda related is understandably high these days. When I was offered to review yet another album from OverClocked ReMix, I happily accepted. I always found the music in Zelda to be very simplistic, but still managed to sound as beautiful an elaborately complex piece. I find that tends to open up a variety of ways you can approach an arrangement. With many creative indie composers backing this project, I was looking forward to what was going to come out of my speakers.

That’s right, the angle of this album is that all songs were composed by someone who worked on an independent game. I’ll let the site explain it for me: “25YEARLEGEND was started by Rekcahdam as a small indie session, but quickly grew into a massive project with the help of all the indie artists involved. Each featured composer has worked on a notable project in the indie game community while being influenced by the music of Zelda some time in their lives. Hopefully this project will make the 25th anniversary of Zelda that much more enjoyable!”

While the arrangements focus mainly on Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past, there is plenty of variety to be found, as per usual on an album coming from OverClocked ReMix. You get the typical live band treatment, charming chiptunes, and even some…dubstep.

I hate to be Mr. Negative, and perhaps I am reaching that point where I am getting too old for newer music, but I just can’t get into dubstep. I kind of liked it when I first heard it, but after hearing the way it has evolved in recent times, the constant wub-wubbing and similar beat patterns have worn out its welcome. Only two of the eighteen tracks feature this genre, and one of those tracks only touches on it. Also, to be fair, the dubstep doesn’t go overboard as some other songs I have heard in the past.

I didn’t let those moments ruin the album for me, as I found myself committing a few track titles to memory in order to add to a future playlist. By far, my favorite is “Thunderstruck” because let’s face it, the “Song of Storms” is an ear worm that will bury itself deep into your brain for all eternity. I love the live band backing string instruments, and how they throw the main theme in there to keep it from being repetitive (as much as I love the original track, I realize that it is simply a short loop). The chiptune ending with the sound of a raging storm in the distance was perfect.

Another song I really got into was “Gimme My Sword!” I simply love how misleading the garage band-like opening is. Almost immediately, the track calms down with a beautiful piano rendition of “Sword Search,” an underrated classic from Link’s Awakening. Again, there is a short, but sweet chiptune section, but what interests me the most is the samples from one of the original Zelda commercials and….Navi saying her infamous,”Hey! Listen!”

As a matter of fact, this album sure loves to sample that small fairy catchphrase a lot. Personally, I never found Navi or her voice all that annoying while trekking through OOT. I honestly hope the use of that sample in a few tracks was an attempt to troll listeners, because the idea of some of the composers coming up with that idea genuinely made me laugh.

Anyway, as far as something that you can groove to, “Labryinth of Dance Floors” is a fun rendition of one of the dungeon themes from ALTTP. Like any good dance track, it captures your attention immediately, has a nice break in the middle, then comes back in full force with a vengeance. The ominous ending was a nice touch, as I remember the original tune screwing with me as a kid.

While I do like more tracks, I can’t help but notice that the first half of the album seems a lot stronger to me. Upon repeated listenings, I tend to tune out without even trying on some of the tracks. There are plenty of good things about the second half of the album, like how I feel “Village from Your Past” and “Lon Lon Ranch” capture the spirit of the original track, but manage to keep their arrangements fresh. However, despite moments like that, I can’t help but enjoy myself more earlier in the album.

Overall, like any good indie project, 25YEARLEGEND is highly experimental, and gives the listener a worthy and unique experience. To put it another way, the variety of tunes do make for a great first listen, and I can easily envision someone taking something completely different from this album with them. Give this a spin if you are a fan of Zelda’s iconic music.

RATING: 7.5/10

ARTIST: Lou Reed & Metallica
ALBUM TITLE: Lulu
RECORD LABEL: Warner Bros.
RELEASED: November 1, 2011

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

Having been a Metallica fan in one form or another for more than half my life, I’ve learned that it’s one of the more difficult things to do sometimes. Considering how many times the band has up and shit on their fans from time to time — at least from many fans’ perspectives, it’s kind of expected for the group to do something that pisses everyone off. It’s one of the byproducts that we’ve been rewarded with ever since the band skyrocketed to superstardom, way back in the 90s.

That being said, you could take it at face value, and expect them to do something even more outlandish each and every time, or you could be one of those that gets more and more upset each time the band gets “creative.” Personally speaking, I generally just take it all with stride. After all, nothing stays gold forever, and at the very least, I respect their attempts to do something different from time to time, rather than release the same album over and over for three decades. It could always be worse, right?

However, not even my hopeful optimism and general tolerance — or perhaps indifference — to bullshit musical vanity projects could have prepared me for what was in store when Metallica first previewed “The View,” off of their collaborative effort with Lou Reed. While calling it a vanity project might be a bit of a stretch, it’s certainly the type of material that isn’t likely to be played very often, at least not for the enjoyment of music at least. Hell, it took me a whole month of letting this one roll around in my head before I could even find the words to properly assess the thing.

Based on a pair of hundred year old plays by German Playwright Frank Wedekind about a young dancer that climbs the social ladder only to fall on hard times and eventually prostitution, it’s decidedly more a Lou Reed project than the other way around. With Lulu, it’s possible that Reed, who tells his spoken word poetry over Metallica’s backing music, has played the greatest prank on the music-listening masses since Metal Machine Music — a 1975 noise/ambient album that consisted of little more than an hour of feedback loops.

Musically, it sounds like Metallica gleaned most of their inspiration from their midtempo, alternative-flavored Load/Reload era, with a slightly faster, thrashier riff poking through from time to time. And while Metallica singer/guitarist James Hetfield gives it his all in most of his vocal performances, it can’t really make up for Reed’s delivery, given in mostly spoken, dry spurts. The two artistic entities couldn’t sound more uncomplimentary if they tried. Most of the time, Reed sounds as though he just read the poems out into the mic, regardless of the songs’ tempos or sound. There’s barely any melody, and his unflinching, intense delivery cuts the songs no favors.

In short, most of Lulu sounds like Metallica demos with an old man’s incoherent ramblings just pasted over the top. While I’m not sure if that was the intended effect or not, his “singing” further separates the music from anything resembling normal music by either of them. From time to time, the two forces lock into each other and Lulu actually sounds like music, such as on the lead single “Iced Honey” and during chunks of “Dragon,” but most of it is just angular, art-house music by a bunch of old guys that didn’t have anyone tell them that this might not have been the best idea.

Lyrically, Lulu is a gold mine of self-deprecation and confusion. While Reed’s poetic rants are written from the perspective of the titular dancer in question, it’s hard to not accidentally read between the lines and interpret much of what he has to say as introspective as well. And some of the songs’ lyrics — when they’re not trying to shock with pseudo-misogynistic ravings — cut rather deep, lashing out at both Reed and the listener. His words are even more uncomfortable than the music that they created to support it on.

It’s hard to justify anything that is found on Lulu from the perspective of a fan of traditional music, as this is a different beast entirely. I get the impression listening to it that perhaps they should have gone the extra mile and recorded this as a long form video album, or a short film accompanied by the music, rather than an album release, because this is the type of thing that would really benefit from a bit of visual stimulation. It’s uncomfortable, hateful, and one of the most vitriolic things I’ve listened to, and while I don’t hate it, I can’t really recommend it either. Ultimately, Lulu is one of those albums that doesn’t really stand up on its own without sitting there, reading the lyrics and focusing on the story at hand, and that’s its greatest shortcoming. It’s not something you can just throw on and listen to. Sure, that’s kind of the point, but considering how dark and perverse the material can get, it’s not something that invites many returns.

RATING: 3/10

Front photo and interior photo by Anton Corbijn. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records.

ARTIST: Megadeth
ALBUM TITLE: Thirteen
RECORD LABEL: Roadrunner Records
RELEASED: November 1, 2011

By Mark Leja
Staff Writer, Connoisseur of Crap

Megadeth has been one of my top five favorite metal bands since my sophomore year, ever since I played Guitar Hero — I’ll admit it — and was introduced to them. If the rumors are true, Thirteen may be Megadeth’s last album.

For what it’s worth, Thirteen is definitely worth my time and money. It’s still got the ol’ Megadeth aggression, combined with some newer melodic influences and riffs, as well as much improved lyrics. The lyrics aren’t always great, but they are better than they have been in a while. In terms of riffage, the album is like a combination of their twelve previous releases. It’s got the speed and technicality of the earlier work (Rust in Peace is a good starting point), combined with the heaviness of Countdown to Extinction and the melodies of the mid to late ‘90s Megadeth. I love when bands try something new, but Megadeth manages to exceed expectations while still sticking to what they’re good at.

Simply put, “Sudden Death” is how you open an album. Catchy, fast and different, this one song is better than anything off 2009′s Endgame. The song has the Megadeth essentials, like snarling vocals and solos galore, but it also employs a lot of the melodic elements found in much of their late ‘90s material. This is the perfect setup for what’s to come, a mixture of all of the band’s styles, tones, and lyrics. Prepare yourself for your sudden death from above. “Black Swan,” having nothing to do with the movie of the same name, was  originally a bonus track from United Abominations. I was shocked it didn’t make the cut; since then, it has been one of my favorite Megadeth songs of the new millennium, and finally getting some recognition, it brings Thirteen to another level. It has great lyrics, catchy riffs, and it just feels right.

“13” is my favorite Megadeth song released during their time on Roadrunner Records. Lyrically, it’s an overview of Mustaine’s career and thoughts of him departing from the music scene, with all the struggles he’s had, and all the times he’s nearly died. After all the drugs, injuries and personal struggles, he’s recounting his life. If this is the last Megadeth song ever written, it’s a fitting conclusion to a metal god’s journey. Other songs that stuck out to me are “Public Enemy No. 1,” “Never Dead” and “Fast Lane.” Even filler songs such as “We The People,” “Millennium of the Blind,” “New World Order” and “Deadly Nightshade” are of higher quality than of subsequent releases.

In terms of the previously mentioned filler songs, I was really surprised they rerecorded “New World Order,” originally written in 1991. The problem is that, generally speaking, guitarist Chris Broderick’s solos are really forgettable. Mustaine’s still rockin it, but his lead guitarist’s quality has degraded a bit since Endgame. Technicality doesn’t equal good solo. The remaining filler songs are your typical world going to shit, and other such themes, but they’re still fine to listen to, unlike previous material that made me roll my eyes to the point that I was convulsing on the floor, speaking in tongues and foaming at the mouth.

While we’re on the subject, there are a couple of songs on Thirteen that I really need to talk about. Forcing myself to listen to them, as well as write about them, they aren’t quite the quality that I was hoping for in this release. Excuse me if I start rambling, but I am trying to ease the pain but it’s just not working. The worst offender is “Whose Life (Is It Anyways?),” not to be confused with Whose Line is it Anyway?, though I think it’s supposed to be one of them obvious puns. It kind of sounds as if Mustaine’s son wrote this song and asked his dad to make it. It’s very punk rockish, and tries so hard to be rebellious. Featuring such lyrical gems as as “You hate the way I wear my clothes. You hate my friends and where we go. I see you in the shadows. You think you know what’s best for me. You hate everything you see in me. Have you looked in a mirror?” Dave, aren’t you a little too old to be ranting about these things? “Wrecker” also crosses the line. I’ve heard that people like this song and I really can’t see why. What is this, Dave ranting about ex- girlfriends’s or the wife? Whatever the case, I couldn’t help laughing during the song and I don’t know if that was the intent or not. It has a very old school metal vibe, so musically it isn’t that bad, but the lyrics are hysterical.

Thirteen is the last record Megadeth is under contract for with Roadrunner Records, and Mustaine’s been talking a lot about retirement. Several pieces of the album artwork showcase symbols representing each of the band’s previous albums, and a shot of band mascot Vic Rattlehead in a casket make me believe that this may be the one. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was Megadeth’s finale, but I wouldn’t mind it either. Thirteen would be a great closure to a great career, and a vast improvement over Endgame. However, whatever Mustaine decides on doing next, I’ll still follow Megadeth.

RATING: 7/10

Front page photo from metality.net, interior photo from themusicnetwork.com.