BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: Ritual

The Black Dahlia Murder are the red-headed stepchild of the death metal community. Constantly ridiculed for being "not-so-underground-metalcore-hot topic" band. But that general attitude lightened up a bit when axeman Ryan Knight (ex-Arsis) joined and wrote the bulk of 2009's "Deflorate". Does 2011's ode to moral perversion and depravity hold up?

Most Definately! As a BDM fan, I can be brutally honest and admit that they were becoming quite stale by their 3rd full length, 2007's "Nocturnal". And while line-up changes gave the band new energy on their next offering, it missed the mark with longevity. A slew of awesome riffs and lyrics don't mean alot if there's no meat to really grasp onto. This is where "Ritual"'s strength lies. The songs are well written, heavy and catchy in that way that only melodic death metal can do.  That's right naysayers, Black Dahlia Murder now with 40% less core! Let the ritual begin....


"A Shrine to Madness" sets the mood with a 4 piece string quartet before launching into some midpaced melodic madness. Next, "Moonlight Equilibrium" delves into world of lycanthrope. The chorus is completely singable and makes the track worthy of being the first single. "On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood" throws you a curveball early with it's plodding atmospheric verses about souls eternally damned to sail the sevens seas.It's definately a stand out track on the album and in the entire BDM back catalog, a strak contrast to their usual penchant for speed. The mediocre "Conspiring with the Damned" is the first chink in the armor of the album, feeling uninspired and lacking the new solidified sound of the band. Next, the triple punch of "The Window", "Carbonized in Cruciform" and "Den of the Picquerist" offers up speed, catchiness and the sickest, most brutal lyrics of the album. "Carbonized..." takes the atmosphere a step further boasting a creepy classical guitar intro and interlude! "Malenchantments of theNecroshpere" again tests new waters by having a staggered, off time guitar riff which eventually teetering between epic melodicism and a bludgeoning interlude. "A Graverobber's Work" and "The Raven" are throwback jams. All speed and metalcore fury with bits of melodic death spread throughout. The typical BDM formula, which isn't a bad thing but it's nothing new. "Great Burning Nullifier", I am pretty sure, is a stolen page from BEHEMOTH's playbook but not done as well as they would have done it. Kudos for trying soemthing new though. Finally, the album closes in true epic fashion with "Blood in the Ink". Not only does this song have the only really memorable solo on the album, not only do we see the return of the string quartet throughout this rager...but the lyrics sheet even includes a line for you to sign your solo over to lord satan.  FUCKING AWESOME!

Production wise, metal blade spared no expense, everything can be heard. The guitars are razor sharp, the drums and bass will rupture your internal organs and the vocals are perfected balanced. Big up to drummer Shannon Lucus who somehow stepped up his game even more since the last album with some sick timing and fills. How Trevor Strnad isn't bleeding from the throat, I'm not sure. The lyrics are true to BDM. Slightly less gore than most DM bands, the album is filled with tales of occult rituals, strange sciences and folklores and (of course) "three virgin cunts arrested by chains, gut them like pigs, let their filthy blood drain". The cover art is an odd emerald-tinted heiroglyphic, which is cool but doesnt do the atmosphere of this macabre discjustice. The inner art of druids is much better but i guess the band felt they wanted something different and not so...done to death.

With only a few skippable tracks, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's Ritual is a scorcherof an album, great for your next black mass or pagan sacrafice. Long time fans will be pleased at the more focused direction. Hell, this one may even shut up the naysayers, but probably not.

Favorite track: Crucified in Cruciform

*sorry for the shit quality. this was sadly the best vid found

R.I.P. amy winehouse

RED BACTERIA VACUUM: Killer Dust

tracklisting: 1) star  2) free soul  3)fine day  4)sound dive  5)da da da  6)baby blues 7) noise pollution  8)love song

ah, japan. you've bought me so many joys in life: godzilla, anime and all girl alternative culture bands. in fact japan is also in love with these things. what? you want names?! um, i don't know. how about... SHONEN KNIFE, ORESKA BAND, YELLOW MANCHINEGUN, Flagitious Idiosyncrasy In The Dilapidation and the beautifully horrific cancophony known as GALLHAMMER just to name a  few. (and that's just punk and metal!)

anywho, here we have RED BACTERIA VACUUM (japan also likes long names). a band i discovered, i can only assume, as the rest of their new american fanbase discoverd them, opening for A PERFECT CIRCLE. and quite the dichotomy these two bands made. on a sidenote, i really hope they tour america again. they were great live. lots of energy and tons of crowd interaction, as you can see below with the sing along sign girl
there sound is hard to pindown. maybe...if Courtney Love of HOLE and The DISTILLERS-era Brody Dalle got really fucked up on saki and acid while riot grrrl'ing through japan and than gave birth to this monster of a band? yeah, close enough. hell, "fine day" bares a very close resemblance to THE DISTILLERS' "young girl" during it's first half. the songs are a mesh of old school punk, grunge and garage rock weaving in and out of themselves. All three members (and some guest singers) trade-off  in the interesting vocal menagerie that takes place. the verses tend to be screamed, moaned or hollered and than they reign in the insanity for quite pretty melodic harmonies during the choruses. and all in broken engrish! but as odd (or painful to some) as it sounds, it works in the end.

production quality is pretty low. the bass gets lost in the mix. the vocals tend to overpower everything, especially when you have 3 or 4 japanese women screaming at the same time. honestly, though a clean mix wouldnt work for this shit. it's meant to be dirty and aggressive as a karate kick to the nuts. i wont judge the lyrics because english isn't their first language but i gotta admit it's fun to atempt singing along to. and the cover art? fucking creepy trash can demons. nuff said! the only real downside is it was $15 for 8 songs and a weird hidden track. weak sauce, ladies! though i suppose you do have to eat while in our country.

this definately isn't for everyone. if you like your rock gritty and lo-fi, like punk but realize that japan is one of the few countries still churning out true punk or whether you just like screaming, weird, cute japanese women than this album is definately for you. ENSO WA TANOSI

favorite track: sound dive 

<-free soul/sound dive ( sound dive starts at 2:20)

Sublime with Rome: Yours Truly Deluxe Version

 tracklisting: 1)panic 2)only 3)lovers rock 4)murdera  5)my world 6)paper cuts  7)pch  8)same old situations  9)take it or leave it  10)you better listen  11)spun  12)can you feel it (feat. wiz khalifa)  13)dynamite  14)safe and sound  15)panic (acoustic version)

      

okay, let's get this out of the way now. SADLY, BRADLEY NOWELL IS DEAD. he has been for awhile now. and while you have to compare SUBLIME's new incarnation with Rome on vocals to it's former self, you don't have to stone a nigga for not being the original singer. now pour your 40oz (to freedom) out on the curb and let's move the fuck on....

i have never found SUBLIME to be, well, sublime but you cannot deny the strength and longetivity of 1996's self-titled album. i admit that i didn't like appreciate the album (with the exception of the singles) until about a decade later. looking back, that last album was a one-of-a-kind experience that stuck out against the short lived neo ska/americanized reggae movement of the mid-90's.so here we are, 2011, legions of rabid sublime fans waiting for remaining members  to "put the band back together", while complaning it will never be the same. but is the same always good?

the answer is yes and no. the new album is like diet SUBLIME, not quite the same taste and less filling. gone are the days of their scattershot hodge podge of styles. all-in-all, it's a decent to good album. but at times it actually feels dumbed down from the older albums, as if the band was limiting itself.

the album blazes out of the gate with "panic", one of the very few nods to their more aggressive side. next, "only" and "lovers rock" meander on a generic ska/reggae path, the latter of the two only being saved by Rome's smooth vocal melodies. "murdera" picks up the slack with abit more groove than the previous two. "my world" switches over between ska to straight up punk. unfortunately, it's in moments like this that Bradley's signature vocals are missing. Rome's smooth but limited vocal range starts to take effect here. His pop style singing only half the time, the other half it just seems to be trying to keep up. which brings us to the clusterfuck of the album, "papercuts". it's fast...and that's about it. definately too quick for Rome, who sounds completely uncomfortable on the track. even the production quality dips, as the band atempts to salvage some of their street cred. "pch" and " same old situation" feel abit sacchrine, the former sounding like a bad outtake from a JASON MRAZ cd. "same old..." at least as a catchy chorus amongst it's generic sound. "take it or leave it" is a very catchy midpaced reggae ditty that adds some keyboards into the mix and a rock interlude for a deeper depth. "you better listen" and "spun" round out the regular album edition with, surprise(!) more of the generic sound that plagues this album, the latter has abit more of a rock feel though. both do include female backing vocals which add something new and interesting to the mix.

the bonus tracks offer some new perspective and, frankly, really save the album from being only half good. "can you feel it?" offers a dance hall feel with some hip hop (and blunted) inspiration. unfortunately there's also the added bonus of a mediocre verse spit by wiz khalifa (of black and yellow fame). goodie (not really)! "dynamite" is a groove-laden slow burner. chillest song of the album, though at 7:52 it tends to burn a little too long. "safe and sound" comes out of left field sounding more like a M.I.A. alternative dance club banger with some more added female vocals, which is far from a bad thing. lastly, the album closes with a completely pointless acoustic rendition of  "panic". it's what all the cool kids are doing now for bonus tracks, so why the fuck not, right?

production is beautifully clear with all the instruments mixed well. the bass bleeds through heavily as it should with this type of genre. your head will be bobbing for hours after listening. there are a few brief moments are keyboard flurishes get a bit loud but it's all good. Rome is a worthy addition to the band, though his cleaner vocal style does not always lend itself to certain parts. on the other hand, lyrics that are serious and actual make some goddamn sense are a welcome addition to the SUBLIME formula.

YOURS TRULY is definately worth more than a few spins, but not many. when it's good, it's pretty damn awesome, but than there's the other half of the album. they haven't reinvented the wheel here, in fact, they somehow simplified it but not always to their advantage. still, SUBLIME (with ROME), it's good to have you back.

favorite track:  take it or leave it              ^click this shit up here

...and so the saga begins!!!!

       welcome to to The RABID PENGUIN musick asylum (a subsidiary of RABID PENGUIN records ©., which in itself is a subsidiary of RABID PENGUIN  productions ©.)

         i've wanted to do this for a year or so and have finally decided, "fuck it, let's do it". (ah, the intelligent commentary has already begun.)

          i'm the average music fan. i DO NOT have extensive knowledge on music theory. i HAVE NOT mastered one or more instruments. but I DO know that music is one of the greatest joys, catharses and burdens in my life and i feel that is enough to make me some form of obsessive authority.

           WARNING: metal is my heart and soul, but i do cheat on her (quite often). Prepare thineself for variety in genre and language! and  yes, i am completely willing to lose scene points for some of the views expressed within. conversely, if you are not used to music where murder, rape, blasphemy and mutilation seems to be a form of entertainment, you may want to move along. enjoy! : )

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