Thursday, October 2, 2008
Update in the Brief: CrySpace Safari
I decided to do a bit of a pseudoscientific experiment: Make a “quiz” for people to determine “what metal band” they are. In actuality, it was so I could determine what average people favor in “metal”. That is, plastic-lifestyle radio metal.
One thing I forgot to factor into the quiz results were the people who would prefer music for things other than appearance. This experiment assumes that these people were intelligent enough to find this quiz stupid and unappealing, and so they would close it immediately and reconsider why they were wasting their time taking quizzes on myspace.
To the date of this article’s writing, 208 people have willingly participated in this experiment. At least 5 of those people were upset enough by the truth behind their results to leave some tasteless (but otherwise amusing) comments, and rightly so. I’d pin the blame on whoever I could if I discovered that I had poor taste in metal.
Here are some of the responses that people made after receiving their ever-so-accurate results:
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Phobia - All That Remains 7” [1990]
All That Remains is the first release (7” vinyl) by Phobia, Orange County’s premier grindcore band.
Production: Distorted guitar comes out with a fuzzy texture, and clarity in the mid ranges, with drums and bass guitar outlining at the higher and lower ends. Harsh vocals have a texture similar to the guitar, but stand out all on their own.
With their first work, Phobia demonstrates a knowledge of the building blocks of grindcore, utilizing closely-related riffs built around sets of drumming rhythmic “cells,” or repeating cycles that move along once they wear out (via hardcore, thrash), and are replaced yet again with a variant improvement of the last (via speed metal and crossover). Awareness of balance between cycles is a key motivator behind the music’s composition, lending to it an effective simplicity.
The vocalist hearkens to us from a shrouded distance, warning us of mankind’s imminent self-destruction by the poisoning of the environment, failure on society’s part, et cetera. The track Imminent Rot describes in metaphor the inner struggle in living and coping with modernity. These songs make suitable anthems that aren’t as preachy as their progeny. The topics and ideas presented here both lyrically and musically aren’t new in grindcore, but they were probably just an indication of stagnant thought; a lack of fresh ideas. Nonetheless, they make for a great starting point for improvement.
Resources
Phobia - All That Remains @ 7inchcrust
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Man Destroys Himself - Mexico /San Diego Deathgrind
When it seemed that nearly every single band in the Greater San Diego area was a pile of filth striving to be “BRUTAL” but falling short of anything interesting, I happened upon Man Destroys Himself.
Man Destroys Himself originated in Mexico, and then moved to San Diego. That seems like a horrible idea, from a music-scene standpoint. Nonetheless, they were entirely capable of grasping the fundamentals of metal, drawing influence from bands among the highest ranks of death metal and grindcore, unlike hundreds of metalcore and deathcore clones that infest the area, thereby forging their own brand of deathgrind.
There’s nothing special here insofar as technicality, but they’re fairly skilled. Their vigor reflects itself in their music.
Of particular interest on their Myspace was the track “Macrocosm of Torture”. The music, highly saturated in noise, with drums pounding through with clarity, kept up in pace with the imagery evoked in the lyrics in an ever-changing yet self-similar fashion, matching the intensities of the violent, metaphoric lewd acts described in the lyrics to the music. Vocals are surging in and out where the bass guitar should normally be, but it is hardly missed here.
And then this video here exemplifies how much more awesome their music is. Suck on this, Cannibal Corpse:
Man Destroys Himself - Cloak of Martyr
Man Destroys Himself on Myspace
Album reviews coming soon.
